When we awake from the new year celebrations at the end of this year we will find a change in the safety net that applies to health cost refunds. The good news is that the qualification for that safety net has been reduced. The bad news is that limits will apply and we will pay more for out of pocket fees for medical treatment.
When an Australian has paid $638 in out of pocket medical fees after receiving the standard Medicare refund the safety net swings into action and takes up the slack by paying eighty percent of further health costs for the remainder of that calendar year. That qualification from next year will drop to $600.
A new and complex formula will then apply to all medical services and the medical profession is still calculating how it will affect their fee structures, but it looks like the bill for a non bulk billing GP visit will now attract an increase of out of pocket expenses from $7.60 to $19.45.
The impact will be felt more heavily in the rates that apply to IVF procedures and for radiation and treatment of the mentally ill. Visit numbers will apply in an attempt to reign in the cost and keep medical services sustainable.
There is little uniformity in the way health services are provided and paid for by world countries. The socialist manifesto insists that treatment should be free and yet that is impractical as a burden on most economies. In some countries, seeing a doctor requires the fee to be paid unfront -and those without money remain untreated. Many countries have opted for a semi subsidized health system such as we have in Australia.
The problem is that medicine in all it's forms is rapidly expanding. We are discovering the ability to treat ailments and diseases that were once untreatable and medical research is constantly adding new drugs to our armoury of medical weapons - and the cost is blowing out exponentially.
Paying for medical services by way of individual health insurance certainly reduces the drain on the public purse but there will always be a segment of the community unable to pay the premium required. The Australian network of public hospitals provides a service free to all and pensioners receive prescriptions filled at reduced cost. Nobody should be denied basic services, although long waiting times usually apply and those able to pay get prompt service from private medical providers.
Once again the government health authorities are tinkering with the system to try and stretch services to cover more people while also containing costs. There will inevitably be a backlash as out of pocket expenses increase, but by world standards our health system is probably up there with the best.
Saturday 31 October 2015
Friday 30 October 2015
The " Education " Racket !
They used to be called HECS, but under a variety of names the Commonwealth has deferred payment schemes to help the disadvantaged get a college education . A degree is a great help in finding a well paid job and the student is committed to paying back those education fees in installments when their salary reaches a certain level.
To meet demand, a number of private colleges appeared on the Australian education landscape and now there is disquiet at the standards that prevail. These colleges are "for profit " and they have an incentive to get the numbers enrolled. It seems that " freebies " are being deployed to get prospective students to sign on the dotted line - and that is completely against the rules that apply.
It has become apparent that some colleges are enticing students with an offer of a free laptop computer or a tablet when they agree to undertake a course - which is a $25,000 bill charged to the Federal government. The student is not required to start repaying this education fee until their earnings reach a level of $54,126, and now it has been discovered that only 2.4% of these students actually complete their course.
In one instance, the person signed up for this higher level of education was a nineteen year old disabled man with learning difficulties. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ( ACCC ) is conducting an investigation of that college and it may be required to repay the Commonwealth $ 57 million for course discrepancies.
Unfortunately, the very concept of what is really a time payment scheme for higher education is open to abuse. In broad theory, the public thinks it helps young men and women from less privileged households get their foot on the employment ladder by gaining the qualifications that are now necessary to enter an ever increasing range of professions - and that includes nursing and teaching.
Today - in our multicultural society - it is not uncommon for the retired to decide to undertake this sort of study, and hence there is absolutely no prospect of them ever reentering the work-force or attaining the salary level at which repayments become automatic. It is also suspected that new citizens with a sketchy command of the English language are being coerced to signup for courses which are way above their comprehension level. Unethical colleges are only interested in gaining the numbers and billing the Commonwealth to make their institutions profitable.
The lure of a free laptop or tablet is a huge incentive for those for which either is out of financial reach, and yet refurbished laptops are on offer for a very few dollars and the price of tablets has dropped alarmingly as Chinese manufacturers fight for market share. The cost is minuscule in relation to the return from selling a higher education course.
It would be unpopular - but probably very necessary - to invoke some sort of scrutineer between the application and acceptance for deferred payment education. Resources are finite and when the Commonwealth provides what is essentially a loan, there should be at least a reasonable prospect that it will eventually be repaid.
When the ratio of those completing these very expensive courses is a lowly 2.4% it is evident that the present system is in urgent need of review !
To meet demand, a number of private colleges appeared on the Australian education landscape and now there is disquiet at the standards that prevail. These colleges are "for profit " and they have an incentive to get the numbers enrolled. It seems that " freebies " are being deployed to get prospective students to sign on the dotted line - and that is completely against the rules that apply.
It has become apparent that some colleges are enticing students with an offer of a free laptop computer or a tablet when they agree to undertake a course - which is a $25,000 bill charged to the Federal government. The student is not required to start repaying this education fee until their earnings reach a level of $54,126, and now it has been discovered that only 2.4% of these students actually complete their course.
In one instance, the person signed up for this higher level of education was a nineteen year old disabled man with learning difficulties. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ( ACCC ) is conducting an investigation of that college and it may be required to repay the Commonwealth $ 57 million for course discrepancies.
Unfortunately, the very concept of what is really a time payment scheme for higher education is open to abuse. In broad theory, the public thinks it helps young men and women from less privileged households get their foot on the employment ladder by gaining the qualifications that are now necessary to enter an ever increasing range of professions - and that includes nursing and teaching.
Today - in our multicultural society - it is not uncommon for the retired to decide to undertake this sort of study, and hence there is absolutely no prospect of them ever reentering the work-force or attaining the salary level at which repayments become automatic. It is also suspected that new citizens with a sketchy command of the English language are being coerced to signup for courses which are way above their comprehension level. Unethical colleges are only interested in gaining the numbers and billing the Commonwealth to make their institutions profitable.
The lure of a free laptop or tablet is a huge incentive for those for which either is out of financial reach, and yet refurbished laptops are on offer for a very few dollars and the price of tablets has dropped alarmingly as Chinese manufacturers fight for market share. The cost is minuscule in relation to the return from selling a higher education course.
It would be unpopular - but probably very necessary - to invoke some sort of scrutineer between the application and acceptance for deferred payment education. Resources are finite and when the Commonwealth provides what is essentially a loan, there should be at least a reasonable prospect that it will eventually be repaid.
When the ratio of those completing these very expensive courses is a lowly 2.4% it is evident that the present system is in urgent need of review !
Thursday 29 October 2015
Murder - For Profit !
It is chilling to think that deliberate murder may be part of an identity theft plot to milk ongoing welfare payments from the victim's bank account. This was the theme of a grisly crime committed between 1992 and 1999 when the bodies of twelve men were found stuffed into barrels in the vault of an abandoned bank in Snowtown, South Australia. Their bank accounts were systematically raided and because they were presumed to be still alive the welfare payments continued to roll in.
Police are horrified to discover a similar situation arising from the discovery of a murder victim in the Belanglo State forest in 2010, and years later the discovery of the body of a two year old child in a suitcase beside a highway in South Australia. A DNA match revealed this was Karlie Pearce-Strevenson and her daughter Khandalyce.
The police investigation has revealed that elaborate machinations were carried out by a group of people to create the impression that Karlie was alive and living a pleasant life. For at least three years after her death her phone was used to send her mother text messages - and persuade her to put money into her daughters bank account.
There were even impersonations. At one stage, a woman presented at a Centrelink office in South Australia claiming to be Karlie and attended a compulsory interview. A woman in a wheelchair attended her Adelaide bank and convincingly assumed her identity. Over a period of years a sum approaching a hundred thousand dollars was withdrawn from that account.
The police are closing in. Evidence is emerging that this money was spent at petrol stations, McDonalds and similar Adelaide stores and the hunt is on for video tapes. Police are also tracking the whereabouts of a car that has since been resold, but which has a link to Karlie. Public announcements urge those involved in the account fraud to turn themselves in because they may otherwise face the more severe charge of accessory to murder.
Every year a vast number of people are reported missing in Australia. The majority quickly reappear but there are many who have domestic reasons for not wanting to be found and a minority are never heard from again. Both the Snowtown case and Karlie's murder bring a conclusion that it is quite possible that murder and identity theft for profit may be a growing crime in this country.
It should certainly result in a security upgrade at both Centrelink and the banking industry. It is claimed that in both cases where an imposter impersonated Karlie that woman had personal papers in Karlie's name, but such agencies who deal with vast hordes of people are unlikely to remember faces and in this age of computers and printers creating counterfeits is easy.
The police are sure that Karlie and her daughters murder was separated by a wide time factor and dumping one body in the Belanglo State forest was intended to throw suspicion that it could have been one of Ivan Milat's victims. The dumping of Khandalyce's body beside a South Australian highway has a strange resonance to those Snowtown murders.
If nothing else, this is a crime that will have future cases of those reported "missing " evaluated in a new light. Now that the method has receives wide publicity - and the rewards are known - it may stir opportunity thoughts in some evil minds !
Police are horrified to discover a similar situation arising from the discovery of a murder victim in the Belanglo State forest in 2010, and years later the discovery of the body of a two year old child in a suitcase beside a highway in South Australia. A DNA match revealed this was Karlie Pearce-Strevenson and her daughter Khandalyce.
The police investigation has revealed that elaborate machinations were carried out by a group of people to create the impression that Karlie was alive and living a pleasant life. For at least three years after her death her phone was used to send her mother text messages - and persuade her to put money into her daughters bank account.
There were even impersonations. At one stage, a woman presented at a Centrelink office in South Australia claiming to be Karlie and attended a compulsory interview. A woman in a wheelchair attended her Adelaide bank and convincingly assumed her identity. Over a period of years a sum approaching a hundred thousand dollars was withdrawn from that account.
The police are closing in. Evidence is emerging that this money was spent at petrol stations, McDonalds and similar Adelaide stores and the hunt is on for video tapes. Police are also tracking the whereabouts of a car that has since been resold, but which has a link to Karlie. Public announcements urge those involved in the account fraud to turn themselves in because they may otherwise face the more severe charge of accessory to murder.
Every year a vast number of people are reported missing in Australia. The majority quickly reappear but there are many who have domestic reasons for not wanting to be found and a minority are never heard from again. Both the Snowtown case and Karlie's murder bring a conclusion that it is quite possible that murder and identity theft for profit may be a growing crime in this country.
It should certainly result in a security upgrade at both Centrelink and the banking industry. It is claimed that in both cases where an imposter impersonated Karlie that woman had personal papers in Karlie's name, but such agencies who deal with vast hordes of people are unlikely to remember faces and in this age of computers and printers creating counterfeits is easy.
The police are sure that Karlie and her daughters murder was separated by a wide time factor and dumping one body in the Belanglo State forest was intended to throw suspicion that it could have been one of Ivan Milat's victims. The dumping of Khandalyce's body beside a South Australian highway has a strange resonance to those Snowtown murders.
If nothing else, this is a crime that will have future cases of those reported "missing " evaluated in a new light. Now that the method has receives wide publicity - and the rewards are known - it may stir opportunity thoughts in some evil minds !
Wednesday 28 October 2015
Steel Making - in Australia !
Wollongong is synonymous with steel manufacturing and half a century ago the plant at Port Kembla employed over twenty thousand people. That was a time when the union movement was at it's height and the job structure was heavily "feather bedded " Today a work force of about five thousand makes more steel more efficiently that that huge past workforce, but a question mark hangs heavily over the future of steel making in Australia.
To keep the doors open Bluescope has to find a $200 million cost saving and they have sat down and thrashed out a deal with their workers. Job cuts will see five hundred workers get a pink slip and the remaining four thousand five hundred have agreed to a three year pay freeze, reduction in overtime pay and a host of changed work practices. Now the state government has chipped in and will allow deferred payment of payroll tax, which will amount to a saving of $60 million. The plan calls for this to be repaid in instalments over a ten year period.
Like so many other industries, steel making is reliant on what is happening in China. The great manufacturing boom in that country is subsiding and China is retreating from exporting and moving towards a consumption economy. It no longer needs the huge inputs of coal and iron ore that fuelled that expansion and it's own steel manufacturing industry is producing a surplus - which is flooding into world markets.
By world standards, the steel plant at Port Kembla is minuscule and it suffers the disadvantage of being located in a high wage country. We used to have a similar steel plant at Newcastle and this closed in 1999 with devastating job losses. It will be of concern to the Australian defence industry that Australia will lack the ability to produce this vital defence need if economic conditions drive the Port Kembla plant out of business.
Hopefully, the world economy will pickup from the deflation that is affecting some economies and Bluescope will be able to fine tune it's process to be competitive as a manufacturer. The days of protecting Australian manufacturing with tariffs are over and today we live in an age of ever expanding trade agreements which expand a free trading concept.
Certainly the remaining workforce at Port Kembla have good reason to be uneasy. The wolf is knocking on the door and at best this arrangement is a reprieve. It would be a brave soul who would bet on this steel producer remaining in business a decade from now.
Australia's terminal car industry may be forced to close it's doors a year earlier unless a similar reprieve is granted. New emission requirements are due to come into force on November 2016 and two thirds of the cars that General Motors produces at it's Holden plants will not meet this new standard.
Modifications to manufacturing to achieve compliance would cost many millions of dollars - and that would be hard to justify when production will end just a year later. The obvious answer is to keep those jobs delivering pay packets until the scheduled close down - and defer that new emission requirement for twelve months !
To keep the doors open Bluescope has to find a $200 million cost saving and they have sat down and thrashed out a deal with their workers. Job cuts will see five hundred workers get a pink slip and the remaining four thousand five hundred have agreed to a three year pay freeze, reduction in overtime pay and a host of changed work practices. Now the state government has chipped in and will allow deferred payment of payroll tax, which will amount to a saving of $60 million. The plan calls for this to be repaid in instalments over a ten year period.
Like so many other industries, steel making is reliant on what is happening in China. The great manufacturing boom in that country is subsiding and China is retreating from exporting and moving towards a consumption economy. It no longer needs the huge inputs of coal and iron ore that fuelled that expansion and it's own steel manufacturing industry is producing a surplus - which is flooding into world markets.
By world standards, the steel plant at Port Kembla is minuscule and it suffers the disadvantage of being located in a high wage country. We used to have a similar steel plant at Newcastle and this closed in 1999 with devastating job losses. It will be of concern to the Australian defence industry that Australia will lack the ability to produce this vital defence need if economic conditions drive the Port Kembla plant out of business.
Hopefully, the world economy will pickup from the deflation that is affecting some economies and Bluescope will be able to fine tune it's process to be competitive as a manufacturer. The days of protecting Australian manufacturing with tariffs are over and today we live in an age of ever expanding trade agreements which expand a free trading concept.
Certainly the remaining workforce at Port Kembla have good reason to be uneasy. The wolf is knocking on the door and at best this arrangement is a reprieve. It would be a brave soul who would bet on this steel producer remaining in business a decade from now.
Australia's terminal car industry may be forced to close it's doors a year earlier unless a similar reprieve is granted. New emission requirements are due to come into force on November 2016 and two thirds of the cars that General Motors produces at it's Holden plants will not meet this new standard.
Modifications to manufacturing to achieve compliance would cost many millions of dollars - and that would be hard to justify when production will end just a year later. The obvious answer is to keep those jobs delivering pay packets until the scheduled close down - and defer that new emission requirement for twelve months !
Tuesday 27 October 2015
The " British " Disease !
The game we call "Soccer " was invented in Britain and went on to become a world game, but several decades ago British Soccer fans were so feared for their riotous behaviour that they were banned from travelling to the continent of Europe. It was simply drunken anarchy when a parochial army descended on a European city with the intention of brawling and causing the utmost damage to cars, shopfronts - and opposing fans.
Australia was fairly evenly divided between Rugby League and Australian rules during past generations, but now Soccer has gained a foothold here and we have a very healthy national competition. There are worrying signs that the supporters of one team are fast developing a siege mentality that manifests itself in violence - not only in the stands but when those fans choose to move as a mob on their way to games.
So it was this past weekend, when Western Sydney Wanderers were scheduled to play Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium. Once again Wanderers fans chose to conduct their traditional "march " to the stadium and a group of about sixty broke away and launched an attack on a much smaller number of Sydney FC fans waiting to enter the stadium. The police waded in with capsicum spray, and when the trouble subsided it was clear that the Wanderers fans had come prepared for warfare. The debris on the ground included weapons designed to be victorious in a street battle.
