Over the last forty years Australia has become addicted to cheap oil, especially for transport which uses almost 80% of Australia's petroleum; 55% of road transport fuel is petrol, 39% diesel and 6% is LPG. Some governments are very
concerned about this uncertainty but our government is unaware of the serious threat of reduced oil supplies prior to 2025.
Oil shortages and global warming will increase the number of the world's hungry by reducing the area of land and the amount of fertiliser and pesticides available for farming in developing countries.
While there are many events that could postpone an oil peak to after the year 2020, there are equally many events that could lead to an oil peak before the year 2020.....an oil peak in the near future is indeed plausible and that it would be useful to consider the possible consequences for global energy markets and the resulting drive for system innovations.
Australia in few years will have a high level of import dependence and remote geographic location, but does not have an oil security stock holding above that which is commercially optimal.
See the report: If world oil production peaks before 2020 it puts the well being of all Australians at risk by Alan Parker, 2005
The Zero Carbon Australia 2020 Project (ZCA2020) presents a realistic path forward for Australia to achieve a zero-emissions economy, covering stationary energy, transport, industrial processes, buildings, land use and replacement of coal exports.
Why is our Brumby investing public money in large, petrol guzzling freeways in light of peak oil?
Comments
The Sustainable Population minister
From what Tony Burke has said in recent days, I think it most likely that the immigration program will remain large with the skilled migration component getting a bit of a haircut.
Big population means big taxes and higher charges
Clearly a big Australia means big taxes and higher prices for scarce services, resources and shelter. In fact I think that your illustration should say this, rather than simply query whether a small population means big taxes. By the way, pre-war populations paid much less tax than we do. Big populations mean less democracy as well.
Thanks for the article, Vivienne.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Copyright to the author. Please contact sheila [AT] candobetter org or the editor if you wish to make substantial reproduction or republish.
If no action on a 'Big Australia' Gillard will be a Rudd in Drag
Re: Comment above from 'Friend of Julia G' 3rd July 2010 'Ivory tower newspaper economists should take hike'...
Gillard's down playing of Rudd's 'Big Australia' threat needs to be met with actions, else its just Labor Right-inspired rhetoric to claw back Australia's political centre, as a hollow gesture to outwit Abbot's Coalition ahead of a looming election. [Read: 'Gillard moves to annex the centre', 3rd July 2010 in The Australian].
Yes, 'growth economists' - those who advocate 'growth is good', 'growth can only be good' and 'population growth is good because it grows the economy', blinkeredly ignore the cause and effects outside their narrow economic mindset.
Growth economists conveniently leave the social and environmental consequences out of their modelling. They ideologically reject the balanced scorecard principle of Triple Bottom Line which receives little airing these days - the tests of economic, social and environmental sustainability.
Growth economists are anti-social. They ignore the social consequences of excessive growth - higher demand, scarcer goods and services, higher costs of living, increased congestion, housing unaffordability, urban sprawl, social problems, etc. They don't care and so what they advocate is one-sided and destructive and so menacing.
Growth economists are anti-environmental. They ignore the environmental consequences of excessive growth - higher pollution emissions, urban sprawl, increased use of natural resources, increased waste, increased threats on flora a fauna. They don't care and so what they advocate is one-sided and destructive and so menacing.
The quote by The Australian newspaper economics editor, Michael Stutchbury (28th June 2010) that "Australia has plenty of room for 40 million people if we manage it properly, whatever the new Prime Minister says" is growthist extremism.
Stutchbury needs to get out more. He needs to spend time in overcrowded Shanghai living on an average Shanghai wage and commuting like the locals for say 3 months. Then return to Australia and to try to convince Australians to live like Chinese in Shanghai!
I refer to you my previous article on CanDoBetter highlighting the effects of a big Australia, 'Rudd's 'Big Australia' driving up costs of living and creating poorer Australians'
If Gilliard does no more than rhetoric on Australia's population/immigration growth, on political credibility Gillard risks becoming a 'Rudd in drag'.
Kangaroo "cull" operated by stealth, not science
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said the "muted reaction" to the killing of 1890 of the animals in the city's nature parks simply means that the community is coming around to his Government's way of thinking!
It is not about accepting that there is a logic or need to kill all the native kangaroos! It is simply that nobody in Canberra, or Stanhope, or the RSPCA, listens. So many people worked hard protesting, sending letters, emails, pleas, submissions, but they do what they want anyway!
The Bush Capital is a Slaughter Capital of Australia with shards of steel instead of patriots and warm-blooded humans!
The "cull" was declared with little warning and with only bogus "science" to justify it. Kangaroos are perfectly adapted animals with soft feet, are frugal eaters and water consumers, and are true-blue Aussies that are meant to be plentiful. Non-indigenous humans have brought devastation, prolific destruction, introduced species and cruelty to the Land of the Southern Cross.
These administrators are not concerned about threatened species and are crucifying our national symbolic animals- kangaroos - out of pure hatred and ignorance!
The "culling" of nearly 2000 native kangaroos ostensibly to protect native species in their natural habitats is not science, just as Japan's slaughter of whales in their sanctuary is not science either.
If native species are killed in their normal habitats, in order to "protect" other native species, it is not science but about mitigating the impacts of human on the ecosystems, and using wildlife as scapegoats.
Canadian seals are clubbed to death, justified because they contribute to over-fishing, and should whales be killed to protect krill stocks?
Motekiai
Does this means that all white people who committed crimes in Australia will be returned as convicted descendants of Britain? This country belong to the aboriginees.
Ivory tower newspaper economists should take hike
Michael Stutchbury, Economics editor at the Australian wrote on June 28, 2010 that "JULIA Gillard's rejection of Kevin Rudd's "Big Australia" goes dangerously close to cornering her into a low-growth economy." He argues that 'the strongest po population growth since the 1960s was one of the chief reasons Australia sailed through the global financial crisis" and that "Australia has plenty of room for 40 million people if we manage it properly, whatever the new Prime Minister says." (!) [Really persuasive, hey.] He disparages Gillard as "driven by the politics of rising traffic congestion in Sydney and our other big cities, the pressure for higher urban housing density and double-digit price inflation for household electricity, gas and water."
Well, um, yes. We would hope so. Doesn't Stutchbury have to pay for water and electricity? Doesn't he have to pay for housing? What ivory castle does this so-called Economics Editor live in? What planet does he dwell on? Stutchbury's comments show just how out of touch and ridiculously unrepresentative and untrue to real news the mainstream Murdoch Press is.
Stuff you Michael Stutchbury! On-ya Julia G.! It takes a woman to see reality.
Jennings wrong re Pennicuik's science 'amateur'
Minister Jennings claim on Stateline that the science Sue relied upon was “amateur”. It was assembled from the same raw data, from the National Tide Centre, that the PoMC/government has used. The only difference is that Sue’s analysts did not do extensive averaging of the locations so as to render the results meaningless and misleading – thus allowing then to say that it was all still within their predicted range.
Cheerio
Gillard's Rush to Expediently Dilute her Record of Incompetence.
This woman will unravel very quickly. Seriously out of her depth. This is a mid-life actress who has worked the numbers thus far, but the demands of the union heavies who engineered her promotion will bring her down - if Australian voters don't beat them to it.
A well-informed, unforgiving public may not be as enamored with Miss Gillard's record as Messrs Shorten, Howes, Feney, Adams, Ferguson and the rest might like to think.
Big mistake. Big.
Gillard's Labor Right divide and conquer tactic all about image
Certainly resolving the mining super tax dispute is an important leadership priority for acting PM Gillard.
But important issues and those that are bold nation-wide reforms such as this tax reform, are not necesarily urgent. Yet Gillard chose political urgency over careful balanced policy design. An overnight resolution involving compromises on commodity type, tax rates, tax hurdles and timing was made in a backroom deal thrashed out by Gillard with three select mining companies last night - BHP, Rio Tinto and Xstrata, supposedly the heavies of the Mineral Council behind the effective anti-Labor advertising.
But what about negotiations with the key players - The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, which represents 220 smaller miners, who were sidelined?
What about the rest of Australia's resources industry and the backdown on company tax relief from 25% to just 29% which will affect all Australian industry, not just resources?
Gillard's rush to look good quick has meant a railroading of proper industry consultation. Instead we have just witnessed a classic Labor Right political manoeuver to neutralise the debate - 'divide and conquer.
Labor has announced a breakthrough decision on the mining tax to get it off the hook with the electorate, make Gillard look like a brilliant negotiator and set a favourable leadership image for election, while the resources industry is now divided because of a few powerful unrepresentative heavyweights who made concessions and deals with Labor.
Is this a sample of Gillard's style to come? More about image than substance?
Compare the similarity of this dogged non-consultative style of Gillard's railroading of the education industry with her MySchool and NAPLAN reforms....
Is this Gillard simplism - ye olde 'one-size-fits-all' dumbing down policy impost?
Colonists are feral invaders and rapists, so should be evicted
I have had a gut full of colonists and their descendants invading Australia, raping the land, exterminating local indigenous people because they dare to object to colonist invasion policy and treating all native life (plants and animals) as pests, vermin and game.
Agforce is no different to the illegitimate European colonist invaders in African nations like South Africa, Kenya, Rhodesia, Congo and Namibia through the 19th and 20th centuries and their elitist descendants. Such colonists deserve the same eviction policy happening currently in Zimbabwe. If only Australia's indigenous had the same balance of power.
If British colonists could justify invasion, indigenous genocide, widespread deforestation and claim unilateral sovereignty over Australia; then the Chinese and their massive numbers could now do the same thing and claim the same illegitimate sovereignty and invasion rights to further rape the land, continue genocide and plunder natural assets and wildlife. Only might would win and guess whom that would be!
To Agforce supporters, may natural calamities like drought, storms and floods wipe such farmers off the land, import dumping and interest rates bring on fore-closers. No sympathy.
Tiger Quoll
Snowy River 3885
Australia
Are there any group MORE UN-AUSTRALIAN and COLONIAL than these?
“Kangaroos are the biggest threat to our viability – we can manage drought, wild dogs and low prices but the kangaroos really have us beat.” This land owner could hold, apparently, 6000 more sheep if it wasn't for the kangaroos! It all comes down to feral animals, drought, costs and maximising profits, but the kangaroos are to blame!
Kangaroos are getting smaller due to commercial shooting, and still these pastoralists want a more and more sterile pallet, Australian features such as biodiversity purged out, to suit their own self-serving ends. Are there any group MORE UN-AUSTRALIAN and COLONIAL than these ignorant pastoralists?
Indigenous people survived in Australia for 40,000 years and the original European explorers found it in pristine condition. Our present land management regimes are unlikely to last until the end of this century.
Another call by Agforce to shoot juvenile kangaroos
Agforce are at it again, this time it is claimed that eastern grey kangaroos numbers have "exploded" in the Stonehenge area. According to a Michael Pratt, local grazier (and former board director of Agforce) the eastern grey kangaroo is not native to the area and moved in after the red kangaroo was shot out in the 1970's.
Ultimately Agforce would like to see eastern greys suffer the same fate as the red kangaroo however there is one stumbling block. According to Pratt the species has shrunk in size and the vast majority of individuals no longer meet the required weight for shooting...... His solution is simple: Allow shooters to shoot juvenile kangaroos.... He states:
"I would suggest that if harvesting quotas are changed to include a set ratio of small, medium and large macropods, a natural balance between Red and Eastern Grey kangaroos could be reestablished and we would see a reduction in total numbers"
Of course the obvious question arising from this statement is how can a natural balance between reds and greys be reestablished when you have already stated that greys are not native to the area. Agforce have no interest in obtaining any "natural balance" when it comes to wildlife, the scales are tipped in the direction of prosperity for the farmer. That is their job after all. As outlined previously, the opinions of graziers on the biology of kangaroos and their historical ranges and abundance are completely worthless.
