When it comes to government inquiries, Terence Cole QC has to be the current heavyweight. He inquired into the building industry and then into AWB. In the process he was criticised heavily by prominent ALP members.
Now the Rudd government has appointed him to head an inquiry into the sinking of the HMAS Sydney.
I guess it’s a continuation of the trajectory that saw W.A. construction union official Joe McDonald expelled from the ALP last year. Perhaps it wasn’t just for his foul mouth.
March 31, 2008 | Graham
Hasn’t Rudd heard of a grudge?
Posted by Graham at 5:34 pm |
Comments Off on Hasn’t Rudd heard of a grudge? |
March 30, 2008 | Graham
Spence beats Caris – more bad news for Nelson
Gary Spence is the new president of the Queensland Liberal Party beating John Caris by 23 votes to 20, and demonstrating just how entrenched the factions still are. Spence was the Santoro faction candidate, and Caris the candidate of the rest.
This makes it almost certain, as forecast in a previous post, that Mal Brough will contest the presidency at the party’s state convention, to be held within a couple of months. Spence’s factional enemies are already referring to him as the “interim president”.
This result confirms that disgraced former senator Santo Santoro is far from dead as a force in the Queensland Liberals, with internal factionalism shaping as a weakness for Brendan Nelson. While there is little that Nelson can do about the factions, that won’t stop the ALP tagging him with the issue, as will his competitors within the Liberal Party.
It will also make it even more difficult for him, or anyone else, to recruit good talent to run in winnable seats in the next election, or any byelections that may occur between then and now.
Spence also introduces more uncertainty into negotiations with the Queensland Nationals. While Caris is on the record as opposing amalgamation, Spence’s personal position is not publicly known. His lack of a deep background in the Liberal Party will also be a problem as the National Party negotiators have a lot of experience.
It is not certain that Brough can beat Spence in June, which would be another problem for Nelson as Brough is one of the few members of the Queensland Liberal Party with any intact political capital at all. He’s also a potential recruit for one of those byelections.
March 27, 2008 | Ronda Jambe
Why bang our heads about baseload?
On a sunny autumn day in Canberra, it is gratifying to see that our solar panels have already produced 5.56 KW. Working out exactly what that means in terms of light bulbs, computing power and our 20 year old electric cook top is a bit beyond me. All I know is it sounds good.
Queensland and South Australia are legislating for feed-in tarrifs. This would pay direct producers of renewable energy at a multiple of the retail rate. A German 3.8 rate got feed in has apparently spurred a solar insurgence, the kind we like to hear about.
But John Stanhopeless, the ACT Chief Minister, is dragging his heels, and going for a feasibility study for a solar farm outside Canberra. This would keep ACTEW AGL, that oligarch provider of cable TV, electricity, gas, water, Internet and telephone, in the control position. If they could, they would bottle the air and charge by the month for that, too.
The solar farm could power 10,000 houses, just a small glow on the Canberra night sky. However, to do this, prices for all consumers would have to rise, to cover the infrastructure costs. So far, the story is plausible, since we are being primed to expect dearer electricity by Garnaut and the feds.
What doesn’t add up is the reason the ACT gov has given for hesitation about the feed-in tarrif: Stanhope says it is inequitable, as all consumers would be paying for a benefit to a few.
But how is this any less equitable than the higher prices for the solar farm? To me, this is neglecting the holistic view of energy generation, along with a wider economic and social perspective. Not even sure if, from a triple bottom line perspective, a solar farm will address the environmental issues, as power is lost quickly when sent over distances.
Surely a significant issue for the transition to a low carbon society is to build the skills and awareness that are needed. This means moving away from megalithic centralised providers to more localised production, not just for energy, but for food and all other goods and services, where possible. This is neither obscure nor new, just common sense.
If households are incentivised to provide their own energy they will learn, as we are in my household, about the pros, cons, costs, benefits, and other issues associated with this technology. How to read the bill, how to reset after power has gone off, etc. There is a learning curve, as with computers, although in the case of computers it is more like a Sisyphean escalator that speeds up and lurches backwards.
