Miscellaneous comments from 3 Aug 2010

Tue, 2010-08-03 19:10 by admin
If you have anything you would like to raise, which is likely to be of interest to our site's visitors, which is not addressed by other articles, please add your comments here. Previous Miscellaneous Comments page page 1 set up 4 May 2010 . Prior to that, a Miscellaneous Comments pages were set up on 1 Mar 2010 on page 1 and page 2.

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eco engine (not verified)

Fri, 2010-08-06 11:58

Julia Gillard's poor rating in the polls means that she cannot ignore the Christian vote. Despite being an "atheist", this should not be an impediment to good negotiation skills and addressing some support for family values. Kevin Rudd professed to be a Christian but he totally failed to uphold Christian values and show integrity. By boosting our immigration rate, many Australian people are now dispossessed and displaced from home ownership. The housing crisis is the making of Kevin Rudd in his selfish whim for a "big Australia". Homelessness is on the rise and mortgage stress means having a family is prohibitive. Where are his Christian values, his family values? They are contrary to any meaning of compassion and social justice. Promises were broken and ignored, and as for our planet, Creation, he was quite happy to see the destructive forces of climate change quietly be deliberately overlooked with his impotent ETS scheme. Julia Gillard has professed to being an atheist, but at least she isn't hiding behind hypocrisy. Tony Abbott's faith is little better, and both major parties are obsessed by growth at all costs, even if it means eroding our lifestyles and swelling our cities with further population growth - to please the business elite!

Bandicoot

Sun, 2010-08-08 12:25

Renowned economic commentator Niall Ferguson says that Australia's population should be allowed to grow much bigger so we have enough labour to capitalise on China's demand for commodities. Population debate "pathetic" Professor Ferguson believes the debate about curbing population growth is "pathetic"! He sees China as the next super-power, and will overtake the US, a nation drowning in debt. China has insatiable appetite for commodities. Our population is "slightly less than the combined population of Beijing and Shanghai" - far too small! The new world order is here, and it speaks Mandarin! English is of the old order. It is not clear why we need to increase our population to provide commodities for the growing super-power! Resource mining and agriculture do not require large populations. Ferguson says that Australia will be at the "mercy of the rising Chinese economy", but India would ultimately become "the natural balancing power in Asia". This threat could be a self-fulfilling prophesy unless we take care and responsibility, and pride, in Australia's unique history, natural heritage, environment and protect our sovereignty. We will never have the economic power of India or China through population growth. With their massive populations, the rivets would pop out of the seams of our ecological systems that support our existence in Australia. We would be inviting environmental and social catastrophe, dependant on aid, and be truly "pathetic"! We would thus be vulnerable to military threats. We simply do not have the fertile soils, the waterways, or the rainfall of these naturally abundant but overpopulated nations. With China being allowed to buy Australian farms, land and resources, we could easily become overshadowed by their mighty and undemocratic powers. We are not a province of China and this is not what the public of Australia want. The Economy is a tool to allow us to live decently and have a livelihood. Allowing its growth to become and end in itself is misanthropic and would bring disaster.

Concerned (not verified)

Mon, 2010-08-09 09:44

It has been found that in the UK 24.7 per cent of children born last year have mothers who were born abroad – and that their numbers have doubled since the late 1990s. The figures produced fresh warnings to ministers that immigration rates must be brought down to avoid the growing threat of overpopulation in Britain. The rising proportion of children of migrant mothers is a result both of high levels of immigration and higher birthrates among newly-arrived families. It is predicted that the UK population will hit the sensitive 70million mark in 2029. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1296638/Migrants-responsible-bir... The birthrate has been pushed up fast in recent years by immigration. Last year nearly a quarter of all babies in England in Wales were born to mothers who were themselves born abroad. The highest fertility rate is among women born in Pakistan and Bangladesh, who can expect to have 4.7 and 3.9 children respectively. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1185465/Baby-boom-Nearly-quarter... Critics said the figures pointed to future problems for 'social cohesion'. Many of the children now being born will be brought up in a different culture to that of the majority population. Immigration has raised the birth rate so fast that some maternity units have closed, so that midwives could be moved to areas of urgent need. Other maternity units have turned expectant mothers away because they could not cope with unprecedented increases in the local birth rate. In central London, where six out of every 10 babies born has a foreign-born mother, senior consultants and health managers blame the lack of resources to deal with the pressures of migration for unacceptably poor standards. Also a worry: The majority of Islamist terrorists in the UK are British-born, under the age of 30, educated and likely to be employed, according to a statistical analysis of all terror plots uncovered over the past ten years. The Centre for Social Cohesion has spent two years compiling a database of individuals convicted of Islamist-inspired terrorism offences over the past decade. Almost half (48 per cent) of those convicted lived in the London area. Birmingham and West Yorkshire have the second- and third-highest numbers of convictions. More than two thirds (69 per cent) of those convicted were born in the UK and held British passports.

