Australian Politics
A Black menace in Brisbane
Another problem Sudanese
Queensland Police have released horrifying body-cam dash-cam footage of a man driving erratically through the streets of Brisbane.
A man who led police on a wild car chase through Brisbane, injuring a young girl, has been described as a “straight-out menace”.
A fleeing Major Major, 20, was apprehended by officers on a motorbike in the CBD after leaving a trail of destruction from East Brisbane during peak hour yesterday.
Alarming footage shows Major colliding with three stationary cars at a set of traffic lights at Stanley Street and Wellington Street in East Brisbane about 5.20pm.
It’s alleged Major, who was on probation at the time, was driving a stolen car.
Police sighted the car and commenced a short pursuit along Stanley Street at Woolloongabba.
Major continued driving dangerously onto the Pacific Motorway, colliding with two other cars, during which police terminated the pursuit.
He continued through Brisbane City before crashing into a truck at the intersection of William Street and Margaret Street. The car was significantly damaged causing Major to leave the scene on foot.
A seven-year-old girl, an occupant in one of the cars hit by Major, was taken to hospital with neck injuries.
Major faced Brisbane Magistrates Court this morning charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle, evasion and driving without a licence. He has also been charged with five counts of wilful damage and two counts of stealing.
During a bail application police prosecutor Sgt Wade Domagala urged against releasing Major into the community. “Mr Major is a straight-out menace,” he said.
“The police tried to pull him over and then his behaviour just endangers the community ...smashing into other cars causing a seven-year-old to have to go to hospital.
“Your honour the community denounce that sort of behaviour and they need to be protected from people like him.”
War heroes deserve our thanks, not cutting down
It is sickening to suddenly hear people moaning about a warrior culture as if it was a disease
Australia’s Chief of Army says he was “sickened” and “shocked” by the nature and extent of the war crimes allegedly committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
If you venture to be a tall poppy in this country, then be prepared for those of more modest achievement to come at your ankles with chainsaws.
One of our tallest poppies, literally and figuratively, is Ben Roberts-Smith, the recipient of the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry and former member of the Special Air Service Regiment.
Roberts-Smith may or may not have been involved in the alleged crimes in Afghanistan detailed in the Brereton report, but his only known crime to date is to have exhibited extraordinary bravery under fire on numerous occasions.
A genuine hero – what a perfect target for the armchair critics who have never heard or seen a shot fired in anger, and whose most critical life decisions relate to the choice between iced latte and cappuccino.
What, I wonder, would those now chanting “shame, shame, shame” have done had they been in Kandahar Province on June 11, 2020, pinned down by fire from three machineguns and with two comrades already wounded?
Would they have huddled in a hole and cried for their mothers, or done as Roberts-Smith did as detailed in this citation accompanying his Victoria Cross.
“Corporal Roberts-Smith and his patrol members fought towards the enemy position until, at a range of 40m, the weight of fire prevented further movement forward. At this point, he identified the opportunity to exploit some cover provided by a small structure,” the citation detailed.
“As he approached the structure, Corporal Roberts-Smith identified an insurgent grenadier in the throes of engaging his patrol.
“Corporal Roberts-Smith instinctively engaged the insurgent at point-blank range resulting in the death of the insurgent.
“With the members of his patrol still pinned down by the three enemy machine gun positions, he exposed his own position in order to draw fire away from his patrol, which enabled them to bring fire to bear against the enemy.”
Corporal Roberts-Smith’s actions later in the encounter demonstrated “extreme devotion to duty and the most conspicuous gallantry”.
In another engagement, he realised that the forward edge of an observation post was not secure and moved forward to take up an exposed position forward of the patrol so he could effectively employ his sniper weapon.
“Lance Corporal Roberts-Smith’s actions whilst under heavy anti-coalition militia fire and in a precarious position, threatened by a numerically superior force, are testament to his courage, tenacity and sense of duty to his patrol,” the Victoria Cross citation found.
