True blue Aussie bushman and rodeo champ, 75, is fined $100 for carrying a POCKET KNIFE on his belt - despite doing so every day since the age of 14

This is an absurd prosecution from every angle. Section 2A of the Act specifically provides that "A person may carry a knife on his or her belt for performing work in primary production." The magistrate who convicted him needs to brush up on the law

An elderly bushman who has carried a tiny pocket knife for more than 60 years was charged and forced to face court after possessing the item in public.

Wayne McLennan, 75, is a local legend in his hometown of Chinchilla, Queensland, where he the former rodeo champion is affectionately known as 'Cowboy'.

But last month, when heading home from the local pub, Mr McLennan was stopped and breathalysed by police, before being taken to the station after blowing slightly over the limit.

After producing a second test under the legal blood alcohol level, the policewoman informed him he would be getting charged for another crime.

'While I was there she said 'but I am going to charge you for wearing a pocket knife in public'. I said "what? I didn't know you weren't allowed to wear one",' he told A Current Affair.

'I've been wearing one since I was 14 years old. She said "that's it, that's the law".'

Mr McLennan said he has been going about his business on his farm and in town with the tiny knife in his pocket for decades.

The blade, which barely measures more than an inch, is used for common jobs around the property and is a necessary part of every farmer's toolbelt.

'Well if I got to go and put a bale of hay out, I use it to cut the string and then open a bag of horse feed, use it to open the top,' he said.

Cowboy was out in Chinchilla last month having a few beers at the pub with friends before he got some takeaways and headed back to his car.

Police stopped him before he even got in the car and said they were going to breathalyse him, where he blew over the legal limit.

The 75-year-old blew under the legal limit on his second attempt, but police still didn't let him go.

Cowboy was charged with Section 51 of Queensland's Weapon Act, which says a person mustn't possess a knife in a public place or school unless they have a reasonable excuse.

The farmer said he 'wouldn't have had one on me if I'd known I wasn't allowed to wear one' and was shocked at the decision of the policewoman.

Mr McLennan faced local court where a magistrate fined him $100 and allowed him to leave without conviction.

He says no one around town could believe his story. 'That's why people keep ringing me and talking to me about it, they didn't know whether it was true or false,' he said.

Other bushmen around town have supported the 75-year-old, saying it was common place to innocently carry a small pocketknife. 'Oh it's ridiculous, every second guy here that walks into the pub here on a Friday night, has a pocket knife on their belt,' fellow Chinchilla local Tom Latimore said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10009017/True-blue-Aussie-bushman-fined-100-carrying-POCKET-KNIFE-belt-Queensland.html

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Fraser Island to be renamed with Aboriginal name

This will create a lot of unnecessary confusion

The Queensland government will change the name of Fraser Island back to K'gari, the name used by its traditional owners.

The Butchulla people on Sunday celebrated the name-change - which mean's 'paradise' - for the UNESCO World Heritage Area.

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service renamed the national park as K'gari (Fraser Island) in 2017.

Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation official Jade Gould said her people had been campaigning for years for the name to be changed back.

"The name Fraser Island is a tribute to Eliza Fraser - a woman whose narrative directly led to the massacre and dispossession of the Butchulla people," she said in a statement.

"A word meaning paradise in Butchulla language is a much more fitting name for such an iconic place."

Queensland Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon says the government will soon begin talks with the Butchulla people and other stakeholders to formally rename the island.

She said the government has renamed a number of places already, including Naree Budjong Djara National Park on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) and Gheebulum Kunungai National Park Mulgumpin (Moreton Island).

"The Palaszczuk government recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island heritage and cultures, which represent an enduring and ongoing connection to Country for over 60,000 years," Ms Scanlon said.

The island's Kingfisher Bay Resort Group general manager David Hay said his company supported the Butchulla people's push for the name to revert.

"This change couldn't have come at a better time as we emerge from COVID and work to attract domestic and international travellers back to the region and the island," he said. "There has never been a truer word spoken - K'gari really is paradise."

K'gari was originally known by Europeans as Great Sandy Island before it was changed to Fraser Island after Scotswoman Eliza Fraser was shipwrecked there in 1836.

Ms Fraser was eventually rescued by an escaped convict and taken back to Moreton Bay, now Brisbane. She initially claimed she was mistreated by the local Indigenous people on the island, but changed her account a number of times.

Liberal National Party MP Jarrod Bleijie was against the name being changed back to K'gari. "Have been going on holidays to Fraser Island all my life and will continue to go to FRASER ISLAND for the rest of it, despite what woke @AnnastaciaMP says," he tweeted.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/fraser-island-to-revert-to-indigenous-name/ar-AAOCrvk?ocid=chromentpnews

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Aboriginal man flees the police in unregistered car. Crashes and dies

His own worst enemy

Raymond Noel Thomas was driving to the shops to buy chocolate in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote in June 2017 when police in a patrol vehicle saw he was driving an unregistered car.

Officers decided the car "looked dodgy" and when it failed to stop they began a pursuit, which saw both vehicles reach speeds of more than 150km/h.

During the chase, Raymond Noel's vehicle veered to the wrong side of the road, sideswiped an oncoming car, hit a parked car and crashed.

Just over 20 seconds later, the 30-year-old Aboriginal man was dead.

Coroner John Olle's findings handed down on Monday quoted a statement by Auntie Debbie, Raymond Noel's mother.

"The loss of our son, there are no real words to say how heartbreaking, devastated and how heavy we carry grief."

During the inquest, the court heard evidence that the 30-year-old Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Wiradjuri man's first interaction with police was at the age of 10, when officers handcuffed him while he was playing with his cousins on a woodchip mound.

"I can just imagine the fear that Ray must have been experiencing that night, right up until the very end," his father Uncle Ray told the inquest.

Coroner Olle slammed the police pursuits policy that led to the deadly crash, saying the two officers involved, Sergeant John Sybenga and Senior Constable Deborah McFarlane, never considered how the pursuit might end.

"They did not consider whether their attempt to intercept had elevated an initial poor decision not to stop, into a scenario of extreme danger," he said.

The court had heard they were experienced officers who were both licensed to drive at unlimited speeds.

He found police should no longer be able to conduct pursuits for "minor traffic infringements" at speed and without emergency lights.

https://au.yahoo.com/news/coroner-slams-vic-police-pursuit-081042198.html

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France and Australia agree submarines won't stop trade deal

French and Australian officials said Monday that France’s anger over a canceled submarine contract will not derail negotiations on an Australia-European Union free trade deal.

France withdrew its ambassadors to the United States and Australia after President Joe Biden revealed last week a new alliance including Australia and Britain that would deliver an Australian fleet of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines.

The deal sunk a 90 billion Australian dollar ($66 billion) contract for French majority state-owned Naval Group to build 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines for Australia. The money would have been spent over 35 years.

French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault denied media reports that France was lobbying the European Union not to sign the trade deal with Australia that has been under negotiation since 2018.

“At this stage, negotiations do continue and there is a strong interest ... for Australia to have a free trade agreement with the EU,” Thebault told Australian Broadcasting Corp. from Paris.

Such a deal “has the potential to deliver a huge amount of benefits for Australia,” Thebault added.

Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan said he would travel to Paris within weeks for trade negations and was “very keen to touch base with my French counterpart,” Franck Riester.

“There’s a strong understanding from my recent trip to Europe to discuss the EU free trade agreement this is in the mutual interests of both Australia and of Europe,” Tehan said, referring to an April visit. “I see no reason why those discussions won’t continue,” Tehan added.

French President Emmanuel Macron will speak in the coming days with Biden in their first contact since the diplomatic crisis erupted.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison flew to the United States on Monday for a meeting with Biden and the leaders of India and Japan that make up the Quad security forum.

