Comments

Geoffrey Taylor

Thu, 2011-08-25 11:26

An article of Time magazine Bye-Bye, Gaddafi: How Italy Will Profit from the New Libyan Regime brazenly reveals what the war against Libyan people by the NATO Afrika Korps was really about: an attempt by Libya's former Italian colonisers togother with other Europen colonisers of Africa -- The UK France, and Germany -- to resume its past theft of Libyan wealth that was ended by the end of Italian colonialism and well and truly ended by Gaddafy in 1973

nimby

Thu, 2011-08-25 09:27

Dear Mr Burke

I respect and support your stance against our Victorian government for allowing livestock to use our Alpine National parks. There are further breaches happening by our Liberal-National State government.

They are illegally logging in Sylvia Creek Toolangi in the Central Highlands. This is for woodchipping, mainly for Reflex paper.

Leadbeater's Possums are our State's native symbol. However, their numbers are dropping. Those at Toolangi were fortunate to survive Black Saturday, but they are under threat from VicForests - logging in an area they are supposed to be. There is only a reported 1000 left.

They have failed to make the necessary surveys and there is even reports that the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act is to be watered down to ignore endangered species - for more logging. Protesters have been arrested, and a legal suit is being sent to the Supreme court to stop the logging, but it is continuing.

This is an urgent situation. Logging is also threatening koala numbers in the Strzelecki ranges. Ranges in South Gippsland are being replaced by shining gums in plantation areas after mountain ash harvest.

Please exercise our common-sense and duty as a Federal Minister of the Environment to stop this vandalism. I have emailed Ted Baillieu, but it makes no difference.

The EPBC act should enforce the protection of our endangered animals, and while we have an obligation to cut our carbon emissions, we need more than a carbon tax to do so. These forests are some of the most carbon dense in the world!

All this is happening for a few dollars - myopia at its worse! Please take action as a Federal Environment Minister.

Thank you
Vivienne Ortega
Victoria

Editorial comment: Thank you, Vivienne, for having posted a copy of your letter Tony Burke to candobetter. Please feel more than welcome to also post here any responses from Tony Burke (or please let us know if he fails to repond). - Ed

Sheila Newman

Thu, 2011-08-25 05:01

Thanks for this article, Geoffrey. I hope very much that it will attract some thoughtful comment and somehow contribute to reversing the scary tide of manufactured opinion. Historic negotiator and innovator, Gaddafi started OPEC, the world organisation that led the oil-producing Arab world out of colonial oppression, into independence and the capacity to negotiate fair prices on the world stage. To this day we rely on OPEC for world oil-pricing. As the unreasonable economic demands of the west have increased to service unwise population and economic growth in the face of projected oil decline, the west has renewed its campaign to dominate oil supplies at all costs, by removing Arab self-government by any means. It seems that the aim is to replace effective leaders it with puppet fundamentalists. Now, added to a shameful list which includes propaganda to justify war against Iraq, Afghanistan, and interference in Bahrain, World powers and their corporate newsmedia seem to misrepresent and shamefully prosecute a real hero. Gaddafi was no self-obsessed Islamic fundamentalist. He employed female guards and, as your film also shows, he worked to benefit the poor. A few weeks ago his daughter, a lawyer in Tripoli, came out to defend him articulately and movingly on the French news. Only quite recently his hand was shaken by Tony Blair, by US diplomats, by Sarkosi and by Berlusconi. In hindsight, that was their privilege and and now it is their shame to share in the pretence that this man is a monster. Where is the evidence? I note that the "Rebels" have been reported as likely to favour NATO states and to discriminate against those states which have been less keen to condemn Gaddafi. I also noticed, in the Financial Review (24 August 2011, p.15, "Rebel team positive but doubts linger") that the rebels sound like a grab-bag of disparate figures and it looks to me as if they are being set up by the corporate makers and fakers of world opinion to be 'managed' by foreign forces, like Iraq, Bahrain and so many other once-proudly independent oil producing nations at the beginning of OPEC. (If I have made some errors of fact, please write in and let me know. I have a lot to learn about Libya, but I do know a thing or two about oil economics history.) Sheila Newman, population and energy sociologist, Editor/Author of The Final Energy Crisis, Pluto Press, UK, 2008.

Geoffrey Taylor

Mon, 2011-08-22 22:53

The latest news from Libya reported by the ABC is that the Government of Muammar Ghaddaffi has lost control of 95% of Tripoli. And supporters of the Transitional National Council are now celebrating in Tripoli's "Green Square" which they have renamed "Martyr's Square". It is now hard to envision supporters of the Government of Muammar Ghadaffi being able to now regain the upper hand and win the civil war.

For more than six months the Libyans have endured naval and aerial bombardments, attacks by terrorists armed and supplied by NATO, theft of their country's resources and finances, diplomatic isolation and the cessation of overseas trade. A massive and sudden escalation last night of that war by NATO finally broke the Libyan people.

Why a number of those opposing the NATO war against Libya, including Global Research writers Thierry Meyssan, Joost van der Heuvel, and in Tripoli, political analyst Mahdi Nazemroaya and reporter Lizzie Phelan had interpreted events of only yesterday as a rout of the Libyan rebels from which would follow their elimination and the survival of the government of Muammar Ghaddafi is not clear. Possibly some answers my be found in the following Global Research articles: BREAKING NEWS. VIDEO. "Massive Atrocious Criminal Bombings" by NATO of 22 August by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya NATO SLAUGHTER IN TRIPOLI: "Operation Mermaid Dawn" Signals Assault by Rebels' Al Qaeda Death Squads of 22 August by Thierry Meyssan, VIDEO: NATO Attacks in Tripoli Threaten Lives of Journalists of 21 August by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, NATO Attacks in Tripoli Threaten Lives of Journalists of 21 August.

Evidence of participation by Western 'advisers'

From NATO-Backed Forces Move into Tripoli of 22 August in Global Research:

“The overwhelming game-changer in the war has been international support for the rebels,” the Independent wrote Saturday. The newspaper described the scene in Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, a key center of the “rebels,” where their reporter encountered “a group of Western men in unmarked combat clothing, watchful, carrying guns. They were shy to speak to me and would not say who they were. According to rebel fighters, the current success in the field has been due to the planning carried out by these ‘advisers.’”

A second report in the Independent, published Sunday, declared: “The regime forces, after being pulverised for months by NATO, do not appear to have the capabilities to break through the rebels and re-establish a lifeline to the outside world. The rebels are still pretty inept, but they are receiving training and considerable assistance from Western former forces contractors, who are now planning and accompanying their missions.”

Workers' Liberty, a 'socialist' supporter of the war against Libya

Workers' Liberty, which supported the six month NATO war against Libya, had seemingly lost its voice in regard to Libya for quite a few months. For many hours after the reported overthrow of Gaddafi, Workers' Liberty maintained its deafening silence. Finally, some time before 11.30PM +10 they posted the story with the ludicrous title Victory to the working class of Libya!. This story makes no mention of the massive escalation of the NATO aerial bombardment last night nor of the landing of thousands of 'rebel' fighters on the beaches of Tripoli by NATO warships. If it were not for the fact that this is a web-site that poses as a socialist organisation opposed to war and US and UK imperialism, the deceit of this web-site could be judged no worse than that of the Murdoch newsmedia so indignantly denounced by Workers' Liberty.

In fact, Workers' Liberty is even more sinister and more deceitful than the Murdoch Press. Almost certainly the influnece that this organisation and other phony socialist organisations were able to wield in British politics prevented an anti-war movement that would have stopped the UK from bombing Libya from emerging.

nimby (not verified)

Mon, 2011-08-22 09:54

Prominent business and union leaders have endorsed a new strategy on asylum seekers that would have mandatory detention phased out within two years and Australia's intake of refugees significantly increased over five years.

Read more: Plea for asylum policy rethink in the Age of 22 August 2011 bu Michael Gordon.

Predictably, Heather Ridout and Janet Holmes a Court, along with ACTU chief are among more than 30 well-known Australians to back the strategy. More people will ensure the "big Australia" policy heads towards reality.

After the refugee swap with Malaysia, there are doubts about whether Kuala Lumpur is capable of honouring its commitment under the deal to uphold the human rights of the asylum seekers returned.

A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner argued that until Australia can overcome its "collective paranoia" about boat arrivals, it will be difficult to achieve sensible decision-making.

He says that Australia is the only nation with mandatory detention, yet "we see far fewer asylum arrivals than other countries and host far fewer of the world's refugees". Maybe that's because we are the driest continent, and the country with the most un affordable housing, climate change threats, irregular water supplies, and rising poverty. It our environment that supports our survival and our "carrying capacity", not economics or government policy.

The obvious way to solve the asylum seeker issue is to dis entangle ourselves as a nation from the UN's 1951 refugee convention. We shouldn't be directed by the UN. We should uphold our sovereignty and make our own decisions on how we deal with refugees. Our immigration program is completely discriminatory and biased towards economic immigrants - mainly students and the well-off to buy into our property market.

People are scared of asylum seekers as they fear their numbers will push us closer a "big Australia". However, this is not the case. We are heading there anyway, not because of refugees but because of our government's policy. Humanitarian intake is only about 14,000 per year, yet overall it is 185,000. The media focus is cleverly on a "solution" for the asylum seekers, but it's pathetically easy to live in Australia if you are young and willing to pay hefty education fees. Only the well-off can get here without political or media attention.

Geoffrey Taylor

Mon, 2011-08-22 08:54

Only last night a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) news was confidently predicting the end of the embattled Government of Muamar Ghadaffii. within about a day. Almost immediately afterwards, I was to learn from Global Research, that in fact, the 'rebels' had been routed near Tripoli. The recent set-backs of the NATO-propped Libyan 'Transitional National Council' had been deliberately concealed from the public by political leaders and their media fearing the consequences of their intended victims' survival of over six months of aerial and naval bombardment, a sustained ground war by terrorists funded and supplied by NATO countries and the illegal seizure of funds and assets belong to the Libyan people - prosecutions the International Criminal Court in Belgium of the individual leaders who have conducted that criminal campaign - Sarkozy, Cemeron, US President of State Hillary Clinton and US President Barack Obama, the head of NATO Anders Rasmussen. Today, the Reuters story Analysis: Libya rebels seek to avoid Tripoli battle claimed that "gauging the loyalty of Tripoli's population is far from easy." It was only "far from easy" for those in the past kept ignorant, by the likes of Reuters, of news of daily demonstration of at least hundreds of thousands, showing the Libyan peoples' overwhelming support for their Government standing up to the US and NATO . These massive demonstrations were acknowledged in the following sentence, which still attempted to downplay that support: "Gaddafi loyalists have put on many marches and demonstrations of loyalty in recent months," It is not only the mainstream western newsmedia who have attempted to deceive the public about Libya over recent months, but also some of the supposed far-left 'socialist' newsmedia. At best, they have said very little or even maintained total silence. However one publication, the UK Workers' Liberty actually came out in support of the bombing of Libya. Note: Rupert Murdoch's Australian, which has shamelessly peddled NATO's lies, at least since NATO imposed a suppose "no-fly zone" over Libya on 18 March, has nevertheless, included in its story More than six months of conflict in Libya of 22 August, a useful chronology of the conflict.

nimby (not verified)

Sun, 2011-08-21 09:09

A leading Japanese recruiter of teachers from Australia is placing recruits closer to leaky nuclear reactors than recommended by Canberra's radiation safety agency. It maintains no teacher will be placed in an area the Japanese Government deems "unsafe". A magnitude 6.8 quake jolted Japan off Fukushima, tsunami advisory 19 Aug 2011. A 50 cm tsunami advisory was issued for the coast of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. No damage or injuries have been reported, and the tsunami advisory was lifted after no waves were sighted. The quake was strongly felt in Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, causing the Shinkansen bullet train in the region to suspend service and expressways to be closed. Rice, still a significant staple, has not been planted in many areas. Others face stringent tests and potentially harmful shipping bans after radioactive cesium was found in rice straw. Relations between the United States and Japan, already strained over the delayed relocation of an American military base on Okinawa, received no help this week when a retired U.S. envoy publicly criticized Tokyo's initial response in March to the nation's nuclear crisis. U.S. officials worried about the lack of leadership shown by Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami led to partial reactor meltdowns at the coastal plant. Japan has approved the full resumption of the commercial operations of an atomic reactor for the first time since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami set off the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The Japanese economy is chronically stagnant and has been further threatened by the energy shortages. An overwhelming number of Japanese, for years ambivalent about nuclear power, are now calling for the country’s remaining reactors to be shut down. Citizens, anti-nuclear groups, and government officials gathered recently in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to push for renewable energy sources and nuclear non-proliferation.

James Sinnamon

Sun, 2011-08-21 01:49

I just posted this comment to GetUp suggestion for the ABC to return to its Charter and it was not posted as far as as I was able to tell. So the need for me to post it here and not let it go to waste.- JS

If you want to see what abysmal service the ABC provides see how they failed to even to act upon my request that they find out what all the candidates' intentions were in regard to privatisation prior to the 2009 Queensland elections please look hereat 6 . Had they done so, either the Labor Government would have been made to promise not to sell off any assets or they would have been voted out, but YOUR ABC did neither and they gave me, the one candidate campaigning against privatisation in the 2009 elections almost no air-time.

After Bligh got back into power, she announced her plans to sell off huge amounts of publicly owned assets, again the wishes of more than 80% of Qld electors according to some opinion polls.

This is not only a good reason to sack Bligh and every labor member from Parliament and from ever again holding any job paid for with taxpayers' funds it is also a good reason for Direct Democracy.

Could you consider supporting my proposal for Direct Democracy at tinyurl.com/3nmwwjq ? I think if Direct Democracy were law, we would stand a much greater chance of having great suggestions such as this adopted as law.

Please also see http://candobetter.net/DirectDemocracy.

Bandicoot

Sat, 2011-08-20 13:46

Some contend that recognition of Aboriginal customary law as part of Australian legislation entitles other cultures to similar privileges. However, Aboriginal communities and their laws predated British colonisation and mass immigration, and they have a primary right in some cases to enforce their own justice. Islam is an introduced culture, and the default result of immigration, not something organically belonging to Australia or our heritage. As the host country we are entitled to demand adherence to our legal system without a parallel conflicting one. Sharia laws are especially used to over-ride divorce laws, and discriminate against women who are denied the same rights. The introduction of hybrid laws or sharia arbitration for family or criminal matters could transgress our laws and mean mean constant revision and stress on our existing system. Their laws are based on theocracy, not democracy. Laws from 7th-century Arabia may not be applicable in the 21st.

Sheila Newman

Sat, 2011-08-20 13:01

The original post got the name wrong - it should have been "Maryam Namazie" but the information about who started 3RPP 98.7FM is right, according to the leader of The Peninsula Women’s Information and Support Service Inc, 3 Lyons Street, Rye, Elida Radig: "Maybe somebody, now, will ask the two important questions: The name of the woman who started 3RPP? and which program in England was started by Maryam? Two great Feminists working in the world of patriarchy!! You have give us the opportunity to enhance the information on both women! In sisterhood Elida Radig"

Tigerquoll

Sat, 2011-08-20 10:41

Islamic Sharia Law is incompatible with British Common Law. The fundamental principles are mutually exclusive. Therefore to try to introduced Islamic law in a non-Islamic society such as Britain can only be to either make Britain Islamic or have two sets of opposing laws in the one nation. The former solution constitutes political overthrow. The latter constitutes apartheid.

