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Selasa, 05 April 2011

Australians Will Not Accept Nuclear Power

Ian Mcfarlane the Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources says Australia should still consider nuclear power. He must be off his bonnet if he thinks Australians will have a bar of this dangerous form of electricity generation. If a Coalition government seriously suggested a move to nuclear energy people would be protesting in the streets. Then there is the "not in my backyard" syndrome. No community would accept such a potentially toxic plant in their area.

For Mr Mcfarlane's information lessons have been learned from the impossible situation in Japan where there in no solution to the problem. Australians do not want nuclear and will never want nuclear. Japan's economy is severely damaged and the Japanese will have chronic illnesses into the future. Much of the country will have to be fenced off, never to be used by humans ever again.

Australians like everyone else in the world will have to pay much more for electricity as systems of clean coal power generation are ultimately adopted and expensive solar, wind and tidal methods are in general operation. This will happen as countries are dragged screaming and shouting to the table to sign up for carbon pricing. Increasing climactic damage including hits on economies from bad weather will put strong pressure on countries to comply. Countries will put up barriers against products from other economies that do not have low emission policies.

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Science

Jumat, 11 Februari 2011

The NBN Will Be Scrapped When the Coalition Wins Government

Will Australia ever have a National Broadband Network? It seems it will only be partially completed before the Coalition wins the next election and puts a red line through it all. Telstra will remain the controlling body when NBN.com takes over. Not much will change in Australia's communication sector. Those who miss out will be terribly bitter about the mish-mash of a system we are left with. Just why the Coalition hates the NBN is hard to clarify. Why don't they want the nation to move forward with a world-class Internet network?

Telstra is being criticized for being too competitive in price cutting. There is not much profit left for small telcos. Surely, this is the way of the market, but is Telstra trying to "grab" the market before it gains control over a market that will be opened up again with a coalition win?

Telstra will survive a re-adjustment when smaller firms will fail. The Labor Government sees the deal "done" and a majority of the population believes this to be the case. It is certain however, that a new government will bring a stop it all - bloody minded or not. The NBN company will be dissolved. Australian right wing parties are dead against formation of the new national body. After all, they sold off Telstra.