John Marlowe

Mon, 2010-08-09 17:47

Immigration quotas needs to factor in the subsequent birth trend. Where are Immigration's statistics to enable transparent assessment? For instance, if on average, immigrants are having one baby per immigrant, then the immigration quota should factor this in to the annual quota. On this basis the number of immigrants should be halved. And what is the total public cost of immigrants having babies? As for immigrants convicted of serious crimes, they must be automatically deported to their country of origin. They have grossly breached their residency conditions. Why should a country host foreign criminals at the public expense when gaols are already over capacity?

Bandicoot

Tue, 2010-08-10 10:17

Dugongs are listed under wildlife regulations as being 'vulnerable to extinction'. Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders have the right to kill limited numbers of turtles and dugongs with a permit for ceremonial purposes, in recognition of a 40,000-year-old custom. Under the Native Title Act they can make limited kills for 'the purpose of satisfying their personal, domestic or non-commercial communal needs. However, this Act takes no consideration for the welfare of turtles and dogongs, protecting from cruelty or their survival as a species. Forty thousand years ago they didn't have aluminium boats and high-powered motors, and they didn't sell the meat on the black market! Dugongs and turtles are being slaughtered by non-traditional methods for commercial gain. This is not subsistence killing or traditional! Because of the lack of forward motion, turtles are still having the flippers cut off while they writhe in agony. Dugongs are being carved up daily and nobody knows how many are left. Some tribal aborigines are concerned about non-tradition killings and leaving meat to rot, and their extinction. It is estimated that up to 1600 dugongs and 20 000 salt and freshwater turtles are taken annually in Australia. In Tasmania, 200 000 mutton birds are caught annually. The dugong is listed as vulnerable to extinction at a global scale by The World Conservation Union . Environment Minister Peter Garrett has been made aware of the scandal. And Shadow Minister Greg Hunt has been briefed, but the atrocities continue. Senator Bob Brown is also ignoring this issue. PLEASE SIGN ANIMALS AUSTRALIA PETITION Animals Australia petition Dugong and Turtles web page

RichB

Tue, 2010-08-10 20:49

Has anyone ever come across this website : www.vhemt.org...Its the website of the voluntary human extinction movement. Sounds like a great idea to me..It seems like it may be the only way to save the beautiful environment and animals of our earth..to cut population of the human virus down..

Bandicoot

Sun, 2010-08-22 10:04

If any animals are endangered, they should be protected. Does it matter whether the last dugong or sea turtle was killed by an indigenous person or not? These Native Title exceptions are more about anthropocentric and narcissist "human rights" or traditions than about protecting animals from atrocities, or extinction. Extinction is forever, no matter who ultimately causes it. The laws protecting wildlife should be consistent, whether the killers of protected whales are Japanese or indigenous Australians. We are fine tuning any concepts of "racism" to make a "one world", dissolving national borders and sovereign responsibilities, but the costs on non-human species means that without national borders, their protection can be abandoned. Nature does not belong to humans, but has intrinsic value and a right to exist for the benefit of the planet as a whole. Animal and plant species are not optional extras on Earth, interesting bonuses, or resources simply to support human food chains or as economic resources. If the last tree falls in a precious rainforest, if the last Orangutan dies, if a frog species disappears, if the last dugong becomes extinct, it is the loss for the planet. The ethnic origins or the human "rights" of the person using the axe, the chainsaw, the shovel, the spear or the firearm, is irrelevant.

Bandicoot

Thu, 2010-08-12 08:14

Why is it that many people think that "vacant" land, land without humans and human structure, is "wasted", sterile, and must be "used", claimed and filled with more people? It's a very anthropocentric attitude, that land and biodiversity does not have any intrinsic value, and that unless people are there, with housing estates, economic developments, roads and production, that it is a "wasted" resource. There is little consideration that our planet has an abundance of life, with thousand of other mammal species alone. People see the vast expanse of Australia as potential occupation for more population, and thus we are severely underpopulated. With teaming masses of people, overflowing in the world's sprawling cities, we are made to feel selfish, or guilty, of withholding our resources to relieve some of the burden of overpopulation in the rest of the world! This is a misguided magnanimous gesture due to globalisation. We would simply be importing over-population here! Australia has poor and ancient soils, little of it arable, and is one of the driest continents. Land has its own ecosystems, its own bio-diverse functions, its own values, its own intrinsic and inherent beauty. It nurtures many species, and revives our oxygen, air, absorbs harmful heat and the rain. Australia is a land of sunburnt plains, sweeping wide ranges, of wild rivers, of migratory and wading birds, and the extensive species of unique wildlife. A little bit of Australiana: easily overlooked since mass immigration and the push for globalisation. "I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of drought and flooding rains, I love her far horizons, I love her jewel sea, Her beauty and her terror - The wide brown land for me." Dorothea MacKellar (1908) Why can't we love Australia for what Australia is, BIG without having to "fill" it with more people and feel we have to utilise our natural heritage as a global resource?