“This is all about, always about ensuring that Australia’s sovereign interests will be put first to ensure that Australians here can live peacefully with the many others in our region, because that’s what we desire as a peaceful and free nation,” Morrison said before departing Sydney.

https://au.yahoo.com/news/france-australia-agree-submarines-wont-034704238.html

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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$464 million in grants to kickstart hydrogen industry

This is pretty silly. It is true that burning hydrogen produces no pollution but obtaining the hydrogen does. Whether it is extracted from natural gas or produced by electrolysis, it is an industrial process that uses a lot of energy.

And once you have the hydrogen you need a heavy and expensive pressure vessel to transport it -- and that uses up energy too. And the vessels do explode sometimes, dangerously

The state’s first test-run Hydrogen refuelling station opened in Redlands today with one of the state’s first hydrogen cars getting a tank of fuel made from Queensland sunshine.

Queensland’s burgeoning hydrogen industry will get a cash injection in a bid to get manufacturing plants running and create a global export hub.

Gladstone has been singled out as one of seven regions to be prioritised for $464 million in grants to help build pilot projects, set up joint ventures, secure supply chains and get production up and running.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will today announce the cash, saying it will help establish new export industries and set up Australia to supply energy to the growing market in southeast Asia.

The scheme is in addition to the announcement last week for a large-scale renewable hydrogen plant to be built near Gladstone by electricity generator Stanwell, as well as federal, state and other corporate backers.

It’s location near a port, water and high-capacity electricity generation has put the central Queensland city in prime position to take part in a hydrogen boom.

The Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs grants will open next Tuesday, September 28, and will include grants of up to $3 million for research and development projects, and a second stream of up to $70 million to rollout hydrogen hubs.

Industry applicants will have to stump up at least half the cash for the proposal, with the grants only to cover 50 per cent of the cost.

Mr Morrison said the funding was about fast-tracking the development of the emerging technology.

“Our plan to invest and develop low emissions industries will mean more jobs for Australian workers, particularly in our regions, cheaper energy for businesses and lower emissions,” he said.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor said the hydrogen industry was expected to create 8000 jobs and generate $11 billion a year by 2050.

“A thriving hydrogen sector will help Australia to achieve its emission-reduction goals while continuing to grow our economy and support existing industries,” Mr Taylor said.

There are a range of hydrogen projects already starting in Queensland, including the Stanwell project, Dyno Nobel’s study producing renewable hydrogen at Moranbah and QUT research into renewable energy hybrid systems to generate hydrogen.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/464-million-in-grants-to-kickstart-hydrogen-industry/news-story/0759e3cea87d255b148f6271a5c7ad97

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Greenie lawfare rife in Australia

After the United States, Australia has the highest number of climate change litigation cases in the world.

In May 2020, in an Australian legal first, a youth environment group called Youth Verdict challenged a proposed mega-coal mine in Queensland on the grounds that it infringed on their human rights because of its contribution to climate change. Youth Verdict argues the mine will contribute to catastrophic climate change and increase the risk of bushfires, drought, floods, heatwaves and cyclones.

They are basing their argument on new protections provided under the state’s Human Rights Act, which came into effect in January 2020, the first time a human rights argument has been used in a climate change case in Australia. A hearing date for the case has been set for February 2022.

In a world-first legal case filed in July 2020, a university student in Melbourne accused the Australian government of misleading investors in sovereign bonds by failing to disclose the financial risk caused by the climate crisis. If successful, the claim could compel the government to disclose how climate change might affect the nation’s economic growth or the value of the Australian dollar. The case is awaiting judgment.

In a landmark decision in May, the Federal Court of Australia found that Environment Minister Sussan Ley had a “duty of care” to protect children living in Australia from personal injury or death resulting from climate change. If not overturned, legal experts say the judgment could “constrain the ability of both government and private entities to undertake projects that contribute to net carbon emissions”.

The Environment Minister is appealing the decision, with the appeal to be heard on October 18.

In another major ruling in August, a NSW court ordered the state’s Environmental Protection Authority take steps to safeguard against climate change, requiring the authority to “develop environmental quality objectives, guidelines and policies to ensure environment protection from climate change”.

The case was brought by the Environmental Defenders Office, a non-governmental legal service organisation, on behalf of survivors of the devastating 2019-20 bushfires. The state’s environment minister says he won’t appeal the ruling.

In late August, the Environmental Defenders Office lodged a new lawsuit against the oil and gas giant Santos, on behalf of the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), alleging that Santos breached consumer and corporate laws by claiming to produce clean energy and have a pathway to net zero emissions.

The ACCR says the oil and gas company engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by telling shareholders in its 2020 annual report that it produced “clean fuel” and provided “clean energy”.

On September 2, news emerged that a Commonwealth Bank investor was suing the lender, demanding to see internal documents on its decisions to finance fossil fuel projects to ensure it has complied with its own environmental framework.

And just this past week, there were two more significant climate litigation developments. In NSW, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision to refuse a coal mine in the Bylong valley, north-west of Sydney. The state’s Independent Planning Commission had dismissed the plan for the 6.5 million tonne-a-year mine two years ago, and a previous court appeal was also rejected in part because of the climate change impacts of digging up the fossil fuel.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, a High Court legal challenge was launched against the state of Victoria, arguing it lacks the constitutional power to tax electric car drivers with a road user charge.

Federal and state governments, regulatory bodies and corporate actors have been put on notice. If they don’t take steps to mitigate climate change, they too could end up in Australia’s courts.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/as-australia-s-climate-policy-disappoints-hope-is-found-in-court-20210910-p58qmc.html

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Retailers want vaccine passport certainty before opening

The nation’s leading retailers, from fashion and sporting goods to auto parts and furniture, have called on governments to provide a legal framework for shoppers to declare their vaccine status when walking into stores, as the chains seek more certainty about how to handle the prickly issue as shops reopen.

Companies such as furniture retailer Nick Scali and Super Retail Group, whose retail banners include Rebel Sport, Supercheap Auto and Boating Camping Fishing, have also increased their pool of available casual staff to build a “reserve bench” of employees in case a store is declared a Covid-19 exposure site, forcing staff to isolate themselves for weeks.

These are two of the many minefields retailers are now preparing to cross as they prepare for an easing of restrictions in NSW, Victoria and the ACT, allowing them to open their bricks and mortar stores to customers for the first time in months.

Top of the list of their concerns is how retail front line workers will determine whether shoppers have received both Covid-19 vaccinations, how to prove their vaccine status and the legalities around even asking for proof in the first place.

“Customer abuse is not a new phenomenon but we have absolutely seen increases of instances and I can see a request like that (vaccine status) being very frustrating for customers,” Super Retail chief executive Anthony Heraghty told The Australian.

“I think being really clear about expectations and process would be helpful – if that’s what the government wants.

“Could a check-in app cover any kind of vaccine requirement?

“It is just being very clear about expectations. We can execute against that but we just need to know the rules.

“We have got training available for our team members for any number of customer interactions.

“You would argue that potentially this would be a high-stakes engagement, interaction with the customer, and we want to make sure our team members are well supported in understanding what are the rules of the game.

“Having incredibly crystal clear rules as early as possible would be a great help.

“I think it is unreasonable to expect individual businesses to make their own determination. It has to be a policy setting like masks or checking in.”

Mosaic Brands chief executive Scott Evans, whose chains include Noni B, Katies and Millers, has been busy refreshing stock for summer and preparing staff and is also looking for vaccination guidelines from government.

“If somebody comes back and isn’t vaccinated, what’s going to be the rule around that?” he asked.