Only one thing will stop this happening: that is Labor, The Greens and Independents could retain control of the upper house. Perhaps the Coalition will not need the upper house in order to scrap it?

~~~~~Politics~~~~~

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Sabtu, 27 November 2010

RBA Governor's Case for Financial Review of NBN Is Too Late

Glenn Stevens the Governor of the Reserve bank says he supports a check on the National Broadband Network. You can't really take this man seriously. He obviously just said it to give a non-partisan, either party approach to government. Getting the Coalition off his back was his main aim. After all this time, he says this now. It is obviously late, very late indeed, with the legislation to change the structure of Telstra going through parliament at this very moment.

The Labor Government wants to stop any further investigation into the full cost of the NBN, particularly now at the end of parliamentary sitting. It wants to go away and breath a sigh of satisfaction. All government projects end up costing more than was budgeted. The Coalition knows this and if it can keep the pressure for financial investigation going it is on a winner. Though, what it can achieve by this is unclear. Labor surely has support to pass anything that is needed to get this monster of a project up and running.

Australia needs the new Internet system just to remain credible in the world. If a third of the population fully take up the capacity offered it will be a surprise. Ordinary households only need a basic service and one that is only a bit faster than that available now - city people that is. Business and rural people will be the big winners. If the industry was left to its own resources as at present those in the bush would be on dial-up permanently.

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Rabu, 08 September 2010

We Have the Government We Deserve

Well we have a government. There could be shaky times ahead but it seems the independents did the rational thing. Supporting the coalition would have given them only a one vote working majority. It was assumed all three independents would go one way. With the two independents Labor has two votes in hand under the new agreed system with Bob Katter voting against the government. Bob Katter is a real National Party person - no ifs no buts. He would have known what the others were going to do. For all his talking his electorate got nothing. He obviously knew which way he would fall all along. It was all show.

Ironically, the Coalition has given Labor an extra vote by having a member of the opposition as deputy speaker with no voting power. Tony Abbott was not thinking clearly when he made that decision. Not giving in to this could have swung the two independents the other way. The Western Australian National must have had an effect. He said he would not block supply for the Coalition. His decision to sit on the cross bench gave the impression that he was not fully supportive though.

After the treasury analysed the Coalition election promises, throwing more money at the independents had no effect. A brand new hospital was clearly far too much for the Tasmanian representative. It seems Tony Abbott had lost credibility. His behavior in the election came back to haunt him. Something fishy was about when his promises were not costed initially.

The real "swinger" was the National Broadband Network. If the Coalition had just said it would review the NBN it would have won office without this fiasco. You can sometimes be too stubborn for your own good. Many have said if labor had not brought the mining tax in the coalition would have done so. It was like the GST - a Labor idea adopted by the coalition. Pity Tony Abbott was not more like John Howard who saw some good in Labor concepts.

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Jumat, 03 September 2010

Australian Voters Were Not Ambivalent

During the election Bob Katter said the best thing that could happen would be a hung parliament. He got what he wanted. Time will tell if he backs a Labor government which is the rational thing to do considering support from the "independent" trio would give Labor a working majority of three. Holding up a Coalition government would give only a one vote majority for them. Note the Speaker for the most part does not actually vote. A one vote majority will not hold the course for long. If the independents have not been putting on a show, with their minds already made up from the beginning, then they have no real choice but to back Labor. Choosing the Coalition will show them to be false prophets.

Some pundits have said that Australian voters were ambivalent about both parties. Labor's mismanagement of the economic stimulus, however, was the major factor in the present deadlock. Most Australians want the National Broadband Network. They did not want Labor to lose outright. The mining tax was really a non-factor. People could take it or leave it. All the other issues pushed voters this way and that but did not affect the outcome.

A lack of vision is also put forward by some pundits. Visionaries like Bob Hawke held power mainly due to their strong personality not to great visionary change. Indeed, voters do not like too much change too quickly. The two leaders do not have strong personalities but not having a vision was irrelevant. Green candidates benefitted most from the protest vote. They should bask in their glory, because the vote for them will not be as high as it was ever again.

Campaigning in marginal electorates was to be expected due to the close polling results in the election. Safe electorates were not promised much so it was also said that consumer-driven voting was the main factor. This is only a new term for old fashioned hip-pocket voting. Labor still supports the working "man" and the conservative parties still lean toward big business. Tony Abbot's pet project, maternity leave, not supported by hardly any of his colleges was an oddity of the campaign.

Overall, Labor's campaign did have vision. A great new tax and national "medicare" were bold new ideas. In summary two things were important: Labors mismanagement and the NBN. To a degree they cancelled each other out.

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Selasa, 24 Agustus 2010

The NBN Will Remain an Issue into the Next Election

The NBN will live on. Despite the Coalition winning government with the ex-National Party Independents support, the National Broadband Network will remain with Labor at the next election. Indeed, they will win and put Australia on a path to a better future. There is no way the Australian people will accept "the private sector will provide" because it certainly won't. Telstra is only interested in market share. Hope lies in Telstra investing heavily and freezing out small telcos. This is its long term plan. Faster broadband is needed now, however, for medicine, education and scientific endeavours.