As households learn, the techos who can help with the installation, the better business models, the inevitable Chinese copies, etc will emerge from the woodwork, as they did with computing. And we will all become more aware of the things we now need to measure, conserve, produce, etc. Kilowatts for everyone, shocks for some.
It’s now about moving along, as quickly and as efficiently as possible, so that our standard of living can adjust. Or perhaps ‘shake down’ is more the term, as what gets most valued will stay and some of the changes will be surprisingly pleasurable.
Who would have thought, even 10 years ago, that I would have a cute little external 120G hard drive, that plugs right into my USB hub, like a power board for gadjets? Although technology is often frustruating, who would ever give up any of it? Other changes that lie ahead will most likely take society in a different direction, and I predict that these will be welcomed as well, once we get used to them.
Ronda’s crystal ball, half insight, half wishful thinking, places rows of edible landscape such as fruit trees along the main roads, where people instead of cattle will graze in the long paddock. New social and economic structures will arise, perhaps along the lines of sporting organisations, to manage this production. An active exchange of produce, products, and services will spring up to help us learn how to grow and preserve locally. Solar panels will become cheap as silicon chips. The new skills revolution won’t be limited to offices and businesses.
But back to baseload. My long-suffering spouse was heard last week to mutter ‘I HATE being an early adopter!’. Poor soul, his electric bike had just given up its battery charge after just about 10K, and it is supposed to go for 40. Not only that, but I had led him down a dirt track behind Mt Taylor, and he fell off and is still aching. My bike has no extra power, and I was fine. In the endless ballet of the driven and the dragged, he knows all too well where he stands (or tumbles).
The point is, baseload solar becomes the source of transport energy, in little ways like bikes and eventually cars. Just wait until I get my hands on a VAT, or vertical axis turbine, when they have them in 240v. Then, when the sun ain’t shining, maybe the wind will be blowing, and I’ll be whistling.
March 26, 2008 | Graham
Parer resignation means Santoro short on numbers
Warwick Parer’s premature resignation as Queensland Liberal Party President is a sure sign that the Santoro forces don’t have the numbers at State Convention.
Parer is reported by the ABC:
Mr Parer says he had intended to retire last year, but agreed to stay on for the Federal and Brisbane City Council elections.
The former federal minister says the time is right to hand over the presidency.
That will be a surprise to the delegates who voted for him at the last Liberal Party convention. It is even more extraordinary given that the his term would have expired in only a couple of months on the 1st of June at the conclusion of the next Liberal Party State Conference.
Parer is resigning now so that he can use his numbers on the State Council to install a successor who will then have the inside running at State Convention. (I notice some of the news organisations running with the line that the State Council is the “governing body” of the Queensland Liberals. It is only that between State Conventions, which are the supreme governing body of the party, and the organ that ought to choose presidents, as they involve delegates elected proportionately by all the branches in the state).
This gambit may backfire. Mal Brough has been strongly supported by a number of members to be the next president, but Brough is overseas, driving a camper van around Europe at his own expense relaxing after 11 years in government. It will be difficult for him to run on Sunday, when State Council meets. This means that John Caris is likely to be the ABS (anyone but Santo) consensus candidate.
A ballot at State Council may therefore look like an each way bet to Santoro and Parer. They might get their candidate up, or they might get Caris, but they won’t get Brough, who they apparently see as some sort of omni-nemesis.
In which case, they had better be sure that Caris runs, and that he wins, because Brough would be unlikely to run against him.
If he loses Queensland Liberals look like they are sick of the Santoro manipulation, so a vengeful and refreshed Brough could well catapult off this manouver, rallying worn-out party members against it.
In fact, if I was the ABS coalition, I’d be pushing for one of the Vice-Presidents to fill the position on the condition that they agree to resign at State Convention. Policy-Vice President Dave Elson would be the obvious candidate to fill the position, pro tem.
That way the decision could be deferred to where it properly should be made – State Council.
