Australian Politics
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Budget's infrastructure spend no quick cure for jobs
Economists haven’t been enthused by inclusion in the budget’s big-ticket stimulus measures of $11.5 billion in road and rail projects. Why not? Because spending on “infrastructure” often works a lot better in theory than in practice.
Economists were more enthusiastic about infrastructure before the pandemic, when Scott Morrison’s obsession with debt and deficit had him focused on returning the budget to surplus at a time when this was worsening the growth in aggregate demand and slowing the economy’s return to full employment.
Reserve Bank governor Dr Philip Lowe pointed out that, unlike borrowing to cover the government’s day-to-day needs, borrowing to fund infrastructure was a form of investment. The new infrastructure could be used to yield benefits for decades to come, and so justify the money borrowed. Indeed, well-chosen infrastructure could increase the economy’s productive efficiency – its productivity – by, for instance, reducing the time it took workers to get to work or the cost of moving goods from A to B.
Another motivation was the high rates of population growth the government’s immigration program was causing. More people need more infrastructure if congestion and shortages aren’t to result, and thus worsen productivity.
But much has changed since then. The arrival of the worst recession in many decades has changed our priorities. We’re much less worried about debt and deficit and much more worried about getting the economy going up and unemployment coming down. And we don’t want economic growth so much to raise our material standard of living as to create more jobs for everyone needing to work.
Because infrastructure involves the government spending money directly, rather than using tax cuts and concessions to transfer money to households and businesses in the hope they’ll spend it, it should have a higher “multiplier effect” than tax cuts.
But as stimulus, infrastructure also has disadvantages. Big projects take a long time to plan and get approved, so their addition to gross domestic product may arrive after the recession has passed. And major infrastructure tends to be capital-intensive. Much of the money is spent on materials and equipment, not workers.
In a budget we’re told is “all about jobs”, many economists have noted that the same money would have created far more jobs had it been spent on employing more people to improve the delivery of many government-funded services, such as education, aged care, childcare and care of the disabled.
Most of those jobs are done by women. Infrastructure is part of the evidence for the charge that this is a “blokey” budget, all about hard hats and hi-viz vests.
If there’s a TV camera about, no one enjoys donning the hard hat and hi-viz more than our politicians – federal and state, Labor and Liberal, male and female. And it turns out that “high visibility” is another reason economists are less enthusiastic about infrastructure spending than they were.
In practice, many infrastructure projects aren’t as useful and productivity-enhancing as they could be because they’ve been selected to meet political objectives, not economic ones.
Politicians favour big, flashy projects – preferably in one of their own party’s electorates – that have plaques to unveil and ribbons to cut. It’s surprising how many of these projects are announced during election campaigns.
An expert in this field, who keeps tabs on what the pollies get up to, is Marion Terrill, of the Grattan Institute. She notes that since 2016, governments have signed up to 29 projects, each worth $500 million or more. But get this: only six of the 29 had business cases completed at the time the pollies made their commitment.
So “politicians don’t know – and seemingly don’t greatly care – whether it’s in the community’s interest to build these mega-projects,” she says.
Terrill says the $11.5 billion new infrastructure spending announced in the budget includes a mix of small and large projects, such as Queensland’s $750 million Coomera Connector stage one, and $600 million each for sections of NSW’s New England and Newell highways.
The money is being given to the state governments to spend quickly, and it will be taken back if they don’t spend it quickly enough.
Which they may not, because the new projects go into an already crowded market. Federal and state governments have been pumping money into transport construction for so long that, even two years ago, work in progress totalled an all-time high of about $100 billion.
By March this year – before the coronacession – the total had risen to $125 billion, Terrill calculates.
In some states at least, the civil construction industry – as opposed to the home construction industry – is already flat chat. It’s hardly been touched by the lockdown and doesn’t need the support it will be getting. Just how long it takes to work its way through to the new projects, we’ll see.
Terrill notes that the bulging pipeline of infrastructure construction built up before the pandemic was all about responding to the high population growth we’d had for years, and imagined we’d have forever.
But the pandemic’s closure of international borders – and parents’ reluctance to bring babies into such a dangerous world - has brought our population growth to a screaming halt. The budget papers predict negligible population growth this financial year and next, with only a slow recovery in following years. That is, we’re looking at a permanently lower level of population, and maybe a continuing slower rate of population growth.
Terrill says that, rather than ploughing on, we should reassess all the road and rail projects in the pipeline when we’ve got a clearer idea of what our future needs will be. And when we have a better idea how social distancing may have had a lasting effect on workers’ future travel and work patterns.
What’s so stupid about mindlessly piling up further transport projects is that the glitz-crazed pollies are ignoring a real and long-neglected problem: inadequate maintenance of the roads and rail we’ve already got. No sex appeal, apparently.
HSC maths enrolments still low
The number of students taking senior school maths has flatlined over the past 10 years, suggesting mathematics participation has "bottomed out" and universities may need to insist on the subject as a prerequisite to lift enrolments.
About one quarter of year 12 students over the decade did not take any HSC mathematics course, compared to just 6 per cent of students who opted out of maths altogether in 2000, figures provided by the NSW Education Standards Authority show. Of those HSC students who will sit their maths exams this week, more than half (30,757) are taking the standard non-calculus course.
Enrolments in advanced mathematics (16,966) and extension 1 (9060) are lower than they were 10 to 15 years ago despite today's larger overall HSC cohort.
The stagnant interest in HSC maths comes in spite of the NSW government's maths strategy which aims to increase the number of students studying mathematics in their final years of school, as well as the proportion studying higher level HSC mathematics, by 2025.
It also poses difficulties for the federal government's goal of producing more university STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates.
There has been a spike this year in students taking the highest level extension 2 maths HSC exam, making it the largest cohort in eight years (3418), but it is still below the number of students who took extension 2 in 2010 (3529).
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the government was encouraging universities to introduce more prerequisites for their courses. It also made some form of senior school maths compulsory last year, and has hired specialist maths teachers in primary schools to build students' foundations.
"I want to reverse the trend of fewer students studying maths," Ms Mitchell said. "Maths challenges our students' to think critically and creatively, preparing them for whatever career they might choose after school."
Maaike Wienk, a policy officer at the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, said enrolments in maths had not bounced back after sharply declining from 2000 and stabilising in 2010.
"We have basically bottomed out," she said. "But because it's been such a long term decline, I think people forget how it used to be."
In 2000, 94 per cent of HSC students took a maths course. That dropped to 78 per cent of students in 2005, 75 per cent in 2010 and is 76 per cent this year.
Words mean nothing when those on the left use them in arguments
It’s easy to win an argument if you’re a leftist. All you need to do is change the rules of language as you go.
Plenty of allies will assist in this slippery enterprise. For example, then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard famously claimed in 2012 that Liberal leader Tony Abbott hated women.
“The leader of the opposition says that people who hold sexist views and who are misogynists are not appropriate for high office,” Gillard railed in parliament.
“Well, I hope the leader of the opposition has got a piece of paper and he’s writing out his resignation.
“Because if he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn’t need a motion in the House of Representatives. He needs a mirror.“
At the time, misogyny was defined as a hatred of women.
This seemed an unfair accusation to level against Abbott, whose mother, wife, daughters, sister and female colleagues have never known him to exhibit any gender-specific loathing.
So the Macquarie Dictionary stepped in to help, softening the meaning of “misogyny” to now indicate a mere implication of “prejudice” against women.
“Gillard‘s critics no longer have semantics on their side,” the Guardian’s Lizzy Davies gloated. See? It’s just that easy.
A similar politically-motivated alteration recently occurred in the US.
During her confirmation hearings earlier this month, Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett said that she has “never discriminated on the basis of sexual preference and would not ever discriminate on the basis of sexual preference”.
“Like racism, I think discrimination is abhorrent,” Barrett concluded.
Readers unfamiliar with this issue are invited to detect any problem with Barrett’s words. It’s quite a challenge, because there is no problem. None at all.
But Barrett is a conservative and was nominated by US President Donald Trump, so a problem had to be invented.
Mazie Hirono, a Democrat senator from Hawaii, did just that.
“Not once, but twice, you used the term sexual preference to describe those in the LGBTQ community,” she reprimanded Barratt. “And let me make clear, sexual preference is an offensive and outdated term.“
Really? How so? And since when?
According to Hirono, the term “sexual preference” is “used by anti-LGBTQ activists to suggest that sexual orientation is a choice. It is not”.
But according to most people, and almost every dictionary, “sexual preference” just means “sexual preference”.
Immediately after Hirono’s outburst, however, Merriam-Webster updated its own dictionary so as to strengthen the case against Barrett – exactly as the Macquarie Dictionary had previously assisted Julia Gillard.
Their new definition reads: “The term ‘sexual preference’ as used to refer to sexual orientation is widely considered offensive in its implied suggestion that a person can choose who they are sexually or romantically attracted to.”
Merriam-Webster editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski claimed the change was just a matter of routine.
But the cultural left doesn’t stop at changing definitions.
They’ll also change words and phrases, rebranding various unpopular commie concepts so those abominations may be more easily marketed.
That’s why “socialism” became “social justice”, “global warming” became “climate change”, “East Germany” became “Victoria” and “advanced confinement-grade dementia” became “Joe Biden”.