The trouble didn't end there. Sydney FC won the game 1-0 and there was constant aggression in the stands, with the lighting of flares and the throwing of smoke bombs. In particular, the setting off of flares is very much a British Soccer peculiarity that is dangerous amongst a crowd of people.
This seems to be becoming a constant trend of aggressive conduct whenever the Wanderers come into competition with other teams and it is fast developing into a clan embrace of all things that constitute the western part of Sydney. Western Sydney sees itself as the venue for " battlers " who struggle financially in comparison with the more affluent harbour front suburbs. The Wanderers are a recently formed team and their surprising early success in winning games attracted legions of fans. It seems obvious that a "chip on the shoulder "mentality has emerged and many fans are using their team as a conduit to express anger at what they consider western Sydney's shortcomings.
This is probably a small hardcore of troublemakers but just as what was termed by Europe as the "British Disease " began to snowball to the point it put competitive Soccer in danger, this movement has the potential to force Soccer matches to be played in closed stadiums and only viewed on television screens. The level of violence attributed to Wanderers fans is steadily growing and unless it is checked it could gain unstoppable momentum.
The tools exist to identify the leaders who provoke trouble. It may take face recognition technology to exclude them from venues but that was the measure that tamed British Soccer. The vast majority of Soccer crowds are well behaved but when a hard core starts trouble it is easy for moderates to be drawn in - and with the Wanderers this is now at tipping point.
Australian Soccer needs to treat this threat seriously. Otherwise it could develop to the stage where the game is merely the excuse for an old fashioned riot with bloodletting that appeals to the hoodlum element !
Australia was fairly evenly divided between Rugby League and Australian rules during past generations, but now Soccer has gained a foothold here and we have a very healthy national competition. There are worrying signs that the supporters of one team are fast developing a siege mentality that manifests itself in violence - not only in the stands but when those fans choose to move as a mob on their way to games.
So it was this past weekend, when Western Sydney Wanderers were scheduled to play Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium. Once again Wanderers fans chose to conduct their traditional "march " to the stadium and a group of about sixty broke away and launched an attack on a much smaller number of Sydney FC fans waiting to enter the stadium. The police waded in with capsicum spray, and when the trouble subsided it was clear that the Wanderers fans had come prepared for warfare. The debris on the ground included weapons designed to be victorious in a street battle.
The trouble didn't end there. Sydney FC won the game 1-0 and there was constant aggression in the stands, with the lighting of flares and the throwing of smoke bombs. In particular, the setting off of flares is very much a British Soccer peculiarity that is dangerous amongst a crowd of people.
This seems to be becoming a constant trend of aggressive conduct whenever the Wanderers come into competition with other teams and it is fast developing into a clan embrace of all things that constitute the western part of Sydney. Western Sydney sees itself as the venue for " battlers " who struggle financially in comparison with the more affluent harbour front suburbs. The Wanderers are a recently formed team and their surprising early success in winning games attracted legions of fans. It seems obvious that a "chip on the shoulder "mentality has emerged and many fans are using their team as a conduit to express anger at what they consider western Sydney's shortcomings.
This is probably a small hardcore of troublemakers but just as what was termed by Europe as the "British Disease " began to snowball to the point it put competitive Soccer in danger, this movement has the potential to force Soccer matches to be played in closed stadiums and only viewed on television screens. The level of violence attributed to Wanderers fans is steadily growing and unless it is checked it could gain unstoppable momentum.
The tools exist to identify the leaders who provoke trouble. It may take face recognition technology to exclude them from venues but that was the measure that tamed British Soccer. The vast majority of Soccer crowds are well behaved but when a hard core starts trouble it is easy for moderates to be drawn in - and with the Wanderers this is now at tipping point.
Australian Soccer needs to treat this threat seriously. Otherwise it could develop to the stage where the game is merely the excuse for an old fashioned riot with bloodletting that appeals to the hoodlum element !
Monday 26 October 2015
Double Dipping ?
It is an open secret that within the next few weeks the government will announce that Joe Hockey will be our new ambassador to the United States. Mr Hockey was the Treasurer in Tony Abbott's government and lost office when Mr Abbott was replaced by Malcolm Turnbull. He resigned from parliament and is therefore available to start a new career.
Joe Hockey was born on August 2, 1965 and became the member for North Sydney in 1996. Becoming Federal Treasurer was the apex of his career and when the post of prime minister changed hands, both he and Mr Abbott dropped salary and moved to the backbench. Unlike us other mere mortals, politicians can access a generous superannuation immediately they leave office and should he so choose Mr Hockey could opt for the good life and never work again.
The post of Ambassador to the United States carries a salary of $ 360,000 a year, plus free use of the official residence in Washington and associated living expenses. What will undoubtedly stir the left of Australian politics to fury is the prospect of Mr Hockey not only drawing an ambassador's salary, but also opting for a top-up of $ 90,000 a year from his superannuation, giving him a combined income of $ 450,000 a year. It will be claimed that this is double dipping !
No doubt the left will be finger pointing to the decision to exclude working Australian women from benefitting from both their employers private maternity leave and the proposed national benefit - on the grounds that this was clearly "double dipping "!
Basically, what Mr Hockey is contemplating is precisely the career options that most Australians face at some time in their working lives. The "job for life " concept is dead and buried in this electronic age and we may need to retrain several times to accommodate an ever changing workplace.
Joe Hockey is a fifty year old man with undoubted talent to offer. Having served as National Treasurer it seems strange that his salary was a mere pittance of the pay earned by the CEO's of our four major banking corporations. As Treasurer, he was responsible for the management of an economy greater than the assets of those banks combined.
As Treasurer, he was paid $365,868 a year and this dropped to $200,000 when he stepped down and moved to the backbench. He made a conscious decision to resign and it is likely that a tempting offer of that job in Washington influenced that decision, but he had the prospect of earning much more than a backbenchers salary in the wider commercial world because of the expertise and knowledge he had to offer to the world of finance.
The only real objection to Mr Hockey's change of job plans is the fact that he can access his superannuation at the age of fifty, whilst others must wait until they reach an age stipulated by law. That is a peculiarity of our parliamentary form of compensation and it relates to the fact that tenure is held by way of short parliamentary terms. Job termination may occur at each and every election, and hence superannuation access is shortened as a form of compensation.
No doubt the charges of "double dipping " will emanate from the political left - and be brief ! It is a benefit that serves both sides of parliament - and it is too much a "hallowed institution " to be seriously challenged !
Joe Hockey was born on August 2, 1965 and became the member for North Sydney in 1996. Becoming Federal Treasurer was the apex of his career and when the post of prime minister changed hands, both he and Mr Abbott dropped salary and moved to the backbench. Unlike us other mere mortals, politicians can access a generous superannuation immediately they leave office and should he so choose Mr Hockey could opt for the good life and never work again.
The post of Ambassador to the United States carries a salary of $ 360,000 a year, plus free use of the official residence in Washington and associated living expenses. What will undoubtedly stir the left of Australian politics to fury is the prospect of Mr Hockey not only drawing an ambassador's salary, but also opting for a top-up of $ 90,000 a year from his superannuation, giving him a combined income of $ 450,000 a year. It will be claimed that this is double dipping !
No doubt the left will be finger pointing to the decision to exclude working Australian women from benefitting from both their employers private maternity leave and the proposed national benefit - on the grounds that this was clearly "double dipping "!
Basically, what Mr Hockey is contemplating is precisely the career options that most Australians face at some time in their working lives. The "job for life " concept is dead and buried in this electronic age and we may need to retrain several times to accommodate an ever changing workplace.
Joe Hockey is a fifty year old man with undoubted talent to offer. Having served as National Treasurer it seems strange that his salary was a mere pittance of the pay earned by the CEO's of our four major banking corporations. As Treasurer, he was responsible for the management of an economy greater than the assets of those banks combined.
As Treasurer, he was paid $365,868 a year and this dropped to $200,000 when he stepped down and moved to the backbench. He made a conscious decision to resign and it is likely that a tempting offer of that job in Washington influenced that decision, but he had the prospect of earning much more than a backbenchers salary in the wider commercial world because of the expertise and knowledge he had to offer to the world of finance.
The only real objection to Mr Hockey's change of job plans is the fact that he can access his superannuation at the age of fifty, whilst others must wait until they reach an age stipulated by law. That is a peculiarity of our parliamentary form of compensation and it relates to the fact that tenure is held by way of short parliamentary terms. Job termination may occur at each and every election, and hence superannuation access is shortened as a form of compensation.
No doubt the charges of "double dipping " will emanate from the political left - and be brief ! It is a benefit that serves both sides of parliament - and it is too much a "hallowed institution " to be seriously challenged !
Sunday 25 October 2015
That " Pinprick " Test !
Police are now interviewing suspects in a murder case in which the bodies of a mother and her daughter were discovered over a thousand miles apart and in two different Australian states. Karlie Pearce-Stevenson's remains were found in the Belanglo state forest and years later the body of her two year old daughter - Khandalyce - was dumped in a suitcase beside a highway in South Australia.
Once again the miracle of DNA enabled a connection to be made, despite these bodies being discovered years apart, but this important test is still resented by many people who claim it is the construction of a DNA database - by stealth !
What is called the "Guthrie Test " has been in operation since the 1970's. A spot of blood is taken from the heel of all new borns forty-eight to seventy-two hours after birth. This permanent record of DNA is on the public register and is fast becoming a tool used when body recognition is an issue.
Eventually - with the passage of time - every resident born in Australia will have their DNA recorded on that register and the only exceptions will be tourists here on a visit or migrants born in a country that does not conduct these tests and who has migrated to this country.
Some civil liberties people claim that this is an intrusion on a persons right to privacy. It all depends on whether the state has a right to our personal identification - by way of fingerprints and a photographic image of our face - or if we can refuse to supply a sample on privacy grounds - and clearly we can not !
A photograph is required when we apply for either a driving license or a passport and if we are a suspect in a crime the authorities can obtain a court order to examine our fingerprints if we refuse.
The sticking point seems to be that the authorities must first have a reason to make that demand, while with DNA it is a matter of submitting matter found at a crime scene to the database to discover who is the owner of that form of evidence.
The technology involved in DNA testing is ever increasingly narrowing. It is almost impossible for a person not to leave some form of evidence, to the extent that soon even their breathe may be traceable after a period of time. We are seeing many "cold cases "from a distant age being solved simply because DNA collected then is being subjected to modern testing - and delivering results that were not possible at the time the crime was committed.
We accept that the police have the right to put the DNA of convicted criminals on record so that this can be compared to future crime scenes, and both convict or acquit that person of complicity as a result. Different laws in different states allow or restrict police access to national data bases but it seems inevitable that eventually they will come into the public realm.
There seems little real difference to the thinking that accompanied the introduction of roadside breath testing to detect alcohol and drugs. Some saw that as a privacy intrusion, but if we choose to drink and drive it requires a mechanism to detect a breach of the law. It follows that if we choose to commit a crime there is little difference in using DNA to make us accountable for that action.
Hopefully, the ever increasing likelihood of technology sheeting home the blame for crime - may cause a drop in the crime rate !
Once again the miracle of DNA enabled a connection to be made, despite these bodies being discovered years apart, but this important test is still resented by many people who claim it is the construction of a DNA database - by stealth !
What is called the "Guthrie Test " has been in operation since the 1970's. A spot of blood is taken from the heel of all new borns forty-eight to seventy-two hours after birth. This permanent record of DNA is on the public register and is fast becoming a tool used when body recognition is an issue.
Eventually - with the passage of time - every resident born in Australia will have their DNA recorded on that register and the only exceptions will be tourists here on a visit or migrants born in a country that does not conduct these tests and who has migrated to this country.
Some civil liberties people claim that this is an intrusion on a persons right to privacy. It all depends on whether the state has a right to our personal identification - by way of fingerprints and a photographic image of our face - or if we can refuse to supply a sample on privacy grounds - and clearly we can not !
A photograph is required when we apply for either a driving license or a passport and if we are a suspect in a crime the authorities can obtain a court order to examine our fingerprints if we refuse.
The sticking point seems to be that the authorities must first have a reason to make that demand, while with DNA it is a matter of submitting matter found at a crime scene to the database to discover who is the owner of that form of evidence.
The technology involved in DNA testing is ever increasingly narrowing. It is almost impossible for a person not to leave some form of evidence, to the extent that soon even their breathe may be traceable after a period of time. We are seeing many "cold cases "from a distant age being solved simply because DNA collected then is being subjected to modern testing - and delivering results that were not possible at the time the crime was committed.
We accept that the police have the right to put the DNA of convicted criminals on record so that this can be compared to future crime scenes, and both convict or acquit that person of complicity as a result. Different laws in different states allow or restrict police access to national data bases but it seems inevitable that eventually they will come into the public realm.
There seems little real difference to the thinking that accompanied the introduction of roadside breath testing to detect alcohol and drugs. Some saw that as a privacy intrusion, but if we choose to drink and drive it requires a mechanism to detect a breach of the law. It follows that if we choose to commit a crime there is little difference in using DNA to make us accountable for that action.
Hopefully, the ever increasing likelihood of technology sheeting home the blame for crime - may cause a drop in the crime rate !
Saturday 24 October 2015
Paying for Badgerys Creek !
There is no doubt that creating a new Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek is a venture of similar size to the Snowy Mountains Hydro scheme. Just for a start, levelling the 1780 hectare site will involve twenty-two million cubic metres of soil and rock to be processed at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion. Creating the runway, taxiways and then both the domestic and international terminals will take decades, but they will also create totally new industries and with that the jobs and housing developments that will bring new life to this rural part of Sydney.
The big question presently hanging in the air - is who will foot the bill for this massive development ?
Joe Hockey, the former Federal Treasurer was toying with the idea of slapping a movement tax on the present Sydney airport at Mascot at the rate of $5 for each domestic ticket and $ 10 for International travel. It seems that the present Prime Minister is considering simply imposing a $10 surcharge on all movement through Sydney airport.
There is precedent for this line of thinking. In 2001 Ansett Airlines suffered a financial collapse and the Howard government implemented a temporary tax on airline ticket sales nationally to fund staff entitlements that the airline was unable to pay. This tax garnered $225 million and was then discontinued.
Airports are costly items and eventually every Australian state will need to either expand existing airport facilities or build new ones. This line of thinking of imposing a tax on the individual city it will service is a clear departure from past protocol. In the past, providing airport terminals and their facilities have been a Federal responsibility.
There is no doubt that the citizens of New South Wales will object strenuously to the imposition of a ticket tax to pay for what is clearly a Federal responsibility. Successive Federal governments have dodged making a decision on this much needed facility for many decades and if this tax succeeds it will follow that every new country airport needed to serve growing rural cities will involve the cost being borne by the citizens of that locality. That would be similar to making a city pay for having a rail extension - and then demanding that they pay to use the facility.
The airline system is an integrated form of travel which is essential to a big country like Australia. It has the huge advantage of speed over competing rail and road competition and each piece of the jigsaw is equally important in getting travellers to where they want to go. It seems parochial to label individual airports as being a responsibility of the city they serve because without them the broad spectrum would be unworkable.
A few years ago there was a peak in the price of aviation fuel and this was handled by the imposition of a fuel surcharge on ticket prices. The greater the distance travelled, the more fuel used and consequently the bigger impost added to the ticket price. In theory, this surcharge would move with the up and down gyration of oil industry pricing.
If the cost of airports is to be distanced from the Federal budget and treated as a separate item it needs to be funded by a ticket surcharge applied to all air movements - in and out of Australia - by local and International airlines. That would ensure an even spread of costs - and amount to a very few extra dollars on each ticket.
Just as aviation fuel is needed to allow planes to fly, destination airports are equally necessary for landings and departures !
The big question presently hanging in the air - is who will foot the bill for this massive development ?
Joe Hockey, the former Federal Treasurer was toying with the idea of slapping a movement tax on the present Sydney airport at Mascot at the rate of $5 for each domestic ticket and $ 10 for International travel. It seems that the present Prime Minister is considering simply imposing a $10 surcharge on all movement through Sydney airport.
