One can only wonder at the back door deal done to orchestrate this but it is probably quite reasonable to assume there was some clandestine offers made to garner the support of groups like Greenpeace and celebrities like Cate Blanchette to not only endorse Labor's poverty invoking Carbon Tax, but now actively promote it as being equal to overseas countries Emissions Trading Schemes.
Cate Blanchette has little knowledge of how a Carbon Tax will affect the poor and disadvantaged, she is one of the "nouveau riche" and has millions and servants and probably creates more pollution in a week than a suburban street full of Australian people do in a year with the jetset lifestyle she leads and of course she supports a carbon tax where everyone pays a bit more for everything rather than the actual polluters paying and actually passing the costs on to their users, her air flights first class might just go up by ten fold and we can't have that, no every one else must pay for her and of course if she lives here even? she will pay the same as a pensioner will who will not even be able to put on the heater in winter with out a handout from the government to do so.
Michael Caton is another supporter of the Carbon Tax and it's no surprise really, he knows quite a few of the front bench and is obviously friends with them and is always happy to take money to say anything, that's his job ; he's not an expert, he's an actor.
While Michael Caton defends his position and Blanchette's by saying they have a right to voice their opinion just like everyone else, the reality is he is using his minor celebrity status to influence people by making statements that do not provide a balance view and are intended to paint a mental picture that is deliberately divisive and intended to make viewers believe his opinion is correct and factual.
Michael Caton forgets that this is still a democracy where he has only the same right as anyone else and that is one vote , thank god, and that he only has the right to his free speech just like everyone else and that he should respect the right of people to criticise him and Blanchette for being too wealthy to understand the implications to the poor and disadvantaged and that he and she are not presenting an objective opinion they are doing a promotional add for a political policy which will affect the lives of a great many people who do not have the ability to have their say on national TV.
I'd like to ask Caton, Blanchette and the other celebrities just why they expect everyone to fall for the Con that Carbon dioxide (Co2) is pollution, it is a naturally occurring part of our atmosphere which we exhale and plants need for survival.
I think any of the scientists who have promoted the deforestation issue for the last 20 years which they predicted would lead to increased levels of naturally occurring Co2 and global Warming as a consequence have been shut down with funding being given to those who back the carbon tax as a way of keeping an income stream coming into the government's coffers.
The price on Carbon cannot stay the same either because as our population increases our carbon footprint will naturally increase even with all the pensioners freezing to death in the cold of winter due to unaffordable electricity bills, just through naturally increasing usage, I'll wager it's not the pensioners living in Mc Mansions with fully integrated air conditioning and three cars in the garage a pool and every electrical gadget money (credit) can buy, that will be the younger to middle aged people, and almost all the new arrivals who expect things to be better than where they came from.
As our farmland is ripped and stripped for more mining and our urban fringes and perri urban areas a re cleared for massive housing estates to bring more and more people here how can our carbon footprint got down? it's simply not possible and that means the price per tonne will go up.
I'm totally disgusted with the likes of Michael Caton and Blanchette et al, who are giving such a myopic position they advertise as fact because it is not the whole story it is a promotional add for Labor, and we will have to pay the cost.
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Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Paul Lucas' insane rabid attack on Ratepayers,. . . gives developers a chance to make more profit.
Deputy Premier and Attorney-General, Minister for Local Government and Special Minister of State
The Honourable Paul Lucas
25/05/2011
Bill passed to clarify infrastructure charges
High infrastructure charges that stall new projects, cost jobs and push up the price of housing in Queensland are now a thing of the past following the passing of the Sustainable Planning (Housing Affordability and Infrastructure Charges Reform) Amendment Bill 2011 during Regional Parliament in Mackay today.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Local Government Paul Lucas said the Bligh Government's overhaul of the infrastructure charging system would stimulate growth and in turn generate jobs and improve housing affordability.
"The Bill passed in Parliament today will provide transparency and certainty to developers and home buyers and will help get the ball rolling on development again," Mr Lucas said.
"The construction and building industry is extremely important to Queensland as about a third of our jobs are in this sector and it is responsible for delivering the new homes and places of business our growing state needs."
Mr Lucas said the legislation passed the House with only two votes opposed.
"This legislation is essentially needed because the government has had to step in to resolve a dispute between councils and developers about the money that councils, not the State, collects from them," he said.
"No developer likes to pay money for infrastructure charges and no council likes to forgo the payment but to get development going, create jobs in the building industry and housing for Queenslanders, we must strike a balance.
"Whilst the opposition used the debate to criticise the government, they voted with the government to support its passage and moved no amendments."
Mr Lucas said last year's Growth Management Summit established an independent Taskforce to review this complex area.
"As recommended by the independent Infrastructure Charges Taskforce, we've set maximum prices for trunk infrastructure charges on new development, including $28,000 for a home with three or more bedrooms, and $20,000 for one and two-bedroom homes.
"These new maximum charges will go a long way to ensuring Queenslanders are able to afford the great Australian dream of owning their own home, while still funding the infrastructure needed to service their communities.
"We've also set maximum charges for job-creating projects, including commercial, retail and industrial development."
Mr Lucas said local governments now have the flexibility to choose whether they adopted the maximum charges, or charge lesser amounts.
"The new rules give councils the ability to choose lower infrastructure charges that are appropriate for their local communities, while stimulating construction activity and competing for investment," he said.
"What we've set is a maximum charge and it's important to note that local governments will be responsible for setting their own local charges.
"If local governments want to subsidise infrastructure charges to stimulate development and encourage jobs growth they will still be allowed to - in fact we encourage it."
"We've already seen councils such as Townsville, Moreton Bay, Fraser Coast and Cairns publicly declare their support for the changes or initiate their own capping and discounting because they know it will kickstart much-needed development revivals in their areas."
Mr Lucas said this legislation would now be followed by a consultation process with local government and the development industry over the regulatory provisions to implement the charges regime.
"The State will also shortly embark upon a process - as recommended by the taskforce - with local government and developers to seek more uniformity in conditions opposed upon development approvals," he said.
Reading between the lines there is only one way that infrastructure can be provided to satellite developments by Councils, and that is if the ratepayers make up the gap between the maximum charge and what it costs.
Ratepayers have been slugged by Lucas and co. for the abysmal amalgamation costs, for the inept mismanagement of water supply and sewer charges and there seems no likely hood of being let up by the state government as the attack on ratepayers is set to continue when a tax is placed on the air we breathe out, carbon dioxide.
We must support our councils by objecting to development where it comes from big development because we just cannot afford to pay while big developers get rich.
Paul Lucas is just a gormless dickhead in my opinion, he's too stupid or just so badly out of touch with ratepayers that he thinks more charges are OK.
If we let Labor get away with this once more we deserve everything we get.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
The Fire Ant Saga,. . . . . sigh. . .
I have been a critic of the way the fire ant program and management has been both implemented and run, from a management level right down to those on the ground with their sticks actually doing the search.
My first encounter with the DPI's fire ant people was when I was trying to get some excavation done for an additional room and garage and before I could have the earth removed, or even disturbed really I was advised to get a fire ant inspection as I was in the fire ant area on the latest expanded list.
After calling them and arranging the inspection and waiting at home for them only to have their inspector not turn up, I called them the next day to be told he did and that a report would be sent in the mail, now I can tell you there is no possible way anyone could have come up here with out my knowledge, the gate is closed and the dog will bark, and I had deliberately set myself up in the car port with a little refinishing job on a cabinet so i would be available.
