notorganic
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Joffa
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Quote:Labor's lost common touch by: Samantha Maiden From: The Sunday Telegraph August 05, 2012 12:00AM WHY the blue-collar party needs to roll up its sleeves and reconnect with its voting base, writes Samantha Maiden Even when Labor voters reach out to the ALP, Julia Gillard's ministers are so battle-scarred from being routinely abused by voters that they don't hear it. For all the doubters who speculated Shorten is a self-serving double dealer who will cut Gillard loose if it suits him, finally his loyalty is there for the record on CCTV. Even if it meant denying his hungry stepson Rupert a piping hot pie, Shorten would not stand for criticism of Gillard. Faced with Melbourne milk bar owner Annie Huang who offered to microwave a pie but warned it would be "soft", Shorten thought she then said "just like Julia Gillard", prompting the Workplace Minister to march out warning the confused shopkeeper she had lost his business. In fact, the milk bar owner had simply added "I like Julia Gillard". Does political comedy get any better than this ? In the wake of Wayne Swan's own amateur video of love for Bruce Springsteen, a production some speculated was about positioning himself as an alternative leader if Gillard is gone by September, Liberal strategists were asking a different question. It's one some believe is the key to choosing Labor's next leader. When you look at Labor's frontbench, where are the future leaders with "rough hands" ? "You look at their frontbench," he said. "Who is on that frontbench that has rough hands? "Who has done work outside of being a lawyer, a staffer, an apparatchik." If he was choosing Labor's next leader to reconnect with the lost Labor base, the Liberal strategist says he would be looking for someone with "rough hands". "It's not Greg Combet. He looks like a deputy librarian. It's not Stephen Smith. He's as boring as bat shit. That would be a takeover by the accountants," he said. "There's Shorten. But I don't really know what he stands for. Their best female is Penny Wong, but she's in the wrong house. "She's a message robot. She stays completely calm and then our guys go red in the face and look like idiots," he laughed. Of course, there's that mysterious and elusive micro sub-faction within the ALP who still believe Crean could secure the ALP base. Naturally, this lost tribe of Labor's Armageddon cult takes as a given the next election will be a bloodbath. Once upon a time, Labor MPs included the legendary Mick Young, a shearer turned union official and cabinet minister. Who on Labor's frontbench has rough hands today? Sure, Swan still looks respectable in a faded Eric Clapton T-shirt and a hair-net on factory visits. But who has actually worked outside of legal, union and political circles? Nearly 10 years ago, John Howard used to bemoan Labor's "gene pool" was shrinking. "There's a growing tendency to narrow the gene pool from which members of parliament are chosen," he said. "They leave university on the Labor side, and they go straight into the union office or they go straight into the politician's office," he said. "I think there's a place for political staffers. You're average Labor entrant now has not had any real life experience." Of course, his observations were self-serving. Howard was proud of the collection of former police officers and small business people in his ranks. Naturally, advice from Tories about the ALP's political prospects would generally be regarded as suspect. But reconnecting with Labor's lost base is something the ALP is very much engaged with. What's interesting about the published polls is that they show a much larger group of people who identify as ALP supporters than those who actually voted Labor at the last election. Published polling also shows a gender split, with more female voters supporting the ALP than men. When pollsters Galaxy recently asked voters what they thought of a national container deposit scheme they threw in a question about federal voting intentions. The results underline recent ALP polling that primary vote support for the Labor Party has crashed to just one in four voters in NSW (26 per cent) Qld (26 per cent) and WA (26 per cent). Only Victoria was holding up an overall national result of 29 per cent, with 37 per cent of respondents suggesting they will vote Labor at the next election. The polling suggests Labor really is looking down the barrel of a total wipe out in some states at the next election. It also tracks support for the Greens as high as 17 per cent in the major cities. Labor is currently conducting it's own online survey of members and supporters with 6000 participating to date in an online poll about why the Labor Party is such a political turn off. The results should be fascinating. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/labors-lost-common-touch/story-e6frezz0-1226442859413
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macktheknife
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Knifing Rudd was as bad a political decision as Workchoices.