It’s also why “riots” became “peaceful protests” and “violent Marxist stormtroopers” became “Black Lives Matter”.
Words mean nothing to these people, except as shields or weapons. That’s “progressives” for you.
Isolation fuels ‘pandexit’ calls from Western Australia
Premier Mark McGowan has turned Western Australia into a fortress against infection. This has shielded his community from the worst of the pandemic but has increased its separation from the nation. In the words of the Premier, the state’s hard border closure has turned it into “an island within an island”. Not surprisingly, this has rekindled talk of Western Australia seceding from the federation. The movement is gaining momentum because of the success of its isolation, and friction with the commonwealth and other states.
Western Australia was a reluctant entrant to the federation in 1901. It was the last colony to join and did so late in the process. The colony was concerned that its economic position would be weakened by joining the nation, and that the federation would be dominated by the eastern states. The west feared it would not receive its fair share of taxation revenue.
Geography also played a role. Almost 3300km separates Perth from the east coast, an unimaginable distance for many people at the end of the 19th century. By contrast, London is 2500km from Moscow. New Zealand is much closer to Sydney, and yet it declined to join the federation.
After much disagreement and debate, Western Australia decided to unite with the other colonies at the 11th hour. It did so by a popular vote in July 1900, three weeks after Queen Victoria gave royal assent to the British law creating the new nation. This meant it was too late to include a reference to Western Australia as the nation’s sixth founding state.
The opening words to the British Act that introduce the Australian Constitution speak of “the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania” agreeing “to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth”. The omission of Western Australia was symbolic of its uncertainty. This has resonated over the years with the state’s politicians and leading citizens questioning whether a mistake was made and if the time had come to leave the federation.
Economic factors and political dissatisfaction have driven cycles of debate around Western Australia seceding. Mining magnate Andrew Forrest put forward the idea when the Rudd government proposed a mining tax that many saw as plundering the state’s mineral riches. A decade ago, the West Australian mines and petroleum minister Norman Moore also said that the unequal distribution of GST revenue had led to “rumblings of secession — everywhere you go these days, people are now talking about it”. He had “no doubt that Western Australia would be one of the most successful countries in the world if it was a separate country”.
These rumblings have grown again in recent times. The Western Australian Liberal Party passed a resolution at its 2017 state conference calling on the establishment of a committee to “examine the option of Western Australia becoming a financially independent state”. A poll taken this month found 28 per cent of Western Australians want to form their own country.
Others have expressed concern that calls for separation are growing louder. The federal member for Perth, Patrick Gorman, has warned against treating secession as a joke. He has acknowledged the growing support for the idea of Westralia and drawn a comparison with Brexit. In that case, unfavourable economic conditions and unresolved community dissatisfaction enabled a fringe idea to become a reality.
It is no surprise that the pandemic and Australia’s economic problems have restarted this debate. The closest that Western Australia has come to leaving the nation was 90 years ago amid the great depression. In 1930, a state government led by Sir James Mitchell was elected on a platform for secession. In 1933, he put a referendum to the people of Western Australia asking whether the state should withdraw from the commonwealth. People overwhelmingly voted to do so by a margin of two to one.
The state sent a delegation to London to petition the United Kingdom parliament to allow it to become a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. The British diplomatically took their time to respond. Two years later they decided not to entertain the petition because convention dictated that it come from the commonwealth and not an individual state. The commonwealth opposed secession, and so the push ended. The political movement then faltered as economic conditions improved and the commonwealth sent more money west.
The events of almost a century ago demonstrate the difficulty of any state leaving the federation. The problem for the proponents of separation is that federation is a one-way ticket. The constitution provides no mechanism for a state to leave the nation.
In the absence of a revolution, the only path to secession is to amend the constitution to permit a state to leave. The federal parliament would first need to approve the change, followed by the people voting at a referendum. A majority would need to vote yes, plus at least four out of the six states, including Western Australia. The political difficulties of achieving this make secession possible in theory, but impossible in practice. The bottom line is that Western Australians can only leave if the rest of the nation is willing to let them go.
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
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)
***************************************
Monday, October 26, 2020
The visa loophole that's allowing immigrants to 'permanently' stay in Australia - because it takes 50 YEARS to process the application
A special visa has a 50-year processing time, allowing immigrants to effectively stay in Australia indefinitely while they wait for it to be approved.
Craig Rookyard, 32, fled violence and crime in South Africa and moved to Perth to join his parents and sister in 2011.
Mr Rookyard paid $60,000 to complete a business degree at university but didn't qualify for a skilled visa when he graduated in 2013.
He then applied for the remaining relative visa, which allows people to become permanent residents of Australia to be with their close family members.
The visa waiting time was 12 years when Mr Rookyard applied in 2013 but it has since increased to 50 years, meaning he will be 75 years old when he finds out if he is granted residency in 2063.
While he waits, Mr Rookyard is on a bridging visa that allows him to stay in the country but without the benefits of permanent residents and citizens.
He has worked full time, paid taxes, bought a home in the Perth hills and got engaged to his Australian girlfriend while living here the last nine years.
Speaking to Nine News, Mr Rookyard said his visa situation is 'incredibly frustrating because I am Australian in every way but one'.
While Mr Rookyard is still on a bridging visa, his parents and sister have become permanent residents, bringing them one step closer to becoming citizens.
The 32-year-old has no family left in South Africa and doesn't want to return due to crime and violence.
'We were having a tough time there (South Africa) with the crime, we were getting constantly broken into, so we needed to get out quick,' he told Nine News.
'I guess my biggest worry is the uncertainty. We might elect a new government here - and they could say to all the people still waiting on that list – you are not residents here so we are going to cancel your (bridging) visa.
'That's my biggest fear because I don't want to go back to South Africa. I don't have anyone there anymore. My family is all here. Where would I go?'
Mr Rookyward was recently stood down from work during the COVID-19 pandemic but was not able to access JobKeeper like his colleagues since he is not a citizen.
The remaining relative visa is one of four visas in the Other Family category, which had only 500 places in 2019-2020.
The Department of Home Affairs website says 'there will be no further queue release for these visas during migration program year 2019-2020'.
'Current estimated processing time for Remaining Relative and Aged Dependent Relative visa applications that meet the criteria to be queued is approximately 50 years,' the website read.
Another visa with a long wait time is the non-contributory parent visa, which takes an estimated 30 years to process.
Mr Rookyard plans to marry his Australian fiancée in December and will apply for a partner visa afterwards.
The partner visa application will cost $8,000 plus thousands more for migration agent fees but comes with a shorter wait time of three years.
National anthem non-protest decision by Australia's Rugby team
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has confirmed the national men’s rugby side will not take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement before their Bledisloe Cup match against the All Blacks next weekend.
Sporting teams and organisations around the world have opted to show support for the BLM movement since the death of George Floyd by taking a knee.
On Thursday, Wallabies fullback Dane Haylett-Petty revealed the Australian squad were considering a silent protest during the national anthem before their Test match against New Zealand in Sydney on Sunday, October 31.
The Wallabies would become the first Australian national side to take a knee during a national anthem if they went ahead with the silent protest.
“I think it’s great,” Haylett-Petty said. “I think sport has an amazing opportunity to have a say and join conversations and a lot of sports have done that and it would be a great thing for us to do.”
It led ex-Wallabies captain Nick Farr-Jones to speak out against the idea.
“To take the risk of basically splitting the support the Wallabies are starting to earn through their gutsy performances in Wellington and Auckland – just don't do it guys, it's too risky,” he told 2GB radio. “You run the risk that a few (viewers) would just turn off. They don't want to see politics in national sport. That's a real risk. I think it could be divisive. I don't think here in Australia that we have a major issue in relation to discrimination of coloured people."
Which led to a response from former player Gary Ella. “That's just stupid talk. That obviously shows that Nick doesn't have a full appreciation of the history of Aboriginal people in this country,” Ella said. “If you're talking about reconciliation, we're talking about sharing and acknowledging the history that we’ve come past and are working towards a better future. Those type of comments are totally ignoring the history."
On Friday, Rennie told reporters the Australian squad came to a “unanimous decision” not to perform the silent protest.
“We met with the leaders and then the leaders met with the rest of the team and it’s a unanimous decision,’ Rennie said. “The key thing is, this is about honouring our indigenous people and we want the focus to be on that.
“Everyone’s got their own opinions around the other situation, but we want the focus to be on reflecting on our history and our past.
“All I’ve said is that our focus is around the First Nations People and the indigenous jersey. We’re not looking to make a political statement.”
Euthanasia could deliver a blow to Labor’s chances to forming a minority government with a key crossbench party,
Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter, whose party could play a decisive role in picking the next government, has hit out at the Premier – saying her voluntary assisted dying pledge is all about politics.
He said his party did not have an official position on the issue, but he was personally opposed to euthanasia, pointing to his public record and the KAP’s voting history on issues like abortion.
“I just cannot see a scenario where we could align with anyone that would push that agenda,” Mr Katter said.
“I would find it enormously hard to align with anyone that would even contemplate pushing that agenda in the next parliament. That would make it very difficult for me personally. But I couldn’t say any more than that.”
He would not say if the issue would be a deal breaker, but said he was “not in the business of compromising my values every day”.
Mr Katter accused Ms Palaszczuk of taking advantage of a “highly sensitive, emotional issue” during an election campaign.