Milly

Thu, 2010-08-12 18:03

Master Builders Deputy Executive Director, Radley de Silva, said builders were extremely worried about the future prosperity of Australia under a Greens controlled Federal Senate. “The building and construction industry is Australia’s fifth largest industry and employs over 184,000 people in Victoria. The Association has been flooded with concerns from members worried about fringe policies which will: 1. Undermine housing affordability 2. Threaten job security 3. Increase industrial unrest and workplace thuggery 4. Prevent and delay the construction of vital community infrastructure 5. Endanger Australia’s fragile economic recovery The Master Builders say they do not wish to tell people how to vote! However, they have been feted and pampered too long by our State and Federal governments. Higher density developments increase our urban heat-sinks, and high-rise living generates as much as twice the operational carbon dioxide per person as does single-residential house. There are some savings of the use of cars, but there is much more use of lifts, clothes driers, air conditioners and common lighted areas. According to the Kyoto Protocol, a country's emissions reduction targets can be partly met by the creation of carbon 'sinks' by creating more forests. Urban sprawl and free-ways require concreting over of green wedges, native grasslands and destruction of trees. Adding to our population growth rate has meant a boom time for the building industry and investors, but it has added more consumers to Victoria, which adds to the demands for water and power, and more land clearing, and more natural resource consumption. Any individual savings on emissions are swallowed up by more people! With contradictions between policy and actions, there is little chance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or protecting Australia's urban heritage and fringe areas. The building industry must become victims of a more sustainable Australia, just like coal mining. Instead, we must diversify and create industries compatible with a carbon free, steady state economy.

Bandicoot

Mon, 2010-08-16 15:03

Sandra Kanck is the former Democrat leader and now part of Sustainable Population Australia. She says the Democrats is the nation’s only environment group campaigning on reducing human population. (The ACF also, but not until mid century). After more than two decades of hammering away at this issue and the spectacular population growth which took place under the auspices of former PM Rudd, it appears Australia now might be on the brink of an outbreak of common sense, Ms Kanck said. The reduction in support for former PM Rudd was based at least in part on the reactions of Australians against his views on increasing our population. With the PM having rejected the targetting of immigration and declining to interfere with the baby bonus, the Australian Democrats are calling on her to reveal just how she will follow through on her vague statements about not favouring a big Australia. Julia Gillard is clearly being deceitful and oblique! However, Lead Senate candidate for the Democrats in SA, Jeanie Walker, says the apparent solution Ms Gillard offering is the deckchairs-on-the-Titanic shuffle. This involves moving people around the countryside without any real attempt to solve the problems of increasing population. The Australian Democrats Press Release Continuing to encourage population growth but locating it in regional areas might put the problem out of sight and out of mind, but it is not a solution. The impacts will be spread out, and the population will consume the same amount of water, need the same amount of timber, power, transport, agriculture and jobs from our fragile and finite resources. The only thing it would do would be to relieve some road congestion, but this would mean more transport, toxic urban sprawl and other impacting infrastructure links across Australia. The Ecological Titanic is still hurtling towards one or all of the many possible icebergs no matter where the deck chairs are! Population increase combined with the impacts of climate change and peak oil will in the long term be a recipe for disaster for Australia.

Milly

Mon, 2010-08-16 23:06

Bob Irwin has applauded a Coalition plan to sink an extra $2.6 million into dugong and sea turtle protection. Conservationists, traditional owners and the fishing industry agree not enough is being done to prevent dugongs and turtles from being killed in Far North Queensland’s waters. Outspoken Cairns animal activist Colin Riddell hugged Leichhardt LNP candidate Warren Entsch yesterday after his party's environment spokesman, Greg Hunt, made the announcement. The plan, to boost indigenous ranger programs to stop illegal and turtle poaching, and for programs to clean up marine debris, was among several green policies announced by the Coalition in Cairns yesterday. Mr Hunt also promised: $3 million in grants for farmers, in addition to existing programs, to help reduce pesticide run-off into the Great Barrier Reef. $2 million for an "eradication plan" for the Crown of Thorns starfish, a major pest on the Great Barrier Reef. $250,000 for two "Green Army" projects employing 20 people to rehabilitate 80ha of Cape Tribulation and Cape York rainforest. Lobbying to protect endangered animals have fallen on deaf ears for too long. Those blatantly ignoring the issue include Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Senator Bob Brown! No endangered animals should be trapped or killed, even for "traditional" reasons, and no creatures should suffer the atrocities being reported to gentle turtles and dugongs.