After the work was done, I began to reinstate gardens around the area and came across some ants that were very lively, had a quite nasty bite/sting and were consistent in colour with what I'd read fire ants were so i called the number on my information to have them assessed, again they didn't come out. After a week or so I called to remind them and they told me they'd looked and that they were a kind of native ant. There was again no way they could have been here without my knowing it.
I continued with my gardening and used a strong pesticide to thoroughly drench the mulch in which I'd seen them (two trees had to be removed for the garage area and I'd had them mulched for this purpose)
I have also talked to others who have worked in the industry (earthmoving) and they have similar stories about nonchalance of the DPI's fire ant people and the utter lack of care, one who used to own a site where a refuse transfer station was on a portion, and turf on the rest of it told me of stories where fire ant people would turn up in a bus and sit under the trees for the day and then go home.
This was in the Courier Mail (Sunday Edition)
With such a huge department, and the manner in which the public service goes about it's work, is it any wonder those in charge of a large workforce with importance and control and I assume very high salaries would actually want to succeed in the task and see it all over, the answer in short is No.
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My first encounter with the DPI's fire ant people was when I was trying to get some excavation done for an additional room and garage and before I could have the earth removed, or even disturbed really I was advised to get a fire ant inspection as I was in the fire ant area on the latest expanded list.
After calling them and arranging the inspection and waiting at home for them only to have their inspector not turn up, I called them the next day to be told he did and that a report would be sent in the mail, now I can tell you there is no possible way anyone could have come up here with out my knowledge, the gate is closed and the dog will bark, and I had deliberately set myself up in the car port with a little refinishing job on a cabinet so i would be available.
After the work was done, I began to reinstate gardens around the area and came across some ants that were very lively, had a quite nasty bite/sting and were consistent in colour with what I'd read fire ants were so i called the number on my information to have them assessed, again they didn't come out. After a week or so I called to remind them and they told me they'd looked and that they were a kind of native ant. There was again no way they could have been here without my knowing it.
I continued with my gardening and used a strong pesticide to thoroughly drench the mulch in which I'd seen them (two trees had to be removed for the garage area and I'd had them mulched for this purpose)
I have also talked to others who have worked in the industry (earthmoving) and they have similar stories about nonchalance of the DPI's fire ant people and the utter lack of care, one who used to own a site where a refuse transfer station was on a portion, and turf on the rest of it told me of stories where fire ant people would turn up in a bus and sit under the trees for the day and then go home.
This was in the Courier Mail (Sunday Edition)
THE war against deadly fire ants could be lost amid claims the $250 million program to eradicate the pest has been badly mismanaged.
Scientists say mishandling of the program has sparked widespread "cynicism" about Queensland's claims to have the problem under control.
They are demanding an independent review before a national disaster develops.
Efforts to wipe out the pest have descended into a blame game, with Queensland Agriculture Minister Tim Mulherin accusing the Federal Government of putting national biosecurity at risk through years of inadequate funding of the state's eradication program.
The State Government has warned the $15 million being injected into the problem each year might not be enough to stop the species invading other states and potentially causing billions of dollars damage to the national economy.
"Queensland does not believe $15 million is sufficient to fund a fire-ant eradication program," Mr Mulherin said.
"We need a stronger ongoing funding commitment from all states and the Commonwealth to continue the eradication program in Queensland so that we don't see fire ants marching into NSW and Victoria," he said.
Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig said Canberra had provided half the $245 million spent on the fire-ant program since 2001.
"The Gillard Government takes any potential threat to Australia's biosecurity seriously," he said.
Queensland receives $15 million a year under national funding arrangements to combat fire ants, with the Bligh Government injecting an extra $6 million this year.
The stoush has hit a crucial point following the discovery of hundreds of new infestations in Brisbane's southwest since 2010.
Members of the National Management Group the key decision-making body on fire ants will meet next month to consider "further advice on the program".
The meeting could determine the future direction and funding for the fire-ant program, with the group responsible for deciding on the best combat method.
A Campbell Newman-led LNP government has pledged an independent review of the program amid claims the Bligh Government has overstated its achievements.
LNP agriculture spokesman Andrew Cripps said the government "does not appear to be making substantial headway". "We definitely need to have a good solid look at why the response is not being effective," he said.
Former top government adviser on fire ants Pam Swepson, who became a whistleblower, said the country would pay the price for government bungles and cover-ups.
"We are yet to have a death in Queensland but it's just a matter of time," she said.
Dr Swepson said the extent of the fire-ant infestation in Queensland has been covered up to stop the Federal Government pulling funding.
"While they (the State Government) were continuing to call it an eradication program, even though it was extremely compromised and there's no chance we can eradicate it any more, the funding kept coming which would give them reason for under-reporting," she said.
Experts in the US, where people die from fire-ant stings every year, say the state has little chance of eradication.
Fire-ant expert Dr Bart Drees, from Texas, where $US1.2 billion ($1.1 billion) a year is spent on containing fire ants, said eradication had not been achieved anywhere, and University of NSW entomologist Dr Chris Orton has called for an independent assessment of claimed successes.
Biosecurity Queensland fire-ant eradication program deputy director Craig Jennings insisted Queensland could still wipe out the pest.
An estimated 65,000 colonies were detected when fire ants were first found in 2001, but last year that was down to about 500 colonies.
Mr Jennings said the strategy could now shift from large-scale treatments to surveillance and more targeted treatments.
The number of fire-ant staff has grown from 100 workers five years ago to 190 staff less than half the number on the program in 2001.
With such a huge department, and the manner in which the public service goes about it's work, is it any wonder those in charge of a large workforce with importance and control and I assume very high salaries would actually want to succeed in the task and see it all over, the answer in short is No.
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Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Bloomin' Marvelous,. . . .not in Tassie!
Gardening Australia veteran presenter and green activist Peter Cundall has been found guilty of of disobeying the direction of a police officer during a rally at Parliament House in Hobart.
I happen to agree with Peter Cundall, this is big business using the Police and the Law to silence protesters and reduce the visibility of public objections.
The fact is that the courts are on the side of big business, the courts are on the side of the Police and the courts are on the side of the government which pays them and those within the system.
When we see blatant big brother against one man type situations like this it can only mean one thing, the government cares more about one big business than it does about, people, flora, fauna and it is not above using it's thugs, the police to make up some bogus charge to punish and threaten anyone who would dare to question them.
Peter, If I was in Tasmania right now I'd be there beside you, you're a great role model for those who care about making the world a more sustainable place for all of us to inhabit.
Cundall, 83, and 56 other protesters were arrested after refusing to move from the Parliament's steps during an anti-pulp mill protest in November 2009.
He and fellow protester, wheelchair-bound nurse Molly Taylor were today found guilty without conviction and were ordered to pay about $47 in court costs.
Cundall says it is disappointing.
"We've been found guilty of standing up for the truth and standing up for justice. It's as simple as that," he said.
But he says he will continue to peacefully protest against Gunns' proposed Tasmanian pulp mill.
"The protest and the battle against the pulp mill will never stop and we'll never give in," he said.
"As far as I and the others are concerned, we'll do everything we can, as we've always done, not to break the law."
I happen to agree with Peter Cundall, this is big business using the Police and the Law to silence protesters and reduce the visibility of public objections.
The fact is that the courts are on the side of big business, the courts are on the side of the Police and the courts are on the side of the government which pays them and those within the system.
