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sydney alternative media - non-profit community independent trustworthy
Tuesday, 27 February 2007
Maxine McKew timing for Bennelong follows Cheney at Australia-America Leadership Dialogue
Mood:  d'oh
Topic: election Oz 2007

SAM's editor wrote of Maxine McKew, distinguished ex ABC journalist in her own right (partner of ex National secretary of the Australian Labor Party referred to here back in 2002 PM - Bob Hogg endorses ALP power change ), several months ago. It was on www.sydney.indymedia.au (SIM) website which has been a bit patchy lately.

Here is a big media report at the time of her leaving the ABC Maxine McKew to leave the ABC. My piece at the time was about 'who is she kidding that she is really going to an ALP job?' though her line back then  is summarised in this quote in that story:

"She says she is taking time off to consider new challenges."

Here [now] is this editor's take via SIM 4 months ago: Does the Herald, Crikey and Maxine McKew think we are all so gullible? and worth quoting in full from 25th Oct 2006

"McKew will be nominating as a candidate for the ALP or in some other party political capacity before the next federal election.

 Neither reports in Crikey, or the Herald today note this possibility. Doh!

She is on record as having considered the move before in 2004 and ruling it out. She is an obvious Beazley barracker in the the Latham leadership period.

I mean does one really have to lay out the detail of the situation not to mention domestic arrangements.

McKew, minister for .... something in the next Beazley government, just like Mary Delahunty in the Victorian Parliament for the ALP. The trend in the polling has tipped her hand. Stay tuned for the next choreography.

Her picture in the precincts of her own home in the Herald today was over egging the pudding if you ask me but who can pay for exposure like that?"

Famously now McKew is on all the front pages of the press yesterday 26th Feb 07, having nominated herself, with the ALP leader's blessing, to tackle PM John Howard in his own seat of Bennelong:

Look who's taking on the PM in Bennelong

McKew catches PM off balance

We at SAM know that seat of Bennelong a bit having helped with driving and distribution work for the Not Happy John (NHJ) against PM Howard campaign in 2004 who used an amusing cartoon on the PM in their materials (below).

We met John Valder of NHJ a few times in 2004 as former president of the Liberal Party of Australia, yet sworn enemy of John Howard.

If memory serves McKew let it be known her intentions re Bennelong late on Sunday at a function opposite Kirribili House, though certainly it was via big chorerographed amplification in the Big Media yesterday Monday 26th Feb 2007 . 

But something else happened just last Friday as well which could be curiously related timing: Dick Cheney was reported doing this:

Cheney in Australia

February 13, 2007 12:15am

Article from: The Advertiser

U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney will deliver a major speech on U.S. foreign policy and the Australia-America alliance when he visits Sydney next week.

Mr Cheney is due to address the Australian American Leadership Dialogue at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney on Friday of next week.

His trip comes after a brief visit to Japan, at which he plans to snub Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma, who called the Iraq war a "mistake". At http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21216089-5006301,00.html

[bold added]

And Maxine McKew is a known supporter of the http://www.aald.org/ and most likely did attend that forum. For her support of the AALD note this:

 

"A 30 year background in television reporting has seen Maxine cover a wide spectrum including state and national politics, business reporting and a period as foreign correspondent that took her to posts in both Washington DC and to New York. As a result Maxine maintains a strong interest in American political and economic issues and is a regular participant in the privately funded annual Australian and US Leadership Dialogue."

 

at http://www.aimconvention.com.au/Speakers/ConventionModerator

 

[bold added]

 

My own impression of Maxine McKew - just another nepotistic conservative opportunistic ALP crony who only moved to announce for Bennelong after the 2004 election with 

 

- The Greens 16% unrusting many voters off the Coalition,

- as well as the Not Happy John unrusting work (that this writer worked with),

- the electorate redistribution in ALP's favour,

- the Rudd strong polls,

- the revealing www. crikey.com.au (Morgan) polling reported from their subscriber material a week old below,

- the Oz-Chinese voting population that Rudd can talk to in Mandarin

- Cheney's blessing of the loyal ALP Opposition to the US Alliance, war mongering in Iraq and Iran notwithstanding, or our troops withdrawal.

 

McKew surely is just another Establishment revolving door jobbie between Big Media and Big Politics, a wage slave of Packer owned The Bulletin, former Channel 10 commercial tv, and conservative ABC ranks supportive of the current Howard controlled Board 'reforms' of the 'Marxist national broadcaster'.

 

SAM's editor also feels pretty sure Rudd got McKew to go the high publicity route in all the press a month back now (contrary to her own advice the 'Josh Lyman type' advisers stay invisible) for this reason:  To prove to the ALP family, and to hurt inconveniently noisy Beazley, that McKew was now Rudd's political property, formerly Beazley's. This was at the time the old Bomber ex leader was getting a bit too interested in publicity again as the ex leader in the SMH features etc, inevitably drawing comparisons of his experience compared to new leader Rudd.

 

Rudd effectively signalled to the ALP family he was the future with talent like Maxine working for him now (both pictured above at Canberra's federal Parliament House yesterday lifted from Sydney Morning Herald, photo by their Andrew Taylor). His political property. It's all pretty calculated from my viewpoint.

 

Cheney is also known to have had a quite undemocratic confidential meeting with Rudd, so much for values of transparency and governing for the people rather than the hierarchical elites.

 

McKew is on the ABC radio with Trioli 702 this morning as we write saying she had decided some 3 weeks ago and was sitting on the news but in reality it was only yesterday's coverage that crossed the Rubicon, after the Cheney visit.

 

Cheney was reported over the weekend stating the US-Australia alliance is "rock solid" which was widely reported as a let off to the ALP for wanting to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq:

 

 Interview: Kevin Rudd
Political editor Laurie Oakes speaks to Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd about Labor’s election chances, Australia’s alliance with the US in Iraq, the battle of ideas for Australia’s future and Labor’s national clean coal initiative...Watch the video more

 

Presumably Cheney said as much at the AALD forum as well:

 

Was McKew at the AALD last Friday? Did she go big on her candidacy only after Cheney's diplomacy

 

The other significant involvement of SAM's editor is that I sent a package of the crikey poll on Bennelong to Valder's mob of NHJ about a week ago to encourage them to play a role in 2007 in Bennelong: Tthey used this cartoon by Moir lifted from the Sydney Morning Herald:

 

 I notice Valder who I met a few times in 2004 back in the news again today barracking for McKew.

 

My email was as follows:

 

Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 5:42 PM

Subject: not happy john to live again in 2007? crikey morgan poll is suggestive - last Monday 19th Feb

1. PM would lose his own seat: Crikey Morgan Poll

Christian Kerr writes:

Prime Minister John Howard would lose his own seat of Bennelong if a federal election was held today, a Crikey-Morgan Poll has found.

And it gets worse for the PM: a majority of voters in his electorate say Kevin Rudd would be a better prime minister – and 38% of the PM’s own constituents believe he should retire before the federal election.

The findings come from a telephone poll of 394 Bennelong electors conducted by Roy Morgan Research last Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Labor support in Bennelong is running at 55% on a two party preferred basis, compared with 45% for the Liberal Party,

Forty per cent of Bennelong electors would give their first preferences to the Prime Minister (down 9.9% since the last election). Forty one per cent would cast a primary vote for Labor (up 12.6% since 2004), 11% for the Greens and 5% for others. Only a low 3% of voters were undecided.

A higher proportion of Bennelong voters say Labor leader Kevin Rudd would be a better Prime Minister than Mr Howard – 49% to 47%.

More Bennelong electors disapprove of the way Mr Howard is handling his job as Prime Minister than approve – 47% to 44%. In contrast, 75% approve of the job Mr Rudd is doing as Opposition Leader, compared to just 11% who disapprove and 14% who can’t say.

Full results and tables are available
here.

 

Back to Top


2. Battlezone Bennelong

Christian Kerr writes:

Bennelong will be a frontline seat in this year’s federal election. A redistribution of the electoral boundaries in NSW last year cut John Howard’s margin down to just four per cent on the Mackerras pendulum – but some authorities say the figure could be even lower.

"My seat has been made a bit more marginal by the distribution," the Prime Minister has said this morning. But boundary changes aren’t the only thing making Bennelong bodgie for the Libs. Demography also appears to be working against the PM.

Bennelong has seen a rapid influx of new, mostly Asian, migrants in the past decade. Some observers say these new electors are more likely to vote Labor, making that four per cent buffer generous.

The census data from last year isn’t out yet, which makes it difficult to assemble a snapshot of the state of the PM’s seat. However, NSW Labor backroom boy Shane Easson has speculated that a swing to Labor in the state of three per cent "would be enough for Labor to win Bennelong in 2007" in a detailed analysis of the seat on Mumble Politics . A uniform swing of 3.3 per cent across the nation would see a change of government.

Labor polled poorly in NSW at the last election. Its 2004 two party preferred result of 48.07 per cent was its second worst performance since the Whitlam wallopings of 1975 and 77. Labor sources say that a recovery in the party’s vote to more usual levels would pump up the pressure on the PM in his own seat.

Of course, the election is still a long time away. It could be held as late as December 15.

The Government appeared to be in trouble at this time in both 2001 and 2004, yet went on to resounding election years.

Now, though, things may be different. We have new style Labor leader in Kevin Rudd – on a much firmer footing in the polls than Mark Latham last time round.

"There’s a long time between now and the election," pollster Gary Morgan warns. "However, the electorate’s concern over issues such as IR, Hicks and Iraq running against Mr Howard, combined with Kevin Rudd’s elevation to the Labor leadership, has had a significant impact on the standing of Mr Howard and the Coalition."

The PM won’t be pleased with the Crikey Morgan Poll’s findings on these issues, which we’ll publish through the week.

And after today’s poll results, he’ll want to know who his Labor opponent will be.

The ALP has not yet preselected a candidate for Bennelong – although there have been intriguing hints that someone strong may be preparing for a run.

Intriguing hints – and persistent speculation that the Labor could be another cricket tragic. A bloke name Steve Waugh.