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marconi101
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It's a lot easier to be point fingers, be selfish and be a Liberal
He was a man of specific quirks. He believed that all meals should be earned through physical effort. He also contended, zealously like a drunk with a political point, that the third dimension would not be possible if it werent for the existence of water.
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batfink
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marconi101 wrote:It's a lot easier to be point fingers, be selfish and be a Liberal or be a bludger with a sense of entitlement and be Labor....
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Joffa
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Quote:Carbon tax in soft landing DateAugust 10, 2012 THE federal opposition's scare campaign against the carbon tax has failed its first test. The Bureau of Statistics reports that seasonally adjusted employment rose by 14,000 in July - the month the tax took effect - while unemployment fell to 5.2 per cent. For the government, it was a double bonus after the TD Securities-Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge reported on Monday that inflation rose just 0.2 per cent in July, and was flat over the past three months. While this was only the first test of the carbon tax, if the duo of rising employment and low inflation continues, it could have huge political implications - undermining Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's repeated claim that the carbon tax would be ''like a wrecking ball through our economy''. Mr Abbott yesterday stuck to his claim, pointing out that jobs rose only half as much in July as they had fallen in June. ''Make no mistake, this is a python squeeze on our economy, and as time goes by it will squeeze families' cost of living, it will squeeze employment in this country,'' he said. But Treasurer Wayne Swan was quick to claim vindication. ''It is yet more evidence that Tony Abbott's scare campaign on the carbon price and the mining tax is absolute baloney,'' he said. ''Today's figures are the latest proof that he is deliberately misleading Australians and talking our economy down.'' With the election not due for another year or more, the real test of the tax's impact on jobs and inflation lies ahead. But if the economy thrives over the coming year despite the tax - as most forecasters expect - it could become the political ''game-changer'' Labor is hoping for, discrediting the Coalition and its leader. The bureau's preferred trend figures, however, paint a bleaker picture, which, if sustained, could give the debate to the Coalition. The trend data, which smooths out the ups and downs of monthly figures, estimates that job growth slowed to just 24,000 over the past three months, down from 42,000 over the previous three. Forward indicators for employment are sending warning bells. The bureau's measure of job vacancies shrank by 15,000 in the 15 months to May. Most of that decline was in Victoria, and mostly in white-collar jobs in professional offices, administration and healthcare. Yesterday the SEEK index reported online job ads down 5 per cent last month and 11 per cent over the past year. The rival ANZ series was slightly less bleak, but it reported that job ads, online and in newspapers, shrank by 1800 last month and by 18,500, or 10 per cent, since February last year. In trend terms, the bureau estimates that jobs have grown by 74,000 this year, or 10,000 a month. Only a third of the growth has been in full-time jobs. But the adult population is estimated to have grown by 136,000 in that time. Of the other 62,000, in net terms, the bureau estimates just 5000 more are unemployed, whereas 57,000 more have settled on the sidelines, not looking for work. The jobs figures show Australia is still deeply divided between boom and bust, with Western Australia at one extreme, Tasmania at the other, and Victoria and NSW somewhere in the middle. Western Australia is way out in front of any other state, adding 50,000 full-time jobs in the past year and cutting trend unemployment to 3.6 per cent. NSW takes the silver medal, but a long way behind, adding 20,000 full-time jobs in the year to July, with unemployment down to 5.1 per cent. Victoria and Queensland were fighting out for the bronze. In Victoria, the bureau estimates, full-time jobs shrank by 23,000 in the year, but part-time jobs grew by 42,000. The state's unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent last month, down one notch from June. Queensland, by contrast, added 4000 full-time jobs in the year while losing 10,000 part-time jobs. Its unemployment rate stayed at 5.6 per cent. South Australia and Tasmania were clearly going backwards. On the bureau's figures, South Australia lost 18,000 full-time jobs in the past year - one in 30 - with unemployment up to 5.7 per cent. It now has fewer full-time jobs than it had before the GFC. Tasmania is in even worse trouble, losing 6800 full-time jobs in the past year, or more than one in 25. Most forecasters still expect unemployment to edge up in coming months, if only slightly, with the Reserve Bank likely to deliver another interest rate cut this year. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/carbon-tax-in-soft-landing-20120809-23x6t.html#ixzz233XcR6WT
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batfink
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way to early to see the impact of the carbon tax.....