There is precedent for this line of thinking. In 2001 Ansett Airlines suffered a financial collapse and the Howard government implemented a temporary tax on airline ticket sales nationally to fund staff entitlements that the airline was unable to pay. This tax garnered $225 million and was then discontinued.
Airports are costly items and eventually every Australian state will need to either expand existing airport facilities or build new ones. This line of thinking of imposing a tax on the individual city it will service is a clear departure from past protocol. In the past, providing airport terminals and their facilities have been a Federal responsibility.
There is no doubt that the citizens of New South Wales will object strenuously to the imposition of a ticket tax to pay for what is clearly a Federal responsibility. Successive Federal governments have dodged making a decision on this much needed facility for many decades and if this tax succeeds it will follow that every new country airport needed to serve growing rural cities will involve the cost being borne by the citizens of that locality. That would be similar to making a city pay for having a rail extension - and then demanding that they pay to use the facility.
The airline system is an integrated form of travel which is essential to a big country like Australia. It has the huge advantage of speed over competing rail and road competition and each piece of the jigsaw is equally important in getting travellers to where they want to go. It seems parochial to label individual airports as being a responsibility of the city they serve because without them the broad spectrum would be unworkable.
A few years ago there was a peak in the price of aviation fuel and this was handled by the imposition of a fuel surcharge on ticket prices. The greater the distance travelled, the more fuel used and consequently the bigger impost added to the ticket price. In theory, this surcharge would move with the up and down gyration of oil industry pricing.
If the cost of airports is to be distanced from the Federal budget and treated as a separate item it needs to be funded by a ticket surcharge applied to all air movements - in and out of Australia - by local and International airlines. That would ensure an even spread of costs - and amount to a very few extra dollars on each ticket.
Just as aviation fuel is needed to allow planes to fly, destination airports are equally necessary for landings and departures !
Friday 23 October 2015
Stalemate !
The Russian decision to join the war in Syria has made it impossible to see an end to the fighting. Russian jets are beefing up the forces of Syrian dictator Assad and peeling back the advances of the freedom fighters who were closing in on his capital. Vladimir Putin says they are there to counter IS but in reality most of their attacks are on the secular fighters the US supports and this is fast developing into a de facto struggle between Russia and America.
It is all tactics - and politics ! Russia is in a bind with the oil price at a historical low and it's economy in tatters because of economic sanctions over it's annexation of Crimea and virtual invasion of Ukraine. Putin thinks that if he ups the ante and uses his military to become a player in the Middle East he could tip over the political chess board and force America to lift those crippling sanctions.
That's a very dangerous game. Both sides now have air strikes over shared territory and the chance of a " mistake " is very real. It seems that the Russians and the Americans have reached a "Mutual Understanding " of rules that will apply to reduce the chance of unintentional conflict in the air.
So far, this air war is being conducted with impunity from anti air warfare weapons. In Ukraine Russia supplied it's proxy fighters with BUK air missiles which were used to shoot down a Malaysian airliner. Neither side has introduced such weapons to the Syrian conflict, but there is always the chance that other players - Iran or even North Korea come to mind - could make mischief by introducing such weapons, or they could become available from Muslim terrorist sources in Pakistan.
The timing of the Russian intervention in Syria is masterly. America is politically bogged down in the task of choosing contenders for the next presidential election and now is not a time for carefully considered action plans to be announced. Inertia reigns, because whatever one side of politics suggests will be howled down by the opposition as the two great political parties battle each other - for voters minds.
The entire Middle East is a cauldron close to tipping point. The only country to emerge from the "Arab Spring "with a stable, secular government was Tunisia. Other countries have overthrown tyrants, only to replace them with more of the same, but with different faces. Libya has simple degenerated into total chaos and once stable Egypt is again under a military dictatorship.
Barak Obama has been a timid American president. On his watch American power has declined, but it's military is still the strongest in the world
It is all tactics - and politics ! Russia is in a bind with the oil price at a historical low and it's economy in tatters because of economic sanctions over it's annexation of Crimea and virtual invasion of Ukraine. Putin thinks that if he ups the ante and uses his military to become a player in the Middle East he could tip over the political chess board and force America to lift those crippling sanctions.
That's a very dangerous game. Both sides now have air strikes over shared territory and the chance of a " mistake " is very real. It seems that the Russians and the Americans have reached a "Mutual Understanding " of rules that will apply to reduce the chance of unintentional conflict in the air.
So far, this air war is being conducted with impunity from anti air warfare weapons. In Ukraine Russia supplied it's proxy fighters with BUK air missiles which were used to shoot down a Malaysian airliner. Neither side has introduced such weapons to the Syrian conflict, but there is always the chance that other players - Iran or even North Korea come to mind - could make mischief by introducing such weapons, or they could become available from Muslim terrorist sources in Pakistan.
The timing of the Russian intervention in Syria is masterly. America is politically bogged down in the task of choosing contenders for the next presidential election and now is not a time for carefully considered action plans to be announced. Inertia reigns, because whatever one side of politics suggests will be howled down by the opposition as the two great political parties battle each other - for voters minds.
The entire Middle East is a cauldron close to tipping point. The only country to emerge from the "Arab Spring "with a stable, secular government was Tunisia. Other countries have overthrown tyrants, only to replace them with more of the same, but with different faces. Libya has simple degenerated into total chaos and once stable Egypt is again under a military dictatorship.
Barak Obama has been a timid American president. On his watch American power has declined, but it's military is still the strongest in the world
Thursday 22 October 2015
Credit Card Surcharges !
A lot of people will be cheering at the news that the Federal government will introduce legislation to outlaw merchants slapping an outlandish surcharge on goods or services paid for with a credit card. In particular cost increases of between two and ten percent are commonly applied to airline fares, Taxi charges, hotel accommodation and the tickets for live shows.
This legislation will make it illegal to hike the price more than the actual cost to the merchants -and in most cases this is mere pennies. Unfortunately, in recent times the practice has been expanding as more industries use the pretext to attract custom by advertising very low prices and then hitting card users with this unexpected increase when they seek to pay the bill.
Economists may view this change with alarm because in most cases the surcharge will have been an integral part of the price structure for the industries using it - and the obvious response when it is banned is to hike the retail price to recover that same profit margin. As a consequence, the price for those paying by credit card will remain about the same, but there will be a price increase for all those people who do not purchase on credit !
One of the things that induced the government to act on these surcharges is a growing practice to slap a hefty surcharge on all forms of "card " payments, and slowly that has increasingly been applied to debit cards. Debit cards are a relatively new innovation and they simply effect a money transfer from the customers bank account to that of the merchant. In their more recent form they do not require either use of a PIN or a signature. Simply tapping the embedded icon on the card against the terminal on the merchants counter will transfer funds below a hundred dollars without further action.
Some noted economists have been seriously suggesting the total discontinuation of banknotes and coin money. The technology of debit cards and smartphones and the apps that apply to them are bringing some form of "swipe " payment close to becoming a reality. From the point of view of the taxation office this would wipe out the "cash economy " of tax avoidance because all and every transaction would leave an electronic record.
We have come a long way since the days when the banks opened at ten in the morning and closed at three in the afternoon - on the dot ! The introduction of ATM's brought in the age of twenty-four hour seven day banking and the credit card virtually killed the cheque book form of payment for most people. Credit for ordinary people first made it's appearance when the big four Australian banks simply mailed out their new "Bankcard " system cards to customers on their books. Initially, it was only usable within Australia, but very quickly the International card system brought the ubiquitous "Visa " or "Mastercard " logo onto the cards - and they were accepted world wide.
Eliminating these credit card surcharges will certainly decrease price shock at the point of payment but it needs to go hand in hand with truth in advertising. The words " Conditions Apply " can cover a multitude of sins and very often the price advertised is far lower than the price that eventually appears on the sales docket.
This legislation will make it illegal to hike the price more than the actual cost to the merchants -and in most cases this is mere pennies. Unfortunately, in recent times the practice has been expanding as more industries use the pretext to attract custom by advertising very low prices and then hitting card users with this unexpected increase when they seek to pay the bill.
Economists may view this change with alarm because in most cases the surcharge will have been an integral part of the price structure for the industries using it - and the obvious response when it is banned is to hike the retail price to recover that same profit margin. As a consequence, the price for those paying by credit card will remain about the same, but there will be a price increase for all those people who do not purchase on credit !
One of the things that induced the government to act on these surcharges is a growing practice to slap a hefty surcharge on all forms of "card " payments, and slowly that has increasingly been applied to debit cards. Debit cards are a relatively new innovation and they simply effect a money transfer from the customers bank account to that of the merchant. In their more recent form they do not require either use of a PIN or a signature. Simply tapping the embedded icon on the card against the terminal on the merchants counter will transfer funds below a hundred dollars without further action.
Some noted economists have been seriously suggesting the total discontinuation of banknotes and coin money. The technology of debit cards and smartphones and the apps that apply to them are bringing some form of "swipe " payment close to becoming a reality. From the point of view of the taxation office this would wipe out the "cash economy " of tax avoidance because all and every transaction would leave an electronic record.
We have come a long way since the days when the banks opened at ten in the morning and closed at three in the afternoon - on the dot ! The introduction of ATM's brought in the age of twenty-four hour seven day banking and the credit card virtually killed the cheque book form of payment for most people. Credit for ordinary people first made it's appearance when the big four Australian banks simply mailed out their new "Bankcard " system cards to customers on their books. Initially, it was only usable within Australia, but very quickly the International card system brought the ubiquitous "Visa " or "Mastercard " logo onto the cards - and they were accepted world wide.
Eliminating these credit card surcharges will certainly decrease price shock at the point of payment but it needs to go hand in hand with truth in advertising. The words " Conditions Apply " can cover a multitude of sins and very often the price advertised is far lower than the price that eventually appears on the sales docket.
Wednesday 21 October 2015
An Australian " Intifafa " !
Events happening in Israel between Palestinians and Jewish settlers might herald the nucleus of a new type of social warfare that will spread to the wider world. Relations between the two sides have broken down completely and the Palestinian have declared an "Intifada "- a form of insurrection where ordinary citizens are urged to use any weapon they can find and randomly attack Israeli citizens in the streets.
In the races diaspora that is Israel this has resulted in knife attacks on crowded streets, sometimes leading to the death or serious injury of innocent people. Alert counter insurgency police have shot and killed many of these attackers but the psychology involved means that nobody can feel safe. The attacks are completely random and can involve men, women or even small children.
That is exactly what Islamic State is trying to create in western countries. The call is for Islam to recruit radicalized young men to serve as it's warriors in attacking what they term as "the distant enemy " in their drive to force a caliphate on the world. They have been very successful in using social media for this purpose.
The Police Association of New South Wales are certainly taking it seriously. There are plans to fortify police stations in western Sydney, where there is a high Muslim content in the general population and this is likely to run to tens of millions of dollars. Bullet proof screens will pose a barrier between police and the public and all forms of access will be hardened to guard against a surprise attack.
PANSW is also sharpening the rules on how police do their jobs. Police walking the beat alone will become a thing of the past and patrols will certainly be linked to pairs so that one officer can watch the others back when dealing with the public.
We have already had this form of warfare apply when a fifteen year old radicalized boy was persuaded to launch an attack on Parramatta police headquarters. He waited until someone walked out of the building, walked up behind him and shot him in the head. That victim was a civilian accountant, but from the IS point of view all and every person who is not a Muslim who obeys their twisted version of Islam - is the enemy !
One of the aims of an Intifada is to spread public fear. This Parramatta killing involved a gun and the method being used in Israel is usually a knife. From IS point of view, that is something openly available to most people and it is so easy to deliver a sharp thrust in the back within a crowd - and then melt away in the confusion. Every attack ensures wide publicity - to keep the public on edge.
The Christian world has had it's fair share of this sort of insanity. Most people remember the "trouble " years in Ireland when Protestants and Catholics carried out a vicious war of extermination, with pub bombings and public assassinations. Fortunately, reason seems to have finally prevailed and this religious war has been settled peacefully.
The main impetus in this IS war is the divide that occurred centuries earlier between the Sunni and the ShÃ'a faces of Islam. There is natural animosity which is being stoked by IS preaching an extremist view which has appeal to restless young men. Fortunately, older and wiser followers of both branches are content to practice their religion peacefully - and reject this form of extremism.
That Parramatta killing probably was decisive within the broad ranks of those who worship Islam in Australia. What little sympathy many may have had for IS evaporated with that senseless act.
In the races diaspora that is Israel this has resulted in knife attacks on crowded streets, sometimes leading to the death or serious injury of innocent people. Alert counter insurgency police have shot and killed many of these attackers but the psychology involved means that nobody can feel safe. The attacks are completely random and can involve men, women or even small children.
That is exactly what Islamic State is trying to create in western countries. The call is for Islam to recruit radicalized young men to serve as it's warriors in attacking what they term as "the distant enemy " in their drive to force a caliphate on the world. They have been very successful in using social media for this purpose.
The Police Association of New South Wales are certainly taking it seriously. There are plans to fortify police stations in western Sydney, where there is a high Muslim content in the general population and this is likely to run to tens of millions of dollars. Bullet proof screens will pose a barrier between police and the public and all forms of access will be hardened to guard against a surprise attack.
PANSW is also sharpening the rules on how police do their jobs. Police walking the beat alone will become a thing of the past and patrols will certainly be linked to pairs so that one officer can watch the others back when dealing with the public.
We have already had this form of warfare apply when a fifteen year old radicalized boy was persuaded to launch an attack on Parramatta police headquarters. He waited until someone walked out of the building, walked up behind him and shot him in the head. That victim was a civilian accountant, but from the IS point of view all and every person who is not a Muslim who obeys their twisted version of Islam - is the enemy !
One of the aims of an Intifada is to spread public fear. This Parramatta killing involved a gun and the method being used in Israel is usually a knife. From IS point of view, that is something openly available to most people and it is so easy to deliver a sharp thrust in the back within a crowd - and then melt away in the confusion. Every attack ensures wide publicity - to keep the public on edge.
The Christian world has had it's fair share of this sort of insanity. Most people remember the "trouble " years in Ireland when Protestants and Catholics carried out a vicious war of extermination, with pub bombings and public assassinations. Fortunately, reason seems to have finally prevailed and this religious war has been settled peacefully.
The main impetus in this IS war is the divide that occurred centuries earlier between the Sunni and the ShÃ'a faces of Islam. There is natural animosity which is being stoked by IS preaching an extremist view which has appeal to restless young men. Fortunately, older and wiser followers of both branches are content to practice their religion peacefully - and reject this form of extremism.
That Parramatta killing probably was decisive within the broad ranks of those who worship Islam in Australia. What little sympathy many may have had for IS evaporated with that senseless act.
Tuesday 20 October 2015
Graffiti Nightmare !
On Sunday morning the residents of a street in Noraville on the Central Coast awoke to find that vandals had committed a Graffiti attack on their homes and cars. The entire street was a mess of brightly sprayed tags on walls and windows and every car was covered with the product of street artists. The damage bill for removal will run to a staggering amount.
The police were called and there have been some arrests, but the fact remains that an entire street has been defaced in a brazen night attack. There had been an out of control party in a nearby neighbourhood and it is likely that when this was closed down drunken teenagers went on their Graffiti rampage to "let off steam "!
Graffiti is a nuisance that affects just about every citizen sometime in their lives. It is a rare person that escapes a "Tag "suddenly appearing on their letterbox or front fence. The streetscape in most suburbs contains Graffiti pollution and criminal gangs make raids onto railway property to adorn entire trains with their "art ". The cost to the public purse for it's removal runs to millions.
No doubt the residents on the Central Coast will make their complaints heard in state parliament and once again the politicians will promise to make spray cans harder to obtain, but this whole issue of Graffiti depends entirely on spray canned paint to be possible. We really need to think whether this portable means of delivering a coat of paint should be totally banned in this country.
Basically, paint in a tin under pressure is mainly a hobby tool. It has a commercial use as a "touch up " remedy in the car and whitegoods industries, but it can also be replicated by the use of cheap electrical sprayers - but these have the advantage of needing electricity connected - and are therefore not portable.
If we are to slay the Graffiti dragon imposing a ban on canned paint spray would need to be on a national basis. We would need to heed the example of state bans on fireworks which exist in some states, but are overcome when supplies move easily between state borders from fireworks warehouses carefully situated to exploit that loophole.