nimby

Tue, 2010-08-17 09:18

You can contact Warren at [email protected]. His office number is 07 40318030 and if you wish to send a fax, you may send it to 07 40318839. Warren's campaign office is situated at 5/192 Mulgrave Road WESTCOURT. The postal address is PO Box 545 BUNGALOW QLD 4870 Endangered species should be protected, and there should be no exception for Native Title. Please commend him for his promise of funds, but to protect sea turtles and dugongs from atrocities, the black market and from extinctions, the laws need to be consistent for ALL PEOPLE, and no exceptions for indigenous peoples. How many really live from hunting and gathering like their ancestors? None, I would guess.

Milly

Wed, 2010-08-18 15:24

Vinnies (St Vincent de Paul Society mission) highlights the four main emerging groups of homeless as women and children, families, young people and over 55s. This is not the traditionally homeless group! Homelessness Australia has reported that families with children are the fastest growing group of people experiencing homelessness in Australia with more than 16 per cent of Australia’s 105,000 homeless in this group – stating one of the main causes as lack of affordable housing. The Salvation Army Media release July 2010 says: Across NSW, The Salvation Army has recorded a massive 65% increase in the number of people who report being homeless or sleeping rough, in cars or tents. The numbers have increased from around 1,200 people in 2008 to nearly 2,000 people in 2010. “Most of these people have family members including children living with them, making the actual numbers of people at least two to three times higher,” says Salvation Army spokesperson, Rhonda Gregory. They say that this highlights that those we assist may still be struggling from the effects of the economic downturn. No mention of the massive increase in population growth, and it's social costs, to present citizens of Australia! Figures show the WA Department of Housing has a waiting list approaching 24,000 people. Every night in WA more than 14,000 people are homeless. Rockingham Seventh-day Adventist Church is throwing open its doors to the underprivileged, and providing soup and buns. This is happening instead of disaster relief! Overwhelmed charities in Sydney are turning away dozens of homeless people a night. Wesley Mission, which has housed 1536 homeless people this year - a 15 per cent rise on last year - reported turning away 35 people on average every night from centres in Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle. Sydney has recorded a 22 per cent increase in those sleeping rough. Key agencies estimated there were now well over 100,000 Australians homeless on any given night, a figure broadly conceded by government. When Rudd was Prime Minister he declared war on a problem he described as being a "national obscenity". There was no mention of his responsibility due to his massive rise in immigration rate and demand for housing that meant that many Australians have been locked out our home ownership and private rentals due to the "shortages" of land and houses! Home ownership prices have simply outstripped wages! They population myth that growth brings prosperity is easily dismissed as false!

James Sinnamon

Wed, 2010-08-18 19:29

Secure affordable housing as a human right has been barely discussed in the election campaign. Some Greens candidates, although none of their leaders, as far as I can tell, have raised this as an election issue but with little depth or detail. The Greens are the supposed humanitarian and radical alternative to the major pro-business parties. That this most critical of human needs now denied to such a large number of Australian citizens is barely visible in the election campaign is an illustration of how our elections fall a long way short of a true exercise in democracy.

Bandicoot

Fri, 2010-08-20 10:20

Japan is party to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention. Japan has faced criticism that its restrictive policy towards refugees within its borders is contrary to its obligations under the Refugee Convention and the Convention Against Torture. Japan's refugee recognition rate for 2001 was a mere 3.8%. In 2000, Australia's refugee recognition rate was 93%, that of Canada was 89%, and that of the United States was 67%. For example, in 2001, only seventy-eight people applied for refugee protection. Japan has signed the international refugee treaty. but their intake that has numbers in single digit figures per annum. It is reported that about 60,000 Chinese students and trainees were in Japan from 1989 to 1990, but surprisingly, few of them applied for refugee recognition. At the same time, Japan has a declining population growth rate! Japan is over 70% mountainous terrain with approximately only 18% of the land mass suitable for settlement due to landslides, forestation, and generally mountainous terrain. However, they could just as easily adapt these impediments just as easily as Australia is being pushed to adapt to outback desert living and infertile soils. Japan buys our woodchips are bargain basement prices but protects their own forests! Businessman Dick Smith says he doesn't understand those who suggest populating remote parts of Australia to house our growth. "We could put five Dubais between Sydney and Cairns and we could run it for a couple of hundred years by using every bit of oil, every bit of uranium we had...but why would you be that mad? What's the advantage?" Australia's population growth rate, our arid land, our poor soils, our water scarcity, our large distances in light of peak oil, and the threat of climate change, means that we are impeded in accommodating a large number of refugees. Japan maintains their cultural purity, and their economy and their natural resources for themselves!