The Premier announced at her party’s campaign launch that a re-elected Labor government would introduce voluntary assisted dying legislation to the parliament in February.
The Queensland Law Reform Commission would be asked to report back sooner than March on the proposal, with Ms Palaszczuk promising to give her MPs a conscience vote.
Mr Katter acknowledged that there were some strong arguments for euthanasia, but is concerned that once legislated, the laws could change over time – referring to the “slippery slope argument”. “Most people haven’t … put a formal (party) policy together on it because the whole issue was parked up until the law reform commission report came back,” he said.
LNP leader Deb Frecklington has previously refused to say if she personally supports euthanasia, but has said no one should have to die in pain.
ABC news boss warns staff against focus on 'inner city left-wing elites'
ABC news boss Gaven Morris told staff they were too focused on the interests of "inner city left-wing elites" and linked his concerns about editorial coverage to the national broadcaster's ongoing funding from taxpayers.
In remarks made during staff briefings last week Mr Morris warned it would not bode well for the ABC's funding "if we're seen to be representing inner city elite interests", according to three people who were present.
The sources said Mr Morris disparaged "inner city left-wing elites" numerous times, telling staff he would be "happier if we spent less time on the concerns of the inner city elites and more time on the things that matter to central Queensland".
Mr Morris told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age his remarks referred to the public's perception of the ABC and it was wrong for anyone to infer that he was suggesting government funding could be under threat if news coverage did not change.
"It's a value proposition back to taxpayers, back to Australians," he said. "If there is a perception in the community that we are more interested in the concerns and lives of inner city elites, then we need to work harder to make sure we are as relevant to people in central Queensland as we are to people in inner Sydney."
The broadcaster has made no secret it is focused on growing its audience in the outer suburbs and regions, which is an explicit goal of the news division's editorial strategy "More Relevant to More Australians".
But the ABC staff who spoke to The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age were concerned about how "harshly" Mr Morris articulated those priorities during the briefings, as well as the explicit link they felt he made between editorial content and the broadcaster's funding.
"The idea we would shape coverage to please our masters is very worrying," one person said.
Some of the sources agreed it was desirable to broaden the ABC's output but said this should be done when warranted by news value, not to change public perception or please the government. They complained Mr Morris' remarks were reminiscent of critiques of the ABC routinely made on Sky News "after dark" or in the editorial pages of The Australian.
According to the people on the call, Mr Morris did not directly mention climate change in his remarks, but his references to issues that were pertinent to Queensland were interpreted as a message the ABC was too focused on the dangers of climate change and not sufficiently interested in the loss of coal jobs, for example.
In response to questions, an ABC spokesperson said: "A couple of words from an hour-long briefing without the proper context is not an accurate summation."
The spokesperson said the goal of the editorial strategy "More Relevant to More Australians" was to expand the range of issues the broadcaster covers.
"ABC News already does excellent and comprehensive coverage of all aspects of climate change, and we'll keep doing that," they said.
"As well as that, we want to make sure we're doing an equally good job covering a whole lot of other issues that are also really important to people and affect their lives.
"The reference to Queensland was simply this: we need to keep working hard to ensure we're as appreciated by and relevant to people in central Queensland as we are to people in central Sydney if we're to provide value to all Australians."
Mr Morris has run the ABC's news, analysis and investigations division for five years, and oversees all the ABC's broadcast and digital news and current affairs output.
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
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)
***************************************
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Alan Jones: COVID causes a global crisis of freedom
Sky News host Alan Jones says COVID-19 is not, and has never been, a pandemic:
I am forever an optimist. But there is certainly a crisis in this country and, indeed, in the Western world. It’s a crisis of trust, because we also face an economic crisis, a mental crisis, an unemployment crisis, business viability crisis, an aviation crisis, a crisis in the arts industry — the list is endless, all a derivative of strategies addressing a virus which are utterly out of all proportion to the nature of the problem.
As a result, we learn this week that Millennials in democracies throughout the world are more disillusioned with their system of government than any young generation in living memory. This is a survey of nearly five million people.
Roberto Foa, the study’s lead author from the Centre for the Future of Democracy at Cambridge University, was quoted as saying: “This is the first generation in living memory to have a global majority who are dissatisfied with the way democracy works …”
David Kemp is a former federal Liberal MP, a colleague of mine in a Prime Ministerial office, and one of the most formidable defenders of liberal traditions. He wrote recently: “The corrupting effect of political power and self-interest has so clearly outed itself. The pandemic has highlighted some simple and sometimes harsh truths about ourselves, our leaders and our democracy … The most important truth is that, as individuals, we suffer, and some of us die, not from the virus, but from the lack of freedom to express and achieve our values and pursue our dreams.”
Rightly, argues David Kemp: “These disturbing occurrences underline how vital our civil liberties, democratic processes and constitutional constraints are to our wellbeing as a people and a nation.”
Well may we ask if we will ever get them back. Section 92 of the Constitution guarantees that intercourse among States should be “absolutely free”. No section of our Constitution was more rigorously debated leading up to Federation in 1901 than Section 92. Our Federal government refuses to go to the High Court to defend our Constitution. If our national government won’t, who will?
The “science” is thrown back at us to justify what is nothing more than totalitarian behaviour.
John Tierney, in City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute of Policy Research, which is a leading free-market think tank, wrote recently of lockdowns and of Anthony Fauci, the White House adviser, whom Donald Trump has roundly criticised: “He and politicians like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, profess to be following the science. But no ethical scientist would conduct such a risky experiment without carefully considering the dangers and monitoring the results …”
When a politician says that this is all because of “the science”, why you can only have 10 here and 20 there and 300 there, and you can’t stand, you can only sit and you can’t sing, and you can’t shake hands — never has a single piece of paper been presented that provides an epidemiological justification for what we are being told to do.
Yet, the World Bank estimates that the coronavirus recession could push 60 million people into extreme poverty, which inevitably means more disease and death.
President Trump argued this week: “People are tired of COVID. I have the biggest rallies I have ever seen ... people are saying “whatever, just leave us alone.”
As Henry Ergas wrote, clinically this month: “Every new case leads the evening news, reinforcing its image as the Grim Reaper. One might have hoped that the experts would set the picture straight.” Well, despite my protestations, no politician in this country has ever, and I repeat ever, quoted the World Health Organisation’s daily statistics — 99 per cent of cases are mild, 1 per cent serious or critical.
Indeed, as I write, in the whole of Australia, there are 17 people in hospital. But lockdowns persist. Everywhere. Not just Victoria.
No debate, no justification. Just do as you’re told or cop the consequences. Seriously, what country are we living in? Politicians should hang their arrogant heads in shame.
Mind Medicine Australia has put together a report, documenting the consequences of the response to this virus. And, among other things, it argues that, over the next five years, the additional cost to the Australian economy from those suffering from heightened psychological distress who remain employed, but at reduced productivity, is estimated at $114 billion; that modelling from the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre suggests the COVID-19 pandemic will contribute to a major surge, 25 per cent in suicides with an increase of up to 30 per cent among young people aged 15 to 25.
The greatest metaphor of the alarmism, fear and hysteria that has overtaken our country and, indeed the world, is the use of the word “pandemic”. This is not a pandemic. It was never a pandemic.
It doesn’t matter which country you take — the US, with 328 million people, Sweden with 10 million people, or outfits like Italy, France, the UK, Spain and Australia in between — the statistics of people who are said to have died from coronavirus, (and remember, many of these people may have died with it not from it) nonetheless, the percentage of the population who have died is basically the same in all of these countries is 0.07 per cent.
Australia is an island continent with 25 million people. If we had not had Ruby Princess and international travellers, we could have easily escaped the whole show. But even so, deaths are 0.0035 per cent and look at the price we are now paying.
I have, for months, cited one international authority after another, who has argued the strategy is wrong.
Professor Joe Kettner, from Manitoba University, who said: “I have seen pandemics, one every year. It’s called influenza and other respiratory illness viruses. I have never seen this reaction and I’m trying to understand why.”
Professor John Ioannidis, the Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University (and think of those mortality figures I have cited) has said: “If we had not known about a new virus out there and had not checked individuals with PCR tests, the number of total deaths due to “influenza-like illness” would not seem unusual this year.
“At most, we might have casually noted that flu this season seems to be a bit worse than average. The media coverage would have been less than for an NBA game between the two most indifferent teams.”
We are in a social, economic and moral sewer, because we have failed to listen to world authorities.
A fed-up and disillusioned Australia is cheering when Professor Kemp argues: “The authoritarianism of those whose philosophies are based on centralised power and imposed conformity has been unmistakeable … it’s time for the Prime Minister to recognise … that giving priority to his relations with those who abuse their power and disrespect their citizens is not consistent with the strong lead that the nation needs.”
Our collective plea is, get out of our way, leave us alone and give our country and our freedoms back to us.
The West’s booming new religion
This week, Britain’s Equalities Minister delivered a speech we probably wouldn’t hear in our federal parliament. That’s a shame because we could do with some home truths about a booming wokeness movement that is deeply flawed.
During a House of Commons debate on Black History Month, Tory minister Kemi Badenoch, an immigrant of Nigerian heritage, exposed the blind adherence of schools to simplistic slogans of the Black Lives Matters movement.