i just got my electricy bill and the carbon tax portion of it is $216.00
so a hefty increase
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notorganic
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batfink wrote:way to early to see the impact of the carbon tax.....
i just got my electricy bill and the carbon tax portion of it is $216.00
so a hefty increase I guess the onus is now on you to find a greener, cheaper alternative.
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No12
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Carbon Tax collection stands at half a billion in first 45days, money pulled out of our economy for no climate benefit
1) Global temperature will not decrease or increase (if so by how much?) due to Australian activities 2) We have no viable greener alternative energy generation or industry to cope with the tax changes right now (horse before the cart stuff) Our Wind turbines, Solar panels are all made overseas, we have no new hydro generators or nuclear plants. 3) Our climate change science is based on computer modelling and Tim Flannery is not meteorologist he studied Dinosaurs. Any one please just one prediction regarding our climate that he has made that is correct. Tim and Kev both have waterfront properties. 4) Carbon tax is much worse than GST, no GST on food, health, schools, councils….Carbon Tax applies on all of them….also GST was introduced after an election was won and we were told about it.
Carbon Tax will be known as C five letter word introduced by Labour, no compensation will save them after the next election, they are talking about 30 seats Australia wide, Toyota Tarago has 9 seats and that car will have more seats then them.
Labour can not manage their own party finances, so they asked their own 150 party think tanks for a wage contribution to finance next election, so far only 20 employees sign to it, further proof that they do not believe their own BS anymore.
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notorganic
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No12 wrote:Carbon Tax collection stands at half a billion in first 45days, money pulled out of our economy for no climate benefit
1) Global temperature will not decrease or increase (if so by how much?) due to Australian activities 2) We have no viable greener alternative energy generation or industry to cope with the tax changes right now (horse before the cart stuff) Our Wind turbines, Solar panels are all made overseas, we have no new hydro generators or nuclear plants. 3) Our climate change science is based on computer modelling and Tim Flannery is not meteorologist he studied Dinosaurs. Any one please just one prediction regarding our climate that he has made that is correct. Tim and Kev both have waterfront properties. 4) Carbon tax is much worse than GST, no GST on food, health, schools, councils….Carbon Tax applies on all of them….also GST was introduced after an election was won and we were told about it.
Carbon Tax will be known as C five letter word introduced by Labour, no compensation will save them after the next election, they are talking about 30 seats Australia wide, Toyota Tarago has 9 seats and that car will have more seats then them.
Labour can not manage their own party finances, so they asked their own 150 party think tanks for a wage contribution to finance next election, so far only 20 employees sign to it, further proof that they do not believe their own BS anymore.
4 absolute classic logical fallacies. Well done mate.