Posted by editor at 9:47 AM EADT
Updated: Wednesday, 28 February 2007 10:18 AM EADT
Sunday, 25 February 2007
ALP's minister Debus plays green voters for suckers with captured journo?
Mood:  quizzical
Topic: election nsw 2007

How stupid does astute Bob Debus, the retiring NSW Environment Minister take the NSW voters for? Pretty stupid would be the editor's guess.

 

Here is his latest cheap PR stunt for the environment - worthy on its own terms but hopelessly speculative, uncorroborated (notice Qld Govt on abc tv news last night questioning it's national applicability), deeply inadequate at $7M to the task and gormlessly regurgitated by James Woodford at the Sydney Morning Herald as per most of his stories, and therefore untested, when this government's record is quite contrary to the objective of free migration of species in the age of climate change:

 

Route for wildlife to escape warming A 2800-kilometre wildlife corridor will be established along almost the entire east coast of Australia. 

 

 

Indeed the idea is lifted off The Wilderness Society’s national electioneering agendas anyway, which gives the clue to Debus’s nerves in a close election, including this extract of their map at The Wilderness Society - Australia  website as follows:

 

including this writer (TWS NSW Campaign Coordinator 1993-1994) having long campaigned against the scourge of logging and woodchipping of our eucaplypt natural forests here in the very exact zone of the so called conservation migration route along Eastern Australia’s fringe: The hypocrisy is breathtaking really. Debus presents as a priestly sort of policy gentleman but the truth is far more compromised.

 

The NSW Government including Debus directly cooperates with the foreign (Japanese) multinational SouthEast FibreExports Pty Ltd to destroy our natural heritage here, specifically in the new so called conservation migration zone:

 

In the words of TWS here NSW Forests

 

Southern Forests - Iemma's test!

At the last state election, the Carr-Iemma government put the last great forest icons on the south coast under temporary protection. The intention was clear - the community wanted these places protected and the government recognised this. But they went back on their intention. A fraction of the icons were protected. And then the logging started again. After a community outcry the logging stopped but protection remains only temporary. Premier Iemma must act NOW, before March 2007. The quolls, koalas and gliders need you to act on their behalf to get Iemma to deliver!”

We also received this recently:

From: Harriet Swift

To: ChipStop Network

Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 3:28 PM

Subject: [chipstop] Badja report

 

We went to Badja last weekend because we had heard reports of horrible logging there. It is true.
Anyone familiar with the area as it was in the time of the blockade will be shocked.
The right hand side of Badja Forest Road has been logged, all the way from the cattle grid where we held our last dragon action, almost to the corner where State Forests and police had their camp. Another section begins just as you turn right at that corner. A third section on the road to the Cascades, on the right hand side behind the spot where there was phone reception.
Fortunately, no more logging has been done around the old fort site or at Balook.
Some of the logged areas along the cascades road have been burned, even though there is E. fraxinoides (fire sensitive) in the vicinity.
We didn't see the quoll, but saw some scats. The platypus are still there, even though the river level was lower than usual.
Very depressing, but makes me think a Wielangta type challenge based on the quoll habitat in the escarpment forests is a good idea.
HS

 

Same ole, same ole, as per this campaign poster of photographs by this writer back in


Indeed the loggers are so happy with the governments they have paid for with extensive political donations over the years that WOODCHIPPERS BREAK TRUCK RECORD going into the Eden industrial facility, and even bragged late in 2006 in these terms resplendent with spin and deception:

 

[media release, December 2006, on National Association of Forest Industries website]

 

South Coast NSW timber communities celebrate million tonne milestone

 

NAFI member South East Fibre Exports (SEFE) achieves a record export figure of one million tonnes of woodchips from sustainably managed forests in 2006

 

Catherine Murphy, CEO of NAFI, congratulates NAFI member South East Fibre Exports (SEFE) for achieving a record export figure of one million tonnes of woodchips from sustainably managed forests in 2006.

 

Catherine attended celebrations to mark this outstanding achievement with over 600 south coast timber representatives in Eden today. SEFE’s woodchips exports are primarily bound for Japan where they are turned into high quality paper for Australian and international consumers.

 

“This milestone is a great achievement for the south coast NSW based export facility which employs over 300 people,” said Mrs Murphy.

 

“SEFE sources its timber from sustainably managed forests from NSW and Victoria which are as sustainably harvested to world class standards from Forests NSW and VicForests operations,” she said.

 

“The SEFE mill provides support for a number of local sawmills which are dealing with the recent downturn in the NSW housing market. These local sawmills are also major employers in the south coast area.

 

“Wood waste from SEFE’s chip mill also provides renewable energy for other local businesses. For example, Bega cheese uses wood residues from SEFE’s mill operations to power its cheese manufacturing facilities in Bega. This eliminates the need to rely on power from electricity generated by coal-fired power plants, which are major contributors to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.

 

“This milestone is also significant considering the to disruption forestry and mill operations caused by environmental groups. These groups often employ illegal tactics to disrupt these operations.

 

“Reaching this outstanding export target of one million tonnes shows how ineffective these outrageous tactics have been.

 

“We congratulate SEFE and the south coast timber community on their outstanding success,” Mrs Murphy said.

 

………………………………

Picture: Truck exits "closed" public forest at Wandella NSW South Coast in 2005, past conservationist protest camp (on council road reserve land tenure) to the Eden chipmill.

 

 

This from the same Catherine Murphy who pre emptively accused green groups of supporting “eco terrorism” yet conservationists are the only ones bleeding in the industry’s cynical game of money politics, as shown here:

 

6th Dec 2006 - New paper: Logger terrorism under the Howard federal government

 

It all makes perfect sense, killing forest animals and plants for a living every working day of the week, terrorising greenies short of killing them too, but who doubts they would feed 'em into the chipper if they could at Eden:

 

 

This woodchipping obscenity is well understood by organised regional conservationists including Party political groups who might once have supported the ALP with preferences:

 

Braidwood Greens » Blog Archive » Greens announce preferences forEden Monaro

 

 

And clearly the NSW Government are embarrassed by their corrupt forest policy to cover up the details as here:

 

[Media release]

Greens in court to expose SE forests woodchip cover-up

22/02/2007

Greens campaigners are today appealing a decision by the NSW government to refuse to release the price at which native South East NSW forest timber is being sold to a highly profitiable Japanese company.
 

South East Fibre Exports chipmill, Eden NSW - The Eden chipmill is effectively a monopoly buyer and Forests NSW is a monopoly seller of pulp logs in NSW, so there is no commercial reason for this secrecy

Greens MP
Lee Rhiannon said, “The government is selling off our native forests for a pittance to a Japanese owned chipmill and is intent on hiding this fact.”

“Greens forest campaigners are today appealing the decision by Forests NSW to refuse to release this information under NSW freedom of information laws.

“Polls show 80 per cent of the public oppose wood chipping our native forests.

“The NSW government is failing the public by covering up how cheaply our native forests are being sold off. Forests NSW claims this information is ‘commercial in confidence’ to the company concerned.

“The Eden chipmill is effectively a monopoly buyer and Forests NSW is a monopoly seller of pulp logs in NSW, so there is no commercial reason for this secrecy.

 “The Ombudsman has shown how bureaucracies are increasingly using NSW’s weak FOI laws to shield themselves from their obligation to release information that is clearly in the public interest.

“This is clearly the case with Forests NSW.

“Last year the Iemma government voted against a Greens private members bill for an overhaul of NSW’s eighteen year old freedom of information laws.

“The Iemma government must believe it is in its best interests to hide its inadequacies.

“Our archaic FOI laws are capable of sheltering the government from criticism. This is one example of the shonky use of FOI exemptions.

“It is a continuing scandal that the NSW government is felling our native forests to have them shipped off-shore as woodchips, while trying to paint itself as an environmentally friendly party,” Ms Rhiannon said.

The hearing is at 10am this morning before the Administrative Decisions Tribunal, Level 15, St James Centre, 111 Elizabeth Street. The Environmental Defenders Office is representing Mr Gerry Watt.

Contact:  Greens MP Lee Rhiannon 9230 3551, 0427 861 568, Mr Gerry Watt 0439 737 530

…………………..

 

Indeed NSW forest destruction is symptomatic of corrupt politics in Australia with roughly 8 million tonnes of forest chipped nationally per year. In the last ten years 70 million tonnes of forest has been chipped under the current NSW and Federal governments elected in 1995 and 1996 respectively (as well as Victorian, and Tasmanian governments but less so the WA government today), all supporting destruction of our forests in an age of climate change. In short environmental criminals as per this map of Tasmania from TWS adapted from Google Earth apparently:

 


And notice this report of the determined support for the vandalism:

 

[Media release] 24 February 2007

Regional Forest Agreement Change is Alice in Wonderland Nonsense - Brown

 

“Humpty Dumpty: When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.

Alice: The question is, whether you can make words mean so many different things. Humpty Dumpty: The question is: which is to be master - that's all.”

 

 

"The agreement by Prime Minister Howard and Tasmanian Premier Lennon to drop the pivotal clause which protects rare and endangered species is Alice in Wonderland-style nonsense, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

 

"Justice Marshall ruled that the reserve system and management prescriptions used in the Wielangta forest do not protect the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle, Swift Parrot and Wielangta Stag Beetle.

 

"Mr Howard and Mr Lennon say that, without change to logging impacts, they can stare down this ruling by simply writing their contrary opinion into the Regional Forest Agreement.  This will not prevail," said Senator Brown.

 

Senator Brown said that regardless of the RFA change, logging in the 10,000ha Wielangta forest remains illegal.  Neither will this hollow manoeuvre by Howard and Lennon change Australian or international laws which require the habitat of rare and endangered species to be protected.

 

"My lawyers will study the RFA changes in the coming weeks.  I have no intention of backing away from challenging the Tasmanian woodchip industry's threat to endangered species," Senator Brown said.

 

Further information: Emma Belfield 0400 181 748

……………..

 

We met Minister Bob Debus (side kick of Bob No.2, ex Premier Bob Carr) a few times in our activist career back to 1992, including at a presser for the oil spill at Shell's Gore Cove oil terminal in Sydney Harbour way back in 1998, our parliamentary submission here:

 

3/8/99...Sydney Harbour oil spill by Shell ship transport contractor, indicative of rogue multinational, Submission to NSW Parliamentary Inquiry

 

(and more generally on that multinational here Shell Hell ). To be fair that mini Exxon Valdez vandalism to our beautiful harbour that Vice President Dick Cheney has just been touring for the tv cameras yesterday 24th February, as reported here:

 

 

Cheney says Hicks will be among first detainees tried

United States Vice-President Dick Cheney says David Hicks is likely to be among the first Guantanamo Bay detainees brought to trial.