But as Britain's open door immigration policy has encouraged, hundreds of thousands of Muslims now have established a beachhead in key urban centres across England. Take the London suburb of Waltham Forest for example, just east of Tottenham.

Waltham Forest... fundamentalist group tries to enforce Sharia law in east London community'

by Oliver Harvey, Chief Feature Writer for The Sun Newspaper 28th July 2011.

'It's the leafy London suburb that's gearing up to be one of the host local authorities for next year's Olympics. But yesterday bemused residents of Waltham Forest were reacting to news the borough had been declared an Islamic emirate by a fringe group of fundamentalists.

The group Muslims Against Crusades has demanded strict Sharia law in the east London community - banning gambling, smoking and alcohol. Dozens of posters had been put up - quickly removed by the council - insisting: "You are entering a Shariah controlled zone - Islamic rules enforced."

The group's Islamic Emirates Project aims to establish independent Muslim states within Britain and has also earmarked Bradford and Dewsbury in West Yorks, and Luton, Beds.
The Islamic group's website said: "Muslims Against Crusades would like to announce that Waltham Forest is to be the first borough to be targeted for an intense Shariah-led campaign."

Yesterday supporter of the group Abu Izzadeen, 36, insisted he wants to see the stoning of adulterers and women forced to cover up their bodies on the streets of Waltham Forest, which has one of the country's highest Muslim populations. The radical - an electrician called Trevor Brooks before converting to Islam - said last night: "It would be changed to the Islamic Emirate of Waltham Forest. Why not? We need Sharia law here.

"We have a big problem with prostitution here, a huge problem with drugs, we have an infestation of gambling shops on the High Road and the free mixing of males and females.

"Women would have to cover up. It should be forbidden that they are not. Thieves should have their hands cut off."

As for stoning of adulterers in Waltham Forest the preacher added: "One day we hope it will happen."

The preacher, who was convicted in 2008 for terrorism fund-raising and giving speeches urging Muslims to fight US troops in Iraq, said he will speak at a rally by the group after a march through the borough on Saturday.

In Leyton, locals refused to react to the provocation. Muslims Redzz Shakeel and Sal Warner said the group's comments were ill-timed after the Norway massacre by a far-Right fanatic.

Insurance worker Sal, 29, insisted: "This is just trying to separate different communities but it's not going to work.

"We don't want stonings in this country. That's crazy. This is Britain and everyone should live by Britain's laws."

Musician Redzz, 24, added: "It's a tiny minority of Muslims who want laws like this. People are entitled to their own views but shouldn't try to tell other people how to live."

Shopping in High Road, Leyton, unemployed Abdul Rehman, 56, a Muslim originally from Pakistan, added: "They should go to a Muslim country if they want to live under those laws. It has no place in Britain."

Community leaders urged residents to ignore the "publicity stunt". Mohammed Ilyas, general secretary at Waltham Forest mosque, said: "We totally condemn these kinds of views and if someone came in here preaching that kind of message we would throw them out."

Unemployed Leyton Orient fan Rob Morgan, 50, said: "We have people from all over the world here and by and large we all get on well. This group is not going to change that."

Mum-of-two Valerie Houghton, 23, insisted: "They can declare Sharia law but I'm going to wear what I want and have a glass of wine when I want one.

"I believe in live and let live but won't be told what to do." 'It's a minority view' ... Redzz Shakeel, Valerie Houghton and Sal Warner say they will not be told how to live by Islamic group

Yesterday Waltham Forest Council said it had removed the posters and was combing through CCTV footage to help police prosecute any offenders.

Council leader Chris Robbins said: "People shouldn't get the wrong idea about our borough because a handful of small-minded idiots decided to deface our streets with ridiculous posters."

Ghaffar Hussain of Quilliam, a counter-extremism and pro-democracy think-tank, said: "Muslims Against Crusades are a lunatic fringe of troublemakers not even taken seriously by genuine extremists, let alone ordinary Muslims who abhor their rhetoric and tactics and find them an embarrassment."

Earlier this month female visitors to the Noor Ul Islam summer fete at Leyton Cricket Ground were ordered to cover their shoulders by Muslim organisers.

Fete volunteer Hasib Hussain told a local paper: "T-shirts were only given to people who were dressed inappropriately, like those wearing mini-skirts or low-cut tops."

Muslims Against Crusades was set up last year and its members were behind a poppy-burning protest on Armistice Day.

Britain's Chartered Institute of Management Accountants has been encouraging Sharia Law practice since 2003

CIMA First UK Institute to offer Islamic Finance Qualification

"ONE of the UK’s leading accountancy bodies will this week try to cash in on the growing popularity of Islamic banking with the launch of an Islamic finance qualification. The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) will become the first accountancy body in the UK to train its members in Islamic financial law, which prohibits the receipt and payment of interest. Investments in industries such as alcohol and gambling are also banned.

According to the Financial Services Authority, the Islamic finance industry is now worth up to £250bn globally. Over the past five years several mainstream UK banks, including HSBC, have started to offer products such as Islamic mortgages and current accounts to Britain’s Muslim communities."

No rich tapestry in public service

(ABC Radio National, 'National Interest' programme aired on 18th August 2011).

Meanwhile there are those in Australia hell bent on maximising the 'rich tapestry' of migrant multiculturalism by advocating employment favouritism of migrants in Australia' public service. Case in point is Professor of Diversity Management, Santina Bertone, of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne's east.

"The post-war migration program has transformed Australian society and many of our cities are today extremely culturally and linguistically diverse. But it appears that transformation hasn't made it through to state and local governments in Australia. A new study into the cultural make-up of our public servants has shown that migrants from non-English-speaking countries are under-represented in the workforce of State and local governments in Australia.

The problem is particularly noticeable in councils -- even in those suburbs with very large non-English-speaking communities. So, why the imbalance? Why have these two levels of government not been able to create a more representative workforce? And does it matter? Do we need our public service to mirror Australia's population? According to new research, the problem is more with the culture of employment than outright discrimination. But how can we change this? And why are federal departments so much better at harnessing Australia's cultural diversity?"

...Meanwhile Australia's unemployed in July 2011 numbered 611,000. The number of people unemployed in the UK rose by 38,000 to 2.49 million in the three months to June 2011.

Tigerquoll
Suggan Buggan
Snowy River Region
Victoria 3885
Australia

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2011-08-20 09:55

Introducing "diversity" in our legal system is a recipe for division and society's fragmentation. People coming to Australia must understand our culture, our legal system, our democratic Judeo-Christian heritage and system of government. Superimposing Sharia Law over our long-serving traditions and legal system is an affront to Australia. Sharia has been operating in parallel to the British legal system, since 1982. All Western influences, from alcohol, music, television and movies, are banned under strict Islamic rules. What is considered the norm of liberalism can't be accommodated in a Western culture as it's contradictory and divisive. "Multiculturalism" has been beneficial economically and socially to Australia in the past as we had immigrants from countries willing to smoothly accept Australian values. However, mass immigration and the "diversity" we have now is not the same. Sharia law is not democratic, and is not appropriate to impose on women and children in today's Australian society. "Multiculturalism" now is being used to fulfil our government's "big Australia" policy. Instead, "multiculturalism" should be assimilation. We don't need a "big Australia" to prove our tolerance. It seems that like Britain, we must pay the price of having 70 years of "white Australia" and for the earlier "sins" of Colonialism.

Women's Rights (not verified)

Sat, 2011-08-20 08:44

Maryam Namazie talks on Sharia Law, Tuesday, 23 August, 6.30pm at the Wheeler Center, 176 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne at 6.30pm, cost $10. Run by Pen, 0402049487.

Sharia Law and Human Rights – August 23, Wheeler Centre

One Law for All, UK – Presenter Maryam Namazie
Date: Tuesday, August 23 , 6.30pm
Venue: The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Cost: $10
RSVP by email

Maryam is a human rights and refugee advocate, broadcaster and spokesperson for One Law for All (UK).
One Law for All opposes sharia law in Britain. Maryam will explain why and reflect on sharia law and the implications for human rights, especially women and children’s rights. This is a timely presentation and discussion in Australia.

About the event

Bio of Maryam Namazie

lois daley (not verified)

Fri, 2011-08-19 11:02

As a person who protested at the land grab by the C.o.P.P. of a heritage listed park (Garden City Reserve) in 2005 for a n.home hostel units day centre etc I congratulate your group in the successfull campaign to save your open spaces for all and not for greed and political greed. Regards Lois Daley 19 Crichton ave Port Melb.3207. 9646 2304. 19.8.2011

Tigerquoll

Fri, 2011-08-19 09:53

What power do democratic elections forgo? When we cast our vote for governments under our so-called representative democracy, we are mislead into believing that our interests in how our nation is governed are to be delegated to the political aspirants based upon their electoral promises. What we get though is three or four years of self-serving aristocracy who pursue their own agendas, who treat their electoral mandate as if bestowed a Napoleonic carte blanche - they take us to a war we don't want, sell our public assets they have no right to sell, pursue policies we didn't vote upon, waste public moneys by the billions, and renege on their electoral promises. So-called 'people power' in Australia is only a casual affair once every three or four years - when we go to the ballot. Yet that power is hijacked by electioneering propaganda paid for by millions in political donations, in return for policy favours to the donors. The process is as corrupt as India's democracy. After their term is up we can't get rid of them fast enough and we go and believe the other mob's electoral promises, memory cast to the wind. Such continues Australia's system of government since Federation. Clearly Henry Parkes' vision is not working. Tigerquoll Suggan Buggan Snowy River Region Victoria 3885 Australia

James Sinnamon

Fri, 2011-08-19 04:52

The following has been adapted from a comment I posted to the GetUp suggestion: Stop the privatisation of Publicly owned asserts... any such actions should be put to a referendum., referred to in my previous comment: Telstra would not have been privatised if we had had Citizens Initiated public referenda. When the Howard Government privatised Tesltra that, by my recollection, it was opposed by 66% of the Australian public. (You may find of interest, the site which I maintained and which has now been archived by the Australian National Library at http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/45522/20081105-0004/www.citizensagainstsellingtelstra.com/index.html - I intend to resurrect it as www.citizensagainstsellingtelstra.net - because someone else grabbed the domain citizensagainstsellingtelstra.com .) Even though the Liberal and National Parties were formally for privatisation in 2004, all of them, including Pime Minister John Howard, were very quiet about it in the 2004 elections. In fact, more Coalition candidates spoke against the privatistion of Telstra than for it in that election campaign. (See my article "Coalition victory - a mandate to privatise?" of 31 October 2004 at http://pandora.nla.gov.au) That didn't stop them from voting for the privatisation of Telstra in 2006. If Senator Barnaby Joyce had kept his 2004 election promise to oppose privatistion, it would have been stopped. (See "An open letter to Senator Barnaby Joyce" of 12 Sep 2005 at http://pandora.nla.gov.au

James Sinnamon

Fri, 2011-08-19 03:22

I am not the only person and not the first to to have proposed a campaign for Direct Democracy to GetUp. Others include:

Bandicoot

Thu, 2011-08-18 17:20

Australia is the driest continent on earth and as we push towards an ever increasing population we must be mindful of the fact the less than 9 per cent of our continent's surface is arable land. This limited area for producing food for the nation is under threat from coal seam gas mining. The Age August 17th It seems that the human race is genetically designed to build their (our) own funeral pyre! With a blow-out of human numbers, diminishing soils, loss of fertilizers, climate change, and the energy crisis, we are converging to catastrophes. Coal seam mining destroying what could be needed in the future - arable land for agriculture - is self-fulfilling our final destiny - overpopulation and hunger. Commercial patronage of governments at all levels ended. There is too much collusion with businesses and corporations, and they are running and ruining our country. The nation of our fore-fathers is being destroyed by greed. We need an economy to provide our clothing, food, and income. But the Economy and it 's growth should not be to our detriment. The raison d'etre for our government should be to make policies and plans for the benefit of Australia and Australians. However, they have been hijacked by the elite, such as mining companies, globalised businesses, the livestock industries and property developers. Those with money and power have the ability to sway government decisions. Now they are all about sacrificing our land, our resources, our living standards and our welfare for "big" profits, population and "small" and finite future. Selling off prime agricultural land for coal profits is vandalism and it's a case of too many human "rights" and not enough human "responsibilities". Maybe due to our "success" as a species, we are evolutionarily designed to self-exterminate ourselves? Modern humans have been on the planet for 200,000 years. It's seems inevitable we won't see the next 200,000 years, and maybe not the next century. Even if the public are concerned and conservative, governments are driven by such idiotic and fatalistic greed and short-term-ism.

Sheila Newman

Thu, 2011-08-18 12:27

Dear Tigerquoll,
Thanks for this article, but please look at the other main article on this problem, The US Dollar as a weapon: debt and devaluation," which was posted on August 7th, 2011 by admin. It gives a context for how wierd it is to have the US force the rest of the world to maintain its profligacy (overspending) whilst every other country is expected to submit to austerity and give up its public assets and people to give up self-government control over their affairs.

"The decline in the value of the US dollar is engineered by the US government in order to make US products more affordable and to relaunch their manufacturing economy. The world is trapped by the US into subsidising its debt on account of the very large market it represents and the control over the money markets of US corporate investors. Other economies with higher value currency will experience a falling off in sales because the goods they produce will be less affordable on the world market. Hans-Peter Martin and Harald Schuman wrote about this 'trap' late last century. Read what they wrote then and consider how well it explains our current situation." More here: The US Dollar as a weapon: debt and devaluation."

End live export... (not verified)

Thu, 2011-08-18 12:06

Malaysia is especially sensitive to the disease hendra virus threat because of outbreaks of a similar bat-borne virus to Hendra, Nipah virus, which infects pigs and through them people. Fortunately, it means that they will not continue with the live export trade of animals from Australia. (The Australian newspaper reports).

The virus has spread from bats to horses and a dog so far.

This has been kept quiet so far. It has not been announced by either the Australian or Malaysian governments.

More than 80 per cent of Australia's live goat market is transported to Malaysia, which is worth $15m annually.

With the live export focus on sheep to the Middle East, it was assumed that the shorter voyages made by cattle to Indonesia, and close ties due to this country being on our door-step, meant a well-organised trade. However, the atrocities were kept secret from the media and public.

Two separate bids to end live animal exports failed to win the support of a single Government or Opposition MP. The rant of "jobs and income" has a much higher priority in our business-run democracy than the welfare of exported animals, or morality.

Now there is horrendous films showing evidence of torture of Australian cattle in Turkey. Lyn White of Animals Australia said the footage showed conscious cattle strung up by one hind leg before their throats were cut.

Although the cruelty shown in Indonesian abattoirs was condemned by the Halal Authority in Australia as being un-Islamic, there is little control and no laws in many countries on how animals are be be slaughtered - butchered to death!

Negotiations are now underway to resume trade.

James Sinnamon

Thu, 2011-08-18 01:24

The following comment was posted to GetUp:

This could backfire.

"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter"

Winston Churchill

I think if people were more aware of all sides of Churchill, he would not be considered such a morally credible authority on democracy.