“I want to speak about a dangerous trend in race relations that has come far too close to home in my life and it is the promotion of critical race theory — an ideology that sees my blackness as victimhood and their whiteness as oppression,” she said. “What we are against is the teaching of contested political ideas as if they are accepted facts. We don’t do this with communism. We don’t do this with socialism. We don’t do it with capitalism.”
Badenoch said that some schools have decided to openly support the anti-capitalist Black Lives Matter group “often fully aware that they have the statutory duty to be politically impartial”.
“Black lives do matter. Of course they do,” said Badenoch. “But we know that the Black Lives Matter movement — capital B, L, M — is political. I know this, because at the height of the protest, I’ve been told of white Black Lives Matter protesters calling — and I apologise for saying this word — calling a black armed police officer guarding Downing Street a ‘pet n …’.”
When Badenoch entered the British parliament in mid-2017, she was hailed by sections of the media as the smartest of the crop of new MPs. And maybe only a woman of colour could rise in parliament and say we should stop pretending BLM “is a completely wholesome anti-racist organisation”. ‘There is a lot of pernicious stuff that is being pushed and we stand against that,” she said.
“We do not want to see teachers teaching their pupils about white privilege and their inherited racial guilt. And let me be clear, any school which teaches these elements of critical race theory as fact, or which promotes partisan political views such as defunding the police without offering a balanced treatment of opposing views, is breaking the law.”
Let’s not kid ourselves. There is a similar propensity in Australian schools to present BLM in simplistic, and misleading, terms as a wholesome anti-racist movement.
For example, at Ballarat Grammar, a weekly chapel service in week eight of term three, delivered as a video package to students, was devoted to the BLM movement. After an introduction where the school chaplain describes social movements as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, a number of students read scripted statements extolling the virtues of the BLM movement. Students call for reparations for invasion. They talk about white privilege. They detail the terrible treatment of some Indigenous Australians within the justice system.
Students should bring complex and difficult issues to the attention of other students. Genuine learning will, at times, cause discomfort. But the video package for Ballarat Grammar students, and posted on the intra-school website, is a mickey mouse version of the BLM movement. It makes no attempt to recognise BLM as a political movement, which, like every political movement is complicated, sometimes inconsistent, and not figured out from a handful of scripted platitudes. Students are not stupid. Teachers, and preachers, respect them far more by allowing them to explore how political movements can be both significant and far from perfect.
Students have come of age in an online world. So there has never been a greater need to help them be discerning, curious, even sceptical of what they come across in their digital world. So why package up the BLM movement as a Hallmark card?
Defunding police, for example, has become a crude mantra of the BLM movement. It ought to be contested, even at schools, lest students imagine that mantras are a substitute for thinking about complex issues.
As Ballarat Grammar was compiling its BLM chapel video, the BLM website stated its aim to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family”. Though deleted from the website in mid-September, how does this anti-family view fit with the chaplain’s claim that the BLM movement is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit?
Parts of the BLM movement are radically political, vehemently anti-capitalist and aimed at dismantling the liberal order. It’s not hard to find video footage of black-clad BLM protesters standing over diners at restaurants, chanting “white silence is violence”, demanding that all people raise their fists to show solidarity with their chosen agenda.
If this was just a case of dumbing down education, that would be bad enough given the woeful results of Australian students in international educational rankings. But if educators are not giving students the warts-and-all truth about the BLM movement, how will kids learn to separate some very sound aims from some deeply authoritarian traits? Ballarat Grammar’s chapel service could have offered students the chance to consider a deeply ethical question: when, if ever, do the ends justify the means?
Imagine a school classroom where high school students are asked to consider whether Western lives matter? Where they are challenged to think whether we should kneel for French teacher Samuel Paty? Where they are asked to consider what Italian journalist Guilio Meotti said during the week after the civics teacher was beheaded for discussing the Mohammed cartoons in his classroom: “This French teacher was the victim of the most ferocious racism that circulates today in Western democracies, that of fundamentalist beliefs against ‘infidels’.”
Alas, not just schools offer unthinking support for the BLM movement. Corporations and all kinds of other groups salute it too as part of their commitment to “diversity and inclusivity”. This commitment, part and parcel of a wider wokeness agenda, is another quasi-political movement that, like the BLM movement, could do with a splash of scepticism and analysis.
Parading virtue is not the same as doing good. No organisation should need a highly paid team of D&I “experts” to prove it supports inclusivity and diversity. Nor should it need pages of turgid D&I policies to understand that no person should be discriminated against on the basis of sex, sexuality, creed, culture or race.
But the D&I industry has become the perfect Trojan horse for more opportunistic activists to demand special status and privileges for groups they deem special. And timid CEOs and boards are swallowing it, lock, stock and barrel. Most companies have D&I statements drafted by D&I “officers”, D&I KPIs drawn up and monitored by more D&I “professionals”, D&I workshops run by D&I “experts”. It is, as Time magazine reported late last year, a booming industry: a 2019 survey of 234 companies in the S&P 500 found that 63 per cent of diversity “experts” were appointed during the past three years.
What a terrific lurk. No skills or formal qualifications required. Learn the D&I lingo, master the art of bullshit, and you’re on your way to a lucrative career with guaranteed work from company executives and board members looking to mimic each other with expensively drafted drivel about diversity and inclusion.
Woke D&I flunkies are paid handsomely, for example, to advise companies to establish their diversity and inclusion credentials by encouraging employees to “bring their whole self to work”. Most of it is for show. And much of it is as deeply flawed as the BLM movement.
What if your whole self includes a Christian or Muslim view of traditional marriage or homosexuality? Rugby Australia famously told Israel Folau not to bring those bits of his whole self to work, nor to express them on his personal social media accounts. Then he was told not to come to work at all.
James Cook University is another organisation that, according to its website “encourages diversity.” “JCU has an extensive program in place to encourage diversity,” it says. JCU places “diversity messages” in its recruitment advertising — such as this: “We are enriched by and celebrate our workplace diversity and welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and abilities.”
But when it comes to the university’s core business, diversity and inclusion is a crock. Rather than defend the diversity of academic opinions, JCU sacked physic professor Peter Ridd, claiming he acted in an uncollegial manner when he challenged the quality of climate research by a JCU academic.
More and more, the D&I industry resembles a new religion for our secular age. Corporate executives throw shareholder money in the D&I collection plate to signal their virtue.
Even worse, whereas older, traditional religions are learning to become more tolerant of difference, the D&I industry is not there yet.
Restrictions hinder housing affordability
Restrictions on new building are one of the main reasons housing is so expensive, especially in Sydney. Local councils want to make this worse.
Ku-ring-gai Council, in Sydney’s affluent North Shore, recently voted for “no increase in housing numbers or building heights” in defiance of state government targets.
Several other Sydney councils, including Ryde, Canterbury Bankstown and Randwick have called for reductions in the housing targets.
These calls are ostensibly in response to a reduction in population growth following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alister Henskens, the local state member, argues that, because of the pandemic, “no new housing may be required in the next 5 years in Ku-ring-gai as there is likely to be an excess of housing supply over demand in Sydney in the medium term.” Many other politicians have made similar claims.
There are three problems with this argument.
First, it ignores Sydney’s long history of under-building. This has accumulated to a large shortage. The NSW Productivity Commission’s recent Green Paper estimates that since 2006 housing supply has fallen short of underlying household formation by 70,000 dwellings.
This shortage is expected to grow to 170,000 dwellings by 2040. These projections take into account the pandemic and current building targets.
Second, a more relevant way to gauge the need for housing is to compare sale prices with supply costs. Homebuyers in Sydney are paying $350,000 more for the average new apartment than it costs to supply.
The unaffordability of housing is further evidence of a housing shortage. High housing costs are an unavoidable consequence of supply restrictions like those of Ku-ring-gai council.
Third, the construction industry is already undergoing a sharp contraction. However, unlike hospitality, entertainment and many other industries that have been hit by the pandemic, construction is a “COVID-safe” activity. It is an area of the economy that can be readily and safely expanded to reduce unemployment.
Unlike industries being supported by fiscal stimulus, market-rate housing provides goods of lasting value that households really want.
With high prices and negative real interest rates, now is a great time to be building houses. The construction industry can rapidly create jobs at no cost to the taxpayer.
All that is needed is for planners to get out of the way.
The alternative of letting the local councils reduce their targets will make housing even more unaffordable.
https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/restrictions-hinder-housing-affordability/
University to shift teacher training to postgrad diplomasBack to the future. No more dummy teachers: Students with poor High School marks no longer admitted
The University of Technology Sydney has abruptly shelved its primary teaching degree, saying it was losing money and struggling to attract students because of government-imposed academic standards for trainee teachers.
The decision – which the university describes as a "pause" – comes as a new federal university funding scheme, beginning next year, reduces fees for education degrees to address a looming teacher shortage.
UTS' BEd (Primary) degree has been removed from the 2021 University Admissions Centre guide. Hundreds of students who listed it as a preference have been individually contacted to be told it is not available, multiple sources told the Herald.
The dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Professor Alan Davison, wrote to the school of education late last month listing the reasons behind the decision.
There was not enough interest in the degree, its ATAR was low compared with competitors, and the school of education was not generating enough high-visibility research, he wrote in an email seen by the Herald.