“(It’s) more serious for us because we play in the mature space – we are a 55-age plus business and we generally have mature ladies inside the stores.

“We have to make sure that we are absolutely putting everybody’s safety first.

“The second thing we are keen to understand from the government is if you are double-vaccinated and you work inside the store and get Covid-19, you’ll have some time off like the flu, that will be normal – but if you are in close contact, what will be the rule?

“If I am store manager and happen to get Covid-19 and I have a second in charge and a part-timer who has been with me that day, do they have to self-isolate for a period or is it business as usual provided they are fully vaccinated?

“There are too many questions at the moment and not enough answers with regards to what are the rules going to be. They are obviously in Canberra trying to thrash it out and make sense of it all but you can’t close the store every time you have a close contact.”

Other retail challenges include the need to secure staff to prepare for the opening of stores, potential short-term closures if there is a Covid-19 exposure and the flow of workers between stores within a retail chain.

Recently Woolworths revealed that more than 3000 of its staff had been forced into home isolation due to Covid-19 exposure, causing some shortages on the shelves.

Nick Scali chief executive Anthony Scali said: “We are getting ready to reopen and we think it will be quite strong, pent-up customer demand. We are going to have to over-employ because if stores get shut down because someone with Covid-19 walked in those people who worked in that store will have to isolate for 14 days.

“You will have to have a reserve bench almost ready to go in, and that is the sort of planning we are doing.”

Super Retail CEO Mr Heraghty said his retail chains had slightly higher casual staff levels in preparation for reopening, in case of disruptions and store closures triggered by fresh Covid-19 outbreaks.

At department store Myer, chief executive John King is hiring for the expected Christmas rush and opening up of stores.

“We feel strongly that we have planned well for Christmas in terms of marketing, merchandising, online, product and offer, in-store theatre, and we are recruiting a lot of people for Christmas.

“As soon as we are allowed into (our stores) they will be set up and we will be off and running.”

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The French should have seen submarine decision coming, PM says

France should have been aware Australia was prepared to break a $90 billion deal to build conventionally powered attack submarines, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has suggested, despite Paris’ accusation that the Canberra-Washington move was treacherous and brutal.

As Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the broader arrangement under the trilateral relationship with Britain and the United States was aimed at ensuring enemies “think twice” about attacking Australia, the Prime Minister defended the decision to break the contract with France as in the national interest.

Paris has recalled its ambassadors to Australia and the United States over the decision by Canberra to abandon its deal with France’s Naval Group to build 12 submarines. Australia will instead buy at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, most likely from the United States, as part of the security partnership with Britain.

Mr Morrison, who held talks with French leader Emmanuel Macron about the submarines in June, said Australia’s concerns about the Naval Group boats were well known.

He said he could understand France’s disappointment, but added he had always been clear that Australia would act in its own strategic interests.

“I think they would have had every reason to know that we have deep and grave concerns that the capability being delivered by the attack class submarine was not going to meet our strategic interests and we had made very clear that we would be making a decision based on our strategic national interest,” Mr Morrison said.

“Ultimately this was a decision about whether the submarines that were being built at great cost to the Australian taxpayer were going to be able to do a job that we needed it to do when they went into service.

“Our strategic judgment based on the best possible of intelligence and defence advice was that it would not, and so therefore to go forward when we are able to secure a supreme submarine capability to support our defence operations, it would have been negligent for us not to.”

Mr Morrison said he had told Mr Macron of Australia’s decision on the evening before it was announced.

But France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in a sign of the rupture between Paris and Canberra, used public television to label the decision as “duplicity, disdain and lies”.

The recalling of its ambassadors “signifies the force of the crisis today” between the French government and Washington and Canberra, he said in an interview on France 2 television.

Mr Le Drian denied reports there had been advance consultations with France ahead of the announcement, saying “this isn’t true”.

“(Allies) don’t treat each other with such brutality, such unpredictability, a major partner like France ... So there really is a crisis. There are reasons for us to question the strength of our alliance,” he said.

The French ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, said before he left the country that he had been at the meeting between Mr Macron and Mr Morrison in June.

He said the Australian Prime Minister had mentioned “there were changes in the regional situation” but gave no indication it was about to abandon the French contract.

“Everything was supposed to be done in full transparency between the two partners,” he said.

A spokesman for Mr Morrison said later the ambassador was not at the meeting as it was dinner between the Prime Minister and Mr Macron.

Outside the submarines decision, the new Australia-UK-US agreement also provides for advanced technology such as long-range hypersonic missiles and undersea drones. More US Marine troop deployments in Australia are also likely.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/deep-and-grave-concerns-french-should-have-seen-sub-decision-coming-20210919-p58syv.html

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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Australia poised to rent nuclear submarines in just a few years while it waits up to two decades for new fleet to be built

The Australian government is prepared to lease nuclear submarines from the US while its own fleet is being built, Defence Minister Peter Dutton says.

Last week, Australia entered into a surprise regional security pact with the US and the UK, known as AUKUS, which includes building US nuclear submarines but these will not be ready until the late 2030s.

Asked on Sky News' Sunday Agenda program whether the government would consider leasing nuclear submarines in the interim, Mr Dutton said: 'The short answer is yes'.

'There is all of that discussion to take place in the next 12 to 18 months,' he said.

'The talk that you can just buy a nuclear-powered submarine off the shelf, of course, is just not accurate or correct.'

He said the Chinese are pumping out submarines, frigates and aircraft carriers at a record rate and so the rest of the world has stepped up its own production. 'That unfortunately is the dynamic we are operating in at the moment,' he said.

However, Australia's decision has caused a stir in the region, and backlash from the French.

The scrapping of the $90 billion diesel submarine deal between Australia and France has prompted the European nation to recall its Australian ambassador.

If Australia had chosen a French nuclear model, it would have involved setting up a nuclear industry in Australia as they need to be refuelled every seven to 10 years.

The technology used by Britain and the US means the reactor does not need to be refuelled for the life of the submarine - about 35 years. 'Therefore, we don't need a domestic industry around nuclear,' Mr Dutton said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10005371/Australia-rent-nuclear-submarines-waits-new-ones-built.html

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Tenancy Reform Bill One Step Closer to Becoming Law – Will an Owner still be able to terminate a lease?

Well the Bill is now before the QLD Parliament!

The Community Support and Services Committee has now published its Report into the Housing Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 recommending that the Housing Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 be passed. This Bill is presently before Parliament for debate and could be passed before the year is out.

In this series of updates on the reforms “Qld Tenancy Reforms – What An Investment Owner Needs to Know” by the Property Management Team at Clark Real Estate we provide interested investors with some further detail on these proposed reforms. We’ll keep you up to date with the progress of the Bill through Parliament, crucial info you need to know and when the changes are due to come into effect.

Removal of “Without Grounds” Terminations of Tenancies.

One major policy of the current government, which has been a point of contention between tenants and investment property owners, is the provision of an expanded suite of additional approved reasons for lessors/providers and tenants/residents to end a tenancy.

Initially, the proposal was to remove the ability of an owner to terminate a tenancy “without grounds” altogether. For owners, this caused some angst facing the prospect of a fixed term contract turning into a perpetual lease unless one of a limited number of circumstances arose such as wanting to sell or move into the property themselves. Understandably, investors were left feeling as though control of their asset was slipping into the shallow end of a social housing pool. However, a change has been made so that ‘without grounds’ terminations were still removed but an additional ground added for termination if a fixed term tenancy is due to expire. The relief from owners is audible.

The Queensland Law Society highlighted what investors were arguing, ‘This is consistent with the fundamental nature of a contract, under which the parties reach agreement at the outset that the contract is for a specified period”.

