Disgrace:  Leftist Qld. Premier rejects cash for firefighters on a technicality

After much anticipation over the public pressure to support our Australian firefighters on the front line, Scott Morrison finally announced that volunteer firefighters will get to see some financial relief.

At the moment, the payments will be available to Rural Fire Service NSW volunteers who are self-employed or work for small and medium businesses. These firefighters will be able to access payments worth up to $300 a day, capped at a maximum of $6000 if they have served for more than 10 days fighting the current fires.

Mr Morrison extended the scheme to other states and territories who wished to participate, with the federal government setting aside $50 million for the cause.

But, it has been revealed that Queensland volunteer firefighters might not receive the $6000 cash boost offered to them. Queensland has not signed off on the proposal and implied Mr Morrison was disappointed by the decision.

The publication said that Annastacia Palaszczuk's government had so far refused to give the funding the go ahead because it was not a national scheme and was being offered to each state individually. 

Both South Australia and Victoria have confirmed that their firefighters will receive the money.

But on Monday, Ms Palaszczuk says she did not turn down the offer of compensation for volunteer firefighters in Queensland on Monday morning. "Queensland's volunteer firefighters deserve the same level of federal government support as do other volunteer firefighters across the country," Ms Palaszczuk said in a statement.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said it is important for firefighters to receive compensation but agrees it needs to be made nation-wide.

"One of the things I know from being on the ground on the north coast, in Queensland, on the South Coast, is that many firefighters are travelling from interstate," he told the Today Show.

"These fires don't recognise State boundaries and nor do firefighters, I've got to say. That's why it needs a national approach."

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Proposed Queensland water reforms anger graziers

Aims to "protect" rivers.  Protect them from what?  From being used, most likely

Farmers fear their livelihood could be undermined by the Palaszczuk government’s “sneaky” pre-Christmas announcement that it would review the management of some of the best cattle grazing country in Queensland.

State Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch released a scantly detailed statement on December 20 saying the government was consulting “with stakeholders” to protect the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin under the Regional Planning Interests Act.

The catchment for the giant salt lake in South Australia runs through some of the Queensland outback’s prime cattle grazing country.

It is understood the government has been working on the proposed reform for at least six months, with input coming from green groups, traditional owners and farming groups.

Graziers fear the legislation will be a significant reform with far-reaching consequences.

Birdsville grazier David Brook, who is also the chairman of OBE Organic, a beef supply company that gets most of its products from properties within the Lake Eyre basin, said farmers were confused by the government’s statement and had not been able to get more details over the Christmas break.

“We’re in the middle of a terrible drought, and the government’s Christmas present is to give no notice to potentially hundreds of impacted outback graziers that the way they run their business is about to be changed,” he said.

OBE Organic managing director Dalene Wray said the government needed to provide more details about the proposal.

“We’re concerned that poor timing, unreasonably and unnecessarily short timeframes, and an inadequate consultation process may lead to significant and avoidable mistakes by bureaucrats when determining the most ­appropriate administration of this pristine region,” Ms Wray said.

The pristine basin, which covers a sixth of the Australian landmass, is one of the world’s largest internally-draining river systems.

The water that fills the lake usually falls hundreds of kilo­metres from the shallow lake, draining the low-lying plains around the meeting points of the Queensland, NSW, Northern Territory and South Australian borders. Much of the water that falls in the basin never reaches the lake and is swallowed by the desert channels.

Ms Enoch said the consultation process was to fulfil a 2017 election commitment to protect Queensland’s rivers.

“The proposed framework will increase protections for streams and floodplains in the Queensland section of the Lake Eyre Basin, since those protections were removed by the former LNP government,” she said.

“We are going to work in partnership with First Nations peoples and support their establishment of the Lake Eyre Basin Traditional Owner Alliance, which will have an active role in the decision-making and management of the area.”

Natural Resources Minister Anthony Lynham said it was vital to strike a “balance between economic prosperity and ecological sustainability”.

Agriculture lobby group ­AgForce accused the government of a “sham” consultation process and conducting “secret meetings with green activists groups”.

Chief executive Michael Guerin said the government had used the cover of Christmas to draw ­attention away from the reform.

“They have deliberately made the submission time so short and over the Christmas holiday period, to ensure few or no submissions are received,” he said.

“It is hard to overstate how dodgy the process is. The Lake Eyre Basin legislation could lock up huge tracts of inland Queensland from agricultural or resource developments, which may have a huge impact on the very survival of farm businesses and towns in the region.”