"There is continued impact on load [student numbers] from increasing federal and state standards requirements, [such as] those wishing to enter a teaching degree require a minimum standard of three Band 5 HSC results," the email said.
Professor Davidson’s email said UTS’s vice-chancellor and provost had asked him to take "prompt action" to pause the degree, and explore the possibility of offering a postgraduate primary education course instead.
"As you are aware, undergraduate teacher education at UTS has been a major loss maker, and that must be addressed with some urgency," he wrote.
Students studying the degree will finish it, and there will be a small first-year cohort next year of deferred and repeating students. The secondary education degree has also been cancelled with UAC, and will be offered as a masters degree.
A spokeswoman for UTS said the pause would allow a review of the course in the first half of next year, "leading to a decision on its ongoing viability," she said.
One in 10 trainee teachers fails required literacy and numeracy tests
The decision was made before the federal government’s changes to student fees passed the Senate on October 8. "The challenges facing the area predate, and are unrelated to, the recent government funding changes," the spokeswoman said.
Under those changes, student fees for education degrees will drop by almost $3000 to encourage more students to study teaching. However, the government will not match the amount of money universities will lose due to the lower fees, so teaching – like nursing and engineering – will attract less total funding per student.
Michael Thomson, the state secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union, said UTS was due to replace its existing primary teaching course with a new one in 2021. Staff had been working on that course for at least a year.
"They were quite shocked when the announcement came that they were putting it on pause," he said. "What does a pause mean? People are concerned that this decision was made a bit ad hoc."
Mr Thomson said staff found out about the change two days before voluntary separation applications closed. "If they’d had this information beforehand, it might have influenced what they did," he said.
Like many universities, UTS’s revenue from international students has been hit hard by border closures related to COVID-19.
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
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)
***************************************
Friday, October 23, 2020
How Victoria's lockdown killed four newborn babies: Distraught families told that their children were not permitted to enter Victoria for emergency heart surgery before they died
Four babies have died in Adelaide in the past four weeks after they could not be airlifted to Melbourne due to the city's coronavirus lockdown.
South Australia does not have a cardiac unit for children meaning seriously ill newborns with heart issues are normally taken to Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital - but this option has been ruled out due to the pandemic, an inquiry heard on Tuesday.
Victoria does not currently have any restrictions in place for travellers entering from another Australian state.
But Slaried Medical Officers Association chief industrial officer Bernadette Mulholland told The Australian that doctors told her 'in these four cases, the issue was Victoria not being able to retrieve the babies'.
Associate Professor John Svigos told the South Australian parliament's public health services committee that Melbourne's lockdown meant transfer was not available.
'In our current COVID situation... the usual process of referral to the Melbourne cardiac unit is no longer tenable, and referral to Sydney is on a case-by-case basis,' he said.
The babies died over the course of the past four weeks, with the most recent death coming on Friday.
The inquiry heard the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital being described as 'second class'.
'The Women's and Children's Hospital has sadly seen the deaths of three babies in the past four weeks who were unable to be transferred, who almost certainly would have benefited from on-site cardiac services,' Professor Svigos said, according to the Adelaide Advertiser.
'I shall leave it to you to imagine the profound effect of these deaths on the parents, their families and the dedicated medical and nursing staff dealing with these tragedies... they feel that they have let their patients down.'
The respected obstetrician, who now heads up the WCH Alliance lobby, bluntly asked how many more deaths of babies and young children will the community and staff be forced to endure before the situation is improved at the hospital?
Shortly after the explosive testimony, Ms Mulholland informed the committee a fourth child had also tragically died on Friday.
She told the committee a chronic lack of resources is leaving medical staff on the brink of 'burnout'. Ms Mulholland explained it was common for junior doctors to be found 'sleeping on the floor because of a lack of resources', the INDAILY reported.
'Essentially there is not enough staff, not enough resourcing, not enough allied health to run many of the services of paediatric medicine in this state,' she said.
'If something is not done about it then the legacy this will create for the women and children of this state will unfortunately be very grim.'
One year earlier hospital staff called for a an upgrade to the chronic lack of paediatric cardiac services available at the hospital but the business case was rejected because it was not seen to be economically viable.
An independent report concluded the number of likely cases would not be enough justify $6million set-up cost, or keep the skill levels of surgeons up to standard.
But Professor Svigos warned the hospital must become self sufficient and not rely on patient transfers.
'If we are not self sufficient we are going to run into this problem again – it would be crazy to think we are not going to have another pandemic at some stage,' he said.
After sitting through the alarming testimony, committee chairwoman Connie Bonaros said the situation is 'utterly unacceptable' and 'national disgrace'.
She said babies were dying entirely due to penny-pinching.
In response to the damning allegations, the Women's and Children's Hospital told Daily Mail in a statement paediatric cardiac surgery services are currently under review with the Network's Board.
'We are working closely with our clinicians to develop a service proposal for the use of ECMO for children in South Australia,' the statement read.
'The hospital added that South Australian children will always have access to the health services they need.
'The quality of the services we provide is always our number one priority and South Australian families should rest assured that our hospital continues to provide the safest care for our patients.'
Financial case for Snowy Hydro 2.0 just doesn't hold water
A boondoggle initiated by former PM Turnbull to placate the Greenies
To begin, the true cost has not been admitted but is creeping up. This cost is in two parts – money paid by the government to take full ownership of Snowy Hydro and the cost of the project itself. The federal government, which only had shares in 13 per cent of Snowy Hydro at the start of this process, paid NSW and Victoria $6.3 billion to buy them out, based on a “fair market value” for Snowy Hydro of $7.8 billion. Allowing for inflation, this was more than double the value estimated as part of a failed privatisation attempt in 2006. The government’s total investment was increased to $9.18 billion with an equity injection/subsidy of a further $1.38 billion.
Sure, the government will now stand to get the full dividends but these are shrinking, as revealed in the latest annual report published this week ($218 million last financial year?), and indicate a poor investment return, even pre-Snowy 2.0.
In March 2017, the project was estimated to cost $2 billion. In April last year, a contract for part construction was let at $5.1 billion, to a syndicate made up of Italy’s Salini Impregilo, South Africa's Clough and US company Lane Construction. The latest cost estimate, declared in the recent Standard and Poor credit assessment, was $5.7-$6.2 billion, which excludes many significant costs, especially transmission, bringing the government’s total exposure to date to more than $15 billion.
It is significant that S&P downgraded the credit standing of Snowy Hydro to near junk status in September, even though the capital injection was ostensibly to prop up the credit rating so a final investment decision could be made.
S&P also noted that: "We could lower our ratings if we were to believe that ... timely and adequate support from the government is not forthcoming." They also said: "We expect that Snowy will not undertake any other major projects (such as additional gas-fired generation) in a manner that would place pressure on the balance sheet of the company, or without appropriate support from the shareholders."
This provides important context to Morrison’s threat to use Snowy to build gas-fired generation in the Hunter if the private sector fails to commit by April next year to provide an adequate replacement for the Liddell coal-fired power station.
Snowy Hydro has claimed exaggerated net benefits of $4.4 billion to $6.8 billion, way short of the likely cost. The business case just doesn’t stack up, with costs seriously understated and revenues overstated. The government has made extraordinary, open-ended commitments to Snowy – and taxpayers are carrying the risk.
The Australian Energy Market Operator's Integrated System Plan has indicated that Snowy 2.0 will not be needed for another 10 years, not today, as Snowy management has claimed. This is evidenced by the historically low use of the pumped storage component of Tumut 3 station. AEMO forecasts less than half the output that Snowy has assumed. Far more efficient and cheaper storage alternatives are available.
The government also claims that Snowy 2.0 will put downward pressure on electricity prices and create jobs. Yet its own modelling shows higher prices from 2032 to 2047, and these price forecasts exclude the significant costs of transmission. Generation may push prices lower, but pumping will push them higher. At 2000MW, Snowy 2.0 will be the largest demand in the market, and pumping is required for 133 per cent of the time of generation due to losses. Moreover, how much of pumping power will be coal-fired?
As to jobs, the partial EIS suggests just eight to 16 operational jobs after construction.
As a pumped hydro project Snowy 2.0 also has its weaknesses - the 27-kilometre gap between the two reservoirs is about double the longest anywhere else in the world, resulting in high water friction losses, and the storage capacity of the lower reservoir is smaller.
The significance of the environmental impact on Kosciuszko National Park should also not be dismissed. This includes the project's size, which covers thousands of hectares, including hundreds of hectares of crucial habitats; the dumping of millions of cubic metres of spoil (some contaminated); more than 100 kilometres of access roads and tracks; clearways measuring 120 to 200 metres wide for the 10 kilometres of two double-circuit 330kV transmission lines; depressed water tables above the tunnel; the compounding of bushfire damage; and the visible scars on the landscape. It is certainly the largest, and perhaps the only, significant commercial/industrial project allowed in our national parks.
It should also be recognised that this project is not vital to the transition to renewables and it creates about 50 million tonnes of greenhouse gases during construction and operation.
Even though government spending is essential to our COVID-19 recovery, taxpayers want assurances of value for their money. Energy experts have been sceptical about Snowy 2.0 from the outset. It is essential that there be a full and genuinely independent assessment of the project before another dollar is committed or spent.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has demanded Australia Post's CEO stand aside pending an investigation into the purchase of luxury watches for executives.