March 26, 2008 | Graham
National Party over
It’s more or less official – the National Party is over. Queensland National Party Leader Lawrence Springborg is launching a serious of advertisements this evening promoting him as the alternative state premier, according to AAP, but without mentioning the National Party at all.
QUEENSLAND Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg says there’s no point in spruiking the Nationals brand in advertising campaigns, as he’s confident there will be a single new conservative party by the next election….
Mr Springborg, who is championing the amalgamation of the Queensland coalition parties, said he no longer wished to promote the Nationals brand.
“There’s no point in advertising the Nationals name or the coalition – this is about leadership, it’s a leadership campaign,” Mr Springborg told AAP.
“It says there’s a better way, and leaves it open for the new party to seamlessly morph into that.”
This is what Springborg did to the Coalition brand last electoral cycle – trashed it. Now he’s doing it to the National Party. As a result he is more or less committed to a new party, although without the Liberals it will be in some ways little more than a rebadging of the Nationals.
It will be without the Liberals. Politically, the Queensland Liberals look a little like the Iraqi government, but when the factions pause from bombing each other there is one thing they all agree on “No new conservative party!”
And where the Queensland National Party goes, there goes the party in the rest of Australia. They used to be called the Country Party, but when the Queenslanders decided that they’d outgrown the country and were going to take over the world, the rest followed suit. The Joh for PM push was the result, which cost the federal coalition the election that year.
That year was 1987, 21 years, or one generation, ago. Makes you wonder whether the Nationals and their heirs are destined to repeat the mistakes of their forefathers “even unto the seventh generation”.
The advertising campaign refers viewers to Springborg’s website www.springborg.com. Is it an omen that when I clicked on the site just now it has a message “Coming soon”? You shouldn’t pretend to be the real deal when you’re stil very much under construction!
March 25, 2008 | Graham
Bring out your dead
Here’s another reason I could never be a Roman Catholic. A press release from the World Youth Day Sydney, the religious extravaganza being staged by the Catholic Church in July this year, alerted me to the fact that Blessed Pier Georgio Frassati would be attending.
The charismatic Blessed Pier Giorgio is revered for his social activism, sporty nature, sense of humour and generous spirit.
“His youthful good looks, charm, fun-loving nature and dedication to God and humanity make him the perfect inspiration for young people,†said Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, Coordinator of WYD08.
So far so good. Sounds like a great guy and maybe we can get him to write an article for OLO.
Well, maybe not. I should have read the headline more closely. The press release continues:
“Pier Giorgio loved sport, horseriding, mountain climbing – and practical jokes.â€
Past tense? And then…
Born into a wealthy, influential but unreligious family – his agnostic father became Italian Ambassador to Germany – Pier Giorgio joined the St Vincent de Paul Society in 1918 at 17, committing his spare time to the sick and needy.
An extremely passionate social activist, Pier Giorgio joined student organisations, opposed fascism and established a daily newspaper.
His great acts of charity included donating his graduation money to an elderly woman evicted from her apartment and supporting a sick widow’s three children.
In 1925 Pier Giorgio was afflicted by an acute attack of polio, which doctors speculated he caught from the sick that he tended. He died at the age of 24.
So a key attraction will be the body of someone who has been dead for 83 years! Not my idea of Christianity – very medieval. What ever happened to worshipping in spirit and in truth!
March 24, 2008 | Graham
Herbert voters call it right
The weekend’s revelation that Labor will seek to cut $10B from the defence budget means that voters in Herbert probably called the consequences of a Rudd Labor government correctly. Herbert is home to Lavarack Barracks and saw a relatively small swing to Labor of 6.03%. (Leichardt next door saw a 15% swing to Labor). The army vote was probably crucial.
One of the reasons that Labor is viewed as being less able in defence than the Coalition is because it has a history of under-spending on defence needs. Another is a widespread suspicion that it’s in fact antipathetic to defence because of the entanglement of its left wing with anti-war movements and pacifists.
The decision to cut the defence budget will cement poor perceptions of Labor and defence. What’s more it’s bad policy.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon may think that he can cut the civilian component of the armed forces and leave the effectiveness of the forces untouched, but that ignores the fact that the secret to military success isn’t battle-field heroics, but logistics. What that means is the ratio of support staff to field combatants needs to be somewhere in the region of 10 to 1, and that the 10 are just as much a part of the war effort as the 1.
