My logical perspective

100 days of a new LNP Government

2013-12-12T15:41:00.001+11:00

Let me state right up front, I VOTE LABOR EVERY ELECTION. I do it because I have a social conscience. I’ve never seen the LNP having a social conscience despite now having a Catholic PM. They always govern for the big end of town and leave the poor and hard done by to fend for themselves. They expect charities to look after the poor. They remove safety nets and safe guards. Why should they bother looking after those who cannot look after themselves?

I wrote on my Facebook page a week or ago about what I think of the Abbott led government and its achievements in its first 100 days, which falls on 19 December. How many of you out there voted LNP and think they are doing a good job after 100 days? No matter how hard I try to be open minded, I think they have done a terrible job.

For a government so keen on pressing its credentials of being a government of action, of infrastructure and that would do what it said it would do, it has certainly failed on many fronts.

I, personally, feel humiliated in front of my non-Australian friends, with the latest tough guy stunt of not lowering the flag in remembrance of Mandela. This government has managed to offended almost every friend we have in the region. Abbott should have quickly apologised to Indonesia about spying to limit the damage but no, he played the tough guy, hung out a week or two during which time Indonesia became so incensed they dropped cooperation with Australia on multiple fronts. Then Bishop commented on something that is none of our business and in the process offended one of our biggest trading partners, China. Unbelievable.

The government is unlikely to carry out its loudest promise, to remove he carbon tax before the Christmas break. The ALP, Greens and several Independents will see to it that the Bill is discussed more than a tad longer. All non-government parties are unhappy with the proposed Direct Action solution which will pay the big end of town to reduce their carbon footprint rather than a cap and trade system which the ALP government wanted to implement but were denied by the LNP and Greens. The world is moving in an emissions trading scheme direction. The USA (in a majority of states) and China both have emission trading schemes in place. Direct Action is handouts for big business and a waste of time and money. There is no evidence it will work. I note that the effect of the carbon tax has been misrepresented by the Government by stating it only created a reduction of 0.1% of emissions without divulging the full story. They neglected to advise that the companies covered by the carbon tax actually reduced emissions by 12.75% in the first year while those not covered by it increased their carbon emissions giving a total saving of 0.1%. Simply put, the carbon tax needs to be widened, not rescinded. An emissions trading scheme is a logical progression.

Then the Government quietly removed $500m of funding from the car industry and dropped Holden as the official Commonwealth car supplier for BMWs. When the car industry questioned this, the government yelled at them to tell Australia their plans for the future. The government is driving the car industry out. Do they realise the implications? By Hockey’s reaction in parliamentary question time on Wednesday, I think not. An ALP front bencher estimated job losses would be 50,000. Hockey looked shocked and asked where that figure came from. Does he and his cohorts understand that the car manufacturers of GMH, Ford, Toyota and Mitsubishi are not the only ones who will suffer? There is a large industry supporting the car manufacturers, the reason Toyota feels staying will now be far more difficult. Does the Government understand the collateral damage to makers of spare parts that will be smashed by this? Those who make engines, car seats, dash boards, speedos, wheel rims, etc. that are assembled at the manufacturing plants to make Holdens? The true cost will be 10x more than just the loss of jobs at the car manufacturing plants. What about the welfare payments for those put out of work?

So no help for Qantas either, heh? If we are to maintain the Australian ownership laws, which I think we should, then why not contribute to the recovery but make the contribution with strings attached? 1. Joyce must go. 2. Jetstar Asia must be sold off. 3. A large portion of maintenance must be done in Australia, but as a trade-off, Qantas can implement the maintenance strategy that goes with the new aircraft rather than the unions making them use the old plane maintenance schedule. The government needs to help. Qantas is a flying advertisement for Australia. It encourages tourism. We need that advertising campaign regularly to attract tourists to spend money here.

Against Malcolm Turnbull’s better judgement, I’m sure, the coalition government plans to remove the quality NBN the ALP planned of Fibre To The Premise (FTTP) which this country needs. A high speed internet will enable Australians to build non-primary industries for the future and engage in the world market. Despite every intellectual (and a large portion of the population) saying they want it and Australia needs it and anything less would be useless, these stubborn mules of politicians plan to put in a cheap version with a download speed of up to 25MB/s (which a report today by NBN says cannot be achieved). To explain how inadequate 25MB/s is, the next generation of TV – 4K TV which is 4x the definition of HDTV – needs 25MB to run a program from the internet so you will need to turn off all your other devices accessing the internet (iPads, work computers, digital radios, extra TVs, etc.) so your kids can watch Nickelodeon! The coalition version of the NBN is Fibre To The Node (FTTN), a box in the street like the old electricity box you still see some of, which requires direct power to it and has a relatively high maintenance schedule. It will cost more in the long term to maintain. And to add to this, the ALP version was free if connected as it goes past a house (still need to pay an ISP for access but the wiring was free). The Coalition version is up to $5000 payable by the home owner that wants it….or they can use the current copper cables that will last maybe another 5-10 years and might get 6MB/s as mine does. Basic Economics 101 says dollars spent today to build something costs less than putting it off and spending on it tomorrow. Do it now! Make Australia a leading technology country. Open Australian businesses to the internet to sell goods and services overseas on the world market, build industries to build the country’s wealth.