It would seem to be a matter of a small commercial inconvenience for genuine users of paint sprays who would need to invest in electrical spray equipment, balanced against the millions government entities and councils spend removing Graffiti from public property, plus the daily battle waged by shops and other business premises to keep their shopfronts neat and respectable.
If the Federal parliament imposed a national ban on paint in spray cans it would naturally become a banned import and it would be illegal for it to be offered for sale anywhere in Australia. This ban would need to be rigidly enforced - and attract a hefty penalty for breaches.
Graffiti delivered by the use of marker pens would still be possible, but without the speed and capacity of spray cans, and that raises another question that must be running through the heads of those owners of twenty-five homes and the fifteen cars on the Central Coast who spent their Sunday trying to remove that offensive material.
The paint industry extensively advertises the ability of the paint they manufacture to be wiped clean of all sorts of contaminants - from wet and muddy dogs shaking their fur - to kids at a birthday party throwing food. It seems that the world is crying out for a clear paint product that will simply protect whatever surface on which it is sprayed - from Graffiti !
Perhaps the answer to the Graffiti question is twofold. A ban on spray cans - and incentive for the paint industry to create a new product !
The police were called and there have been some arrests, but the fact remains that an entire street has been defaced in a brazen night attack. There had been an out of control party in a nearby neighbourhood and it is likely that when this was closed down drunken teenagers went on their Graffiti rampage to "let off steam "!
Graffiti is a nuisance that affects just about every citizen sometime in their lives. It is a rare person that escapes a "Tag "suddenly appearing on their letterbox or front fence. The streetscape in most suburbs contains Graffiti pollution and criminal gangs make raids onto railway property to adorn entire trains with their "art ". The cost to the public purse for it's removal runs to millions.
No doubt the residents on the Central Coast will make their complaints heard in state parliament and once again the politicians will promise to make spray cans harder to obtain, but this whole issue of Graffiti depends entirely on spray canned paint to be possible. We really need to think whether this portable means of delivering a coat of paint should be totally banned in this country.
Basically, paint in a tin under pressure is mainly a hobby tool. It has a commercial use as a "touch up " remedy in the car and whitegoods industries, but it can also be replicated by the use of cheap electrical sprayers - but these have the advantage of needing electricity connected - and are therefore not portable.
If we are to slay the Graffiti dragon imposing a ban on canned paint spray would need to be on a national basis. We would need to heed the example of state bans on fireworks which exist in some states, but are overcome when supplies move easily between state borders from fireworks warehouses carefully situated to exploit that loophole.
It would seem to be a matter of a small commercial inconvenience for genuine users of paint sprays who would need to invest in electrical spray equipment, balanced against the millions government entities and councils spend removing Graffiti from public property, plus the daily battle waged by shops and other business premises to keep their shopfronts neat and respectable.
If the Federal parliament imposed a national ban on paint in spray cans it would naturally become a banned import and it would be illegal for it to be offered for sale anywhere in Australia. This ban would need to be rigidly enforced - and attract a hefty penalty for breaches.
Graffiti delivered by the use of marker pens would still be possible, but without the speed and capacity of spray cans, and that raises another question that must be running through the heads of those owners of twenty-five homes and the fifteen cars on the Central Coast who spent their Sunday trying to remove that offensive material.
The paint industry extensively advertises the ability of the paint they manufacture to be wiped clean of all sorts of contaminants - from wet and muddy dogs shaking their fur - to kids at a birthday party throwing food. It seems that the world is crying out for a clear paint product that will simply protect whatever surface on which it is sprayed - from Graffiti !
Perhaps the answer to the Graffiti question is twofold. A ban on spray cans - and incentive for the paint industry to create a new product !
Monday 19 October 2015
Bush Bandits !
It sounds more like something from 1920's America than twenty-first century Australia but it seems that we have a criminal father and son terrorising country towns and raiding isolated farming properties - and they have been on the run for eight years !
Gino Stocco ( 57 ) and his son Mark ( 35 ) have operated in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, leaving behind them a sorry tale of stolen property - including guns and motor vehicles. They pose as itinerant farm workers and gain employment bringing in the crops,but use that opportunity to case the farm and later return to carry out a robbery. They have a malicious intent, and often resort to arson or wilful damage of expensive farm machinery.
This week New South Wales police detected them driving near Wagga Wagga, resulting in a police chase. Twice the fugitives opened fire on the pursuing police with high powered rifles and they eventually abandoned their vehicle and fled into the bush. Despite a large police search, which included helicopters, they have disappeared and they have bush skills that will make them difficult to find.
Many will remember the search for Malcolm Naden which ended in 2011. This man was accused of two murders and specialised in breaking into holiday homes , in some cases living in the roof cavity while these homes were occupied. He had the skills to live off the land with raids on isolated properties to provide "luxuries " like coffee, sugar and chocolate.
At one stage police surprised him in a bush camp and in the shoot out that followed he wounded an officer. Capture efforts lapsed into years and he was only caught when police resorted to electronic methods. They "bugged " isolated properties he would be likely to raid and these devices had movement sensors which alerted police and brought a heavily armed raiding party to the scene. Naden is now serving a lengthy prison sentence.
We have radicalised Islamists threatening violence in our cities and now the people in the bush are at risk from two criminals who have the skills to move silently over great distances. There is a risk that they will hijack an innocent motorist on a country road or hole up on an isolated farm and hold the farm family hostage.
With this risk in mind, the bush needs to go on an alert. Mail contractors should look for uncollected mail and if a neighbours phone goes unanswered for a suspicious period of time that would be worth investigation. Country folk are hospitable, but they are also canny people and when a change of pattern occurs in everyday life they now have reason to question why that is happening.
In particular, there will be an opportunity for these two criminals to fraternise amongst the itinerant workers who move from farm to farm to bring in the crops. They are bush people who would blend in easily with this crowd. They speak the bush "language " and they are used to farm work and this will make detection difficult, but country folk would be advised to memorise their faces from the stories that have appeared in the television news and in newspapers.
They have made is crystal clear that they are prepared to use the firearms in their possession to prevent capture. The people of the bush need to react accordingly !
Gino Stocco ( 57 ) and his son Mark ( 35 ) have operated in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, leaving behind them a sorry tale of stolen property - including guns and motor vehicles. They pose as itinerant farm workers and gain employment bringing in the crops,but use that opportunity to case the farm and later return to carry out a robbery. They have a malicious intent, and often resort to arson or wilful damage of expensive farm machinery.
This week New South Wales police detected them driving near Wagga Wagga, resulting in a police chase. Twice the fugitives opened fire on the pursuing police with high powered rifles and they eventually abandoned their vehicle and fled into the bush. Despite a large police search, which included helicopters, they have disappeared and they have bush skills that will make them difficult to find.
Many will remember the search for Malcolm Naden which ended in 2011. This man was accused of two murders and specialised in breaking into holiday homes , in some cases living in the roof cavity while these homes were occupied. He had the skills to live off the land with raids on isolated properties to provide "luxuries " like coffee, sugar and chocolate.
At one stage police surprised him in a bush camp and in the shoot out that followed he wounded an officer. Capture efforts lapsed into years and he was only caught when police resorted to electronic methods. They "bugged " isolated properties he would be likely to raid and these devices had movement sensors which alerted police and brought a heavily armed raiding party to the scene. Naden is now serving a lengthy prison sentence.
We have radicalised Islamists threatening violence in our cities and now the people in the bush are at risk from two criminals who have the skills to move silently over great distances. There is a risk that they will hijack an innocent motorist on a country road or hole up on an isolated farm and hold the farm family hostage.
With this risk in mind, the bush needs to go on an alert. Mail contractors should look for uncollected mail and if a neighbours phone goes unanswered for a suspicious period of time that would be worth investigation. Country folk are hospitable, but they are also canny people and when a change of pattern occurs in everyday life they now have reason to question why that is happening.
In particular, there will be an opportunity for these two criminals to fraternise amongst the itinerant workers who move from farm to farm to bring in the crops. They are bush people who would blend in easily with this crowd. They speak the bush "language " and they are used to farm work and this will make detection difficult, but country folk would be advised to memorise their faces from the stories that have appeared in the television news and in newspapers.
They have made is crystal clear that they are prepared to use the firearms in their possession to prevent capture. The people of the bush need to react accordingly !
Sunday 18 October 2015
Women's Sport Rewards !
More than half the world population is of the female gender and yet both recognition and reward overwhelmingly favour male sporting hero's. In fact, women's sport simply didn't exist at the start of the twentieth century and ever since it has been starved for attention in the newspapers. A huge disparity exists between the pay allotted to the sexes.
This is glaringly apparent when it comes to cricket. The men's Australian cricket team recently lost the Ashes to England but it's players each receive an average stipend of a million dollars a season. The Australian women's team came out on top of the women's world cricket competition - and receive a measly $85,000.
It could be argued that cricket has always been a male sport and that women have only recently started to compete on a national level but it is a fact of life that sporting coverage in both newspapers and television relegate women's sport to minuscule coverage compared to the male games. Often, what coverage exists treats the subject with a tinge of disparagement.
It seems to be more psychological because in the workforce women are paid less for doing precisely the same job as their male counterparts. It has taken legislation to narrow that gap and in Europe quotas are being set to provide a gender balance on the boards of public companies. The "glass ceiling "still exists, but progress in gender equality is slowly evening the situation in the public service.
Sporting prominence also seems to be selective. Netball and women's basketball get very little media attention, but in today's world women tennis players and women surfers have grabbed a much fairer share of media attention. There is still a reward gap, but it is narrowing.
What is surprising is that the promotional rewards that women's sport offer are being ignored by the media. Much of sport revolves around personalities. A minor injury that may keep a key player off the pitch for a week is huge news that consumes acres of newsprint and air time. This is exactly where advertisers want to see their advertisements placed and the wider sporting coverage the bigger the opportunity for profit.
Beside the state of play, sporting coverage also has a glamour factor. In this recent Ashes series the famous "Wives and girlfriends " who accompanied the players got a lot of media attention, and in some magazines WAGS comment far exceeded the attention devoted to the male players. It is interesting that the associations and love life of our women's cricketers was completely ignored by the media.
It seems to be a mind set that affects the editors and journalists covering the sporting world. For some reason they have decided that women's sport is boring and uninteresting - and so it gets little coverage. It is the skill of a gifted writer to pose a story that grabs attention and holds interest. A whole new world of opportunity awaits - if the media grasped the nettle and gives women's sport the attention it deserves.
This certainly holds true in the world of music. Taylor Swift is a comely young woman with a fairly good voice and the media have promoted her to legendary status. Music stardom is very much an equal opportunity world. Remember Elvis Presley ? And the Beatles ?
Women's sport is just waiting for it's time of excellence to be recognised !
This is glaringly apparent when it comes to cricket. The men's Australian cricket team recently lost the Ashes to England but it's players each receive an average stipend of a million dollars a season. The Australian women's team came out on top of the women's world cricket competition - and receive a measly $85,000.
It could be argued that cricket has always been a male sport and that women have only recently started to compete on a national level but it is a fact of life that sporting coverage in both newspapers and television relegate women's sport to minuscule coverage compared to the male games. Often, what coverage exists treats the subject with a tinge of disparagement.
It seems to be more psychological because in the workforce women are paid less for doing precisely the same job as their male counterparts. It has taken legislation to narrow that gap and in Europe quotas are being set to provide a gender balance on the boards of public companies. The "glass ceiling "still exists, but progress in gender equality is slowly evening the situation in the public service.
Sporting prominence also seems to be selective. Netball and women's basketball get very little media attention, but in today's world women tennis players and women surfers have grabbed a much fairer share of media attention. There is still a reward gap, but it is narrowing.
What is surprising is that the promotional rewards that women's sport offer are being ignored by the media. Much of sport revolves around personalities. A minor injury that may keep a key player off the pitch for a week is huge news that consumes acres of newsprint and air time. This is exactly where advertisers want to see their advertisements placed and the wider sporting coverage the bigger the opportunity for profit.
Beside the state of play, sporting coverage also has a glamour factor. In this recent Ashes series the famous "Wives and girlfriends " who accompanied the players got a lot of media attention, and in some magazines WAGS comment far exceeded the attention devoted to the male players. It is interesting that the associations and love life of our women's cricketers was completely ignored by the media.
It seems to be a mind set that affects the editors and journalists covering the sporting world. For some reason they have decided that women's sport is boring and uninteresting - and so it gets little coverage. It is the skill of a gifted writer to pose a story that grabs attention and holds interest. A whole new world of opportunity awaits - if the media grasped the nettle and gives women's sport the attention it deserves.
This certainly holds true in the world of music. Taylor Swift is a comely young woman with a fairly good voice and the media have promoted her to legendary status. Music stardom is very much an equal opportunity world. Remember Elvis Presley ? And the Beatles ?
Women's sport is just waiting for it's time of excellence to be recognised !
Saturday 17 October 2015
Class Warfare !
In the eyes of the Labor politicians who sit on the Opposition benches, having a lot of money is a sin and they see fit to indulge in class warfare ! They are attempting to portray Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as an elite who is out of touch with the lives of ordinary Australians.
The point of this attack is that Mr Turnbull has his wealth invested in the Cayman Islands, which have a reputation as a " tax haven " with tight security on financial disclosure and rather lax taxation rules. The inference is that perhaps Mr Turnbull's money is not meeting the tax demands of the Australian Tax office.
The prime minister neatly turned the tables when he revealed that the very people making this accusation were taking advantage of Cayman Island rules - because their superannuation was invested in companies registered there for the taxation benefits it delivered.
Playing the class card may have a similar come uppance in public minds. Malcolm Turnbull is a man who has a fortune that runs to millions of dollars because he is clever - and very successful. He made his name as a barrister who defeated the best lawyers the British Crown sent to Australia to prevent the publishing of a spy book, and he served in a high position in a public investment company. Surely those are the attributes that would be welcomed in the person who holds the position of Prime Minister of this country.
In fact, the care Malcolm Turnbull took when he decided to go into politics to put his money at arms length is something that should be required of all politicians. Malcolm Turnbull - and his wife, Lucy - have no direct control over where their funds end up. They are held in blind trusts and as a consequence when issues come before the parliament no self interest is possible in coming to the decisions that need to be made for the public good.
The Labor party has chosen an unfortunate time to try and play the class warfare card because the man holding the position of Prime Minister has been successful in business and has acquired wealth. This coincides with an enquiry into the Trade Union movement - which has a controlling interest in Labor politics - and this enquiry has revealed rorting of members funds by union officials living the good life. Some unions are best described as " standover merchants " - delivering peace to commercial interests only after ransom is paid by way of bogus invoices for services that do not exist - or money that is delivered in plain brown paper bags.
The perennial grouch that surrounds politics touches on political donations. Successful election campaigns cost big money and there are strict rules in place to identify donors, but money has a habit of avoiding those rules when the donor is expecting favourable legislation as one of the outcomes of such largess. Revelations of such rorts occur on a regular basis.
Strangely, the money we pay our Prime Minister pales into insignificance when compared to the salaries of the CEO's of our four leading banks, or any of the plethora of public companies listed on the stock exchange. A man who has millions does not go into politics for the money. Surely we would not prefer to see our government headed by a person with an indifferent work ethic, no discernible business success and no record of being accountable with money !
By the time the next election rolls around, the public will have had sufficient time to evaluate if a man who has successfully run his private career can use those same attributes to deliver the type of Australia the voters want. They will then vote accordingly !
The point of this attack is that Mr Turnbull has his wealth invested in the Cayman Islands, which have a reputation as a " tax haven " with tight security on financial disclosure and rather lax taxation rules. The inference is that perhaps Mr Turnbull's money is not meeting the tax demands of the Australian Tax office.
The prime minister neatly turned the tables when he revealed that the very people making this accusation were taking advantage of Cayman Island rules - because their superannuation was invested in companies registered there for the taxation benefits it delivered.
Playing the class card may have a similar come uppance in public minds. Malcolm Turnbull is a man who has a fortune that runs to millions of dollars because he is clever - and very successful. He made his name as a barrister who defeated the best lawyers the British Crown sent to Australia to prevent the publishing of a spy book, and he served in a high position in a public investment company. Surely those are the attributes that would be welcomed in the person who holds the position of Prime Minister of this country.