The Communications Minister has ordered an investigation into Australia Post after four senior employees were given $3,000 Cartier watches as a "thank you" for working to secure a lucrative deal with three of the major banks in 2018.
Minister Paul Fletcher said he had asked Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate to step aside during the investigation. "I was as shocked and concerned as everybody else to discover this when it was revealed in Estimates this morning," he said.
"I have asked the chair [of Australia Post] to provide the full support of the company for this investigation, and I have also asked the chair to inform the chief executive that she will be asked to stand aside during the course of this investigation."
The Estimates hearing was told the watches went to a team who worked on a multi-million-dollar deal that meant customers of Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB could do their banking at post offices.
Ms Holgate said the employees were given the watches on behalf of the chair of the board and herself as a thank you gift.
"There were a small number of senior people who put in an inordinate amount of work in, and they did receive a reward," she said.
Ms Holgate said she was not one of the four people who received a watch, and could not specify what type of watches were bought.
When asked how and on what card they were purchased, neither Ms Holgate or the company's chief financial officer could say, but they rejected a suggestion they were paid for with taxpayer funds. "We are a commercial organisation, it was a recommendation from our chair that these people get rewarded," she said.
The Federal Government owns Australia Post but it operates as an independent business and does not receive funding from the Government.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was "appalled" and that the gifts were "disgraceful and not on".
"We are the shareholders of Australia Post on behalf of the Australian people," he said. "The chief executive ... has been instructed to stand aside, if she doesn't wish to do that, she can go."
Australia Post has recently reduced letter delivery services to every second day in a bid to meet the increased demand of delivering parcels, which now make up 61 per cent of its business because of the increase in online shopping.
Earlier today, Ms Holgate flagged that the company planned to employ up to 5,000 extra people to help with increased demand over Christmas.
Canberra magistrate Bernadette Boss complained Supreme Court made it impossible to protect children
A Canberra magistrate's exasperated warning she is "no longer in a position to protect children" from parents who beat them has been revealed after an appeal against one of her decisions.
Magistrate Bernadette Boss made the remarks — aimed at the ACT Supreme Court — in June, while hearing the case of a mother who slapped, pinched and punched her 11-year-old son.
During the hearing, lawyers for the woman presented an appeal against an earlier decision by Dr Boss, in which the Supreme Court set aside the sentence she imposed and replaced it with a non-conviction order with 12-months' good behaviour.
In that case, a mother had hit her seven-year-old son with a shoe after he lost some of his toys, leaving him with "significant" bruising.
The outcome of the appeal had been published just two days before the sentencing hearing.
After being presented with the documents in court, Dr Boss believed the Supreme Court's overturning of her sentence meant she had to sentence the 11-year-old's mother in a similar fashion, despite her concern it was too lenient.
"OK, children are clearly not to be protected in this jurisdiction. I know I'll probably get into trouble for making that remark, but I find that absolutely remarkable in the extreme," she told the June sentencing hearing. "I don't know what I'm to do frankly. I can't protect children in light of that decision. How can I protect a child in this jurisdiction?
"A child in this jurisdiction can be assaulted and actual bodily harm can be occasioned to them, and that is still not serious enough to be beyond a section 17 [non-conviction order]. "My hands are tied. I'm virtually forced into a section 17 in this case."
Dr Boss said she wished the Supreme Court judge who overturned her original sentence, Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson, would join her to hear family violence cases in the lower court. "With all due respect to her Honour, I wish she would come and sit in the family violence list," she said. "I'm amazed. I can't go further than that without being disrespectful."
Dr Boss is set to leave the ACT Magistrates Court, having recently been appointed as the National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention.
Justice Loukas-Karlsson's decision in the appeal took into account the fact the seven-year-old's mother was facing other stresses in her life.
"The appellant's serious personal stress and emotional strain had caused an uncharacteristic lapse of judgement, as a result of which the appellant committed the offence," she said.
After seeing that judgement, Dr Boss sentenced the 11-year-old's mother to a 12-month good behaviour order with no conviction recorded.
She interpreted the Supreme Court decision to mean first-time assaults on children, even if they resulted in bruising, should not result in convictions.
But prosecutors then appealed that decision to the Supreme Court as well, arguing it was too lenient.
In a decision published this week, Justice David Mossop found Dr Boss had been wrong to believe the first appeal left her with no option but to issue a non-conviction order.
"In my view, her Honour erred in approaching the matter on the basis that the sentence [in the first appeal] was a binding precedent," he said.
But he ultimately found that while Dr Boss could have used her discretion, the final sentence was right for the woman's case.
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
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)
***************************************
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Warning Perth in 'rental crisis' as residential vacancy rate slumps to lowest level in 13 years
Covid inspired laws that protect tenants but burden landlords have driven many landlords out of the business. Being inconsiderate of landlords always has that effect
Western Australia's peak real estate body has warned Perth is in a "rental crisis" after the city's residential vacancy rate fell below 1 per cent for only the third time in 40 years.
The "rental crisis" is being stoked by a lack of investors
Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) figures show the home vacancy rate has dropped to 0.96 per cent, the lowest level in 13 years.
REIWA President Damian Collins said the rate was declining rapidly and was on track to reach the 0.8 per cent all-time low, recorded in March 2007.
"With rental listings in Perth falling eight per cent to 2,926 over the month, we have certainly hit a rental crisis," he said. "Tenants looking for a rental will potentially find themselves unable to find a home.
"We're seeing sometimes dozens and dozens of people looking at properties and that many tenants are finding out they can't get into a home."
Mr Collins said the COVID-19 pandemic had seen many people abroad return to WA at once, all looking for homes to either rent or buy.
"I suspect that coming into early 2021, it's likely we're going to run out of all properties available in totality," he said.
Low property investment fuelling shortage
Mr Collins suggested the problems being experienced in the rental market were largely due to low levels of investor activity.
"Typically during this time we would see investors enter the market and increase stock levels, however we are seeing investors are not as confident," he said.
"Western Australia has approximately 17 per cent of properties purchased by investors, whereas we would normally expect to see investors buying 30 per cent or more of the available properties."
An aerial view of the inner city Perth suburb of Inglewood.
REIWA says the rental crisis will only get worse if investors are not lured back into the market.(ABC News: Gian De Poloni)
Mr Collins said one factor spooking investors was the extension of the COVID-19 emergency residential tenancy laws until the end of March next year.
The State Government introduced the legislation earlier this year in response to the global pandemic, protecting tenants from being evicted from their rental properties and banning rent increases on existing tenancies.
Mr Collins said it disregarded the needs of landlords and would ultimately lead to higher rental prices and fewer rental properties being available when the emergency period came to an end.
He said the rental crisis would only get worse if investors were not encouraged back into the market.
"The Government needs to send a clear signal to the market that they have no intention of extending the legislation further if we remain relatively COVID-19 free," he said.
"That might give some confidence back to investors to come back into the market when they have some clarity about the outlook of their investment property, otherwise investors will continue to sit on their hands and make a bad situation even worse."
Wollongong Coal says Russell Vale mine expansion 'no risk' to Sydney's drinking water, but locals are wary
There's no such thing as a happy Greenie. They make themselves feel significant by opposing things
A New South Wales coal mining company that wants to expand a mothballed operation beneath Sydney's drinking water catchment says it has "engineered out" any risk to the environment.
Wollongong Coal is seeking approval from the State Government to extract 3.7 million tonnes of coal over five years from its Russell Vale mine.
During a two-day public hearing of the Independent Planning Commission (IPC), chief executive Warwick Lidbury said the company would use a bord-and-pillar mining method to mitigate subsidence.
"The board of Wollongong Coal has committed to complete this project and future projects utilising an environmentally friendly process," he said.
"It excludes longwall mining and has engineered out the risk associated with mining under the water catchment, as well as the noise generated, air quality, and the visual impacts on the pit top area.
"The extraction plan will ensure no cracking of the strata, no additional loss of water from the catchment, no adverse effects of the water quality on the surface, no adverse effects on the upland swamps, no effects that will increase bushfire risk and no effects on any Aboriginal sites."
The colliery has been in care and maintenance since 2015 and its owners are $1 billion in debt.
It is the third time Wollongong Coal, which is owned by Indian business Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), has significantly amended its expansion proposal since 2009.
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) has now recommended the IPC approve the project after what it described as an "exhaustive process".
"The revised bord-and-pillar mining method addressed the key concerns raised in previous reports, in relation to the uncertainty around subsidence and groundwater impacts," director of resource assessments, Steven O'Donoghue, said.
"There'll be economic benefits to the Illawarra and overall, considering that the benefits outweigh the residual costs."
More than 80 parties, including residents, community organisations and businesses, made presentations to the commission on Monday and Tuesday, with fewer than a quarter in favour of the proposal.
Opposition to the project included concerns for water loss from Sydney's drinking supply and climate change, as well as truck movements, noise pollution, and the impact on air quality.
"We're constantly having coal dust descending on our homes," said Illawarra Residents for Responsible Mining spokesperson Alison Edwards.
"As soon as the mine starts up again, with its dropping coal from a high conveyer onto stockpiles, on unsealed roads, we will again be beset by heavy loads of coal dust falling in the vicinity."
Lock the Gate spokesperson Nic Clyde used his presentation to refute claims the bord-and-pillar technique would remove the risk to the water catchment.