As a voter said in Bob Katter's electorate, God help Bob if he supports a Labor government. He will try to keep broadband. Tony Abbot will refuse and Bob will give in to his own deep conservative emotions. Like the Green who has already said he will support Labor. Eighty percent of Green voters used to vote for Labor. Even Bob Brown the Green leader openly prefers Labor over the Coalition. He has already warned that not much will get through the upper house.

The Coalition has not faced a hostile Senate before. It will be tough going for Tony Abbot. He is not a man for compromise. He has his own opinions and he wants his own way. The maternity leave issue is a case in point. Hardly any Coalition members want this. They don't want a heavier burden placed on business. The mining tax is not over yet either. It will be almost impossible for any government to balance the books without savage cuts much like the cuts in the UK. Like the problem government in the UK which will see the Liberal Democrats blamed for "sleeping with the enemy" and slaughtered at the next election, so the Independents here who go in with either party will face termination at the future poll in Australia.

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Kamis, 19 Agustus 2010

Coalition Wins

Election day is here and it looks like a change of government. If both parties get 50 per cent of the vote the Coalition will win because of the "smell" coming from the removal of Kevin Rudd. It may look like a tie, but Labor will lose two or three marginal seats by a handful of votes due to the Rudd knee-jerk action. Indeed, Julia Gillard will become the shortest reigning Prime Minister in Australia's history. This result will see her rethink her future. Personally, I can't see her staying around after the humiliation.

A loss for Labor will be a new beginning. They will have to look for new, younger leaders. When Wayne Swan takes the helm he will be the last of the old school left. Three years on the outer will see the end of him. No one else stands out with potential leadership qualities. Indeed, the Coalition is in the same boat. If Abbott goes who is to lead?

A new Coalition government has an identity problem. Will it stay on the far right after being pushed there by the "old fogies" of the team, or will it move back to the center? Tony Abbot is definitely on the right. He has the attitude of the present British Government: just balance the books; nothing needs to be done; stuff the poor. It won't be long before Abbott gets on with his pet issue - reorganizing industrial relations. Yes, the unions are in for a hard time as changes are made to workplace laws. Promises in an election are just that - promises.

P.S. Pity the NBN was scrapped. It condemns Australia to being a backwater in the world.

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Sabtu, 14 Agustus 2010

A Win to the Coalition Will Be a Win for Telstra Without the NBN

One thing that could swing voters in favor of Labor is the National Broadband Network. Many who are absolutely fed up with the "miss-spending of the present Government still want faster Internet speed and they are willing to put up with more Labor failings to get it.

The Coalition has not seen the importance of this issue to voters. Its version of fast Internet is a feeble 12Mbps based on old technology led by the market. History has shown overseas that the market will not provide. Governments have had to build broadband networks.

Claims that the IT industry fully supports the Coalition plan instead of the NBN are untrue. The tech-heads who can do without the NBN live in the major city centers where cable is readily available. They are not concerned about the bush which telcos will never reach.

Telstra is now in the mix with the NBN. But if it fails to go ahead, Testra will fight back over time to dominate the communications industry again. It has already cut prices dramatically and is offering 8000kbps to outer city areas. To people who have had to "pay through the nose" for 512 and possibly 1500 this is really fast. A win for the Coalition will see people moving from small telcos back to Telstra in droves as they make the most of a bad thing.

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Minggu, 27 Juni 2010

Dump Green, Family First and Independent Senator

As many implied when the Greens did not support the Labor Government's Emissions Trading Scheme: They will live to regret it. This certainly seems to be the case when the new Prime Minister Julia Gillard says an ETS will have to wait until a clear majority of Australians support such a scheme. The Greens acted to block the ETS when they did not get everything they wanted. It was a silly thing to do. After all, any scheme is better than no scheme at all.

Labor bent over backwards to get the Greens to support the policy. The scheme was extremely weak compared to the original plan. But no, the Greens wanted a draconian pollution reduction program in place. Now there will not be an ETS for many years. Even if Julia Gillard calls a double dissolution and wins the next election it seems unlikely that Labor will get control of the upper house. Indeed, the troublesome Family First and Independent could lose their seats to the coalition.

Ironically, the Greens actually did Labor a favor. By killing the ETS more money was there to fatten up government coffers. This took some steam out of the opposition's ongoing complaint about the government deficit.

Australians clearly have a choice at the next election. Either give Labor control of the upper house or forget about ever having an ETS. For a start, the Family First, Independent and Greens could be dumped. This would end the problem of disruptive deadlock on issues. It is not really the opposition that causes legislation to be reviewed constantly. It is those who actually hold the balance of power - the minor parties and Independent.

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Kamis, 10 Juni 2010

Australia Is Leading the World in Wealth Redistribution With Its Mining Tax

Does Australia need a mining tax? The world needs a mining tax. Other countries are watching what is happening in Australia. If and when the tax is brought in these mining countries will follow suit, so mining companies will not have the opportunity to move offshore.

