That " Three Strikes " Law !

One subject that will definitely end in argument is any attempt to impose limitations on what we are permitted to say in public.  " Freedom of speech " is a hallowed Australian right in the opinion of most people and perhaps the rules that apply in the national parliament might be applicable as a general rule.

It is up to the house speaker to determine what terms are " unparliamenary " and so order them to be withdrawn.  As a result, a vocabulary of words that fall on either side of this deciding line are either used or avoided in debate.   It seems that it is permissible to call someone on the opposite bench a " Boofhead "  but terms such as " scab " , " rat " or " turncoat " will bring a reprimand.  A member who refuses to withdraw or apologise may be suspended from the house for a day.

Of course, what happens when an insulting remark is made usually depends on where the exchange occurred.   A shouting match between neighbours in the suburbs is unlikely to go further, but public statements in the business world and in particular, heated exchanges in council chambers or other forms of local government are more sensitive.

It seems that just such a remark made in anger has resulted in the deputy mayor of a country council being removed from office for a five year period. He was convicted by the NSW Civic and Administrative Tribunal of calling the council mayor " a bitch " and adding " I hope you choke on your sandwich " during a heated council debate.

The actual suspension for this offence was for five months, but this deputy mayor had form for several previous similar offences and under the " three strikes " law that applied he was barred from serving in office for a five year period.

To further complicate the matter, it seems that a recording was made of this exchange.  There are laws that apply to the recording of conversations and the need for permission and it was claimed that these should not have been permitted as evidence, which was something the tribunal ignored.

The outcome would probably have been different had that deputy mayor been prepared to withdraw the remark and apologise, but he was unrepentant and it seems that this caused the tribunal to make an example of him.

This hearing and the end result has established a precedent on which future claims are likely to be settled.  Boundaries have now been set and the users of colourful language need to be aware of the limitations that apply, and be prepared to back off and apologise where reasonable offense is taken.

That will not satisfy those who think freedom of speech is absolute, but there have always been limitations.   It was once famously claimed that freedom of speech did not apply when someone maliciously shouted " Fire "in a crowded theatre and set in motion a panic which crushed patrons to death.

It seems that predictable rules now apply !

Invasion - by Stealth !

When the allied armies started to reclaim occupied Europe from the Nazi regime of Germany the discovery of the concentration camps and their death ovens shocked the world.   The newsreel cameras of that era brought pictures of almost indescribable horror to the great mass of people who felt sympathy for the six million Jews of Europe who had been systematically murdered.

This sympathy found a voice in the deliberations of the newly formed United Nations assembly.  The Jews claimed Palestine to have been their ancestral home and many of the survivors were intent on making their way to what they described as their "promised land ".  It came to a fateful vote in the United Nations and in 1948 that body decided to create a Jewish state that became Israel.

That would have been fine - if it was vacant land, but it had been home to Palestinians for thousands of years and this new Jewish state was founded in a vicious war. Hopelessly outnumbered this tiny enclave fought off invading Arab armies and gained the admiration of the world.   Time and again it came under attack and not only survived, but increased its borders.   The United Nations hoped that the acrimony would be eventually settled by the emergence of both a Jewish and an Israeli state, living peacefully side by side.

That was not to be.  The hatred ran too deep. America held Israel under its protective wing and used its Veto at the United Nations to ward off hostile legislation. Several times hopeful plans for settling the differences between the two sides came close to conclusion, but failed at the last minute.  Israel ruled the Palestinian people with an iron hand and the laws of Israel favoured the Jewish settlers over Palestinian citizens.

One of the points of contention is the "West Bank "- a great portion of land captured in the 1965 war and which would have to be an integral part of any future Palestinian state.  While Israel has not openly permitted Jewish settlers to build homes on this land, it has done little to stop them. In fact the Jewish high court has ruled them illegal and ordered they be handed to the Palestinians, but no action has been taken to enforce that order.

Israel has a hard line leader in Benjamin Netanyahu.  He has walked away from the solution of a Palestinian state and under his watch the number of new Jewish settlements in the West Bank has sharply increased.   In the past, Israel has sheltered behind certain American use of its Veto to remove items criticising Israel to be removed from discussion.   To their shock, this time America not only refrained from using its Veto, it simply abstained in a vote on a measure criticising the Jewish state.

World opinion is hardening and opposition is growing against the rough shod treatment the Palestinian people are receiving from their Jewish overlords.   Unfortunately, the Palestinian people are not helping their cause by their trenchant opposition to all and any reasonable proposals for a two state solution.   Hard core elements are constantly at war with the Jewish state.

It seems likely that the acquisition of the West Bank by stealth is no longer a proposition. It is likely that the United Nations will have new powers to knock heads together on both sides of the divide and force some sort of settlement.   Obviously, there will be elements of compromise that neither will like, but that is the only way this land can be successfully divided.

But on January 20 there will be a different president in the oval office and perhaps that policy change will change again..   The hope for peace in the Middle East looks far from assured !

Messy Pups !