Milly

Sun, 2010-08-22 16:16

POPULATION Family First recognises that Australia, in company with the developed world, faces a serious demographic imbalance and that decisive action is needed to reverse the declining trends in the birth rate if our economic prosperity is to be preserved. Family First will promote policies that address declining population growth through broader policies to promote family formation, stability and sustainability. In particular Family First will promote policies that actively support families in their aspirations to have children and bring them up within a family environment that reflects an appropriate balance between work and family. Family First will also seek to support a carefully managed and compassionate response to applications of refugees and migrants. Family First acknowledges the immensely positive and enriching contributions migrants have made to the development of our nation. Family First recognises that well managed and compassionate intakes of new migrants and refugees who demonstrate a commitment to our nation and constitution will continue to have a positive impact on our society’s growth and prosperity. NB:No mention of our finite natural resources, caring for God's Creation, stopping Australia's extinction rate, the costs of housing and the basics of living that actually are contrary to family life. Our rate of migration actually inhibits our ability to take on refugees. Nothing about environmental destruction, and the depletion of natural resources such as forests, oil, fish stocks, or the impacts of climate change that will bring misery, despair and world famine due to lack of arable land and water. How can we take any of their issues seriously if they are in denial? Where is the evidence of enlightenment, or recognition that our planet is finite? They condemn the Greens for immorality, akin to Sodom and Gomorrah, but the sins of omission may be even worse and more dire!

John Marlowe

Sun, 2010-08-22 21:57

Re: Milly's comment above 'Family First and population growth' 22nd August 2010:

"Family First will promote policies that address declining population
growth through broader policies to promote family formation, stability and
sustainability."

This statement is ignorant of the global human population explosion. Human population is not declining. If it kept pace with declining Koala populations there would be cause to celebrate the human population trend.

Having said that, I support political parties that are alternative to LibLab.
This is fundamentally because they offer alternative policies to LibLab self-centred conservativism and question the LibLab presumption of self-righteousness to Australian public representation and government.

Many Family First Party policies have merit like 'supporting families in their aspirations to have children and bring them up within a family environment that reflects an appropriate balance between work and family', etc.

Yes, 'our rate of migration actually inhibits our ability to take on refugees' - since non-refugee migrants (economic migrants) impose higher consumption and public resource demands upon Australian taxpayer funds.

But Family First is morally backward by its explicit denial of women to the right to abortion - 'Family First is opposed to the medical procedure of abortion.'

Such is a backward characteristically catholic male perspective on women's 'place' in society. Yet inconsistently such catholic male dogma will not condemn a male for getting a woman pregnant, who fails to honour his moral obligation to that woman and to father the child and become a good husband and father for life, or to recognise that unintended pregnancies can cause more harm than good, or to simply accept the natural right of a woman to choose what happens to her body. It is backward and sexist to cast blame on one side of a sexual relationship.

It is backward and sexist to hold the woman responsible and apply a single idealistic rule to all women, irrespective of the circumstances of pregnancy -including rape. Family First's mandatory anti-abortion impost on women is comparable to the fundamentalist Islamic mandatory impost on women to wear the Burkah or Nijab. It is backward to discriminate against women's rights. The immorality of imposing birth on an unwanted pregnancy is comparable to imposing castration on the man who caused the pregnancy. I support neither.

If parents learn that a foetus is down-syndromed, they have the right to terminate. The mother as absolute right since it is her body and life.

Family First, while holding on to such a backward culture, does have a few morally valid policies even though many read as a tad motherhood:

* Better Accountability of Our Politicians
* Better Workplace Conditions And Job Security
* Small Business - The True Heroes Of The Economy
* Binge Drinking Destroys Families
* Affordable Housing For First Homebuyers
[I disagree with 'Cutting Petrol Tax' because it perpetuates a petroleum-dependent culture]
* Protecting Our Environment
* Managing Our Most Precious Resource – Water
* A Fairer And More Compassionate Tax System
* Making Bank Fees Fair
* Ensuring Decent Standards On Television
* Protecting Children From Pornography
* Shared Parenting Is Best For Children
* Family Friendly Child Care
* Caring For Carers
* Valuing Stay-At-Home Parents
* On Human Life – Euthanasia And Human Cloning
* Minimising The Impact Of Illegal Drugs
* Caring For The Less Fortunate – Poverty And Human Rights
* Respecting And Helping Older Australians
* Honouring Veterans
* Helping Indigenous Australians
* Giving Our Children The Best Start In Life
* Healthy Opportunities For All Australians
* Strengthening Regional Communities
* Stronger Relationships Mean Better Societies
* Supporting People With A Disability
* Standing Up For Our Agricultural Sector
* Supporting Parents With Paid Maternity Leave
* Fair, Fast And Modern Communications