So the new proposed grounds for termination are:

fixed term tenancy agreement is due to expire

the premises is to be vacated so that redevelopment (eg conversion from a house into flats) or demolition of the property can be undertaken

the premises is to be vacated to allow significant repair or renovation works to be undertaken

the premises is subject to a change of use (such as changing from long-term accommodation to short stay accommodation or holiday lettings)

the owner or their immediate family needs to move into the premises

the premises has been sold and vacant possession is required

the premises is to be vacated so that it can be prepared for sale.

In each case, the lessor would be required to give the tenant two months’ notice. However, a fixed term agreement could not be ended before the contracted end date, unless the tenant agrees.

There are also penalties for providing false reasons, restrictions on who are deemed ‘immediate family’ and an inability to rent the premises for a 6 month period after ending a tenancy on the grounds the property was to be sold, change of use or owner occupation. (Housing Legislation Amendment Bill, cl 56, 58, 59, 61, 63, 76, 77 and 80 and cl 88)

It still leaves the question though, how are periodic tenancies to be handled? The very nature of a periodic tenancy is a rolling tenancy. Arguably, the proposed legislation does not sufficiently provide for ending a periodic tenancy which could lead to an unintended consequence of creating a lease in perpetuity.

The Committee has recommended that the Department “maintain a close watching brief on the impacts, intended and otherwise” and to collect data on how leases are managed and ended.

https://www.clarkrealty.com.au/uncategorized/tenancy-reform-bill-one-step-closer-to-becoming-law-will-an-owner-still-be-able-to-terminate-a-lease/

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Queensland introduces social reforms slowly so as not to give conservatives too many scares

Three years ago, when a fledgling movement for voluntary assisted dying laws in Queensland began meeting with MPs to gauge support, campaigners were told not to hold their breath.

Those consultations revealed what the state parliament has now confirmed – significant support among politicians for VAD. The move also had strong public approval. So why the delay?

At the time, the Queensland government made it clear to campaigners that it would not pursue an aggressive agenda of social reform. The state was already about to begin debate on decriminalising abortion, which had been in the criminal code since 1899.

The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said in 2018 an inquiry into VAD could be considered “down the track”, but that the issue wasn’t a priority at the outset of her government’s second term.

Change would come. But slowly, cautiously.

Labor has followed a consistent template for social reform in Queensland, where it has held office for most of the last 32 years.

In 2018, former Labor minister Anne Warner told Guardian Australia that when the Wayne Goss government was elected in 1989 there was a lot of “fear” about the idea of opening up debate on abortion laws.

We have to recognise that we have progressed and become more recognisably progressive.

“[At one point] I got a phone call from [Goss] saying ‘don’t scare the horses’,” Warner recalled.

“We’d been out of government for 30 years, change would have to happen slowly and systematically.”

Chris Salisbury, a Queensland political historian from the University of Queensland, says “don’t scare the horses” became like a mantra to Goss during his term in office.

“[Former premier] Peter Beattie said you had to be conscious of not frightening the electorate with too much reform at too quick a pace,” Salisbury said.

“Palaszczuk has got around to some of these harder social reforms that her predecessors couldn’t bring themselves to touch, but there’s a very pragmatic nature to the reform agenda.”

As Palaszczuk’s Labor government now settles into its third term in office, it has come to exploit that pragmatic upside of social progress in Queensland. Two weeks before the 2020 election, a promise to bring voluntary euthanasia laws to the parliament tapped into the more than 80% of voters who supported VAD.

Issues like abortion and VAD have become political third rails for their LNP opposition – wedging them between constituents who want reform and the majority of grassroots party members with fundamental objections.

Many of these reforms are years – even decades – slow in responding to the views of Queensland citizens. They are safe, overdue and popular. They are also plentiful, in a state shaped by anachronisms that hark back to the ultraconservative Bjelke-Petersen years.

The state government has already started work on the next tranche of social reforms. The include a review of the sex work industry that will look at decriminalisation, in a state where the laws are described as “puritanical”. The government has taken steps towards a treaty with First Nations people.

All of which is not to say the current government is particularly leftwing either. Laws targeting climate change protesters and ongoing “tough on crime” rhetoric are not popular with progressive groups. The state does not have an independent environmental protection agency.

ABC Vote Compass data shows Queensland is notionally conservative – sitting marginally to the right of other states.

And while Vote Compass data from the past two federal elections shows community views in Queensland becoming more progressive, voters shifted firmly to the right on polling day in 2019.

Queensland is unquestionably a conservative place in the sense that voters have entrenched reformist governments and rejected radical ones. The rise and fall of Campbell Newman’s one-term Liberal National government seemed to underscore that sentiment; even when the dial shifted to the right, voters felt uneasy with hasty and wholesale changes.

Polling on VAD, gay rights and abortion consistently shows that on those issues – even in regional areas – Queensland is no more conservative than any other states.

Salisbury says the decentralised nature of Queensland has accentuated some very conservative pockets, but that overall the nature of the state has changed substantially.

“We have to recognise that we have progressed and become more recognisably progressive than how we used to be characterised and caricatured,” he says.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/making-progress-is-queensland-actually-as-conservative-as-we-think/ar-AAOyzZ4?ocid=msedgntp

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Feminists throw children under the bus

Bettina Arndt

There’s no end to the dreadful chicanery being used to prop up the feminist narrative of virtuous women and villainous men, as we have seen in two recent examples, one from the UK and the other Australia. It is astonishing how hard the ideologues work to deny that essential truth about human nature – that neither gender has a monopoly on vice nor virtue.

Last month an Australian social issues journal published the most fascinating research - Allegations of child sexual abuse – which showed judges determined that only 12 % of the child sexual abuse allegations involved in contested family court cases were found to be true.

Accusations of abuse that were deliberately misleading were found to be twice as common as true allegations, according to the study by Webb, Moloney, Smyth and Murphy, which reviewed family court cases from 2012 to 2019.

You might wonder how many of the 102 cases of deliberately misleading accusations were prosecuted for perjury? Anyone who followed submissions to the recent Family Law inquiry will know the answer to that one - precisely zero.

Though startling, these results shouldn’t come as a surprise. Over thirty years ago I published an article quoting a retiring family court judge speaking out about the proliferation of false accusations of child sexual abuse in contested cases. Other judges have raised concerns about the problem and it has long been known that false accusations are more common in custody disputes.

That’s the real world, very different from the alternate reality occupied by these researchers who make it clear they hoped to prove false accusations were rare. Nola Webb, barrister and lead author of the study, proudly told the ABC that she commenced the research because she was shocked to hear from mothers reporting their child abuse accusations were being dismissed in family court.

Faced with devastating evidence that judges conclude most of the allegations didn’t stack up, the researchers do their best to massage the results to disguise the extent of the false allegation problem. For instance, they exclude allegations which are “one of a multitude of criticisms of the other parent” claiming this might “minimise their seriousness and compromise their believability.” What, a mother fires off a barrage of complaints including child sexual abuse allegations and that somehow makes these allegations less serious? Go figure….

Also excluded from the false accusation category are cases they deem as "genuine but mistaken belief" which is clearly a phony category designed to minimize the rate of false accusations. (For data wonks, my brilliant researcher has put together a brief explanation of some of the complexities of this study’s statistics here).

The bottom line is, here we have an important study revealing the true extent of the problem of false allegations of child sexual abuse in family court cases – allegations which often result in small children being subjected to multiple intrusive interviews by court experts and the shaming of innocent fathers.