When we see blatant big brother against one man type situations like this it can only mean one thing, the government cares more about one big business than it does about, people, flora, fauna and it is not above using it's thugs, the police to make up some bogus charge to punish and threaten anyone who would dare to question them.
Peter, If I was in Tasmania right now I'd be there beside you, you're a great role model for those who care about making the world a more sustainable place for all of us to inhabit.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Crikey, there's no denying it.
Watching Doctor Norman Finklestein deal with questions at public rallies and speaking engagements is an experience, the man is knowledgeable, articulate, passionate, unbiased and yet precise about the way he both dissects criticism from genuine questions and ruthless without compromise in giving direct truthful answers.
That does upset some people, and it certainly make others appear to be foolish in trying to take him on in a debate where they are armed with vitriolic propaganda against his recounting of pure fact and eye witnessed information.
I'd be very interested to see just what the Doctor would make of our own Hagnal Ban (Black) who made claim in the public electronic media to being a Holocaust survivor by the rationale that her grandfather was SO therefore she is.
In the past Dr. Finklestein has been critical of people who have used the Holocaust as a way to silence criticism, who have used the term anti-Semitic to describe those who oppose their views on the basis that they are Jews and that those who may ask questions and look for the truth are in league with or just are "Nazi's"
I can understand totally why he has those opinions and looking at the above video shows that he has every reason to support the shutting down of questioning Jews on any particular matter, since he has at least a generational head start in the role of being offspring of survivors than our local claimant.
Recently crikey blog has reason to also question the good councillor on these claims and you cam see the blog here and see that her threats do not just come to the little people in Logan who dare criticise her. Crikey Blog
After various threats by Anonymous (not) on other blogs when comments got a bit close to the truth and when crikey was mentioned, and even when others were blamed outright for comments that even I had made there, I thought it was time to introduce you all to Dr. Norman Finklestein, of course you can look up youtube for yourselves to see what he's about and how badly he is thought of by Israel and it's government for daring to ask why after all these years they have not followed the UN and why they are still killing Palestinians.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Developers to get a free ride.
I have always been of the opinion that user pays is a good and fair system for most of the things we use and I only make exception for things that should be roughly evenly divides between users because the cost of providing them is the greater of the costs and it's almost too hard to work out the individual usage.
Rates are one of the things I've always been happy to put in the category of "just divide it up between us" because we all use roads,etc. and its really hard to work out who uses how much and who should pay a little more, the system isn't perfect by any means but it is workable.
Until now. This from this morning's Courier Mail:
To say I'm astounded that developers should get a free ride at the ratepayers expense is an understatement, I'm hopping mad about this.
The Queensland Labor Government is trying , in my opinion , to make up to it's developer mates for it's own policy of deliberately trying to leave other parties without sufficient funding to fairly contest elections with expensive media coverage by closing the big wide open door that was used by Labor itself of taking million dollar election campaign contributions from bigger development companies.
Those developers which contributed those millions of dollars seem to have been the recipients of better then fair chances of having ULDA take over from councils and negate a lot of expense in getting land to development stage already, and now those developers don't want to pay for their developments which are going to be almost satellite cities, to be connected to infrastructure supply.
Developers should have to pay for infrastructure up front, especially if they have bought very cheap rural land and been sitting on it for years which is definitely the case around much of Australia where Land banking is the norm for many big development companies.
The Ratepayers Associations have a fight on their hands, with councils too scared now they are effectively a department under the minister for local government, because in effect they can have their administration removed and the elected representatives sacked and have the council run from the department if necessary.
Ratepayers Associations will have to include some very adept bean counters to be keeping councils honest too, because it's already been seen that with the last fiasco, government incorporation of water utilities, that councils charges were so far above costs of supply that all of them seem to be making very healthy profits, and that a windfall taken right out of the pockets of every resident living in and paying rates in that councils area.
Where are our councils on this issue? nowhere.
Where are our councillors on this issue? very quiet indeed.
Sorry folks, it down to you, you actually need to get behind all those little groups of "busybodies" and "nutters" who are out there working in your community for the good of all and start to fight for your rights, developers will be pretty happy with you paying the infrastructure costs for them and guess who they'll be thanking for it? Anna Bligh,. . .not you who will be paying it.
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Rates are one of the things I've always been happy to put in the category of "just divide it up between us" because we all use roads,etc. and its really hard to work out who uses how much and who should pay a little more, the system isn't perfect by any means but it is workable.
Until now. This from this morning's Courier Mail:
QUEENSLANDERS face rate rises of up to $145 next year following a decision to tackle housing affordability by capping infrastructure charges.
Councils say a decision by the State Government to cap developer charges at a maximum of $28,000 per dwelling will leave them with a $10 billion shortfall over 20 years.
A report obtained by The Courier-Mail reveals rates will have to rise by between $32 and $145 next financial year alone to balance the books.
Ipswich City Council would be the worst hit with the annual increase per ratepayer for 2012 tipped to reach $145.22.
The council is in one of the state's highest growth areas, leaving it with a greater funding shortfall.
The report, prepared for the Local Government Association of Queensland by AECGroup, predicts Ipswich rates would then have to rise another $151.50 in 2013 and by up to $276.83 in 2031.
In Townsville the move could spell a $93.78 rise in 2012 and $97.71 the following year.
On the Gold Coast, already struggling residents could be forced to pay an extra $69.88 next year, while Logan ratepayers could face rises of $68.47 in 2012, $71.36 in 2013 and up to $120 in 2031.
Brisbane ratepayers face the smallest predicted increase of $32 this year followed by a rise of $34 in 2013, according to the report.
Brisbane City Council will be the least affected by the cap due to the lack of open space left to develop.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said this month the council would consider changing its current infrastructure charge discount to make up the shortfall, saving ratepayers.
Under the State Government initiative, councils will be limited to a maximum $28,000 headworks charge for houses with three or more bedrooms, a saving for developers of up to $22,000.
One and two-bedroom homes will have a maximum $20,000 charge, a $10,000 saving.
Councils had wanted the maximum cap set at $30,000.
Developers had called for the cap to be closer to $20,000 to give their struggling sector a boost.
It will cost Brisbane City Council an estimated $14.6 million in lost revenue in 2012.
Gold Coast City Council is predicted to lose about $17.2 million.
LGAQ chief Greg Hallam said councils would have no choice but to lift rates to make up the shortfall.
"The State Government has made its decision and these are the consequences," he said of the predicted increases.
"Over a 20-year period that (loss in revenue) equates to $400 extra per ratepayer."
To say I'm astounded that developers should get a free ride at the ratepayers expense is an understatement, I'm hopping mad about this.
The Queensland Labor Government is trying , in my opinion , to make up to it's developer mates for it's own policy of deliberately trying to leave other parties without sufficient funding to fairly contest elections with expensive media coverage by closing the big wide open door that was used by Labor itself of taking million dollar election campaign contributions from bigger development companies.
Those developers which contributed those millions of dollars seem to have been the recipients of better then fair chances of having ULDA take over from councils and negate a lot of expense in getting land to development stage already, and now those developers don't want to pay for their developments which are going to be almost satellite cities, to be connected to infrastructure supply.
Developers should have to pay for infrastructure up front, especially if they have bought very cheap rural land and been sitting on it for years which is definitely the case around much of Australia where Land banking is the norm for many big development companies.