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batfink
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notorganic wrote:batfink wrote:way to early to see the impact of the carbon tax.....
i just got my electricy bill and the carbon tax portion of it is $216.00
so a hefty increase I guess the onus is now on you to find a greener, cheaper alternative. such as???????? love you to be able to advise here Matt, any suggections would be good..... funny thing is i am an electrician...i have changed my downlights to LED, altered my solar hot water system setup to maximise its output, put timers on all the equipment that isnt required overnight such as irrigation pumps,Instant HWS so on and so forth, and i managed to get my bill down from $3000 a quarter to $1,800..... i was wrapped....thought i was a smart cookie......but now with the carbon tax and the 11% increase approved by IPART i'm back up to $2400-$2600......so you can't win..... we are just numbers feeding the machine that is inefficient and corrcupt government....by all and sundry, they are all as equally bad as each other, scabs pricks and morons..... remember everyone "LIVE CONSUME DIE" Edited by batfink: 10/8/2012 04:43:46 PMEdited by batfink: 10/8/2012 04:46:17 PM
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Joffa
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Quote:Inflation stymies rate cut hopes, says RBA by: David Uren and James Glynn From: The Australian August 10, 2012 11:47AM RISING inflation means that interest rate cuts are off the Reserve Bank's agenda for the foreseeable future, although its review of the economy warns that the high exchange rate is a key risk. The Reserve Bank has raised its forecast inflation for this calendar year from 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent and says that, including carbon prices, the inflation rate will be in the top half of its target 2 to 3 per cent band throughout 2013. The bank’s quarterly review of the economy, released today, has also upgraded its forecasts for Australia’s economic growth with consumption boosted by the government’s cash hand-outs in carbon tax compensation and schools bonus payments. It expects growth to be around the long-term trend throughout next year. Commenting on the Reserve Bank’s forecasts, Citigroup economists Paul Brennan and Joshua Williamson, said the Reserve Bank would hold rates steady at their current level until the second half year, when it would have to start lifting them again. .“We expect no further interest rate cuts in the current cycle,” they said. The Reserve Bank said the impact of the carbon price on inflation would wane through 2013. "The carbon price effect on inflation will largely have passed by late 2013 and underlying inflation is forecast to be around the middle of the target range (of 2 to 3 per cent) thereafter,'' the RBA said. In its Statement on Monetary Policy , the RBA said the effect of the exchange rate would likely push up the costs of tradeable items as the effect of earlier rises in the exchange rate fade. The high Australian dollar was a key risk for the economy, the bank said, adding that it may be putting more of a brake on activity than has been the case before. "It is possible that the persistently high level of the exchange rate may be more contractionary for the economy than historical relationships suggest," the Reserve Bank of Australia said. "Important risks revolve around exchange rate developments. The exchange rate has been high for some time," it said. The comments come amid protests from some exporters and unions about the elevated Australian dollar, which is hurting exports. Some have called for intervention by the RBA to lower the currency, while others have suggested cutting interest rates would also help. The Australian dollar has risen by around 10 per cent since the start of June despite interest rate cuts and lower commodity prices. Huge capital inflows, fanned in part by central banks, have driven the increase. The Australian dollar is trading at around $US1.06 today, within striking distance of its 30-year high of $US1.08. The currency is also at historically high levels on a trade-weighted index basis. The pain of a high currency has spread from manufacturers and tourism operators into the booming mining sector. Major miners warned this week that the high exchange rate was eating into profits, endangering the outlook for investment and increasing the risk of job losses. On Tuesday, the RBA left its cash-rate target steady at 3.5 per cent, as expected, but highlighted the problem of a rising currency against the backdrop of falling commodity prices. Prices for key exports like iron ore and coal are at two-year lows as China's economy has slowed. The Australian dollar has also risen despite increased anxiety about the outlook for the European economy. The RBA said interest rate-settings remained appropriate for now, indicating it was in no hurry to lower the cash-rate target further. It says the country is well placed to respond to any sudden shock given the "scope" to adjust policy. It said that it would expect the Australian dollar to fall in such a scenario. "Movements in the exchange rate would also be expected to play an important role in adjusting to such shocks," it said. The bank also said the forecast pace of growth in the Australian economy