Australian Politics
Another white "Aborigine" stirring up controversy
Blue eyes and all. This is just attention-seeking. Her aboriginality is essentially nil so she is not campaigning for anything that affects her personally.
The issue she is jumping onto is not totally unreasonable. The whole statue removal lark has the justification that we should separate ourselves from the values espoused by the person portrayed. And perhaps we should in the unlikely event that we are aware of it. But it is also removing us from our own history. History is not changed so lightly. We do well to remember it.
Most people's lives have good and bad in them. And the statues concerned could well be seen as a message about how unfortunate were the values of our comunal past. To add a plaque to statues telling of both the worthy deeds of the person plus the deplored ideas of their time would be a balanced approach to any issue involved. It would certainly be more constructive and potentially useful as education
An indigenous marriage celebrant wants a 'racist' statue of Australia's first prime minister removed from a regional town's waterfront because it is 'offensive'.
Arlene Mehan is behind a push to have Sir Edmund Barton's statue uninstalled from Port Macquarie's waterfront Town Green Park.
Although Ms Mehan has pushed to have it taken down for several years, not everyone agrees and the statue's exit isn't assured.
It was only put up in 2001 as the focus of a local project about Barton.
His statue is the latest monument to a significant historical figure to be earmarked for removal in recent years because of past 'racist' actions.
Barton, prime minister from 1901 to 1903, is widely accepted to have been a key architect of the White Australia policy.
He also said publicly that he believed white people were superior and there was no such thing as 'racial equality'. '[Other] races are, in comparison with white races – I think no-one wants convincing of this fact – unequal and inferior,' Barton once famously said.
Ms Mehan claims the presence of the monument in the park is confronting for local indigenous people. 'It is offensive to glorify this man who represents racist ideologies on this sacred site. 'Edmund Barton was explicitly racist,' she said.
Town Green was a burial ground for the local Birpai Indigenous people before colonisation.
Other options aside from removal have been proposed to the local Port Macquarie-Hastings council, including placing an educational signage explaining more about Barton's views.
If the statue is removed it could be placed outside the Port Macquarie Local Court as Barton became a High Court judge after his term as prime minister.
Ms Mehan gathered 4,383 signatures in a petition to have Barton's statue removed in 2020 and presented it to the Port Macquarie-Hastings council.
She also campaigned against a statue of the fifth governor of NSW, Lachlan Macquarie, whom the town is named after.
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Long-term Greenie journalist Graham Readfearn is still looking at the world through one-eye
He does his best below to make a case against the use of coal but mainly does so by quoting fellow Greenies. The blithe mention of "storage" as an alternative to burning coal is amusing. What storage? Snowy 2 is not yet up and may nevrer be, Qeeensland's pumped storage is pie in the sky and would be so expensive that it will remain there, and the available battery storage is tiny and short-lived relative to demand.
And there is some very stretched reasoning below. Look at the statement "I’m not aware of any time where we have had a blackout because renewable energy hasn’t supplied sufficient electricity.”
It's a true statement. But why? Because every time we were on the brink of a blackout because of failing wind and solar, coal and gas generators have stepped into makeup the shortfall. Lose those generators and the blackouts will be extensive and long
In Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, columnist Erin Molan turned the caps lock on to declare “WE NEED COAL”. It’s tempting to respond with “NO WE DON’T” and leave it at that. But there are certain expectations from a fact-checking column.
Molan argued clean and renewable alternatives to fossil fuels with the “infrastructure in place” to support them did not currently exist. Let’s test that.
Alison Reeve, an energy and climate expert at the Grattan Institute, said in the electricity market “coal has been doing two things”. “Providing electrons and system stability. The renewables can substitute the electrons and we can use other things – like storage and demand management – to find system stability. “So you only need coal to the extent that you don’t have those other things lined up yet.”
She said while there were legitimate concerns about the pace that storage and other measures were being added, “that’s not a case for keeping coal”.
The Australian Energy Market Operator’s blueprint for the expected future of the electricity market – a plan released after consulting more than 15,000 analysts and stakeholders – also disagrees with Molan. That plan includes several scenarios for the future, but the one Aemo says experts think is most likely sees 60% of coal generating capacity gone by 2030. Why?
“Competition, climate change and operational pressures will intensify [for coal] with the ever-increasing penetration of firmed renewable generation,” the plan says.
Oh yes, climate change. Burning coal is the biggest single contributor to the climate emergency.
Since Aemo’s blueprint was released in late June, both the Queensland and Victoria state governments have announced major energy plans mapping the exit route for coal that are broadly in line with Aemo’s plans.
Neither state sees a future in burning coal, with the polluting fuel practically gone in both states by 2035.
Coalmining is also responsible for about one fifth of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions from methane, according to official figures. The actual number, according to data from the International Energy Agency, could be double that.