The government might find that it can eliminate some support, but it is likely that the deficit will have to be met by contractors, so the savings will be ephemeral – sack an army cook and you might need to open a Macdonald’s on the battlefield.
The government says it won’t cut back on capital investment, meaning Australia could end up with the best mint condition equipment, because it won’t have the resources to deploy them.
All of this points to the real problem the government faces – the difficulty of making any real cuts in the budget. The Howard government’s greatest profligacy was in making payments to specific demographics, such as the baby bonus and the pension and superannuation concessions. If this government has trouble eliminating a one-off carer’s bonus, then these other programs will be too much for them.
While no government would find it easy to remove these programs, David Burchell in Saturday’s Australian puts his finger on a weakness of the Rudd government – it hasn’t developed a compelling foundational narrative. Without such a narrative it won’t be able to muster the community support to make hard decisions, meaning that unpopular or out-of-sight, yet vital, services like defence will be under pressure.
March 20, 2008 | Graham
How can plastic bag consumption be up 21%?
That’s the claim from the leaked report in this (and related) news story. I can’t believe it.
Perhaps a couple of months’ consumption got counted in the wrong year. For bags used to have jumped by that you would need a number of things to happen. Population could jump by 20%, or the volujme of groceries bought could increase by 20%, or perhaps the checkout chics and register roosters at Coles and Woollies have become 20% more profligate in the way that they pack.
None of these seems likely, nor does any possible combination of them. And on top of that you have the shoppers who have invested in the reusable bags. Even if it’s only 10% of us, that should move consumption 10% in the other direction.
Since John Howard left office after spending years scaring us with non-existent weapons of mass destruction, waves of illegal immigrants careering southward, and terrorists domestic and exotic we’ve been subjected to a different sort of phantom.
This leaked study is just the latest. By the time we get to see the figures and work out how they’ve got to this completely untenable conclusion, the conclusion itself will have passed into folklore, and probably legislation, deespite the fact that the Productivity Commission recommended against banning plastic bags in a report which has been released rather than leaked.
Surely there were real good old days when this sort of things didn’t happen and there were real threats that had to be faced, not mere night frights.
March 20, 2008 | Ronda Jambe
Under the Moruya Moon (3)
After years of yearning, I got to visit Paronella Park, near Innisfail, Queensland. It is a ruin of great beauty, with stories of dynastic collapse and perseverance. The motto for the new owners is ‘the dream continues’.
And so does my dream on the NSW south coast. The renovations continue on the goat shed that now has a composting toilet. Come to think of it, maybe I should gather the goat poo that still sits under the shed and put them down the toilet. Couldn’t hurt, could it?
Our ruin isn’t so extensive, and no landscaping has been done (yet). Not as steamy as Innisfail, but with ocean breezes from mid afternoon. You need a breeze, in a tin shed that is about to get a new look. So far, the windows, red paint, internal partitions and bathroom/kitchen have soaked up a modest amount of money, but now we are going for the serious shed. This is how it is now:
Well over a year ago we got permission to convert it to a habitable space, but then found out the leaks in the 50 year old tin roof made it silly to insulate. So back to the drawing board, and the new roof will extend over an additional sun room, all north facing. The existing living space is large:
and the new room will have the potential to be one big space or be separated by folding doors. Eventually. Putting ceilings on the bedrooms will close them in, but perhaps that is the trade-off for being warmer and more private.
Space is such a luxury in a house, and this one will be expansive enough for dances, conferences, even an art gallery, if anyone ever harbours such ideas (and I do). In the short term, it will probably hold an old piano and a 3/4 size pool table.
This may well be the folly of a lifetime; a green architect spent a morning with us and finally concluded it wasn’t worth doing. But having already sunk money into getting it this far, we decided to persevere. It will always be a shed, we aren’t kidding ourselves on that. But it will be a cosy one, and insulation will make it tolerable in winter. At the moment, all warmth goes straight out the ceiling, and nights in July are not comfy. The nearby house, which we rent out, is manageable in winter, because it is sealed up.