But this significant news is totally ignored by our mainstream media, apart from one skewed ABC article claiming the judges have it all wrong. Oh yes, there was also a bizarre blog in Diplomat magazine claiming the study proved “the family court offers a prime example of how male supremacist groups are able to alter the culture of public institutions to the detriment of our collective social health.”

https://thinkspot.com/discourse/eKu38B/post/bettina-arndt/feminists-throw-children-under-the-bus/bvZtjy

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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Greenie teacher guilty of common assault after putting a plastic bag over handicapped student’s head

A demonstration of what can happen to marine animals caught in plastic bags has left a Sunshine Coast teacher awaiting sentencing for common assault.

Jesslee Ann Regmi, 56, was demonstrating to a class the impacts of plastics on wildlife, specifically turtles, when she placed a plastic bag over the head of a young teenager without his consent on July 25, 2019.

Magistrate Rod Madsen found Regmi guilty of common assault after the matter went to a hearing in May.

During his judgment in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday, September 16, Mr Madsen said he found Regmi’s actions to be unlawful.

The court heard Regmi had approached the teen from behind and placed the bag over his head to show the class what can happen if plastics end up in the ocean and how marine animals can be harmed.

Despite Regmi giving evidence she had approached the teen in his line of vision before she placed the bag over his face, and not his head, Mr Madsen said the evidence given by the teacher aides who were in the class gave a clear picture of what occurred the day of the offence.

“All of the witnesses say the plastic bag was completely placed over the head of the complainant,” Mr Madsen said.

The court heard Regmi had in her defence argued the teen had given her permission to place the bag over his face and stood up during the presentation.

However, Mr Madsen said the teen, who had the intellectual capabilities of a six-year-old and was non-verbal according to evidence given by his mother, could not have implied any form of consent during the interaction with the plastic bag.

“In my view, I think it would not have been reasonable for the defendant to rely upon a non-verbal response of an intellectually impaired person to the demonstration, given she had some knowledge and experience with him,” he said.

The court heard the teacher aides present in the class had alerted the school principal the following day after they had felt the demonstration was “a bad idea”.

“The clear and overwhelming evidence was that in conducting the lesson, the defendant grabbed a plastic bag, placed it completely over the head of the child and then removed it without his consent,” Mr Madsen said.

“In my view, clearly a child like (the victim) should never have been exposed to that demonstration, particularly as he had limited capabilities.

“Clearly as he had an intellectual impairment, clearly he was never reasonably able to give consent.”

Regmi, who remains on bail, will be sentenced on Thursday, September 23.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sunshine-coast/police-courts/jesslee-ann-regmi-guilty-of-common-assault-after-putting-a-plastic-bag-over-students-head/news-story/636b51850b1028be0f457c31c7174822

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Voluntary assisted dying ["euthanasia"] will become legal in Queensland following a historic and emotional victory in State Parliament

Queensland MPs voted 61-30 to legalised assisted dying on Thursday evening.

From 2023 Queenslanders suffering a terminal illness that is expected to cause death within 12 months will be able to choose when to end their life.

Clem Jones Trust chairman David Muir said there was an “overwhelming sense of relief” for terminally ill patients and their families. “Terminally ill patients are the centrepiece of this legislation and their families too, this is for their benefit,” he said.

“For many years polling in the community has shown this legislation and this issue is very popular with around 80 per cent approval.”

Deputy Opposition Leader David Janetzki attempted to amend the Bill, introducing 54 clauses including the provision to expand conscientious objection to include doctors and health practitioners.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/voluntary-assisted-dying-set-to-pass-6130/news-story/fd086c935a32fa66b51c953a67f2f1a4

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Religious schools in Victoria are banned from sacking or refusing to hire staff because they are LGBTQ

New rules will come into effect in Victoria which bans religious schools from discriminating against staff who identify as LGBTQIA+.

The schools will no longer be able to sack staff or refuse to hire someone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Under current laws, 'faith-based' organisations are allowed to discriminate employees based on their sexuality, gender and marital status due to a gap in legislation.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the state government would now look to close the 'unfair, hurtful' loophole that allows schools to use religion as the basis for its decision. 'People shouldn't have to hide who they are to keep their job,' Ms Symes said in a statement.

'We're closing this unfair, hurtful gap in our laws so that Victoria's LGBTIQ+ community won't have to pretend to be someone they're not, just to do the job they love.

'These laws strike the right balance between protecting the LGBTIQ+ community from discrimination and supporting the fundamental rights of religious bodies and schools to practice their faith.'

The new legislation means teachers and staff will be protected from getting the sack from religious institutions when disclosing their sexual orientation.

Foreseeably the move has sparked heated debate amongst the religious community with Lobby group Christian Schools Australia describing the state's proposal as an 'attack on people of faith'.

The group's public policy director Mark Spencer said it would oppose the legislation that he believed could 'change the nature of Christian schools'. 'Why is the Government trying to dictate to a Christian school who it can employ or in what role?' Mr Spencer said.

'The Attorney-General can choose all her staff on the basis of their political beliefs – why can't Christian schools simply choose all their staff on their religious beliefs?'

Ms Symes told The Age under the new reforms any discrimination against potential employees would need to be 'reasonable' and an important part of the job.

'For example, a school couldn't refuse to hire a gay or transgender person because of their identity but might be able to prevent that person being a religious studies teacher because of their religious belief,' she said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9997171/Religious-schools-Victoria-banned-hiring-firing-staff-identify-LGBTQIA.html

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Push to make sexual consent education compulsory in Australian curriculum to stem assaults

Sexual assault survivors and advocates say consent education needs to be compulsory, explicitly about intimate relationships and taught much earlier in all Australian schools.

And with the Australian curriculum undergoing its once-in-a-six-year review, they believe the opportunity for change is now.

In February 2021, then-university student Chanel Contos asked on Instagram, "have you or has anyone close to you ever been sexually assaulted by someone who went to a single sex school in Sydney?"

In the six months since then, her website, "Teach Us Consent", has received more than 6,000 testimonies and about 43,000 people have signed her Petition For Consent To Be Included In Australian Schools' Sex Education Earlier.

"The majority of signatories are now at university or in their early years of the workforce," Ms Contos said.

"They understand all too well the long-lasting impacts sexual assault has not just on the victim, but on their friends, family and wider community, so they're advocating for younger generations to receive the education that they were either deprived of or received far too late."

On Thursday, Teach Us Consent convened a roundtable, bringing together experts, political leaders and people with lived experience to discuss how respectful relationship, sex and consent education is best embedded in the national curriculum.

Ms Contos said consent needed to be mandated and taught in a way explicit to romantic relationships, at the same time children learnt about the biology of sex, in years 7, 8,9 and 10.

"We can save school-aged kids from experiencing sexual violence by introducing holistic, well-supported sexuality education earlier in the Australian national curriculum," she said.

Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia chief executive Hayley Foster said the ramifications of sexual assault could be lifelong, particularly for the victim.

"Children as young as 10 are getting their sex education from mainstream pornography, the vast majority of which depicts aggressive, non-consensual, violent, and degrading behaviour, and we're not stepping in to provide them with a reality check," Ms Foster said.

"Through our inaction, we're putting young people in harm's way and stealing their futures in the process."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/consent-education-australian-curriculum-teach-us-consent/100449910

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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GPs hit out at restrictions on supposed Covid treatment Ivermectin

The general Leftist determination to find fault with Trump has to be factored into any judgment about Ivermectin. As I read it, the condemnations of it and the devotions to it are both too sweeping.

On my reading of the research literature, it is in a familiar class of drugs that is useful if taken early in disease onset but useless after that. So both sides can quote findings that support their position.

The move by Australia's legal drug authority to warn general practitioners against prescribing the drug Ivermectin as a supposed 'Covid treatment' has divided the grass roots medical fraternity.