Whilst Churchill is rightly credited for refusing to surrender to Hitler in 1940, when so many of the British ruling elites wanted to give in to Hitler, his record in those years also includes many considerably darker episodes. One was his betrayal of the Greek people in 1944 by the imposition upon them of a brutal dictatorship made up of Greeks who had collaborated with the German and Italian occupiers. I wrote of this on the ABC Radio National web-site on 17 July 2011:

I think Rear Vision owes to the Greek people and to its Australian audience to tell the truth about Greek history.

The account of the Greek Civil War is untrue. The Greek Communist Party led the resistance to the German occupation and had overwhelming support of the Greek people. In 1944, the British tricked the Communist partisans into disarming whilst they secretly re-armed those who had collaborated with the Germans against fellow citizens. They were able to do this because of the betrayal of the Greek Communist Party and the unquestioning support for Stalin by the Greek Communist Party. The Greek Communist Party abused its support from the Greek people to convince then to lay down their weapons. The result was a massacre of the most patriotic Greeks by former German collaborators whilst the British looked on. At this time, the heroic partisan leader Aris Velouchiotis was murdered by collaborators. He died in the knowledge that the Greek Communist Party leaders that he supported had denounced him as a traitor for refusing to lay down his arms.

One of the placards at the mass Greek protests against the British read: "The Germans are back".

Patriotic Greeks could have so easily beaten the British and the former German collaborators in the war of 1944 and the subsequent civil war from 1946-1949 if they were not so appallingly misled by the Greek Communist Party.

For a truthful account of the Greek Civil War please read "The Kapetanios" written about 1970 by Frenchman Dominique Eudes.

It was, in part, due to his crimes committed against the Greek people that Churchill was deservedly beaten in the elections of July 1945.

I would be interested to know of how many examples Churchill would have been able to cite of his being smarter than the average British voter.

If Britain was anything like Australia has been in recent decades, I doubt if Churchill would have been able to cite anywhere near as many examples of stupidity by British voters as they would have been able to cite examples of his government's stupidity, if not criminality.

Save Leadbeater... (not verified)

Wed, 2011-08-17 18:36

Protesters honed in on Sylvia Creek, near Toolangi, today along with the media. The devastation was immediately visible, but not the loggers. There was a brave tree-sitter high up, and the machinery was locked down by ropes attached to the tree. There were no arrests. Our State government is responsible for the protection of endangered species, yet they are their main threat. Leadbeater's Possums managed to survive Black Saturday and now are under threat from logging. They are nocturnal creatures that live in tree hollows. The DSE failed to see them, so conveniently the logging can continue. It's a case of the fox in charge of the hens! With vested interests in woodchips for Japan, the government contradictorily is destroying the habitat of the creatures it has responsibility to manage. There was a protest outside VicForests' office at Healesville, but they decided to lock the door. If there was nothing to hide from, they wouldn't have to hide.

Chocolate is th... (not verified)

Wed, 2011-08-17 09:19

On Tuesday 16 August 2011 Brimbank Council withdrew their proposal to sell 12 of the 14 proposed "open spaces" .This is a victory for the people of Brimbank who fought hard and responded with 700 submissions. In this case people power got 12/14, an indication that these open spaces are viable and valuable, to be retained in the community. Virginia Tachos, Chair of "Our Parks Not For Sale" has thanked everyone who supported the campaign. Supporters are invited to celebrate the community's victory by attending a BBQ this Sunday 21st of August from 12 noon at 7a Patterson Avenue Keilor. (Mel 14F6). Contact Virginia, Mobile 0411 333 575 The campaign is not altogether over yet because members intend to push to have the reclassification to residential returned to that of reserve or open space. Further the will be campaigning for the land to be returned rightfully to the ownership of the community. As long as the land remains a "council asset" the same problem is likely to come back to haunt the community. The group is firm about making sure these areas are retained for the benefit and enjoyment of everyone now and in the future no matter how long or what it takes. Sources of Info: Julianne Bell, Protectors of Public Land Vic; Virginia Tachos and Graeme Elkington of Our Parks Not For Sale.

local (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-16 19:02

Mornington Peninsula Council is out of touch and their 6.8 per cent rate hike is excessive, say ratepayer groups. Hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on planning issues. It's all about the amendment C87 to stop subdivision, to appease an elitist Mt. Eliza group representing less than 3% of the local rate payers. Councils lose money when developers vie for opportunities, and those with money and privileges want to preserve their large blocks. This council has has lost sight on Protecting the peninsula. What is needed is money spent on Mount Martha and Mornington's failing Infrastructure to cope with the massive increase in families over the past 5 years. With the Peninsula LInk and the proposed growth in the area, compounded by the threats to our "green wedges", rates are likely to keep increasing to pay for infrastructure needed for growth. Population growth costs are being passed onto residents, and blowing out economies of scale. Businesses and those who are part of the pro-growth lobby continue to spout about more "prosperity" from a bigger population, but they simply pass the costs onto the public while they reap the benefits. It's no more than a Ponzi investment scheme.

nimby (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-16 11:37

We are always preached to about being "sustainable" and about reducing water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, recycling, and the avoidance of over-using our cars. However, governments are guilty of being the biggest guzzlers of power, of being addicted to the growth paradigm, and of being the biggest eco-criminals in our society! The public are supposed to take action, but not governments. The Desal plant was an enormous mistake, and the public will be forced to pay for it. There is nothing "sustainable" or environmentally friendly about this project. It was a complete management disaster. The Bracks/Brumby government, even during the drought while they had the Target 140 litres a day campaign, continued to boost Victoria's population and outstripped any efforts made by the public to save water! Brumby gets to retire in comfort, yet the public will be burdened for years for this folly of un-sustainable madness.

Agent Provocateur

Mon, 2011-08-15 21:07

What We Want! Direct Democracy instead of representative democracy I couldn't register a login at Getup but I posted this link to Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/ajburchell Excerpt: Under the laws of Direct Democracy, if the required number of signatures are obtained, then the proposal must be put to the Swiss people at the periodic multiple national referenda that are held in Switzerland. If the proposal is voted for by a double majority, then it becomes law. Direct Democracy differs from the way representative democracy is practised in most countries formally labeled 'democratic'. I believe that few of those countries, notably Australia, can be described as truly democratic in the sense of "government of the people by the people and for the people". If those countries adopted Direct Democracy, then they could become truly democratic. On many occasions, in at least the last four decades Australia, has experienced Parliaments which have inexcusably ignored the clear wishes of the Australian people.

quark

Mon, 2011-08-15 15:36

The subject of rights of miners vs those of farmers have been very much in the main media in the past few days in Australia after Tony Abbott, the Leader of the Opposition is reported to have favoured farmers over miners in one of his utterances . ABC radio this morning was on this subject with several people directly affected by claims to drill for gas on their properties calling to speak on the program. The tenor of the discussion maintained by the presenter expressed very much a market based philosophy where the essence of the issue was the relative productiveness of the land in question under a mining or a farming regime assuming that the minerals /fuels beneath the surface belong to all. (I wonder about those who will not be able to benefit as they will be born after the exhaustion of these mines.) Ecological services, aesthetics, biodiversity were largely absent from the discussion. The presenter also remarked that the miners would be in quite a hurry to extract what they could and sell it as the fossil fuels in question, brown coal and gas would be redundant as soon as the technology to exploit other energy sources such as solar , geothermal and wind were up and running. The carbon tax should sort that one out ...shouldn't it?

Richo (not verified)

Mon, 2011-08-15 03:04

Direct Democracy not Parliamentary Rule Anti-parliamentary politics and the case against voting which features some material by Joe Toscano, is cause to doubt Joe Toscano's judgement when it was written back in 2001. Two articles which could only have harmed democracy and ordinary Australians given what we know of Australian history prior to them being written and since are An anarchist anti-election campaign - 1998 and Election 2001 - For Direct Democracy not Parliamentary Rule. John Howard won the 1996 elections giving many who voted for him the impression that he was not going to do anything too radical to Australia. After Howard won, he 'discovered' a huge 'black hole' in the Federal Budget, conveniently for him, concealed from the electors by Paul Keating during the election campaign. This gave Howard the excuse he needed to do what a number of commentators believed that he intended to do all along, that is to viciously cut back government programs and spending. I remember my own financial circumstances and career prospects having been seriously harmed by Howard's actions. The highly suspicious Port Arthur Massacre also occurred in 1996 soon after Howard was first elected. This gave Howard the excuse needed for him to change Australia's gun laws so that only police, the army and the rich had the right to own firearms. Of course, those prepared to break the law continued to break the law by owning illegal firearms so guns were not removed from the hands of criminals. Only ordinary, honest Australians had the right to bear firearms taken away from them. This undemocratic act, in fact, turned John Howard, whilst he was at the same time viciously attacking the poor economically, into the darling of Australia's "bleeding heart" anti-gun middle classes, who for months would not hear from me, one harsh word said against Howard. During his first term Howard, who had dishonestly claimed after his election defeat in 1993, to have completely abandoned any plans to introduce a GST, set up a sham Parliamentary inquiry into "tax reform". The purpose of the 'inquiry' was so obviously not to conduct an inquiry into tax reform, but, rather, to deliver a pre-set 'recommendation' for the GST that Liberal MP Paul Zammit resigned from the committee in disgust. In 1998, on script, the 'inquiry' delivered its 'recommendation' that the GST, that Howard promised in 1993 that he would never again try to introduce, be introduced. Howard closed Parliament early, and then called an early election before Parliament could be recalled. As a result the 'inquiry' report was not properly scrutinised by Parliament. As a result, Howard was able to make many claims about the 'inquiry' report during the election which were subsequently shown in Parliament to be false. Even so, he only just scraped back into power, in fact, losing the popular two-party preferred vote 48.5% to 52.5%, but that was all he needed to be able to inflict three more years of harm to ordinary Australians and democracy, just to begin with. This included his attempt 1998 to break the Maritime Union of Australia using mercenary strikebreakers. I do not know what impact Joe Toscano's anti-election campaign had on the outcome of the 1998 elections, but it most likely would have dissuaded some people who would normally have voted against Howard from voting. If it had any sizable impact, it could well have made the difference that would have allowed Howard to scrape back in. Joe Toscano's "anti-election campaign" may well have made it possible for Howard to launch his vicious attacks on Australians in his next three years of office. Of course, this is not to say that if Labor had won in 1998 it would have been any better than other 'Labor' governments in previous decades, but at least it could not have behaved anywhere nearly as nastily as the re-elected Howard Government behaved. Re-electing a government that has just beaten you with a steel bar is surely just asking to be beaten again. In subsequent years, the Howard Government was to launch the war against Afghanistan based on the pretext of September 11, participate in the illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq and, in 2005, attempt to take away collective bargaining rights that Australian workers had with his "Work Choices" act. If Joe Toscano's thinking back in 1998 and 2001 exemplifies Anarchist thinking in Australia, then it seems to be seriously flawed.

nimby (not verified)

Sun, 2011-08-14 13:49

It's interesting the the State government and Planning Minister Matthew Guy justify all the "developments" and land grabs as due to a critical housing and land "shortages", and no-one can object. Few would be brave enough to challenge that housing is a basic human need that can't be denied. However, while they on one hand try to address the housing shortages by grabbing "vacant" land and over-riding community concerns, on the other hand successive State governments have done all they can to actually cause and profit from the housing shortages. The cause of the "shortages" and the source of the problem is exactly the same - immigration-driven population growth!

With contradictory efforts - the solution and the source - being in government hand, the public are divided into "nimbys" and those profiting from land speculation and developments.

Obesity goes hand in hand with limited lung capacity and circulatory system illnesses. "Planning" should be about ensuring Melbourne's livability and the long term welfare of residents. However, it has become the long-arm of those with vested interests in mortgages, lending, the construction industries, and upholding fat-cat positions in State government departments - the status quo.

James Sinnamon

Sat, 2011-08-13 12:32

Tony,

Thanks for your own perspective. Not having read the articles, I will have to reserve my judgement on them for now, but for reasons, I will give below, I will remain very wary of anything found on the pages of CounterPunch.

People need to understand that CounterPunch has played a shameful role in covering up the evidence which disproves the Bush administration's account of the 9/11 False Flag terrorist attack, which was used as a pretext for the United States' invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, its "Global War on Terror" and attacks on the political and civil rights of US citizens including the passage of the Patriot Act[1] on 26 October 2001 only 45 days after September 11. Consequently CounterPunch has been named by Canadian Malthusian and truth activist Barrie Zwicker, who narrated The End of Suburbia, as a fake left wing publication.

Examples of CounterPunch's cover-up of 9/11 include: Interviewing Chomsky, when on 18 September 2001, only 7 days after 9/11, the phony American dissident endorsed the Bush Administration's account of 9/11, Noam Chomskly's 9/11, Sander Hicks and the 9/11 Truth Movement, Forgetting September 11, The 9/11 Conspiracy Nuts of 9 Sep 06 by Alexander Cockburn The 9/11 Conspiracists and the Decline of the Anmerican (sic) Left of 28 Nov 2006 also by Alexander Cockburn.

This is not to say that nothing published CounterPunch has any worth. Indeed, much of it is worth reading, as, indeed, much of what is written in even the Murdoch Press is good journalism.

Still, I would be most wary of any claims of anything contained in any article written in CounterPunch. In the case of very contentious and vexed political questions, such as the riots in Britain, it would be very easy for their coverage by CounterPunch and other phony left publications to be turned to serve the powerful vested interests they claim to oppose.

Footnotes

1. [back] USA Patriot act, as it is officilly entitled, is an acronym for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act"

Tony Boys's picture

Tony Boys

Sat, 2011-08-13 11:30

Two good reports are given in Counterpunch (http://www.counterpunch.org): The London Riots in Historical Perspective Burning Britain - The Economics Conditions Driving Riot Fever The bullet that was shot and lodged in a police radio (do they have those now??) was a Metropolitan Police issued bullet. Duggan was apparently shot as he and his friend were being held to the ground by several policemen. This is usually termed 'arbitrary execution' - and if it was, it is of the utmost seriousness. Will we ever know the 'truth'? Hope so, but fat chance. Personal note. I lived in Brixton with my family for about three years in the early 70s. I quite enjoyed it as I happen to like the mixed racial environment and the reggae-disco pubs (not many white people came to these, though. I went with one or two black or double friends. Can't really see why others didn't go. I always had a good friendly time...) However, even at that time young black people (esp. men) complained of being selectively harassed by police officers from Brixton Police Station. As a 'hippy' with long hair and 'strange' clothes, I would have thought that I would be just as likely to come in for a little police attention (all manner of 'drugs' being pretty easily available at the time), but was totally ignored by the police force. Fine by me. Obviously, very little has changed in the intervening 40 years! In fact it's probably worse. Despite a certain amount of radiation contamination where I live now in Japan, I still feel 'safer' here.

Geoffrey Taylor

Sat, 2011-08-13 00:40

According to CNN, Libya, is currently 'revelling' at the news of the riots in the United Kingdom:

... turning the tables, after enduring sustained criticism from the West, it was authoritarian regimes such as Iran and Libya that delighted in mocking Britain over riots that have engulfed its major cities.

