Month: May 2009

Well she would, wouldn’t she?

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JULIA Gillard is ignoring a request by a cleaning company for her to personally explain how the federal Government’s awards modernisation program will not increase business costs.

South Australian family-owned Longford Cleaning, which employs about 70 permanent part-time and casual staff, yesterday told The Australian the changes could result in it losing up to half its clients when a 25 per cent spike in wage costs is passed on from January 1 .

… spokeswoman for Ms Gillard last night refused to answer specific questions from The Australian, including whether Ms Gillard was prepared to meet the company, and would only refer to the ABC interview transcript.

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Politics

A long way to go

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HEALTH officials warned yesterday that as many as four million Australians could eventually catch swine flu.

Victoria’s acting chief medical officer, Rosemary Lester, said an eventual infection rate of 20 per cent was a “fair estimate”.

“Next year, this may well be the predominant (influenza virus),” she said.

With 50 confirmed cases so far there is a long way to go.

Does anyone else think we are overreacting just a tad?

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General Musings

Too hard to manage stimulus payments

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FEDERAL Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has rejected Government assertions that making $40 million in stimulus payments to dead people and Australians living overseas was unavoidable.

The Australian Tax Office says the cost of the tax bonus payments made to 16,000 dead people is likely to exceed $14 million while another $25 million has been sent to about 25,000 Australians living overseas.

Earlier Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said it was a “ludicrous proposition” to suggest the Government should have ascertained who was dead and who was living overseas before the payments were made.

That data was not available at the time and would have taken months to accumulate, he said.

I simply don’t accept that handing out nearly $40 million to deceased estates or people unable to spend the money on the local economy can be dismissed as “too hard” to manage.

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Politics

Greenpeace idiots stuff up society

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ENVIRONMETAL activists have shut down a coal digger at an Australian power station that provides eight per cent of the country’s coal-reliant electricity market, to protest against government climate policies.

Greenpeace said today’s dawn protest by around 14 activists at the Hazelwood Power Stationin Victoria was the latest part of an ongoing campaign to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions.

“Australia is digging itself into a hole. By phasing out coal and investing in renewable energy, we can protect our environment and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs,” Greenpeace campaigner Simon Roz said.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs?  How?

Laws need to be changed so that Greenpeace can be charged all costs associated with criminal act and the 14 perpetrators should be locked up. People are aware that coal powered electricity is dirty but until we have a reliable alternative we have to keep using it.

 

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Uncategorized

It’s raining

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<i>On the way to the bank</i>

On the way to the bank

Something like nearly 300 ml (about 12 inches for metric disadvantage folk) fell on my suburb over the past 24 hours.  Not to be put off I went down to do the banking and had to negotiate some water over the road. I sat for a while and watched other people and their different approaches to the problem.  People with 4WDs didn’t worry and most small sedans turned around to find another way.  One idiot in a Lada sedan (had to be an idiot to buy it) didn’t even slow down…hit the water at about 40 kph, got swamped by the bow wave and then tried to back out.

Gee, his motor stalled.

I drove on.

More at the Courier Mail

General Musings

Aussie woman in trouble in Thailand

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When this story broke yesterday I thought it a bit fishy. People are not normally thrown in a cell for stealing a bar mat, even in Thailand. The Thais, particularly those with any sort of power, have a well developed sense of self, are very quick to take offence and will lock westerners up at the drop of a hat.

THE Australian woman arrested in Thailand for allegedly stealing a bar mat denies reports she was abusive towards police.

Annice Smoel’s lawyer Bernard Murphy said his 36-year-old client was upset when police took her into custody but she was not abusive

Rubbish!

I was there many years ago and one night on leave events unfolded thus – in a taxi with US and Aussie servicemen…..saw US MP car…gave them a friendly one fingered salute…didn’t notice the Thai Police Lieutenant on board…screech of tyres…come with me…resist arrest (arm through A pillar of cab)..resolved by ramming .38 cal pistol in my belly…arrested…told by smirking US MP (same rank as me) that the Lt had power to lock me up and I’d better rehearse and deliver a sniveling, heart felt apology.

I did.

Protocol 101 in Asia – don’t put down on the local wallopers.

Even Australia’s Chief Clerk  Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd gets involved;

THE Federal Government will spare no efforts or resources to bring a satisfactory conclusion to the case of an Australian woman arrested in Thailand, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.

He said he did not want to underestimate the degree of difficulty involved in the case of Annice Smoel, who has been detained in Thailand for allegedly stealing a bar mat.

I wonder if the PM of the day would have said that about one young Sergeant locked up in Thailand – I doubt it, politicians were more pragmatic then and didn’t say things like “will spare no effort” in saving an Aussie from their own drunk & disorderly behaviour.

Deliver a sniveling, heartfelt apology and you might get off, Annice, but then you might have left it a little late.

UPDATE: Her ordeal is over – she is free to return home. I trust she has learned her lesson.

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General Musings

Swan can’t help himself

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In an apparent move to make Mr Howard a fall guy for a tough budget, Mr Swan said the former prime minister had behaved “as if the mining boom was never going to end” in handing out payments across the community.

“As a consequence of those unsustainable habits which developed at the top of the boom and, given the nature of the global recession and the unwinding of the mining boom, everybody will have to do their bit to put the budget on a more sustainable footing,” Mr Swan said.

Just one small point Wayne,  Howard was handing out money we had and he still left you billions to buy votes with.  You gave all that out and now your’e borrowing and handing out debt to our kids.  

Just get on with your job and stop trying to blame others for your problems and remember, as of tomorrow, the buck stops with you.

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Politics

Oh my God…more torture stories

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MORE than 25 of the CIA’s war-on-terror prisoners were subjected to sleep deprivation during the administration of former President George W.Bush.

Citing memoranda made public by the Justice Department, The Los Angeles Times said today that at one point, the Central Intelligence Agency was allowed to keep prisoners awake for as long as 11 days. 

However, the limit was later reduced to just over a week, the report said.

….and Western lives were saved.

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War on Terror

Wayne Swan announces parental leave will go ahead in 2011

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The federal government will commit to paid parental leave from January 2011 for those earning less that $150,000 a year, federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says. 

“We are one of only two countries in the western world that doesn’t have paid parental leave.” 

Of those who do pay parental leave, I wonder how many means test it ?   I coudn’t find any reference to means testing at Wikipedia but maybe it does occur – just not obvious.

Politics