I guess one of the main conservative criticisms of the Labor Party, generally, is the party's closeness to the union movement, that and its tall poppy syndrome.
It's unlikely you would ever hear derision about a union rep working tirelessly for better conditions for the working classes, that is, unless he is going to be the next Labor PM of Oz, with some less substantial Labor Party members feeling the pinch from the growing popularity this guy's social conscience draws?
In the most isolated city in the world it is a no-brainer that smaller unions (of which, there are many in Perth) get lost in industrial action, overpowered by entrenched bureaucracy left unabated.
Senator Ray is virtually unknown to me but any pollie who watches Dr Who has to be the most switched on 59 year old to set foot in Parliament.
No daleks please, we're Liberals...
Friday, September 22, 2006
Perth blogs
Unbeknownst to the endless procession of newcomers to the 'Sphere there is a Perth Blog Meetup whereby these like-minded, creative and motivated writers can hook up and talk up a storm about what blogs turn their cogs and all things business about the Blogosphere.
The benefits of networking don't just help creatively, it's good for swapping technology, brainstorming new ideas & ventures, and breaking down the solo-dom of hitting the keys to express yourself.
So if you live in the vicinity, or even if you don't, get down to the Blog Meetup every month and be counted.
Perth blogs include:
Temporal Island
Man that Cooks
Rotto Bloggo
Enjoy Perth
Grum
Interlogue
Journey
1 Dog Said to the other...
The Pencil Guy
Freo Stencils
5 Public Opinions
Olive branch optimism
Duncan Riley.com
The benefits of networking don't just help creatively, it's good for swapping technology, brainstorming new ideas & ventures, and breaking down the solo-dom of hitting the keys to express yourself.
So if you live in the vicinity, or even if you don't, get down to the Blog Meetup every month and be counted.
Perth blogs include:
Temporal Island
Man that Cooks
Rotto Bloggo
Enjoy Perth
Grum
Interlogue
Journey
1 Dog Said to the other...
The Pencil Guy
Freo Stencils
5 Public Opinions
Olive branch optimism
Duncan Riley.com
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Slipping past the censors
Revelations of violent abuse and human rights crimes against Aboriginal Australians in colonial history on our doorstep, via Rotto Bloggo.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
CWA Branching out
The Country Women's Association (CWA) are lobbying for trials of medicinal marijuana for use in pain relief.
Barnaby Joyce said he has always respected the CWA for having their 'heads screwed on' (better than 'off', I guess), so he'd have to look at the proposal.
The 28 y/o nurse, Leslie Young, who heads the Tassie branch said cooking and knitting are still important for companionship but that there are a lot of 'youngies' who were now members too, the majority of whom are in Qld.
No prizes for guessing what recipe will feature in the next CWA cookbook.
Barnaby Joyce said he has always respected the CWA for having their 'heads screwed on' (better than 'off', I guess), so he'd have to look at the proposal.
The 28 y/o nurse, Leslie Young, who heads the Tassie branch said cooking and knitting are still important for companionship but that there are a lot of 'youngies' who were now members too, the majority of whom are in Qld.
No prizes for guessing what recipe will feature in the next CWA cookbook.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Dirty Harries in leotards doing pirouettes
It seems police industrial action is contagious at the moment with 60 Victorian Police walking off the job in protest(where to, the pub?), saying they've been robbed by the axing of the Armed Offenders Squad.
The thirty person unit was under investigation by Victoria's Office of Police Integrity, and there were allegations of assaults, but Paul Mullett of the Police Association said it was not a corruption probe.
In another astounding quote which will have Victoria Police spin doctors reeling, Mr Mullett said "The men and women of the armed offenders squad, who are dedicated and committed to serve the community, have had no principles of fairness applied to them."
Commissioner Nixon said the squad will be replaced with the testosterone-inhibiting 'Task Force Emerald' which has a much prettier name.
Stats show assault complaints against the unit are significantly higher than other VicPol units and indicate a 'culture' within the mostly male squad that the OPI said should have been dealt with long ago.
While the OPI voices concerns about the correlation between forced confessions and verballing, detectives outside of the squad respect them for the tough approach which they say is required for citizens taken into custody on suspicion of armed robbery.
The thirty person unit was under investigation by Victoria's Office of Police Integrity, and there were allegations of assaults, but Paul Mullett of the Police Association said it was not a corruption probe.
In another astounding quote which will have Victoria Police spin doctors reeling, Mr Mullett said "The men and women of the armed offenders squad, who are dedicated and committed to serve the community, have had no principles of fairness applied to them."