As the Albanese government this week signed a global pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030, mining more coal will make those targets – nonbinding, but geopolitically significant – harder to reach.
Molan claimed in her column there was “ample evidence in recent years of times and occasions when renewables just haven’t been able to supply our energy needs”, but didn’t actually offer any evidence.
This is a strange interpretation of how the electricity market works. Reeve was puzzled. “It’s a mixed system and you will always have the generation you need to meet the demand. “The percentage provided by renewables fluctuates, but I’m not aware of any time where we have had a blackout because renewable energy hasn’t supplied sufficient electricity.”
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UN’s tortured thinking on human rights defies credibility
A question for the many holiday-makers who have driven past Queanbeyan courthouse on their way to the NSW South Coast: have you ever had cause to believe unspeakable crimes against humanity were being committed inside? Representatives of the United Nations, specifically those on the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), seem to think so.
Last week these dedicated bureaucrats and their entourage, having made the arduous journey from overseas, turned up there unannounced insisting on their “right” to conduct a snap inspection of the court cells, much to the bemusement of NSW Corrective Service officials. Regrettably, they were not welcomed in a manner befitting a holder of high office. Suffice to say the four subcommittee members – who hail from the human rights utopias of Maldives, Poland, Croatia, and Georgia – are now familiar with the expression “Go to buggery”.
Why they came here in the first place is a mystery. Admittedly, the courthouse in question is a drab looking building, but we are not talking your Lubyanka-like edifice. Its officials are not known for hanging prisoners by their thumbs for days on end. And the streets of Queanbeyan are not strewn with wailing women and children holding up photos of missing husbands and fathers.
UN inspectors fared no better in Sydney last Sunday when they demanded entry to the Mary Wade Correctional Centre in Lidcombe and the Silverwater Correctional Complex. As the relevant department later explained, all such visits required prior written authorisation. And heaven forbid, they make no exceptions for UN officials.
This additional impertinence proved too much to bear. “Despite its continued efforts to engage the authorities for the resolution of the problems, the SPT continued to be obstructed in the exercise of its mandate,” the UN said in a statement this week. “[Its] members felt that their 12-day visit, which began on 16 October … had been compromised to such an extent that they had no other option but to suspend it.” Prior to departing the country, subcommittee officials threatened “grave” consequences for the NSW government.
I agree, starting with the prison officers who thwarted the inspections. A bonus week’s paid holiday for each of them, a commendation on their personnel files, a couple of slabs perhaps?
Predictably some, including Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay, are upset the subcommittee has left in a huff. “What compliance with OPCAT [Optional Protocol for the Convention Against Torture and Inhuman Treatment] actually represents for NSW and other Australian governments is an opportunity for all of us to feel more secure about how we protect the human rights of detainees by agreeing to greater oversight and accountability in our detention regimes,” she said.
But I doubt many Australians would feel distressed or less secure at the prospect of the UN not conferring tickety-boo status on our detention centres. This is the same organisation which boasts among the members of its Human Rights Council the nations of China, Cuba, Venezuela, Qatar, and Pakistan. It has no credibility.
And you must wonder why Australia is the subcommittee’s priority. Its website lists the countries it has visited since OPCAT’s inception in 2002. They include Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy. All good and well but there are some notable absences. If the subcommittee is hellbent on uncovering examples of torture, then surely it would have assessed the detention centres of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan.
We know the answer. Given a choice, these human rights poohbahs opt for junkets to Western countries as opposed to travelling to a third world dung heap. I am seriously considering sending this mob my resume. As for my choice of assignment, I have in mind detention centres in the South of France, particularly the Bordeaux region. Did I mention I have similar concerns about those in the Azores?
It is farcical. Take for example these excerpts from their assessments. New Zealand: “The Subcommittee noted with concern the low nutritional value of the meals provided in the prisons it visited. Breakfast and lunch were monotonous, the latter invariably … comprising three thin white bread sandwiches and a piece of fruit.” United Kingdom: “The Subcommittee is concerned at the overrepresentation of the ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system.”
There was almost a tone of disappointment when it noted following a visit to Switzerland in 2019 that none of the detainees spoken to had alleged mistreatment by police. Nonetheless it made mention of their “harsh conditions during transport, including handcuffs that were too tight”. Yes, its members are paid lucrative wages to produce these trivialities. And you thought the travelling circus was a thing of the past.
Do not expect the Albanese government to stand up to these panjandrums. Already Attorney-General Mark Drefyus has hit out at the NSW government for its treatment of the subcommittee. Likewise, Finlay has called for the federal and state governments to invite the delegation to return.
If they really are serious about finding instances of torture in this country, let’s give them a few suggestions. To begin with, no more interminable so-called Welcome to Country ceremonies. Never again should we have to hear Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tells us he is the son of a single mother who grew up in a housing commission dwelling. And few things are as mind-numbing as waiting for someone from Qantas to answer the phone.