Last week, the Therapeutic Goods Administration issued new restrictions on the use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19 symptoms amid fear it was being handed out by GPs to those using it as an unauthorised treatment for the virus.

The drug, which has traditionally been used to treat lice and scabies in humans, and which also is used to treat conditions in animals, gained popularity as a potential Covid cure after ex-United States President Donald Trump talked it up while in office.

News of the direction stirred robust debate among doctors commenting under a Royal Australian College of General Practitioners article.

While some welcomed the decision, many appeared furious that they were being told what was best for their patients.

'The contempt we are held in by our bureaucracy is palpable,' one GP stated.

'Once again general practice is considered the lowest common denominator of medicine, and our competence and objectivity to treat our patients appropriately is questioned,' another doctor wrote.

Some GPs argued it was 'common knowledge' among doctors that vaccination alone was not the only approach to manage pandemics.

'Being vaccinated does not make anyone a superhuman to COVID infection. If our goal is to keep Australian safe from dying, shouldn't we give alternatives to those who for whatever reasons will rather die than take the vaccines,' one doctor wrote.

'India saved their nation with Ivermectin. Do we want people to die in their homes in the name of promoting vaccination? GPs should stand up for choice.'

GPs are now only able to prescribe ivermectin for TGA-approved indications, such as scabies and certain parasitic infections.

The changes mean only specific specialists , including infectious disease physicians, dermatologists, gastroenterologists and hepatologists, will be permitted to prescribe the drug for other 'unapproved indications' if they believe it appropriate.

'These changes have been introduced because of concerns with the prescribing of oral ivermectin for the claimed prevention or treatment of COVID-19,' the TGA told doctors.

'Ivermectin is not approved for use in COVID-19 in Australia or in other developed countries, and its use by the general public for COVID-19 is currently strongly discouraged by the National COVID Clinical Evidence Taskforce, the World Health Organisation and the US Food and Drug Administration.'

'I am neither for or against Ivermectin at this stage,' one GP commented.

'WHO had given contradictory statements on Covid inflection right from the start. For example, no human to human transmission.'

Some GPs claimed they had been bullied by anti-vaxxers desperate for access to the drug to treat Covid.

'I have been approached by an aggressive family twice and I obliged once which was so hard next time that I needed to call police to get rid of that patient - frustrating indeed,' a GP stated.

It is understood the drug's promotion by anti-vaxxers has led to a dramatic increase in its uptake by the large sections of the community.

The drug has been used as an authorised treatment for Covid-19 in some eastern European, South American and Central American nations, and was used in India to during the outbreak of the Delta strain, but is not recommended by the WHO.

It came back into the headlines this month when prominent podcaster Joe Rogan said he used the drug and others to treat his Covid infection and rapidly recovered, with some attacking his promotion of unauthorised treatments.

A quick look on social media reveals the drug is widely promoted in anti-vaccination circles as an alternative to the jab.

'There has been a 3-4-fold increased dispensing of ivermectin prescriptions in recent months leading to national and local shortages for those who need the medicine for scabies and parasite infections,' GPs were warned.

The health watchdog has warned improper use of the drug can be associated with serious adverse effects, including severe nausea, vomiting, dizziness and neurological effects such as dizziness, seizures and coma.

Although some GPs remain skeptical of the TGA advice.

'Ivermectin is wrongly painted as a dangerous drug and a "serious overdose reaction" of diarhoea is mentioned. This is laughable,' one GP wrote.

'Many patients taking all sorts of medications are experiencing diarhoea and a S/E. Should we remove all these meds from GP's hands then?'

Former Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who in August assumed the leadership of Clive Palmer's United Australia Party, has repeatedly said drugs such as ivermectin and the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine - another unproven treatment - should be used to treat Covid.

'I'm not saying take the drug. I'm not saying the drug works, but I'm saying the doctor should be free to sit down with their patient and make a decision,' he previously told SBS.

Last month, the equivalent to the TGA - the US FDA - put out a tweet urging people not to take ivermectin, amid a surge of calls to poison centers nationwide. 'You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it,' the agency wrote.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/gps-hit-out-at-restrictions-on-supposed-covid-treatment-ivermectin/ar-AAOsAya?ocid=chromentpnews

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Australia to make history by building a nuclear submarine fleet with the help of a new alliance with the US and Britain to counter the worrying rise of China in the Pacific

This is great news. That French deal was a stinker. It was another Malcolm Turnbull brainfart

Australia will build a nuclear-powered submarine fleet in a major new alliance with the US and Britain to counter the worrying rise of China in the Pacific.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday morning unveiled Australia's role in a landmark tripartite security group, known as 'AUUKUS', to switch to nuclear-powered submarines with help from its two of its biggest allies.

The landmark defence pact was announced in a historic joint press conference with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The deal will mean Australia will walk away from its controversial deal to spend up to $90 billion buying French diesel-powered submarines.

This is the first time Australia has ever embraced nuclear power after decades of debate - and the first time the U.S. and UK have shared their nuclear submarine technology with another nation.

Mr Morrison said though Australia has no plans to acquire nuclear weapons or build its own nuclear power capabilities.

Australia has at least 40 per cent of the world's uranium supplies and new submarine deal could pave the way for the country to embrace nuclear power to drastically reduce carbon emissions

The move towards a nuclear Australia has been described as 'China's Worst Nightmare' in a strategic bid to counter its influence in the region - especially in the South China Sea.

Thursday's announcement comes just days before Mr Morrison travels to Washington DC for the first in-person summit of the four 'Quad' nations - Australia, US, Japan and India.

Australia's relationship with China has become increasingly hostile ever since Mr Morrison demanded an inquiry into the origins of the Covid pandemic, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

Arbitrary bans and trade tariffs were imposed on billions of dollars worth of key Australian exports to China including barley, wine, beef, cotton, seafood, coal, cobber and timber.

Australia is now set to follow its allies the US and UK, who both use nuclear technology, with speculation it would tear up the submarine deal with France.

Senior Australian ministers were involved in a flurry of late-night meetings on the top-secret shipbuilding program on Wednesday, with Anthony Albanese and other senior Labor MPs briefed on the matter.

The Prime Minister reportedly held concerns French-owned shipbuilder Naval Group would be unable to deliver submarines until 2030 with deadline and price disputes.

Mr Morrison reportedly tried to speak with the French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday regarding the new deal.

News of Australia's decision was instead reportedly disclosed to Paris by the secretary of the Defence Department, Greg Moriarty, the ABC reported.

The Australian Naval Institute has repeatedly criticised the troubled French submarine project while welcoming the use of nuclear technology.

'With regional tensions increasing, then building our own one-off type submarines which will arrive in the early 2030s is not good enough. We have no guarantee they will work,' the article stated.

'When we built the Collins class submarines (at exorbitant expense) they did not work properly for several years.

'Instead we should buy 12 of a proven design which is already in the water. We want long-range hunter-killer vessels. We also want them to be able to stay submerged for long periods to avoid detection. Nuclear does this in spades.'

It is speculated the US had planned to operate some of its nuclear submarines from Perth's naval base HMAS Stirling.

The UK, which also uses nuclear technology, is expected to support Australia with the move in the three-nation security pact.

Sources say plan is a move to counter China's rise in the technology and military sectors.

It is one of a string of initiatives designed to demonstrate Washington's global role after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Biden will next week host his first in-person summit of leaders of the Quad nations — made up of Australia, India, Japan and the United States — which have been coordinating against China's growing reach.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9995135/Australia-build-nuclear-submarines-alliance-Britain-counter-rise-China.html

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Neat. The person representing Britain in negotiations with Australia is an Australian

Britain’s Foreign Secretary has been demoted over his handling of the Afghanistan evacuation crisis and replaced in the prestigious post by one of Australia’s top allies.