Libya, which has endured sustained criticism for alleged violations of the human rights of opponents since March is, evidently now able to be just as critical of the United Kingdom for its handling of the riots.

So, according to CNN, The tables have truly turned.

Except, ...

Has Libya only endured 'sustained criticism'?

What about the six month aerial bombing campaign in which hospitals, water pipelines as well as military installations have been attacked? What about the arming of the Transitional National Council 'rebels' by the US, NATO, Qatar, Saudi Arabia etc.? What about the seizure of financial assets and oil tankers end expulsion of its diplomats from a number of countries?

If the tables had truly turned then logically, the UK would have to be under sustained aerial bombardment from the Libyan Air Force and the rioters in the United Kingdom would be firing at the police with Libyan-supplied AK47s and rocket launchers.

Geoffrey Taylor

Fri, 2011-08-12 23:33

Tigerquoll wrote:

Hence the riot targets have been corporates, the perceived 'haves' (business owners, McDonald's, commercial retailers displaying spoils of wealth).

In fact, I would suggest that the actual targets are not the corporates, but smaller businesses and poorer people.

Contrary to an angle put by some "left" commentators, these riots seem far more likely to help the wealthy by further breaking down what little cohesion now still remains in those parts of Britain in which the riots have occurred. It may well create a climate in which it may be easier for the UK government to take away the democratic rights of those who are now speaking out for truth, democracy and social justice, in particular, against the UK Government's current war against Libya.

Whilst the Global Research article London burns; Tripoli calm of 9 August makes some good points about the hypocrisy of those defending the arming of 'rebels' in Libya whilst condemning the actions of the UK's own 'rebels', the title of that article seems to imply that the eruption of the riots, by tying up the hands of the war-making UK Government, may lessen the plight of the Libyans, when in the longer term, the further harm done to community cohesion in the UK is more likely to actually make it easier for the UK Government to ignore the democratic wishes of UK residents including those opposed to its war against Libya.

A more helpful and incisive analysis of the riots is another article, Britain's Riots: Thuggery, Looting, Lawlessness... By the Ruling Class of 11 August by Finian Cunningham also on Global Research.

Finian Cunningham writes:

The looting, thievery and lawlessness that (UK Prime Minister) Cameron so condemns is but the reflection at the street level of British society of what is taking place on a much greater scale at the upper echelons of government and the economy.

What the thieving rioters are now doing in some cities of the UK (and, for that matter, in the 'rebel' controlled areas of Libya) is no different to what the wealthy elite of the UK has been doing to the UK as a whole for decades, Also, it differs little to what the wealthy elites of Australia and the US and the Australia have been doing to their respective countries for decades:

Despite the appearance of pinstripe suits and well-groomed accents, we can, if we are honest, see decades of looting and thievery of economic and financial resources by corporate elites aided and abetted by Labour and Conservative governments. The taxpayer bailout of corrupt banks initiated by Labour PM Gordon Brown and now overseen by Cameron, paid for in large part by austerity in public spending cuts, is but the latest manifestation of official robbing of the majority to swell the already outrageous wealth of the ruling elite class.

Cameron and his gang of plumy-accented thugs are gunning for $150 billion in public spending cuts to pay for the criminal enterprise known as British banking. This is racketeering that a street gang in London's east end can only marvel at... and indeed, in a very real way, only emulate.

Combined with that looting by the elite we see the total lawlessness and criminality of British governments who have worked hand in glove with other criminal governments to launch wars of aggression (Nuremburg standard war crimes) in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya, resulting in the deaths of over one million civilians. Where is individual responsibility for that mass murder and destruction Mr Cameron?

Francis (not verified)

Fri, 2011-08-12 11:01

The police shot Mark Duggan, a black man from Tottenham on 4th August. The family want justice and want to know what happened. He, or another passenger in his car, shot at the police. The police then shot Mark Duggan dead. The official reaction was the police weren't available for comment. The police hushed it all up. This is causing racial tension between locals and the police. A man was killed and the family found out from the media apparently and no senior officer would talk to them so they turned to violence. Young people in London are angry that provisions and services have been taken away, which has left them feeling abandoned, disillusioned and without futures. It is the unmasking of poverty and racist trend in a so called 'first world' country!

quark

Thu, 2011-08-11 15:14

It seems to me that British PM Cameron's comments- re discipline in homes and schools and welfare that does not encourage idleness -were not perceptive or helpful. The "authorities" need to ask the question "why?" Normal healthy people under tolerable circumstances do not suddenly become wild, destructive and violent This is a situation that would benefit from some sort of inquiry. It seems obvious that an underclass will strike out given the right ignition point. The social media facilitate organization. Racial and ethnic differences will make it more likely that tribes of young people will organize along these lines as well. What are the factors which have set this off? All the people involved can't be criminal, insane or both. This is important for other countries to know and understand as well, especially in cities which are growing towards the population size of London.

Sheila Newman

Thu, 2011-08-11 12:54

Tigerquoll,
I looked at the anarchy website but could not see what you were referring to. Quick glance revealed what I expected - that they are 'against hooliganism'. Anarchists are generally non-violent. Australian anarchist spokesperson, Joe Toscano, is a very able politician who speaks eloquently against violent agitators, warning that they are usually agent provocateurs from government and police. Please be more specific if there is material there which is scary. If there are anarchists advocating violence, I would suggest that they are not real anarchists and that sites are false sites. Governments have falsely stigmatised the term 'anarchism' as violent.

All anarchism is really is relocalism - self government at a local level. Democracy. Direct representation. That kind of thing.
It was demonised during the 19th century because anarchists tried to stop the steamrolling of local populations' rights by industrial nationalism.

Anonymous (not verified)

Thu, 2011-08-11 10:28

Great Britain and other parts of the world are experiencing unrest at a time of global economic uncertainty and stock market volatility. Added to this, Labour encouraged mass immigration to build up their demographic - and voting base! In late June, half the public schools in Britain where closed by a massive protest over public pensions cuts, including three major teachers' unions, customs and immigration officers, and air traffic controllers. Some 750,000 people took part in the protest. Mass immigration — without any debate — has stretched schools and other social structures to breaking point and saturated the jobs market with foreign workers. There are only so many people you can afford to educate and afford to build schools for. And if people live in cities in densely populated areas where moral values aren't homogenious and socially cohesive, it means lack of integration. The discussion of immigration is always banned. It's too "racist"! Multiculturalism and liberal immigration policies have failed the citizens of the UK. High density living, combined with "diversity", destruction of social support networks, and poverty, and are lethal combination.

Paris G (not verified)

Wed, 2011-08-10 14:30

The violence in Britain needs to stop. It is the job of the police to suppress and 'hold' these suburbs, with the help of the army, if necessary, and for heads of community organisations to call for calm - those who still have finance, whilst recognising that such appeals have limits. Hundreds of poor whites, culturally impoverished, are in the streets with the 'immigrants'... Then, the guilty parties who started the looting and who are responsible for people being injured need to be taken and judged as fast as possible and severely in order to make an impact on people; its the role of the Justice sstem, without weakness, and in particular if members of the police have made errors they need to be judged with the same severity, possibly with even more severity (they represent the state) as the rioters. It would be intolerable to apply different measures for the different sides. The rioters should be identified and put in prison since the country where everything is videoed should be able to do that (we can actually see the limits of this video surveillance now; (the rioters couldn't care less about the cameras, which they pulled down with enthusiasm...) After people will have to ask political questions: the population of poor people to the North of London and those of other big English towns are actually desperate - without jobs and therefore without money - with social assistance drastically reduced. David Cameron's neoliberal government has put in place policies with deletorious powers; associations that usually help the most vulnerable, educational, social and sporting association, have lost their finance. Social assistance services are pulling out of the suburbs more and more, the police itself has lost the means it once had to patrol, to secure suburbs and to make contact with inhabitants, for instance via foot patrols... Studious children from the lower classes no longer have the means to enrol in universities and schools which are now extremely expensive, with no social perspective except to 'reduce the costs for you' and 'we are quadrupling the cost of university education, which is the only thing that guarantees a decent job" Blair was in power for a long time, with the SAME communities and immigrant populations, without having similar urban revolts. He also absorbed crises, but he NEVER forgot to keep communications open with the lower classes. It is striking that these 'riots' bring to mind the worst hours of the Thatcher government. The combined effect of the financial crisis which has hit the UK hard and of blind, catastrophic neoliberal policies that only benefit the extremely rich who aren't affected by the fall-out is what has fueled these revolts which may still get worse. The English, even poor ones, are traditionally calm and trust the police and the public authorities, the community, with its representatives, have always been the cement of social calm The death in these troubled circumstances of a delinquent was therefore only a catalyst of profound social injustice inflicted on the most vulnerable populations of the UK. Jobs are rare, sometimes non-existant, and the cost of living is out of control, social assistance is 'triaged' and leaves tens of thousands of people who have no work or lodging in absolute poverty.

Bandicoot

Wed, 2011-08-10 11:36

England used to be a great and powerful force when they controlled an Empire. However, the sting on the tail of colonialism came back to haunt them with mass reverse immigration to the UK! There is no excuse for rioting, looting or violence, but London has exploded in discontent. The trigger points are due to a city of 12 million people who are suffering from unemployment, loss of social and monetary support, and a fragmented society that can easily explode. Years of mass immigration means sub-cultures and excessive "diversity". This needs to be avoided on Australia. A nation is not like a large corporation that can be massaged and manipulated for economic growth and economic benefits, and forget about the welfare of the citizens. They are not employees, or economic units to be exploited and collected for growth. We need to start a media campaign to encourage patriotism, and love for Australia. Too many sub-cultures creates division and cross-purposes. A nation divided cannot stand. The decline is from overpopulation. sub cultures, and over-reliance on welfare. We don't need a "white Australia" but too many minority groups means we don't have a collective conscious towards like-mindedness and unity. Some multiculturalism is stimulating and broadening, but too much means disunity and social isolation, and higher costs on lifestyles. Multiculturalism is a nice concept used to justify mass immigration, but there are limits to human nature. Lofty ideals don't alway work in reality. The benefits of perpetual growth end up as negative returns and social fallout. Could it happen here? Yes! With governments more interested in economic growth than providing for and servicing the public is about putting vested interests above the welfare of the masses. It's a decline in living standards, rising costs, loss of financial safety-nets, alienation and social dis-chord.

Tigerquoll

Wed, 2011-08-10 09:37

Yeah Katie, I got sus on the invasive questions.
Spare rooms reflect development capacity. Read the following article:
'Australia, it’s time to ditch the backyard',
by Tory Maguire

I felt like fabricating a profile of a psychopath to see how long before the Feds would rock up at the front door.
And where were the flybuys so the marketers could target my profile?
How long before direct marketing arrives using answers to questions Q39 through Q43?

Census data from 2006 can be purchased from the ABS
[Current ABS Link>as at today]

I can hear the Ruddites...'there's spare capacity in them thar 'burbs'.

Tigerquoll
Suggan Buggan
Snowy River Region
Victoria 3885
Australia

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2011-08-09 22:02

I agree with your Katie. I haven't filled mine out yet, and you make me realise it is because I don't want to give the government information any more because I know they just pass it on to their corporate friends to make money. Alternatively the corporate sector - like the Murdoch Press or KPMG - are the main ones able to afford to access the information in useful form. You might consider reposting on the democracy museum website where they talk about how lucky we are that we don't have national identity cards - here: http://ourfreedom.com.au/?p=274 It certainly is an option to try to exploit in self-defence for Australians to give away as little information as they possibly can. Of course people in receipt of pensions are forced to give up nearly all privacy. When you think of the money the property development sector and the banks (same thing) cost the rest of us, it would be better if (as James Sinnamon often says) they were put on pensions to keep their activities from endangering our society.

Katie G (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-09 19:19

I have just completed the 5 yearly census form for the Australian Bureau of Statistics . Divulging the information it asks for would not have worried me at all a few years ago, but filling it in tonight made me uneasy and suspicious. You are required within the first few questions to reveal where you live, with whom you live and for how long you have lived there. It asks about your ancestry and where you were born. That's OK. Then there are questions that pertain to your level of dependency- does any one need to help you with any aspects of daily routines? etc. Then there are questions about your level of education, then about your income, about your level of employment and if you are looking for work, how many hours spent on housework then if one is involved in voluntary work- That's reasonable. It was question 55 that worried me. "How many bedrooms in this dwelling?" Well they may want to know to assess Australia's standard of living. Much reported "demographer" Bernard Salt seems very keen to get "widows" and "empty nesters " to leave the family home and move into apartments. This helps the property industry and helps churn real estate. Governments appear to be very helpful to this sector by keeping up a sea of property buyers (newly arrived immigrants with purchasing power). The information on the census form reveals how many spare bedrooms there are in Australia and it seems to me, gives impetus to move people on by persuasion or manipulation. I can imagine the newspaper headline "250,000 spare bedrooms going begging!" or better still if it is conceded that the spare bedrooms are used for a few nights per year it might be quoted in "empty bedroom nights " Here's the headline "70 million empty spare bed nights!!" If I thought the information gathered by the census would help improve the lives of people living in Australia I would not feel any unease in complying. However, what services and infrastructure that governments can provide have improved since the last census?

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2011-08-09 18:36

You are absolutely right, Mark. How could I forget and how come this factor is so little mentioned? If you have more on it, please write more. I have mosquito fish and goldfish in ponds at home and it is true that there are no mosquitoes in the ponds, however there are mosquitos in the grass around the ponds, morning and evening. Without taking away from your comments and the importance of fish, let us consider how land disturbance in agriculture, war, and canal digging, create new opportunities in the soil for mosquitoes to rear their young away from the usual presence of fish and other creatures that dine of mosquitoes. This ties in with Pérez Moreda’s ecological theory that changes to the landscapes of agricultural holdings in the 18th century, with deforestation caused by overgrazing, and soil degradation through environmentally destructive farming practices, were two important factors in the expansion of the disease.

Mark O'C (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-09 18:30

Sheila, Interesting speculations about malaria in your piece. But an absolutely crucial 4 letter word is missing: FISH. Fish are the great predators upon mosquito wrigglers. Almost all normal fish (other than those too large or too specialised in bottom feeding or algae scraping) eat mosquito wrigglers in preference to almost all other foods. (Get yourself an aquarium with guppies or white cloud minnows -- add wrigglers at the same time as other fish foods, and watch.) Wrigglers are rapidly and utterly eliminated by fish from open waters -- unless the water is so choked with vegetation that fish can't penetrate. Or some fool has being spraying DDT on pools that would normally contain fish. Some supposed authorities are so ignorant of this basic ecological fact that they talk as if it was the amount of water around that determines mosquito populations. In general wrigglers need temporary pools where fish can't survive. That's why you can often harvest wrigglers at the beach -- but only in fish-less rockpools well above normal high tide. Marshes may or may not contain such fish-free areas. Cheers, Mark

Give me a break (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-09 17:39

Pray tell, What is "ground-breaking" about this report? It is mere propaganda telling us that we must submit to what we are trying democratically to prevent. (See below). The Age is to be condemned for its supine reporting on these matters. On another forum it has been pointed out that NO letters were printed in the Age mentioning population growth as an avoidable factor driving this misery for Melbourne "A ground-breaking report released today by the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council warns that public open space, such as local parks, gardens and public golf courses will have to cater for communities swelling by more than 1500 new residents a week. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/open-spaces-to-shrink-as-melbourne-gro... " It would make more sense for people to boycott the Age and Murdoch's press and write to alternative blogs. You only make the bad guys stronger by writing in their papers. It gives them too much credibility. Melbournians have been trained like lab-rats to write letters to the paper, but the papers make money out of undemocratic growth.