By the way, this is who Nebuchadnezzar was
Nebuchadnezzar was a ruler of Babylon in the Chaldean Dynasty, who reigned c. 605 BC – 562 BC. According to the Bible, he conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and sent the Jews into exile.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebuchadnezzar_II
While boasting over his achievements, Nebuchadnezzar is humbled by God. The king loses his sanity and lives in the wild like an animal for seven years.
It's Only The Herald Sun but they're calling us Gullible Dummies
In my break at work, I was reading the only paper you'll ever find on a psych ward - the Herald Sun - in particular, Andrew Bolt's bold heading: Nicer sell of same junk Pp. 30 -31 Wednesday 30th June 2010 - where he was busily denouncing and poo -poo-ing heralded (excuse the pun) change.
In discussing the revisions or variations which might be brought about by the new Captain at the Helm - he says ..
"About boat people she's said only that she doesn't believe in a "big Australia", which dummies are meant to see as a code for getting tough. Yet about actual boat people laws, let alone immigration levels, she's actually said zero."
... Further along in the same paper in Your Say a contributor heads his letter with
Stop miners threats ...
So those largely foreign controlled, big, greedy, bully boys of the mining industry have the audacity to give the Gillard Government just 14 days to reach agreement with them or they will campaign to install Tony Abbott as prime minister. ...
Not if another reader, in 50/50 has anything to do with the proceedings!
William Waugh says: Someone should give Tony Abbott a vuvuzela.
For ignorant dummies - a vuvuzela is described as being a monotonous, loud, raucus blowing horn.
Let us dummies believe what we like - we will have our say at voting time - anytime soon - if the whispers are correct.. does an August Election have the sound of a shot-gun wedding? (pregant pause, here)
... Oh, look... Just Shoot Me ... will Julia Gillard be the Runaway Bride ?
Reply to Robert
I cannot understand the boat people subject as a red herring. And yes, mass migration to Australia is well into the stage of highly problematic, but I don't believe as a result of scurrilous big business plotting to reduce wages and conditions through mass unemployment. Australian businesses are, on the whole, comprised and managed by decent people. Any idea that employers are hideous users of slave labour is simply unproven and in my experience, incorrect.
I wonder why we've just welcomed our first boatload in donkeys' years from Vietnam? The word is out, that's why. Australia is open to all-comers, and the Centrelink benefits are enticingly generous.
As for illegals who arrive by plane and outstay their visa conditions, that's never far under the critical radar. It is just not discussed sufficiently because it's difficult for the press to find them. Even if they could, I doubt that the offenders would be very willing to offer up their guilt for public consumption.
The illegal pay-to-enter boat arrivals can be stopped in their tracks by ruling out permanent visas - ever. And that should mean never. The same ruling can apply to visa over-stayers. If they have children while they are experiencing temporary Australian hospitality on the strict condition that they can work and save towards their return trip home when immigration deems it appropriate, their children should be deemed residents of their parent/s' former country.
Australian citizenship is being handed out like cheap lollies on throw-away sticks.
Australians are culturally intolerant of arrogance
Australians are culturally intollerant of arrogance.
Rudd's euphoria, then reviews, then committees, then promises, then cash splurge, then stuff ups, then excuses, then dummy spits..collectively invited a natural sunset clause with the Australian electorate. Cumulatively when spin is not met by action the Australian bullshit detector starts flashing and beeping loud!
And it beeped loud!
Doesn't take inside factional intuition to smell bullshit, even from casual observation beyond the black stump. But don't accept Labor's coup method. It was undemocratic.
So where the hell is 'Nebukanezzah'?
Keep Australia beautiful and protect our heritage
Australia still is "abound in Nature's gifts, and beauty rich and rare". Why ruin our natural heritage by governments who protect and encourage developments, land desecration and urban sprawl that could easily be arrested by turning down the immigration tap to a slow drip?
Once developers get hold of national parks, we end up with an invasion and have everything to lose that is good about this mega-species rich and beautiful country.
Our forefathers, indigenous communities, and many who gave their lives for this nation when it was a fledgling, would be turning in their graves knowing that Australia would ruled not by noble ideas of equality and freedom and democracy but by invasive and destructive land developers, investors, the building industry, and the banks. These are simply parasitic forces against our heritage and are simply gouging our the most fertile land to satisfy their insatiable urge to spread concrete, paving and bitumen across this beautiful land, all to fill their pocket!
How did candobetter cartoonist predict Rudd's expulsion
This is a pretty prophetic cartoon! Rudd sent out into the wilderness like Nebukanezzah! How close is candobetter.org to the horses' mouth?
Where is Senator Penny Wong?
Bendigo Sustainability Group is proposing Bendigo become home to a solar thermal base load plant that it believes is the future of renewable energy in Australia. Group president Karen Corr said the Vietnamese deal showed the federal government was not serious about acting on climate change. The technology proposed by Beyond Zero Emissions uses reflectors or mirrors to focus solar energy and generate heat which can be stored or used to generate steam which is used to turn turbines and generate electricity. Federal Member for Bendigo Steve Gibbons said he was interested to hear the group’s proposal.
The plan goes into great detail on the resource and labour requirements, and even the factories that would be required to make all the component parts. It has detailed energy modelling to establish that it could actually supply the electricity reliably all year round. Wonder if Senator Penny Wong really wants climate change solutions or just another tax!
Size matters - more likely to end up in a museum
If size matters, then it should not be assumed that bigger is better! More people makes a larger economy, but the costs are multiple and paid for environmentally, in how long the land can produce and be viable, and in the financial and lifestyle costs to the people. The powerful lure of a big population is for the real estate industries, developers and the finance industries who gain the touted "prosperity'!
In a small company, it also much easier to annoy the CEO, because he actually knows who you are. Each individual has less power to determine his/her destiny, and less say on the direction a nation takes. Democracy is threatened by size.
Being big has evolutionary advantages. It makes it harder for predators to win an attack, and it is easier to fight off competitors for food or mates. And there’s a much better chance of being popular and looking intimidating in a museum.
But there’s a downside as well. Big species consume more, and they breed slower, which means that they have greater problems when times are tough. They are therefore more vulnerable to extinction. They then end up in museums!
Recover Data
First we congratulate to Julia Gillard for came to elected as PM of Australia.
I also appreciate to Aussi PM for give a new direction at population policy in Australia.
Can you explain me the full details of the newly intended population direction by the Aussi PM?
Thanks
Great minds are not necessarily devoid of faith
"Atheism and skepticism are two intelligent philosophies to start investigating choices of faith, since they are faith neutral and question everything". We are facing the ominous doctrine which attempts to build a society with no regard whatsoever for religion and which seeks to destroy the religious freedom of its citizens – an ideology especially hostile to the Christian faith. Of course, there are many people devoid of spiritual values and totally lack any awareness beyond themselves and the immediate. However, their limitations shouldn't deny or ridicule those who are enlightened and want to practice their faith. It has become fashionable to be dismissive of all religion particularly Christianity.
The weight of both history and contemporary society shows that people of faith have in their ranks many of the greatest minds and intellects that have ever lived. Many of those leading minds, rather than believing that religion and science are opposing forces, argue strongly that there are more than more points of intersection as humanity comes to understand more about life and the universe - at both its most microscopic and infinite levels.
Philippians 4:8 states: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”
Sanitising of language a clever ploy
The Australian kangaroo "harvesting" industry as Russia takes up to 70 per cent of supply.
The industry contributes up to $270 million to the Australian economy per year and employs over 4000 people.
Everything Australian is being reduced to $$$ and jobs and economic growth! The use of language such as "harvesting" makes it sound acceptable, and distances us from the blood-curdling industry of going out at night in wildlife territory and the stalking and killing of native animals, and bashing joeys to death!
The sanitising of language gives some justification, as if kangaroos were some sort of crop, a valid resource, a processes of gathering mature crops from the fields. This is quite contrary to the "harvesting" of native animals, or to the sustenance hunting of indigenous peoples.
Keep pushing
Having just heard the discussion on ABC radio about the ALP coup, I am inclined to agree with Realist. My enthusiasm could seem naive and unwarranted at this point. Population policy was not the only factor in Rudd's displacement. But from a Canadian viewpoint, let me give you some perspective. The phrase "sustainable population" is not even in the Canadian political vocabulary. The mere fact that a PM would call a portfolio "The Ministry for Sustainable Population" is in itself a huge step in the process. It represents a breakthrough in consciousness. Is it sufficent? Of course not. Gestures are not actions. Nothing will happen if you don't keep up the pressure. Don't just "wait and see". Keep pushing. We would love to be where you are at right now. Tim
reply to J williams
Do please try to understand that the "boat people" subject is a red herring by BOTH governments to take the attention of the proles away from the real problem, mass migration to Australia.
The total amount of migrants about 2000 a year from illegal boats really is such a drop in the bucket as to be unnoticed against the more than 300,000 a year by “legal” means. This is a result of big business wanting a mass of unemployed to enable them to reduce wages and conditions.
Population growth ignored in Rudd's popularity downfall
Mr Shorten said voters had been critical of the Government's climate change policy and its explanation of the mining profits tax. Rudd's unpopular "big Australia" penchant, and non-apologetic attitude, has been down-played by the media as a triviality, a minor unpopular policy but unworthy of any reason for his real down-fall in the polls. Even the Liberals assume that we must have limitless, perpetual population growth in the name of "prosperity"! (We have always had immigration since Colonial times, and it is part of our tradition, our heritage, our history, and must continue!).
The ETS was doomed to fail. We cannot be addressing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions whilst at the same time be increasing our population at world-record rates! It was contradictory in nature, despite Senator Wong's "de-linking" population growth from greenhouse gas emissions. Economic growth, and the support of business leaders, had priority over climate change, so ETS had to be sacrificed.
We need more blatant ads like this one if it is
I don't really think it is a blatant ad for Ms Gillard. At any rate, given the blatant ads for growth in all the mainstream media, it makes a nice change.
Ethical spirituality is a free choice - 'religion' being one
In reply to Milly above, there are many religions that prescribe a belief system based upon a deity. I need not list the hundreds of versions in which each think they are the divine one respectively above all others. Some feel a deity is mandatory to have faith. I personally disagree, but each to their own, I say.
I don't deny people to have their choice of faith. I reject evangelism and unethical practices and faiths that exclude outsiders.
I reject the faith vacuum-filling argument, that suggests that by not maintaining allegiance to Christianity, other faiths like Islam or Buddhism will fill the faith vacuum. That is religious narrow-minded scaremongering.
Having said that, Sharia law which is tied to the Islamic religion, is anathema to Australian moral values. (Not Islam per se, but Sharia law). For instance, just on the principle of gender equality, Sharia law fails Australian generally accepted moral standards, let alone the many more liberal social freedoms generally accepted and valued in Australian society.
So by Sharia law being permitted in Australia, then Australia would be inviting two incompatible legal systems within one national jurisdiction, which would be impossible to administer and enforce. If such anathema laws were introduced then why would traditional Solomon Islands traditional cannibalism law not be equally possible? The precedent for anarchy would have been set and Australian discrimination tribunals would attract a queue a mile long.
Indeed, my recent spoof of a faith based on 'Free Love' should also get up, so to speak!
But there are other forms of ethical spirituality which fit within Australian social values which are personal, non evangelistic and certainly not dangerous. It is not for me to tout any of these. Google will quickly reveal many harmless but spiritually meaningful options.
Atheism and skepticism are two intelligent philosophies to start investigating choices of faith, since they are faith neutral and question everything. One can then lean to a choice of faith or spirituality of one's own preference.
Apply tests of morality, ethics, freedom and humanity and these will serve well in any exploration into spirituality.
Generically, this link is a helpful unbiased place for starters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality
Some people don't see a need for faith or spirituality. Others do. Again, each to their own. We Australians are renown for being a tolerant society.