The education row last week was an eye opener. This is governing for the wealthy. Christopher Pyne is trying to wreck the agreed education funding (all be it rescinded after an outcry) by removing funding and gearing the funding test to benefit private schools with public schools getting less. What’s fair in that? No wonder the outrage from parents and state governments alike.

Add to that the government request that low paid child care workers give back their pay rise. Seriously? You could save almost as much if politicians gave back their last pay rise and reduced their privileges for travel and other expenses that have been seen to have been abused by both sides of the house for some time. How unbelievable. And the consession put in place t oreduce misuse was laughable. Self-regulated. Useless! Instead, let’s pay 6 months maternity leave to highly paid women to have children but those who will then care for the children should give back their meagre pay rise?

Generally, they have played party politics. Both sides do but they’ve done it vindictively, rescinded laws and funding on the basis that they just plain hate anything the ALP achieved regardless of its actual worth, plan on rescinding legislation that goes a long way to saving the planet from ruin for those who come after us (including our own children) and a fair income source to help the budget, have gone back on numerous promises including spending time with Aboriginal communities in the first week/month.

Do I need to go on? Do any of you feel lucky? Or like you did the right thing? Unlikely.

2012-05-28T09:12:00.001+10:00

Craig Thomson
Yep. Castastrophy. Schamozzle. Pathetic. No doubt. The public is now fully aware of it. Now let the courts decide, not the rable we call our Parliamentary representatives. Either way the rules of Parliament here in Australia say he can remain in Parliament so long as he isn't bankrupt or sent to jail for 1yr+. If he really ripped off his HSU members, doesn't that make him perfect for Parliament? Begs the questions too, how far will Tony Abbott go to be PM and do we want someone so aggresive and self absorbed to be our leader? Would he be any better than the incumbent? How low can our politicians stoop? If only we didn't need politics!! Can they get back to making Australia a better place to live? Isn't that what they're paid for? Can they behave like adults? Is a Rhodes scholarship worth anything of value these days? Can the media return to important questions like will the Wallabies be any good this year and who will win the next State of Origin?

I'm back!

2011-11-04T20:08:00.000+11:00

Been a while. I think I'm posting to myself though because I can't find my blog online. Still, a way to get things off my chest without winging in the ears of friends.

TBC, :-)

Qantas sux!

2011-11-04T20:06:00.000+11:00

That's coming from a shareholder.

Thank goodness I'm flying Air Pacific to Fiji on Monday. Yeah, I know. They do some weird stuff because of the regime in charge. Not the people's fault though.

Rugby League wont get $1billion TV deal

2011-02-15T16:37:00.000+11:00

There has been lots of discussion in the Sydney papers about the NRL around the new Commission and the next TV rights deal.

I like the idea of a commission but I fail to see how it will truly affect the way the NRL is run today. Sure, it takes out some of the current warring factions - QRL, ARL, NRL, other state bodies - and commercial companies like News Ltd who perhaps hold too much sway in decision making, but I don't see how it will alter the game as a whole...other than to allow more clubs to be privatised, like the Knights

Associated with these articles is discussion and the presumption that the next TV rights deal due next year will rake in $1billion+. Foxtel is the only subscriber TV service so why would they pay that money? They have no competitor for pay TV. Channel Nine don't need to buy pay TV out to get free to air access as there is legislation that free to air must get first dibs on sport and only Channel 10 appear to want to challenge Nine for the free to air rights. Channel 7 appear to have decided to drop it for AFL. The ABC and SBS can't compete due to small pockets.

I just don't see Foxtel, Nine or Ten offering anywhere near $1billion. I can't see it getting over half of that. If there is no auction there is nothing to push the price up and without TV the NRL won't exist. The TV channels have the upper hand.

Channel Nine not showing games live after buying rights is an issue but not for the viewers. I'm more than happy for Nine to edit out the dead time in a game.

Another reason why Sydneysiders don't catch buses

2011-02-14T17:12:00.001+11:00

I was visiting an Aunt and Uncle the other day. The conversation turned to my uncle giving his son a lift to work. Dennis (his son) lives 150m if that from a bus stop that goes to a main train station and 300m from a bus stop that does express service to the city (where he needed to go) in the morning. Turns out he'd convinced my uncle that he needed a pre-paid ticket to get the bus. Poppy-cock! Only at major stations and in the city. Perhaps on the express, but he wanted to go to the train station anyway.

Then it became apparent that my uncle's granddaughter was getting lifts to college because she didn't want to walk from Central to Broadway - 300m! She was scared she might get accosted by some weirdo she hasn't ever seen yet...in broad daylight And my uncle was agreeing to it. Soft touch!