Commissioner Nixon said the squad will be replaced with the testosterone-inhibiting 'Task Force Emerald' which has a much prettier name.
Stats show assault complaints against the unit are significantly higher than other VicPol units and indicate a 'culture' within the mostly male squad that the OPI said should have been dealt with long ago.
While the OPI voices concerns about the correlation between forced confessions and verballing, detectives outside of the squad respect them for the tough approach which they say is required for citizens taken into custody on suspicion of armed robbery.
Yabbadabbadoo
More on Oz being 'Oil-free' by 2020... 'alternative fuel is the new black, darlings! If Sweden's doing it Australia simply must!' We'll have to await the little lego cars being shipped in to the local Ikea stores to capitalize on that plan.
Ellison says too much crack showing in Oz
Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison, who puts his pants on one leg at a time, said he honestly thinks amphetamines are the biggest challenge Australia, as a nation, faces. This reflects how drastically out of touch politicians can become with the challenges that ordinary Australians face from day to day.
He said amphetamines are being produced on unpatrolled Pacific islands on a massive scale, but he did not clarify which patrol actually detected this on the dangerous unpatrolled Pacific islands, which he claims are a source of crack, ice, ecstasy, speed and are a haven for money laundering.
The linked article says Mr Ellison is concerned about too much freedom being available and so AFP officers have established themselves across the Pacific Island region in countries like 'Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu.'
He said amphetamines are being produced on unpatrolled Pacific islands on a massive scale, but he did not clarify which patrol actually detected this on the dangerous unpatrolled Pacific islands, which he claims are a source of crack, ice, ecstasy, speed and are a haven for money laundering.
The linked article says Mr Ellison is concerned about too much freedom being available and so AFP officers have established themselves across the Pacific Island region in countries like 'Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu.'
A double serving of false arrest and radically reduce my civil liberties, purlease!
The Queensland Coalition is making another song & dance about roadside drug testing (in the same spirit of the breathalyzer test), but there has been little mention in the mainstream media of the last fiasco when the Victorian government applied the same test and results were found to be faulty, to the detriment of innocent drivers.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Paul Lucas said there was already a 12-month trial of random drug-testing and The Courier Mail says that Coalition Transport spokesperson, Fiona Simpson 'appeared confused at times' with the penalties involved in the proposed policy she was attempting to explain.
But the confused Coalition policies will not get a look in, with Beatty having won ***(put on your safety goggles for the following photo)yet another term in office.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Paul Lucas said there was already a 12-month trial of random drug-testing and The Courier Mail says that Coalition Transport spokesperson, Fiona Simpson 'appeared confused at times' with the penalties involved in the proposed policy she was attempting to explain.
But the confused Coalition policies will not get a look in, with Beatty having won ***(put on your safety goggles for the following photo)yet another term in office.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
One for Artie Vandelay on this holy feast day of
Saint Regina, Heortius and Clodoald(St. Cloud, French, prince of Orleans, priest, founder of monastery, d. 560),
St. Anastasius the Fuller (Italian, martyred by drowining in 304)St. Gratus of Aosta (Italian, bishop, c. 470)
St. Grimonia (Irish, laywoman, martyred in defense of virginity, 4th century)
St. Hiduard (Belgian, Benedictine monk, c 750)Bl.
John Duckett (English, priest, martyred - drawn/hanged/quartered - in 1644)
St. John of Lodi (Italian, Benedictine hermit, bishop, d. 1106)
St. John of Nicomedia (Turkish, martyr by burning in 303)
Bl. John Maki (Japanese, layman, martyred by burning in 1627 at Nagasaki)
AND (drumroll please...)
Bl. Thomas Tsugi (Japanese, Jesuit priest, martyred by burning at Nagasaki)
Saint Regina, Heortius and Clodoald(St. Cloud, French, prince of Orleans, priest, founder of monastery, d. 560),
St. Anastasius the Fuller (Italian, martyred by drowining in 304)St. Gratus of Aosta (Italian, bishop, c. 470)
St. Grimonia (Irish, laywoman, martyred in defense of virginity, 4th century)
St. Hiduard (Belgian, Benedictine monk, c 750)Bl.
John Duckett (English, priest, martyred - drawn/hanged/quartered - in 1644)
St. John of Lodi (Italian, Benedictine hermit, bishop, d. 1106)
St. John of Nicomedia (Turkish, martyr by burning in 303)
Bl. John Maki (Japanese, layman, martyred by burning in 1627 at Nagasaki)
AND (drumroll please...)