While I do not necessarily
While I do not necessarily agree with your opinion, I would like to comment that your blogs have been of tremendous use to me in both research for my own school work as well as building my overall understanding of contemporary Australian politics. Thank you for providing a well-structured, informative and unique insight.
our capacity to accommodate refugees is being impeded
Here in Australia pensioners, students and the unemployed are being denied a liveable wage, and the funding to our public schools, hospitals, housing and higher education is continually being stretched. Our political leaders are more interested in corporate wealth and profits than the needs of people.
In a report released in December last year, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said 25 million to 1 billion people could be displaced by climate change by mid-century.
Our obligation under the UN charter is to provide refuge to those who are genuine refugees, but that does not mean that we are obliged to give those claimants any right to stay here permanently, nor does it oblige this country to accept their families either.
Some asylum seekers no doubt are unsuitable to assimilate, but where is our nation's compassion and duty of care towards people, climate justice, and protection for the environment that all life depends on? Our finite resources must first of all be conserved for those who live in our sovereign land. Overpopulation now would limit our future carrying capacity.
Our capacity to accommodate refugees is being impeded by the costs and stresses of our own, manufactured, population growth rate.
Hook, Line and Gullible
Tim appears more naive than Envious to assume that K Rudd’s ousting was due to the single issue of population growth or that pre election spruiking of politicians is necessarily believable. Rudd’s demise was the result of internal party plotting not of any democratic process. Opinion polls are as meaningless as the pre election circus.
Actions speak louder than words. I await the outcome before I rejoice
Kelvin Thomson, Miss Gillard and Population
I have never read anything less edifying than the Thomson letter on this forum. It is nothing more than a blatant advertisement for Miss Gillard.
How he could have the hide to write such campaign drivel is beyond me. He is careful to promote Miss Gillard whilst satisfying both sides of the population debate. Clearly he does not want to make any commitment that would upset the Labor immigrant vote. You know - that perpetual "gratitude vote" that Labor increasingly needs to retain power. (To put it more accurately - Union Power).
Thomson should tell us how he and Miss Gillard intend to stop the illegal boats - now. Not next month, next year or never. Now.
The routine collection of forced illegal entrants to our shores by the Australian navy should be stopped now, before the election, so we get real evidence of Miss Gillard's desire to reflect the wishes of the Australian people.
The illegal boats (another yesterday carrying 96 more potential Centrelink recipients) were going to end Kevin Rudd's career, and if Miss Gillard doesn't stop them, they will end hers. And that's not forgetting the four Australians who died from the insulation debacle and the thousands who now live in fear under Labor Government-funded electrically charged ceilings.
We are sick and tired of seeing Australians, many of them mentally ill, sleeping in cardboard boxes, on wet lawns and without the basic living necessities, while illegals are being kept warm, well fed and spending money in their pockets either in Queensland motels or in comfortable taxpayer funded public housing.
While the polls are saying one thing, all the people I speak to are saying something entirely different.
No kangaroos in the wild
A few years ago I went on a short coach trip from Melbourne, via South Australia, to Central Australia and Uluru and back. The coach had so anti-roo attachment, but we didn't see ONE KANGAROO the whole time! Not one! There were a few wild emus seen in the distance, but no kangaroos or wallabies. International tourists would be very puzzled, I am sure, and disappointed. This is Australia, and our wildlife are being annihilated by commercial forces and kangaroo-hating land-owners.
Why can Australians make themselves heard, while Canadians not?
This is brilliant news. The question that vexes me is, why have Australians been able to exert their will upon their federal government in this matter whilst Canadians have not? What is it about Australian political culture that makes for a much more assertive electorate? An electorate that despite the constraints of corrupted and dictatorial representative "democracy" and a growthist media have nonetheless forced a once popular Prime Minister from office?
Perhaps we should hire Australian consultants and media experts to coach us, much in the way that national soccer teams like England or Greece hire foreign coaches to lead their teams to victory. There is a popular bumper sticker in Canada that reads, "The more people I meet, the more I like my dog". Well, the longer I live in this country of Canada, the greener foreign pastures look. Canada would be a great nation, if it were not for Canadians. The flip side to our polite reserve and tolerance is the meek acceptance of every imposition from government and industry alike.
Our national culture seems permeated by a desperate need to avoid conflict by unreasonable self-flagellent accommodations. The irony is, by smothering debate to preserve a superficial civic truce, the pressure for a wrenching rupture builds up. Manufacturing consent and stifling dissent is a proven recipe for civil war. Even in Canada. How far down the road to overshoot will this happen? Probably much too late.
Tim
Kangaroo kicks woman checking fence
My friend, you let the cat out of the bag. Had your wife not had three dogs running loose on the kangaroo's territory (sorry, I realise you think it's your territory but the kangaroo was here first), I'm 100% certain the kangaroo would not have attacked. He did so because he was afraid of the dogs. In every case of a human being attacked by a kangaroo that I have heard of there was at least one dog off leash nearby. When will people learn to control their dogs? Dogs kill so many kangaroos either directly or by stress myopathy after being chased. I have seen it first hand so I do know what I am talking about. He was only trying to protect his family who would have been nearby. Put yourself in his shoes for a change instead of looking at kangaroos as if they are monsters. They are not. WE ARE!
"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
Harder to see kangaroos in the wild these days
From a friend Pam: Today I caught up with some old friends from Healesville Victoria who were up here on the Sunshine Coast Qld on holiday. They do a lot of travelling and said they had recently travelled from Tocumwal to Bourke to Charleville and did not see a single kangaroo on the way.
"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
Logging around Healesville unbearable unsustainable awful
Ed. From a report by Vicki L-S.
There was a public meeting at a small township called Healesville, in the Yarra Valley, Vic. last Thursday night regarding all the logging that is going on in and around Healesville. There are many mountains to the north and east of this town that incorporate other small communties and these mountains areas are being logged so heavily.
So many logging trucks travel night and day up and down our two nearby highways at great speeds and will stop for nothing! There were around 300 protesters at this meeting and everyone felt totally helpless, as no solutions were reached and the main speaker leading the anti logging group only allowed two people to speak, which was absolutely useless. The spokesperson for the logging company, of which I don’t know the name of, said that even though the logging is being carried out so extensively, both night and day, the company is still running at a loss! Nobody at the meeting could understand why this logging will then continue!
It is not the burnt trees being cut down after the recent bushfires, it is 200 - 300 year old trees being torn down, along with Black Boys, Tree Ferns and all the rest of the growth that you find in well developed forests. I was told that there is a google site called 'Near Earth' that gives an arial view of areas and you can return to the same area after a weeks time, to see the heavy logging devsstation to that same area, just after one week! SO TRAGIC ISN'T IT!!!
The logs are being turned into wood chips and sent over to China. All the people at this meeting are passionate about their environment, but feel helpless, as nobody is listening! Typically the orders to continue this logging must come from the state government, not the local. The local members of parliament werent even present at this meeting! Only one person from the media was there and they remained very quiet. They were from a local newspaper group!
HABITAT, ECO SYSTEMS, TREES, BIRDS, ANIMALS AND INSECTS ARE ALL SUFFERING GREATLY FROM THIS DEVESTATION, BUT THE PERPETRATORS NEVER STOP TO THINK OF THE BIG PICTURE DO THEY! AFTER IT HAS ALL GONE, WHAT THEN? WHAT THEN FOR US TO?
OH, YES, THEN EVERYONE WILL SAY, THE USUAL, "KANGAROOS ARE IN PLAGUE PROPORTIONS"!!!! BUT THESE IDIOTS WONT REALISE THAT THEY THE KANGAS AREN'T IN PLAGUE PROPORTIONS AT ALL, ITS JUST THEIR HOMES HAVE BEEN DESECRATED AND THEY HAVE HAD TO MOVE ON, !!! OH AND THEN THEY WILL BE CULLED!
THERE SEEMS TO BE NO END DOES THERE!
Unless of course ... Gillard and Democracy
Unless, of course, this was a true win for democracy, with Rudd booted out for his totally undemocratic service to big business and Gillard brought in by a disgusted parliament or one bowing finally to backbench pressure. I often wonder what Kelvin Thomson's role might really be.
I must say that to take this coup on face value - as representative of democracy - goes against my experience of recent Australian politics and I know that the mainstream press aren't going to like it. Since they run the country, either they were really taken by surprise or this move is byzantine beyond byzantine ... or have I missed something? I am open to more information. As some of you know James and I have been unavoidably disengaged from journalism due to unexpected and severe illness over past 5 or 6 weeks. We hope to return bit by bit to full engagement. Ironic that we were so busy on other things just as this storm was gathering then blew.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Realistic kangaroo control
in response to anonymous (21 June) I would suggest that anyone that studies kangaroos using real study or real science is aware of the fact that kangaroo numbers have been proven to be controlled by the presence or absence of vegetation. I do not see any reason why the ACT grassland kangaroos should be an exception to this rule even though you claim this to be so. You can give them all the water in the world but it won't make an iota of difference if they haven't got any food. Many studies have demonstrated this.
More recent studies have also demonstrated that perceived high kangaroo numbers on areas that have been used previously for commercial grazing (sometimes for centuries), such as the ACT grasslands in question have very little to do with hampering the regeneration of the ecosystem. It goes without saying that kangaroos would have inhabited these areas in very high numbers before we degraded the land to the state we see now.
Shooting kangaroos to achieve a density that is deemed appropriate is simply guess work. If biodiversity is the main aim here then ACT kangaroo management should seriously consider re-introducing dingoes. This would control the numbers of kangaroos naturally and increase the level of biodiversity in the area. Many studies have demonstrated that dingoes are a key factor in controlling smaller predators such as cats and foxes, they are also fond of rabbits. Survival of small native mammals such as bettongs increase significantly in the presence of dingoes as do other small animals such as ground dwelling birds. Despite these findings ACT kangaroo management insist on short sighted kangaroo culls in "seeking successful ecological management outcomes". How realistic is that?
Julia for real on population sanity
Whoo! Maybe I will have to willingly eat my words, if the news about Julia Gillard being sane on population numbers actually turns out to be true. I have just received a press release which I will put up now on page 1.
If Julia brings back democracy to this country, I will call her Saint Julia, not a 'Yes-man', but a real woman.
Can this be happening... is parliament rising up against the growth lobby?
More on front page soon.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Copyright to the author. Please contact sheila [AT] candobetter org or the editor if you wish to make substantial reproduction or republish.
Authoritative power is not legitimate power
Labor caucus is an internal political party process outside the legitimacy of the public view or say. Political appointments manifested as factional selection, pre-selection and branch stacking suit the agenda of party politics. It is illegitimate autocratic process and by definition undemocratic. It must be challenged.
Those who did not vote Labor are being excluded from the process.
Out of government, political parties may legitimately play politics as they wish since they only represent their own interests. But once in government and representing the people, such scope to play with power is relinquished in the process we call in Australia, 'representative democracy'.
Compare China's oppressive junta, where its Politburo appoints its chairman, president and officials all the way down the chain of socio-political power. Public representation is denied.
Australia is trumpeted as a representative democracy. So when the current leader of Australia and of the State of New South Wales are not elected (as is the current situation) their appointment is democratically illegitimate. The people have had no say in their current power appointment. Their respective appointments hold no credibility. The public perception quite rightly is that their appointment has been made by powerful unaccountable internal faction power brokers, not dissimilar to the autocratic political process of Australia's juntas to its north. When internal power is dispensed and financially supported by nameless lobbyists, how different is such political power to many Asian countries rife with corruption such as China, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand?
Philosopher Herbert Spencer's [1820-1903] axiom "survival of the fittest" implies 'only the fittest organisms will prevail'. Such 'Social Darwinism' logic perpetuates might is right and that uncontrolled leads to violence and war.
More sustainable and relevant to 21st Century government is William Hamilton's [1936-2000] axiom of 'social evolution'.