 

….was all Shell’s incompetent fault some 8 years ago. Not the NSW government.

 

Purely by coincidence yesterday we butted up to the borders of new micro state Chenistan there in The Rocks next to the CBD where his hotel, the exclusive and bizarrely named Shangrila, is located to deliver the latest Sydney City News suburban freebie newspapers. 3 locations King George V Recreation Centre and two pubs full of tourists are on my list on the same street.

 

Perhaps Big Dick was going to his lunch date with the PM - as we walked to the first of our deliveries chatting with the street cops enforcing “the lockdown” a big black van with Men In Black suits went by, then a stretch limo emerged: Noticing their windows down I hurled some democratic advice “Arrest the war criminal, lock him up and throw away the key” The jolly front passenger cruising into the empty street hurriedly wound up the window, but I do have a loud voice so I know it went in. Then on leaving I suggested to the local officer ‘what we need is a Sydney bus driver to make a citizen's arrest and lock the bastard up’ referring to this local celebrity: Arresting bus driver up for award | NEWS.com.au

 

If only. Cheney's ideology is “scary” to borrow a term off the Sunday political talkies this morning, both in Iraq and in the Arctic Wildlife Reserve. Blood for oil. Just as the hypocrisy and anti environmentalism of the Australian Labor Party is scary for what it does to the souls of good people. Or is that just power politics everywhere and in every Party?


Posted by editor at 11:00 AM EADT
Updated: Monday, 26 February 2007 8:50 PM EADT
Sunday tv policitical talkies - desperate Howard polling plummets, puts on son/bimbo PR stunt?
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: election Oz 2007

Picture: Top left, controlled PR photo ran in PM Howard's favourite newspaper Sydney Daily Telegraph last Thursday prominent right hand side, with a suggestive quote from Pamela Anderson, another busty topless model. It's hard to see how 'values voters' (to borrow a phrase from West Wing tv series last night) will react to her, but it does look a calculated PR diversion from a sinking Howard. Treasurer aspirant Peter Costello is pushing various right wing agendas to firm up his succession plans. The Bikini bimbo pic of same woman was p1 no less of the Daily Telegraph yesterday probably in a cynical attempt to distract from the cynical fraud Vice President Dick Cheney and his visit. Both Howard sons are known to be political operatives in support of their father's political brand.

Main story:

Author’s note: This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies  in Big Politics and Big Media. ]

 

Indeed it’s the tv version monitoring task similar to what Nelson Mandela refers to here in his book Long Walk to Freedom (1994, Abacus) written in Robben Island prison (where he was meant to die like other African resister chiefs of history in the 19C), at page 208

 

“..newspapers are only a shadow of reality; their information is important to a freedom fighter not because it reveals the truth, but because it discloses  the biases and perceptions of both those who produce the paper and those who read it.”

 

Just substitute ‘Sunday tv political talkie shows’ for "newspapers" in the quote above.

 

For actual transcripts go to web sites quoted below except with Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.

 

10 Meet the Press 8-8.30 am

 

Quality 2nd string network, good show, lower audience than 9 or 7, both low for Sundays anyway. Traverse of press headlines first including VP Cheney says troops pull wouldn’t risk the USA-Australia alliance.

 

Deputy ALP leader: Julia Gillard, welcomes Cheney admission Oz troop withdrawal no affect on [“rock solid” per abc tv news last night] alliance.

 

 Spills the beans supports uranium mining expansion at Roxby Downs in South Australia. What a sellout. Says its all for jobs. [the other sleeper is what did Rudd and Cheney talk about that he is so cagey about.)

 

Howard footage of the rapid fire speechmaking on IR. Looks panicky.

 

NSW Teachers federation advert in first break aimed at the federal govt IR laws at play in NSW and federal election.

 

Panel is Jennifer Hewitt? of Fairfax? Mal Farr News Ltd

 

Standard competent discussion of IR and AWAs.

 

Q. re leader “full of it” as in overconfident. Loyal answer.

 

Animation: Rudd polls skyrocketing with Rudd as superman. Clark Kent metaphor.

 

2nd ad break Cool Aid with Al Gore next Sunday on 10.

 

2nd guest Hugh White Lowy Institute expert:

- Doubts Cheney caliphate extreme fear mongering.  USA not good at democracy building, only wars.

 

- Invasion of Iran is very unlikely he thinks. Cheney hawkish vis a vis rest of Washington and less influential.

 

- Very gloomy about Iraq, 20K surge no long term difference. USA lacks “ability” to create peace and stability”. Terrible dilemma. Howard government increasingly isolated.

 

- Oz 500 troops not a significant operational force. Could bring troops home.

 

Transcript in due course www.ten.com.au/meetthepress

 

 

7 Weekend Sunrise, 8.35-40 am

 

Humourous, quite edgy as usual. Fraud news roundup by referring to “violent protests” against Cheney but at least mentioning traffic mayhem he caused [by not going to Canberra instead of Sydney].

 

Riley Diary:

 

Go West music theme of Pet Shop Boys: polling discussed. UK draw down, spin on that from Howard govt ministers. ‘Full of himself’comment re perception of overconfidence of Rudd streets ahead in the polls [Sydney Daily Telegraph re ‘Ruddslide’ p1 24/2/07 in Qld]

 

 

Web page here but no transcript usually: http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/weekend

 

[2 and 9 shows to follow later this morning]

Pictures: Images from left wing Melbourne Indy Media website. This writer couldn't attend the protests against Vice President Cheney's visit last Thursday 23rd Feb, but generally agrees with the exercise of free speech and the message. I'm not sure if The Green Party here would have agreed to the juxtaposition with the bloodied, upturned USA flag, but that's what happens in a passionate protest rally. I'm told one placard read: "USA stop thinking with your Dick". Also there is alot of resonance to the idea (in the editor's legal opinion as a solicitor, based on general media) that a very large police contingent manufactured clashes to smear the anti war rally. For instance top cop Terry Collins was implying it was "a riot" on the abc radio which is pretty exagerated, arguing there were '"G20" troublemakers in the crowd [a reference to clashes in Melbourne weeks ago] as they rode their horses up to and against the crowd. The truth was captured by a video on the Sydney Morning Herald website http://media.fairfax.com.au/?rid=25946 . Authorities did have an arguable case regarding protest disruption of traffic as inconvenience to the public but Cheney was doing alot of that too with his entourage. Besides democracy is inconvenient ... and absolutely essential. Police let the the march proceed anyway which was good. Plenty of police real politik these last few days.

 [Sunday tv talkies continued]

2 Insiders (abc) 9-10 am,  http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/ 

 

Guest is Malcolm Turnbull on water etc.

 

Pretty good show as usual this week, this writer distracted with other indy media work while listening – see transcript at link above.

  

9 Sunday 9-10.30am (to follow) http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/

 

Feature on Oz wife and noticeably Islamic convert, of Willy Brigitte errorist suspect in France, deported from Australia. Likey sympathetic will check tape later.

 

Rudd on Oaks interview. Missed first half of it perhaps. Top line interview well worth checking the transcript. Rudd plays confidentiality with Cheney which is pretty clear breach of transparent democracy. Says Cheney knew his policy position to draw down/reduce troops. Etc

 

Long interview. Gutsy clear vibe by Rudd. Pushes clean coal agenda. Not sure if he’s been challenged on uranium, probably next question. Timeline of 2020 [which further exposes false action on coal emissions until then].

 

Web poll for this week, should Australia follow Britian and withdraw troops from Iraq.

 

78% said for last week David Hicks has spent enough time in prison.


Posted by editor at 8:41 AM EADT
Updated: Wednesday, 28 February 2007 7:11 AM EADT
Thursday, 22 February 2007
Morris's ministers and the NSW Gun Club 5% Hansonite redneck vote
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: election nsw 2007

 

Picture: A sporting shooter menaces an animal rights activist during the Duck Shooting season in Victoria a few years ago.

How revealing of this story today in the Sydney Daily Telegraph:

Labor trio loved by Libs By Joe Hildebrand: MICHAEL Costa spent his third day in hiding yesterday as the Liberals identified the Treasurer as one of the state's most despised politicians.

Not so much for the sledge of the three allegedly unpopular ministers Tripodi, Costa and Sartor.

No what was far more interesting was this:

"Mr Costa cancelled a scheduled appearance at the NSW Gun Club for some goodwill clay pigeon shooting yesterday after he realised there might be some media present.

Crestfallen organisers were forced to offer the expectant crowd some "last-minute apologies" from the timid tax collector when he failed to turn up.

Ironically, Mr Costa's cut-and-run job yesterday was highlighted even more by the appearance of Mr Sartor and Mr Tripodi days after their invisibility had been repeatedly noted by The Daily Telegraph and other media. ....

Back at the gun club, the only two Government MPs brave enough to show up were Land Minister Tony Kelly and old-school factional heavyweight Eddie Obeid.

But even these two tough guys got the jitters when they realised The Daily Telegraph would be attending the event.

Despite being listed to take part in a sort of celebrity shooting match, they mysteriously disappeared before the games could begin.

"Anthony Kelly? Anthony Kelly?" called out one innocent organiser.

Instead, the only politician who stayed on target was Nationals MP Adrian Piccoli.

He made his own day by outshooting the Shooters Party, something he was modest enough to mention only five or six times after the event.

Olympic gold medal-winning shooter Russell Mark suggested that perhaps it was best politicians stayed away from the shooting field anyway.

"Unlike their political lives, in shooting they've got to keep both eyes open and both ears open," Mark said afterwards.

"Exactly the opposite of what they do in Parliament."