This year, Christmas Day was a scorcher - and so the holiday crowds did what is traditional in Sydney.  They went to the beach !   What they left behind when they went home from Coogee beach
 has so infuriated Randwick council that they slapped a complete alcohol ban on Coogee for the rest of this summer.

Coogee was already under a partial restriction on alcohol.  It was perfectly legal to have a drink from mid morning through the lunch break, but alcohol was barred from late afternoon to avoid drunken night parties and the danger of the inebriated drowning in the surf.   This was an ordinance that was lightly enforced.

There is no doubt that the Christmas Day beachgoers left Coogee in an unsightly mess.  Empty food containers.  The wrapping paper from presents. Bottles and cans, from all sorts of drinks were left littering the sand and piled up around disposal points.   Council  workmen carted away fifteen tonnes of rubbish and the council adopted a total alcohol ban to appease public fury.

In a few days time, Sydney will host another event for which it is famous on the world scene.  On the stroke of midnight huge crowds at vantage points around Sydney harbour will enjoy a fireworks display to bring in the new year.  By tradition, this will be the breaking news picture on television screens in most countries.

There is also an inevitable scene that the television channels will feature the next morning.  Council workers will move in to remove the incredible amount of rubbish those crowds left behind when they finally ended the new year celebrations.   Parks and beaches that were viewing points will be littered with rubbish and no doubt councils will tot up the tonnage collected and estimate what that cleanup cost council coffers.

There is a certain inevitability about this - year after year - but little changes.   The litter bins provided to service parks and beaches are designed to serve the average crowd numbers present throughout the year.,  They are totally inadequate for these big events and so crowd behaviour becomes very predictable.   The moment the refuse bins become full and overflowing people drop their rubbish in the near vicinity - and when that becomes a mountain all restraint is abandoned. In most instances, there is no attempt by councils to empty those rubbish bins in an orderly fashion throughout the day.

Some people are natural slobs, but the greater majority would respond if facilities were available. Councils know when large crowds are expected - and should plan accordingly.   The placement of those bulk bins that service apartment blocks strategically placed where crowds can deposit their rubbish would alleviate the situations - but they would need to be quickly replaced when reaching capacity to be effective.  Rubbish management is an ongoing need rather than something to be accommodated within the usual council work hours structure.

Unfortunately, the council reaction to a very predictable inability to contain rubbish on Christmas day will see the end of many folk enjoying a civilized lunch on the sand, accompanied with a moderate glass of alcohol.   Police and rangers will be seizing and tipping out any alcohol found and our image as a cosmopolitan city will be tarnished.

When will councils learn that rubbish control is an ongoing thing that must meet the need of both time and place.   With the right planning, these sort of messes can be avoided.

How Do We Stop It ?

We thought we had the answer to the carnage on our nation's roads.  Each year the death toll broke new lower records and we believed that the modern motor car was a much safer travel option.  Then last year the number of deaths increased sharply and that number went further upward this year - and we still have a number of days remaining.

The Road Safety tacticians are asking themselves - why  ?   The modern car is a marvel of ingenuity.  The driver and passengers travel cocooned behind designed crumple zones intended to reduce the kinetic energy of a crash in an orderly manner, and the final impact shields them behind air bags that reduce damage on the human body.  All this built in safety even extends to pedestrians that the vehicle may hit - and who now are more likely to survive that impact.

If the problem is not the vehicle, then we certainly need to have a hard look at the drivers and here the picture is much clearer.  It seems that every person behind the wheel has memories of other people doing stupid and dangerous things on the road.  We have memories of people ignoring red traffic lights.   We remember being passed by cars travelling well above the legal speed.   We have observed hoons doing burnouts and engaging in street racing.  A small section of the driving population totally ignores the road rules.

The outcome of this increase in road deaths is predictable.  The police will be ordered to increase traffic surveillance and there will probably be an increase in fines levied and the number of demerit points for some offences.   Magistrates will be urged to bring down harsher penalties and high end penalties will see increased prison time.

What this tends to ignore is the statistics of Australia.   We are now home to more than twenty-four million people and todays cars have never been cheaper.   At the lower end of the new car spectrum it is possible to get a vehicle with a five year factory warranty for less than fourteen thousand dollars - on a drive away basis.  The asking price of second hand cars has dropped accordingly.

Basically, this ever increasing vehicle stream is competing for space on a road system little changed from half a century ago.  The odd new section of highway here - and a little widening in other places, but the density of traffic on our roads is steadily increasing.  Add to that the human foibles of drivers and you have the inevitability of road crashes.

The answer to this problem is clearly in sight.   The age of the driverless car is dawning, but during its introduction there will be a mix on our roads between human drivers and those with a computer behind the wheel.  It seems likely that cars with a human driver may face restrictions during the morning and afternoon commuter traffic peaks.

This is going to be a difficult interim periodic. We are already seeing a huge spate in those with a license suspension still behind the wheel and in an ever increasing number of cases, driving cars that lack both registration and insurance.  Where such vehicles are involved in a crash the financial impact on the victims can be disastrous.

In many circumstances, a car is an absolute necessity to earn a living and suspended drivers continue to drive whatever the circumstances.    We need to be careful that in our quest to achieve road safety we do not impose an unacceptable risk on innocent road users by a too harsh imposition of suspensions that will be ignored.