Courage, tenacity, sense of duty. See much of that around these days? I see plenty of self-interest, self-indulgence, self-promotion and self-opinion, but not much in the way of courage, tenacity and sense of duty.
It is sickening to suddenly hear people moaning about a ”warrior culture” as if it were a disease. We need people with a warrior culture to defend us from those who would destroy our democracy.
It is worth remembering that the enemy in question are in the habit of decapitating their prisoners and burning them alive in metal cages. They are not nice people.
There can be no doubt that some bad things happened, but it’s easy to judge while safely ensconced in the society that Roberts-Smith and his colleagues fought to defend.
At the battle of Milne Bay against the Japanese in Papua New Guinea in World War II where my late father served, he and his men were told to take no prisoners, and they didn’t. Were they war criminals? I don’t think so.
ABC in hot water over ‘racist’ kids’ show
Racism against the Chinese is OK for the Left, apparently
China is demanding a formal apology from the ABC over a “racist” show that implies eating rats is an everyday part of Chinese cuisine.
The diplomatic row over the Horrible Histories episode centres on the story of ancient China Empress Wu Zetian, the only woman to ever rule China.
In an article in the state-controlled Global Times, the newspaper has claimed the ABC’s Horrible Histories program had “drawn outrage and condemnation from Chinese-Australians for “broadcasting a children’s television series with controversial content suggesting insects, rats and hair are used in normal Chinese recipes, which they believe is racism and demand for an apology.”
“In an episode of the series, ancient China Empress Wu Zetian, who is played by a white actress, is eating insects, rats, jellyfish and hair, and invites two modern visitors, the program’s hosts, to join the meal,’’ the article states.
“As the visitors act disgusted, “Wu” explained it was “perfectly normal” to eat insects in China in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).”
But a spokesman for the ABC denied that the episode represented an example a white people masquerading as Asian noting the actress, Sophie Wu, in British-born but has Chinese heritage.
“The ABC has received some complaints, which will be considered by ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs as is our usual practice,’’ an ABC spokesman told news.com.au.
The Global Times said the episode was a disgrace. “This kind of racist behaviour is indeed too narrow-minded for a country,” a netizen (a citizen) wrote on China’s Twitter-like social networking platform Weibo.
“It’s uncanny how they are always talking about anti-racism and they are actually the meanest racists,” another one commented.
The episode is not new but from the sixth season of Horrible Histories, a sketch comedy released five years ago, that aired again in Australia recently.
Some Chinese-Australians have launched an online petition protesting warning it could cause Chinese children to be ridiculed and bullied at school.
“The program was also aired at the moment when some Western politicians constantly attacked China for COVID-19 outbreaks, launching smear campaign against the Chinese culture especially the food culture, which is indeed seen as malicious and offensive,” Chen Hong, professor and director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Previously, the BBC was forced to delete an episode of the program that depicted Florence Nightingale as racist.
“We also need an apology,” a Chinese student in Australia told the Global Times, “Hopefully ABC and CBBC can prove that they are really against racial discrimination, and not just another biased Westerners playing with double standards.”
Empress Wu Zetian (624-705) is one of the most controversial monarchs in Chinese history, a woman who historians claim presided over a reign of “blood and terror” but remained much admired.
A teenage imperial concubine to Emperor Taizong (598-649) she also served as his secretary, playing music and reading poetry. She then had an affair with the Emperor’s youngest son, Li Zhu, who sent for Wu to be returned to court after his father died.
She is also accused of strangling her own baby to frame a rival for the murder before deposing the woman and becoming the new empress consort.
Why NSW power bills could surge by $400 a year under government's new 'electricity tax' to pay for renewable energy plan
Power bills could increase by $400 a year under the New South Wales government's energy roadmap, Mark Latham has warned.
The NSW One Nation leader slammed the plan to encourage $32billion of private investment in renewable energy projects by 2030 as a 'stitch up'.