Diamantina Shire Council mayor Geoff Morton said it was “a bit sneaky” of the government to release the announcement so close to Christmas. “They obviously don’t want people to study it with too much detail,” he said.

Mr Morton, who runs the 518,000ha Roseberth Station near Birdsville, said he was not aware of what impact the reform would have on his livelihood.

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A new voice for class teachers

Australian education could benefit from a shake-up of teachers’ unions, many of which oppose NAPLAN testing, reject the idea of merit pay for the best and brightest teachers, embrace fads such as critical literacy in English teaching and support students’ climate change boycotts of classes. Teachers’ unions are also highly politicised, backing Labor’s push to pour billions of dollars extra into the education system, despite classroom standards declining amid vast spending increases.

But the unions have baulked at efforts to promote phonics in early reading teaching, despite overwhelming evidence that it is the most efficient way to redress Australia’s poor performance in literacy.

Against that background, an interesting, fledgling development is under way in Queensland. Craig Johnstone reports on Monday that moves to break the stranglehold of political and industrial influence by Labor-leaning unions have taken another step. A new body, the Teachers Professional Association of Queensland, is promising lower fees and a ban on political donations to attract members.

The TPAQ has signed up about 100 members since its launch earlier this month. At this stage, it is no threat to the 47,000-strong Queensland Teachers Union. But it is modelled on the Nurses Professional Association of Queensland, which was formed six years ago as a rival to the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union. It has grown to 5000 members. The QTU insists it is not affiliated with any political party. But it is affiliated with the Queensland Council of Unions, a major donor to the ALP.

If the new group is to succeed it must offer teachers better services and value, for which it is planning to charge a flat fee. Conscientious teachers would also appreciate their professional body taking a more constructive approach to the chronic problems in education.

As reported on Saturday, more than half the students offered building apprenticeships do not complete their courses because they lack basic skills in key subjects, such as maths. A teachers’ union with a better focus should be part of the solution, not the problem.

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Our charming African refugees again

Their way of thanking us for giving them refuge

Beloved grandfather, 50, left brain-dead with just hours to live after being 'stomped on and beaten with baseball bats' by gang of 10-15 youths outside his home after Christmas Day with his family

Brother-in-law said gang of 10-15 'African guys' set upon the family in the street

A 50-year-old grandfather who was allegedly bashed with baseball bats outside his home in a Christmas Day dispute with neighbours will have his life support switched off.

Anthony Clark, 50, was allegedly 'thrown around like a rag doll', stomped on and hit with bats in the street outside his home at Moorolbark in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs shortly before 11pm.

His wife was also knocked out in their driveway and Mr Clark's stepdaughter Jessikah Clark said he was 'pretty much gone'.

'My daughter's lost her everything now. She just wants her poppy to come home and he's never going to come home,' Ms Clark told Nine News.

'My mum is worried about everyone and is just lying there with him praying. But he's pretty much gone that's it.'

'We have lost the best man in our whole lives,' Ms Clarke told the Herald Sun.

'No-one should have to die on Christmas Day just for looking after his wife and kids.'

The man's family was scheduled to arrive from Ireland and Canada on Sunday after which Mr Clarke's life support will be switched off. 

The violence began as the family were saying their farewells on the street and fireworks were let off, causing a dog to bark and the owners to get angry, Jessikah Clark said.

The family said a gang of youths with weapons, including bats and metal bars, were involved in the attack.

Ms Clark also claimed there were about '15 men' that set up on them she and her mother were hit.

'They had bats...they smashed my car and they threw mum around like a rag doll.' 

Mr Clark was allegedly confronted by a large group of men during the massive brawl.

His wife and 25-year-old stepdaughter were also allegedly attacked, his brother-in-law Mark told 3AW. 

'He's a gentle giant, and he was brutally, and I mean, savagely, attacked,' he said.

'A whole gang of African guys, ranging from teenage to mid-20s, approximately 10-15 of them with cars and baseball bats, attacked him, knocked my sister out.'

Mark said he believed his brother-in-law was trying to shield his baby during the brutal attack.

'They knocked my sister out, and had my niece - from what I understand - by the hair,' he told 3AW.

The man was repeatedly bashed in the head and was taken to hospital in a critical condition and placed in intensive care.

The family said there was no hope of recovery and his life-support will be turned off.

His wife suffered minor injuries and has been by his side at the hospital ever since.

An 18-year-old man was arrested but was later released.

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 Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here