In fact, the care Malcolm Turnbull took when he decided to go into politics to put his money at arms length is something that should be required of all politicians. Malcolm Turnbull - and his wife, Lucy - have no direct control over where their funds end up. They are held in blind trusts and as a consequence when issues come before the parliament no self interest is possible in coming to the decisions that need to be made for the public good.
The Labor party has chosen an unfortunate time to try and play the class warfare card because the man holding the position of Prime Minister has been successful in business and has acquired wealth. This coincides with an enquiry into the Trade Union movement - which has a controlling interest in Labor politics - and this enquiry has revealed rorting of members funds by union officials living the good life. Some unions are best described as " standover merchants " - delivering peace to commercial interests only after ransom is paid by way of bogus invoices for services that do not exist - or money that is delivered in plain brown paper bags.
The perennial grouch that surrounds politics touches on political donations. Successful election campaigns cost big money and there are strict rules in place to identify donors, but money has a habit of avoiding those rules when the donor is expecting favourable legislation as one of the outcomes of such largess. Revelations of such rorts occur on a regular basis.
Strangely, the money we pay our Prime Minister pales into insignificance when compared to the salaries of the CEO's of our four leading banks, or any of the plethora of public companies listed on the stock exchange. A man who has millions does not go into politics for the money. Surely we would not prefer to see our government headed by a person with an indifferent work ethic, no discernible business success and no record of being accountable with money !
By the time the next election rolls around, the public will have had sufficient time to evaluate if a man who has successfully run his private career can use those same attributes to deliver the type of Australia the voters want. They will then vote accordingly !
Friday 16 October 2015
Greedy Banks !
Westpac has broken ranks with the other three major Australian banks and this country's Reserve bank by slapping an interest rate increase on the home mortgage accounts of it's customers. Mortgage rates moved upward by 0.02 percentage points - to $5.68% and that will cost an extra $600 a year on the average loan.
The bank explains this departure from protocol on the need to satisfy a government demand that all banks increase their liquidity by way of the cash they hold in reserve. This move is supposed to ensure that the banks have a better buffer in case we experience another sudden recession, similar to the meltdown in 2008 which required bailouts.
Now the big question is whether Westpac's three competitors hold the line, or quickly follow suite and raise their interest rates to a similar level. That would be tempting because it is calculated that this 0.02 move will profit Westpac to the tune of $ 1.59 million a day.
Our four major banks are the most profitable banking institutions in the entire world. They are fat and sassy and just maybe they are shooting themselves in the foot by this grab for extra profits. Lending for home mortgages is the basic plank of the banking business and right now the banks have the major portion of Australian lending on their books - but it might not remain that way.
There is no shortage of investment money out there. Interest rates are at a historic low and self funded retirees have difficulty finding a reasonable return to provide the income they need for living expenses. Literally billions of dollars is sitting in small savings accounts which pay no interest at all and in recent times a number of Building Societies and Credit Unions have made the jump and are now officially " banks " !
The way seems clear for these smaller banks to sharpen their margins and offer cheaper mortgage loans to what the big four are providing. A lot of people will remember the situation before the 2008 meltdown. Half a dozen non-bank mortgage lending companies emerged out of the woodwork and started to claim a major share of the mortgage business. They were aggressive advertisers that ran lean and mean business structures and they were willing to shave a few points off interest rates to get the business.
The 2008 meltdown slammed the lid on the money supply and our four major banks seized the opportunity to takeover these competitors, and today those that remain are mere subsidiaries of the big banks and offer rates in tandem. This new hike in interest rates is widening the opportunity for a new breed of mortgage lenders to emerge.
By tradition, home mortgages are probably the safest form of lending in the money world. The collateral is land, bricks and mortar which can be seized in a default and it has the added advantage of being a necessity. There is also safety in numbers. During the 2008 meltdown the number of defaults was infinitesimal compared to the broad acreage of mortgages held by home purchasers - and these few were badly handled by the banks.
In the vast majority of cases, the banks foreclosed - and then did nothing. The property was left vacant. No effort was made to mow the lawns or tend the gardens, and the appearance deteriorated. It was obvious that the banks lacked the expertise to extract a rental return, nor did they seem interested in involving the Real Estate industry to achieve that result. Eventually, all they wanted was to quit the property at a reduced asking price - even if they made a loss on that deal.
The banks have clearly proved that they are clueless once a mortgage requires firm action to deal with collateral. Perhaps this mortgage hike is about to open the doors for a more specialised lender who not only asks for a lower interest rate because of less overhead structure but also has the expertise to manage property in a more expedient manner.
It seems that Westpac has opened the door to major competition !
The bank explains this departure from protocol on the need to satisfy a government demand that all banks increase their liquidity by way of the cash they hold in reserve. This move is supposed to ensure that the banks have a better buffer in case we experience another sudden recession, similar to the meltdown in 2008 which required bailouts.
Now the big question is whether Westpac's three competitors hold the line, or quickly follow suite and raise their interest rates to a similar level. That would be tempting because it is calculated that this 0.02 move will profit Westpac to the tune of $ 1.59 million a day.
Our four major banks are the most profitable banking institutions in the entire world. They are fat and sassy and just maybe they are shooting themselves in the foot by this grab for extra profits. Lending for home mortgages is the basic plank of the banking business and right now the banks have the major portion of Australian lending on their books - but it might not remain that way.
There is no shortage of investment money out there. Interest rates are at a historic low and self funded retirees have difficulty finding a reasonable return to provide the income they need for living expenses. Literally billions of dollars is sitting in small savings accounts which pay no interest at all and in recent times a number of Building Societies and Credit Unions have made the jump and are now officially " banks " !
The way seems clear for these smaller banks to sharpen their margins and offer cheaper mortgage loans to what the big four are providing. A lot of people will remember the situation before the 2008 meltdown. Half a dozen non-bank mortgage lending companies emerged out of the woodwork and started to claim a major share of the mortgage business. They were aggressive advertisers that ran lean and mean business structures and they were willing to shave a few points off interest rates to get the business.
The 2008 meltdown slammed the lid on the money supply and our four major banks seized the opportunity to takeover these competitors, and today those that remain are mere subsidiaries of the big banks and offer rates in tandem. This new hike in interest rates is widening the opportunity for a new breed of mortgage lenders to emerge.
By tradition, home mortgages are probably the safest form of lending in the money world. The collateral is land, bricks and mortar which can be seized in a default and it has the added advantage of being a necessity. There is also safety in numbers. During the 2008 meltdown the number of defaults was infinitesimal compared to the broad acreage of mortgages held by home purchasers - and these few were badly handled by the banks.
In the vast majority of cases, the banks foreclosed - and then did nothing. The property was left vacant. No effort was made to mow the lawns or tend the gardens, and the appearance deteriorated. It was obvious that the banks lacked the expertise to extract a rental return, nor did they seem interested in involving the Real Estate industry to achieve that result. Eventually, all they wanted was to quit the property at a reduced asking price - even if they made a loss on that deal.
The banks have clearly proved that they are clueless once a mortgage requires firm action to deal with collateral. Perhaps this mortgage hike is about to open the doors for a more specialised lender who not only asks for a lower interest rate because of less overhead structure but also has the expertise to manage property in a more expedient manner.
It seems that Westpac has opened the door to major competition !
Thursday 15 October 2015
Goodbye Christmas !
Christmas day is the one day of the year that Australians expect to be free of having to go to work. The only shops open for business are usually a few twenty-four hour petrol stations and the odd small Mum and Pop store The main shopping centres are locked down tightly and it is the one day of the year that no newspapers publish.
The biggest sale day of the year usually is the Boxing Day sales. By tradition, crowds await the opening hour and massive discounts are to be had as the stores clear away unsold Christmas merchandise. Unfortunately, very selective laws are in place to restrict Boxing Day openings in Sydney to the CBD and Eastern suburbs. There is a complete ban on Boxing Day trading in Campbelltown, Parramatta and Penrith - but that is about to change.
In the next few days, NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian will announce a uniform state code that will allow Boxing Day shopping on an unrestricted basis. Gone will be the farce that demands shop close in some districts, but permits opening in others on the basis that it is deemed a " tourist centre " and special conditions apply.
This opening mix has seriously disadvantaged stores forced to stay closed on Boxing Day. They claim that opening their doors a day later is a case of " no second prize ". The shoppers in their district have moved to where the shops are open - and the money is spent and no longer available for what they are offering - a day later than the stores who won the lucky lottery of trading rights on Boxing Day.
They do have a point. This ban is artificial and hard to justify, but it does mean that a lot of people are going to be asked to work on Christmas day to get the merchandise in place and the tickets on the right items so that the surging crowds can find those bargains when the doors open on the day after Christmas.
Traditionally, most stores trade right up until Christmas eve to extract the maximum sales dollar from the festive season. It stands to reason that someone has to clear away this Christmas clutter, move stock and get the store ready for this big sales assault on Boxing day. There is every expectation that store management will call for volunteers from their employees to carry out that task - and in this age of job insecurity - that is a request that could be dangerous to refuse.
Ensuring that shop staff actually got a work free Christmas day was the reason for banning Boxing day sales in the first place. The thinking was that Boxing day was the lesser holiday in the Christmas break. It was usual for the executive staff of a store to go to work to prepare for the sale and bring in selected employees to help - who would be paid a premium for working on a rostered holiday. Then - all the stores would reopen on the following day and the sales opportunities would be equally shared.
One of the problems this legislative change will bring - is cumulative action. Boxing day is a national holiday in Australia and in the past these Boxing day sales have been restricted to the handful of big department stores. The supermarkets open on the day after Christmas, but the vast majority of offices and many lesser stores treat the day as a holiday. It is highly likely that widening Boxing day trading will influence " middling " size retailers to join the throng and forego this traditional holiday.
Our world has moved a long way from that old nine to five economy that existed over half a century ago. Few would wish to return to the days when the banks opened at ten in the morning and closed at three in the afternoon - on the dot ! When cinemas and pubs were closed on Sundays - and the weekends were dreary by the standards of today.
Hopefully, this legislation will not result in Christmas day and Boxing day becoming just another working day submerged in culture of twenty-four hour trading.
The biggest sale day of the year usually is the Boxing Day sales. By tradition, crowds await the opening hour and massive discounts are to be had as the stores clear away unsold Christmas merchandise. Unfortunately, very selective laws are in place to restrict Boxing Day openings in Sydney to the CBD and Eastern suburbs. There is a complete ban on Boxing Day trading in Campbelltown, Parramatta and Penrith - but that is about to change.
In the next few days, NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian will announce a uniform state code that will allow Boxing Day shopping on an unrestricted basis. Gone will be the farce that demands shop close in some districts, but permits opening in others on the basis that it is deemed a " tourist centre " and special conditions apply.
This opening mix has seriously disadvantaged stores forced to stay closed on Boxing Day. They claim that opening their doors a day later is a case of " no second prize ". The shoppers in their district have moved to where the shops are open - and the money is spent and no longer available for what they are offering - a day later than the stores who won the lucky lottery of trading rights on Boxing Day.
They do have a point. This ban is artificial and hard to justify, but it does mean that a lot of people are going to be asked to work on Christmas day to get the merchandise in place and the tickets on the right items so that the surging crowds can find those bargains when the doors open on the day after Christmas.
Traditionally, most stores trade right up until Christmas eve to extract the maximum sales dollar from the festive season. It stands to reason that someone has to clear away this Christmas clutter, move stock and get the store ready for this big sales assault on Boxing day. There is every expectation that store management will call for volunteers from their employees to carry out that task - and in this age of job insecurity - that is a request that could be dangerous to refuse.
Ensuring that shop staff actually got a work free Christmas day was the reason for banning Boxing day sales in the first place. The thinking was that Boxing day was the lesser holiday in the Christmas break. It was usual for the executive staff of a store to go to work to prepare for the sale and bring in selected employees to help - who would be paid a premium for working on a rostered holiday. Then - all the stores would reopen on the following day and the sales opportunities would be equally shared.
One of the problems this legislative change will bring - is cumulative action. Boxing day is a national holiday in Australia and in the past these Boxing day sales have been restricted to the handful of big department stores. The supermarkets open on the day after Christmas, but the vast majority of offices and many lesser stores treat the day as a holiday. It is highly likely that widening Boxing day trading will influence " middling " size retailers to join the throng and forego this traditional holiday.
Our world has moved a long way from that old nine to five economy that existed over half a century ago. Few would wish to return to the days when the banks opened at ten in the morning and closed at three in the afternoon - on the dot ! When cinemas and pubs were closed on Sundays - and the weekends were dreary by the standards of today.
Hopefully, this legislation will not result in Christmas day and Boxing day becoming just another working day submerged in culture of twenty-four hour trading.
Wednesday 14 October 2015
Self Interest Prevails !
Most people shudder when the council rates bill arrives in the mail. The majority pay by way of quarterly instalments but this ever increasing impost to pay for council services becomes a major burden on family finances. If unemployment becomes an issue, failing to pay the quarterly rates bill is usually the first financial casualty.
This week, Premier Mike Baird was heckled when he spoke at the Local Government NSW Conference because of the government's plan to force amalgamations amongst the 152 local councils that serve the residents of this state. Their finances are in a parlous state and it is likely that some will fall into bankruptcy if their finances remain unchecked.
The government has imposed a 2.4% cap on rate increases and most councils have applied for special permission to exceed that increase - and these requests are simply mind boggling. They range across the council spectrum - 13%. 8.8% and even a whopping 29.7% increase on last year's demand. There is a danger that council rates could exceed the ability of low income earners to pay - and people could lose their homes.
Unpaid rates attract an interest impost and if the accumulation remains unpaid for seven years the council has the right to force the sale of the property. They collect rates owing from the sale and any surplus is returned to the property owner.
Opposition to forced amalgamations is widespread and usually involves self interest. The mayors and councillors enjoy a social standing that often is the preclude for a move into Federal or state parliament. It certainly ensures that they will be feted by the media. This is something they are reluctant to give up and amalgamation brings the risk that they may be unsuccessful in getting voted in within a wider voter pool.
Councils are a big employer of labour and the very nature of amalgamations ensures that duplications between smaller council units will see more achieved with a smaller work force. Well paid unionised positions are deemed to be at risk, resulting in council employees heavily supporting retaining the status quo.
Even the long suffering public have reservations about amalgamations. While they desperately oppose excessive rate rises there is comfort in having a small council body that is more approachable- and which responds to public pressure. There is a fear that a bigger council will see their neighbourhood swallowed by an uncaring bureaucracy with centralized decision making.
Council amalgamations have been on the" to do " list for years, but various governments have lacked the resolve to actually bite the bullet and do the hard yards of implementation. Each year council finances deteriorate further and the backlog of deferred upkeep increases. Many councils are now close to a financial tipping point.
Mike Baird recently won a stunning election victory. Forcing council amalgamations will not be a popular decision with perhaps the majority of people, but it is necessary if rates are to be stabilized and councils restored to a firm financial footing. He seems prepared to spend political capital early in his new term to slay the rates dragon and ensure those bigger councils deliver more efficient services for the homeowners who pay their bills !
This week, Premier Mike Baird was heckled when he spoke at the Local Government NSW Conference because of the government's plan to force amalgamations amongst the 152 local councils that serve the residents of this state. Their finances are in a parlous state and it is likely that some will fall into bankruptcy if their finances remain unchecked.
The government has imposed a 2.4% cap on rate increases and most councils have applied for special permission to exceed that increase - and these requests are simply mind boggling. They range across the council spectrum - 13%. 8.8% and even a whopping 29.7% increase on last year's demand. There is a danger that council rates could exceed the ability of low income earners to pay - and people could lose their homes.
Unpaid rates attract an interest impost and if the accumulation remains unpaid for seven years the council has the right to force the sale of the property. They collect rates owing from the sale and any surplus is returned to the property owner.
Opposition to forced amalgamations is widespread and usually involves self interest. The mayors and councillors enjoy a social standing that often is the preclude for a move into Federal or state parliament. It certainly ensures that they will be feted by the media. This is something they are reluctant to give up and amalgamation brings the risk that they may be unsuccessful in getting voted in within a wider voter pool.
Councils are a big employer of labour and the very nature of amalgamations ensures that duplications between smaller council units will see more achieved with a smaller work force. Well paid unionised positions are deemed to be at risk, resulting in council employees heavily supporting retaining the status quo.