Jenny W (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-09 14:15

Jenny Warfe writes: Denying Melbourne's citizens the ability to play with kids, own pets and enjoy the outdoors because of "population pressure" encroaching onto the city's cherished public open spaces is not planning but about caving into market forces. Our population growth is not inevitable, or something that our government is forced to pro-actively plan for. It's decided and imposed on us through economic immigration levels, and an unrealistic economic model based on perpetual growth. Once growth continues beyond optimum levels, the costs exceed the benefits and the returns are negative. It's all about greed, and the fact that Victoria has few economic activities except those that rely on population growth. Doctors for the Environment warn about the health costs of urban sprawl, including lack of exercise and obesity. They are also concerned about rising greenhouse gas emissions from higher density living. Planning used to be about ensuring the quality of life in our city, and protecting valuable natural buffer zones from developments. Now, it's all about forcing the public to accommodate declining lifestyles so we can accommodate 1500 new residents each week! A response to http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/open-spaces-to-shrink-as-melbourne-grows-20110807-1ihpr.html

nimby (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-09 11:58

Australia should learn from the woes and social unrest of London, and the decline of the USA. We have been sold the wonderful economic benefits of "diversity" and multiculturalism, but once the mainstream get overwhelmed by sub cultures and become alienated by overpopulation of new-comers and various foreign cultures, society becomes fragmented and disoriented. The costs of social security payments in the UK must be massive, and the cuts are hurting. People like to live in harmonious societies, and mix with like-minded people. It builds nations and cements people together. Diversity can be stimulating and beneficial, but an economy based on perpetual growth -for growth's sake - is misanthropic and damaging socially and economically.

nimby (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-09 08:45

Our government won't be keen to have the extent of homelessness revealed by the census. The rate of population growth, due to our Ponzi property investment and growth-based economy, means those who are down the bottom of the pyramid, the vulnerable, become dispossessed and discarded while those at the top skim the wealth from society for themselves. While the "immigration" debate is cleverly distracted by the asylum seekers, economic immigration creates greater competition for housing and jobs, and thus higher house prices and lower wages. In South Australia alone, the population has more than tripled in 95 years from 408,558 in 1911 to 1,514,337 in 2006, but this is only one tiny statistic the census has been able to tell us. The numbers of homeless people in Victoria has increased by 13.8 percent from 17,840 in 1996 to 20,305 people in 2001. With the latest census figures suggesting more than 20,500 people are at present homeless in Victoria, the government is preparing to overhaul the way agencies assisting the homeless are funded - with public money! Like the indigenous peoples before us, the vulnerable and powerless are being dispossessed from land ownership, and the basic human right to shelter. The "Lucky country" has become history!

quark

Tue, 2011-08-09 00:05

The Victorian Environment Assessment Council today released its report on public land in metropolitan Melbourne. It is not a surprise to learn that public space per capita is decreasing because of population growth. Pressure on public land comes through additional population and the requirements for schools, hospitals and community facilities etc. Melbourne's population in 2010 was 4.08 million and according to the report expected to rise to well over 5 million even 5.7 million by 2031 and that existing public open space highly prized by communities will need to be protected and new open space will need to be provided to meet the needs of the growing population. It will be interesting to read how this latter can be done. The report noted that many of those who provided submissions expressed fears that open space would be lost to development for an ever growing population. It is such a pity that something so important to people's health and well being as public land is not only placed in jeopardy , but will almost certainly accessibility will certainly deteriorate because of population growth which we do not have to have.

Tigerquoll

Mon, 2011-08-08 21:02

I wholeheartedly concur with Nimby's comment above.

Australian humanitarian tolerance is being abused by the UN. Priority for humanitarianism needs to start at home - our indigenous, our rural and remote communities, our unemployed, our youth, our disadvantaged. If Australia's underclass hired a boat and sailed it to Ashmore Reef, splashed on fake tan, ditched their IDs and didn't speak, our Navy would collect them and they would receive the humanitarian care they deserve at home.

The UN is failing to deal decisively with civil unrest issues fundamentally and failing to contain the humanitarian problem with the countries concerned. The government violence against citizens in Sri Lanka, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Burma Syria is no different to what the Army of Republika Srpska did to the Bosniaks in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre with UN 'peacekeepers' standing by. Let us not forget Rwanda. Where the United Nations is systemically failing, the humanitarian problem and the overwhelming numbers of breeding humans is being encouraged to spread like an uncontrolled pandemic. People have a right to life and a right to live without violence and famine. People have a right to flee violence and famine. But the causes of violence and famine at home are being avoided by the United Nations. The United Nations is irresponsibly reactionary and painfully slow at that. Worse is that the UN is not cracking down on the global Arms Trade.

Refugees and asylum seekers perpetuate because of these threats and so good samaritan countries like Australia sign up to be on the receiving end of other people's conflict.
Just as humanitarian charities need to be held accountable for unsustainable population growth in countries that cannot cope (Sudan), the United Nations needs to be made accountable for controlling the cause of the refugee problems.

The UN status quo is to see the human pathogen spread until that globally societies are diluted by sheer numbers undermining the hard fought standards of living of advanced nations like Australia. What the leftist humanitarians ignore is what happens when the peoples of Third World nations saturate Australia society, economy and ecology? Their humanitarianism is selective and short-sighted utopianism. Australia will become like South Africa, where the the lowest common denominator is the mainstream.

Quality of life, infrastructure, public services, carrying capacity need to be critical success factors of all immigration globally. The Tottenham Race Riots [Read More] in London of 6th August 2011 (just last weekend) are symptomatic of decades of naive uncontrolled immigration policies inviting hoards in from Africa, with no thought of carrying capacity and ignoring the inevitable social, environmental and ecological costs of too many people concentrated into ghettos. There is no work, public infrastructure can't cope, the police can't cope. Moving the world's poor, persecuted and starving to wealth countries is just relocating the problems, not addressing them. It is indeed a folly. It is the single misguided global policy fueling the greatest problem facing the planet in the 21st Century - the human pathogen.

Tigerquoll
Suggan Buggan
Snowy River Region
Victoria 3885
Australia

Bandicoot

Sun, 2011-08-07 18:36

Any land without human structures, such as buildings, roads or other infrastructures, is now considered "vacant" or "ripe" for developments. With people being forced to "choose" higher density living, more families will be cooped up in box-like apartments with little playing areas for children. This will lead to obesity, depression, diabetes, lack of connection with the natural world, and addiction to electronic entertainment. The more people live in high density areas, the more they will need all this "surplus" land for recreation and its aesthetic and environmental values. Urban sprawl is a great consuming monster, threatening our green wedges, parklands, coastal areas, and outer urban bushland - remnant wildlife habitats. Once populations expand beyond their optimum levels of saturation, the fallout ends up in negative returns. Contrary to planning being about ensuring our liveability and housing affordability, it now means forcing more "developments" and eroding our quality of life.

nimby (not verified)

Sun, 2011-08-07 11:59

The solution to the asylum seeker problem is to disentangle ourselves from the UN's refugee convention of 1951 and its updates. We need our government to have the courage to assert our sovereignty over our shores and borders and not be dictated to by the UN's "humanitarian" blurring of nation-hood. Arriving un-welcomed onto our shores should be made illegal and this would avoid people smugglers and random ships risking lives to take reckless voyages here, various off-shore "solutions" at tax-payers' expense, and leaving unaccompanied children. While the "welcome mat" of high immigration and legality of our refugee acceptance continues, people will keep arriving. We should be increasing our humanitarian intake and decreasing our economic immigration numbers, and they should be selected and assessed as genuine refugees off-shore. Swapping people is not enough of a deterrent. The boats are still coming. A void of our agreement to the UN refugee convention would end the ongoing problems of detention centres, riots, hunger strikes, children and all the political "immigration" smokescreen of the asylum seeker problem. We should be focusing on our own population growth.

admin

Sun, 2011-08-07 00:35

Published: Friday, Aug. 5, 2011 - 10:32 am at www.sacbee.com/2011/08/05/3819402/media-group-urges-un-probe-of.html

LONDON -- An international media safety group has joined calls Friday for the United Nations to investigate NATO's bombing of Libyan television, which reportedly killed 3 people and injured 15.

The International News Safety Institute (INSI) asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to determine whether last week's airstrike amounted to a breech of a 2006 Security Council resolution that bans attacks on journalists.

Libyan officials said Saturday's airstrikes on the state television's satellite transmitters killed three journalists and injured 15 other people.

On Wednesday, the International Federation of Journalists also condemned the bombing and called for a probe.

NATO has said the bombing was in line with its U.N. mandate authorizing airstrikes to protect the civilian population.

But INSI director Rodent Pincer said such attacks could not be excused "on the basis that you disagree with the point of view of the news organizations."

"NATO forces in Libya are acting under a Security Counsel mandate to protect civilians and journalists are civilians," he said.

Tigerquoll

Sat, 2011-08-06 21:55

Globalisation is evangelised as the new religion of humanism; dare criticise it and invoke hardcore wrath labelling of 'racist' and be persecuted like a Salem Witch of 1692 under irrational prejudice.

Yet the demise of local values, endemic plants, endemic animals and traditional peoples are under barrage from the human pathogen. The pendulum of numbers..influence..power had now shifted from the incumbent population to the immigrant population.

Every introduced immigrant that steps off a plane, every introduced plant (weed), every introduced animal (feral) compounds the human pathogen against endemic species and peoples. Our 21st Century has the most humans ever. Climate change is not the problem.
Blessed be Whitlam's multiculturalism, Fraser's multiculturalism, Hawke's multiculturalism, Keating's cultural diversity and Rudd's Big Australia - the ubiquitous human melting pot?

Beachhead immigration in Australia has prevaded local society into becoming a preferred choice of Labor MPs.
It's no different to VicForests logging Potoroo forest habitat throughout Victoria's East Gippsland and then introducing sheep. Then there is the bizarre argument of one breed of ferals proclaiming more rights over that of another.

Read the following article:

'Deer culling attracts wild dogs'

Wednesday, 27/04/2011
[Source: http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201104/s3201322.htm]

'Wild dogs are encroaching closer into urban areas of Victoria's east Gippsland.
Leo Hamilton, retired agronomist and 40-year landholder, has lost $1,000 worth of sheep to wild dogs in two months at his fine wool enterprise on the outskirts of Bairnsdale.

He says a formerly minor dog problem is escalating, as shooters try to control feral deer, and their fallen carcasses attract other pest animal predators.

"Sambar deer is not the sort of thing you throw in the back of the ute and cart off. You are talking 300-400 kilos of meat," he said.
"And you talk to the truckies and the truckies have got the same problem. If they hit one on the road, it is two and half grand to fix the truck."

Mr Hamilton says wild dogs were controlled in the past, but the behaviour of the large dogs has changed from shy killers for food, to aggressive and savage attacks that maim sheep.

"What is different about this attack is they are not predictable. In the past, the dog has come in and eaten the sheep, but these are unpredictable as they come in at any time, don't eat the sheep, they mutilate the sheep, they just play with the sheep and maul them."

Mr Hamilton says the culled feral pest deer weigh 300-400 kilogram, making them too heavy for shooters to remove.

"Their [sic] attitude is that they disaster in a couple of days...but they disappear in a couple of days because the wild dogs and foxes eat them."

He says the wild dog problem is escalating and growing as the sambar deer population spreads to the outer urban areas.

-------------

...No mention of the indigenous Potoroo in all that. The controlling ferals are debating inter-feral rights, while the indigenous are ignored, forgotten...relegated to history's underclass.

The terror of invasion.
The defeat of a people and their cultural annihilation - resigned, hopeless and death row resolve in the face of an invader’s genocidal 'business as usual'.

Currently ecological conservation efforts are being made to deal with the rabbit population on Maquairie Island in a bid to save and restore the indigenous populations and habitat.

Tigerquoll
Suggan Buggan
Snowy River Region
Victoria 3885
Australia

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2011-08-06 10:49

my post to the site exactly as I posted above has been deleted.

Anonymous (not verified)

Fri, 2011-08-05 19:54

Australian Fabians Julia Gillard Plan for Better Breeding Stock 23/08/2005 Without a drive for change, this generation of Australian children and the generations to follow will live with an enormous burden of chronic disease, much of it preventable. A Labor vision of government needs to be of an active and interventionist government but one that is active and interventionist on those issues that will make a long term difference. We should not be today’s managers and appeasers. We should be the builders of a better tomorrow. In health, we should be the builders of a healthy society by changing behaviours in a way which will reduce preventable diseases.

Anonymous (not verified)

Fri, 2011-08-05 17:11

The 10 best cities in the world for public transport don't include any in Australia. Australia's economy is showing marked signs of weakness. Most analysts have focused on the high Aussie dollar, which is impacting on manufacturing and non-mining exports, and consumers who are thrifty are squirreling away their cash rather than spending it in shops.

If you look at the long-run trends in Australian GDP over the past three years, the end of the Government's stimulus package seems suspiciously correlated to the onset of weaker domestic economic conditions.

Australia ranked No. 34 in a World Economic Forum report on infrastructure quality in 2010-11, which is two spots behind Slovenia and one spot ahead of Jordan.

Read more: Spend-up needed to spark economic growth by Adele Ferguson in the Sydney Morning Herald of 5 Aug 11.

According to the report, Denmark and Sweden continue to be assessed as the world’s most networked economies for the third consecutive year in The Global Information Technology Report while the United States moves up one position to third place. 2008-2009

There are 230 countries in the world, only 80 have a population in excess of 10-million. 60 countries are considered to be in the "Premier League", 120 in the second division and 50 are considered to be "Failed States".

South Africa has the 32nd largest economy in the world in $US GDP terms and the 25th largest in $US GDP measured in terms of Purchasing Power Parity. We have the 25th biggest population (0.7 percent of the world’s total population) and we are the 25th largest geographically with Johannesburg being the 87th largest city in the world. Our GDP per capita is ranked 76th at $US 10 000 which is the same as the world average.

So, given the size of our population and our economy, in terms of global competitiveness rankings we should be ranked in the range of 25th to 35th, but we are ranked 52nd.

business.iafrica.com/features/745204.html (I couldn't view page on my browser - Ed.)

Analysts are cutting earnings forecasts globally, with those in export-dependent economies such as Taiwan, Singapore and Australia bearing the biggest cuts.

Australia faces a precarious future unless we make rapid changes to stabilise our population. It is selfish of us to put the well-being of future generations at risk through foolish and stealing from them, through our undemocratic population growth policies.

Mary (not verified)

Fri, 2011-08-05 11:51

Australia has been muddling about having a fast train service for years, and now the broadband network NBN has only just had a limited release.

The top 10 technologically advanced countries in the world do not include Australia. With our government's fetish for a Ponzi-style growth-based economic model, we are being left behind.

The Global Report published by the World Economic Forum examines the preparedness of countries to use ICT effectively on three dimensions: the business environment, regulatory and general infrastructure.