"[The project] will cause the loss of about 10 million litres a year to surface waters, which adds up to 50 million litres of water over the five years," he said.
Members of the Seacliff Coasters running group also questioned the mine's impact on public amenity and recreational use of the Illawarra escarpment.
"We've been running for a very long time, but a virtual wall has now been imposed by Wollongong Coal on the Lower Escarpment Trail," said runner Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom.
"A gate and a newly erected sign indicate no access and threaten prosecution for those who do.
"I call for you to reject the coal mine expansion proposal to enable us to keep enjoying and caring for this magical natural environment."
A boost to employment
Several speakers argued in favour of the proposal on the basis that it would create 205 direct jobs, 800 indirect jobs and 22 jobs during construction.
"If the Russell Vale mine does go back into full production, it will lead to more jobs and revenue for our office and supporting businesses," said Becker Mining spokesperson Geoff Pollard.
"The project will be required to use many different trades and contractors from many different fields and will continue to need these people for the life of the mine.
"This is a great opportunity for the Illawarra."
Danae Horsey, director of the Little School Preschool at Kembla Grange, said Wollongong Coal also made a significant financial contribution to the local community.
"We've had a very positive relationship with Wollongong Coal over the years," she said.
"They've been very generous in support of our community projects and keeping small services like ours viable.
"They make donations to our programs, they funded our early-learning languages program, they've funded our sustainability projects [by] donating money for water tanks and having those installed.
"I think it's under-reported, the good work that they do, and how they support small businesses like us."
In June 2018, the NSW Resources Regulator accepted an enforceable undertaking from Wollongong Coal to pay donations of $5,000 to a local charity or community group and to lease a portion of its property to the Little School Preschool for $1 per year until 2023.
The decision was made after an investigation into an alleged failure of the company to pay annual rental fees and administrative levies.
The IPC will make a determination on the Russell Vale Expansion Project in the coming months.
New Zealand has elected its most diverse Parliament ever. How does Australia compare?
Why is this Left-wing bigotry condoned? People should be judged on their personal merits, not on what group they belong to
New Zealand has just elected its most diverse Parliament ever — almost half their MPs will be women, and around 10 per cent are from the LGBTQ+ community.
Ms Kerekere said it was vital that "people have the opportunity to take part in the decisions that affect their lives", and she wanted to make sure decisions are viewed through a Māori and rainbow lens.
"In Parliament, that is the highest level, and everybody must be at the table to have those conversations," she said.
"I'm really proud that I can be here to represent."
As votes are still being counted, some seats have not yet been finalised. But it looks like New Zealand's Parliament will have 48 per cent women.
There are also 16 Māori MPs, and the country is also celebrating the election of the country's first MP of African origin, Ibrahim Omer, its first Latin American MP, Ricardo Menéndez March, and its first MP of Sri Lankan heritage, Vanushi Walters.
It also appears as though 12 of the 120 seats have been won by people from the LGBTQ+ community.
How does it compare to Australia?
In Australia, there are 86 women elected at the federal level across the 227 seats in the upper and lower houses, or just under 38 per cent.
In the House of Representatives, there are 47 women MPs, making up just under a third, at 31 per cent.
As of last month, Australia has — for the first time — a majority of women in its Senate, with 39 women and 37 men.
There are six Indigenous people elected at the Federal level, and nine people who identify as LGBTQ+.
After the 2019 election, about 4 per cent of Federal MPs had non-European heritage — far below Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Two Australian High Court judges will be named today – unlike Amy Coney Barrett, we know nothing about them
Most Australians would be unaware the High Court is about to get two new judges, with replacements for the retiring Geoffrey Nettle and Virginia Bell expected to be named today.
Fewer still could explain how those judges will be appointed, and what is involved in the process.
The US Supreme Court and the High Court of Australia perform similar constitutional roles: both courts resolve technical legal cases, as well as those of enormous political significance. Both also have the power to strike down legislation.
But whereas appointments to the US Supreme Court are a highly visible festival of political intrigue and showmanship, the process in Australia is a secretive affair occurring strictly behind closed doors.
Even avid court watchers are left to speculate who will be appointed to replace retiring judges, as well as when such appointments will even be announced.
While our judges may prefer their relative anonymity, the process for choosing who sits on the highest court must be more transparent. Our system is beginning to look outdated.
Huge discretion to appoint any lawyer to the court
When the High Court was created in 1903, it comprised three judges. Over the past 120 years, the size of the bench has expanded to seven. Following a referendum in 1977, a mandatory retirement age of 70 was introduced.
However, the Constitution and subsequent legislation are conspicuously silent on the process to be followed in appointing judges. Section 72 of the Constitution says only
"The justices of the High Court […] shall be appointed by the governor-general in council."
In practice, this means judges are nominated by the prime minister following advice of the cabinet, with significant weight given to the recommendation of the attorney-general.
The Constitution does not mention qualifications for High Court judges. The High Court of Australia Act 1979 does require appointees to have been either a judge of an Australian court or enrolled as a legal practitioner for at least five years. This minimal threshold provides a very low bar for eligibility.
Similarly, the requirements for vetting judges are scarce. The High Court of Australia Act provides a minimum role for consultation with the states:
"Where there is a vacancy in an office of justice, the attorney-general shall, before an appointment is made to the vacant office, consult with the attorneys-general of the states in relation to the appointment."
Such consultations occur in private. There is no requirement for how extensive they must be, nor do they need to factor into the final decision at all. A five-minute session at the end of a National Cabinet video conference would suffice.
In practice, these provisions grant huge discretion to the cabinet to appoint almost any lawyer they wish.
Fortunately, the country has organically developed some strong political conventions to guide the process, including commitments to make appointments based on merit, as well as geographic and (more recently) gender diversity. Unlike in the US, a judge's political leanings are not overtly taken into account.
While a handful of judges have been former politicians, by and large we have been blessed with an apolitical bench populated by the most eminent judges and lawyers in Australia.
However, both the Trump administration in the US and the Johnson government in the UK have shown just how brittle political conventions can be. Once those conventions shatter, the social legitimacy of public institutions — including courts — can quickly evaporate.
************************************
Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
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)
***************************************
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Walking to school was common in the 1980s but now we drive our kids in record numbers
In the 40s I walked to school by myself -- crossing a main road on the way -- aged about 6. That was normal then
In the 1970s and '80s most of us walked or rode a bike to primary school without thinking too much about it.
Cars were expensive and few families had more than one, so if your school was close and the rain or heat wasn't terrible, walking or cycling was the most obvious way to get there.
My family has been very lucky to live close to a local school situated near good public transport, and walking to school has always been part of our routine.
When my two boys were too young to walk or cycle on their own, it was easy to walk with them as part of my journey to work.
Leaving the house for school in those days felt like escaping through a magical sliding door — from the rush and stress of the school morning routine to a slower, calmer world.
Once outside the door, irritation about lost lunchboxes and last-minute permission slips would dissipate. Our paces matched. I got to hear a bit more about what was going on in their young lives and minds.
Then there is the quiet pleasure of the walk itself: the unscheduled but happy meeting of a favourite friend or animal along the way, the seasonal scoffing of mulberries overhanging a laneway en route, the complicit exchanges of harried parents, a sudden waft of jasmine announcing spring.
Walking to school helps us to feel as though we're living in a real neighbourhood and community that only footfall on pathways can create.
The benefits of living as much as possible outside of the urgent, car-driven world seem obvious.
Today we drive our kids to school in record numbers. The national rate of "active travel to school", as the experts call it, has declined over the past 40 years from 75 to 25 per cent of trips.
Much of this can be explained by growing car ownership, changing family dynamics and increasing distances between some homes and schools.
But there have also been changes in how far kids are allowed or are willing to go. Nearly 60 per cent of Australian parents report that the distance from home to school is three kilometres or less.
It's a trend that's reflected in many other OECD countries and worries policymakers in the fields of both health and transport.
Health professionals estimate that more than 70 per cent of children and 91 per cent of young people do not meet minimum physical activity recommendations.
But it's also a transport issue.
In recent years I have worked with other transport policymakers and planners on how future transport systems can keep up with growing populations. The research clearly shows small changes in people's travel behaviour to make fewer car trips can make a big difference in how the transport system copes.
"Active travel to school" is one of 10 priority areas proposed by the Australian Health Policy Collaboration and more than 70 leading chronic disease experts to fix the growing obesity and chronic health crisis.
And you don't have to be a transport professional to see that school trips in cars are also bad for traffic congestion and road safety. Queues of cars around schools and local roundabouts make crossings dangerous for walkers and cyclists.
While these trips may seem short and innocuous, the sheer volume of them also clogs up the wider network, diminishing air quality and the way our cities function.
Experts estimate that the additional congestion costs generated by school trips in cars is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
So what can we do to get more kids walking or riding a bike to school? Good pedestrian infrastructure, pleasant walking and cycling environments and safe crossings are critical, of course.
The good news is that transport planners are increasingly seeing streets as places for walking or riding bikes, and pedestrians and cyclists as more than just safety risks to be mitigated.
But parents' perceptions are also a key obstacle to more kids cycling and walking to school, particularly when the decision is to let them do this independently.
Could you be breaking the law?
It's not helpful that in some places letting a child go to school on their own could be classed as breaking the law.