Even the long suffering public have reservations about amalgamations. While they desperately oppose excessive rate rises there is comfort in having a small council body that is more approachable- and which responds to public pressure. There is a fear that a bigger council will see their neighbourhood swallowed by an uncaring bureaucracy with centralized decision making.
Council amalgamations have been on the" to do " list for years, but various governments have lacked the resolve to actually bite the bullet and do the hard yards of implementation. Each year council finances deteriorate further and the backlog of deferred upkeep increases. Many councils are now close to a financial tipping point.
Mike Baird recently won a stunning election victory. Forcing council amalgamations will not be a popular decision with perhaps the majority of people, but it is necessary if rates are to be stabilized and councils restored to a firm financial footing. He seems prepared to spend political capital early in his new term to slay the rates dragon and ensure those bigger councils deliver more efficient services for the homeowners who pay their bills !
Tuesday 13 October 2015
Height Limits !
There seems to be something missing from the Sydney city skyline. It lacks the jaw dropping tall buildings we associate with world cities and even Melbourne and Brisbane outrank us with building heights. It seems that Sydney has a height limit imposed in the interests of what is euphemistically called " Aircraft space protection ".
Back in the days when the Wright Brothers first flew and aviation developed we established a small airfield at Botany in Sydney - and like Topsy - it grew and grew until it became both the domestic and the International terminals and the first landfall for the majority of tourists entering Australia. Someone made the fateful decision that tall buildings might be a hazard for aircraft - and so we got stuck with a limit on building heights.
It is interesting to compare Sydney with other world airports. Soon a lot of Australians are going to be flying into Rio for the Olympics and they will surely find a city surrounded by towering mountain peaks. In fact, one of them has " Christ the Redeemer " as it's focal point - and yet the aviation industry has simply learned to avoid them.
Hong Kong was another destination with both very heigh buildings and what some would see as a perilous descent to an airport tucked away on the only land available for that purpose. It had an enviable safety record. Modern aircraft are brilliantly equipped to avoid obstacles.
The present location of Sydney airport is an exception by world standards. Very few are anywhere near the city they represent and it is a fact of life that we have made the decision to relocate to Badgery's Creek - and in due course that will become the home of aviation in Sydney. When that happens, it is likely that the huge parcel of land that is the old airport will be just too tempting for our housing and industrial needs - not to mention the astronomical cost of having it sit idle when the planes are flying to Badgery's Creek.
That 230 metre height limit in Sydney is simply untenable. The New York skyline has buildings of 541 metres and that is the expectation for a world city. We are fortunate that a change in the height approval would run in tandem with the natural developments that are now happening. It takes about a decade to build a new skycraper - and that is about the time it will take to get Badgery's Creek up and running as our new airport.
The cost of housing in Sydney is causing concern and there is alarm about the ever outward expansion of new suburbs. Roads and railways are not keeping up and providing other services is straining the budget, and the natural remedy is to expand the " vertical village " concept. The economics of high rise make use of the existing facilities and greater density creates a more viable city centre.
This " Aircraft Space Protection " limit is a product of a by-gone age when aircraft were more primitive and any obstacles were a navigational hazard. It is time that it was struck down - and Sydney allowed to grow upward and maintain it's image as this country's " First City " !
Back in the days when the Wright Brothers first flew and aviation developed we established a small airfield at Botany in Sydney - and like Topsy - it grew and grew until it became both the domestic and the International terminals and the first landfall for the majority of tourists entering Australia. Someone made the fateful decision that tall buildings might be a hazard for aircraft - and so we got stuck with a limit on building heights.
It is interesting to compare Sydney with other world airports. Soon a lot of Australians are going to be flying into Rio for the Olympics and they will surely find a city surrounded by towering mountain peaks. In fact, one of them has " Christ the Redeemer " as it's focal point - and yet the aviation industry has simply learned to avoid them.
Hong Kong was another destination with both very heigh buildings and what some would see as a perilous descent to an airport tucked away on the only land available for that purpose. It had an enviable safety record. Modern aircraft are brilliantly equipped to avoid obstacles.
The present location of Sydney airport is an exception by world standards. Very few are anywhere near the city they represent and it is a fact of life that we have made the decision to relocate to Badgery's Creek - and in due course that will become the home of aviation in Sydney. When that happens, it is likely that the huge parcel of land that is the old airport will be just too tempting for our housing and industrial needs - not to mention the astronomical cost of having it sit idle when the planes are flying to Badgery's Creek.
That 230 metre height limit in Sydney is simply untenable. The New York skyline has buildings of 541 metres and that is the expectation for a world city. We are fortunate that a change in the height approval would run in tandem with the natural developments that are now happening. It takes about a decade to build a new skycraper - and that is about the time it will take to get Badgery's Creek up and running as our new airport.
The cost of housing in Sydney is causing concern and there is alarm about the ever outward expansion of new suburbs. Roads and railways are not keeping up and providing other services is straining the budget, and the natural remedy is to expand the " vertical village " concept. The economics of high rise make use of the existing facilities and greater density creates a more viable city centre.
This " Aircraft Space Protection " limit is a product of a by-gone age when aircraft were more primitive and any obstacles were a navigational hazard. It is time that it was struck down - and Sydney allowed to grow upward and maintain it's image as this country's " First City " !
Monday 12 October 2015
Bungling Bureaucracy !
People who live on farms or in the small villages that are dotted across the Australian landscape have a problem when they need medical treatment. So often, that treatment is available at one of the big hub towns that have a major base hospital but if they need to stay several days for treatment the cost of accommodation can be financially crippling.
That is the big difference between being admitted to hospital and being treated as an outpatient. As a consequence, subsidized accommodation was installed at the base hospitals in Wagga Wagga, Lismore, Coff's Harbour, Port Macquarie and Albury and the rate set at $43 a night single, $ 60 double. This was termed " Isolated Patients Transport and Accommodation Assistance Scheme. ( IPTAAS ).
This accommodation charge was fully claimable, hence those on low incomes and pensioners were able to access medical care and treatment with no out of pocket expenses, similar to the costs associated with those living in the nation's big cities.
On September 1, as a result of a cost review that charge for this patient accommodation increased to $63 a night single, $80 double, but the bureaucracy failed to amend the supporting legislation to make this revised IPTAAS claimable. Claims are paid at the old rate and consequently patients are now twenty dollars a night out of pocket, and that is straining the finances of our less affluent country residents.
As so often happens with government schemes, should an IPTAAS patient secure commercial accommodation in a base hospital town this legislation will pay that higher $63 single and $80 double claim, but not if the patient chooses to use the accommodation specifically provided within the government base hospital. Patients are now finding that in the "off tourist season "many motels are happy to lower their charge to fall within this patient claimable limit.
The big question is what delay will occur until the bureaucracy gets it's act together and cobbles the necessary amendments between departments to make this new charge claimable under the IPTAAS scheme ? We are well into Spring and the tourist season will shortly go into high gear - and those subsidized motel rooms will shortly dwindle.
This is the sort of SNAFU that causes the retired to cling to city living. Proximity to reliable medical care is a big factor in decision making and many elderly people can make a big capital gain by selling the family home and reestablishing to a small country town or coastal fishing village - provided that isolation does not cut them off from a reasonable degree of health care.
It is a fact of life that as we age, our need for medical treatment increases and IPTAAS was a good idea to spread health costs and even the provision of care between the cities and country towns. It is a pity that in this case a fairly simple bungle is causing disquiet that will be long remembered when retirees are making plans for their future.
That is the big difference between being admitted to hospital and being treated as an outpatient. As a consequence, subsidized accommodation was installed at the base hospitals in Wagga Wagga, Lismore, Coff's Harbour, Port Macquarie and Albury and the rate set at $43 a night single, $ 60 double. This was termed " Isolated Patients Transport and Accommodation Assistance Scheme. ( IPTAAS ).
This accommodation charge was fully claimable, hence those on low incomes and pensioners were able to access medical care and treatment with no out of pocket expenses, similar to the costs associated with those living in the nation's big cities.
On September 1, as a result of a cost review that charge for this patient accommodation increased to $63 a night single, $80 double, but the bureaucracy failed to amend the supporting legislation to make this revised IPTAAS claimable. Claims are paid at the old rate and consequently patients are now twenty dollars a night out of pocket, and that is straining the finances of our less affluent country residents.
As so often happens with government schemes, should an IPTAAS patient secure commercial accommodation in a base hospital town this legislation will pay that higher $63 single and $80 double claim, but not if the patient chooses to use the accommodation specifically provided within the government base hospital. Patients are now finding that in the "off tourist season "many motels are happy to lower their charge to fall within this patient claimable limit.
The big question is what delay will occur until the bureaucracy gets it's act together and cobbles the necessary amendments between departments to make this new charge claimable under the IPTAAS scheme ? We are well into Spring and the tourist season will shortly go into high gear - and those subsidized motel rooms will shortly dwindle.
This is the sort of SNAFU that causes the retired to cling to city living. Proximity to reliable medical care is a big factor in decision making and many elderly people can make a big capital gain by selling the family home and reestablishing to a small country town or coastal fishing village - provided that isolation does not cut them off from a reasonable degree of health care.
It is a fact of life that as we age, our need for medical treatment increases and IPTAAS was a good idea to spread health costs and even the provision of care between the cities and country towns. It is a pity that in this case a fairly simple bungle is causing disquiet that will be long remembered when retirees are making plans for their future.
Sunday 11 October 2015
The " NIMBY " Factor !
There are two words that excite a groundswell of public opposition when they appear in relation to a planning approval application for a new building. One of those words is "Boarding house "and the other is "affordable housing " !
It seems that this combination immediately conjours up an expectation of down at heel tenants, drug pushers and alcoholics giving the suburb a bad name. Objections fly thick and fast and it is usual for a threat to children to be claimed if such an establishment is given approval - and becomes a reality.
Housing by-laws are adamant that affordable housing must be present in the mix in all suburbs and boarding houses cater for single people who desire a form of communal living which provides a bed, meals and all facilities for an inclusive weekly price. In recent times, the availability of such establishments has been steadily shrinking.
Planning approval for a new boarding house is presently awaiting a decision by Warringah Council and despite it meeting both the required regulations and the affordable housing criteria it has been met with an avalanche of objections. Construction costs are valued at $670,000 and it will provide accommodation for just sixteen residents.
The NIMBY factor prevails. The majority of people agree that we have an unmet need for more boarding house accommodation, just so long as it is not sited in a suburb near where they happen to live. In this case, the northern beaches is regarded as too affluent to share with such a low cost facility !
There is no reason why a new building specifically built as a boarding house should not attract single professional people who prefer to have their living facilities provided by others. In the distant past, some boarding establishments did have a rather sordid history, but that was because many were forced to adopt that form of trading because of demographic changes.
It was common for the closure of work opportunities to disperse drinkers at a local hotel to the point where it's continuation as a hotel became unprofitable. In many cases it lost it's liquor license and the owner was forced to try and find a new use for it's many rooms - and serving as a boarding house was a logical option.
Of course, one of the problems is the choice of name to designate the purpose stated on a building application. Should the expression "serviced single living apartments " have been used instead of "boarding house " it is likely that many of those objections would not have been lodged.
That other description - " Affordable Housing " has the unfortunate connection with "public housing " which in some minds brings images of squalor and unkept lawns and gardens. The past practice of building entire suburbs of public housing created an image that sticks in many minds, despite new suburbs being planned today as a mix of private and public housing to even out that housing mix and create a new image.
Now it all depends on the resolve of that northern beaches council to judge the issue on it's merits - and approve the application if it meets the correct criteria. Caving in to the Nimby factor should not be an option in a modern society !
It seems that this combination immediately conjours up an expectation of down at heel tenants, drug pushers and alcoholics giving the suburb a bad name. Objections fly thick and fast and it is usual for a threat to children to be claimed if such an establishment is given approval - and becomes a reality.
Housing by-laws are adamant that affordable housing must be present in the mix in all suburbs and boarding houses cater for single people who desire a form of communal living which provides a bed, meals and all facilities for an inclusive weekly price. In recent times, the availability of such establishments has been steadily shrinking.
Planning approval for a new boarding house is presently awaiting a decision by Warringah Council and despite it meeting both the required regulations and the affordable housing criteria it has been met with an avalanche of objections. Construction costs are valued at $670,000 and it will provide accommodation for just sixteen residents.
The NIMBY factor prevails. The majority of people agree that we have an unmet need for more boarding house accommodation, just so long as it is not sited in a suburb near where they happen to live. In this case, the northern beaches is regarded as too affluent to share with such a low cost facility !
There is no reason why a new building specifically built as a boarding house should not attract single professional people who prefer to have their living facilities provided by others. In the distant past, some boarding establishments did have a rather sordid history, but that was because many were forced to adopt that form of trading because of demographic changes.
It was common for the closure of work opportunities to disperse drinkers at a local hotel to the point where it's continuation as a hotel became unprofitable. In many cases it lost it's liquor license and the owner was forced to try and find a new use for it's many rooms - and serving as a boarding house was a logical option.
Of course, one of the problems is the choice of name to designate the purpose stated on a building application. Should the expression "serviced single living apartments " have been used instead of "boarding house " it is likely that many of those objections would not have been lodged.
That other description - " Affordable Housing " has the unfortunate connection with "public housing " which in some minds brings images of squalor and unkept lawns and gardens. The past practice of building entire suburbs of public housing created an image that sticks in many minds, despite new suburbs being planned today as a mix of private and public housing to even out that housing mix and create a new image.
Now it all depends on the resolve of that northern beaches council to judge the issue on it's merits - and approve the application if it meets the correct criteria. Caving in to the Nimby factor should not be an option in a modern society !
Saturday 10 October 2015
Village of the Damned !
'"Stopping the Boats " became a matter of survival for a past Australian government. Public feeling was ever mounting and the constant arrival of refugees on our shores was turning the tide of sentiment. A desperate situation led to a desperate solution !
A promise was made that no arrivals after a given deadline would ever settle in this country. The people smugglers believed that was bluff, and the arrivals continued. Those unfortunates became the meat in the immigration sandwich. They were packed off offshore to primitive refugee camps on Nauru and Manus Island - and there they still languish today !
The government is stuck between a rock and a hard place ! Should they backtrack and break that promise by bringing those six hundred in Nauru to Australia for resettlement the people smugglers would again swing into action and start taking extortionate fees to resume their trade. It would only take a rumour that Australia was "open for business " for the refugee boats to again be landing on our shores.
The government of Nauru hopes these facilities stay open forever because the the millions Australia pays for that privilege is the islands main income, but the general population has become restive and ill will has developed between the refugees and the native population. The refugees are locked away behind razor wire barriers and closely guarded - and most see their detention as a prison.
Now, new thinking will apply. The razor wire will disappear and this refugee camp will become an "open institution ". The refugees will be permitted to roam freely and swim in the harbour. Australia will send lifesavers to provide water safety, but while this may be seen as an improvement - no final solution to the problem is offering.
Put simply, these six hundred men, women and children are people that nobody wants. A mere handful have been relocated to Laos - at great cost to Australia - but there are no other countries raising a hand and offering to take in a few on humanitarian grounds. This camp exists with the minimum provision of education for the children, job prospects or training - or health care at the level considered normal in Australia.
Sadly, this situation arose because these refugees became the "guinea pigs " in the fight between the Australian government and the people smugglers. In almost every case they had already escaped from the danger in their home country and found shelter in Indonesia or Malaysia, but their driving ambition was to reach Australia - and it's valued way of life !
The United Nations refugee agency is very clear on the rules that apply. Refugees are required to register in the first country in which they make landfall, and then go on the waiting list for refugee resettlement as slots become available. This is a slow and tedious process and many prefer to pay their life savings to people smugglers who invite them to "jump the queue " and risk life and limb on leaky boats on an unforgiving sea.
With every passing month, those still stranded in these offshore camps are becoming an increasing burr under the saddlecloth of the Australian public. It is becoming a test of wills. These refugees are adamant that they will not settle for less than resettlement in Australia and successive governments are not prepared to pay the price of resuming the refugee boats as the consequence of such a move.
It seems to be a case of an immovable object coming into collision with an unstoppable force.