The Ratepayers Associations have a fight on their hands, with councils too scared now they are effectively a department under the minister for local government, because in effect they can have their administration removed and the elected representatives sacked and have the council run from the department if necessary.
Ratepayers Associations will have to include some very adept bean counters to be keeping councils honest too, because it's already been seen that with the last fiasco, government incorporation of water utilities, that councils charges were so far above costs of supply that all of them seem to be making very healthy profits, and that a windfall taken right out of the pockets of every resident living in and paying rates in that councils area.
Where are our councils on this issue? nowhere.
Where are our councillors on this issue? very quiet indeed.
Sorry folks, it down to you, you actually need to get behind all those little groups of "busybodies" and "nutters" who are out there working in your community for the good of all and start to fight for your rights, developers will be pretty happy with you paying the infrastructure costs for them and guess who they'll be thanking for it? Anna Bligh,. . .not you who will be paying it.
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Saturday, March 19, 2011
Carbon Tax,. . . .
I was sent this link, I thought it might be fun to let you all see it, I had a good laugh.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sideshow Bob ? , . . Bob Brown's vision for our future, and Ruling our country.
PM Julia Gillard has in recent days sought to dumb down the prospect of nuclear radiation spewing forth from the crippled reactors in Fukushima, Japan after they were severely affected by the earthquake and tsunami. She has on her hands already the stench of lie after lie about policy and really just about everything she says, for example her "there will be no carbon tax in a government i lead" then lieing about saying it then lieing about it being a carbon tax and then having to admit she said it but saying it was not a lie because things have changed, does she not understand the very nature of things is to change?
Her press statements to the public about the Japan nuclear crisis cannot be considered to be anything but more lies either because whilst she is saying there is no serious problem, the rest of the world's media are reporting the real story and that is that fallout has already been detected over 100 kilometers away, and that it is out over the ocean potentially finding it's way into the food chain and that men have died already from the crisis and that it is getting worse exponentially.
The latest sees Gillard reacting to questions about exactly how many degrees lower the climate will be once the tax is introduced with a very casual and quite bizarre and also flippant change of subject and in answer to the charges that she is seeking populist policy by using the Greens policy on Global Warming ( now called climate change since we've had an average cooling this last year ) to try to get voter support to which she has described the Greens as an extreme Party who has their own policy which Labor has no need of since it has always recognised that science tells us things and we accept them and act accordingly. For instance science tell us that smoking is bad for us and that science tells us that too much sun can also be bad.
But that doesn't explain how the leading (and well quoted expert on Global Warming) voice used by Labor is not a scientist, but an economist (yes Prof Garnaut is an economist on Labors pay role it seems to get more funding for the Party), nor does it explain how wishy washy the policy detail of the carbon tax actually is or how it will work.
Gillard has done the equivalent of the Thomas Aquinas, doubting her cohort and denying him, and even going as far as calling him essentially irrelevant, he has retorted by claiming still that if Labor want to win the next election they will need to take even more of the Greens policies (maybe they'll take the ever popular death duties one? should be as popular as carbon dioxide tax )
With Bob espousing further tax remedies for all that ails us, yes he has a tax for everything, Gillard sees distancing herself from he and his Party of agenda driven single issue communists and those with true environmental leanings gradually losing representation within it, which is a great shame as Parties become bogged down with the growth and financing they attract political wannabees with wherewithal in those areas which become attractive to the Party hierarchy rather than staying true to the real origins of the Party, saving the environment.
What was interesting about Gillards doubting Thomas act was that she chose to use the back door to enter the venue due to Gay Marriage protesters out the front, ironic.
Bob Brown has delusions of Grandeur, little doubt about that, he is rapacious in his need for publicity and being seen as important, his vision for the future could only be described as one where taxes are almost doubled to working Australians and deductions are lessened although there is no reasonable explanation of where all the extra tax money will be spent.
Bob has become a convenient sideshow for the Gillard minority Government to use as how and when it wants to divert attention from what Labor is actually doing, of course that is not the way he sees it , in fact he sees Labor as a tool to get his policy into the mainstream even though hes has very much a minority of voters, and only one member in the lower house, Bob wants to rule the world with a handbag and and iron fist, but he is only allowed to play if the big boys let him.
Her press statements to the public about the Japan nuclear crisis cannot be considered to be anything but more lies either because whilst she is saying there is no serious problem, the rest of the world's media are reporting the real story and that is that fallout has already been detected over 100 kilometers away, and that it is out over the ocean potentially finding it's way into the food chain and that men have died already from the crisis and that it is getting worse exponentially.
The latest sees Gillard reacting to questions about exactly how many degrees lower the climate will be once the tax is introduced with a very casual and quite bizarre and also flippant change of subject and in answer to the charges that she is seeking populist policy by using the Greens policy on Global Warming ( now called climate change since we've had an average cooling this last year ) to try to get voter support to which she has described the Greens as an extreme Party who has their own policy which Labor has no need of since it has always recognised that science tells us things and we accept them and act accordingly. For instance science tell us that smoking is bad for us and that science tells us that too much sun can also be bad.
But that doesn't explain how the leading (and well quoted expert on Global Warming) voice used by Labor is not a scientist, but an economist (yes Prof Garnaut is an economist on Labors pay role it seems to get more funding for the Party), nor does it explain how wishy washy the policy detail of the carbon tax actually is or how it will work.
Gillard has done the equivalent of the Thomas Aquinas, doubting her cohort and denying him, and even going as far as calling him essentially irrelevant, he has retorted by claiming still that if Labor want to win the next election they will need to take even more of the Greens policies (maybe they'll take the ever popular death duties one? should be as popular as carbon dioxide tax )
With Bob espousing further tax remedies for all that ails us, yes he has a tax for everything, Gillard sees distancing herself from he and his Party of agenda driven single issue communists and those with true environmental leanings gradually losing representation within it, which is a great shame as Parties become bogged down with the growth and financing they attract political wannabees with wherewithal in those areas which become attractive to the Party hierarchy rather than staying true to the real origins of the Party, saving the environment.
What was interesting about Gillards doubting Thomas act was that she chose to use the back door to enter the venue due to Gay Marriage protesters out the front, ironic.
Bob Brown has delusions of Grandeur, little doubt about that, he is rapacious in his need for publicity and being seen as important, his vision for the future could only be described as one where taxes are almost doubled to working Australians and deductions are lessened although there is no reasonable explanation of where all the extra tax money will be spent.
Bob has become a convenient sideshow for the Gillard minority Government to use as how and when it wants to divert attention from what Labor is actually doing, of course that is not the way he sees it , in fact he sees Labor as a tool to get his policy into the mainstream even though hes has very much a minority of voters, and only one member in the lower house, Bob wants to rule the world with a handbag and and iron fist, but he is only allowed to play if the big boys let him.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Coal Seam Gas,. . back to the 60's
Miners have always had the right to mine out whatever is under private property in rural areas even though quite often it results in land slipping or drops caused by collapsing mines, but we are supposedly in a new era and now we have miners physically wanting to come onto private property to mine, potentially polluting their land, potentially polluting the water running across the land to storage and potentially polluting the water table down below for hundreds of square miles and worse the government thinks it's back in the 60's with the actions taken by them to ensure mining takes place and the government get its royalties.
For those of you who were not around back then ( I was )when demonstrators went out into the streets to protest about injustice or just about anything else, the government would send in every available copper, (the pigs) to club, bash, intimidate and arrest the protesters and also send police photographers to collect their likeness on film for later use.