In 2017 the ABC reported on a notice published in a school newsletter bearing the Queensland Police Service insignia telling parents that children under the age of 12 cannot walk or ride to school alone.
For the past 10 years, Queensland's criminal codes have made it an offence to leave a child under 12 unsupervised for an "unreasonable" time (although legally speaking the report argued that this was unlikely to mean a blanket ban on kids under 12 making their way to school alone).
But parents' thoughts and perceptions on official guidance and social norms are important. A 2016 study in Victoria found parents were more likely to restrict their child's independent mobility if they were worried about being judged by others.
However, the biggest barrier to more parents letting their children walk or ride to school alone is parental concern about speeding cars and other traffic dangers.
This is followed by fears around "stranger danger" and abduction (although statistically speaking, kids are much safer on the street than online).
It's understandable — the urge to keep kids safe is hardwired in parents. But when we choose to drive to school, we only add to the real traffic dangers and risks even as we continue to frame it as a problem created by others.
Or as a legendary outdoor poster by Dutch satnav maker TomTom proclaimed in 2010: "You are not stuck in traffic. You are traffic."
But it's also possible that continued anxiety around exposure to others (particularly on public transport) may persuade us that we're better off staying inside our bubbles on wheels.
These days, my kids are older and get to school by themselves.
My youngest son still walks to school via the same route I take to the train station and prefers neither of his parents accompany him. It's a change that seemed to happen almost overnight. One morning the boys simply walked out the door on their own, leaving a house that felt suddenly very quiet.
I do miss walking and talking with them sometimes; that everyday invitation to spend more time in the present.
But it would be hard not to celebrate their independence, confidence and ability to successfully navigate the outside world for themselves.
I also hope that walking to school with the kids will mean remembering less about the fretful assembly of school lunches and missing library bags and more about chance encounters with puddles, plants and people.
And sometimes, on a lucky day, the feeling of a small hand slipped quietly, without too much thought, into mine.
"Social housing" in action
There are many stories like the one below
An Adelaide family whose social housing apartment was riddled with mould and left without repairs for seven months has been given a new home just days after a visit from federal Opposition leader Anthony Albanese.
Nathan Andersen had reported severe mould in his bathroom ceiling from a leaking pipe in the flat above back in March, and was concerned it was a health hazard for his son.
It took until last week, after the dire need for repairs gained media attention during Mr Albanese’s visit to SA, for there to be progress. “It was all stuck in the woodwork for months and months and months and nothing,” Mr Andersen said.
“When (they) came out to do an inspection again, when they had a look at the roof, they deemed it unliveable because it’s a health hazard,” he said.
“They got back to me within two hours and said they had a house for me.” Mr Andersen welcomed the result, saying: “I’ve got upgraded to a three-bedroom house with a yard – it’s really great.”
He was told the delay was due to miscommunication.
Federal Labor’s housing spokesman Jason Clare said: “It shouldn’t have to take a visit from the Leader of the Opposition to get this fixed.”
He said there were “100,000 stories just like Nathan’s across the country” where tenants were living in social housing that desperately need to be repaired.
Labor has called on the Federal Government to fund social maintenance as part of its COVID-19 recovery package to create jobs for the construction sector and to improve conditions for tenants.
University of Tasmania aims to divest entirely from fossil fuels by the end of 2021
All this will do is hand a bargain to less loony investors
UTAS vice chancellor Rufus Black said the university had decided to begin moving away from fossil fuel investments.
He said UTAS already had no direct shareholdings in fossil fuel companies and said to date fossil fuel-exposed investments represented 0.6 per cent of the university’s portfolio.
“We are working to be out of fossil fuel investments by the end of next year, but we have also taken the view that divestment is not enough,” Prof Black said.
“We need to invest to change the world. An economy consistent with a stable future for our climate is very different to the one we have today.
“New ways of doing business, new technologies, new ways of organising our society are all urgently needed.
“Therefore the university has changed its investment strategy to target those investments that support the delivery of a zero carbon economy.”
Prof Black said “our grandchildren will live into an era where our planet will be transformed into the dramatically negative unless we do something bold”.
In 2018 UTAS students protested for the university to adopt a fossil fuel-free policy by brandishing a sign of the word “divest” on kunanyi/Mt Wellington.
The UTAS announcement comes on the launch day of Global Climate Change Week which Tasmania, and more specifically, UTAS, is hosting this year.
The university will hold stewardship of the stewardship of the fast-growing Global Climate Change Week initiative until 2025.
Started five years ago by two academics at the University of Wollongong, the week will feature nearly 200 public lectures, panel discussions and arts activities on almost every continent.
“We have universities from all over the world registered and a whole range of diverse and interesting activities that are limited only by the imaginations of the people involved,” co-chair Professor Fred Gale said.
“We want to make sure there is action on climate change around the world at university level. It’s a critical issue. We’ve got a decade to turn this around.”
The university ranked third worldwide when the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings assessed 376 institutions against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals earlier this year.
Greenies versus fishermen
The global conservation status of a NSW marine park is at risk after the Berejiklian government weakened its sanctuary status without consultation to allow recreational fishing, documents show.
Montague Island, located off the south coast, was among the first 25 sites to be granted so-called Green Listing by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Documents obtained under freedom of information show both National Parks and IUCN raised concerns about the impact of easing protection.
Fisheries minister Adam Marshall announced last December six marine park sanctuaries would be open to recreational fishing without consulting either the public or the Batemans Marine Park Advisory Committee, according to an email sent that month by Joanne Wilson, a senior parks policy officer.
"Opening up the sanctuary zones in the marine park to line fishing, netting, and taking bait will remove all areas of refuge and breeding for fish that then spill over to other areas, and cause a reduction in the health and resilience of the marine ecosystems around Montague Island," Dr Wilson wrote.
It was "a worrying sign" the decision Fisheries hadn't bothered to consult with the parks service before the decision and "there is a risk" it won't be asked about other key issues, she said.
The move had also come just days before the renomination of Montague Island's Green List status, and it placed "future renominations at risk", Dr Wilson's email, obtained by the Herald, said.
A separate document, dated Christmas Eve, from the IUCN's Green List Committee, congratulated Montague Island Nature Reserve for achieving its status but "expressed its concern about any relaxation" of protections.
It said the extraction of fish from the two reserves – covering roughly a third of the waters around the 81-hectare island – would affect availability of food for seabirds. The committee "reserves the right to review [the Green List status] should there be adverse implications for seabird viability", the letter said.
Minister Marshall defended the proposed changes to fishing access – that are still to formally gazetted – as an election promise taken by the Coalition to the 2019 election.
"Community members will be given another opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed changes over a minimum of two months through the established public consultation process," he said, adding both he and Environment Minister Matt Kean have to sign off on any temporary or longer change.
Mr Kean said the marine parks were popular tourist destinations, "home to important marine biodiversity and a treasured part of the local community”.
“I am aware of the strong views of stakeholders, including the IUCN, regarding the future of the sanctuary zones in the Bateman’s Bay Marine Park," he said. "For this reason I intend to visit the Marine Park and see for myself this unique and precious part of our state.”
Australian farmers want illegal workers too
Farmers have pilloried the Federal Government for ruling out an illegal worker amnesty that would allow undocumented workers to come forward without fear of being deported.
Victorian Farmers' Federation spokeswoman Emma Germano has suggested the Government was "the ultimate dodgy labour hire company that financially underpins a model that is not fair, not ethical, and not sustainable", having ruled out the proposal.
On Monday night, before a hearing of Senate Estimates, Employment Minister Michaelia Cash confirmed the Government would not allow such an amnesty. "The Government's position is there will not be an amnesty," Senator Cash said.
"An amnesty would send a dangerous message that it is okay to flout our strong visa and migration rules, principles that this Government has worked incredibly hard over a period of time to secure," she said.
The hearing heard from Government officials that there are an estimated 70,000 unlawful, non-citizens in Australia.
Some farm groups, including the VFF, had been calling for an amnesty to help the industry address its issues with undocumented workers and clean up the industry.
Ms Germano, one of the first to advocate for illegal workers to come forward, with protections, in 2017, said farmers were frustrated the Government was not prepared to pursue the idea.
"Farmers are p***ed off that they [Government] pretended to look at it when they never had genuine intention of making this thing go through," she said.
"Instead they support a black market for horticulture wages that undermines the farmers that are compliant and pay the right wages. "It also puts the undocumented workers in constant danger."
A three-year investigation into worker exploitation has found some foreign workers on Australian farms are "bonded like slaves" to dodgy labour hire contractors.
Earlier this month, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the Federal Government had discussed an amnesty as a potential initiative to help address a farm worker shortage.
The proposal was raised by Victorian Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes at a meeting of agriculture ministers earlier this year in light of the COVID-19 restrictions which have prevented workers from entering Australia.
An amnesty is supported by the West Australian Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan.
Last year, a report by the University of Adelaide found Australian farmers often relied on illegal labour or risked leaving their crops to fail.
It said worker exploitation had become the "established norm".
Typically, about 70 per cent of the horticulture industries workforce is foreign, and there have been concerns raised about how farmers will harvest their crops this summer due to Australia's decision to close its borders in March.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-20/government-rules-out-worker-amnesty/12784968
************************************Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
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)
***************************************
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
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