for 2012 is better than previously expected, but problems in the eurozone threaten to crash the party. RBA said stronger data readings in the first half of the year had prompted it to revise gross domestic product (GDP) forecasts for 2012 as a whole. "The firm pace in the first half of the year sees the forecast for GDP growth over 2012 rise to 3.5 per cent (from 3 per cent in the May statement),'' it said. "The economy is then expected to grow at around 3 per cent over 2013 and 2014, little changed from the May statement." Data released since the last statement had suggested a better economic performance in early 2012, driven by increased resource investment and confident household spending. Price markdowns from retailers earlier in the year, plus recent government payments had encouraged people to spend more, the RBA said. However, healthy growth in Australia could still be derailed by risks from the eurozone, according to to the central bank. "The economic and financial events in the euro area remain a significant downside risk to global economic growth," it said. "The sequence of policy responses to date, while often improving sentiment temporarily, has not been able to fix the underlying problems and so concerns have periodically intensified, and are likely to continue to do so." The RBA warned that the exit of one or more nations from the eurozone was a real possibility, and there were several scenarios which could see growth in the region plunge. "Other risks to the global economy are slightly tilted to the downside, though much less so than is the case for Europe," it said. While Chinese growth - crucial to Australia - appeared to be stabilising - it was also uncertain whether growth would be faster or slower there, the RBA said. - Dow Jones Newswires and AAP contributed to this story http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/economics/economy-strong-but-beware-of-europe-says-rba/story-e6frg926-1226447481395
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batfink
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notorganic wrote:batfink wrote:way to early to see the impact of the carbon tax.....
i just got my electricy bill and the carbon tax portion of it is $216.00
so a hefty increase I guess the onus is now on you to find a greener, cheaper alternative. didn't think i would get a reply here.......there are no options for greener cheaper electricity..........[-(
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notorganic
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Not yet, but price pressures will drive innovation in that sector.
What about Solar? Have you looked into it at all?
And just to clarify... by using energy efficient equipment and power-smart practices you're still $400-600 better off by your own estimates correct?
Edited by notorganic: 13/8/2012 10:19:55 AM
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leftrightout
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notorganic wrote:Turnbull should cross lines and challenge, would be hilarious. The problem in this country is that both parties tow the line to sickening extent. Their is no real other alternative than the status quo. When people finally wake up and realise that it's a two headed beast that runs this country than nothing will change. [youtube]8JWvAZOkYNc[/youtube] [youtube]0TGB-PS4nM0[/youtube] Tell me what is the alternative please? And is Australia intelligent enough to care? :-"
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batfink
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notorganic wrote:Not yet, but price pressures will drive innovation in that sector.
What about Solar? Have you looked into it at all?
And just to clarify... by using energy efficient equipment and power-smart practices you're still $400-600 better off by your own estimates correct?
Edited by notorganic: 13/8/2012 10:19:55 AM i have done all the smart stuff.....and when i applied for the solar panel scheme, we couldnt get it because our meters are at the front gate 350m away, i asked if i was prepared to pay for a wireless/cellualr reading meter at my own expense would they allow it, and the answer was no..... 3 years ago i wrote a submission.......i asked if i was able to connect a methane power generator to the network ....NO again....i breed rare pigs and had plans to build a micro methane generation plant that would return to me around $15,000-$20,000 a year..... so there is no real WANT to get individuals on greener schemes....there are next to nil schemes out there now, and what there is has such narrow criteria it applies to nobody
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notorganic
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batfink wrote:there is no real WANT to get individuals on greener schemes. Well not 3 years ago, no. Now there is a financial incentive, which will turn out to be a pretty powerful motivator.
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thupercoach
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notorganic wrote:batfink wrote:there is no real WANT to get individuals on greener schemes. Well not 3 years ago, no. Now there is a financial incentive, which will turn out to be a pretty powerful motivator. Or we could just run a tree planting scheme Australia-wide and avoid the need for any of this nonsense.