Coal seam gas is for the most part methane which has been absorbed over the years into the coal seam and usually held there sometimes with water, when the water is pumped off the gas begins to desorb from the coal and can be extracted through the same bore pipe as the water.
while prospecting has been reluctantly allowed by private land holders across the country ( in this instance I'm talking Queensland but it is exactly the same in other states particularly NSW ) those land owners are starting to buck up since the pollution of waterways and ground water in and around Kingaroy and the government having to put a stop to the mining because of it.
Recently we have seen the residents of Tara demonstrate here in the big smoke (Brisbane) outside Parliament House and they have started a campaign called LOCK THE GATE which they feel they have to do to protect their land. their lively hood and their investment not to mention the environment which the work with to make a living for a rapacious government and the mining companies who don;'t care about anything except profit.
The Queensland government has enacted laws to protect the miners so that effectively they can do as they please, residents and land owners are not permitted to engage them, question them or inhibit their use of any and all land they wish to use and , wait for it, must by law be courteous to miners who are raping their land.
The Protests seem to be only drawing little attention and in Queensland it's the Queensland Party that is putting the problem into the media firstly by calling for a moratorium in State Parliament voted against by the government and the opposition, and attending the rally's both in the City and out at Tara, you have to ask , Where are the other coloured Labor Party (Greens) who are claiming in their own press releases to be organising the protests, and I can tell you they are not becauseI've been there and talked with the locals.
So what has happened recently has not been a surprise to anyone who knows a little of the history of Queensland and its arrogant majority long term governments, once again reminiscent of the 60's and 70's the Pigs have been brought in to unlock the gates and act as thugs for hire, security guards (not for the people )for big business to make money for the government , yes once again we see the police, doing the main job they do, making sure the supply of money to the state government does not stop and even if that means arresting a little old lady, they will do it, just as Gaddafi's men will shoot missiles and large calibre machine guns from jet fighters onto the citizens, so will Queensland police use as many resources as they have available including armed response, horse mounted and any other copper they can get there.
The "Pigs" lived up to their reputation with the intimidation and physical force on the peaceful protesters including arresting a 79 year old grandmother, I guess the cops feared for their safety,. . . . It's Queensland, nothing changes and the 70's Skyhooks song titled "Horror Movie" plays out in Tara, The government's henchmen doing their job, no wonder no one has any respect for them.
For those of you who were not around back then ( I was )when demonstrators went out into the streets to protest about injustice or just about anything else, the government would send in every available copper, (the pigs) to club, bash, intimidate and arrest the protesters and also send police photographers to collect their likeness on film for later use.
Coal seam gas is for the most part methane which has been absorbed over the years into the coal seam and usually held there sometimes with water, when the water is pumped off the gas begins to desorb from the coal and can be extracted through the same bore pipe as the water.
while prospecting has been reluctantly allowed by private land holders across the country ( in this instance I'm talking Queensland but it is exactly the same in other states particularly NSW ) those land owners are starting to buck up since the pollution of waterways and ground water in and around Kingaroy and the government having to put a stop to the mining because of it.
Recently we have seen the residents of Tara demonstrate here in the big smoke (Brisbane) outside Parliament House and they have started a campaign called LOCK THE GATE which they feel they have to do to protect their land. their lively hood and their investment not to mention the environment which the work with to make a living for a rapacious government and the mining companies who don;'t care about anything except profit.
The Queensland government has enacted laws to protect the miners so that effectively they can do as they please, residents and land owners are not permitted to engage them, question them or inhibit their use of any and all land they wish to use and , wait for it, must by law be courteous to miners who are raping their land.
The Protests seem to be only drawing little attention and in Queensland it's the Queensland Party that is putting the problem into the media firstly by calling for a moratorium in State Parliament voted against by the government and the opposition, and attending the rally's both in the City and out at Tara, you have to ask , Where are the other coloured Labor Party (Greens) who are claiming in their own press releases to be organising the protests, and I can tell you they are not becauseI've been there and talked with the locals.
So what has happened recently has not been a surprise to anyone who knows a little of the history of Queensland and its arrogant majority long term governments, once again reminiscent of the 60's and 70's the Pigs have been brought in to unlock the gates and act as thugs for hire, security guards (not for the people )for big business to make money for the government , yes once again we see the police, doing the main job they do, making sure the supply of money to the state government does not stop and even if that means arresting a little old lady, they will do it, just as Gaddafi's men will shoot missiles and large calibre machine guns from jet fighters onto the citizens, so will Queensland police use as many resources as they have available including armed response, horse mounted and any other copper they can get there.
The "Pigs" lived up to their reputation with the intimidation and physical force on the peaceful protesters including arresting a 79 year old grandmother, I guess the cops feared for their safety,. . . . It's Queensland, nothing changes and the 70's Skyhooks song titled "Horror Movie" plays out in Tara, The government's henchmen doing their job, no wonder no one has any respect for them.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Lets Talk Carbon,. . . . . . and TAX.
I have to say so far my Questions to the Greens, Bob Brown and Larissa Waters have had no response, shame really.
I find the topic of Carbon an interesting one and it seems many people have very little idea what it is exactly and how it pollutes and why there is so much fanfare about the amount we are responsible for producing, if any, and how it is produced per head of population across the nation.
Carbon itself is not the issue actually , it is the release of carbon into the atmosphere in the from of carbon dioxide (CO2) which is considered by some, well Garnaut at least, to be the single most contributory factor in Global Warming, recently re labeled "Climate Change"
Global Warming and Climate Change are probably on of the best bogymen ever created by a government to fleece money out of our pockets in the history of government, and that not saying either way whether GW or CC are real or imagined, just that whether they are or not, us all paying money to the government is probably not going to make one iota of difference.
Carbon Emissions are measurable they say, in metric tonnes and when (note I didn't say if, because I believe this is inevitable and in fact will create a new industry out of what is essentially thin air) a tax is applied it will be priced on the per metric tonne, people like Garnaut have made some pretty good assumptions about our individual carbon footprint and it is measured out for each of us, not by what we actually emit but as a division of our national emissions, so if you were to cut your own personal emissions by 90% you will still be responsible for you 100% share of the "cost"
Remember that when we inhale it is to extract Oxygen from the air and when we exhale that oxygen that we had already used is now loaded as Carbon dioxide, so to say it is pollution is a complete fallacy it is part of life, it is normal and to offset our breathing, vegetation uses carbon dioxide and its exit production is oxygen during daylight hours whilst photosynthesis is active, clever right?
So lets start asking questions;
How is me paying more for everything going to reduce CO2 emissions?
Is climate change being caused by CO2 emissions or lack of Forrest's globally?
How can I be charged for CO2 not produced by me, and why?
If mining companies who profit is going overseas also ships its raw materials overseas, why is the emissions considered my shared responsibility?
Has Garnaut got it wrong considering all the things he has omitted from his report, like the significance of deforestation?
Why do the Greens feel that Australians should bear the brunt of tax on carbon, in fact a whole range of new taxes, are they really only concerned with money?
I have to say I used to be a fan of the Greens, I know some people casually who are very passionate about the environment and who are also members of the Greens, but they have never once even whispered that the Greens exist to tax us for everything, and that raising taxes is their priority agenda along with some quite radical minority policy which would not be supported by the majority of Australians if they knew they were actually Greens policies.