A promise was made that no arrivals after a given deadline would ever settle in this country. The people smugglers believed that was bluff, and the arrivals continued. Those unfortunates became the meat in the immigration sandwich. They were packed off offshore to primitive refugee camps on Nauru and Manus Island - and there they still languish today !
The government is stuck between a rock and a hard place ! Should they backtrack and break that promise by bringing those six hundred in Nauru to Australia for resettlement the people smugglers would again swing into action and start taking extortionate fees to resume their trade. It would only take a rumour that Australia was "open for business " for the refugee boats to again be landing on our shores.
The government of Nauru hopes these facilities stay open forever because the the millions Australia pays for that privilege is the islands main income, but the general population has become restive and ill will has developed between the refugees and the native population. The refugees are locked away behind razor wire barriers and closely guarded - and most see their detention as a prison.
Now, new thinking will apply. The razor wire will disappear and this refugee camp will become an "open institution ". The refugees will be permitted to roam freely and swim in the harbour. Australia will send lifesavers to provide water safety, but while this may be seen as an improvement - no final solution to the problem is offering.
Put simply, these six hundred men, women and children are people that nobody wants. A mere handful have been relocated to Laos - at great cost to Australia - but there are no other countries raising a hand and offering to take in a few on humanitarian grounds. This camp exists with the minimum provision of education for the children, job prospects or training - or health care at the level considered normal in Australia.
Sadly, this situation arose because these refugees became the "guinea pigs " in the fight between the Australian government and the people smugglers. In almost every case they had already escaped from the danger in their home country and found shelter in Indonesia or Malaysia, but their driving ambition was to reach Australia - and it's valued way of life !
The United Nations refugee agency is very clear on the rules that apply. Refugees are required to register in the first country in which they make landfall, and then go on the waiting list for refugee resettlement as slots become available. This is a slow and tedious process and many prefer to pay their life savings to people smugglers who invite them to "jump the queue " and risk life and limb on leaky boats on an unforgiving sea.
With every passing month, those still stranded in these offshore camps are becoming an increasing burr under the saddlecloth of the Australian public. It is becoming a test of wills. These refugees are adamant that they will not settle for less than resettlement in Australia and successive governments are not prepared to pay the price of resuming the refugee boats as the consequence of such a move.
It seems to be a case of an immovable object coming into collision with an unstoppable force.
Wednesday 7 October 2015
Tightening the Screws !
A new edict requires that convicted prisoners appearing in New South Wales courts will in future appear in handcuffs. The only exceptions will be pregnant women, and those with medical conditions.
This is the outcome from a recent incident when Ali Cahine, 33 jumped from the dock, attacked and injured the two Corrective Services officers and escaped through a fire exit and evaded pursuers by jumping on a city bus to make his escape. He has since been recaptured.
Policing is a dangerous job and it has got more dangerous since Islamic State ( IS ) has declared police as targets for those radicalized young men it is churning out as "Lone Wolf "killers on our streets. There is a real danger that policing in Australia may follow the American example where the gulf between police and citizens is causing the average citizen to fear their own police.
There is now an expectation that any person placed under arrest - will resist - and probably very violently. When a driver refuses to stop as directed by police and if this results in a car chase it is common for the arrest to take place at gun point and for police to require the fleeing driver to keep his hands on show - and lay on the ground. There is an expectation that a weapon may be involved, and precautions are taken to search for a gun or a knife.
Individual police officers make their own evaluation of the risk whenever they make an arrest and recent events caution them to err on the side of personal safety. When something like a rave party is raided and a big number of suspects are involved it is now common for plastic cable ties to serve in place of metal handcuffs. Both genders are put under restraint while the police sort out who will be charged - and what offences apply. Some think this is degrading when the majority are eventually released without a charge.
We place great value on human dignity. Serious charges which may involve a long prison term see the courts appoint a legal defendant if the prisoner does not make personal arrangements and care is taken to present that person in court in a neat and well groomed manner. The notion of "Innocent until proven guilty " is the backbone of our legal system.
It seems that the right of the judge or magistrate to order the removal of handcuffs from a prisoner appearing before them will no longer apply. The safety of police, Sheriffs or Corrective Services officers serving in courts will take precedence over the comfort and media view of the charged person. A news photograph of a person in handcuffs portrays an impression of guilt.
We have seen how overseas courts handle the presentation of prisoners in the news footage of the long trials of three Al Jazeera journalists in a Cairo court. Those before the court are actually caged in the courtroom - like wild animals. There is no expectation that dignity will be preserved and the prisoners give evidence by shouting above the noise of the court from behind bars. That is not a form of justice that would be welcome in this country.
We need to be very careful in serving the interests of security to avoid creating a lack of trust between the public, the police and the courts. Applying a "one size fits all " approach will be a step on the road that leads to the Cairo spectacle !
This is the outcome from a recent incident when Ali Cahine, 33 jumped from the dock, attacked and injured the two Corrective Services officers and escaped through a fire exit and evaded pursuers by jumping on a city bus to make his escape. He has since been recaptured.
Policing is a dangerous job and it has got more dangerous since Islamic State ( IS ) has declared police as targets for those radicalized young men it is churning out as "Lone Wolf "killers on our streets. There is a real danger that policing in Australia may follow the American example where the gulf between police and citizens is causing the average citizen to fear their own police.
There is now an expectation that any person placed under arrest - will resist - and probably very violently. When a driver refuses to stop as directed by police and if this results in a car chase it is common for the arrest to take place at gun point and for police to require the fleeing driver to keep his hands on show - and lay on the ground. There is an expectation that a weapon may be involved, and precautions are taken to search for a gun or a knife.
Individual police officers make their own evaluation of the risk whenever they make an arrest and recent events caution them to err on the side of personal safety. When something like a rave party is raided and a big number of suspects are involved it is now common for plastic cable ties to serve in place of metal handcuffs. Both genders are put under restraint while the police sort out who will be charged - and what offences apply. Some think this is degrading when the majority are eventually released without a charge.
We place great value on human dignity. Serious charges which may involve a long prison term see the courts appoint a legal defendant if the prisoner does not make personal arrangements and care is taken to present that person in court in a neat and well groomed manner. The notion of "Innocent until proven guilty " is the backbone of our legal system.
It seems that the right of the judge or magistrate to order the removal of handcuffs from a prisoner appearing before them will no longer apply. The safety of police, Sheriffs or Corrective Services officers serving in courts will take precedence over the comfort and media view of the charged person. A news photograph of a person in handcuffs portrays an impression of guilt.
We have seen how overseas courts handle the presentation of prisoners in the news footage of the long trials of three Al Jazeera journalists in a Cairo court. Those before the court are actually caged in the courtroom - like wild animals. There is no expectation that dignity will be preserved and the prisoners give evidence by shouting above the noise of the court from behind bars. That is not a form of justice that would be welcome in this country.
We need to be very careful in serving the interests of security to avoid creating a lack of trust between the public, the police and the courts. Applying a "one size fits all " approach will be a step on the road that leads to the Cairo spectacle !
Tuesday 6 October 2015
Dicing with Death !
Death is something most people fear ! It is the inevitability that we all face eventually and most hope that they will die peacefully in their sleep. We never know when the "Grim Reaper "will tap us on the shoulder and tell us our time is up !
It seems that there are very different views doing battle between those determined to keep us alive and those who view death as a personal decision. When this intrudes into the need for legislation it leads to clashes between the various forms of religion - and terrifies the politicians who will be held to account by the public on the basis of their vote.
We are about to see a class action in the courts to force a clearer warning on a form of antidepressant known in medical circles ass SSRI class. Some users claim that it promotes both moods of aggression - and thoughts of suicide. Obviously, those needing antidepressants are looking for a corrective for what is really a mood swing and it is quite possible that thoughts of suicide may be a normal aspect of their malady, but some people are prepared to go to court to seek intervention between doctor and patient.
There is another hot debate over pain killers containing Coedine. These are addictive and there is pressure to make them only available with a prescription from a doctor. At present, they are off-the-shelf available at pharmacies. Last year there were 1437 deaths in Australia that were linked to Coedine and it is quite possible that many of these were deliberate as an overdose of Coedine is usually fatal. This seems to be legislation aimed mainly at suicide prevention.
Which brings us to the crux of the matter - doctor assisted suicide ! Our politicians are desperate to avoid a bill on that question requiring them to publicly vote because it is divisive in the arena of public opinion and they fear alienating the votes of those opposed for religious reasons.
Unfortunately, some diseases result in a terrible death for those unfortunate enough to face that form of dieing. We have taken a half step towards assisted death by the creation of hospices which are where the terminally ill can spend their final days with sympathetic care, an absence of rules such as "visiting hours "- and an understanding that pain relief will take precedence over safety, even when it reduces whatever lifespan that remains.
Of course, this is simply the "nudge" "wink " way of overcoming a very strict aspect of the law. It is a criminal offense for a doctor or any other person to assist in bringing about the death of another person, and harsh penalties apply. This rests on the moral conscience of each person administering to terminally ill patients and the law in Australia pretends to be blind - and carefully looks the other way !
Some other world countries have been more courageous. Laws have been relaxed to allow not only the terminally ill but those with a legitimate reason to want to end their life to obtain the necessary ingredients to make that happen - with safeguards in place to allow a reasonable time delay to ensure that a "change of mind " may have due consideration.
We seem split between two schools of thought. One seems determined to put all methods of a painless death securely out of reach of those intending to end their lives and reduce them to horror methods such as jumping off high buildings - with consequent risk to innocent people, and a general consensus in the community that life's end is a personal decision which should be in the control of each and every citizen.
Clearly, this is a matter that should be decided by a referendum !
It seems that there are very different views doing battle between those determined to keep us alive and those who view death as a personal decision. When this intrudes into the need for legislation it leads to clashes between the various forms of religion - and terrifies the politicians who will be held to account by the public on the basis of their vote.
We are about to see a class action in the courts to force a clearer warning on a form of antidepressant known in medical circles ass SSRI class. Some users claim that it promotes both moods of aggression - and thoughts of suicide. Obviously, those needing antidepressants are looking for a corrective for what is really a mood swing and it is quite possible that thoughts of suicide may be a normal aspect of their malady, but some people are prepared to go to court to seek intervention between doctor and patient.
There is another hot debate over pain killers containing Coedine. These are addictive and there is pressure to make them only available with a prescription from a doctor. At present, they are off-the-shelf available at pharmacies. Last year there were 1437 deaths in Australia that were linked to Coedine and it is quite possible that many of these were deliberate as an overdose of Coedine is usually fatal. This seems to be legislation aimed mainly at suicide prevention.
Which brings us to the crux of the matter - doctor assisted suicide ! Our politicians are desperate to avoid a bill on that question requiring them to publicly vote because it is divisive in the arena of public opinion and they fear alienating the votes of those opposed for religious reasons.
Unfortunately, some diseases result in a terrible death for those unfortunate enough to face that form of dieing. We have taken a half step towards assisted death by the creation of hospices which are where the terminally ill can spend their final days with sympathetic care, an absence of rules such as "visiting hours "- and an understanding that pain relief will take precedence over safety, even when it reduces whatever lifespan that remains.
Of course, this is simply the "nudge" "wink " way of overcoming a very strict aspect of the law. It is a criminal offense for a doctor or any other person to assist in bringing about the death of another person, and harsh penalties apply. This rests on the moral conscience of each person administering to terminally ill patients and the law in Australia pretends to be blind - and carefully looks the other way !
Some other world countries have been more courageous. Laws have been relaxed to allow not only the terminally ill but those with a legitimate reason to want to end their life to obtain the necessary ingredients to make that happen - with safeguards in place to allow a reasonable time delay to ensure that a "change of mind " may have due consideration.
We seem split between two schools of thought. One seems determined to put all methods of a painless death securely out of reach of those intending to end their lives and reduce them to horror methods such as jumping off high buildings - with consequent risk to innocent people, and a general consensus in the community that life's end is a personal decision which should be in the control of each and every citizen.
Clearly, this is a matter that should be decided by a referendum !
Monday 5 October 2015
The Lone Wolf !
The scenes from cctv cameras that flashed across television screens were shocking. When Curtis Cheng, a 58 year old civilian accountant who worked in the Parramatta police headquarters finished his shift and headed home to his family he encountered a youth clad in a strange black gown as he reached the street.
Without warning, this youth produced a pistol and shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. The youth then went on to do some sort of victory dance, yelling praise in Arabic to Allah and fired randomly at police headquarters, until special officers raced onto the street - and shot him dead.
This is precisely the "Lone Wolf " style of random attacks that the leaders of Islamic State ( IS ) have been calling for and using social media to radicalize Muslims in world countries to join their war on the rest of the world. It is a call to arms that bears fruit in the minds of some with deep religious convictions - and in particular it appeals to the spirit of adventure so prominent in the youth of today.
This lone wolf attack is something we have been expecting. It seems inevitable that this will not be an isolated incident. We - along with the rest of the world - are engaged in a war of ideology where a sect of Sunni Islam is determined to wage war and force the conversion of all they conquer to a severe form of life and outlook that suits Wahabinist thinking. That was the mission of Osama bin Laden when he formed al Qaeda and is now the mission of IS.
IS has been very successful in attracting disillusioned western youth to become cannon fodder in Syria. It has also so terrified the population of Syria and surrounding countries that we are seeing a human avalanche of refugees fleeing to Europe and destabilizing the countries that make up the European Union. Now Russia is providing arms and soldiers to prop up the oppressive regime of Bassar Assad and the timidity of the west in suppressing IS may lead to a wider conflict.
We can be thankful that the security services here in Australia have been very successful in tamping down acts of terrorism. A number of developing attacks have been nipped in the bud and taken down before they reached the action stage and so far the most damaging event to cause civilian deaths was the cafe siege in Martin Place. So far - we have been very lucky !
No doubt we will learn a lot more about fifteen year old Farhad Khalil Mohammad and why he chose to execute a total stranger on a public street. How he came to be in possession of a pistol will be closely examined, and it is fortunate that this was an old style revolver containing five or six rounds. Had he been able to gain a modern Glock automatic with a more extensive magazine capacity the death toll might have been greater.
We are actually assisting IS when we make unreasonable demands on our Australian Muslim communities. The vast majority of both Sunni and Shi'ite branches of Islam simply want to earn a living and raise their families without getting involved in religious battles. We accuse them of not integrating into the Australian way of life, but we would do well to remember the migrant flow after the second world war and the war in Vietnam.
We accused those migrants of forming ghettos and many Sydney suburbs claimed an affinity to certain race groups. Clubs formed that spoke their language and old customs from another world clashed both legally and morally with the ways of European Australia. Epithets such as "Wogs "and "Dagos " were common.
It took several generations for full integration and now a family name containing many z and y and r's or with an Asian tone is a normal part of the Australian life scene. Ethnicity thinned out in those ghetto suburbs and now the children of those former refugees are scattered widely in this continent - and precisely the same will be the same with our Muslim community after the passage of time.
It doesn't help when we have racist crowds roaring and bellowing and trying to prevent the establishment of mosques. It doesn't help when social media is used to denigrate Muslims because of their religion or the way they dress. For most, it is confronting to make the change from a lifestyle arbitrarily imposed by dictatorial rulers in their former homeland to the free and easy life we enjoy in Australia. We need to cut them a bit of slack !
There probably will be more Farhad Khalil Mohammad incidents, but then there are usually several more mundane murders committed every day in this country. The vast majority of our Muslims deplore this violence - just as we do ! The best we can offer is to be watchful for signs of radicalism - and help the security people stay ahead of the action !
Without warning, this youth produced a pistol and shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. The youth then went on to do some sort of victory dance, yelling praise in Arabic to Allah and fired randomly at police headquarters, until special officers raced onto the street - and shot him dead.
This is precisely the "Lone Wolf " style of random attacks that the leaders of Islamic State ( IS ) have been calling for and using social media to radicalize Muslims in world countries to join their war on the rest of the world. It is a call to arms that bears fruit in the minds of some with deep religious convictions - and in particular it appeals to the spirit of adventure so prominent in the youth of today.
This lone wolf attack is something we have been expecting. It seems inevitable that this will not be an isolated incident. We - along with the rest of the world - are engaged in a war of ideology where a sect of Sunni Islam is determined to wage war and force the conversion of all they conquer to a severe form of life and outlook that suits Wahabinist thinking. That was the mission of Osama bin Laden when he formed al Qaeda and is now the mission of IS.