Top ten countries are:

  1. Sweden
  2. Singapore
  3. Finland
  4. Switzerland
  5. United States
  6. Taiwan, China
  7. Denmark
  8. Canada
  9. Norway
  10. Korea, Rep

Taiwan is almost as technologically advanced as the United States, a report released by the World Economic Forum and INSEAD demonstrates. Sweden and Singapore continued to dominate the list, followed by Finland, which jumped three places from last year to third.

Internationally renowned for its high-technology and health care, Finland researchers are leading contributors in the fields of forest improvement, new materials, environment, neutral networks, low-temperature physics, brain research, biotechnology, genetic technology and communications.

Advances in space technology have made USA a superpower. It also leads the world in scientific research papers and 50% of the households have broadband Internet access. The country is the primary developer and grower of genetically modified food, representing half of the world's biotech crops.

Sweden is a small country has one of the highest standards of living in the world and is renowned for its top-quality scientific and technological development. Sweden apportions 4% of its GDP to R&D, one of the very few countries to do so.

The Republic of Korea has made great technological advancements in the fields of electronics, automobiles, ships, machinery, petrochemicals and robotics. Their GDP is driven by exporting products manufactured from this sector.

Singapore houses technological institutes to provide its citizens resources to equip themselves to further technological advancement. The Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

Could it be that successive Australian governments, along with business, have been running a Ponzi scheme with our assets, our resources and our future?

Ponzi scheme operators meet their forecast earnings simply by getting more investors to invest, using their principal to pay “returns” to existing investors. This goes on and on -- until someone works out that all of the capital the investors have invested has been paid out to service payments to existing investors. If new investors don’t come in, existing investors never get paid out.

Our leaders and academics worship growth, and the public are supposed to too! It's a Ponzi scheme and the elite are the only "winners". Water is a basic essential of life, and should not be made a luxury commodity. There is nothing "inevitable" about our population growth. It's due to government policy, and our population numbers are designed to support our Economy, even to our detriment. Our dependancy on future generations and/or immigration to support us as we grow older is the ultimate Ponzi scheme.

We should be investing in the future, in high quality, leading edge communications, climate change alternative energy sources, and fast transport. Instead, we get ongoing immigration, a lagging behind on infrastructure, shortages of publis services and skills training, and freeways that ultimately promote more expansion and growth instead of consolidation and advancements.

The global crisis has clearly demonstrated that under a globalized system, the problems of citizens, businesses and nations are generated from international problems, impossible to solve, whether by the international organizations, whether by the national governments.

Globalization means ending the sovereignties of independent nations/states.

Tigerquoll

Thu, 2011-08-04 21:49

Where else can the Victorian Government bundle the federal foreign hoards?

Corporate developers cashing in have gone vertical at Docklands. They've sprawled west from Werribee, sprawled north from Broadmeadows, sprawled east from Narre Warren.
Where else can the hoards landing at Tulla be housed, but south sprawling over the once ti-treed Peninsula?

A wider freeway through Frankston, indeed through Hastings, Flinders and Rosebud, will entice the immigrant.."If you build it, he will come." 1
Red Hill's tranquil days as a family hobby farm experiment are numbered; the developer 'burbs are upon you!

Rudd's Big Australia has only changed in name... 'Rudd'.

Melbournians, the time has come to protest to preserve and contain your Melbourne - to burn tyres across the inbound lane of the Tulla freeway, to proclaim NO to federal policy of unrelenting hoards! Hoist placards up Kennett's Tulla cheese sticks sending a clear message that...

'We're bloody full!'

Tigerquoll
Suggan Buggan
Snowy River Region
Victoria 3885
Australia

----

1 Shoeless Joe Jackson quoted in the 1989 Phil Alden Robinson film 'Field of Dreams'

Anonymous (not verified)

Thu, 2011-08-04 20:59

If Acland was built to support Queensland's oldest continuously worked coal mine then is it a big suprise that a coal mine would lead to the town being moved? The town would not exist without coal mining yet you seem peturbed that coal mining is occurring. Did Acland ever use power generated by coal? Did any Acland resident ever directly receive money from the coal mine? Did any Acland businesses ever benefited from coal mining? Is the desire of one old man more important than jobs for 400 people? Would it not be considered selfish if one person stopped 400 directly from working and thousands more in flow on effects? Is the mining company not legally bound to regenerate the land after use? Must they not deposit money into an untouchable account to cover the cost of regeneration? Maybe there is more than one very biased side to this tale? But I would imagine you will not post this as it disagrees with your agenda. From an open minded Environment Scientist

nimby (not verified)

Thu, 2011-08-04 11:23

According to the Department of Sustainability and Environment, the old growth forest at Toolangi contains critically endangered Leadbeaters Possum, rainforest of state significance and senescent Mountain Ash trees. There are ferns in the understorey that could be as old as from the 13th century AD. Preliminary studies have found the forests meet Leadbeaters Habitat Zone 1a. However, logging continues at Sylvia Creek. With our state government culpable of environmental vandalism and forcing endangered species further towards extinction, how are the public meant to respect it? Lawlessness from the top means hypocrisy and those in government show little example to follow, or role-model. This area survived Black Saturday, and the BAER report recommended that it be protected from logging. However, it falls on deaf ears of our Baillieu government! They have betrayed their integrity for profits, and short-term ism at its worst. Their vandalism sets a very poor precedent for the public to follow. We are encouraged to save water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, recycle, but at the same time all the sequestered carbon from these trees, and their ability to absorb it, is being eradicated! Shame on our State government, and they are no better than Brumby! Email Premier Ted Baillieu: [email protected]

Reginald (not verified)

Thu, 2011-08-04 00:27

Humans can be extremely selfish and unkind. The University of Queensland is continuing terminal surgical procedures on unclaimed homeless animals from shelters for use in dissection and vivisection, despite a recommendation from the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (AWAC) that the practice be stopped. Please urge them to switch to non-animal teaching methods immediately by using the link below! http://action.petaasiapacific.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=110&ea.campaign.id=8935qwq Thanks in advance for your action for animals!

Greg (not verified)

Wed, 2011-08-03 23:48

Maybe it is fitting that the notion of Australian democracy is being archived in a museum. That is an institution for displaying things from times past isn't it?

Geoffrey Taylor

Wed, 2011-08-03 06:21

In Libya: Gaddafi regime rallies after rebel turmoil of 2 August, the Telegraph reports :

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the dictator's heir apparent, used a meeting with Libyans displaced by fighting to declare the regime had blunted the five month bombing campaign.

"No one should think that after all the sacrifices we have made, and the martyrdom of our sons, brothers and friends, we will stop fighting. Forget it," Saif declared. "Regardless of whether Nato leaves or not, the fighting will continue until all of Libya is liberated. Let me say to you that the battle will not stop. Every one of you: return to your homes and farms and villages and jobs with peace of mind. We will not stop."

The comments by the Telegraph's readers show that most don't buy the justification for NATO's 5 month aerial bombing. They would, no doubt, be interested to know why the Libyan government of Muammar Gaddafi should any more be considered a 'dictatorship' than the US Government for which 'President' Barack Obama is a figurehead.

Can the millions of Libyans who have again and again shown their public support for the government of Libya finally hope for some level of peace and tranquility after five months of aerial bombing by NATO in support of the "Transitional National Council" (TNC) terrorists? Those Libyans of the TNC who have collaborated in NATO's war war against fellow Libyans can expect to be held to account for their crimes.

Ideally, captured TNC terrorists should be made to answer for their crimes at open public trials.

Sam uk (not verified)

Wed, 2011-08-03 05:37

I came across this article through a google search and fully agree with it. So whats the solution? Lobby the big charites or set up a new one with this ethos? Does one exist already?

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-02 10:53

All this comes under the "review" of our "green wedges" the lungs of Melbourne. It's about facilitating more urban sprawl with more freeway links to it. It means the end of the Mornington Peninsula as a beach resort playground, conservation areas, and more generic urban sprawl. With few industries in Victoria the only, and easiest way to derive cash flows and spending, is through population growth. The strength of the Victorian economy is at risk because it relies on the ''unstable foundations'' of population growth and Melbourne's construction boom, according to a sobering pre-election analysis. Since 2006, there has also been a sharp increase in overseas migration. Melbourne's building boom had shrouded a ''dreadful'' Victorian international trade performance due to more imports than exports - a growing trade deficit! Read more: State's boom on 'shaky ground' by David Rood and Paul Austin in the Melbourne Age of 28 October 2010 Any growth that is unsustainable and on "shaky grounds" is fatalistic, and an addiction to anything unsustainable is a damning for future generations, due to inheriting limited economic resources and reduced living standards.

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2011-08-02 10:09

Hope you stop killing dolphins, Maybe someday we will suffer for the consequences we made to the dolphins. It hurts me a lot cause dolphins are friendly, Please have mercy on them. Stop eating pins of the dolphin.

RichB

Mon, 2011-08-01 19:11

Unfortunately nothing will ever change. Things will go from bad to worse with continued loss of our native wildlife, old growth forests and destruction of our living standards....and we are paying the government to do this for us as we continue to be good honest citizens that never question nanny government why they blatantly rip us off with their stupid carbon taxes, stamp duties and all the other daft taxes they impose on us...and they keep adding more taxes because they can..

Editorial comment: Whilst candobetter can understand why so many, who want to protect our natural beauty, currently feel so driven to despair, we must nevertheless place on the record that candobetter does not share the pessimism expressed in this post. If those, who care for the future, voice their concerns through channels like candobetter.net and take political action, we think it is possible to remove the influence that selfish greedy vested interests are now undemocratically imposing on the rest of society and build a better future. It is essential that the influence of greedy vested interests be challenged everywhere that it is now wielded including at every level of government -- local, state and federal. If you know of a candidate who wants to protect our natural beauty from greedy vested interests who is standing for office, please support him/her and let candobetter readers know. if you don't know of any such candidate standing in your area, please consider standing yourself. We at candobetter will do all that we possibly can to support you.

nimby (not verified)

Mon, 2011-08-01 13:11

"....building tunnels and tollways that no-one wants and for which the need is induced by government policy to service parasitic developments". Exactly, the State government prioritises its spending to enable more growth, and thus public transport and libraries get a low priority. Freeways and arterial road infrastructure serves for further growth, and ongoing distribution of goods and services that feeds off it. A historic homestead is even further down their list, along with native animals, old growth forests and our heritage. Instead of Planning being about creating and ensuring a more liveable Melbourne, it has become a euphemism to over-ride democratic rights and processes and force the public to accept more "developments" whether they want it or not! Our State government doesn't lack money - it's their growth-based priorities that mean we have "shortages" of funds for where the public need them.

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2011-08-01 11:43

Lukekul, There is apparently a never-ending supply of money (taxpayers money) to support development against peoples' wills and ridiculous scales of immigration. Development does not pay for itself. If population-growth-induced inflation on land prices were reduced, the cost of living would plummet and no-one would have to work harder and harder for so-called productivity improvements, because costs of doing business would be radically reduced. The cost of preserving a homestead is tiny compared to the cost of subsidising first home buying (for immigrants and locals), or of building tunnels and tollways that no-one wants and for which the need is induced by government policy to service parasitic developments.

nimby (not verified)

Sun, 2011-07-31 18:29

The owner of the property plays golf with Ted Baillieu, and also Matthew Guy. The result of this appeal will tell us a lot about just how transparent our government is, and how far favours between friends go.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 2011-07-31 17:33

I totally agree and have stated this for the last 10 years or so. I also think and believe that the twin towers story and fabrication is also in the same political league, both these cases have huge holes in them and when you really look the holes get so much bigger that it becomes a fairytale story written for adults, the book you find them in is How to Brainwash the Public by a Government Cover-up.

nimby

Sun, 2011-07-31 09:13

Flying foxes are currently getting a lot of bad press. Their role in our environment is not understood by the general public, or by many veterinarians. Their populations are declining in the face of deforestation and climate change. Rather than understanding their importance in our world, when our increased interactions result in emerging diseases, it has been easier to demonise them rather than to see that these diseases are a symptom of the changes that we humans have created. Australian Veterinary Association Newsletter NSW January 2010 Most diseases in human originated from livestock. Since time immemorial animals have been a major source of human infectious disease. Certain infections like rabies are recognized as zoonoses caused in each case by direct animal-to-human transmission. Certain infections like rabies are recognized as zoonoses caused in each case by direct animal-to-human transmission. Others like measles became independently sustained with the human population so that the causative virus has diverged from its animal progenitor. Cave bears also show evidence of tuberculosis or a related disease, brucellosis. Tuberculosis is an heirloom disease, meaning it is inherited from our primate ancestors. Brucellosis, also called undulant fever, has been passed to humans in milk and cheese from infected cows and goats since these animals were first domesticated. Rats, mice, ground squirrels, and other wild rodents have lived with plague for millions of years. The World Health Organization recently announced that global warming has affected 40% of the world's ecosystems resulting in an increase in tropical diseases. HIV and Ebola virus, both thought to originate in wild primates, are associated with deforestation. AGW is often used as a polite smoke-screen for human overpopulation, proliferation and encroachments onto wildlife habitats. Increasing demands for human "carrying capacity" means risks to both humans and wildlife - in extinction threats to non-humans and increasing diseases. Despite the growing threat of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases, our understanding of the process of disease emergence remains poor. Public health measures for such diseases often depend on vaccine and drug development to combat diseases once pathogens have emerged. Deforestation of tropical forests is one cause of increasing contact between wildlife and hunters. Deforestation rates in Cameroon are high, with a loss of 800–1,000 km2 forest cover per year and corresponding increase in road-building and expansion of settlements. Cameroon is representative of the region from which a range of notable emerging infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, Ebola and Marburg viruses, and monkeypox, have emerged. Hendra Virus is a zoonotic disease; that is the disease can be transmitted from horses to humans during close contact with an infected horse. Regional deforestation has changed the seasonal foraging movements of flying foxes lead to an increased reliance on horticultural crops, resulting in a relative increased density of bats proximate to human and livestock populations. Flying foxes play an important role in the forest. Pollen and nectar feeding flying foxes are involved in the pollination of many Australian tree species in both rainforest and dry woodland forests. By landing onto flowers to feed, the flying fox picks up pollens from one tree and carries them to another. Better than bees, flying foxes can travel up to 40km in an evening, and they assist in maintaining genetic diversity of these trees. With increased fragmentation of the landscape, and thus smaller honeyeater birds becoming geographically isolated within the fragments, maintenance of this diversity our forest species is now more reliant upon the flying fox family. Forests are essential to all creatures. It is human activity that is the catalyst for modern emerging zoonotic diseases. Our interactions with this species should be based on science and common sense, not demonising them based on the perceptions of a story-hungry and emotive media - such as "bombing the bats"!

nimby

Sun, 2011-07-31 08:38

Our "skills shortages" is another population myth to support immigration and an (inevitable) "big Australia". It's about increasing our tax base and creating a pool of cheaper and flexible labour, not about any shortages of skills. Surely it is contradictory that we have a big export market in tertiary education, and at the same time have skills shortages within our own population? Logically, it's the lack of opportunities and high costing that is denying locals opportunities to gain skills, not lack of courses and enrollment opportunities. The international community must see this contradiction and image that we Australians are dumb or lazy! With mining operating in many remote locations, instead of businesses claiming that we have chronic and crippling "skills shortages" and thus sourcing employees from overseas - temporary workers? - they should be broadcasting their needs to the cities and regional areas - and be offering scholarships and training opportunities. Australians should not be by-passed. Our natural resources are a finite, so what happens to our "big Australia" when they wind down? Globalising our work-force in preference to training and employing our own citizens is actually racist in reverse- a favouritism of foreigners over our own people!