So with all these otherwise 21st Century ideals, alternative political parties to LibLab are to be encouraged.

nimby

Mon, 2010-08-23 08:17

Family First recognises that Australia, in company with the developed world, faces a serious demographic imbalance and that decisive action is needed to reverse the declining trends in the birth rate if our economic prosperity is to be preserved. I wonder how they explain this sentence? What is the "serious demographic imbalance"? Do they mean not enough first world nations, not enough "white" people? Too many under-developed nations, so the "developed world" needs to have population growth? They are blatantly ignoring climate change and the finite nature of our planet. Surely, for a Christian-based party, this is simply greed, by taking limited resources, encouraging higher consumption and greater impacts on our planet, with diminishing capacity to contain the people we have? Preserving "economic prosperity" through population growth? Surely they have fallen for the population myth, that more people means prosperity, when the contrary is true. Supporting population growth to gain prosperity is surely based on capitalistic greed also. These groups cannot claim to represent the Christian vote entirely, although they do have some merits. However, I believe the traditional family must be endorsed and protected but population growth, and excess diversity, are contrary to good family and community values. How to they explain homelessness and the housing crisis? They are ignoring the intrinsic value of the environment and wildlife, and the destruction inherently required for further population growth in their race for dominance through greater numbers. They will never be a holistic or altruistic political force, or represent mainstream concerns, with such gaping inconsistencies in their policies.

Bandicoot

Tue, 2010-08-24 09:52

"Our immigration program provides a boost to our productivity and our workforce participation rate - two vital components, along with population growth, of the efforts to meet the cost of population ageing". Australia's real challenge is population ageing; Sydney Morning Herald According to this article, "Birth rates have dropped dramatically over the past half-century"? Surely, it means that people are having smaller families, due to contraception, working women, and a choice! However, this distorted statement appears that we are actually dropping in the number of overall births! The Intergeneration report predicts that the proportion of Australians over 65 will grow to more than 20 per cent of the population by 2050. Surely a longer life and more aging people is sign of prosperity? Older people bring wisdom, support and balance to our society, along with a human resource for child caring and volunteer work. However, "balancing" the democratic increase in older people by importing more young people, immigrants, would simply be foolish and short-sighted. Every older person was once young, and every young person, barring an early death, will grow old. Increasing the numbers of young people will simply create a further disproportion of older people further down the track, and the problem will escalate. Surveys and economic theories are simple, and based in infinite numbers and distinct from the real, finite, world. People's need and desires are complex, and societies are multi-dimensional. What seems logical on paper, add more people for more workers and to fix the age disproportions, ignores the reality that our planet, our nation, our natural resources are finite and that population growth impacts negatively on quality of life, and means more environmental depletion. We should not be forcing the next generations to inherit, and be disadvantaged by, reckless decisions made by our leaders today. We should not be ignoring peak oil, peak water, peak soil, climate change, and just assume that "technology" will come up with so many solutions in such a short time frame, and ignore our finite planet.

Milly

Tue, 2010-08-24 17:24

http://www.wlpa.org/exploited_wildlife.htm The Tasmanian Government is about to authorise the commercial killing yet again of Brushtail Possums for export to Asian markets. Tell our government authorities that there is NO excuse for this brutal and unsustainable trade, and that our fauna is more valuable than a mere commodity to be traded. Insist that the export of our magnificent Brushtail Possums be immediately stopped for these reasons: The Dept of Primary Industry, Parks, Water and Environment Tasmania has placed the interests of big business above the welfare and conservation of native fauna. Possum populations cannot be sustained at the high level of commercial and non commercial killing (100,000 - 300,000 Brushtail Possums annually). The claims of crop damage caused by Brushtail Possums must be addressed by reviewing land management practices and implementing humane alternatives to trapping/shooting and 1080 poisoning. The Dept of Primary Industry, Parks, Water & Environment plans to promote and expand the trade. See website: www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/invitecomment/brushtail-po... The abattoir where possums are killed (Lenah Game Meats) was secretly filmed in 1999 and revealed immense cruelty, pain & suffering. You can watch this on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.comwatch?v=VnGMN1sOtK0 Tell the Federal Government that you want it to listen to YOU and NOT vested commercial interests. Tell our politicians that you plan to boycott all Tasmanian products until this carnage stops. Our wildlife is priceless. The animals don’t have a voice but you do. Please act now! The Hon. Peter Garrett Min for Environment PO Box 6022 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Tel: 02 6277 7640 Fax: 02 6273 6101 [email protected] The Hon. David Bartlett Premier GPO 123 Hobart, Tasmania 7001 Tel: 03 6233 8807 Fax: 03 6233 8013 [email protected] Tourism Tasmania GPO 399 Hobart, Tasmania 7001 Tel: 03 6230 8235 Fax: 03 6230 8353 [email protected]