[bold added]

This is just more evidence of the NSW Government's sly dishonest courting of the mad sporting shooter redneck, right to bear arms, Hansonite leaning, 5% ultra Right vote. People like this:

 Ned Wood's GUN LAWS IN AUSTRALIA

and here

http://members.iimetro.com.au/~hubbca/gunlaws.htm

a web site with spookily detailed profile of gun control advocate Dr Rebecca Peters http://members.iimetro.com.au/~hubbca/peters.htm and, and Green Party candidate and former intelligence officer Andrew Wilkie, a website obsessing about the impending fascist dictatorship justifying widespread gun ownership as per the USA. 

And there is real money behind the shooter politics too:

www.smh.com.au - Shooters' group factions clash on political funds 

"A special general meeting of the Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia has been called after the former Shooters' Party president David Leyonhjelm protested against a donation of more than $60,000 towards the Shooters' Party campaign by the association's Sydney branch.

A 10-person committee of that branch, which has more than 20,000 members, voted to give $60,000 to the Shooters' Party and hold another $40,000 in reserve for the campaign. The state division of the association is donating a further $250,000 to the party.

The president of the Sporting Shooters' Association and the No. 1 candidate on the upper house ticket for the Shooters' Party, Roy Smith, said it was just a couple of disgruntled members like Mr Leyonhjelm who were complaining."

The ALP real politik works like this: Do covert cosying up to the Shooters to let them know you like them even if they are Right of Genghis Khan, but just be discreet enough to not offend the other 90% of the electorate who want a safe society, indeed avoid photos of your gun toting ways in the Big Media if at all possible.

In a close election it could make all the difference. And this is a very close if not losing election:

Swinging voters worry Labor

The New South Wales ALP general secretary says he is concerned the party could be swept from power because of the large number of swinging voters across the state, including many in the Hunter.

Mark Arbib has revealed the party is campaigning in about 30 seats it believes could be lost to the Coalition or independents.

Mr Arbib told a function in Sydney that the party is expecting large swings against it due to the volatile nature of the electorate.

"At the moment the Coalition is claiming they will win 11 seats. On top of that there's also claims we're going to lose Newcastle, Maitland and Lake Macquarie. That's 14 seats," he said.

"It's a big change and obviously very, very hard for us to resist and this is what the Coalition is saying at the moment and if they weren't confident why would they be saying it?"

At http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1853781.htm

[And acknowledging that The Australian broke this story first on 21st Feb 2007 by Imre Salusinszky here showing the deliberately open warning by Arbib to the Right of the Party and public generally who read that paper, here

Labor warned of hostile swing

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21261027-2702,00.html ]

Get it? Ministers Costa, and Kelly both pulled out of attending the gun happy NSW Gun Club in reaction to media interest or similar concerns.

For some reason when I lobbied both Anne Davies at the Sydney Morning Herald and Joe Hilderbrand at the Daily Telegraph at the time of writing both seemed too busy or in the latter case particularly disinterested in this line of analysis, so I have decided even more so to spell out the background here for alternative media readers.

(The other sleeper in this story is how can Antony Green of impartial ABC be briefing the very ALP aligned Fabian Society as per the The Australian article? It's in the last two lines.)

This issue of endangerment of all public forest recreationalists, not just card carrying greenies, reaches across the broad spectrum, especially as shooting feral animals by a bunch of amateurs has no genuine scientific basis and most serious observers and rival stakeholders see it as purely pandering to cowboys:

Pambula: Keep Forests Safe

The most telling other piece of evidence was reported in Big Media back in 2006 here:

Safety fears as shooters comb forests
GAME hunters are now able to shoot in 142 state forests across NSW and they've already bagged 650 feral animals since legalised hunting began in March.
Sun Herald 30/07/2006

and here

Killers for conservation

This radical move to the right by the Iemma NSW government was roundly rejected by green and other civil society groups here:

Lee Rhiannon MLC - Hunting in State forests

and here

10th July 2006 More State Forests Turned into Hunting Grounds 

Another 46 State forests covering 422,100 hectares in the Central-West and Southern NSW have just been designated as hunting areas, putting in danger neighbouring landholders, campers and walkers visiting public lands while creating new problems for the control of feral animals.

“NPA
[National Parks Association] is alarmed about the NSW Government policy of turning over vast areas of public forests and woodlands to hunters,” said Andrew Cox, NPA Executive Officer.

“This brings to 155 the number of State forests made available to hunters for the next five years since the declaration of the first hunting areas by Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald, earlier this year. A total of 1.39 million hectares, or half of all State forests in NSW, are now declared as hunting areas, bringing into conflict forest users and hunters with their guns and pig dogs.”

“The Game and Feral Animal Control Act was passed in 2002 despite fierce opposition from environmental and animal welfare groups. Hunting on public lands is overseen by a Board that is required to have a majority of hunters,” said Mr Cox.

and similarly here: Nature Conservation Council of NSW - Hunting in State Forests is "bad news".

and here:

Feedback on shooting of dog in state forest

The shooting death of a domestic dog camping with its owner in a State Forest on the North Coast, has sparked more debate about the use of hunters to control feral animals.

Licenced shooters have been targetting feral animals in 152 forests as part of a State Government initiative known as 'conservation hunting'. We had a large number of callers on the issue with varying points of view.
At http://www.abc.net.au/rural/nsw/content/2006/s1723227.htm]

Which pet shooting incident ended up with these questions in Parliament:

0470 - SHOOTING ON PUBLIC LANDS

And unlike in Queensland where Illegal shooters face stiff fines - EPA/QPWS , here in NSW under this desperate NSW ALP government on the nose with voters, we have lax laws for unlicensed shooters too: Magistrate Heilpern responded to a question from this writer at a recent Beyond Environmental Law conference I reported here on SAM as follows:

"Magistrate Heilpern outlined the harsh exclusion by new regulation of [anti logging] protesters from public forest with his slogan “the [jack] boots are on” but declined to make electoral comment on the free rein now for shooters in those public recreation areas except to note it’s $550 fine for saving forests under a PIN notice from a govt forestry officer, but only $200 fine for shooting while unlicensed. The implication is clear the NSW govt supports shooters more than forests."

Barry Unsworth the blow-in ALP Premier in 1988 (after Neville Wran stood down, like Bob Carr in 2005, after a lengthy stint), was seen to be opposing the shooters "rights" and sending the Right into the arms of the Liberal-National Parly Coalition under Nick Griener elected later that year:

"JEAN KENNEDY: And, as the election [of 1988] drew closer, he [Premier Barry Unsworth] had a new issue to deal with, one which was dividing town and country gun control. At meetings like this in Bathurst, there was outrage.

[File tape]: The New South Wales government, without doubt and it can't be questioned, is using the law abiding sporting shooters of this state as scapegoats for their inability to control law and order on the streets of Sydney."

http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nsw/content/2006/s1808369.htm

And no one is doubting current ALP Premier Morris Iemma is not a dedicated student of political history in NSW (being an apprentice of fixer ex Senator Graham Richardson) even at the expense of the citizens' real safety.


Posted by editor at 2:20 PM EADT
Updated: Friday, 23 February 2007 6:45 AM EADT
Wednesday, 21 February 2007
Open letter to Cardinal George Pell doing the devil's work on climate change
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: globalWarming

 

By email ccmedia@sydney.catholic.org.au

 

Open letter to Cardinal George Pell

 

Dear Cardinal Pell,

 

You sir are a menace to the Catholic, Christian, and general, community not to mention God's creation your vocation is supposed to protect: I note your scurrilous pontifications in the Sunday Telegraph p7 18th February 2007 “News in review” section, “Keeping a cool head amid warming hysteria” (which I notice continues to remain offline).

 

Recently I attended an Environmental Law conference hosted by Sydney University and others and wrote a report below in which your article and sorry record is mentioned in passing and contrasted with admirable Catholic conferences on climate change in 2005 and 2006 solidly informed by science:

 

"Chief Judge of environment court exhorts lawyers to imperial expansion of the sector
index.blog?topic_id=1085209

 

But in your piece last Sunday you write (laughably, tragically) :

 

“I’m deeply sceptical about man-made catastrophic global warming, but still open to evidence.”

 

Well big deal. In my judgement this is the approach of a vain, moral and intellectual pygmy. How dare I speak to someone so eminent in such terms? Because as an innocent child of St Joesphs Warrnambool primary school, of Christian Brothers College senior school there too, who swallowed the gospels whole as only a child can, who once contemplated the priesthood, I speak with God’s voice as much as you ever will, as God is my witness.

 

My father told me, an Irish Australian with the typical alcoholic problems, to “look after your sisters" (all 6 of them). But here’s the thing Cardinal. What about all the other sisters? All the other brothers? What indeed about the 100 million people in low lying areas of Bangladesh, Shanghai, Pacific Islands, India, our own people here in Australia. And the ecology around them?

 

You call my vocational activism “semi religious” and “dangerously close to superstition”.

 

But I say it’s listening to “the doctor” as per An Inconvenient Truth. The likes of eminent world leading scientists like Dr Chris West of the UK Govt climate impacts programme, Dr James Hansen of NASA, Professor Tim Flannery here, and yes such as Al Gore, and Robyn Williams of Radio National Science Show in its 32nd year.

 

All of your misleading and deceptive ‘science reporting’ in your column is the tired old red herrings of the political/economic vested interests and no doubt in some cases paid off claque of intellectual prostitutes.

 

How dare you lead people into such danger and risk?

 

You are right “enough is enough”: Begone from our midst Satan. Your vanity has endangered God’s Creation and it's 6 billion year long story on this planet for too long. Get thee behind me.

 

Indeed I have a clear eyed view of your twisting of ecological realities to a deeply right wing conservative view of society in support of the warmongering of PM John Howard against Muslims.

 

2 weeks ago it was your flimsy justifications of nuclear reactors across the East Coast of Australia. This weekend denial of dangerous climate change bearing down on western civilisation according to the great weight of (ironically also) very conservative global science community.

 

You sir are a political fraud using your high religious office to play election politics as PM Howard’s polls go south at a great rate and to your obvious dismay. An anecdote suffices: Overheard in Sydney I am told, recently 3 Catholic priests debating the billboard in front of a local Baptist Church “Jesus loves Osama” creating a great deal of discussion here recently:

The priests reportedly decided “I don’t. That’s all right for Jesus but Muslims are our enemy” when Jesus actually said "love your enemy".