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thupercoach
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thupercoach wrote:notorganic wrote:batfink wrote:there is no real WANT to get individuals on greener schemes. Well not 3 years ago, no. Now there is a financial incentive, which will turn out to be a pretty powerful motivator. Or we could just run a tree planting scheme Australia-wide and avoid the need for any of this nonsense. Actually just stumbled across an interesting stat - there are only 2 countries in the world with more trees than 100 years ago - USA and Israel. Google to confirm. Why aren't more nations planting more trees? I know it isn't as sexy as charging a carbon tax, but if we want more oxygen without reducing our quality of life then surely planting more trees is the answer? The Europeans and the Chinese need to do more, and the oil-rich Arabs could do something more for the environment than fund football teams. And Brazil is a downright embarrassment the way And if the Israelis can plant trees and grow oranges in the desert then surely we could run a tree planting scheme in Australia? Given our resources it's a bit embarrassing that we are not one of the countries with more trees than 100 years ago. And let's leave party politics out of this - I am just talking common sense.
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batfink
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notorganic wrote:batfink wrote:there is no real WANT to get individuals on greener schemes. Well not 3 years ago, no. Now there is a financial incentive, which will turn out to be a pretty powerful motivator. well i keep waiting for you to tell how to get the electricty bill down....the bare fact is its gone up due to IPART and the 11% increase along with a carbon tax that accounts for $9 in every $100 or close to 10%.....so in one bill an increase of 19%....... what green power can i have that will reduce this????? ANSWER: there isn't any....... and can you explian to me what financial incentive will motivate who to find a solution??????
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notorganic
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batfink wrote:what green power can i have that will reduce this????? ANSWER: there isn't any....... Perhaps you should go back and do the maths on the cost/benefit of the wireless meter. How much was it? Perhaps you should put more consumer pressure on your local providers to provide a carbon-neutral/negative/free product. The fact that went prices up means that the carbon pricing is working. The next stage is companies and entrepreneurs taking advantage of that in carbon neutral or negative endeavours.
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imonfourfourtwo
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notorganic wrote:batfink wrote:what green power can i have that will reduce this????? ANSWER: there isn't any....... Perhaps you should go back and do the maths on the cost/benefit of the wireless meter. How much was it? Perhaps you should put more consumer pressure on your local providers to provide a carbon-neutral/negative/free product. The fact that went prices up means that the carbon pricing is working. The next stage is companies and entrepreneurs taking advantage of that in carbon neutral or negative endeavours. That's the theory. How do companies avoid paying the carbon price? Stop polluting. Easier said than done, but at least there's a small chance for business to avoid it if they do the right things...unlike the GST.
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Mr
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imonfourfourtwo wrote:
That's the theory. How do companies avoid paying the carbon price? Stop polluting. Easier said than done, but at least there's a small chance for business to avoid it if they do the right things...unlike the GST.
That's what Amazon is doing for Australia now
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batfink
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notorganic wrote:batfink wrote:what green power can i have that will reduce this????? ANSWER: there isn't any....... Perhaps you should go back and do the maths on the cost/benefit of the wireless meter. How much was it? Perhaps you should put more consumer pressure on your local providers to provide a carbon-neutral/negative/free product. The fact that went prices up means that the carbon pricing is working. The next stage is companies and entrepreneurs taking advantage of that in carbon neutral or negative endeavours. the wireless meter i was prepared to install myself, at my own expense....they still denied me access to the solar scheme due to the metering situation..... as far as your comments about providores supplying greener power, the reason "poles & wires" costings on our bills has increased is proof that we the consumer pays for the green initutives and get no benefit, the generator takes this to offset his carbon tax..... it all works out to be you & me paying the price....as is always the case
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batfink
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Prime Minister Julia Gillard has backed an independent report on asylum seekers, saying the government will move urgently to restart offshore processing on Manus Island and Nauru. Ms Gillard told reporters in Canberra this afternoon that the government would reintroduce its migration bill, with amendments, to the Parliament tomorrow.