Dominic Raab, who remained on holiday in the Greek islands as the Taliban swept into Kabul, was the biggest casualty of a cabinet reshuffle Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes will reset his flagging government.

Raab will be replaced as the third most senior minister by Liz Truss, whose post-Brexit work as International Trade Secretary has seen her popularity surge with Tory voters to the extent she is now seen as a potential future alternative to Johnson.

Truss was in charge of negotiating a new free trade agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom and stared down a push by protectionist forces within her party to water down the agreement.

She has a close personal friendship with Australia’s High Commissioner to Australia, George Brandis, and a good working relationship with former trade minister Simon Birmingham and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Brandis said Truss took on the role as the two nations deepened co-operation on the economy and security.

“Liz is a champion for the values we cherish, and Australia is delighted to see her take on this critical role at an important moment in our bilateral relationship,” he said.

“She has been a great friend of Australia during our free trade agreement negotiations. We warmly congratulate her on her new appointment.”

Raab was demoted to the more junior Justice Secretary post during Wednesday’s reshuffle but was also named Deputy Prime Minister in a bid to save face. The Deputy Prime Minister title is rarely used in Britain and confers the holder no real constitutional powers.

Only four other people have ever been formally appointed Deputy Prime Minister: Geoffrey Howe, Michael Heseltine, John Prescott and Nick Clegg.

Johnson had faced calls to sack Raab after he went on holiday in Crete as the Taliban advanced on Kabul but initially stood by him.

Raab denied the holiday interfered with the evacuation of Afghans, British citizens and interpreters.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/uk-foreign-secretary-demoted-over-afghanistan-evacuation-top-australian-ally-promoted-20210916-p58s03.html

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Qld mine to produce 'new economy' element

Julia Creek is well and truly in the outback so Greenies are unlikely to find anything "endangered" there

An element used in the manufacture of large-scale renewable batteries that can be "charged thousands of times without degrading" will be mined in remote Queensland for the first time.

Vanadium is used in high strength, low alloy steel and is emerging as a "critical battery storage commodity" for its use in large-scale electricity grids.

Saint Elmo is the first mine approved in what the Queensland government describes as a "potential vanadium hub" in the far northwest, with several companies investigating the area.

In giving the project the green light, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk described vanadium as a "new economy mineral" that is also important in the manufacture of specialty steel.

She said the $250 million Saint Elmo mine near Julia Creek was the "first cab off the rank" for a new era in Queensland resources.

"This also lays the foundation for a potential next level new industry in Queensland manufacturing vanadium redox flow batteries," Ms Palaszczuk said in a statement on Wednesday.

First production from the mine is expected in late 2023 with an initial output of up to 5000 tonnes of vanadium pentoxide per year predicted.

Queensland exploration and mining company Multicom, which owns the mine, has forecast production to increase to 20,000 tonnes annually as the project expands.

Ore processing will occur on site with product to be shipped from the Port of Townsville, chief executive officer Shaun McCarthy said.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/qld-mine-to-produce-new-economy-element/ar-AAOrQyg?ocid=chromentpnews

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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Students being told to 'deconstruct' Australian flag

The IPA's Bella D’Abrera says students being told to ‘deconstruct’ the Australian flag is part of a “wider problem in our society” where there is a minority of people who seem to “hate” Australia.

It comes as state and federal education ministers in Australia have slammed lessons put together by a third party and promoted by the NSW Education Department.

Students are asked to examine the Australian flag in part of a project to ‘deconstruct’ symbols of Australia.

"Unfortunately, these are the people who are writing the school curriculum, these are the people who are unelected bureaucrats sitting in the Department of Education in New South Wales," Ms D'Abrera told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“It’s divisive, it’s critical race theory...it’s everything that they shouldn’t be taught.”

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/students-being-told-to-deconstruct-australian-flag-is-divisive/ar-AAOq9Qt?li=AAgfYrC

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Electric cars still expensive to run

Despite no gasoline costs

The running costs for an electric vehicle have dropped more than $10,000 a year in the past five years, according to the RACQ.

The Queensland motoring group has included six electric vehicles during its annual review of the monthly and annual running costs of 81 different vehicles.

The survey measures all monthly expenses associated with normal private car ownership including loan repayments, fuel, tyres, servicing, insurance and government charges.

The survey finds the running costs of the most affordable electric vehicle on Queensland roads - MG’s ZS - is now $10,000 less than operating costs of the most affordable electric car five years ago.

Six electric vehicles were examined in the RACQ’s running costs survey, with the cheapest electric car costing $44,000 on-road, and the most expensive model $65,000.

RACQ spokeswoman Lauren Ritchie said electric vehicles were significantly more affordable but were more expensive than an average petrol car.

“The MG ZS is the cheapest EV on the market in Queensland and will set a buyer back $1086 per month to own and run,” Ms Ritchie said.

The RACQ’s on-road costs include loan repayments.

“Other EV models available include the Hyundai Ioniq Elite EV which costs $1207 per month, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV at $1263 per month and the Nissan Leaf $1306 per month,” she said.

The average monthly running costs of all small cars in 2021 is $713, small SUVs $889; all medium-sized cars $1149; people movers $1336; electric car $1247; medium SUVs $1175; large SUVs $1388 and all-terrain vehicles $1599.

An equivalent petrol-run car is still on average $195 a month cheaper than an electric car, Ms Ritchie said.

“But with more models coming onto market and more EV charging infrastructure being rolled out in Queensland, now might be the right time to consider switching,” Ms Ritchie said.

She said the range of hybrid and full electric vehicles had surprised the RACQ’s on-road cost assessment teams.

She encouraged drivers considering an electric vehicle to explore the widening range of vehicles being offered.

“Drivers who are keen to transition to lower emissions transport but are concerned about range can also consider a plug-in hybrid or hybrid option,” she said.

“For example a $30,000 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid costs $821per month.”

The most affordable petrol-powered car in the survey is the MG3 Core, which costs $607 to run each month.

The most expensive car to run is the Nissan Y62 Patrol Ti at $2220 a month.

“The costs associated with owning and running a car really do add up for whichever vehicle you choose,” Mr Ritchie said.

“Drivers should do their homework and really weigh up just where they want to spend their money.”

The RACQ running-costs survey is based on driving 15,000 kilometres a year, with the full cost of the vehicle paid out over a five-year loan.

The cost of petrol used in the 2021 survey was 131.90 cents a litre for unleaded petrol, 146.40 cents per litre for premium petrol; 127.30 cents per litre for diesel engines.

Costs for electric vehicles were calculated using an average domestic electricity tariff of 23.93 cents per kilowatt hour.

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/electric-car-costs-could-spark-motorists-to-throw-the-switch-racq-20210909-p58q5a.html

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Farmers get nod to clear land for bushfire protection. Greenies howl

Environmental groups say a new code allowing land clearing 25 metres out from fences will do little to aid protection against bushfires in NSW but could have devastating impacts on wildlife.

The state government over the weekend released its long-awaited code for landholders "to reduce the potential for the spread" of fires from or into properties. "This should be undertaken with consideration of environmental impacts," the code states.

The 25-metre distance on either side of the fence, though, was not among the 76 specific recommendations of the state's bushfire inquiry after the 2019-20 fires.

Instead, the review called for a simplification of the vegetation clearing policies to ensure they were "clear and easy to navigate for the community, and that they enable appropriate bush fire risk management by individual landowners without undue cost or complexity".

Independent upper house MP Justin Field said the 25-metre measure "was totally plucked from the air" without scientific basis.

"These rules will be a disaster for regional communities," Mr Field said. "We're going to see vegetation bulldozed, chopped down, piled up and likely burnt across the state as a result of this decision with almost no regard to the environmental impact.