But you know what is the ultimate torture? Knowing that we handed over US$60m to the UN this year alone.
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Chilling reality of Labor's green dream: Bills soar by 56% as $20 BILLION is spent on a 'renewables friendly' electricity grid and $46M for a UN energy conference - while Albo hands millions to extremists who dream of driving Australia into energy poverty
Despite constant claims renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels the billions being poured into greening Australia's power and hosting UN climate talkfests appears to be only driving up the price of electricity.
Labor went into the May election with a promise of slashing electricity bills by $275 a year, a pledge that was meant to be delivered by its commitment to renewables.
However, Tuesday's Budget instead predicted a staggering 56 per cent hike in prices in the next year on top of the already ballooning bills.
But at the same time the Albanese government announced they will funnel $10 million into climate activist groups the Environmental Defenders Office and Environmental Justice Australia.
When asked about this in parliament on Wednesday Prime Minister Anthony Albanese repeated the mantra of his government. 'The cheapest form of new energy in this country is renewables,' he said.
On budget night Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the ABC that despite him not being able to predict when prices would come down the $25 billion being spent on various climate change measures would help. 'Renewable energy isn't just cleaner energy, it's cheaper energy as well,' Chalmers said.
North Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan, who is a strong proponent of mining and fossil fuel, strongly disagreed with both the Prime Minister and Treasurer. 'Power prices are going up because we are investing too much in renewable energy that is not on all the time,' Senator Canavan told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday. 'Australia has been building more solar and wind per person than any country in the world.'
A particular Budget item that Senator Canavan latched onto was the almost $50 million the Albanese government has committed to 'restoring Australia's reputation'.
The centerpiece of this measure will be hosting UN-overseen conference in partnership with Pacific island nations to build clean energy partnerships and agreements .
'Labor can't help you with your power bills but they are going to spend $46 million of your money to host a UN climate conference,' Senator Canavan tweeted on Tuesday night.
He expanded on this in a response to Daily Mail Australia.
'Instead of spending money on helping rich people attend a climate talkfest, the Australian Government should be using our coal, gas and uranium to make more power and bring down living costs for struggling Australian families,' he said.
'The Government is wasting our money by funding more jobs for climate bureaucrats.'
The budget contains a mind-boggling multitude of green projects, subsidies and new government agencies to bring about the Albanese government's commitment of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
There is even $8.1 million to improve the energy efficiency of seaweed farmers.
However, by far the biggest sum, $20 billion, will be for rewiring the nation's grid to make it more renewable energy friendly.
On top of this $275 million will be spent on getting more electric cars on the road while $224 million will toward the community batteries that will store power from household solar panels.
Re-establishing 'international climate leadership' will cost $296 million, of which $200 million will go to help Indonesia with green projects.
A new agency, the national health sustainability and climate unit, will inform Australia's 'health response' to climate change.
The green bureaucracy will also be beefed up by the injection of a further $194 million, with $102 million to restore the Climate Change Authority and $64 million to rebuild Treasury's climate modelling capability.
Senator Canavan delivered a scathing assessment of what the new public servants would achieve.
'Power prices won't be lowered from a desk in Canberra, they can only be lowered by building more generators across our nation,' he said.
The Environmental Defenders Office have campaigned to block laws aimed at stopping disruptive climate protests, such as the protests that halted coal loading at Sydney's Port Botany earlier this year.
Environmental Justice Australia lobbies against new coal and gas projects and organised a group of children and teens to claim Australia's lack of action on climate change violated their human rights to the United Nations.
To support his claim that renewables are cheaper Mr Albanese cited agreement from the Business Council of Australia, the Australian industry group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as the National Farmers' Federation.
However, this has not been backed up by players in the electricity market. Major energy retailers told a conference in October that replacing coal and gas with renewable energy is the major reason power prices are sky-rocketing.
'Next year, using the current market prices, tariffs are going up a minimum 35 per cent,' Alinta chief executive Jeff Dimery said at the Sydney event. 'It's horrendous, it's unpalatable. We don't want energy consumers getting their power bills and setting fire to them.'
In September reports by sector watchdogs the Energy Security Board and the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) both pointed at switching to renewables as a major reason power price surges.
Dr Chalmers pointed to 'inflationary pressures' for the power price increase but electricity bills have been outstripping inflation by as much as 8 per cent.
The war in Ukraine is often pointed to as major contributor to worldwide inflation but Australia is energy sufficient in coal and gas and an exporter of those things, although international prices can influence the domestic price.
Coal prices are surging but this reflects a turning away from renewables in many countries.
With the Ukraine war threatening its gas supplies Germany has began bringing around 20 of its coal power plants back online.
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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More 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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