The expert panel on asylum seekers, Michael L'Estrange, Angus Houston and Paris Aristotle, have handed their recommendations to the government. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen The government will also move immediately to implement the report's recommendations to remove family reunion concessions for people who arrive by boat. Advertisement
An expert panel led by former Defence chief Angus Houston has recommended that Australia process asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru, and that the Malaysia people swap should be "built on further" before anyone was sent to Malaysia. Ms Gillard and Immigration Minister Chris Bowen told a special Labor caucus meeting this afternoon that the government should adopt all 22 recommendations in the report.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Immigration minister Chris Bowen respond to the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers report Photo: Andrew Meares The Prime Minister said the government had received the report - which it commissioned six weeks ago - at 7am today. Thanking the panel for their work, Ms Gillard said the government had also endorsed in-principle a recommendation to increase the humanitarian intake from 13,750 people per year to 20,000. Ms Gillard said she was prepared to further compromise from the government's position in order to "get things done." "This report is telling us to not stay in our fixed positions," she said. The Greens have rejected the offshore processing recommendations, while Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has called on the government to reopen processing centres on Nauru and Manus Island. The Houston panel, which Ms Gillard appointed in June to help break a political deadlock on the issue, released its report earlier this afternoon. Air Chief Marshal Houston told reporters in Canberra that the review had been a "challenging" task and that there were no simple solutions. He said the recommendations were "an integrated set of proposals".
VIDEO: Houston backs boost to refugee intake He said that the panel "fiercely defended" its independence, and Ms Gillard had made it clear it had free rein to run its review. "We've taken everything on its merits," he said. When it came to the Coalition's policy of turning boats back, Air Chief Marshal Houston said that he had a lot of appreciation of the associated legal issues, given his Defence background. But the panel had also taken expert advice on the matter. "Right now we believe that the conditions do not exist to be able to turn boats back," he said. He said that the panel had briefed Ms Gillard as well as Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, the Greens and the independents on their findings. He said the group, which included former diplomat Michael L'Estrange and refugee expert Paris Aristotle, wanted to see policy that was "hard-headed but not hard-hearted". The former Defence chief said the independent panel had been "deeply concerned" about the loss of life at sea. From late 2001 to June 2012, 964 asylum seekers and boat crew had been lost at sea while en route to Australia, he said. Of these, 604 people have died since October 2009. "To do nothing is unacceptable," he said. He added that it was in Australia's national interest to co-ordinate better with regional and source countries. He said that panel believed that a "no-advantage" principle should apply "whereby irregular migrants gain no benefit by choosing to circumvent regular migration mechanisms". Air Chief Marshal Houston said that the large backlog in the special humanitarian program also needed to be addressed. The panel recommended that a strategy to "significantly" increase resettlement places provided by Australia to war-torn countries in the Middle East and Asia region be developed. Legislation to support regional offshore processing should be introduced into the Parliament immediately, it said, and processing centres should be established in Nauru and Papua New Guinea immediately. The existing Manus Island processing facility, in Papua New Guinea, was last used in the Howard government era - as was the processing centre on Nauru. Air Chief Marshal Houston said that onshore processing was "seeing a very big pull" towards Australia. He said the panel's recommendations would cost $1 billion annually but most of this would be offset by savings, drawn from a reduction in border control and customs costs that have ballooned with the influx of boats. More than 7500 people have arrived in Australia by boat since the start of the year. This compares with about 4500 people for the whole of 2011. "Unless we do something different ... the problem is just going to get worse," he said. "Onshore processing encourages people to jump on boats." Air Chief Marshal Houston said that the panel had looked at temporary protection visas. He said they would not be needed in Nauru or PNG, but a form of the visa may be required if vulnerable people needed to come to Australia. The people-swap deal with Malaysia should be ''built on, not discarded'' but the panel warned that, if it was to work, protection measures and safety guarantees for the fate of asylum seekers sent from Australia to Malaysia were needed. The panel believed these measures ''did not currently exist but could in the future''. Mr Morrison encouraged Labor to ''get to work'' on reopening the asylum seeker centres on Nauru and Manus Island. The Coalition frontbencher said the Houston report endorsed the spirit of temporary protection visas and supported the Howard government view that family reunions were a pull factor. He said the panel had dispelled the ''nonsense'' view that boats could not be towed back to sea, but ducked the issue on the panel's recommendation that the current settings were illegal and unsafe to do so.