 

That’s the kind of bogus intolerant mindless false Christianity that your leadership of the Church has led us to here in Sydney and no doubt why the Anglican cleric Jensen on 7.30 Report last night repudiated any real merging of the Anglican Church with such as yours.

 

So I say with all my heart, hold your false tongue priest.

 

Yours truly,

 

Tom McLoughlin Bsc Llb hon, principal ecology action Sydney

http://cpppcltrust.com/ecologyactionsydney

 

Solicitor in NSW, Editor sydneyalternativemedia/blog http://www.sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/

 

Postscript #1

 

We received this email from a climatologist and very experienced retired academic this morning:

 

From: xxxxxx
To: ecology action australia
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 7:50 AM
Subject: Re: George Pell the vain conservative menace to Christian society, 'deeply sceptical of catastrophic climate change'

Great letter, Tom & here,here, here,

I hope he sees it, but there's every chance it will be intercepted and destroyed by his 'minders'. I'll try to send him a letter, too, expressing my objections (as a climatologist) to his ignorant and irresponsible scepticism. It will have to sound as if it comes from a scientist, though, so my anger will need to be more restrained than yours (may be difficult and, as a mathematician who thinks in terms of precise objects, quantitative symbols and deterministic cause-effect relationships, 'words don't come easy' for me).

Regards & best wishes,
xxxxxxx

----- Original Message -----
From: ecology action australia
To: xxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 9:01 AM
Subject: thanks for that xxxxx

They confirm when I rang that it's gone to the Cardinal's office. I told the guy in communications office it has gone to nsw and federal parliament, melbourne independent media, abc, and alternative media as well.

He will have to read it, is my guess/hope. Someone may lose their job or I will be sued for calling him Satan.

It's pretty strong stuff but "a political fight I want to have" as I said to the guy.

Thanks xxxxx, appreciate the moral support from someone like you of Milo [Dunphy's] level of wisdom. Your moderate scientific approach is most justified. It only takes a tip of anger like the proverbial iceberg to evidence a much greater concern. That's my job bruises and all.

Kind regards, Tom

................................

 

Then I notice this web based back up in the Sydney Morning Herald today 21st Feb 2007, obviously more "semi religous superstitious" types, you know from

"The group, which includes executives from a range of industries including air transport, energy, and technology, called on governments to set targets for greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

"The agreement urged governments to place a price on the carbon emissions released by power plants, factories and other sectors to discourage emissions.

"Of course, addressing climate change involves risks and costs. But much greater is the risk of failing to act," said Alain Belda, chairman and CEO of the world's top aluminum producer Alcoa, who signed the pact.

The group includes General Electric, Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor North America, investment bank Goldman Sachs, and Wal-Mart among its major corporations."


in
International group sets plan to curb global warming 7:34am | More than 100 corporate heads, international organisations and experts call on governments to place a price on carbon emissions to discourage them.


and especially this

 

"If we delay too long in beginning the changeover to increasingly de-carbonised energy systems, the eventual costs will only rise and the impact of climate change will only become more severe," the group wrote in its agreement, warning that poorer nations would see the worst impact from climate change." [bold added]

Poorer nations. That's the folks clerics like Pell are supposed to care about and help defend, like Jesus Christ did.


Posted by editor at 6:00 AM EADT
Updated: Wednesday, 21 February 2007 12:19 PM EADT
Tuesday, 20 February 2007
Are these military helicopter flyovers of Queen Mary 2 and Sydney Domain a PR stunt or serious?
Mood:  quizzical
Topic: local news

People weren't just flocking to look at colossal Queen Mary 2 in Sydney Harbour as photographed here from Level 14 Supreme Court Building Cafe at about 3.45 pm, but also to listen to the constant low growl (like an old Billy Joel song) of 3 military style helicopters also photographed 4-4.30 pm this afternoon.

As the helicopters did lap after lap were they there to impress the hundreds and thousands of onlookers in an election year, or was it a serious protective security mission, or just a coincidence?

Having been to quite a few traffic committees in my time (local council 1995-1999), I wondered why the car traffic on Art Gallery Rd/Mrs Macquaries Rd was curiously so light, in fact more than half empty, with people happily walking onto the road way for lack of traffic, even though there was plenty of pathway space. This was contrary to my radio 702 traffic reports that it was totally jammed, actually no it wasn't, unless roadblocks were making it so. 

Sure enough at the junction back toward the CBD (Prince Albert Rd/Hospital Rd/Art Gallery Rd) most cars were being turned around into a grid lock by two guys wearing a "security" jacket.

Postscript #1:

10.20 am 21st Feb 2007: Trioli 702 abc radio show says just now via an Army Colonel 'Klink' (no kidding) that it was 'normal anti terrorism exercises'.

Postscript # 2

The picture bottom right is from the Sydney Morning Herald today 21st Feb 2007. It was a quite big image top right page 4 (but offline), with a caption reading:

"Four Black Hawk helicopters from the army's 171 Aviation Squadron held counter-terrorism exercises over Sydney yesterday, hurtling in formation across the city. The exercises, to conclude today, come ahead of a visit by the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney. Police, Intelligence agencies and the military will be on high alert during Mr Cheney's stay. Photo Mike Bowers. [which is the guy on Insiders abc tv on Sunday mornings and picture editor at the SMH]."

One wonders if the big crowd yesterday visiting the Queen Mary 2 sort of blew their discreet cover for exercises when combined with all the happy snappers down there including our SAM blog here, posted the night before, and similarly Melbourne Indy Media here: http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/02/140417_comment.php#140486

Or maybe the authorities were always going to publish this explanation anyway. Mmm.


Posted by editor at 7:40 PM EADT
Updated: Wednesday, 21 February 2007 12:07 PM EADT
Chief Judge of environment court exhorts lawyers to imperial expansion of the sector
Mood:  bright
Topic: legal

Tom McLoughlin, solicitor NSW, Bsc(zoology)/Llb hon, principal ecology action Sydney http://cpppcltrust.com/ecologyactionsydney , editor sydneyalternativemedia/blog

 

 

 

Opening address by Brian Preston Chief Judge NSW Land & Environment Court at Beyond Environmental Law conference

 

Preston CJ was inspired – or perhaps simply reading the riot act given the ‘environmental crisis’ - in his opening address to the annual EDO conference recently called Beyond Environmental Law 16-17th February 2007:

 

http://www.law.usyd.edu.au/CLE/docs_pdfs/2007/Environmental16022007.pdf

 

 The Judge exhorted the full house of academics and practitioners numbering some 200 to make environmental law the “over arching” paradigm for land, constitutional, criminal, corporate, tax, contract, international and other legal disciplines. He noted this form of conference was first done in 1991 via Tim Bonyhady at ANU (this author’s lecturer in 1984, refer Tim Bonyhady, The Colonial Earth. Melbourne: The Miegunyah Press ) and suggested quite radically:

 

Picture: arrival first morning of conference

“Property law can be adapted to the environmental crisis and put into service of a habitable planet”  

 

Similarly he noted

- constitutional law could address climate and water needs,

- human rights law could embody right to clean air and water to sustain that life,

- environmental law devices are already applied in criminal law (strict liability, mandatory reporting),

- tax law and the need to remove perverse incentives,

- corporate law adopting social and environmental objectives not only financial,

- torts eg toxic torts as per Erin Brockovich http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich; positive duties of care argued by Joseph Sachs; and wider notions of who is my neighbour beyond Lord Atkin in Donohue v Stevenson (the famous contaminated ginger beer case)

- on legal access the notion that the environment should have standing

- trade law barriers founded on good science regarding customs and quarantine

 

It was during this soliloquy I noticed the Judge adopt ‘the Josiah Bartlett pose’ (hands in pockets, lean back with relaxed confidence) made famous in the West Wing TV series episode 44 "Two Cathedrals", probably the best episode of the 7 series of shows. I was too busy listening to get a picture of the stance in time.


 

Picture: Beryl Timbery-Beller of La Perouse gives a lively and gracious Indigenous welcome to country by permission of traditional custodial of the Cadigal People (Alan Madden). Brian Preston Chief Judge of the Land & Environment Court is seated 2nd on the left, with 4th from left is Cambridge University keynote speaker Professor Kevin Gray .


The energy of his friendly speech belied a physically greyer, more pinched, and paunchy figure than I remembered.

 

As he spoke the eyes of eminent Prof Kevin Gray of Cambridge, the key note speaker and author of a 1700 page tome on Land Law, sitting nearby were widening with I think admiration at the zeal of sleek Preston CJ (also an author of Environmental Litigation. What a brain they both are.

 

It was enough to give nightmares to CEOs and their paid off pollies and big media everywhere more interested in profit margins at any development cost (witness the determination to keep ‘clean’ coal mining as our number one export earner in the news recently).

 

Mind you Preston is a very pragmatic judicial officer. This author well remembers working as a paralegal to solicitor Bruce Woolf in Diamond v Baulkham Hills Council &Anor 10064 of 1998, the PF Formations sand mining case, when Preston walked into the pre hearing conference. My role was to assist applicant Neville Diamond but instead I was turning a shade of ghostly white at the eminence of counsel for the pro mining Council consent authority. It was my own Erin Brokovich moment. And like the good Erin we forced the wicked sandminer and Council and yes their counsel Preston ‘to save’ the bush on Trig Hill at Maroota by way of settlement orders by consent.

 

I say ‘save’ in the Maroota conflict because PF Formations just cleared parts of it anyway a few years later in contempt of the court orders, and presumably sand mined it for the Olympic construction programme in 2000 or thereafter, which indeed echoes a depressing theme in the scholarly conference proceedings of defeats rather than victories at law.

 

The key note speaker Professor Gray in his speech about “takings” by government of private property echoed the sad realities of life in the case of Lucas V South Carolina Coastal Council 505 US 120 L Ed 2d 798 (1992) where the council regulated to protect coastal land from development, was forced to pay compensation to the developer, and then sold it off for development to cover its financial losses in the litigation. The only winners were the lawyers, cynical politics and the new developer.