What we saw executed by Labor caucus with Rudd's ousting was selfish behaviour benefiting the Right and its chances to re-election. A superior level of such social evolution would have been to have sought a mutually beneficial process and outcome - that which increased the fitness of the leadership without decreasing the rights of the electorate. The ousting ought to an publicly acceptable timeframe - say within two months.
How is the ousting of an elected leader any different to the ousting of Thailand's elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 or the denial of power to Zimbabwe's elected Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangira in 2008?
The 'nature of politics' can be as any powerful regime deems it to be. Authoritative power is not legitimate power until the people, not political factions decide.
I wouldn't worry about it too much Paul
I wouldn't worry about it too much Paul. There are plenty of other football boot manufacturers who are lining up to use our national symbol to grace the feet of the world's soccer stars. The "ratbags" such as myself that you refer to have a long way to go in raising the awareness to others of the kangaroo's plight. I still find it amazing that so many people still believe that kangaroos are farmed for the expressed purpose of being turned into sporting goods or feeding dogs and cats. Even more amazing is the ignorance shown by those believing it a forgone conclusion that kangaroos must be shot whether their carcass is utilised or not. They do have a right to exist you know and as Australians we should be ashamed that the current population of kangaroos in places like Western Queensland are almost devoid of not only alpha males, but large kangaroos of either sex.
Backward cultures breaching Australian values should be outlawed
Re: 'funnelweb bill' comment above:
The self-righteousness of an imported culture to impose its lore upon Australian society has as much validity as military invasion. Our country our rules!
The concepts of 'cultural relativism' and 'multiculturalism' is about deculturation of the incumbent culture by imported cultures that disrespect local rights, reject assimilation and instead selfishly seek to impose an imported culture on the local population. In Australia it started with the British asserting 'terra nulius' and annihilating Aboriginal custodians. It exacerbated with post war immigration and it has evolved to the point where migrant decendants now have the balance of power to legislate immigrant cultures with more rights than the local culture.
The metaphoric multi-cultural soup or melting pot is a myth. What we have in reality is Spanish tapas - distinctly unrelated cultures each demanding their own rights and wriggle room. The cumulative effect over subsequent generations is not intermarriage, not acceptance of the dominant culture, but incompatible cultures undermining social cohesion and Australian values, building ex-patriot ghettos.
Backward cultures like Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM) which advocate using rare wildlife body parts for so-called medicinal remedies are anathema to Australian social moral vaues and have no place in Australian modern civilized culture.
Of course this raises the obvious grey issue of what in fact are Australian core social values and whether these should be standardised and legislated?
If TCM in Australia abandoned the animal parts aspect of its practices, then it would deserve merit. But it doesn't. TCM condones illegal trading in wildlife parts like shark fin, tiger penis and bear spleen.
TCM has the same base values as traditional Solomon Island culture that advocates cannibalism and head-hunting. Permit one backward culture that is anathema to Australian cultural values and you set a precedent.
Backward cultures breaching Australian values should be outlawed.
And leave the bloody ostriches alone too!
Tiger Quoll
Snowy River 3885
Australia
Cassowarys heading towards the same fate as koalas
Despite this year being the UN Year of Biodiversity, the decline in koala populations means that they could be extinct in South-east Queensland within the next 20 years. Anna Bligh's government has stood by and watched the koala population of South-east Queensland dwindle as they continue to promote developments and population growth. Now the cassowaries are heading for the same fate!
The southern cassowary belongs to an ancient group of flightless birds that includes Australia's emu, Africa's ostrich and New Zealand's kiwi and now-extinct moa. With only 1000 left in the wild, they depend on habitat restoration and protection from urbanisation and introduced animals. Their best hope is to see some action from Environment Minister Peter Garrett by buying back land designated for housing in the Daintree, north of Cairns, and at Mission Beach to the south. However, the power of the growth lobby is formidable.
There are 23 birds, 4 frogs, and 27 mammal species known to have become extinct since European settlement of Australia. Extinctions are part of evolution, but humans are driving animals and plants to extinction faster than new species can evolve.
The "Nothing like Australia" tourist slogan could become obsolete when our iconic wildlife species are driven to extinction.
overpopulation
Running out of resources vital for life on Earth is not evidence of overpopulation; it's the beginning of depopulation. Overpopulation was our problem fifty years ago when we knew a solution and had a choice. Depopulation is the rotten fruit of unwarranted macho pride.
"It's up to God," say too many people.
Rudd's 2020 summit was a farce
John Marlowe wrote: "Rudd' experiment with autocracy should be learnt from. He started off with a progressive approach to listening to the electorate in his 2020 Summit."
Are you joking, John? Rudd listened to the growth lobby and appointed media-manufactured authorities to his so-called 'Summit', where they cemented their nonsense about a big population. There was nothing democratic or progressive about that summit. It was an absurd farce.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
About Nike
What a shame, just because a few ratbags jump up and down in the name of Kangaroos.
The roos will still be shot and the leather left to rot on the ground just so someone can feel "good" about the decision not to use that product.
Just a marketing stratagy thats all.
This website needs to
This website needs to include what krill harvesting actually is......
Realism please.
The comment of Anonymous (21st June) presents more fact of relevance and reason than the original article by Menkit Prince.
Anon says “….the anti-culling hysteria is badly informed and very damaging.” and I agree.
I could only guess if the view put forth by Prince is badly informed or just poorly presented perhaps even both, but it is undoubtedly hysterical and to a substantial degree nonsensical.
I agree wholly with Prince that the greatest threat to our ecology is human impact but so much of her article lacks merit right down to the fluff of the juvenile cartoons.
As merely one example, the 2006 SOE report ( quite erroneously) expresses that Kangaroos exert a grazing pressure of only 1-8% substantially less than that of sheep and cattle and Prince seeks to use this to justify her no cull never kill viewpoint.
The SOE figures merely represent a comparison of national populations. True grazing pressures can only be assessed with relevance in a local context. Thus the SOE figures have no relevance at all in judging the need to cull or not in a confined area such as the Canberra Nature Park represents. I suspect that Prince may lack understanding of what a grazing pressure actually represents.
Prince is entitled to her vegan viewpoint and desire to see an end to livestock farming (no matter how fanciful) but her suggestion that farmers have kangaroo proof fencing to protect crops is directly contradicting to her own view of live and let live and exposes the hypocritical nature of her fanciful warped utopian view. No less in measure than the accusations of hypocrisy she levels at ACT kangaroo management.
Displays of nonsensical hysteria and distortion of fact is less than helpful in seeking successful ecological management outcomes.
You are kidding.
I think you need to revisit this article, you clearly have no idea of the relationship between education and reduction in fire outbreak, this is proven and evidence is available from most forward moving societies. You seem to be intelligent but you speak utter nonsense.
Nike phasing out kangaroo leather
In response to a recent article published in the UK's "Daily Mail", Nike have announced they are phasing out the use of kangaroo leather in their products. It would appear that many people are still unaware that kangaroo leather is used in the manufacturing of soccer cleats by companies such as adidas, Puma and Nike let alone the inherent cruelty involved in obtaining kangaroo skins.
Evolution
Surely caucus being able to elect a new leader at a perceive failure of the present leader just like evolution? Survival of the fittest. This ultimately allows flexibility and success to the "fittest"! It is all about adapting and trade-offs with other forces. It's the nature of politics.
Actual-Number Representation and CIR needed
May I suggest that you read my article "Increasing Democracy in Australia: A Plan to Introduce Far Greater Democracy into our Current System of Parliamentary Representation" at http://www.destinymagazine.info/contents/02guilddemocracy.htm
This looks at some of the inequalities in our current system of democracy, and proposes a new system of Actual-Number Representation with Optional List Voting (ANROLV) combined with Citizens' Initiated Referendums to help remedy the situation.
Julia simply the next yes-man
Unfortunately I think that Julia is just the next yes-man. A bit like changing directors of Telstra in order to confuse the investors. Kevin has followed orders by moving on and Julia will be introduced as a 'new broom' but what will happen is that she will market or shove down our throats exactly what they thought Kev was too on the nose to keep selling. The miners and Mr Murdoch and friends will market Julia favorably as long as she does their bidding. She will be allowed to appear to get away with a little bit, but then she will have to follow orders.
It seems to me that premiers and prime ministers are now simple employees of the corporate sector. They do not have to be particularly intelligent and it is better if they do not understand or care about the consequences of the policies they market.
I suppose that someone might hope to get a premier or prime minister who was actually able to play the corporate sector at its own game - maybe as some think Bob Carr did - although James Sinnamon would disagree that he actually did so. However, the trends for democracy and quality of life to deteriorate as costs go up in response to politically engineered growth in demand through imposed population growth, runs against this hope.
Kevin, by the way, along with Wayne Swan, were involved from the first in the creation of Labor Resources and Labor Holdings, involving massive investments in the corporate and land-'producing' and property development sectors. We cannot hope for justice or decent standards or democracy from people who only understand dollars.
Sheila Newman, population sociologist
home page
Senator Bill Heffernan's warnings to the Senate
According to the UN, the world must produce 70% more food to feed the population by 2050! This unlikely to happen, and thanks to the policies of our Rudd government, Australia's ability to provide food for ourselves and export markets could be damaged.
Senator Bill Heffernan, Food Security SPEECH
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
According to the science—all science has vagaries though—50 per cent of the world’s population could be poor for water; one billion people could be unable to feed themselves; 30 per cent of the productive land in Asia, where two thirds of the world’s population will live, could be out of production due to urbanisation and climate change.
China is through the denial phase. By 2050 they will have 400 million people living off the Great Northern Aquifer, which is being irretrievably mined..... China and India are going into some of the poorer countries and buying some of the better agricultural land—not to feed the poorer countries but to export the production from that land back to their countries to feed themselves.
Fair enough, but We need to know who owns our agricultural land. China will have the capacity to feed only one-third of its population by 2070, so obviously they will be on the march around the world.
It should not be at the expense of our own food security!
This is not about farmers getting the best price for their land, which is the opposite argument being put by people who doubt the wisdom of protecting our
sovereignty through controlling and having knowledge of who is acquiring our agricultural resources.
Our own Murray Darling food bowl is already compromised and damaged by drought and over allocation of water for unsustainable farming.
If the science on Australia’s weather is 40 per cent correct then we will absolutely have to reconfigure the way we have settled and the way we do our business in regional and rural Australia.
To put that into context, at the present time, as Senator Faulkner would know, there is about $1.8 trillion being spent annually on defence around the globe. So we are all worrying about defence but not about how we are going to feed ourselves.
Exactly, why buy 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters at $60 million each when the potential enemy is already a large property owner of Australian production land?
This is a serious issue for Australia. I would like to put it firmly on the radar and get ordinary Australians to think about this.
Well said Mr Heffernan!
Congratulations to Julia Gillard
Congratulations to Julia Gillard, and let's hope there is a fresh new start for Australia, for the benefit of Australians. Kevin Rudd was under the control of big businesses, global mass markets and the finance industries. He betrayed Australia's interests by not supporting agriculture, allowing free trade to destroy our own industries, causing housing affordability to crumble, promoting population growth, and failed to protect whales from Japan's illegal harpoons.
The "greatest moral challenge of our time" became a farce by trying to address climate change and at the same time promote increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
Let's hope Julia Gillard proves to be a patriot and makes policies for the people of Australia and Australians instead of the diluted leadership we have been suffering from.
Population and climate change forum in Geelong Victoria-notice
A Public Forum on
Population Growth and
Climate Change
Saturday July 3rd
4pm to 6.30pm
Surfworld Sport and Rec Centre
Torquay
Amidst all the political debate in Australia, population growth has become inextricably
linked to economic growth and our future prosperity.
If the climate change problem is going to be addressed successfully, the global population
growth rate cannot be ignored.
How necessary is population growth?
Is growing the Australian population sustainable?
Kelvin Thomson MP, Member for Wills
Mr Thomson has in recent months spoken in Parliament and in public
about his desire to put the brakes on Australia’s - and the planet’s -
population growth rate. His 14 point plan provides concrete details on
how this could be achieved.