IS has been very successful in attracting disillusioned western youth to become cannon fodder in Syria. It has also so terrified the population of Syria and surrounding countries that we are seeing a human avalanche of refugees fleeing to Europe and destabilizing the countries that make up the European Union. Now Russia is providing arms and soldiers to prop up the oppressive regime of Bassar Assad and the timidity of the west in suppressing IS may lead to a wider conflict.
We can be thankful that the security services here in Australia have been very successful in tamping down acts of terrorism. A number of developing attacks have been nipped in the bud and taken down before they reached the action stage and so far the most damaging event to cause civilian deaths was the cafe siege in Martin Place. So far - we have been very lucky !
No doubt we will learn a lot more about fifteen year old Farhad Khalil Mohammad and why he chose to execute a total stranger on a public street. How he came to be in possession of a pistol will be closely examined, and it is fortunate that this was an old style revolver containing five or six rounds. Had he been able to gain a modern Glock automatic with a more extensive magazine capacity the death toll might have been greater.
We are actually assisting IS when we make unreasonable demands on our Australian Muslim communities. The vast majority of both Sunni and Shi'ite branches of Islam simply want to earn a living and raise their families without getting involved in religious battles. We accuse them of not integrating into the Australian way of life, but we would do well to remember the migrant flow after the second world war and the war in Vietnam.
We accused those migrants of forming ghettos and many Sydney suburbs claimed an affinity to certain race groups. Clubs formed that spoke their language and old customs from another world clashed both legally and morally with the ways of European Australia. Epithets such as "Wogs "and "Dagos " were common.
It took several generations for full integration and now a family name containing many z and y and r's or with an Asian tone is a normal part of the Australian life scene. Ethnicity thinned out in those ghetto suburbs and now the children of those former refugees are scattered widely in this continent - and precisely the same will be the same with our Muslim community after the passage of time.
It doesn't help when we have racist crowds roaring and bellowing and trying to prevent the establishment of mosques. It doesn't help when social media is used to denigrate Muslims because of their religion or the way they dress. For most, it is confronting to make the change from a lifestyle arbitrarily imposed by dictatorial rulers in their former homeland to the free and easy life we enjoy in Australia. We need to cut them a bit of slack !
There probably will be more Farhad Khalil Mohammad incidents, but then there are usually several more mundane murders committed every day in this country. The vast majority of our Muslims deplore this violence - just as we do ! The best we can offer is to be watchful for signs of radicalism - and help the security people stay ahead of the action !
Sunday 4 October 2015
A Health Cost Increase ?
Just when the government was hoping that the health budget might be contained a new fight has broken out between doctors and pharmacists about over the counter pain relief medication. Coedine is effective in relieving intense pain, but it is also addictive. Pressure is building to make two of the most popular products containing Coedine - Nurofen Plus and Panadeine Extra - restricted by requiring a doctors script for supply.
The need to get that script for what is at present an over the counter item will certainly result in a surge of doctor visits and their consequent increase in Medicare costs. The move is opposed by pharmacists who are on the front line in advising customers on pain relief and who believe that script restrictions are unnecessary.
This proposal turns the spotlight on the wider subject of doctor's scripts for all forms of medication. Generally, each script allows for five repeats and consequently any patient permanently taking a particular medication needs to see their doctor at least twice a year to get new scripts to ensure uninterrupted supply. Doctor visits could be reduced if the life of each script were extended to provide a full year supply.
Doctors would oppose this on the grounds that when script renewal requires a visit the patient is examined to determine if the medication is doing it's job and whether any change is necessary. Good health requires the patient to be constantly monitored and the present script repeat numbers ensures that the correct doctor/patient consultations occur.
The crux of the problem is the addictive nature of products containing Coedine. Each tablet has an enhanced street value and apart from patients becoming addicted, there is a widespread trade amongst drug users. If they are subjected to script supply we may see a sharp increase in "doctor shopping " - where individuals using a false name visit numerous doctors seeking a script for an imagined ailment, with the intention of making profit from the sale of their script.
Another option would be to legislate to decrease the pack size available over the counter, and to place restrictions on the amount available in a single purchase. This would place pharmacists in the role of "gatekeeper " and at best it would slow the trade in Coedine, but it would also inconvenience those with genuine severe pain problems. It must be remembered that Coedine is a genuine source of relief for those suffering intense pain and a total ban on sales is impractical.
It seems that there is no clear solution to this dilemma. Newton's law comes into effect. "To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction "! To make products containing Coedine a pharmaceutical that requires a doctors script for supply will immediately sharply increase the number of doctor visits and blow out the costs of Medicare.
To reduce pack sizes and place restrictions on quantity availability will put pharmacists under pressure and prevent those with genuine needs from getting adequate pain relief, and neither will have much effect on the availability of illicit drugs from the underworld.
Thar raises the question of whether the wisest decision might be to take no action at all !
The need to get that script for what is at present an over the counter item will certainly result in a surge of doctor visits and their consequent increase in Medicare costs. The move is opposed by pharmacists who are on the front line in advising customers on pain relief and who believe that script restrictions are unnecessary.
This proposal turns the spotlight on the wider subject of doctor's scripts for all forms of medication. Generally, each script allows for five repeats and consequently any patient permanently taking a particular medication needs to see their doctor at least twice a year to get new scripts to ensure uninterrupted supply. Doctor visits could be reduced if the life of each script were extended to provide a full year supply.
Doctors would oppose this on the grounds that when script renewal requires a visit the patient is examined to determine if the medication is doing it's job and whether any change is necessary. Good health requires the patient to be constantly monitored and the present script repeat numbers ensures that the correct doctor/patient consultations occur.
The crux of the problem is the addictive nature of products containing Coedine. Each tablet has an enhanced street value and apart from patients becoming addicted, there is a widespread trade amongst drug users. If they are subjected to script supply we may see a sharp increase in "doctor shopping " - where individuals using a false name visit numerous doctors seeking a script for an imagined ailment, with the intention of making profit from the sale of their script.
Another option would be to legislate to decrease the pack size available over the counter, and to place restrictions on the amount available in a single purchase. This would place pharmacists in the role of "gatekeeper " and at best it would slow the trade in Coedine, but it would also inconvenience those with genuine severe pain problems. It must be remembered that Coedine is a genuine source of relief for those suffering intense pain and a total ban on sales is impractical.
It seems that there is no clear solution to this dilemma. Newton's law comes into effect. "To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction "! To make products containing Coedine a pharmaceutical that requires a doctors script for supply will immediately sharply increase the number of doctor visits and blow out the costs of Medicare.
To reduce pack sizes and place restrictions on quantity availability will put pharmacists under pressure and prevent those with genuine needs from getting adequate pain relief, and neither will have much effect on the availability of illicit drugs from the underworld.
Thar raises the question of whether the wisest decision might be to take no action at all !
Saturday 3 October 2015
The Slow Wheels of Justice !
Once again a leading judge has chosen to berate the Department of Public Prosecutions because a case before him has had to be adjourned part heard - because crucial documents had not been served on time. It is essential that the court protocols be followed to the letter of the law to avoid further appeals demanding that the verdict be set aside and the case listed for retrial.
This case concerned a dangerous driving incident where a car intruded onto a footpath and fatally injured a sixteen year old schoolgirl. The family of the deceased were awaiting their opportunity to deliver a victim impact statement when it was discovered that this omission had occurred.
What irked the judge is the casual attitude of both the DPP and counsel for the defence in following court procedure. It is of little consequence to both sides if a case does not proceed but it is of immense importance to the families of all concerned where a death has occurred. Usually, one person is waiting to hear what fate is delivering by way of punishment and the family of the victim are hoping to put the matter to rest and move on with their lives.
It is also the " last minute " way of announcing such an adjournment that angers many people. The court convenes with the judge waiting to finalise the case. Those concerned are in the courtroom - when counsel drops the bombshell. The frustration is palpable. Apart from the emotional tension the case arouses, many witnesses and others with involvement may have taken long and costly journeys in the expectation of finality. Overnight accommodation may be involved. It is simply grossly unfair if this failure to proceed is because of sheer negligence by either DPP or defence.
DPP will likely claim to be under resourced and blame the need for more staff to alleviate this situation but those who work in administering the law tend to become removed from the fact that they are dealing with the lives and emotions of other human beings. Each case becomes more like the movement of pieces on a Chess board - and like Chess - different values apply to the figures designated. Unfortunately, the great majority are regarded as mere " pawns " - to be sacrificed where necessary in the tactical game to achieve a " win " !
There will obviously be circumstances where delay is unavoidable, but court procedure could be improved by introducing a scale of " consequences " to the delay process. It should only be in the most extraordinary that a case not proceed on the day of a hearing because of a lack of documents exchanged. As things stand, that is now the normal procedure because it is the way the court process evolved.
Perhaps we could learn from the points disqualification method used to punish motorists for driving offences. Those who make a living in the legal profession rely on their reputation to advance in seniority and attract custom. Were it possible for judges to award an "incompetence " point to an individual where a glaring lack of procedure delayed a case outcome the media would be sure to male the accumulation of such discredit points known to the public.
The surest way to get individuals in both the DPP and defence to ensure that papers are served on time and that their case is ready to proceed - is the threat that failure can have unpleasant consequences that impinge on their standing in the legal community.
Most people obey the law because of a fear of the consequences. There is no reason why that principle should not also apply in legal circles !
This case concerned a dangerous driving incident where a car intruded onto a footpath and fatally injured a sixteen year old schoolgirl. The family of the deceased were awaiting their opportunity to deliver a victim impact statement when it was discovered that this omission had occurred.
What irked the judge is the casual attitude of both the DPP and counsel for the defence in following court procedure. It is of little consequence to both sides if a case does not proceed but it is of immense importance to the families of all concerned where a death has occurred. Usually, one person is waiting to hear what fate is delivering by way of punishment and the family of the victim are hoping to put the matter to rest and move on with their lives.
It is also the " last minute " way of announcing such an adjournment that angers many people. The court convenes with the judge waiting to finalise the case. Those concerned are in the courtroom - when counsel drops the bombshell. The frustration is palpable. Apart from the emotional tension the case arouses, many witnesses and others with involvement may have taken long and costly journeys in the expectation of finality. Overnight accommodation may be involved. It is simply grossly unfair if this failure to proceed is because of sheer negligence by either DPP or defence.
DPP will likely claim to be under resourced and blame the need for more staff to alleviate this situation but those who work in administering the law tend to become removed from the fact that they are dealing with the lives and emotions of other human beings. Each case becomes more like the movement of pieces on a Chess board - and like Chess - different values apply to the figures designated. Unfortunately, the great majority are regarded as mere " pawns " - to be sacrificed where necessary in the tactical game to achieve a " win " !
There will obviously be circumstances where delay is unavoidable, but court procedure could be improved by introducing a scale of " consequences " to the delay process. It should only be in the most extraordinary that a case not proceed on the day of a hearing because of a lack of documents exchanged. As things stand, that is now the normal procedure because it is the way the court process evolved.
Perhaps we could learn from the points disqualification method used to punish motorists for driving offences. Those who make a living in the legal profession rely on their reputation to advance in seniority and attract custom. Were it possible for judges to award an "incompetence " point to an individual where a glaring lack of procedure delayed a case outcome the media would be sure to male the accumulation of such discredit points known to the public.
The surest way to get individuals in both the DPP and defence to ensure that papers are served on time and that their case is ready to proceed - is the threat that failure can have unpleasant consequences that impinge on their standing in the legal community.
Most people obey the law because of a fear of the consequences. There is no reason why that principle should not also apply in legal circles !
Friday 2 October 2015
Voodoo Economics !
Spare a thought for the folk who live in Queanbeyan, Canberra's sister city that straddles the border with the Australian Capital Territory. Canberra has decided to license Uber and that will come into force from the end of October, while at the same time New South Wales has started a crack-down by suspending the registration of Uber cars for three months for " using a private vehicle for business purposes " - as the legal jargon for plying as a Uber cab is termed.
So far the details are sketchy, but it looks like the taxi business will be divided into two distinct sectors. Uber cars will only respond to phone bookings and will not be allowed to pickup customers hailing them from the streets, and the regular taxi fleet will serve both the streets and fares collected by availability from taxi ranks.
Regulations yet to be spelt out will come into force on insurance and the Uber cars will be required to submit to regular safety inspection regimes. It is proposed that the fee for a taxi plate used by the regular taxi industry will be substantially reduced - in light of this new form of competition.
Now that the ACT is grasping the nettle and settling the Uber question it seems likely that this form of licensing will become universally adopted in other Australian states, but it does deliver an ominous message to all the trades that have sheltered behind the security of a licensing system that has protected them from unfair competition.
Basically, Canberra is halving the taxi business and vastly reducing the former value of a taxi plate. Because each state carefully limited the number of taxi plates on offer they became an item of trade - which many owners regarded as their form of superannuation. In Sydney, a retiring owner of a taxi plate could sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars and usually the cab was working for the full twenty-four hours of each day.
It was common for an owner to hire out the cab for an eight hour shift on the basis of a fixed amount. He delivered the cab with a full tank of petrol, and it returned in the same manner. The hirer was entitled to whatever fares collected during the shift and the owner received the lucrative hiring fee.
The Uber intrusion sent taxi plate values tumbling and now the prospect of a reduced and shared market is going to put further pressure on the asking prices for those quitting the industry. The holders of taxi plates purchased under the old regime will suffer a catastrophic loss and most will feel betrayed by the government.
In essence, Uber seems to be just a licensed version of the " Gypsy " cab fleets that operate in major cities. Private citizens desperate for work install temporary taxi signs on their cars and cruise the streets looking for business. They are a bane to legitimate taxi operators and suffer arrest and harassment from the police, and often they entirely lack insurance cover.
It was quickly evident that Uber was going to force it's way into the taxi market and it seems that few governments were prepared to use the full force of the law to stop them. The fact that they have succeeded will have entrepreneurs looking closely at other guarded market categories and we may be about to see voodoo economics intrude into the entire spectrum of licensing.
This Uber cave-in may be start of a new business era !
So far the details are sketchy, but it looks like the taxi business will be divided into two distinct sectors. Uber cars will only respond to phone bookings and will not be allowed to pickup customers hailing them from the streets, and the regular taxi fleet will serve both the streets and fares collected by availability from taxi ranks.
Regulations yet to be spelt out will come into force on insurance and the Uber cars will be required to submit to regular safety inspection regimes. It is proposed that the fee for a taxi plate used by the regular taxi industry will be substantially reduced - in light of this new form of competition.
Now that the ACT is grasping the nettle and settling the Uber question it seems likely that this form of licensing will become universally adopted in other Australian states, but it does deliver an ominous message to all the trades that have sheltered behind the security of a licensing system that has protected them from unfair competition.
Basically, Canberra is halving the taxi business and vastly reducing the former value of a taxi plate. Because each state carefully limited the number of taxi plates on offer they became an item of trade - which many owners regarded as their form of superannuation. In Sydney, a retiring owner of a taxi plate could sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars and usually the cab was working for the full twenty-four hours of each day.
It was common for an owner to hire out the cab for an eight hour shift on the basis of a fixed amount. He delivered the cab with a full tank of petrol, and it returned in the same manner. The hirer was entitled to whatever fares collected during the shift and the owner received the lucrative hiring fee.
The Uber intrusion sent taxi plate values tumbling and now the prospect of a reduced and shared market is going to put further pressure on the asking prices for those quitting the industry. The holders of taxi plates purchased under the old regime will suffer a catastrophic loss and most will feel betrayed by the government.
In essence, Uber seems to be just a licensed version of the " Gypsy " cab fleets that operate in major cities. Private citizens desperate for work install temporary taxi signs on their cars and cruise the streets looking for business. They are a bane to legitimate taxi operators and suffer arrest and harassment from the police, and often they entirely lack insurance cover.
It was quickly evident that Uber was going to force it's way into the taxi market and it seems that few governments were prepared to use the full force of the law to stop them. The fact that they have succeeded will have entrepreneurs looking closely at other guarded market categories and we may be about to see voodoo economics intrude into the entire spectrum of licensing.
This Uber cave-in may be start of a new business era !
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