Picture: Rory Treweeke Chair of the Western Catchment Management Authority asks Prof Gray about native vegetation clearance regulation in NSW. The conference was referred  earlier to Gray’s paper which addresses farmers concerns about legality of NSW govt interference, at p12 “Once it is conceded that statorily authorised regulation may sometimes be classifiable as a virtual expropriation which requires compensation, a vital focus is inevitably thrown upon the common law understanding of the key terms, ‘property’ and ‘taking’. It is here formidable problems emerge, rendering it unlikely that common law takings doctrine can catch anything other than fairly rare and exceptional instances of regulatory intervention…..”   

This author reports on some of the real politik in Big Media on native veg clearing  here: Miranda Devine airbrushes bushfire arson motive at Goonoo, backs redneck attack on scientists, public servants
At index.blog?topic_id=1083881 [see entry 9th Feb 2007]

 

 

 

Cambridge Professor Gray seemed in sync with Judge Preston with support for “a new modern model of civic morality” regarding land use.

 

 

Details of the conference

 

This was a great and good conference organised by the Environmental Defenders Office, Sydney University, Australian Centre for Environmental Law, with sponsorship from Malleson’s Stephen Jacques a big commercial firm –  even as the environment movement is losing the war despite the odd legal victory, and why perhaps Preston CJ was exhorting greater exertions and indeed greater courage from the audience.

 

The conference organisers are referenced here:

 

http://www.edo.org.au/edonsw/site/default.php

http://www.law.usyd.edu.au/

http://www.law.mq.edu.au/MUCEL/index.htm

 

and the venue is here

 

www.portsidecentre.com.au

 

Conference agenda is here:

 

http://www.law.usyd.edu.au/CLE/docs_pdfs/2007/Environmental16022007.pdf

Picture: (left to right) Some but not all of the excellent speakers Magistrate David Heilpern  (criminal law with image of Kirribili House protest) with the cheeky demeanour of a young Rumpole, Prof Hope Ashiabor (tax) with the style of a West Indian criketer, Jessie Connell Llb hons (private international) beauty exceeded by brains, Karen Bubna –Litic UTS senior lecturer (corporate) a sharp feminista right out of West Wing series, Dr Peter Cashman Vic Law Reform Commission (torts) very dry at times cynical wit, Prof Jan McDonald (international trade) radiating scholarship and kindness.

 

 

 

Vocational activist perspective

 

This writer, a public interest lawyer with 15 years of green activism and a science (zoology) degree spends most time on media and environmental policy analysis for blogging in what I call the fifth estate to pressure the 1st to 4th estate. We first read about the EDO conference only a day prior. Two phone calls, one rebuff, an email of my 2003 EDO conference report, and I effectively jumped “15 others already turned away” to attend on the promise of this community media report and maybe some fees for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits (1 point per hour, minimum 10 per year). Thanks to organiser Val Carey (Sydney Uni Law School) and Tisha Dejmanee (EDO) for the conference registration, not least the impressive folder of papers.

 

As an overeducated agitator, into rock climbing as well as intellectual thrill seeking, my skills base is both a help and a hindrance at such forums. Really an activist amongst wage slaves, I am inevitably perceived as a bit loud, a bit of a smart alec, which is surely accurate but also a virtue for pesky reporters. On the downside being a conceptual ‘free climber’ one does tend to feel like the proverbial Cassandra: My opinions tend to be found correct perhaps years later when all is lost and too awkward to honestly review: Like the 70 million tonnes of woodchips from natural forest since 1996 under both Coalition federal but also ALP state governments such as here:

 

Carr dodges 95-99

Carr alp dodges 1999-2003

 

 or the phoney basis of the ‘Lake Cowal ‘Environmental Trust’:

 

Nov 06 - Alarm of independent greens over miner 'Environment Foundation' pay off to badly compromised 'peak' greens

 

Here are some revealing images below from our dusty files of that Maroota sand mining scourge mentioned above still going on today 40 km north west of Sydney, the top set showing damage to the remnant bushland of local landmark Trig Hill public reserve gradually chipped away in breach of court approved consent orders such as this:

 

“1.3 Land Excluded from Development The Maroota Trigonometrical Reserve and part of the Shale Sandstone Transition Forest …shall not be extracted and accordingly will be excluded from the phasing of development otherwise approved by this consent”

 

The whole Maroota region 40 km north west of Sydney is under the shadow of a bipartisan State Govt economic policy in support of the Sydney construction industry.

Picture: (from top left to right) (1) trees felled to (2) camouflage something worse namely a wide illegal bulldozed track down to an adjacent sandmining area, with (3) more illegal clearing at the lower edges of the reserve (3 and 4), presumably to end up similar to images 5,6,7,8 and 10 (taken at another nearby PF Formations Pty Ltd sand mine. Second last image (9) is the Maroota valley itself below the sandming precinct.

 

 

So literally I write a report of my conference experience with a heavy heart at the surreal situation we are in of dangerous sea rise yet life as usual: Preston CJ is quite right to assert moral superiority over all other legal pursuits in this light: Ecology (my science degree) is the new dismal science trumping economics for that salutation now. Like the figure in the Radiohead song There There here on YouTube

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKrzSYY7U-s

 

most truly dedicated activists (like Bruno Manser http://borneoproject.org/article.php?id=273 )

are fated to a singular lonely end in a forest or similar, hopefully with that haunting tune alongside. But until that time comes we dedicated downshifters have a moral licence to sharply analyse society and the legal and environment movement colleagues in that paradigm without fear or favour. As Peter Garrett has been known to sing in an earlier career

 “The bombs never hit you when you're down so low” in  Read About It, 
 whether enemy or friendly fire. Similarly The essence of good report writing is talking about real stuff and may it be so here.

Brian Preston was dead right. Even if the audience perhaps didn’t fully understand his imperialistic battle cry to colonise, indeed annexe the rest of the law in this unprecedented time of climate unravel danger and immorality, which is surely required. This writer has traversed the largely unreported urgency here over dangerous sea level rise sourced to Dr James Hansen of NASA, Dr Chris West, director of UK Govt Climate Impacts Programme, and locally Professor Tim Flannery here globalWarming . Here are some of the stories in this rapidly emerging reality written February 2007 latest to earliest:

 

New Scientist Feb 10th on global warming - Big Media are sanitising the threat

 

Turnbull, China/India coal use, pioneering Montreal Protocol and West's capacity to ban carbon intensive imported goods

 

Washington Post brackets PM Howard and coal global warming problem

 

Australian of the Year, Professor Flannery calls for coal industry shut down

 

'West must cut first' says China in greenhouse game of deadly chicken

 

Chocolate pollies in choccy parliament melt in the global warming?

 

NASA director agrees sea rise is the major threat

 

Sea level rising 12 metres if Greenland and West Antarctic ice melt , and likely they will

 

1/2 metre sea rise? Try 5+ metres and ignore Big Media deception

 

 

Indeed it became apparent the well intentioned conference presenters and audience were not really aware of this fast moving recent advice from the world’s leading scientists on dangerous sea rise. Which did not bode well for the 70% of Australians with no tertiary education.

 

Balanced against this whistle blowing, no less than 3 conference presenters (heavy weight constitutional law author Tony Blackshield, consumer rights litigation lawyer Peter Cashman, and indirectly senior corporate law lecturer UTS Karen Bubna-Litic) noted a grotesquely biased article in the Daily Telegraph of that day 16th February 2007 stating:

 

“Climate doomsayers are just full of hot airby “Associate Professor Stewart Franks ….a hydroclimatologist at the University of Newcastle”.

 

Similarly we have denial from such as Catholic Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Sydney, George Pell here a day after the conference:

 

Keeping a cool head amid warming hysteria Sydney Sunday Telegraph 18th Feb 07 p7 Opinon section.

 

A strange blind sort of contribution quite out of step with most other Christian environmental thought when perhaps 100 million lives are in immediate jeopardy in low lying areas, putting Pell way out of his depth: For instance in 2005 http://catholicearthcareoz.net/conference.html

 

And in 2006

http://www.melbourne.catholic.org.au/ccjdp/ClimateChangeConference.htm

 

It still looks quite safe to take Australia and the world’s best scientists at their word over the vain waffle of Pell and others in News Ltd. And the latter showed its colours anyway with another story on the 16th Feb

 

Seeds of survival/Icy ‘Noah’s Ark’ of food to save us from disaster

 

Apparently, located in Norway where no doubt they think about melting Greenland nearby, Dr Cary Fowler Fowler of Global Crop Diversity tells us:

 

“The design will accommodate even worst case scenarios of global warming. ….130 m above current sea level … well above a 7m sea rise that would accommodate the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet, or even a 61m rise that could follow a total meltdown of Antarctica.” [bold added]

 

But you don’t read these enormous sea rise figures in the mainstream press to avoid spooking the political economy into panic. Yet panic is probably a logical response to what looks increasingly like an inevitability.

 

My brooding impression we are fast approaching the day a global government by such as Greenpeace will be needed at the political level. A two or three step change in western civilisation energy use and material consumption patterns as well, not to mention population levelling out by say 2050 at 9 billion bodies according to Harvard Professor EO Wilson.

 

‘Not for nothing’ (said with West Wing TV series drawl) did Harvard Prof EO Wilson recently present a unity ticket with his academic colleague also of Harvard Professor in Divinity Studies Harvey Cox recently, there in the land of evangelical politics, to implore the world to get its act together on saving the ecology/God’s Creation:

 

EO Wilson and Harvey Cox on Saving The Planet

Can science and religion come together to save the planet? Join two big thinkers, eminent biologist EO Wilson and influential Harvard theologian Harvey Cox as they consider the fate of the creation. Recorded at the Free Library in Philadelphia, USA.

 

You know when science leaders handshake furiously with eminent religious folks we are in Big Trouble. Indeed the broadcast was a parallel conversation to my own with kindly local Jehovah Witness God Botherers complete with their apocalyptic New Testament references.

 

These are the realities I took into the Beyond Environmental Law Conference room air conditioning silently blaring over us with the enormous Pacific Princess pleasure cruiser just out the window reminding us of sea rise predictions of 6 metres for Greenland, another 6 metres for West Antarctic, and the moral depravity of western civilisation courtesy the abominable death of one Mrs Brimble on a ship just like that one all in one chunky symbol.