Mark O'Connor
Author of 17 books, including This Tired Brown Land, a study of
sustainability, population, and ecology in Australia, and Co-author of
Overloading Australia: How governments and media dither and deny on
population. Many ABC talks, including six on Ockhams Razor.
Dr. Bob Birrell
Bob is the director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research at
Monash University in Melbourne. He is one of Australia's leading social
scientists. Bob is joint editor with Katharine Betts of the quarterly
demographic journal People and Place published by CPUR.
www.sceg.org.au
__._,_.___
Canberra's kangacide
Anonymous's reasoning is ridiculous. As he/she says themselves, it's the ecology that determines the balance of species. If members of a dominant species are killed, it just encourages them to breed back up to fill the void. Kangaroos don't eat plant roots, their soft feet don't damage soils, rather their motion creates small depressions for seeds to fall into to germinate and their waste uniquely fertilises the soils. We need them to help regenerate degraded and overgrazed land. Kangaroos are beneficial and necessary for Australia's ecological biodiversity. It is not the presence of kangaroos that threatens our other native species, it is a lack of wildlife corridors, land clearing, introduced plants and animals and pseudo scientists that think they know better than nature. At the rate we are going we will lose all our native plants and animals, including kangaroos. Look at what Australia has already done to its koala populations. Let's not keep repeating the mistakes of the past we have already lost more of our native species than anywhere else in the world. It might be worth Anonymous taking a look at the Belconnen naval station site where over 500 kangaroos and their babies were brutally herded and killed to ensure the survival of native plants, insects and reptiles in 2008, to see how the current kangacide system works!!
Evict unsustainable farmers
Anyone who likens wildlife to ferals is one-eyed and disrespectful of nature,and probably a feral descendant themselves. Anyone who kills wildlife deserves to live an urban environment where they are not exposed to wildlife - just like dangerous criminals are kept away from ordinary society for society's own protection.
Those who constrain wildlife, forcing then to exist in a restricted unsustainable manner are cruel, invasive and disrespectful of the natural ecology and it is time such ecological vandals and errant poachers were outlawed as criminals.
As for the excessive numbers, start with humans. Ban immigration, implement a two child policy, prohibit new dams - 'the presence of water that is not available naturally will limit human breeding' and population.
Test farms for viability and triple bottom line sustainability and if they fail remedial testing, evict them back to the big smoke. Use rural land profitably and sustainably, or lose it to National Park!
Pen humans in urban enclaves since there is a significant over-representation causing the local ecology to be degraded enormously. This way Australia can sustain the wildlife, stem the tide of extinctions, plus sustain indigenous Australians and a restricted number of introduced human ferals.
It is in essence very simple and a better idea.
As for so-called 'scientists' recommending killing wildlife, name one that is a native zoologist and not paid for doctored reporting?
Tiger Quoll
Snowy River 3885
Australia
Kangaroo "culling" response
This argument is so logically off base and critically unexamined that I almost didn't respond. However, I believe "Anonymous" might benefit by examining two key issues.
First, he begins by stating that kangaroo lack natural predators and then uses humans as an example. Humans are the ultimate predator, and our global negative impact continues to grow in scale and scope beyond any historical record. In regard to kangaroos here in Australia, we commercially kill millions of them every year, recreationally and privately shoot them, smash them all over the roads with cars and trucks, and take away their homes, food, and genetic diversity by making their world "islands" of nature between developed and cleared land.
Second, he fails to mention that the reason the 'original ecology' doesn't exist is because European land management is particularly harmful in Australia. Low fertility, ancient land with little topsoil that has been cleared, overgrazed, polluted, and has had natural waterways and watersheds destroyed isn't going to support much life. There are ways to begin to heal the land and watercourses if that is the intent, but killing kangaroos isn't one of them.
~Robyn Cooper
Permaculturalist, Social Ecologist
Keep an eye out for who is
Keep an eye out for who is sniffing around the land being sold after the collapse of MIS schemes.
"There is about 269,000 ha of freehold forestry land on the Great Southern Forestry blue gum estate."
http://www.smh.com.au/business/blue-gum-properties-hit-the-block-2010061...
"THE final play in the $900 million Timbercorp collapse is about to be made with plans under way to sell a vast tract of land that spans the Victorian and South Australian borders.
A total of 30 plantation properties covering 11,000 hectares including 3556ha in south-west Victoria and 6985ha in south-east South Australia are being advertised for sale by tender. It is expected they will sell for between $35 million and $40m. "
http://www.standard.net.au/news/local/news/general/plantations-up-for-sale/1842490.aspx
"Last week, Landmark listed an 11,000ha parcel of blue gums for sale and interest is likely to come from forestry and broadacre agriculture."
I suppose local farmers will have $30-40 mil lying around?
Pen-pushiing desk-bound public servants
The desk-bound pen-pushing public servants in Canberra probably have never seen the grassland earless dragon, golden sun moth, striped legless lizard, pergunda grasshopper, or threatened plants such as the button wrinklewort. They wouldn't even know any of them if they fell over them! These environmental extremists, armchair conservations, are making policies based on paid ecologists' reports to meet their own ends. The farmers and land holders are such a powerful lobby that any impediment, such as kangaroos, must be got rid of or they lose votes! Anything native or indigenous about Australia is being eradicated, and purged.
Instead of being the "bush" Capital, Canberra is the heart of native animal mass slaughters and an anti-Australian drive. Anything belonging to our history, indigenous people, Colonial heritage, or uniquely Australian such as wildlife and wilderness areas are a reminder of Australia that was! Now we are global citizens, a resource in the southern area of the Asia Pacific region. Kangaroos should only be a symbolic presence, not real animals that are actually part of our biodiversity. It is more convenient to "greenwash" their slaughter as if are not contrary to their environment's integrity.
Kangaroo culling
I despair when I read this kind of discussion by intelligent people. While I agree 100% with your points about the reductions of size and effectiveness of nature parks by encroaching suburbs, the anti-culling hysteria is badly informed and very damaging.
ANYONE who studies -- real study, actual science -- of local ecologies agrees with the need to cull roos (and rabbits). The reasons are very simple:
- the density of roos in these constrained places is way higher than occured naturally.
- the reason for this is partly lack of predators (humans and dingos) and other issues, but mainly the presence of water that was not available naturally. The dams that still exist in these reserves provide drinking water that allows roos to breed to levels limited by vegetation where otherwise they bred limited by water.
- this significant overrepresentation of roos means that the local ecology is degraded enormously as grass is unable to set seed, lack of green/brown stuff means erosion and soil dynamics change, and the normal ecology of these grasslands disappears. (together with lack of small mammals and other animals that used to live here but have entirely disappeared. Apparently these animals had an important role in soil turnover etc and we need to get them back too).
- without the original ecology, other species are unable to survive. It is these species that land managers are trying to protect, and that people interested in animals should be concerned with. It is in essence very simple and it's unforgivable that supposedly intelligent and compassionate people are allowing these species to die/disappear.
Just ask yourself why the government and scientists decide they need to cull. Why would anyone do something that causes such ructions unless it was really necessary? It's not a 'hate roos' mentality, it's a 'save ALL the animals and plants" outlook. Really it's time people like you got aligned with science, compassion and real life and made an effort to understand what was going on, and then support necessary culling.
Unless you have a better idea for saving these entire ecologies and the smaller, not necessarily fury animals and plants that belong there?
Australia is not southern China
Australia is not southern China.
Since when did the Australian Constitution allow for Australian resources, real estate, natural environment, corporate capital and government policy to be controlled and influenced by a foreign state like China?
Chairman Rudd is a traitor to Australian sovereignty and Australian values.
He commits more of Australia's wealth to foreign states and their immigrants than to Australia and its indigenous and natives.
Religions are unethical when the religious leaders are
Re: comment above ' that is quite a statement...' by Anonymous 18th June 2010.
In reply:
A religious group is unethical when the leaders of that group 'go about doing stuff' that is unethical.
The religion is only as humanly valuable and valid as an honest faith as the ethics of its leaders.
Update on Planning Amendment VC 67 protest
Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc.
MEDIA RELEASE 21 JUNE 2010
COMMUNITY PROTEST OVER MINISTER’S PLANS TO TRASH MELBOURNE
In order to action his planning blueprint for “Melbourne @5 million” Premier Brumby has to find land for another 284, 000 new homes in the next 20 years to cope with the Government generated population boom. [Candobetter.org Ed. Strange choice of words. This is not a'boom'; it is a disaster.] The State Government is determined to extend the Urban Growth Boundary to facilitate rezoning vast areas of rural land as residential and with this end in mind proposes to amend the Melbourne Planning Scheme. Planning Minister Madden has refused to look at vacant land or brown field sites within the existing UGB. Additionally he has refused to adopt any measures to deter developers from “land banking.” He has broken the promises made by former Premier Bracks that the UGB would never be changed nor would Green Wedges be alienated or touched.
.
Three major community organisations – Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc, Green Wedges Coalition Inc and Planning Backlash are holding a protest at 1 pm on Tuesday 22 June 2010 on the steps of Parliament to declare opposition to Planning Amendment VC 67, which Planning Minister Madden proposes to put to the Upper House tomorrow Tuesday for ratification. There is a major community revolt over extension of the Urban Growth Boundary which will signify growth of urban sprawl, destruction of Green Wedges and decimation of arable food producing land. Plus there is community fury over the well hidden, previously unpublicised provisions of Clause 12 of the Planning Amendment. These spell high rise residential development along tram, bus and light rail transport corridors plus around train stations and the go-ahead for the E6 freeway reservation. These will change the face of Melbourne forever and destroy our rural surrounds. The rally will ask the Greens, Coalition and DLP member to vote “no” to VC 67.
Brian Walters SC, President of PPL VIC, comments: “We vigorously oppose the move by the Brumby Government to ratify VC67 which will create growth areas on the fringe of Melbourne outside the existing boundaries, thus extending and creating urban sprawl. It will alienate established Green Wedges; destroy the environment and wildlife; result in loss of biodiversity; and loss of arable land for food production. This will inevitably increase car dependency; worsen Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change with land clearance, unsustainable housing and reliance on road transport. We remain firm in our opposition to VC 67 Planning Amendment.”
Julianne Bell PPL VIC Secretary comments on VC 67: “Concealed in a clause in this planning amendment is provision to allow high rise residential development along tram, bus and light rail routes. This is a lunatic planning solution by the Brumby Government to accommodate Melbourne’s population boom. The ‘rack ‘em and stack ‘em’ strategy is a way of squeezing in another 1.5 million people by 2036. This will see the evolution of concrete corridors with heat islands, wind tunnel effects and put neighbourhoods at risk of flash flooding with impermeable street surfaces. Where are the open spaces and parks for rest and recreation as advocated in the Government’s much publicised “Healthy Parks Healthy People” doctrine? The Sunday Age has revealed serious health risks to people living 500 m within major roads, including asthma in children. Hence the Government will be putting at risk the health of a large section of the community.”
PPL VIC calls on Members in the Upper House to vote: “NO” to VC67 tomorrow.
Copyright notice: Reproduction of this material is encouraged as long as the source is acknowledged.
How about all you boat
Editorial comment: We understand that the author of the comment below is angry but we feel that we must point out that generalisation about the motives and characters of people arriving in boats is simply not fair on those people. More than this, it plays the government and opposition's own game, which is to deflect attention from the undemocratic huge legal immigration program that they both support, onto asylum seekers arriving by boat. We recognise that the system is unweildy and expensive but we also recognise that people who are persecuted must have some international outlet, and that we in Australia theoretically do as well, although in reality the international community is failing us terribly by classifying us as a rich democracy, when any activist knows that our country is being suffocated by the soft boot of corporate plutocracy and media spin.