I have a real problem with the way Greens members bills are worded, it seems deliberately with large holes so as to allow further interpretation after the bill in its quite innocent state might be passed.
I have my own personal opinions about whether Global Warming or Climate change are solely the work of man or whether it is just a cyclic natural occurrence that we have neither encountered nor documented before. I have looked at articles which give interpretations of ice core samples and earth core samples which are indicators of past activity of various kinds and have based my opinion on all the information I've read, and its personal opinion.
However when Parties like Labor and the Greens are telling us that we need to be taxed because of it, i want to know exactly what scientific proof they have and what benefit paying money will be? If there are Greens and Labor people out there who have more balls than waters or brown and want to give some reasons, I'm happy to allow you space to do so.
I find the topic of Carbon an interesting one and it seems many people have very little idea what it is exactly and how it pollutes and why there is so much fanfare about the amount we are responsible for producing, if any, and how it is produced per head of population across the nation.
Carbon itself is not the issue actually , it is the release of carbon into the atmosphere in the from of carbon dioxide (CO2) which is considered by some, well Garnaut at least, to be the single most contributory factor in Global Warming, recently re labeled "Climate Change"
Global Warming and Climate Change are probably on of the best bogymen ever created by a government to fleece money out of our pockets in the history of government, and that not saying either way whether GW or CC are real or imagined, just that whether they are or not, us all paying money to the government is probably not going to make one iota of difference.
Carbon Emissions are measurable they say, in metric tonnes and when (note I didn't say if, because I believe this is inevitable and in fact will create a new industry out of what is essentially thin air) a tax is applied it will be priced on the per metric tonne, people like Garnaut have made some pretty good assumptions about our individual carbon footprint and it is measured out for each of us, not by what we actually emit but as a division of our national emissions, so if you were to cut your own personal emissions by 90% you will still be responsible for you 100% share of the "cost"
Remember that when we inhale it is to extract Oxygen from the air and when we exhale that oxygen that we had already used is now loaded as Carbon dioxide, so to say it is pollution is a complete fallacy it is part of life, it is normal and to offset our breathing, vegetation uses carbon dioxide and its exit production is oxygen during daylight hours whilst photosynthesis is active, clever right?
So lets start asking questions;
How is me paying more for everything going to reduce CO2 emissions?
Is climate change being caused by CO2 emissions or lack of Forrest's globally?
How can I be charged for CO2 not produced by me, and why?
If mining companies who profit is going overseas also ships its raw materials overseas, why is the emissions considered my shared responsibility?
Has Garnaut got it wrong considering all the things he has omitted from his report, like the significance of deforestation?
Why do the Greens feel that Australians should bear the brunt of tax on carbon, in fact a whole range of new taxes, are they really only concerned with money?
I have to say I used to be a fan of the Greens, I know some people casually who are very passionate about the environment and who are also members of the Greens, but they have never once even whispered that the Greens exist to tax us for everything, and that raising taxes is their priority agenda along with some quite radical minority policy which would not be supported by the majority of Australians if they knew they were actually Greens policies.
I have a real problem with the way Greens members bills are worded, it seems deliberately with large holes so as to allow further interpretation after the bill in its quite innocent state might be passed.
I have my own personal opinions about whether Global Warming or Climate change are solely the work of man or whether it is just a cyclic natural occurrence that we have neither encountered nor documented before. I have looked at articles which give interpretations of ice core samples and earth core samples which are indicators of past activity of various kinds and have based my opinion on all the information I've read, and its personal opinion.
However when Parties like Labor and the Greens are telling us that we need to be taxed because of it, i want to know exactly what scientific proof they have and what benefit paying money will be? If there are Greens and Labor people out there who have more balls than waters or brown and want to give some reasons, I'm happy to allow you space to do so.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Government Policy, seems it gives big Banks all the power.
There is no doubt that when politicians get elected they start meeting people outside their circle, outside the bigwigs in the Party and branch and those with real influence, and you can't blame them for listening to what the movers and shakers have to say.
These big business CEO's and others also like the symbiotic relationship they can get by taking a green politician to extravagant dinners, parties and showing them how insignificant their income really is, and how in the scheme of things they really don't matter much because big business controls the economy and the economy controls the mood of the electorate.
Recently, well over the last 12 months we have seen , since the GFC and some real investment fiasco's one thing emerge as a result, and that is the big banks widening their market share over the financial services sector, shoring up their position with cross sell opportunities, buying outright and becoming the major shareholder in other financial services businesses reducing competition and widening the gap between the cash rate and the retail rate and continuing to make record profits.
I have the opinion that the banks should serve the people first and the shareholders second, but since they lobbied governments to implement enforced banking (you must have an account to get you pay, cannot get paid cash,) which then attracted fees and charges and guaranteed the banks a share of our pay every week for doing nothing at all, free money, they have had an arrogant expectation that we are their to fulfil their record book on profit, nothing more.
I am also of the opinion that the regulations across the financial service sectors that are under the control of ASIC are the work of lobbying by the same big banks to reduce competition further , increase their cross sell (worth potentially millions) and force customers to spend longer in the decision making process with independent brokers than they do in the bank. A mortgage broker will have to collect many more pages of data and file notes to satisfy ASIC that the product they recommend is suitable where a bank has about maybe 3 extra questions.
With the commissions from home loans, chattel mortgages, business loans, and personal finance along with superannuation and other insurance products making huge profit for the big banks, unseen profit, the disclosure rules for brokers , financial planners and others who sell any finance products at all has increased so that consumers can see where income is generated for them and how and even how much it is to the cent.
Financial Advisers now have a new pay structure where commissions are a thing of the past and they must charge the client up front for service, making it difficult and posing a hard ship on clients to come up with money out of pocket to purchase financial services products.
So who benefits from all these changes?
Government departments get bigger and the ratio of government workers to private workers gets bigger, and of course the big banks will get a bigger share of the cross sell of all financial services because it will be far less time and effort required for the client.
What is interesting, is that our Labor federal treasurer has refused to make a super profits tax apply to the banks and yet they are the single biggest earner in the country, rich times or poor (they are still getting a cut of your wages for nothing)
You see when a politician is wined and dined with the champagne set , . . they start to think they are the champagne set,. . . until the election hey loose and see how quickly they are dumped from the A list.
These big business CEO's and others also like the symbiotic relationship they can get by taking a green politician to extravagant dinners, parties and showing them how insignificant their income really is, and how in the scheme of things they really don't matter much because big business controls the economy and the economy controls the mood of the electorate.
Recently, well over the last 12 months we have seen , since the GFC and some real investment fiasco's one thing emerge as a result, and that is the big banks widening their market share over the financial services sector, shoring up their position with cross sell opportunities, buying outright and becoming the major shareholder in other financial services businesses reducing competition and widening the gap between the cash rate and the retail rate and continuing to make record profits.
I have the opinion that the banks should serve the people first and the shareholders second, but since they lobbied governments to implement enforced banking (you must have an account to get you pay, cannot get paid cash,) which then attracted fees and charges and guaranteed the banks a share of our pay every week for doing nothing at all, free money, they have had an arrogant expectation that we are their to fulfil their record book on profit, nothing more.
I am also of the opinion that the regulations across the financial service sectors that are under the control of ASIC are the work of lobbying by the same big banks to reduce competition further , increase their cross sell (worth potentially millions) and force customers to spend longer in the decision making process with independent brokers than they do in the bank. A mortgage broker will have to collect many more pages of data and file notes to satisfy ASIC that the product they recommend is suitable where a bank has about maybe 3 extra questions.