 

An older fellow told me it reminded him of the very enjoyable Spirit of Tasmania ocean ferry trip from Sydney past Bermagui and Flinders Island. This in turn reminded me (the smartarse again) of a bill board at Rozelle past majestic ANZAC bridge of perched lakes  on mountain peaks screaming out for a “woodchipping sux” buggerup graffiti or sticker. I suggested the ugly pall of forestry over the Tasmanian government’s reputation, let alone World Heritage beauty, ended the Spirit’s tourism gambit in the Sydney market place. He accepted my suggestion with good grace but

we didn’t speak again.

 

Other notable speakers

 

All the speakers were satisfying and the lack of a photo reflects some dodgy images by this inexpert photographer, or too busy just listening. Several started quiet and slow and ended with an avalanche of detail and animation. The Asian Elephants talk by Prof Margaret Allars (Administrative) around political violence via licence shopping to circumvent the CITES convention against trade in threatened species by Taronga Zoo was a real worry. Adjunct Professor Tony Blackshield (Constitution) was roguishly charming breaking into song at one point.  Tony McAvoy, Aboriginal barrister (Indigenous law) was photographed but we seem to have deleted in the chaos of the ALP election launch the next day reported here:

 

Sunday, 18 February 2007, Premier Morris Iemma's 'civic theatre' for the ALP bruvvers and sisters, at index.blog?topic_id=1083881

 

EDO director Jeff Smith’s image had too much shadow. Honourable mentions to Gordon Renouf of Choice (formerly Australian Consumers Assoc), Dr Karen Hussey (human rights), and Assoc Prof Elisabeth Peden (contract) for their scholarly whimsical speeches.

 

Real politik is still king, law a nuisance?

 

Unlike the idealistic exhortation of the leading judicial officer Brian Preston to a quite youthful energetic audience, in the main the presentations over the next two days reinforced the axiom “real politik is king”.  Magistrate Heilpern outlined the harsh exclusion by new regulation of forest protesters from public forest with his slogan “the boots are on” but declined to make electoral comment on the free rein now for shooters in those public recreation areas except to note it’s $550 fine for saving forests under a PIN notice from a govt forestry officer, but only $200 fine for shooting while unlicensed. The implication is clear the NSW govt supports shooters more than forests.

 

Similarly Peter Cashman was depressingly honest, with possibly a hint of acid,  saying political action is likely to achieve more than tort law. Keynote speaker Prof Gray agreed “it’s all political” regarding native vegetation clearance here. Tony McAvoy gave the senior executives of the NPWS a spray for daring to issue consents to destroy of Aboriginal cultural heritage in fairly brutal terms. Prof Allars noted the “regulatory failure” over import of Asian elephants for exhibition in breach of CITES treaty. Prof Blackshield noted the Daily Telegraph dismissal of environmental “doomsayers” while voting with his feet and voice to support the conference.

 

Similarly corporate lawyer Karen Bubna-Litic noted an email she received offering $10,000 to write a criticism of the recent Stern report on climate change [Stern being the top ex World Bank economist who predicts financial impacts of a Great Depression and 2 World Wars if no action is taken]. Nevertheless she remained steadfastly constructive encouraging enlightened self interest, incentive and opportunity over regulation to help the SME (small to medium size enterprises).

 

In one break an RMIT academic mentioned gossip that Robert Gotliebsen a business writer heard from the CEO of the world’s biggest company Exxon Mobil at Davos World Economic Forum in Janaury 2007, that their own US$2B in research convinced them climate change was real and big. From a company doing its best to sabotage govt policy on reversing climate change.

 

All this affirmed this writers activist direction of 5th estate blogger discipline on the other institutions of power in Big Politics and Big Media for their real politik games.

 

In this respect the conference had two glaring omissions in a packed agenda already, so this is meant in a constructive way:

 

1. The James Hardie asbestos environmental tort fought tooth and nail in legal, media, political and many other civic forums in this country over recent years: In the shadow of the corporate veil: James Hardie and asbestos ..

 

2. One spin off of the union ALP campaign against James Hardy is reform of the defamation law to openly criticise and attack corporations like James Hardie but now this may be subverted by a recent action to apply s.52 of the Trade Practices Act in David Jones v Australia Institute to be heard: www.theage.com.au - David Jones yet to learn lesson of the lawsuit

 

[additionally 3. Implications of the Wielangta Case of December 2006 Bob Brown v Forestry Tasmania, where Justice Marshall of the Federal Court ruled against logging of federally threatened species despite a Regional Forest Agreement between Federal and State governments based on interpretation of the Environment Protection (Biodiversity Conservation) Act 1999 (C'th): Aas discussed here on ABC Law Report Wielangta Forest Federal Court decision 20th Feb 2007.]

 

 

Perhaps the last word should go to Prof Hope Ashiabor who noted ‘petrol causing climate change’ in semi nomadic Waltzing Matilda Australia ‘costs less than milk or orange juice’. And that the oft criticised Kyoto Protocol was no different qualitatively to the Montreal Protocol on ozone depleting substances as regards staged inclusion of developing countries China, India etc.  I suggested to him later privately we should probably prefer a Resting Matilda ethic in this new reality and he laughed at that.

 

Otherwise we may all end up on huge boats like this one in Sydney Harbour to much excitement (20th Feb 2007) after polar ice melt, looking for the seed store in Norway mentioned above, like actor Kevin Costner in Waterworld

Picture: Queen Mary 2, too high to pass under the Harbour Bridge, as tall as Centrepoint Tower (from end to end), and a future enclave against dangerous sea rise?


Posted by editor at 8:44 AM EADT
Updated: Wednesday, 21 February 2007 3:34 PM EADT
Sunday, 18 February 2007
Premier Morris Iemma's 'civic theatre' for the ALP bruvvers and sisters
Mood:  party time!
Topic: election nsw 2007

Picture above: This surly lad has a curious expression and doesn't seem too comfortable with democratic protest perhaps. The irony of the 'civic theatre' signage was well demonstrated outside on this occasion.

SAM's editor could not resist the democratic frisson around the State ALP campaign launch and tracked down to Hurstville this morning 18th February at 10.30 am. To give the Iemma team credit it was held in a down to earth location like Hurstville civic centre without the big headed "luminaries" and that approach does have a resonance. The party elders look like so many snouts in troughs, cliquey closed shop condescending hierarchical elitist snobs, not least ex Premier Bob Carr.

The burdensome symbols of lengthy ALP history are not the message the 'new fresh' Iemma Government wants to send after 12 years. They want more time a bit like W Bush and John Howard do in Iraq after 5 years, because they have "more to do" and are "heading in the right direction". So they all say.

There is a real sense of resentment about ALP arrogant born to rule postures, and apparently there was not one 'ALP' slogan anywhere, hence this report next day by Anne Davies Monday 19th Feb which itself echoes one of the major tv stations the night before (7 or 9) of the 'disappearing ALP':

It's more time: a jingle that jangles

It appears there's a new political party in NSW, writes Anne Davies.

After 12 years in this ALP city and state SAM found some at the security cordon at the front of the hall pretty defensive about democratic cut and thrust too, both police public servant and ALP functionary, and there may be some crossover as will be revealed. The latter couldn't quite hide that sense of arrogance that comes with power.

Perhaps the worst was the attempt by a junior copper to send this activist, admittedly geared up in "woodchipping sux" stickers, off the frontage of the hall to the other side of the road with the rest of the protest display 'rabble', until I told her it was "public land", "an unlawful direction", and flashed my solicitors card at her and told her to "follow the NSW Police Handbook".

The tv cameras got a bit interested and a senior ALP party functionary looking lean and hungry like Cassius (pictured below) tried to order me away too. Perhaps they were worried to keep the protesters bundled up. But I was having none ot it. A more senior police man tried the same tactic and even when I said it was an unlawful direction he said he was still asking me to leave for the other side. I said no.

I took this older copper's image but it's shaky given the above exchange left me a little intimidated. Interestingly the same copper got a big hand-shake only moments later from a very large man, I was told soon after his name is one Brian Robinson a councillor (presumably ALP) at Canterbury Council. Robinson refused to give his name to me directly and refused any questions about how long he'd known the policeman. You can draw your own conclusions.

Picture above: A small well organised section of the crowd.


Picture above: Opposite the Civic threatre, about 50 metres of placards, banners, singalong amplified music, chanting and harangue of Frank Sartor who got a big boo, Treasurer Michael Costa, Joe Tripodi (I was the one who called out 'go on a diet Joe' which was quite gratuitous but it was a parade of laughs by that stage)

From Right: Bob Walsh, Keith Muir and Graham Daly, all well known environmental campaigners in Sydney

 

 

The transcript of the leaders debate on tv last Friday is here in due course Stateline NSW The debate was well reported in mainstream press such as here with other related coverage:

 

Trust me: leaders plead for a chance

This is a water referendum, says Debnam

Creating a stink: election scare tactics in the offing

Rivals want more - but do viewers?

No answers to the tough questions

Gloves are off as campaigns get dirty

Ads turn nasty as parties get out the dog whistles

Muscle men in the shadows

Shooters' group factions clash on political funds

 

But it was notable for the ABC confirming its own role in the open ALP/Coalition conspiracy to gerrymander the electorate such that the 30% who don’t vote for either get no leader's debate, as per the prefacing comments of host Quentin Dempster. In other words democracy here is broken and the ABC are part of the problem. Notice Ben Wilson for instance in the revolving door from ABC to chief media manager for Premier Iemma as a case study. All legal and quite broken in democratic terms. The best democracy money can buy.

 

Iemma last Friday looked notably tired with circles under his eyes. And more grey hair showing than I can recall. Was it the lighting angle or genuine fatigue from the intensity of the campaign trail? TV is a cruel medium. He did come across as bright and dedicated and achieving real change in the infrastructure budget especially, but Debnam looked a lot more personally appealing and relaxed, if less expert and maybe “risky”.

Picture: Left, a Mr Allen from memory, tries to pompously order me off the street frontage in a ham fisted attempt at micro managing the protester/alternative media work of this author with camera in hand. He backs off a little when I take his picture. At right the senior copper  who also tried to shoo me away a moment later shaking the hand of one chunky ALP functionary Brian Robinson.