That's why Sydneysiders don't use the bus. Nothing to do with poor service, lack of buses, dirty buses, poor routing. They are being pampered by relatives to taxi them around. Don't get me started on taxis. They are the worst drivers on the road. I'll deal with that anotehr time.

I don't know what you all think about that out there but I think it is lazy, hysterical and crazy. I spoke my mind (nothing unusual about that) and would be surprised if my uncle gave any more lifts when a good bus or train service was close by. I'd also be surprised if my cousins and their kids were talking to me for a while. :-)

I love the bus system around these parts. I think it is fantastic. I don't know why Sydneysiders are always whinging about it. And the train system is great too. If a train is 2mins late, then think of it as the next one is 5mins early. What's 2mins these days anyway? I agree there should be more train lines put in such as down the M2 for the Norwesties and from Epping to Parramatta and perhaps on to Campbelltown for the westies who work in the westies, not the city, but what is there already is excellent.

Bring on the NBN!

2011-02-10T22:27:00.000+11:00

Okay. Declaration first. I'm a Telstra shareholder. But this isn't about Telstra. It's about investing for the future.

Australia stands to benefit from a fast broadband network. We are a country that sells mostly primary produce but produces little else. We invent some amazing things but are often so far from a potential market the ideas get sold off to another country or researchers move to get funding. We are remote from the rest of the world so going to markets around the globe to advertise a product or garner investment in development is very expensive. Our farmers have relied on radio reports for long range weather forecasts to make educated guesses when to plant. Students rely on books in a library. Lots of business in country is done face to face so we burn lots of fossil fuels.

What if we could advertise on the World Wide Web and reach several billion prospective customers at the touch of a button, from the comfort of the best country on the planet, access soil and weather reports instantly, communicate with other researchers around the world via video from our labs or homes, conduct management meetings between cities face to face via video conference, the list goes on.

A fast, stable internet will open Australian businesses up to the world, provide education research tools to researchers and school kids, bring more technology to our farmers to better judge when to plant or harvest and to miners where to drill.

Yes, the cost to implement the NBN will be more than other countries. Why? Because we have 20million people spread across 7.6 million square kms. There are wide open spaces between towns and farms. Today, a report was published coparing the cost of the NBN to the network in Korea. Not a fair comparison. Korea is 73 million people spread over 173,000 square kms. An apples for apples comparison might be Russia or Canada having a similar population density. Not the USA as it has a population density 15 times Australia's.

We built the Sydney Harbour Bridge to take 8 lanes of traffic and two lines of trains when there were almost no cars. The NBN is a similar investment in our future. It's great to see some politicians do something for the long term good of the nation rather than short term to get re-elected. It's becoming tedious to see the Federal Opposition opposing things for the sake of opposing things. The Coalition spent 11 years in government letting our infrastructure run down. The present government is building new infrastructure and investing in the future. Maybe I'll write about levies another time.

Get on board Australia!

Woolworths Fresh Food Update

2011-02-10T21:58:00.000+11:00

From the time I first saw this advertisement I knew it wasn't what it was purported to be.

For the first couple of months, every update explained why the price of at least one fruit or vegetable was going up. Now, every second or third day the news is bad while others preach of new varieties of a fruit or vegetable, like it shoulod be. For example:

Broccoli is now in season. Look for firm green foliage and stiff stalks. Unfortunately, due to heavy frost, tomatoes from the Riverina have been ruined so the price of tomatoes will remain firm for a few more weeks until the Armidale crops ripen.

Never mind that they have 2 years worth in the freezer. Pass on the price NOW!

Another big corporation (just like electricity) finding any excuse to put up prices.

Budgie Smugglers should be banned?

2011-02-04T13:27:00.000+11:00

A topic dear to my heart.

I live near a beach (not the one in the photo but close) and swim a lot, almost daily. I like my budgie smugglers. They are more comfortable when swimming than shorts. I don't see a problem with them, on me or others just like I don't oibject to women wearing bikinis. I have no problem with Tony Abbott wearing them at the beach, regardless of whethe rthe media chooses to photograph him wearing them or not. Budgies are an Australian icon. If you dislike budgies or think they should be banned, you are being un-Australian!

I do however agree that they should only be visible at the beach or in a swimming centre. They should not be worn without shorts commuting to those appropriate locations, including from your car, public transport (God forbid people wearing them on the bus or train!) or house to the beach or swimming centre. Wearing a T-shirt over them does not excuse this if the budgies are visible.

I do object to men showing off their undies above their shorts or trousers. That is plain crude and ugly!

Does everyone who works in Sydney work in the CBD?

2011-02-03T21:23:00.000+11:00

First blog so a recent topic to try out.

What's with the Iron Cove Bridge extension.

I work at Concord. I travel over the ICB 3 times a week. My trip time between Balmain and the Gladesville Bridge just tripled. The road goes from 3 lanes to a bus lane plus two lanes over the new bridge to two lanes of which buses stop to drop off and pick up in the left lane so it is really 1 lane for cars. 3 lanes to 1 lane. That works!

There must be 60% of the number of cars going to the CBD going west. Remember the ones going west?