Bl. Thomas Tsugi (Japanese, Jesuit priest, martyred by burning at Nagasaki)
An oil-free caravan for every Australian family by 2020
The outgoing chair of the Senate's Rural and Regional Affairs Committee, Greens Senator Rachel Siewert has said gas-guzzling, V8-loving Australians need to prepare for an 'oil-free' future by 2020, which, while it sounds like an updated version of an old sci-fi movie, it's actually only 14 years away.
The committee have tabled an interim report after studying Oz' oil supply and dwindling global supplies, & an industry and government failure to address the longer-term issues of gas supplies, also rated a mention.
So maybe they better stop culling camels. Increasing by 100,000 every year, these feral little beasties could be the answer to fix flagging family budgets and pollution can be recycled for the vegie patch :// (y'ah!)
The committee have tabled an interim report after studying Oz' oil supply and dwindling global supplies, & an industry and government failure to address the longer-term issues of gas supplies, also rated a mention.
So maybe they better stop culling camels. Increasing by 100,000 every year, these feral little beasties could be the answer to fix flagging family budgets and pollution can be recycled for the vegie patch :// (y'ah!)
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Ministerial priorities?
The Police Union are demanding the government pay a 20% increase over the next two years for officers who currently earn an average base rate of $20 per hour, which despite the heavier responsibility and constant and inherent danger involved is virtually the same pay as a waiter or bartender.
Ongoing demonstrations of poor arrest procedures and mishandling of previous cases only amplify the need for officers to be adequately paid, to counter the high numbers of resignations and problems that stem from a lack of supervision for a growing body of inexperienced WAPOL staff.
Police Minister, the third in the last twelve months, is offering police a 12.5% pay rise whilst politicians have only since the campaign started, awarded themselves higher pay rises to their already unjustifiable incomes.
As a voter I have to wonder whether state government ministers would endanger their lives, accept heavy responsibility and deal with trauma everyday, for twenty bucks an hour? Or even for their current ridiculous salaries?
Domestic violence is identified as one of the primary motivations in murder cases in WA every year and yet it is so common, police deal with it everyday. If the efficiency of the police service is determined by their incomes, which of course the delivery of services by every worker in every field is, why is it that the state government does not value the lives of those effected by domestic violence? What about those voters effected by burglaries or car theft?
It is fairly safe to say that at some point in every person's life they will need the services of the police and with lives hingeing on the effective delivery of policing, wouldn't it be in the public interest for police wages to be in accordance with the responsibility of their duties and their skills and qualifications?
So why is it that the state government are prepared to spend more on spam-like electoral campaigns and paying 500 over-paid spin doctors in their employ, than protecting the voting community?
Recently WAPOL have dug their heels in and refused to do revenue collecting activities like speeding tickets and tonight they are only attending 'life-threatening' situations, but seeing how police are only worth $20 p/hr, maybe emergency callers can just call Dominos instead, I hear they work for a cheaper rate.
Ongoing demonstrations of poor arrest procedures and mishandling of previous cases only amplify the need for officers to be adequately paid, to counter the high numbers of resignations and problems that stem from a lack of supervision for a growing body of inexperienced WAPOL staff.
Police Minister, the third in the last twelve months, is offering police a 12.5% pay rise whilst politicians have only since the campaign started, awarded themselves higher pay rises to their already unjustifiable incomes.
As a voter I have to wonder whether state government ministers would endanger their lives, accept heavy responsibility and deal with trauma everyday, for twenty bucks an hour? Or even for their current ridiculous salaries?
Domestic violence is identified as one of the primary motivations in murder cases in WA every year and yet it is so common, police deal with it everyday. If the efficiency of the police service is determined by their incomes, which of course the delivery of services by every worker in every field is, why is it that the state government does not value the lives of those effected by domestic violence? What about those voters effected by burglaries or car theft?
It is fairly safe to say that at some point in every person's life they will need the services of the police and with lives hingeing on the effective delivery of policing, wouldn't it be in the public interest for police wages to be in accordance with the responsibility of their duties and their skills and qualifications?
So why is it that the state government are prepared to spend more on spam-like electoral campaigns and paying 500 over-paid spin doctors in their employ, than protecting the voting community?
Recently WAPOL have dug their heels in and refused to do revenue collecting activities like speeding tickets and tonight they are only attending 'life-threatening' situations, but seeing how police are only worth $20 p/hr, maybe emergency callers can just call Dominos instead, I hear they work for a cheaper rate.
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