The state government wants wind, pumped hydro and solar projects to replace four coal-fired power stations which are due to shut over the next 15 years.
Energy Minister Matt Kean says then plan - which will create Renewable Energy Zones in Dubbo and the south west - will cut household bills by $130 and small business bills by $430 a year between 2023 and 2040.
The state government wants wind, pumped hydro and solar projects to replace four coal-fired power stations which are due to shut over the next 15 years +2
The state government wants wind, pumped hydro and solar projects to replace four coal-fired power stations which are due to shut over the next 15 years
But Mr Latham fears bills may increase as the government plans to offer a minimum electricity price to companies that build the renewable projects.
If the electricity price were to fall below that level, the government would levy cash from providers who would temporarily increase household bills.
Mr Latham told Daily Mail Australia the plan represents 'guaranteed income for renewable energy companies and their lobbyists, paid for by electricity consumers.'
He described the plan as a new tax and criticised Mr Kean for intervening in the electricity market.
'He's planning personally to levy amounts on the electricity distributors that they pass on to consumers,' Mr Latham told Sydney radio station 2GB.
'So that's a new NSW electricity tax where the minister gets to levy the money on the distributors... it goes straight on to the electricity bill.
Why might power prices increase?
The NSW government wants wind, pumped hydro and solar projects to replace coal-powered electricity.
Under the plan the government will offer a minimum electricity price to companies that build the renewable projects through a Long Term Energy Services Agreement.
The government's consumer trustee will then sell the energy to retailers and companies, with any shortfall made up by enforced 'contributions' from distributors who would push up their prices for consumers.
The government says these payments will only be triggered if consumers are already benefiting from low energy prices - and they would be repaid once prices increase and the renewable projects are making cash again.
'We're talking huge amounts of money and probably power bills going up by $100 a quarter,' Mr Latham said, without explaining where he got the figure from.
The 59-year-old has vowed to oppose the plan, which the Coalition government introduced in early November with support from Labor and the Greens.
'I think we should slow this down and make sure we can guarantee to people the lights stay on and the prices come down,' he said. 'This is the whole future of the energy sector in NSW and they won't have a committee that's commonplace in other areas. 'It's a stitch up, it's a cover up and we're going to oppose it.'
Federal energy minister Angus Taylor also fears the plan will push up prices and has demanded to see the NSW government's modelling.
'I'm concerned about models and analysis including unrealistic assumptions that don't translate into the real world,' he said in a speech at The Australian Financial Review Energy and Climate Summit on Monday.
'The Commonwealth would like to see the modelling behind that policy. I'm confident that we can work through it, and NSW has indicated its strong intent to get to a sensible outcome.'
The Australian Energy Council warned the government's intervention may encourage too many energy assets to be built in places where they may not be needed. 'This would ultimately mean higher costs for households,' it said in statement.
Tony Wood, energy director at the Grattan Institute, said the plan takes risk away from investors and transfers them to consumers who would potentially foot larger bills.
The plan will support 12 gigawatts of renewable energy and two gigawatts of storage, such as pumped hydro, and reduce carbon emissions by 90 million tonnes to 2030.
Landholders are expected to pocket $1.5 billion in rent by 2042 for hosting new infrastructure.
More than 10,000 construction and ongoing jobs will be created by 2026, with an estimated 2800 ongoing jobs in 2030, the government says.
Coal-fired power made up 77 per cent of NSW's total electricity generation in 2019 - higher than the national average of 56 per cent - but four of the state's five plants will stop by 2035. Renewables made up 19 per cent.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8975825/Power-bills-surge-400-year-warns-Mark-Latham.html
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http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE TIED)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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Evelyn Rae, a conservative Australian political commentator
Margo Robbie -- a beautiful australian
My son Joe at ANU
One of the happiest pictures ever -- Cleo Smith, aged 4
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