"This is going to pit neighbour against neighbour and will create massive fragmentation of bushland, leading to a further drying out of the landscape that may increase bushfire risks."

Proponents for the clearing had sought even wider clearing and for them to be applied to national parks before the cabinet compromised on the 25-metre zone that avoided the national park estate, according to one official who asked for anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

An uproar from some local councils, though, led to the Sydney metropolitan region being excluded from the clearing code. Areas close to rivers and other sensitive regions including core koala habitat are also excluded.

"There was quite a lot of thought that went into that [25-metre] distance," Kyle Stewart, an RFS Deputy Commissioner, said, adding it provided "an operational distance" that balanced firefighting effectiveness and other factors such as conservation.

The RFS would work with partner state agencies to help enforce the code's provisions, he said.

Martin Tebbutt, a resident near the Blue Mountains town of Bilpin, said Mr Elliott had "done a snow job" because nothing had changed for his land as it was within the Greater Sydney region.

"We won't be able to protect ourselves along our boundary," Mr Tebbutt said, adding that even 10 metres from the fence line would have been sufficient. Getting approval through the Hawkesbury Council for any clearing would continue to be "quite onerous", he said.

Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said councils within the Sydney Metropolitan areas "would be given the opportunity to opt-in to ensure the Code is applicable to any pockets of rural zoned land within their Local Government Area".

"The onus is on the landowner to ensure that they comply with the applicable regulations," he said.

The Herald also sought comment from Environment Minister Matt Kean and Planning Minister Rob Stokes.

Chris Gambian, head of the Nature Conservation Council, said thousands of hectares of wildlife habitat would be destroyed without requiring an independent assessment of the environmental impacts.

"Neither the NSW Bushfire Inquiry nor the royal commission recommend land clearing on property boundaries as a valid response to the Black Summer fires, but politicians in the government think they know better," Mr Gambian said.

"If these codes stand, it will be a black mark on the record of Matt Kean, who in many respects has been a good minister for the environment."

According to the self-assessed clearing, "it is the responsibility of the owner of the land to maintain a copy of the Rural Boundary Clearing online tool search results from the day that the clearing is undertaken. Landowners are required to provide evidence of the online search tool results in the circumstance that a relevant regulatory authority seeks such evidence".

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/sydney/black-mark-farmers-get-nod-to-clear-land-for-bushfire-protection/ar-AAOne60?ocid=chromentpnews

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Australia plugs for a land carbon sink

Endorsed by the Australian government in a widely unnoticed dot-point in May’s federal Budget and even given faint praise in modest mentions by the IPCC itself, a campaign to enhance the significant capacity of the soil to act as a carbon sink has a particular relevance to Australia.

Although there may be scope for some reservations about the entirety of claims by Mulloon Institute chair (and my former political colleague and friend) Gary Nairn that ‘it is possible to absorb the world’s annual anthropogenic emissions in our soils’, there is no doubt about the science that soil plays a role (understated in the latest catastrophe-oriented IPCC report) in reducing the impact of climate change through the natural cycle of soil carbon sequestration – and in particular by the land rehydration techniques employed by Mulloon in the NSW Southern Tablelands in conjunction with the government’s National Landcare Program and as part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Critical of IPCC’s reliance on cutting emissions as the only recommended way to deal with climate change, Nairn points to other, simpler solutions: ‘soil contains two to three times more carbon than the atmosphere…. The long-term removal, capture or sequestration in soil of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helps slow or reverses atmospheric CO2 pollution’. With the IPCC forecasting a future of less rain overall but more intensive events, risking flooding and erosion, Nairn’s view that ‘the least expensive and most practical action that will quickly get results, including a return on investment, is fixing and rehydrating our degraded landscapes’, has the backing of Prime Minister Morrison. When Energy Minister Angus Taylor announced the May budget’s $37 million funding of National Soil Innovation (included in the budget’s $233 million towards improving farming productivity, profitability and participation in the Emissions Reduction Fund), Taylor said the fund would support the development of technologies to reduce the measurement costs involved in ‘unlocking the untapped potential of our soils in line with our approach to reducing emissions by innovation not elimination’.

This cause was taken up earlier this year by the Menzies Research Centre’s James Mathias in the Daily Telegraph with the claim that ‘Increasing soil organic carbon is the single most useful step we can take to remove excessive carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. By improving the way we farm, agriculture can become a net consumer of atmospheric carbon. Since Australian farming soils in aggregate are low by world standards, the potential to absorb carbon and turn it into productive use is huge. The benefits of soil carbon, however, go further than sequestration. Even without the imperative to restore the carbon balance, richer soils are more productive and require fewer inputs.

Australia is not alone in looking to better ways of dealing with CO2. In the US, the ultra-green Union of Concerned Scientists last month described the management of soil carbon as ‘an important tool in battling the climate crisis. By adopting healthy soil practices that keep carbon in soil and sequester carbon for the long term, farmers can contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Such practices can boost resilience to increasingly extreme droughts and floods, reduce air and water pollution, and help farmers and their communities to thrive’.

While still focussing overwhelmingly on the negative impact on the land (floods, fire and famine) of its forecast human-emissions-caused global warming than on the positive prospects of land-use changes to assist the removal of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere, the IPCC has nevertheless become more aware of the potential of land carbon sinks – and acknowledges that biological methods of increasing land carbon storage also enhance primary productivity. But in the IPCC’s current ‘Advice to Policymakers’ there are no policy proposals, no urgent campaign to turn land sinks into a positive weapon, even though it accepts that there is a potential to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and durably store it in reservoirs. It projects that higher CO2 emissions will result in natural land carbon sinks taking up, in absolute terms, progressively larger amounts of CO2. However, the share of emissions absorbed by land is projected to decline with increasing cumulative CO2 emissions, resulting in a higher proportion of emitted CO2 remaining in the atmosphere.

The IPCC reckons that two-thirds of the estimated carbon lost from the soil as a result of human agriculture over 12,000 years is recoverable with best management practices. ‘These may be applied to the restoration of marginal or degraded land but may also be used in traditional agricultural lands’. But while restoration of degraded forests and non-forest ecosystems can play a large role in carbon sequestration, the IPCC warns against afforestation of native grasslands, savannas, and open-canopy woodlands that lead to the undesirable loss of unique natural ecosystems with rich biodiversity, carbon storage and other ecosystem benefits. All this endorses much of the Mulloon approach, with its rehydration focus being reinforced by the IPCC’s satellite observation that links lower global-scale terrestrial water storage with a lower global net land CO2 sink.

But there remains a gap between many of the IPCC’s conclusions and hard evidence to support them. As the American Enterprise Institute conservative think-tank opined last month, ‘it is important to recognise that the assumption of many politicians, environmental groups, and no small number of scientist-activists — that humans are the single most significant cause of climate change — is simply unsupported by the available science….Public discussion of the climate crisis consistently ignores the very real possibility that the small amount of warming that will likely occur might yield noteworthy benefits….[such as] a substantial (CO2-induced) greening of the earth over the past 35 years. Though there will likely be some negative consequences of a warming planet, there will likely be positive effects as well’.

So why no public IPCC campaign for world leaders to prioritise land carbon sinks, with their immediate and diverse benefits, as a less economically-destructive alternative? The suspicion is that the catastrophists at the IPCC won’t abide anything that reduces the alleged urgency of their emissions reduction mantra. As the AEI says, ‘Instead of merely dismissing the faux science that lends support to climate alarmism as a “hoax,” conservatives must do more to engage with and reclaim the growing body of scientific evidence that supports their climate-change realism’.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2021/09/business-robbery-etc-76/

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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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