A grey water system and low emissions paint will finish the job, and solar hot water will come later. Possibly solar electricity as well, but that will have to wait.
A local once told me that the reason the south coast of NSW never got developed much was because the train stops at Nowra. I think the attractions also lay north of Sydney, where the winter gets milder and milder, the further you go.
But now with climate change, the south coast is a fine retreat, and not too populous yet. For landlocked Canberrans in particular, it is a close haven, as the beaches are as beautiful as one might find anywhere in Australia, and we all know Aussies are connoisseurs of fine beaches.
The south coast is just 2 hours away, and warmer in winter by that few degrees that make a difference. It is also wetter, although how long the green tinge lasts is anyone’s guess.
The space outside is also expansive, I like being able to wander around in any state and have music as loud as I like and not hear any cars, anywhere near by. I even like the splendor of the makeshift clothesline, a bit of domesticity in the middle of the bush.
The house has veggie beds, but things eat whatever goes outside. I also like being able to throw my compost out the kitchen door, and it is gone by the morning. Kangas thump around, a big goanna poses on a tree, the kookaburras are outrageously noisy. And in the distance, the soft roar of the ocean. When I am there, a pig-in-mud type happiness sets in. Someday, maybe, we will restore the dam in the valley and fence off a space to grow a few herbs the critters can’t get to.
Our builder is a solid sort, we know the result will be equally solid, and that is more appealing to me than glamorous or trend-setting. New Zealand has lots of these old Nissan or Quonset huts, some have been made into homes, others are for hay.
Off we go there tomorrow, to see how things are progressing. Two big concrete tanks will sit under the new deck, and we have found a smaller sized composting toilet that will fit in the lower space where the second bathroom will go. All the comforts of home, including a kitchen dismantled from Canberra.
I like to say the furniture all matches because it all comes from the same second hand store, but really it is all just second hand.
Someday I can see myself living there, if Canberra dries out much more. Unfortunately my spouse is unlikely to agree, as he is a city chap through and through (and the ticks always seem to find him). For the time being, we enjoy the visitors and fun that come our way, and it can only get better.
Lest any readers think there is ever any let up in my eco-imagination, may I direct you to a recent article quoting an interview with James Lovelock, which encourages us all to have fun while we can:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/mar/01/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange
The road to Moruya south heads runs along the river, and at high tide the water in the mangroves is nearly even with the tarmack. No one can say for sure what lies ahead, but for now the beauty and the beach are wonderful.
March 16, 2008 | Graham
Newman’s victory one for Campbell
Joe Hockey reckons that Campbell Newman’s win is the first step on the comeback for the Liberal Party.
“In many ways this may become the emblematic moment that indicates that the Liberal Party has reconnected with the community and has built up a core base of support for better government and stronger values in government,” he said.
Baloney.
Newman did this all on his own with his “Can do” brand. If you want to see how the Liberal brand fared in these elections look at the Gold Coast, where their mayoral candidate polled only 26.73%, coming third. He’ll need to do heroically well on pre-polls, absents and preferences to win the mayoralty, and even if he did, there will be unlikely to be any Liberal councillors to support him because all of the other Liberal candidates look like they’ve lost.
The message to the Liberals from Campbell is that the electorate is not interested in political brands as much as they are interested in performance. That was the key to him not just being returned, but taking a number of wards from Labor.
Labor councillors presented themselves as being able to put a “check” on Campbell Newman, who they said was after a “blank cheque”. Too cute. Voters saw these Labor councillors as putting their brand before the public interest, and dealt with them accordingly.
The devaluation of political brands is further underlined by the fact that this result occurred so close in time to Kevin Rudd’s emphatic win, and that Newman did well in areas like South Brisbane and Brisbane Central which at a state level are ultra-safe for Labor.
If the Liberal Party wants to do well again in Australian politics they need to stop spending so much time talking about who they are and spend much more time showing what they can do.