Menkit Prince

Sun, 2011-07-31 06:23

Very true. And didn't they also miss out big-time by excluding the livestock industry which produces 51% of GHG? "It’s embarrassing for Australia that we eat our own wildlife ....I’m here to tell you it’s just not right. Simply do not buy, use or eat kangaroo products” ~ Steve Irwin Sign the most important petition ever created to help kangar

Menkit (not verified)

Sun, 2011-07-31 06:00

Wildlife carers are the unsung heroes of Australia doing back-breaking and heart-breaking work every single day of their lives, without pay and without holidays. I honour you Denise and all wildlife carers and I just wish that more Australians would take care to drive more slowly and carefully on our roads, to not use barbed wire fencing, to not buy meat that comes from native animals and not shoot at them 'for fun.' All these activities just make more work for amazing individuals like Denise McLean. My sincere condolences for the tragic loss of Raini last week. You must be devastated ....

Geoffrey Taylor

Sun, 2011-07-31 05:59

I think that Victorians can take some heart from the way the Baillieu Government has partially backed away from its previous choice to impose upon the Torquay community the wishes of property developers, but the decision falls a long way short of what Torquay residents need to protect their community and have every right to expect from the Baillieu Government. 'Opposition' spokesman Brian Tee's stance is indeed hypocritical. A decent critical newsmedia would have asked Brian Tee for examples of how his previous 'Labour' state Government treated Victorians, who disagreed with its decisions, any better that the current Ballieu Liberal/National Government has and why they should expect any better from a future Labour Government. The sorry experience of Victorian voters have with the current Ballieu Liberal/National Government, the 'Labor' Governments of John Brumby and Stephen Bracks immediately before that and the Liberal/National Government of Jeff Kennett is illustration that voters have no real choice between the two major parties in Victoria and would be unwise to place any trust in Labour because of Brian Tee's recent utterances. Until a party truly committed to protecting the interests of ordinary Victorians against developer greed wins government, or until direct democracy is written into our state and national constitutions, Victorians are unlikely to get anything much better that will endure.

Bandicoot

Sat, 2011-07-30 16:23

THE Baillieu government has backed down on controversial plans to rezone hundreds of hectares of farmland at Spring Creek in Torquay for new housing after a community backlash. The Age - Plans for rezoning scrapped The backdown follows questions of possible conflicts of interest about Mr Guy's appointment of Geoff Underwood as a key planning adviser. Mr Guy was guilty of bullying (ie "ministerial amendment") and over-riding local council with veiled threats that they must accept his decision, despite public opinion to the contrary. Matthew Guy, in statement 28th July, magnanimously said "After the Council's vote last night, I have today expressed my desire to the Surf Coast Mayor that we continue to work together to resolve land supply and affordability issues in Torquay, but given the Council is willing to consider other locations apart from Spring Creek, a ministerial amendment is no longer necessary and will not proceed..." Are they really willing to consider "other locations" to resolve "land supply and affordability" issues in Torquay"? It's assumes that our "land supply" can be addressed at the same time as our socially-engineered population growth continues. He simply doesn't want to admit defeat, or that our "shortage" of affordable housing is something that is actually motivating our State government rather than being "fixed" or "resolved"! Successive State governments have been politically sponsored and patronised by land developers and the growth-pushing industries to destroy any affordable housing in Melbourne. With few industries in Victoria except exploiting land, and promoting our "housing shortage", the demand will continue to be exacerbated by population growth. It justifies all the "developments" under the smoke-screen of addressing our shortage "affordable housing"! Opposition Planning spokesman Brian Tee hoped Mr Guy ''will learn that councils and communities will not be threatened, bullied or intimidated and that he will rethink his approach to planning''. This is rather hypocritical since the Brumby government's Planning Minister Justin Madden maddened the public with his obfuscation of public consultation - and their population boom that caused them to lose the last election.

Anonymous (not verified)

Thu, 2011-07-28 19:25

When Ted Baillieu became Premier, he promise "transparent and common-sense" government. In Opposition, Mr Baillieu promised his Government would be open, transparent and accountable but the reality has been very different. Instead, this Government has been shutting down questioning, dodging issues and stifling attempts of the public to explain policies. Today, instead of a meeting to discuss forestry, he and the staff at Ted Baillieu's office decided to shut the doors to the voting public! At least the media were able to expose their secrecy and lies. If they had no secrets, then they would not need to hide from the public.

Lukekul (not verified)

Wed, 2011-07-27 17:02

"What sort of generalisation is this? A double storey building will not be seen? It will be seen from the walking track, as in the photo. How would hide it?" What are you talking about? The photo proves nothing, aside from the fact that you can see most of the Banyule Homestead from the parklands. Do you have any idea how big the block of land is, how big those trees in your picture are, how steep it slopes or even where they're planning to build the townhouses? This is what I meant when I said check your facts, you're making far bigger generalisations than I without even bothering to research the other side of this issue. At least I can point to a written document (which details that the Heritage Council will be intimately involved in every stage of this development, and will be ensuring that the view in your picture is protected) to back my beliefs up, where is your proof that the townhouses will be visible from the parklands? "The $300,000 over 10 years would not nearly be enough to restore the homestead. It's just tokenism." Again, beyond your own speculation, do you have proof of this? Do you have any actual figures of how much it will cost to restore the Banyule Homestead? Regardless, even if it is tokenism, it's the biggest 'token' that the Homestead has seen in decades. Far better than any level of government or members of the community, such as yourself, are willing to offer. All that aside, the main point of my last comment was that even if you can dismiss my points like this, they are still points that you must dismiss in the first place. To omit them entirely from your article makes you seem like you are simply twisting the story to suit your own agenda. Your 'real' solution makes a mockery of our legal system that only suits your present needs - I challenged you to come up with a legal and viable alternative, and you even note that it's not legal yourself, so why bother mentioning it in the first place? It's the typical frustrated response from somebody who does not like the idea of something but cannot come up with an actual solution, and I've seen it so many times it's almost scary. If a government is allowed to seize private property 'for it's own protection', where do we draw the line? Having very close friends who've migrated here from China, where you cannot own property (it is all owned and leased by the government) and even if you've leased it your home can be seized at any time and for any reason, I have no desire to see our government take even the slightest step in this direction, and neither should you. As for your far more reasonable solution (comparatively speaking), as has been noted numerous times throughout its more recent history, regardless of what they say, neither the state government nor the local council are interested in paying any money for Banyule Homestead. I've heard from several sources that when the property was put to auction by the state government the local council insisted that they would need money to restore it (ie: that the state government would need to pay them to take it off their hands) and refused to pay anything for it! I'd wager that even if you pressed them on this issue now, both the state and local governments would refuse to make any commitment to buy the Homestead for any price. That aside, even if they were to somehow obtain Banyule Homestead, it's also important to keep in mind that it was the state and council governments that allowed the Homestead to fall into such disrepair in the first place. The Homestead suffered the most in government hands, and they weren't interested in restoring it back then; why would they be interested now? What really appalls me though, and the reason why I push so hard against this issue, is the extreme lack of faith the local community seems to have in the Heritage Council. Nobody seems willing to recognize or acknowledge the fact that the Heritage Council, the very people who know the most about the Banyule Homestead, the same people who's job it is to ensure that buildings like the Banyule Homestead are not ruined by development, will be involved in every step of this development. Nothing will happen without their okay, and so I feel that if they, remembering that they are experts on heritage, are willing to give it their okay, then I believe that it is worth supporting. What people seem to be asking for is for some magical benevolent force to fly in and save the Homestead with a never-ending supply of money, but what I am asking these people to do is, if you do not like the idea of development at Banyule Homestead, to come up with a real alternative solution, which you do not seem to have. I'll ask again, but will not hold my breath waiting for a response: can you actually come up with a viable and legal alternative that has not already been tried and failed?

admin

Wed, 2011-07-27 11:33

I received thee following e-mail from Christine Pruneaux of the Macedon Ranges Residents Association.

Hello Everyone,

A very special update, because Council will be making a 30 year decision tomorrow night (Wednesday) at Kyneton Town Hall, 7.00pm.

The Macedon Ranges Settlement Strategy is up for decision, and it will be there until 2036. This document affects everyone in the Shire, so MRRA is urging people to get to the Council meeting.

We have taken the unusual step of including our report on this issue in this email, as well as posting it on our website www.mrra.asn.au That’s how important we think this issue is.

We have also included contact details (below) for Councillors by the wards and towns they represent, and encourage you to send your thoughts to your Councillors.

Please help let people know by forwarding this message to your networks.

Kind regards,

Christine Pruneau
MRRA

nimby

Wed, 2011-07-27 09:53

Wilderness Society Victoria are planning a sit-in in Premier Baillieu's office tomorrow, where they will be refusing to leave until they have a meeting with him. The intention is to call on Baillieu to put an immediate halt to logging in Toolangi. The meeting is at the Wilderness Society's office at 9:45am sharp tomorrow morning for a briefing before carpooling out to his office in Campberwell to begin the sit in at 11am. Carpooling available - contact Pia [email protected] M: 0412 739 201 Address: Level 2, 288 Brunswick Street Fitzroy Victoria 3065

nimby (not verified)

Wed, 2011-07-27 08:26

It's time for the end to diplomatic action and "niceness" when Councils are over-ruled as well as the opinions of local residents. It's an attack on democracy. Woodend and the Macedon region is doomed to be another Melton or Hoppers Crossing - an ocean of housing, towers, mega-stores and all the human-fallouts - violence, crime, litter, social ills - that follow high growth areas. It will mean increased Rates, and more "shortages" of public and council services, and the inevitable cutbacks to funding. Picketing any bulldozers, and public barriers may be the ultimate need to stop the growth -cancer overtaking outer areas that is spreading from Melbourne.

Bandicoot

Wed, 2011-07-27 08:15

"...it is considered that the introduction of the proposed dwellings will not further impact on existing views"! What sort of generalisation is this? A double storey building will not be seen? It will be seen from the walking track, as in the photo. How would hide it? The $300,000 over 10 years would not nearly be enough to restore the homestead. It's just tokenism. The development will mean it is never available for public use again as the car parking will be compromised, as well as the resident's privacy. The building should never have been sold to private owners. "A house, even a heritage homestead, is just a building, and as such it cannot heal over time..." For many people, our heritage is precious and under threat from many sources. There is no reason for this development. The only people who gain will be the owners, and the rest of the community, and our history, will be locked away forever. The "development" and growth-frenzy is over-riding Melbourne's past, and our developer-friendly government policies give them preference of the majority objectors. A mistake was made in the past by having this building put up for public auction. This can't be undone, unfortunately, but at least it should be protected from opportunism and further compromise to the integrity of the whole property. The real solution would be compulsory acquisition, but it probably can't be legally justified. If the present owners can't afford its upkeep, they should sell it and it should pass into public hands once more.

Sheila Newman

Wed, 2011-07-27 00:59

NEW Big Action Required Council To Make 30 Year Decision on Settlement Strategy On Wednesday 27 July

Be there - Kyneton Town Hall, Wednesday 27 July, 7.00pm.

(26/7/11 - P) Latest Settlement Strategy still favours mysterious growth agendas for Woodend, Gisborne, Clarkefield and Riddells Creek. Is someone still doing Villawood, individual landowners and the Committee for Melbourne a favour?

Macedon Ranges Settlement Strategy, a document which is supposed to set out a 30 year growth path for the Shire's towns, is up for approval at the Ordinary Council Meeting at Kyneton on Wednesday 27 July, 7.00pm. BE THERE!

Some changes in the latest version of the Settlement Strategy (available from Council's website www.mrsc.vic.gov.au) improve the document, but changes not made highlight a stubborn refusal to eliminate illogical and unjustified growth for Woodend, Gisborne, Riddells Creek and Gisborne.

· At Woodend, the higher growth target of 5,000 (instead of the 4,400 so strongly supported by the community) is still there. The document still doesn't say growth will be within the existing residential (R1, LDRZ) zones, just that no Greenfields rezoning is needed. Why? What justifies this?

· At Gisborne, the 2036 population of 14,700 still includes additional population being surreptitiously added for increased development in Rural Living zones, when the proper process for doing that hasn't occurred. This adds almost another 3,000 people to Gisborne, over and above the 12,000 already assigned to the town by the Gisborne/New Gisborne Outline Development Plan. Why? What justifies this?

· At Riddells Creek, the Settlement Strategy acknowledges infrastructure and services are deficient, yet the town's population is set to double by 2036, and be larger than Romsey. Strong constraints on growth in and to the north of the town will inevitably see residential development sprawling south into the rural zone buffer separating the town from metropolitan Melbourne. Why? What justifies this?

· At Clarkefield, even though the Minister for Planning has made it clear that turning Clarkefield into a metropolitan-style growth area isn't on, the Settlement Strategy still supports one landowner's aspirations for large scale residential development. Why? What justifies this?

· Statement of Planning Policy No. 8 policy is belatedly added but not acknowledged as about to become State policy. Why not?

"What's going on?" doesn't stop there.

· The Settlement Strategy doesn't say 'no extension of the town boundary' (as people have been led to believe it would by a Council officer and Councillor), it only says no Greenfields rezoning. Yet the agenda item after the Settlement Strategy at Wednesday's meeting is... a greenfields rezoning at Woodend with an officer's recommendation to approve. Is 'no greenfields rezoning' going to be equally ignored when Villawood's rezoning request comes to Council next month?

· Cr. Helen Relph has pointed out that 5,000 people in Woodend corresponds with the Macedon Ranges Shire Local Government Area and Towns Population Projections 2006 - 2036. If Council wants to use its own population projections to justify growth in Woodend, why not use them for all of the towns? That would see the Settlement Strategy's growth levels fall by 1,400 people in Gisborne, 2,200 in Kyneton, 1,200 in Lancefield and 1,700 in Riddells Creek. Overall, Council's projections put 6,000 fewer people in the Shire in 2036 than the Settlement Strategy. What justifies the much higher growth levels in the Settlement Strategy?

The decision Council makes on Wednesday will affect everyone in the Shire until 2036. It's all of our futures being decided.

Be there - Kyneton Town Hall, Wednesday 27 July, 7.00pm.

Email Councillors with your views. Here are contact details for Ward Councillors, and the main towns they represent:

West Ward: Woodend, Kyneton, Malmsbury

[email protected] 5422 6754 0400 025 309

[email protected] 5422 3887 0400 647 445

[email protected] 5427 3089 0400 026 241

South Ward: Gisborne, Macedon, Mt. Macedon

[email protected] 5428 2916 0401 682 364

[email protected] 5428 8941 0418 348 497

[email protected] 5426 4754 0418 398 856

East Ward: Riddells Creek, Romsey, Lancefield

[email protected] ** 5426 1535 0400 034 956

[email protected] * - 0400 028 507

[email protected] 5429 3614 0400 025 455

* Mayor ** Deputy Mayor

MRRA Says:

What's happening at Woodend is unfathomable, and doesn't it make Council look inept and hypocritical... How can anybody have confidence that the Settlement Strategy delivers what the community has asked for?