With the commissions from home loans, chattel mortgages, business loans, and personal finance along with superannuation and other insurance products making huge profit for the big banks, unseen profit, the disclosure rules for brokers , financial planners and others who sell any finance products at all has increased so that consumers can see where income is generated for them and how and even how much it is to the cent.
Financial Advisers now have a new pay structure where commissions are a thing of the past and they must charge the client up front for service, making it difficult and posing a hard ship on clients to come up with money out of pocket to purchase financial services products.
So who benefits from all these changes?
Government departments get bigger and the ratio of government workers to private workers gets bigger, and of course the big banks will get a bigger share of the cross sell of all financial services because it will be far less time and effort required for the client.
What is interesting, is that our Labor federal treasurer has refused to make a super profits tax apply to the banks and yet they are the single biggest earner in the country, rich times or poor (they are still getting a cut of your wages for nothing)
You see when a politician is wined and dined with the champagne set , . . they start to think they are the champagne set,. . . until the election hey loose and see how quickly they are dumped from the A list.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Save Greenbank , The ULDA are coming.
It's probably been noticable that I don't get around locally much these days, since moving house, I have had so much to do it's been impossible to cover the area like I used to.
Ok, so I recieved this from a mate, not the organisers but it seems like the satrt of the rot we all expected when Our last Mayor and the littlest councillor went and handed our area over for consideration to the then Offic of Urban Management OUM back in 04/05 when the Mount Lindesay North Beaudesert Study Area became the hot topic and it was with a prelude to massive development of high density and enterprise and with hindsight the Amalgamations.
Two things, the little one now claims not to have participated as Chair of Planning and development in the handing over of information that allowed focus of development to be on areas like North Maclean, and further claims that her dumping, unceremoniuosly from that chair was because of her oposition to it. The facts of course do not lie.
OK, so I recieved an Email wich invites distribution so I imagine it's ok to publish the details of it here;
From: Admin@savegreenbank.com.au
Date: Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 1:17 AM
Subject: FW: MEETING VENUE CONFIRMED
To: admin@savegreenbank.com.au
Hello everyone, thank you for your patience. We have been FLAT OUT this end are heavily under resourced at the moment.
If ANYONE is able to assist us tomorrow to help us prepare it would be greatly appreciated. I really need a strong administrator in the office with me who is good with computers, printers, etc... We have a heap of info to prepare, print and collate for you all.
We want to EMPOWER YOU ALL to assist with this cause because we are a UNITED community and it is the ONLY way we have a chance of having a win.
Here are the MEETING details:
WHEN:
Every WED in February
TIME:
7PM
WHERE:
GREENBANK COMMUNITY CENTER
145 Teviot Road
GREENBANK.
On Wednesday we’ll only have 19 days left to have our submission lodged. They have had years to plan it, we have 19 days left to fight it. Good job we’re all made of the right stuff hey!!!!
This can’t be won by a few working extremely hard and a lot saying they’ll support it. THIS NEEDS ACTION, ACTION, ACTION taken by EVERYONE of US.
I’ve also attached some promo fliers so you can get the word out to your neighbours.
Print them out then:
· STICK THEM ON THE SIDE OF YOUR CAR WINDOWS
· Put them on your fences,
· Put them on EVERY post in the street.
· Put them in every shop
· Put them in all the schools,
· Do flier drops at Woolies
· Stick them in public toilets
· Use your imagination
TAKE MASSIVE ACTION to get EVERYBODY to this IMPORTANT MEETING.
HOWEVER, PLEASE NOTE:
Our Greenbank is an ABSOLUTELY beautiful part of the world. Let’s give this a MASSIVE push at the start to get the word out, BUT once the submission period is over, let’s all dig in and make our neighbourhood beautiful again by picking up ANY and ALL left over fliers or promo materials. IF we do lose, our cherished lifestyle may have a limited time to run so let’s enjoy it as long as possible.
BUT WHEN WE WIN, let’s get in and pick it all up as a UNITED community again to get the neighbourhood ship shape again.
PLEASE PEOPLE, NO damage to Teviot Downs Estate Pty Ltd property and leave Gary and his vehicles alone. Please let’s be pro-active, without being offensive.
Here is the proposed format for the meetings:
1st Meeting on Wed 9th is to get as MANY people to this meeting as possible. CAN EVERYONE PLEASE CALL every radio station, TV reporter, ACA, Today Tonight, EVERY newspaper, EVERY politician, EVERY conservationist they know in the area to get them too this meeting.
Jimboomba Times has kindly accepted our invitation and will come. If we get ENOUGH people here at this first meeting, we MIGHT BE ABLE TO MAKE THE FRONT PAGE OF THE JIMBOOMBA TIMES the next week. Let’s make this our FIRST goal.
Ian RICKUSS is our State Member for Lockyer. He has accepted our invitation and has committed to being here on this first meeting, then is trying to adjust his commitments to ALSO attend the following Wednesday as well.
Hajnal Ban/Black is meeting with us this week and we have her passionate support. I’m hoping she’ll be a real GUN for our area.
We NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO GET EVERY POLITICIAN HERE.
We’ll be inviting Pam Parker on Tuesday 8th to attend.
I am attending a meeting at 5pm Tuesday at Council where the ULDA are presenting to the Flagstone Community Stakeholder Group. I’d like to meet them face to face so we can invite them to our meetings. They are wanting SOLUTIONS for the area, THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY to work WITH them to get reasonable outcomes that work for EVERYBODY, not just the developers and govt parties.
A SIGNIFICANT FOCUS of this first meeting is to get passionate and capable volunteers to form project groups to break the job down a bit. We ALL need to give our ABSOLUTE BEST EFFORT for the couple of weeks we have. No period in our life is more important than NOW.
We really need to identify and select some team leaders who can co-ordinate the following (ideally we’ll get GROUPS that form to “smash it out of the park” with their chosen task force:
· A core Stategy group (we have a core steering committee that is AWESOME at the moment and we simply couldn’t be getting this info out without some tireless work of a few great locals)
· Legal readers to scour over the Acts, codes, guiding documents, relevant legislation
· Legal “heads” to help us consider the compliance side of raising money to fund it, how we protect ourselves, writing of submissions and proposals etc...
· Any Town Planners who can assist with “global concept” SOLUTION PROPOSALS for ULDA
· Someone with strong admin skills to organise mail outs etc...
· Political Action Group to email, write to, contact ALL of the politicians locally, State and Federally and invite, invite, invite
· Media Tarts to get the articles out to newspapers, TV, radio (maybe one group for TV, one for print)
· We need savvy advertising article writers
· A website manager for www.SaveGreenbank.com.au (I’ll be watching over you....<;o) ) only joking
· A Facebook and Twitter Campaign manager
· A Public Picketting Group
· People to hand out fliers at the fetes etc...
· Wobble Board holders
· Artists for sign making
· Sausage Sizzle group to try to get some fund raising going. This campaign is costing a bit of cash obviously
· Signage group to get the signs out into the greater community
· PETITION groups to hit the shopping centres around the WHOLE area
The list goes on, we want to engage these people this first week. Would YOU be good at ANY of the above and like to have a crack at it on behalf of every one.