Here is the original comment, published in the spirit of free speech:
How about all you boat people lovers have them move into YOUR homes, at YOUR cost! You can feed, clothe, shelter and provide their medical, at YOUR cost! Given you feel so strongly about making us all wear the financial burden of YOUR guilt I propose you can get all the atonement you want by YOU paying for it, eh.
Because I don't feel an ounce of guilt towards these cowards, often young Iraqi and Afghanistan men who fled their countries, when our bravest and best diggers are in their countries fighting for their freedom!
This is so so outrageous -
This is so so outrageous - that not only is the Government/was allowing 'foreign investment' or purchase of Aussie residences, but we're seeing now that of agricultural, land. We should be fuming! It is so against Australian farmers, of livestock and plant-based produce - to be selling farms to Asian buyers, so that they may keep produce they grow here, and then - sell it back to us in Australia!! What the...
"Asylum" Seekers.
Ellen, the signs of hope are there. With Penrith paving the way for the outcome of the Federal election, those of us who want Australia's borders protected may achieve what has so unjustly been denied.
I don't want to see Gillard as Australia's Prime Minister. Now or ever. She would be even further out of her depth than Rudd.
Our country has lost its character under Rudd/Gillard Labor - under our very noses we have been taken in directions that we did not expect. We do not have endless resources, our Centrelink benefit system cannot continue to absorb cost of assistance for long-term, self-invited reliant newcomers.
Rudd/Gillard Labor's arrogance in refusing to respond appropriately to the public's concerns about open borders is the major reason they will go. On top of all other things, what we are most concerned about is the preservation of Australian culture and the right to determine who comes here, and when.
My other hope is that Australia will not acquiesce to what now appears to be a passing affair with globalisation. I hope to see our beautiful country remain independent, to make our own decisions, and not be pressured or over-influenced by outfits like the United Nations.
What we have is unique. I just pray that we can stay wise.
Australia's finest, sacrificed by old men.
Malcolm Fraser - he is the man who sent young Australians to the Vietnam war - before they were even old enough to vote.
I remember well the five years of hell my family spent waiting to see if my brother's birthday marble would come out of that hated barrel. We worried night and day. He was and is a gentle soul, totally unsuited to fighting a civil war in a foreign land.
My mother's life was stolen for those years.
My brother missed the ballot but too many of those kids we knew weren't so lucky. And kids they were. Males are always a few years less mature than females of the same age. It was a very cruel time. It felt like their youth was plundered and I wished Malcolm Fraser and all the sycophants following his leadership would have fallen into a big black hole in the ground, suffocating in their own vomit.
My boyfriend was blown up in Vietnam. They used to crawl through tunnels where snakes and other deadly creatures were waiting for them. So many stories of jungle warfare. Kids - conscripted and ripped from their homes and families. Soon after learning how to stab a bayonet into a pretend "gook", they were shipped off to do the bidding of Malcolm Fraser's government. The old man from posh Nareen.
My regular army cousin told many stories. Some about soldiers taking the enemy up in helicopters and pushing them out at the point of a bayonet after they extracted the required information. My cousin died at a very young age.
Malcolm Fraser later reinvented himself as a "humanitarian". I feel sick.
I cannot look at Mr. Fraser. That self-righteous manner - and I ask myself, does this man feel no shame. How does he sleep at night. Now there have been other old men since then who have sent our fine young Aussies to die on foreign soil, but the difference is that Malcolm Fraser conscripted those youths before they were even eligible to vote. They were not volunteers.
It worries me greatly of late to see our servicemen returning to their homeland in caskets at the same time as televised pictures show hundreds of fit, healthy military-age men arriving on boats, fleeing the same destination that is going to damage the minds and bodies of our soldiers. Some of these newcomers are paying their way into Australia while our people of similar age are sacrificing their lives and those of their families. I feel as uncomfortable about these latest events as I did during those Vietnam war years.
I thought our military is supposed to be protecting our shores. I thought our government was training our soldiers to fend off any attack, to watch for and push back any enemy from our beaches, from our skies. It's called the Australian Defence Force.
I know that there have been times when our men and women have willingly stood up to evil, and for that we are eternally grateful, we never forget. The circumstances of all conflicts are different, but conflict is not always equal and every conflict is not everyone's responsibility.
Malcolm Fraser. I just wish he would have shown the grace to have left the public stage many, many years ago.
Heven is hell for RSPCA veterinarians
An RSPCA veterinarian died and went to heaven. She arrived at Pearly Gates and was greeted by Arch Angel Gabriel who was very hesitant and advised the Vet she would be better off going to the other place. This Vet was insisting she belonged in Heaven and claimed she had cared for many animals all her working life. Eventually Arch Angel Gabriel relented and with a deep sigh let the Vet in where upon the Vet was torn apart for eternity by all the dogs she had sent to Heaven.
Editorial comment: This comment appears to make a judgment against all veterinarians. We think that it may be unfair to judge all RSPCA veterinarians in this way. More substantiation is required. James Sinnamon
Anna Blithering Idiot.
Why doesnt Anna Bligh ..F -- K off back to the US of A or wherever it is IT came from....
wildlife "collateral damage" in Labor's great rush to purge
Already Anna Bligh's development-driven population growth rate is responsible for the deaths and demise of koalas and their habitats in Queensland. This Labor Government has dithered while the population of koalas in the South-East has declined by over 50% in only three years. Now, scores of threatened animal and plant species will be destroyed or have their habitats wiped out to clear the way for Queensland's unstoppable coal-seam gas industry.
Western Queensland and Curtis Island, off Gladstone, will be cleared by prospectors, workers and drilling crews in an effort to lay 1000 km of pipelines to Gladstone. Bird and animal habitats will be destroyed in the effort - "collateral damage" in the name of economic growth and "progress". A long list of birds and native animals officially classified as endangered, vulnerable or rare are in the path of well, and will have to go.
What about the Environmental Impact Statement? There are too many royalties at stake, too much money to be made, to care.
Premier Anna Bligh is welcoming the gas projects and there is little recognition of the dangers to native species. Koalas, frogs, owls and wallabies are merely collateral damage in Labor's great rush to purge its debt, incurred because of developer greed and Labor's quest for economic growth through population growth!
Federal and State Labor members do not care about the horrific slaughter of turtles and dugongs in Far North Queensland and have not lifted a finger in terms of their protection. Nothing highlights more than their inaction, Labor’s total disregard for protected species in Queensland.
Kangaroo..
May these useless Moronic Pen Pushers who probably know nothing about nature,the countryside rot in hell.I wonder if these Imbeciles in Canberra have children and if they do what kind of an example are they setting for the future generations..We as taxpayers are actually paying the salaries of these useless politicians such as Rudd and that Robot Gillard,to lead Australia down the path of no return...They will not be happy until the last kangaroo is wiped out.
Going back to the Asylum Seeker post...It doesnt really matter who is leading this country.It doesnt matter that Kevin Rudd will be knocked out next time round,because its already planned that way....You dont really think anything will change when the next Government moves in..It will just get worse..Politicians are all Puppets on strings,controlled from above by a bigger Monster..for their agenda..
What is the REAL reason for the planned massacres?
Kangaroo 'Management' is just white-man-double-speak for murdering Aussie kangaroo families and stomping baby kangaroos for
whatever stupid greedy reasons. Canberra bureaucrats are simply desk-bound killers with their own agendas.
They will massacre nearly 2000 "environmental" pests, native animals called kangaroos! The job will go to "experienced marksmen" and give them short-term employment, using these gentle native animals as targets.
The "cull" was endorsed by the RSPCA as part of the ACT Kangaroo "Management" plan.
Apparently there is an "over-abundance" of kangaroos in the nature reserves. It will be undertaken as part of an independent report on the lowland grasslands in the ACT.
"Independent" Maxine Cooper said Mt Painter was "barren" and would not recover unless the kangaroos were "managed".
Threatened native fauna include the grassland earless dragon, golden sun moth, striped legless lizard, pergunda grasshopper, and threatened plants such as the button wrinklewort. Apparently these "independent" reports ignore the irony that these threatened species are also Australian native animals, along with the kangaroos, and they are all part of the same ecosystems and have co-evolved together long before white-man needed to "manage" populations.
Animals are intrinsic to the overall functioning of grassy ecosystems. Animals are essential for pollination and dispersal of many grassland plants and are involved in nutrient recycling and maintenance of soil condition. Grasslands provide habitat for animals and are a source of food for both herbivores and predators.
Australian grasslands have evolved under grazing from a range of animals, including kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and other herbivores such as termites. The population sizes (or densities) of grazing animals are determined largely by seasonal abundance of the grassland plants upon which they feed. In turn, plant species composition and abundance of grassland vegetation are affected by the population size of grazers (grazing
intensity) and seasonal conditions (rainfall and temperature).
National Recovery Plan for Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands (NSW and ACT):
An Endangered Ecological Community, 2006
The numbers of kangaroos grazing is related to the abundance of food and seasonal conditions!
These are supposed to be Nature Parks! Safe places for nature? What example are we setting to children and society when instead they are places where people go to shoot kangaroos and bash their babies to death? No wonder this is such a bullying, aggressive, selfish society.
Remember the Googong Dam Kangaroo Massacre 2004? Officially it was to "protect the water supply..."
FOI showed the real reason was because farmers on surrounding properties wanted them killed. The kangaroos had escaped the paid killers, called 'professional shooters', shooting on the properties.
Likewise the Belconnen Kangaroo Massacre 2008, the Majura Range Kangaroo Massacres 2009 - the real reasons for these were not admitted at the time- was developers wanted the land!
Ironically, the Federal Greens have said it's "not their problem", and the ACT Greens support the killing kangaroos around Canberra. So much for Greens supporting "native animals and their habitats", as spelt out in their policy booklet!
The numbers to be culled have been based on kangaroo counts in each location. However, some people have visited one of the so-called "counts" where there are (claimed) 600 kangaroos negatively impacting through grazing, but they didn't even see 40, and there was hardly any roo poo in any of the paddocks!
There are some very imbalanced and distorted policies coming from Canberra, and either the over-heating in these public service buildings are giving these desk-bound "conservationist" mental confusion/delusions, or there are some native-animal hating-bureaucrats paying for "environmental" reports to endorse killings of native animals in an effort to sterilise the land for their self-serving ends.
Kangaroos..
Is the " TWO LEGGED MONSTER " ever going to leave these poor, gentle animals alone...What can be done to stop the Aussie who Drawls all over the Socceroo, respect their national icon that the REST of the world loves..How dare these Hypocrits name a useless soccer team after a beautiful native animal that they destroy and are determined to send to extinction...God help this country I despair.. I think the " TWO LEGGED MONSTER IS ON ITS LAST LEGS" and Im referring to the human parasite not the Kangaroo.
The ACT Government has just announced that areas within the Canberra Nature Park will be closed from 6 pm Saturday 19 June 2010 to 6 pm Saturday 31 July 2010 to allow for the controlled culling of over-abundant Eastern Grey Kangaroos. The sites to be closed are Callum Brae Nature Reserve, Crace Nature Reserve, Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve, Jerrabomberra West Nature Reserve, Kama Nature Reserve, Mount Painter Nature Reserve, Mulligan’s Flat Nature Reserve and unleased territory land adjacent to Kama Nature Reserve.
“The cull of up to 1890 kangaroos is needed to maintain kangaroo populations at appropriate levels to protect the integrity of ecosystems, several of which contain endangered flora and fauna,” said Director, Parks, Conservation and Lands, Russell Watkinson. “The numbers to be culled have been based on kangaroo counts in each location. “Ensuring the grasslands and woodlands are not overgrazed will protect threatened species and ecosystems, provide habitat for creatures such as ground-feeding birds, prevent excessive soil loss and maintain sustainable numbers of kangaroos.” Mr Watkinson said the kangaroos will be humanely culled by experienced marksmen. * ACT Media Release
We have a Chinese-Mandarin speaking MP helping China
THE Chinese Government is buying Australian farms to directly feed its population, a senior Liberal said on the eve of a visit by a top Bejing official.