RichB

Tue, 2010-08-24 20:12

The Brushtail Possum will be another Australian species to become extinct in the near future...Peter Garrett is a complete and utter waste of space, a powerless puppet..He will do nothing to stop this barbarity to these possums as there is money involved..Unfortunately thats all this Government cares about is money and the environment and beautiful Australian Fauna will be wiped out in the future...The only Aussie Battlers in this country is the native Australian animal population that goes through hell just to survive..Shame on Aussies for their disrespect to these animals...As they say what goes around comes around..

nimby

Wed, 2010-08-25 09:03

The White House says President Obama will have no further comment on the mosque near Ground Zero in New York and the administration will not get involved in talks about relocating the controversial facility. One thing is freedom of religion, another thing is to fly into the face of the sensitivities of people who suffered the loss of loved ones in 9/11! Mr. Obama has said that he supports the right of Muslims to build the community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero! Some have likened this to building a memorial to Hitler near Auschwitz! Freedom of religious worship is enshrined in America's constitution, but many believe such an overt expression of Islam is unacceptable so close to Ground Zero. Supporters say the centre will help build bridges between Muslims and other Americans. However, it could also enflame resentments, hostility and widen the gulf between those loyal to mainstream American culture and to those more recently arriving there - creating the diversity of ethnic origin and religions. Nine years on, the emotional and physical scars of the 9/11 attacks are still raw. Why rub people's noses in the tragedy? This issue has now reached the point where to build this mosque could, regardless of the political and religious arguments, become a focus of hate and vitriol for many years to come. The US government cannot establish any religion as the state religion or prevent anyone from practicing any religion. However, it doesn't say that the government cannot control where you build a church or mosque though.

Matilda (not verified)

Wed, 2010-08-25 13:04

Forcing people to tolerant to the point of wiping their noses into their still relatively fresh pain from loss of lives from 9/11 is pushing the politically-correct agenda to extremes. Most of Saudi Arabia's Christians are foreign workers. No churches are allowed to be built there. No mosques can be built in the Vatican either. However, the USA has an open policy of freedoms enshrined in their constitution, but there is no recipricol agreement in the Middle East. Is this an indication that there is some recognition that the 9/11 tragedy was actually not caused by Islamic terrorists but by the CIA? Is it a cover-up, a way of making amends? A smokescreen? A diversion?

Milly

Wed, 2010-08-25 19:45

Thousands of Australian marriages may be invalid because celebrants have not used exact wording required by law. According to the federal Attorney-General's department, almost 80 per cent of the ceremonies reviewed last year did not comply with the requirement for celebrants to recite precise words from the Marriage Act. A spokesman for the department said 261 of the 336 sample ceremonies submitted by celebrants as part of their five-yearly review did not comply with the legal requirements. As a result of the performance review, 1339 celebrants were de-registered or had decided to resign since September 2003. Celebrants said part of the problem was "cowboy" trainers who had entered the field since deregulation in 2003, while others blamed an overly legalistic approach. Since 2006-07, the department has imposed a narrow legal interpretation on what wording can be used in the vow. The problem has the potential to impact on wills, residence visas and bank loans. However, it would be up to the Family Court to declare a marriage invalid, and according to Tony Gelme, the president of the Coalition of Celebrant Associations, an incorrectly worded wedding vow was unlikely to be sufficient grounds to nullify a marriage. Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

nimby (not verified)

Thu, 2010-08-26 17:18

Australia’s shortage of available homes will more than quadruple to almost half a million by 2020 if the nation doesn’t increase the pace of construction, a new report claims. HIA, which represents the building industry, sees a need for 466,000 new homes to be built by 2020. The gap currently stands at 109,000 homes, the group said. The strong economy has helped drive up house prices, with the increases exacerbated by lags in housing construction. There is a building boom in Melbourne's apartment market and it is being driven by changing lifestyles, housing shortages and overseas investors, experts say. (The Age, 26 August- Housing shortage fuels apartment boom). The frenzy is being echoed in the inner suburbs, where 32 of 94 large residential projects planned for the CBD and inner city moved to the construction phase in the past 18 months. When population growth is involved we face this paradox. You can't cure a "shortage" by increasing the supply. Given the exponential nature of population growth, once the repressive effect of a "shortage" is removed, the multiplication of demanders soon nullifies any increase in supply. The same can also be said of any effort to increase our percentage of renewable energy. Population growth means that the percentage of renewable must keep outstripping the rate of population growth. The increased supply is simply converted into a larger population. At that point the uncomfortable situation of a shortage is reestablished, but this time at a higher level of population. So we have a "housing boom" competing with population growth. The word "longage" is not in any dictionary. On the other hand, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "shortage" has been in use since 1868. One can perhaps get a clearer understanding of the carrying capacity problem by seeing it essentially as caused by a population "longage" rather than any "shortages". The result (of that "longage" of people or "shortage" of food) depending on how one looks at it. Our longage of people in Australia, all demanding housing - a basic right - is one that is not due to large families - but a political decision of our political leaders in consultation with business groups, not the people of Australia. Australia is not over-populated yet, but when do we apply the brakes to the driver of our boosted growth rate? In one generation, two generations down the track? Dick Smith points out the fact that he grew up "free range", in a house that would be quite out of range of most pockets, but he had fences and trees to climb, and plenty of space. We are, due to political decisions to favour the housing industry, are being forced into apartments where children will be denied the lifestyles of their forebearers. - all due to the greed of today's decision-makers.