Mr Morrison offered bipartisan support and any necessary assistance in reopening both processing centres, but made it plain the Coalition viewed the report as a ''greenlight for Nauru and Manus Island and a red light for Malaysia''. He refused to answer whether he supported the full suite of recommendations - with the exception of the Malaysia proposal - saying the opposition would make a full response when the government delivered its own reaction. Greens leader Christine Milne said her party was disappointed that the panel had not listened to expert advice and was going back to the "bad old days" of offshore processing on Nauru and Manus Island. "What is coming to the Parliament is a proposition that we take away human rights, that is a proposition that John Howard put forward," Senator Milne told reporters in Canberra today. "The Greens will not be party to something which is cruel to people," she said. Senator Milne welcomed the recommended increase in Australia's humanitarian intake, which is something the Greens have been calling for. She said it was "clearly the best thing to do" and that it reduced the pressure on people to get on boats. She also said that the panel's position on Malaysia - calling for greater human rights protections - vindicated the Greens' opposition to the Malaysia deal. The report was given the thumbs-up by independent MP Rob Oakeshott. "Briefing with former CDF complete. Good strategy proposed. Time to get on with it, and for the Parliament to pass appropriate legislation," Mr Oakeshott posted on Twitter. Among the panel's other recommendations was a call for immediate bilateral co-operation on asylum seeker issues with Indonesia. There should also be an increase in the allocation of resettlement places available to Indonesians under Australia's humanitarian program, enhanced co-operation on joint surveillance, law enforcement and search and rescue co-ordination. The panel said Australian laws that jailed Indonesian minors who crewed on the unlawful boat voyages needed to be reviewed. Australia should continue to develop its relationship with Malaysia, including a greater number of refugees to be accepted from the country into Australia. The humanitarian program and Australia's onshore and offshore processing ''components'' should be reviewed within two years. Air Chief Marshal Houston noted that the issues the report dealt with had been "swirling around" in the Australian community for a long time. "There are very few new ideas in this arena," he said. The report recommended that reunion concessions for immediate family - where they are sponsored by a person who arrived by boat - should be removed. The panel also recommends people who arrive by boat should not be eligible to sponsor family under the Special Humanitarian Program
[size=8] THIS from a weak as piss prime minister.....wasted millions of taxpayers money to save face......weak as piss[/size]
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thupercoach
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About time...will all the Labor apologists on this forum now embrace Nauru as a good idea?
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No12
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Give them twelve months and Labour will have tribunal on Broadband, Carbon tax and some other unpopular policies and will do back flip on all of them. This refugees tribunal and the three experts costs us about 400K and has exposed how dumb Labour actually is, something 85% of us already knew for a while now.
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thupercoach
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No12 wrote:Give them twelve months and Labour will have tribunal on Broadband, Carbon tax and some other unpopular policies and will do back flip on all of them. This refugees tribunal and the three experts costs us about 400K and has exposed how dumb Labour actually is, something 85% of us already knew for a while now.
They should be gone in about 12 months... and then the rebuilding can begin.
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notorganic
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thupercoach wrote:About time...will all the Labor apologists on this forum now embrace Nauru as a good idea? I guess I'm a Green apologist now.
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thupercoach
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notorganic wrote:thupercoach wrote:About time...will all the Labor apologists on this forum now embrace Nauru as a good idea? I guess I'm a Green apologist now. Scratch a Green and you'll see a Red...;)
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