Next picture reveals it's a hopeless objective of the authorities to keep the public off their own street as the mob of supporters, protesters and the curious close around us in a pretty happy atmosphere with the ABC TV's Simon Santow towering over the crowd. At bottom right is one Shoquette Moselmane former mayor of Rockdale who was happy to chat and suggested Debnam has a Hansonist agenda going on against ethnic Australians.


Picture immediately above: The author in daggy protester mode, and at right two ALP 'Josh Lyman wannabes'.

Picture: Jim Towart retired oyster grower with placard "Desal guzzles energy and money" and colleague Milton Cockburn both of umbrella group Botany Bay & Catchment Association (BBACA) this author is also a member of, covering 33 local groups and the catchment of roughly 2 million Sydney siders.


Picture above: Some other 'trouble makers' on the street frontage to the Civic Centre Hall with the author. At right appropriately in white hat is Andrew Woodhouse President of the Australian Heritage Institute Inc, "an Australia wide umbrella group of local heritage societies" tel. 0415 949 506 protesting against "Sartorisation - overdevelopment at the expense of our heritage - has reached epidemic proportions": Media release 18th Feb 07 referring in particular to North Head Quarrantine Station, East Darling Harbour scheme, Royal Rehab. Centre at Ryde/Putney.

Postscript #1

An agitator writes to us as follows:

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 8:07 AM
Subject: Three and a half hours at Hurstville, it is a shame there weren more protesters!  

SAM, (Thanks Many of us have missed the opportunity provided by  "free press" of [Sydney Independent Media website, still offline])

There were well over a hundred protesters at the Hurstville Civic Centre on Sunday 18 February, and if you include the Special Protective Services, fifty police to secure a whole city block! Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt was there and made a little media speech on the way out. It is interesting to note the education department is supposed to protect school children in uniform from political exploitation. But the Labor "family man" hit the hustings with music and the support of a large gathering of local school girls in uniform, showing why the Labor Party is in trouble their usual contempt for community rules. Why am I not surprised.

[author sign off]


Posted by editor at 1:03 PM EADT
Updated: Wednesday, 21 February 2007 12:50 PM EADT
Sunday political talkies: Costello fronts the downward polls for yesterday's man PM Howard
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: election Oz 2007

Author’s note: This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies  in Big Politics and Big Media. ]

 

Indeed it’s the tv version monitoring task similar to what Nelson Mandela refers to here in his book Long Walk to Freedom (1994, Abacus) written in Robben Island prison (where he was meant to die like other African resister chiefs of history in the 19C), at page 208

 

 

“..newspapers are only a shadow of reality; their information is important to a freedom fighter not because it reveals the truth, but because it discloses  the biases and perceptions of both those who produce the paper and those who read it.”

Just substitute ‘Sunday tv political talkie shows’ for "newspapers" in the quote above.

 

 

For actual transcripts go to web sites quoted below except with Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.

 

 

10 Meet the Press 8-8.30 am

 

Quality 2nd string network, good show, lower audience than 9 or 7, both low for Sundays anyway. Traverse of press headlines first including PM under pressure to get Hicks back home (9 Sunday at 9am is doing a special story today) ‘before the election’. That’s great, justice on an election timetable.

 

Costello Treasurer appears in this serious election year. Shows the stakes are high to appear on 10.

 

Hicks in gitmo 5 years is first issue. Costello suggests legal advice at invitation of Biorgiono ‘as a barrister’ re hearsay, duress of evidence ets,  almost certainly no practicing certificate which would make  his offering advice on public tv illegal (Legal Practitioners Act 2004 NSW) – ‘straight forward case Hicks trained with international terrorist and mercenary group Al Qaeda., wasn’t on a backpacker holiday’. All of this is highly contested in fact. Shows how sleazy he is.

 

In fact his very first sentence as per the old saying about lies and pollie mouths moving was a lie (refer the transcript in due course) “Charges have been laid” but as Faulkner proved in Senate proceedings, Hicks hasn’t actually been “charged”, a draft has been commenced or some such waffle.

 

First advert Hicks father Terry pleads for his son return. Strong and impacting echoes Sunday press headlines.

 

Panel: Peter Lewis The Aust, Peter Hartcher Fairfax (both serious hitters) particularly latter. Economy in focus. Detail on the transcript. Rudd experience no different to Costello at similar stage of his career. The Q is the answer really. He is not indispensable.

Nicholson very funny animation re barking coalition dogs.

 

2nd adbreak has climate change special for 10 on March 4 ‘CoolAid’ with Al Gore, which against corrodes Federal Govt credibility.

 

Minchin said $10B not to cabinet is okay, Costello says it’s a huge investment. Notice the non sequitor of Minchin.

 

Costello addresses climate change and rejects skeptical line, science is in. About taking action now. Big investment in new technology eg largest solar plant in the world.

Agrees carbon trading globally will happen, no time line for here in next few months “can’t give you a time”.

 

Pressed on leadership as per The Bulletin: fanciful.

 

Those adverts were quite a mugging too.

 

 Transcript in due course www.ten.com.au/meetthepress

 

 

7 Weekend Sunrise, 8.35-40 am

 

Humourous, quite edgy as usual.

 

As per ‘guts and courage’ of [flapping gum] pollies in federal parliament long way from the front.

 

Run USA shock jocker with allusions to Howard Mick Dundee joke of dude with the adams apple in drag as per LA sequel of crocodile Dundee (the line run by SAM here:

Garrett roasted on pausing before confirming his sell out to pragmatic ALP over US bases war machine on our soil via Geraldton not to mention Pine Gap.

 

Polling pressure remains in coming week on PM says sharp observer Mark Riley behind the smiles.

 

Web page here but no transcript usually: http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/weekend

[2 and 9 shows to follow later this morning, subject to Iemma Launch Hurstville at 10.30 AM Civic Centre McMahon St]

 

 

2 Insiders (abc) 9-10 am,  http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/ 

 

Foreign Affairs shadow Robert McLelland speaks well and moderate style suits. Age shows experienced approach to relationships.

 

Grey power everyman interview panel of blokes looks like local bowling clubhouse. Yep it is. Question PM attack on Obama – diversionary tactic, friendly discussion and disagreement. Genuine but ill judged.

 

Panel: David Marr Fairfax Sydney Morning Herald, Piers Akerman Telegraph News Ltd rival to Marr, Misha Age Fairfax? (Melbourne).

 

Paul Kelly speech: Turn up heat on Rudd re Iraq, diversion from climate change. Rudd was the real target. Not a good week from Howard.

 

Rudd has flexibility in Iraq position. Basis of Baker Hamilton Report founds Rudd position so hard to be attacked.

 

Costello dimension to all this? Most effective amusing performer in Parliament was Costello. ALP will have to deal with him on the economy. Next PM after Howard Rudd or Costello.

 

Debate repeated on PNN 630 news radio  at 11 am.

 

 

9 Sunday 9-10.30am (to follow) http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/

 

Goes ahead with David Hicks in gitmo 5 years,  sympathy piece about lack of just process. Quite right regardless of merits. 9 runs Get Up advert with Terry Hicks father voice over, perhaps same as 10 above I didn’t notice attribution.

 

Strong story. 5 years too long.Dick Smith has bought in and turns up high blown rhetoric about wars fought to preserve civil liberties and justice system Hicks being denied.

 

Downer is 9 with Oaks, starts out on Hicks. Arrangement 10 days ago sentence in Australia. 'Hicks still going to rot in jail?' is the tone. Refer transcript.

 


Posted by editor at 8:40 AM EADT
Updated: Sunday, 18 February 2007 9:40 AM EADT
Thursday, 15 February 2007
New Scientist Feb 10th on global warming - Big Media are sanitising the threat
Mood:  blue
Topic: globalWarming

The Greens here correctly point out that 'clean coal' technology will destroy jobs in the NSW Hunter coal mining region, and will be too late anyway, because there are no geo sequestration sites there, as also pointed out by scientist and Australian of the Year Tim Flannery:

Wednesday, 14 February 2007

 

Greens say PM's 'clean coal' will cause huge job losses

The transition to 'clean coal', advocated by Prime Minister Howard, will cause huge job losses and economic dislocation the Greens said today.

Last week, Greens Leader Bob Brown called for three years to be taken to plan a transition from coal exports and to reduce emissions in Australia. This was rejected by Mr Howard.

Echoing comments by Australian of the Year Professor Tim Flannery yesterday, Senator Brown and Greens Energy spokesperson Senator Christine Milne said 'clean coal' technology cannot be used to convert Australia's existing 35 power stations.

"Proponents of clean coal, such as the Prime Minister, never talk about the jobs it will destroy. John Howard is effectively planning an end to the NSW coal industry as we know it," Senator Brown said.

"In the NSW Hunter Valley, for example, there are not feasible sites for storing CO2 from a clean coal power station, even if someone knew how to build one. Workers at Eraring, Vales Point, Bayswater and Lidell power stations in NSW will all lose their jobs in a 'clean coal' technology future, as would the workers at coal mines that
provide coal to those power stations."

"But, unlike the Greens, the Prime Minister has no plan to assist the miners and communities into in a coal-constrained future," Senator Brown said.

The coal industry says 'clean coal' technology is more than a decade away. Sir Nicholas Stern, former World Bank Chief Economist, warned last year that the world has only one decade to avoid catastrophic climate change.

"Solar thermal, geothermal and biomass technologies are the future. They are proven technology to provide baseload power. Solar thermal is available now. It can create hundreds of jobs. All it requires is a price on carbon and emissions trading," Senator Milne said.

A contributor now provides this cribbed grim alarm from New Scientist, and we note with 'amusement' (not) how the climate change deniers ignore mainstream science when it confronts their vested interests as in this patronising editorial from The Australian:

Editorial: Let the great debate on climate continue 14 February 2007

and here with space for federal industry minister

Ian Macfarlane: Brown plan will leave nation an industrial backwater 15 February 2007

"GREENS leader Bob Brown wants to shut down the coal export industry in the next term of government. But his latest assault on the growing Australian economy would have ramifications far beyond what would be a devastating outcome for our coal industry."

 



Posted by editor at 9:12 AM EADT
Updated: Thursday, 15 February 2007 9:48 AM EADT

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