The purchases are not monitored by the Foreign Investment Review Board, Senator Bill Heffernan told Parliament. Farm buy-ups were not referred to the FIRB unless they were worth more than $320 million! So, unless the farm property is under this amount, it just becomes "international" land! Just how many farms are worth more than this anyway? The produce from these farms would be sent to China to secure their food supply for the future.
For the first time in history we have a Chinese-Mandarin speaking Prime Minister more focused on helping China's growth and threatening food shortages than actually helping Australia! Farmers are also being forced to sell their land due to sky-rocketing rates to make land available for property developers.
Instead of buying 100 new JSF aircraft at A$70 million each, why don't we just surrender and become a province of China?
We seriously lack patriotism and vision in Australia and too easily selling out to the highest bidder - something we will regret!
that is quite a statement to
that is quite a statement to make really. I don't think particular religions are unethical but that the way people go about doing stuff based on their religion can affect they way people see a particular religion. However you can't blame the religion itself because of actions from other people.
Australia is the free-est and most liberal nation on the planet
In response to the two above comments,
1. 'Lack of fervour and patriotism for Australia' by Anonymous 12th June 2010,
2. 'Asylum Seekers' by RichB 13th June 2010.
Australia is the free-est and most liberal nation on the planet.
Alternative democracies like Britain and the United States don't come close.
But that is not to say we cannot learn from comparable democracies like Canada and Switzerland.
What Australians are slack about is recognising our special culture, values and living standards and then realising these are all under threat by privileged politicians living an aristocratic life and by wealthy newcomers from abroad demanding they import their preferred customs and lesser standards that are incompatible with Australian best practice.
Never give up on the hope of our great nation! Australia is without doubt world's best practice for humanity. This is not a biased comment. Test it and simply travel overseas!
Travel to Gundagai and witness first hand the many rural ordinary Australians from the bush that sacrificed everything for their country - tragic memorials survive in the traditional town of Gundagai from not just WWII, but WWI, and indeed from the Boer War.
These Australians fought for Australia to be a free and liberal nation not to be overrun by foreign cultures. My great uncle was 'killed in action' at Mont Brehain, France in October 1918, a month short of Armistice.
Australians need to stop being complacent!
Collusion with the State government
There is a clear collusion between the growth lobby and land sales inside dealings.
According to The Weekly Times, a West Australian property developer, Mr Simpson, made repeated offers before buying land later chosen as the site for a valuable transport hub north of Melbourne. "That property didn't come up for sale, they (the agents for Simpson) went in and asked for it," a source privy to the sale has claimed.
Mr Simpson initially offered $3 million for the 202-hectare parcel at Beveridge. When this was knocked back, successive bids rose over the next three months to $6 million, then $10 million, $12 million and finally $14.5 million.
Minister Tim Pallas, whose department selected the site for the logistics centre, a move that potentially lifted Mr Simpson's land value to more than $200 million.
Beveridge landholders, part of the new urban boundary, said at the time of the offer they had no idea their land had been earmarked for a freight terminal.
Australian Electoral Commission records show Mr Simpson has donated $85,000 to the Australian Labor Party's West Australian branch, with $45,000 donated in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
The State government are part of the growth lobby, and are members of the Property Council of Australia.
If this is not insider trading and collusion, what is?
Economists consider tearing down homes to protect housing market
Economists consider tearing down homes to protect housing market
By Elizabeth Razzi
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Douglas Duncan, vice president and chief economist for Fannie Mae, raised a provocative idea at a recent meeting of real estate journalists in Austin: Some of the misconceived housing developments built during the boom years might have to be torn down because they don't make financial sense.
Duncan agreed with Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow.com, who warned that a "tremendous shadow inventory" of homes is poised to come on the market. That includes future foreclosures (due to negative equity and continued high unemployment), homes that will end up in foreclosure after failed loan modifications, and homes from what he calls "sideline sellers" who have been biding their time until the housing market improves. Humphries said home prices won't bottom out until the third quarter of this year, leading to "the second phase of the housing recession": below-normal price appreciation for several years. (The long-term appreciation norm is 3 to 5 percent per year.)
Said Duncan: "Some of that shadow inventory could have to be torn down. It was not economically viable when it was put in place." That includes some boom-time developments in California's Inland Empire and Central Florida. Duncan said people might find that the cost of sustaining their lifestyle in some developments -- including high transportation costs to far-away jobs -- is greater than the cost of the home. That could wipe out demand.
Who would pay for tear-downs? What would happen to the people who have hung on to their homes despite the foreclosures all around them? All are unanswered questions.
Economists are discussing the idea, but Duncan said he doesn't know of any policymakers considering it. "It's un-American to think about tearing down housing," he said. "But we have a long history of ghost towns."
"Asylum" seekers.
To RichB -
You won't have to wait very long to see stricter border protection policies implemented. The Rudd outfit is going to be thrown out in an election rout like you have never seen. If it is closer than most expect, just pray that Gillard does not replace Rudd - her extreme left-wing ideals will INCREASE immigration. However, if you read the online newspaper comments, it's reasonably apparent that the Rudd-Gillard Labor government is finished.
What astounds me is that the incompetent Kitchen Cabinet (Rudd, Gillard, Tanner and Swan) ignored adverse public feedback on the issue of illegals forcing their way into our country until there has been so much damage there is no time to rectify it before the election. It is all too fresh in voter memories.
Why they have not learned any lessons from the UK open order experience is beyond most of us.
Victorian Auditor General's damning report
Irrigators are significant consumers of Victoria’s water. They use around 74 per cent of all the harvested water in Victoria.
Inefficiency means that only around one third of the water diverted into the irrigation channels and pipes does not reach the end users.
The report found that in effectiveness, efficiency and financially, the irrigation-related programs and the planning processes for the Foodbowl Modernisation Project failed to achieve their outcomes.
Victorian Government decision to invest around $2 billion in irrigation efficiency and related projects between 2004 and 2007 were poorly informed. Poor
documentation and record keeping has been a consistent concern in this audit and has inhibited The Department of Sustainability and Environment’s (DSE) ability to provide the necessary assurance on the status of the irrigation efficiency programs.
There was no evidence that any of the projects had undergone a robust assessment of the need to invest in asset solutions, rather than non-asset solutions, as the main way to increase irrigation efficiency or to secure Victoria’s water supplies. This was also the case for the Sugarloaf Pipeline. Analysis of costs and benefits was superficial and information to support the basis for water savings assumptions was lacking.
In some instances the costs of the projects exceeded the planned costs, expected water savings had not been achieved and the effectiveness of the modernisation was uncertain.
They have wasted millions of dollars in tax-payers' money. The opposition has accused Mr Brumby of deceiving Victorians over one of the state's most expensive infrastructure projects. Overall - a FAIL on the report card!
so ur saying that people
so ur saying that people will rent to homeless people that won't pay the rent?
Possum
You guys are crazy possums in nz need to die
Free Minerals for New Migrants
Underpinning debate on the Mining Super Profits Tax is the principle that: ALL AUSTRALIANS OWN EQUALLY ALL THE MINERALS BELOW THE EARTH.
I'm a 4th generation Aussie - no big deal. But one of my great-grandfathers came from a tin mine in Cornwall to the Gympie gold rush.
One grandfather worked on the railways. I myself once worked in the assay laboratory at Mt Isa Mines. My brother and his wife have worked as medicos in remote WA towns. In a way, I feel that over 130 years my family has "contributed" in some way to the mining industry and the infrastructure that supports it. We have earned our share of Australia's mineral wealth.
Why then does a new migrant, or a new refugee get given an equal share of all those present and future minerals?
After a few homeless years, I live in a South Melbourne community boarding house. The management has given the room next to mine to an overseas student. The 40-yr old tertiary educated Australian alchoholic who used to live in that room, is now on the streets. If SouthPort Housing starts to give rooms to Indian students, affordable inner-city housing will become even rarer than hens teeth. And us old Aussies will all be out on the streets.
Alpacas are protected in Peru- not our kangaroos
Alpacas in Peru are not used as beasts of burden, but mainly are valued for their fibre, and traditionally have been valued also for meat, hair, hides, and their dung, used as fuel. Today, it is illegal to slaughter or trade in alpaca meat in Peru. Because of the high price commanded by alpaca on the growing North American alpaca market, illegal Alpaca smuggling has become a growing problem.
Alpacas are worth more in Peru alive than dead! However, the same can not be said for our own wildlife. Ironically, Peruvians will be encouraged to buy and eat our kangaroos, but their iconic animals, symbols of their heritage, are protected!
Dalby hasn't the water supply for more people
The mayor of Dalby has given a less than enthusiastic response to news Canberra is considering his small Queensland town as a site to house asylum seekers. The federal government is seeking more mainland sites to house asylum seekers because Christmas Island is full. Last summer, the Mayor Ray Brown said the town was in real danger of running out of water and restrictions may be increased to their highest level if the situation doesn't improve.
Cr Brown said the weir is empty and the town's been drawing its water supply from bores.
Queensland towns of Dalby, Toowoomba and Maleny, running out of water Although there were ``some cowboys'' in the town, according to Cr Brown, by and large residents had been extremely frugal in how they had conserved water.
Recently there was the debate on population growth and the need for increased food production. The time comes when flooding some of the most productive farm land in Australia with more people is NOT good idea, and these asylum seekers, no matter how desperate and genuine, will not be given the "welcome mat"!
Australia is already stressed by our world-standard population growth, and adding asylum seekers will not improve our already maligned "racist" image.
Asylum Seekers.
I think its about time Australia woke up to what the useless Rudd Government is up to.This morning it was stated that 189 more Asylum Seekers were being moved to the mainland.Not long ago another load were moved from Christmas Island to the mainland,with the Government spouting that Christmas Island is full.Well if its full send them back.Personally I believe the Australian Government has a plan behind this,to flood Australia with Asylum Seekers,the same as the UK,USA etc.
There are alot of Australians struggling financially now,and their hard earned taxes are paying for all the Doctors,nurses,wide screen TV,s,playstations etc that are placed in these new Asylum Centres.And still the boats keep coming day after day.These Asylum Seekers will be harder to remove now that they are on the mainland..Oh thats strange isnt it?.But the Australian public continue to meander along like nothings wrong.Only concerned with who may win the Footy at the weekend or if the SoccerROOS,will win the world cup,or their huge mortgage dept.The Australian Government doesnt give a hoot about the Australian public and is ripping them off blind,but not a complaint or whisper from anyone.Wakeup Australia before its too late..What a bunch of hypocrits they name their soccer team after our beautiful national icon the Kangaoo,but they slaughter them in their thousands,and now they want to sell their meat to the Parasitical Chinese...What hope is there for this once great nation?
In a nutshell
Fantastic work, Vivienne!
You have summed up the problem in a nutshell.
The past was better than the present.
The future looks worse still.
The media and our politicians are mostly trying to sell us a pup just to get us to fork over our last dollars to their rich friends. That may not sound really technical coming from a sociologist, but that's how it really is.
Lack of fervour and patriotism for Australia
Our leaders, and so many of our "diverse" community, do not love Australia. Instead of serving the interests of Australians, and the long term interests of Australia, our governments are forcing globalisation onto us, and regional concerns.
Kevin Rudd is a symptom of lack of leadership and patriotism in Australia. This is the sad reality. He has helped the job situation in China with all their exports flooding Australian markets, and helped their economic growth through mining resources, and even helped their "skills shortages" by being able to access our educational institutions. As for climate change, our world-record level of greenhouse gas emissions is being boosted by all our coal reserves, and we are actually exporting climate change around the world!
Our workforce "solutions" should be about investing in Australians instead of outsourcing jobs and manufacturing overseas. We have "students" undercutting the wages and jobs of Australians. Instead of exporting our tertiary education institutions as degree factories, many local potential students are locked out of professions due to lack of course places or excessive HECS/HELP fees. Then more people are imported due to "skills shortages"!