Look at the people who head the mining companies. They are not millionaires. They are billionaires. The tax won't hurt them one iota. When CEOs say they want the Government to stop bailing out small companies that fail in order to withhold the tax on them so that their children won't pay the cost, they are lying through their teeth. With the billions of dollars that they leave to their children their offspring will never want for anything.

If the Coalition wins the next election where are the funds coming from to help the not so well off and small business? Spending will be cut. This is a reality. In Germany spending has been cut. Guess who has been hit? Opposition parties are saying it is an unfair redistribution of wealth. In Britain cuts are going to be made to the poor. Australia should lead the world in wealth distribution, not follow what others are doing. Anyway, spending cuts means mass unemployment, falling prices and recession. That is what is going to happen in Europe.

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Sabtu, 15 Mei 2010

British People to Be Offered Australian Style Preferential Voting

There is no way Nick Clegg will get his new voting system introduced. While David Cameron has said a referendum will be held, he is not interested in changing, neither is the Labour Party. When the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition cuts spending and makes life harder with more unemployment who is going to be blamed? It will definitely be the Liberal Democrats. After all, the Conservatives will only do it with Liberal Democrat support.

A referendum will take place when spending cuts take effect. British people will hit the Lib Dems hard when they vote. First past the post is like the monarchy in Britain - it is an institution. There is little doubt that this is not a new beginning for the Lib Dems. This will be the only time they experience power.

The British public are to be offered the Australian system of preferential voting. In Australia this "twisted' form of voting is responsible for the Senate being continually unworkable with the ruling party not being able to get much of its legislation passed. It was brought in to stop the Liberal Party, which is in reality a conservative party, from losing power by locking them into a permanent coalition with the National Party. While the coalition benefits the Liberal Party is does absolutely nothing for the National Party. The smaller party has its own policies but the Liberals always give them a few cabinet posts and tells them to shut up. Though the National Party gets the post of Deputy Prime Minister it is expected to follow Liberal policy. The National Party in Australia is a laughing stock. It just makes up the numbers.

What upset the system was the emergence of first the Australian Democrats and then the Greens. The Democrats are in decline now. However, the Greens are gaining momentum. The problem for the Coalition is that the majority of Greens give their second preference to Labor. Indeed, in some elections Labor has virtually won office on Green and Democrat preferences. The system has not benefited minor parties much in the lower house. Minor parties do hold power in the upper house. This has seriously weakened the governing Labor Party. It is ironic - the Greens put Labor in power, then block legislation in the upper house.

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Senin, 03 Mei 2010

Greens Say Too Much for Their Size

The Greens want the fame without playing the game. In the recent Government attempt to introduce a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme the Greens voted down the new legislation because they wanted more. The Labor Government didn't have the tax high enough. Now the Greens are saying they want a carbon tax of $20 a ton. If they had supported Labor they would have been somewhat on the way towards this. But no, they chose to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Note, the $20 a ton is only to be an interim measure. They are in gaga land. The Australian people and business cannot afford such a high tax.

Compensating some sectors of society is completely ruled out by the Greens. What about people on low fixed incomes like the elderly who worked before compulsory superannuation and have to live on the meagre government pension, or single parent families? This is too tough for the Greens. The Greens are in the position of all minor parties - they never have to pay the price of actually being in government. Hard things must be done and voters remember this. The Family First Senator is a case in point. He has the real balance of power when the Coalition votes en bloc against legislation. He talks a lot a rot and Labor has to give him what he wants, no matter how trivial, to get legislation through.

The Greens can huff and puff as much as they like. People aren't really listening. Voters know they talk a lot of idealistic clap-trap. Whatever the Government does they have something to say to knock it. This is to be expected from a loyal opposition like the Coalition. From minor parties, however, it is just an irritation.

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Jumat, 23 April 2010

Abbot Is Naive to Stop Young People Getting the Dole

Tony Abbot's call to send young people to work down the mines is a bit radical for an opposition leader. The "dole bludger" term is very old hat nowadays. With government strengthening of loopholes in getting unemployment benefits it no longer applies.

Abbot says young people do not know what is good for them and they are naive. Working down the mines will not make them less naive. Furthermore, they do know that going underground will not do them any good. Abbots condemnation of them joining environmental movements instead of mainstream political parties is like the cat calling the kettle black. Another "naive" statement from Tony Abbot is the idea of testing young people to see if they are "mature" enough to receive unemployment benefit.

Though Tony Abbot believes that depriving the young of unemployment benefit will make them move to the remote bush of Western Australia, this is a childish, simplistic dream. Recruitment officer Kevin Wealand says mining companies need skilled workers. They don't want labourers. Abbot says this will be Liberal Party policy. Ultimately this attempt at social engineering will not work. Mine owners and union leaders are cringing at the thought of having unskilled workers operating dangerous mining machines. Queensland Resources Council director Michael Roche says Tony Abbot is misguided - he is completely off the track.

Putting it bluntly, Tony Abbot comes across as a twerp. Does he sleep with that bike? Where have all the real leaders like Malcom Turnbull and Peter Costello gone? The Coalition needs to get a decent leader to be a contender for Prime Minister.

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