Milly

Fri, 2010-08-27 18:31

The CASSE position sets the record straight on the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution are just three powerful examples. And how will the next generation find jobs when the planet can’t support our overgrown economy? The CASSE position calls for a desirable solution – a steady state economy with stabilized population and consumption – beginning in the wealthiest nations and not with extremist tactics. Join the likes of E. O. Wilson, Jane Goodall, and David Suzuki; fill in the information below to sign the position and support a healthy, sustainable economy. http://steadystate.org/act/sign-the-position/

James Sinnamon

Sat, 2010-08-28 11:22

I received the following through the candobetter contact facility on 27 August.

I was unemployed for more than 5 months. living in Brisbane, got post-graduate degrees, and other qualifications and more than 14 (months(?) - editor) experience in administration. struggling to find out a single job. Applied for more than 1400
jobs , Everywhere getting discriminated against because I am an Asian. But a permenant resident. Loss of job means loss of dignity. I think I reached at the end of my tunnel. What shall I do other than suicide? Please help me .

Some corrections made in transcribing the above. - Editor

My reply of 28 August


I sympathise with your desperate plight. The only practical advice I am able to offer at this time is that you contact LifeLine (www.lifeline.org.au ph 131114).

Many foreign-born and Australian-born members of the Australian workforce have suffered similar difficulties and hardships. Practically every adult needs a constant and substantial stream of income in order to maintain a decent standard of living free of undue stress and hardship. Yet this is denied to the majority of members of this society and most other societies. This is particularly denied to people who have been unable to obtain the necessary skilled training. As your case shows, even those who have obtained training and good qualifications can miss out because of discrimination.

No society should entice foreign-born workers to undergo training as it has in your case unless it is able to guarantee a secure job to all of its native-born workers as well as its imported workers. You are a victim of an unfair situation brought about by the wealthy elites in control of this society and which has not been sought by the majority of this society.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 2010-08-28 13:11

Tuesday, 24/08/2010 The Department of Environment and Conservation in Western Australia has been accused of animal cruelty, following a parliamentary inquiry into its management of former pastoral leases. The inquiry's report found the DEC had neglected its landholder responsibilities, allowed hundreds of animals to die, allowed feral animals and weeds to flourish and had not fully complied with the principles of the 'Good Neighbour Policy'. Colleen Barker, a former employee of a tourism venture which operated on one of the DEC stations, says she saw hundreds of kangaroos die of dehydration after the department closed down a number of the station's watering points. She believes the State Government should be held accountable.
"I do believe that in regards to the inhumane death of many animals; if a pastoralist or a farmer was to do the same thing that the DEC has done, they would be clearly prosecuted," she says. "The evidence has clearly shown that the DEC has failed and there has been inhumane deaths of animals... I believe they (DEC) should be prosecuted."
Ms Barker says during her time at Cobra Station, it was clear to her that the DEC had no management plan for the pastoral lease.
"I think the DEC has their hands full, and if they aren't able to put more manpower and resources towards the management of these stations, then I think they actually shouldn't own them."
To read the parliamentary inquiry yourself, go to: http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/web/newwebparl.nsf/iframewebpages/Committees+-+Inquiries http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201008/s2991822.htm To unsubscribe from these announcements, login to the forum and uncheck "Receive forum announcements and important notifications by email." in your profile. You can view the full announcement by following this link: http://www.liveexportshame.com/news2/index.php?topic=6361.0

RichB

Sat, 2010-08-28 18:55

Yet another example of a complete and utter incompetant government...In fact this Government in Australia is worse than incompetant, they are mind boggling useless on every angle...Anyone would think Australia was athird world country the way it is run..If it wasnt for all the money flowing in this country, I think it would be a third world country. Any country that doesnt respect its native wildlife, and does nothing to preserve them will eventually become a third world country..