'Protectionist' or indigenous and local rights?
Re: Vivienne's "Skills shortages" in Australia? comment above (10th June 2010):
In response:
You know anytime Australians call on our governments to consider the needs of those at home before those of foreign lands, Australians are labelled 'protectionist.' Such stereotyping has become a standard kneejerk one-liner response intended to silence dissent over what has become a 'migrants first' policy.
Yet take a look at the contrasting neglect by Australian governments of the first Australians. Many Aboriginal people across Australia in 2010 continue to subsist in in Third World poverty, have Third World infant mortality rates, have Third World life expectancies, and Third World hope. No wonder family breakdown and substance abuse is chronic in many Aboriginal communities.
And take a look at the contrasting neglect by Australian governments of rural Australians. Yes these are the Australians living beyond politicians short-sighted urban and coastal growth focus. Inland rural Australia has a litany of disadvantage. Rural hardship has been compounded by the vagaries of unpredictable weather and other environmental conditions (drought, floods and bushfire); weak commodity prices and deteriorating terms of trade (exacerbated by globalisation and 'free' trade policy); rising farm costs relative to farm prices resulting in declining farm incomes, putting pressure on farming families; and microeconomic reform and the withdrawal of services by both the private sector and governments from rural and remote communities with consequent unemployment.
But the big populations are in the cities, and the more people the more votes, so party politicians focus taxation spending and investment in the cities where the votes are - like wasteful billion dollar desalination plants, more urban motorways, and extravagant events to rival those of aristocratic days of yore. In this way politicians get to stay in office longer to qualify for that big parliamentary pension.
The bush is ignored by our urban-centric governments and so Australia is steadily becoming a class society of 'two nations' of wealthier cities turning their backs on a more impoverished bush.
Local and indigenous rights come naturally before the rights of new comers. First in first served! And I am not talking charity. I am talking real investment in housing, health, affordable living and education.
But Australian governments have been hijacked by increasingly powerful immigrant lobby groups that demand more rights and higher priority for new migrants. They claim they are minority groups and so more worthy.
Well my response is get in the queue! Indigenous have been neglected the longest. They come before newcomers.
So Labor's Immigration Minister Evans is labelling more unsustainable immigration as a 'reform'? But Australian immigration is at record levels. The only 'reform' would be to slow immigration and let Australia's capacity catch up!
So Labor's Immigration Minister Evans is justifying more immigration "designed to provide workforce solutions for the business community". This is a cheap bandaid to make the government's economic data look good. It is a defeatist approach to our own education system for government to claim that we cannot skill up Australians to suit Australian business needs, so therefore we invite in foreigners to take Australian jobs.
Such corrosive thinking is usurping indigenous and local Australians into an increasing under-educated poorer underclass, while migrants get the training and become the new wealthy.
Such anti-Australian policy is a slap in the face to both indigenous and local Australians. It fuels ethnic discontent. It neglects local education and vocational training needs. It views education as an export revenue earner - encouraging our schools and universities to skill and train foreigners who bring new money into the country. They the government labels it a 'foreign students industry' Is this Gillard's phoney 'education revolution'?
I wholeheartedly agree with you...'Our "workforce solutions" should be first and foremost about training and employing our own citizens, many who lack opportunities and jobs, not look overseas!'
This is not protectionism. This is not xenophobic. This is not racism.
This is getting Australian priorities right. This is looking after our own first, then once Australians are out of poverty, out of their Third World living standards, and regained equal opportunities again, any spare capacity can then be channelled to helping new Australians seeking a new life in Australia.
Anyone would think our Australian Government was being run and directed by immigrants.
"Skills shortages" in Australia?
In an Address to the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Workforce Summit in Perth, Senator Chris Evans claimed that the Governments Immigration reform is "designed to provide workforce solutions for the business community".
As a result of previous reforms, the current Government has increased the rate of state-sponsored skilled migration from 29% in 2007-08 to 55% in 2009-10.
At the same time, foreign students are cheating and getting special treatment to ensure they get their degrees, according to evidence gathered in a secret investigation by the Ombudsman. Victorian universities chasing a bigger slice of Australia's $17 billion a year foreign students industry have also been accused of pressuring staff to "dumb down" courses.
Ironically, we have a multi-billion dollar export education industry, but at the same time have "skills shortages" that require immigration to fill!
Perhaps if our universities and colleges had less prohibitive fees and there was more support for domestic students, our own young people, we wouldn't have to import "skills" from overseas! We are being bypassed by foreigners, with lower standards, instead of tax-payers and their offspring having access to good educational standards, training and secure employment.
Our "workforce solutions" should be first and foremost about training and employing our own citizens, many who lack opportunities and jobs, not look overseas!
Anglican branch stacking to combat ethics
In response to the recent initiative to trial teaching ethics to a sample of ten primary schools across Sydney, the Anglican Church is livid.
The Anglican Church's response is to 'encourage Christians to join school Parents and Carers committees in order to ''branch stack'' them with people who will speak up for religious education over the secular ethics classes being trialled in NSW primary schools'.
The church's justification: ''If Christians are not there in numbers to be the gospel voice of reason and honesty, our schools will be the poorer for it."
And this case of 'branch stacking' is the church being ethical?
We must protect our Judeo-Christian heritage
Nonie Darwish is a British Christian convert from Islam, founder of a group called Former Muslims United and author of two books highly critical of Sharia law, Arab policy towards Israel and Islamists' ambitions for global conquest. Darwish is a Christian who believes "that Judeo-Christian culture produces healthier, happier and more just societies, whereas Islamic culture produces tyrannical regimes and oppression". She campaigns against Sharia law and against those who threaten apostates.
A radical and dangerous change was proposed for Australia in March. A prominent Muslim leader called for parts of Islamic law (sharia) to be legally recognised in Australia. Nothing would damage Australia's international reputation, way of life and culture more than the introduction of sharia law.
We have a legal system that works perfectly well built on common sense and the common good. It has shaped our values and our culture and is constructed in accordance with our Judeo-Christian heritage. In some cases, domestic violence claims have resulted in husbands being asked to take anger management classes rather than more appropriate sentencing. There are draconian laws against homosexuals and easy access to divorce. Women are not entitled to the same inheritance laws as men. The European Court of Human Rights has determined that 'sharia is incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy'.
The catholic church is not faultless and not without errors, but at least they are compatible with our Judeo-Christian heritage that should not be allowed to be eroded by "diversity" and foreign laws.
Sometimes Atheists take for granted their in a Judeo-Christian environment. We have free speech because of our Judeo-Christian heritage. Christianity is dying in the West, while Muslims are an ever increasing majority. Maybe the $86 m is the cost of protecting our heritage and the rights we take for granted. Due to atheists trying to "remove"Christianity in the West it creates a spiritual, cultural, and ideological vacuum to be sucked up.
Desalination pipe damages houses in Sydney's Kurnell
Anyone owning a house near or living close to Barwon Water's proposed pipeline better get together and seek top expert legal advice quickly.
They would do well to learn from the experience of residents of Sydney's Kurnell where "two years of (thunderous) drilling to create Sydney's desalination pipeline has created structural flaws in many of the houses in one street." ['Street of broken dreams', (23-May-10), by Erik Jensen in Sydney Morning Herald.]
A new 18km pipeline from the Sydney's new desalination plant at Kurnell to Erskineville has caused "at least 700 structural faults in 40 houses in Kurnell."
Now real estate agents do not list affected Dampier Street properties (in Kurnell) and rental properties are either vacant or are let at vast reductions.
And beware of the power of government to distance itself from liability..."Sydney Water investigations have confirmed that there have been no structural faults" and..."there is no evidence that the Sydney desalination project has impacted on property values.''
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Tiger Quoll
Snowy River 3885
Australia
Papua New Guinea’s Indigenous Landowners Stripped of Land Rights
Rainforestportal
PNG government amends Environment Act with no debate to remove powers from landowners to challenge in court resource development projects on their customary land. Move reflects increased pressure by foreign developers, particularly Chinese government’s mining agency, whose efforts to dump uncapped 100 million tons of mine waste on ocean floor in Madang Province has been thwarted by pressure exerted by successful legal efforts and campaigning.
(Madang, PNG) - Indigenous landowners have been stripped of ancestral and constitutionally-protected land rights by the government of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The fact that 97% of land has been under communal, customary land tenure has long been a source of pride, provided an important social safety net, and protected against resource corruption. Similar efforts pushed by the World Bank in the 1990s were met with national protests and over-turned. Ultimate power to irrevocably issue resource development environmental permits will now reside with the Department of Environment secretary, an office who’s current and past occupants have long been known for flagrant corruption.
The government, through the Environment Minister, Benny Allan, made changes to sections of the Environment Act 2000 to prevent landowners and concerned Papua New Guineans from “interfering” with industrial resource development projects destroying oceans and rainforests – like the Chinese Ramu Nickel Mine in Madang and Exxon-Mobil Liquid Natural Gas project in the Southern Highlands.
Without any warning or consultation, on May 27, 2010, the government of PNG introduced emergency legislation that dissolved the Constitutional rights of all landowners in PNG, including the right of Indigenous People to own land, challenge resource projects in court and receive any compensation for environmental damage. The bill was passed without being seen or debated by parliamentarians.
Chinese communist techniques are corroding Papua New Guinea’s democracy. Environment Act amendments reflect increasing Chinese communist control of the PNG government, and Prime Minister Michael Somare’s move towards authoritarian rule. The amended act makes communities powerless third parties as their resources are stolen. The most vulnerable in PNG society are being stripped of customary as well as English common law rights, denying democratic freedom. With no means to protect their land, families and culture; this can only lead to more Bougainville type revolutionary conflict, as landowners are pushed over the cliff, become desperate, and have no legal recourse to remedy legitimate grievances. states Dr. Glen Barry, Asples Madang and Ecological Internet President.
The Act refers to recent court decisions concerning the Chinese-owned Ramu nickel mine in Madang Province. The mine has been met with a great deal of resistance by local indigenous landowners, local NGOs and Ecological Internet because of its submarine tailings disposal plan that would dump more than 100 million tons of tailings waste into Basamuk Bay. A secret report commissioned by the PNG government recently confirmed "mine waste will not lie dormant on the sea floor, as claimed by the Chinese State owned Ramu mine, but will be widely dispersed in the Vitiaz Strait, notably towards Madang and Karkar Island and across Astrolobe Bay." This is one of the world’s last great tuna fisheries.
Sadly, with this new law in place, the largest Chinese mine outside of China is now free to dump into Madang’s Basamuk Bay with impunity. They don't even have to worry about getting fined. The Act’s amendments come after a petition against ocean waste dumping was presented to the Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister in Bongu Village, Madang Province on April 10th. In response, the corrupt regime chose to suppress the rights of landowners who are concerned about their lives and the environment. Without legal means to protect their land and seas from foreign resource invaders, there is already talk in Madang of “taking it up to the next level” and pursuing other means of resistance. It is highly unlikely the mine will ever commence as anger grows.
DISCUSS THIS ALERT: Rainforest portal blog and Facebook -ecointernet
Melbourne-Geelong Pipeline- all pipes go to Melbourne
Barwon Water has invited tenders for the supply of pipes, fittings and large valves for a Melbourne-Geelong interconnection project, located in Victoria.
It involves the construction of a 56.4 km underground pipeline and associated works to link Melbourne and Geelong’s water supplies.
The pipeline will deliver up to 16,000 MMl/a of water to Geelong, equivalent to half of the region’s current water usage.
According to the Victorian government, the pipeline will enable Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast to tap into water projects such as the Sugarloaf Pipeline and the desalination plant planned from the end of 2011.
Who will pay for this infrastructure, the public! While our population keeps growing, for the sake of "the economy", the costs will continue to be a heavy burden on the people of Victoria for a basic necessity for life - water!
Big Business will get its way