2nd Meeting on Wed 16th will hopefully be a MONSTER meeting and we’ll have even MORE media and politicians. This should be a great petition drive(We’l do that at every meeting anyway)
3rd Meeting on 23rd will be left open so we can tend to ANYTHING that hasn’t been addressed as we present out submissions.
WE NEED EVERYBODY’S HELP. WE NEED TO GET EVERY SINGLE RESIDENT TO THESE MEETINGS.
The great saying is “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, it’s the size of the fight in the dog”.
Woof, Woof GREENBANK, Looks like we got ourselves a dog fight. PLEASE don’t hurt TEVVY the Teviot Downs mascot. We all loved him before this offensive proposal. We can still love him. It ain’t his fault he’s made of tin. <;o)
See you all at the meeting.
Ok, so I recieved this from a mate, not the organisers but it seems like the satrt of the rot we all expected when Our last Mayor and the littlest councillor went and handed our area over for consideration to the then Offic of Urban Management OUM back in 04/05 when the Mount Lindesay North Beaudesert Study Area became the hot topic and it was with a prelude to massive development of high density and enterprise and with hindsight the Amalgamations.
Two things, the little one now claims not to have participated as Chair of Planning and development in the handing over of information that allowed focus of development to be on areas like North Maclean, and further claims that her dumping, unceremoniuosly from that chair was because of her oposition to it. The facts of course do not lie.
OK, so I recieved an Email wich invites distribution so I imagine it's ok to publish the details of it here;
From: Admin@savegreenbank.com.au
Date: Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 1:17 AM
Subject: FW: MEETING VENUE CONFIRMED
To: admin@savegreenbank.com.au
Hello everyone, thank you for your patience. We have been FLAT OUT this end are heavily under resourced at the moment.
If ANYONE is able to assist us tomorrow to help us prepare it would be greatly appreciated. I really need a strong administrator in the office with me who is good with computers, printers, etc... We have a heap of info to prepare, print and collate for you all.
We want to EMPOWER YOU ALL to assist with this cause because we are a UNITED community and it is the ONLY way we have a chance of having a win.
Here are the MEETING details:
WHEN:
Every WED in February
TIME:
7PM
WHERE:
GREENBANK COMMUNITY CENTER
145 Teviot Road
GREENBANK.
On Wednesday we’ll only have 19 days left to have our submission lodged. They have had years to plan it, we have 19 days left to fight it. Good job we’re all made of the right stuff hey!!!!
This can’t be won by a few working extremely hard and a lot saying they’ll support it. THIS NEEDS ACTION, ACTION, ACTION taken by EVERYONE of US.
I’ve also attached some promo fliers so you can get the word out to your neighbours.
Print them out then:
· STICK THEM ON THE SIDE OF YOUR CAR WINDOWS
· Put them on your fences,
· Put them on EVERY post in the street.
· Put them in every shop
· Put them in all the schools,
· Do flier drops at Woolies
· Stick them in public toilets
· Use your imagination
TAKE MASSIVE ACTION to get EVERYBODY to this IMPORTANT MEETING.
HOWEVER, PLEASE NOTE:
Our Greenbank is an ABSOLUTELY beautiful part of the world. Let’s give this a MASSIVE push at the start to get the word out, BUT once the submission period is over, let’s all dig in and make our neighbourhood beautiful again by picking up ANY and ALL left over fliers or promo materials. IF we do lose, our cherished lifestyle may have a limited time to run so let’s enjoy it as long as possible.
BUT WHEN WE WIN, let’s get in and pick it all up as a UNITED community again to get the neighbourhood ship shape again.
PLEASE PEOPLE, NO damage to Teviot Downs Estate Pty Ltd property and leave Gary and his vehicles alone. Please let’s be pro-active, without being offensive.
Here is the proposed format for the meetings:
1st Meeting on Wed 9th is to get as MANY people to this meeting as possible. CAN EVERYONE PLEASE CALL every radio station, TV reporter, ACA, Today Tonight, EVERY newspaper, EVERY politician, EVERY conservationist they know in the area to get them too this meeting.
Jimboomba Times has kindly accepted our invitation and will come. If we get ENOUGH people here at this first meeting, we MIGHT BE ABLE TO MAKE THE FRONT PAGE OF THE JIMBOOMBA TIMES the next week. Let’s make this our FIRST goal.
Ian RICKUSS is our State Member for Lockyer. He has accepted our invitation and has committed to being here on this first meeting, then is trying to adjust his commitments to ALSO attend the following Wednesday as well.
Hajnal Ban/Black is meeting with us this week and we have her passionate support. I’m hoping she’ll be a real GUN for our area.
We NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO GET EVERY POLITICIAN HERE.
We’ll be inviting Pam Parker on Tuesday 8th to attend.
I am attending a meeting at 5pm Tuesday at Council where the ULDA are presenting to the Flagstone Community Stakeholder Group. I’d like to meet them face to face so we can invite them to our meetings. They are wanting SOLUTIONS for the area, THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY to work WITH them to get reasonable outcomes that work for EVERYBODY, not just the developers and govt parties.
A SIGNIFICANT FOCUS of this first meeting is to get passionate and capable volunteers to form project groups to break the job down a bit. We ALL need to give our ABSOLUTE BEST EFFORT for the couple of weeks we have. No period in our life is more important than NOW.
We really need to identify and select some team leaders who can co-ordinate the following (ideally we’ll get GROUPS that form to “smash it out of the park” with their chosen task force:
· A core Stategy group (we have a core steering committee that is AWESOME at the moment and we simply couldn’t be getting this info out without some tireless work of a few great locals)
· Legal readers to scour over the Acts, codes, guiding documents, relevant legislation
· Legal “heads” to help us consider the compliance side of raising money to fund it, how we protect ourselves, writing of submissions and proposals etc...
· Any Town Planners who can assist with “global concept” SOLUTION PROPOSALS for ULDA
· Someone with strong admin skills to organise mail outs etc...
· Political Action Group to email, write to, contact ALL of the politicians locally, State and Federally and invite, invite, invite
· Media Tarts to get the articles out to newspapers, TV, radio (maybe one group for TV, one for print)
· We need savvy advertising article writers
· A website manager for www.SaveGreenbank.com.au (I’ll be watching over you....<;o) ) only joking
· A Facebook and Twitter Campaign manager
· A Public Picketting Group
· People to hand out fliers at the fetes etc...
· Wobble Board holders
· Artists for sign making
· Sausage Sizzle group to try to get some fund raising going. This campaign is costing a bit of cash obviously
· Signage group to get the signs out into the greater community
· PETITION groups to hit the shopping centres around the WHOLE area
The list goes on, we want to engage these people this first week. Would YOU be good at ANY of the above and like to have a crack at it on behalf of every one.
2nd Meeting on Wed 16th will hopefully be a MONSTER meeting and we’ll have even MORE media and politicians. This should be a great petition drive(We’l do that at every meeting anyway)
3rd Meeting on 23rd will be left open so we can tend to ANYTHING that hasn’t been addressed as we present out submissions.
WE NEED EVERYBODY’S HELP. WE NEED TO GET EVERY SINGLE RESIDENT TO THESE MEETINGS.
The great saying is “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, it’s the size of the fight in the dog”.
Woof, Woof GREENBANK, Looks like we got ourselves a dog fight. PLEASE don’t hurt TEVVY the Teviot Downs mascot. We all loved him before this offensive proposal. We can still love him. It ain’t his fault he’s made of tin. <;o)
See you all at the meeting.
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