The solid persistence of high growth intentions at Gisborne, Riddells Creek and Clarkefield really does smack of someone implementing the Committee for Melbourne's 2010 'put southern Macedon Ranges in the metro area' plan. See Archive That may have been the previous State government's intention, but the State government has changed and the current government's policy is to protect Macedon Ranges, not suburbanize it.

We've said it before, and we will say it again: time to get the agendas out of the Settlement Strategy, and put the logical and strategically justified planning principles back in. The document must be able to be held up to the light, and currently it can't be. Wednesday night is the last opportunity to do this.

Councillors are supposed to set policy and strategy. Wednesday night will give residents a chance to see whether it's Council officers, or Councillors, driving the Settlement Strategy in its current deficient form. Residents will see:

Who understands planning, and who doesn't.

Who supports growth compatible with protecting Macedon Ranges from urbanization, and who doesn't.

Who supports agendas, and who doesn't.

Who supports the community, and who doesn't.

Very useful information indeed considering the November 2012 Council election is galloping towards us.

Lukekul (not verified)

Tue, 2011-07-26 23:32

Re: Photo courtesy of Friends of Banyule. "The townhouses would be imposed on this view." No, they would not. See page 16 of the Statement of Heritage Impact, specifically the part where it says: "Given the limited views to the homestead from the public areas of the [Banyule Flats] reserve, and the generous separation of the proposed dwellings from the main historic residence, it is considered that the introduction of the proposed dwellings will not further impact on existing views, or dominate the homestead in these views from the east." Contrary to what your article seems to suggest, a large portion of the money that will come from "all the profits from property taxes, stamp duty, and income from property development" will be put aside to ensure that the Homestead will be "funded and cared for adequately", as outlined on page 15 of the Statement of Heritage Impact: "A sum of $300,000 will be set aside to undertake the conservation and repair works..." For those interested in reading it, the Statement of Heritage Impact for the proposed subdivision and development of new lots at Banyule Homestead can be found here: http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/62495/Heritage-Impact-Statement.pdf This whole thing is not as bad as most people seem to think, and as a long time admirer of the Homestead I'm rather saddened by how quickly people criticize yet another plan to restore it. The last time was around 16 years ago, when the Banyule Council offered the private owner a substantial grant to restore the house, on the condition that the grounds be open to the public. This move was met by massive public backlash, with many residents voicing outrage in the local paper and sarcastically remarking how they too would be happy to open their houses up for that kind of money. It is no wonder the offer quickly disappeared and was forgotten about, with both the private owner and the Banyule Council under fire for daring to even consider such a thing. There is far more to this story than a private owner looking to make a quick buck from subdividing their property, and there is actually a lot more at stake than people realize. There are not many private owners who would be able to put up the cash to restore Banyule Homestead without doing something like this, and even fewer who would be willing to do it by the book and working hand-in-hand with the heritage council. As I have said countless times in arguing this point, no government will do this either. A house, even a heritage homestead, is just a building, and as such it cannot heal over time. Anybody with experience in such things, especially in the Historical Society, will understand that our best chance at preservation is in early restoration, not procrastination. Remember that it is very easy to criticize, but very hard to create; your website is called 'can do better', but can you actually come up with a viable and legal alternative that has not already been tried and failed?

Bandicoot

Tue, 2011-07-26 13:42

A large contingent of police and DSE officers arrived early this morning. It looks as though warnings will be given and arrests made. Logging is likely to resume today. The Tree-sit has been cleared and logging of Gun Barrel Coupe has recommenced. An emergency community meeting is planned for this evening (Tuesday) at 7:00pm, at the C J Dennis Hall, Main Road, Toolangi. This is to discuss what the community wishes to do next so no press,no pollies.

Riverkeeper (not verified)

Mon, 2011-07-25 14:46

Dear Andrew, Thank you for your efforts to demand an enquiry into the decision to build a desal plant at Wonthaggi. Whilst we understand that the decision arose from the view at the time that Melbourne might run out of water, the other (and more environmentally friendly) options for providing water supply were not openly scrutinised. Water recycling and rain/stormwater harvesting could supply Melbourne with most of the water it needs, and avoid the use of damaging desal plants and draining our precious waterways. We support an enquiry if it were to explore openly these better options and ensure that there is no second desal plant. We are happy for these comments to be made public on your website site. Best wishes Ian PS >From a personal perspective (not necessarily that of my organisation) I would hope that the enquiry also challenges the growth “fetish” that is one driver for desal plants and other damaging developments.) Ian Penrose Riverkeeper for the Yarra Riverkeeper Association

Lyn W (not verified)

Mon, 2011-07-25 12:52

My feelings on this are encapsulated in the following letter – one of the hundreds I have sent to the media on the subject of the desal plant. I do not belong to any organisation or group, tho I am well acquainted with Neil Rankin and members of Watershed, mainly thru my letters to the newspapers and earlier submissions to the EES. I personally think Brumby is [responsible]. Some examination of this debacle needs to happen
“Brumby should stand trial The recent extraordinary revelations about the desalination plant debacle are shocking enough to demand a public inquiry. Along with the impost of increased water bills, Victorians face a double whammy as their Leighton’s shares plummet with the company’s desal project losses. […] From the start, respected climate scientists and technical experts advised against this plant. They were quashed, ignored, ridiculed. Premier Brumby pushed this project through under clouds of secrecy, bypassing established rules, ignoring checks and balances. Already with a trail of failed projects, well demonstrating his ignorance of large infrastructure projects, he takes on the second largest desal plant in the world, “fast-tracking” to completion, avoiding scrutiny while bragging about his world-first financial deal. Brumby must be brought to account. […] He should not be allowed to profit from this experience. Victorians need to know how this happened and how to prevent a dictatorial premier, Labor or Liberal, from playing fast and loose with our money ever again.”
I also believe the media is accountable for failing to inform the people of Melbourne [adequately] about the whole desal affair. I have been following this issue from the very beginning because we have the pipeline thru our property. Media coverage in the Melbourne papers was abysmal. Melbournians by and large did not have a clue what was going on with the desal plant. Intelligent, usually well-informed people just looked confused when ever the desal was raised. The Age rarely mentioned the project. I sent in many letters to the Age – only a couple were ever published. The only good journalism in the Age was from Kenneth Davidson. Some of Kenneth’s revelations would have been worthy of front page headlines yet they were printed back in the Opinion section and usually on a Monday. Melissa Fyfe has more recently taken over from him as the only Age commenter on desal matters. December 2009 the Brumby Gang were still talking $3.1 billion. The AquaSure contract had just been put on the internet. Its location was obscure and I stumbled upon it. Most real information was blotted out but the figure of $5.7 billion was quite clearly stated as the total cost. I immediately wrote a letter to the Age about this blow-out. Within hours of my email I received a telephone call from one of the Age editors who asked me where I got the information. I gave instructions on how to find it. I heard no more from them. They did not publish my letter nor did they report the $5.7 billion themselves. It was several months before the $5.7 was publicly revealed. Why??? It seemed to me that, in the beginning Jon Faine 774, at times refused to take calls from people in this area. Those that did manage to trick their way in were treated like lunatics or just cut off. There was better coverage when he went off on his trip – I think Walid Ali took over during that time. Only after he had returned and after the shit had hit the fan did Faine allow any serious desal debate. I would support a Royal Commission – if that is the appropriate process. I am not clear on the terms of reference or possible outcomes for a Royal Commission v any other type of process. I think this type of corruption is endemic within Victorian public office and has been practiced for so many years that people in office no longer know appropriate from inappropriate actions. Whatever process occurs it needs to be very carefully conducted to ensure it does not become a whitewash and the matter laid to rest for ever. Lyn W

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 2011-07-24 12:22

The Murdock press are so biased and quite content to openly push their big-business and corporate agendas onto what are meant to be "news" papers. They openly support population growth, the growth pushers vs the nimbys, and trivialize environmental issues and climate change. They are hardly worth reading, however, our newspapers and media are what the public use to be informed. Without media diversity, we are limited in our facts, our knowledge, and an open and unbiased reporting of issues in the world today. We need independent press, balanced reporting, exposure of corruption, and that is what we should be getting more of from sites like candobetter.net.

Geoffrey Taylor

Sun, 2011-07-24 06:49

Thanks, Agent Provocateur, Quark and Fiona,

Whilst I generally favour the reduction of working hours if that can be achieved through labour-saving technology, it should be outlawed whilst any single individual is unable to attain gainful employment in order to meet his/her life expenses. The gross social irresponsibility and heartlessness of one large retail corporation in refusing to hire sufficient staff to attend to customer needs even without self-serve technology should be obvious to anyone who tries to shop in a K-Mart store as I did last Saturday. Even to pay for goods I intended to buy, let alone to make a query of staff in a store almost empty of staff, I had to wait in a queue. No doubt if, unable to pay for the goods I wanted, I had attempted to walk out the front of the store with them, I would have very quickly received 'service' from the store's security staff.

As long as a singe person, who needs gainful employment (that is a real job with award rates of pay and conditions of work and not slave wage 'occupations' such as taxi-driving) does not have it, these stores should be boycotted.

Agent Provocateur

Sat, 2011-07-23 22:51

Whether or not the Creepy Self Service Machines are viable from a business point of view or helpful from a customer's point of view- is probably irrelevent at this time. The point is, that with 7 Billion People on the planet who all need jobs to pay their bills (including the food bill) - there is no good reason for a machine. ... And further more, Governments couldn't continue to penalise people for being unemployed if job cutting by creepy self service machines is allowed to go on. ... And Governments do punish people who can't find jobs... by making them stand in queues to fill in forms to declare their ineptitude in finding meaningful, gainful employment. I'm sure that readers here, can follow my drift; in a capitalist society - isn't a machine going to be the undoing of it all? Capitalists... those at the top of the shit pile that is - surely have a vested interest in having those at the bottom of the shit pile to at least having enough money to buy their shit? How can it all be sustained if the shit kicker at the bottom of the shit pile has been replaced by a creepy self service machine? There'd be no -body left to buy the shit. A Ponzi scheme if ever I saw one!

quark

Sat, 2011-07-23 10:23

The subtitle of the book "The Corporation" "the pathological pursuit of profit and power" applies very well in the supermarket example. Some are denied jobs while others are denied human interaction and real service. Nothing matters but profit as we , the customers have the added drag of scanning items and trying to reason with a machine which announces "unexpected item..!!" I look at these automatic checkouts and try to figure out how they are more efficient or faster. Is it that more of them can be fitted into a given space? Perhaps, but as the author of the article says, it's about wages, holiday pay, and all the other non- rights of an automaton that help to increase profits when real people are dispensed with. I also think that tram conductors should be brought back to Melbourne trams . How have our public transport experiences improved since their removal? It seems we, the public can't afford any more the services we value and we can't afford them because of the of the profit imperative. Who is better off? As the author notes, prices in supermarkets have not come down!

Gail (not verified)

Fri, 2011-07-22 22:54

I was very sorry to read the account of your neighbor. I have almost no contact with my neighbors, and I suppose that is not unusual. I do think idealizing the past as allowing more leisure can be misleading and is entirely dependent on specific place and time. I doubt that the slaves in Egypt or indentured servants in the US had excess free time to write poetry or spend with family - and in fact, in many eras, families were far more hierarchical and abusive towards women and children than they are now. I also question whether it's necessary for both partners in a marriage to work in industrial society to "survive". It is all relative, and except for the abject poor (a rank that is obviously now on the increase) in the US many working couples consider appliances and lifestyles to be essential that in other parts of the world would be regarded as the greatest luxuries. Having said that I agree that the tradeoff of time for consumer goods has been cynically engineered by skilled marketing firms in service to our corporate overlords. We don't have to behave like sheep but there seems to be a predisposition to do so, and so people who could choose otherwise wind up going deep into debt for non-necessities. C'est la guerre.

Dr Geoff Mosley (not verified)

Fri, 2011-07-22 19:49

Andrew/Sheila Clearly this development has no social licence. The development received Government approval before any environmental effects were considered. There was no assessment of the major environmental effects including the option of doing nothing. Also there was no consultation with the community about the alternatives of the present ownership/operation arrangement compared with the alternative of 100% government ownership/operation. If the latter had been chosen the plant could have lain idle/been shut down. A Royal Commission could explore all these issues which are important for the future of this and other projects. Geoff (Dr) Geoff Mosley Australian Director Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy The CASSE position on economic growth may be e-signed at:http://www.steadystate.org/CASSEPositionOnEG.html Hurstbridge Victoria 3099

Wendy R. (not verified)

Fri, 2011-07-22 19:39

"I think this would be a fine idea. Always interested to know how they justify such a waste of our hard earned dollars to destroy the environment. Who is responsible for that terrible, arrogant contract that we supposedly can’t get out of? Wendy R"

Bandicoot

Fri, 2011-07-22 17:35

MEDIA RELEASE Anger as logging begins at controversial Sylvia Creek forest near Melbourne Friday, 22 July 2011 VicForests has sent the chainsaws into the Sylvia Creek forest on Melbourne’s north east fringe, despite conceding that the area contains old-growth trees more than 110 years old. Over 100 people protested at the site near Toolangi last weekend, forcing both VicForests and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) to conduct new surveys to check the forest’s environmental values. “DSE has confirmed the logging coupe contains old growth trees, even though VicForests and Government Minister Louise Asher insisted last week that it was not old growth forest,” said Wilderness Society forest campaigner Luke Chamberlain. "We demand an acknowledgment from the then Acting Premier that she has either been deceived by VicForests or she herself has misled the public. Louise Asher must apologise to the people of Toolangi." “As a result of community action, VicForests has been forced to remove three hectares of old growth and rainforest from their logging plans, but they have sent the chainsaws into the remaining forest today.” DSE and VicForests claim that the area being logged is not suitable habitat for the endangered Leadbeater's Possum, but expert scientists and conservationists disagree. “Over half the Leadbeater's Possum’s forest habitat was destroyed in the Black Saturday bushfires, so every last bit that survives is incredibly precious, and essential to this tiny animals’ survival,” said spokesperson for local group ‘My Environment’ Sarah Rees. “The criteria the government is using to identify Leadbeater's Possum habitat are too conservative. We’re talking about Victoria’s wildlife emblem, we should be making sure they multiply and flourish, not simply cling on to the edge of survival.” “The local community is up in arms about losing this beautiful, high conservation value forest, and is planning further protests.” The Burned Area Emergency Response Report (BAER) commissioned by the Brumby Government after the 2009 bushfires recommended preserving refuge areas such as those in Toolangi for biodiversity recovery. Note: photos of Leadbeater's Possum available on request For comment - Luke Chamberlain, The Wilderness Society 0424 098 729 - Sarah Rees, My Environment Inc. 0438 368 870 Our State government is showing complete disregard for community concerns, for the intrinsic biodiversity value of these old-growth trees, and for wildlife that is being pushed further towards extinction. The forests may have survived Black Saturday, but vandalism with chain saws might be beyond their ability to endure and survive,

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