That could well be the reaction of our politicians being seen to do something by ordering a license crackdown to reduce the death toll.  We need to avoid "unintended consequences "  !

That Debt " Bomb " !

A lot of people seem to have forgotten what happened when the 2008 debt crisis hit the world.  It became a lot harder to borrow money and the price of homes dropped sharply simply because of a lack of buyers.  As a result, a lot of people found that they had a mortgage greater than the realistic offering price for the house they lived in.

Most were lucky.  They struggled to meet mortgage payments on decreased incomes and miraculously this recession levelled out and house prices began a new round of steady increases - until the median price in most Sydney suburbs rose above a million dollars.  Many are still gambling on a ever rising market.   They can only just manage the present mortgage payment as long as interest rates stay at an all time low.

It is a sobering thought to remember that what goes down also has the capacity to rise and for a while back in the 1980's home mortgages hit seventeen percent.  Literally, world governments bought their way out of the 08 crisis by forcing interest rates lower and bailing out the banks and major financial institutions hovering on the brink of collapse.   In some countries, interest on deposits is now at negative levels.

The writing is on the wall. Just before Christmas the American Fed took the first tentative step upward with the promise that there would be more increases in 2017.   Our retail sector reports that customer spending achieved an increase on last years Christmas splurge and there is every reason to believe that much of this remains to be paid for on credit card debt.   The debt industry is sounding warnings.   Those who fail to reduce the amount outstanding by simply paying the minimum amount required by the credit companies are heading for disaster.

Many people treat the minimum payment as what the card company expects them to pay, despite the fact that they are able to pay a higher amount.   That is exactly what the card company hopes they will do because they are in the business of charging interest on whatever is owing - and the more the better.   Each month the amount owing carries over to the next bill, and if the customer is still buying - increases the debt.   Only paying the minimum amount means the debt takes years to settle and the total amount of interest is staggering. As the months flow by you end up paying interest - on interest !

Gambling on interest rates is very much like playing a game of musical chairs.   It is fine as long as the music keeps playing, but if it stops suddenly it will leave many without a seat.  The ever increasing price of houses means you can afford to buy outside of your comfort zone because it will deliver a handsome profit anytime you decide to sell.  As happened in 08, the withdrawal of buyers was sudden and the lenders were quick to implement foreclosure.

The people in the most trouble when interest rates rise will be those with the double whammy of a mortgage perilously close to their ability to pay and a big debt owing on credit cards.   They would be wise to reduce that credit card debt while they have the ability to do so because the rise of interest rates to traditional levels is more a matter of "when ""  rather than  "if  "  !

The Right to Say "No " !

There seems to be no doubt that James Packer's plan to spend two billion dollars building a 275 metre tall casino, hotel and apartment tower on the Sydney waterfront at Barangaroo will be an asset to this city.  It will generate thousands of new jobs right in the city centre and the nature of the design will make it a landmark building.  It will become the lynchpin of the Barangaroo redevelopment.

Until this week there was uncertainty whether this would be allowed to proceed.  A group of people who claimed to be "neighbours " or who simply didn't like the idea banded together to form what was called the Millers Point Fund Incorporated and launched a challenge in the Land and Environment court.   This challenge was of a technical nature.       It contended that the decision be declared invalid because it was made in accordance with the state's casino licensing laws rather than the planning laws.

This challenge failed when Judge Robson rejected this line of argument and found that the licensing authority "Neither failed to exercise its powers, duties and functions , nor took into account irrelevant considerations when exercising its powers ".  The Millers Point Fund Incorporated is considering launching further appeals.

Australia's laws jealously guard the right of ordinary people to have their voices heard and engage in "David and Goliath "contests with the big end of town and usually this eventually is decided somewhere in the overlaying court systems.  If an argument is quashed in one court it is simply a matter of constructing a fresh legal argument on other grounds - and testing that in the jurisdiction of another court.

Often the real objective of launching these appeals is a game of attrition.  The objective is delay.  Every week a prime building site remains vacant and no building work is undertaken it costs the developer a mint of money.  The capital to secure the site is unproductive and work quotations always have a time clause to allow for rising costs.  Very few major buildings proceed from the planning stage to completion without running the gauntlet of at least some legal challenges.

Litigation in Australia is costly.  Both sides employ bright legal minds to ensure that their best argument is presented, but the real cost is apportioned when the decision is made.   The winning side asks for their costs to be paid by the loser - and that can run to millions of dollars.

Often, challenges are tactical battles.  Where the objection rests on political or religious grounds those launching the challenge protect their own wealth by studding the challenge committee with "men of straw ".  When the challenge fails, the imposition of "costs "goes unpaid.

Creating a great and vibrant city depends on the laws in place to speed doing business.  World money avoids regimes with a labyrinthine bureaucracy and insular court systems.   Singapore holds the pinnacle of the best and fastest city in which to establish a business and consequently it is a business success.   We need to streamline our business climate to avoid unnecessary delay and simplify the procedures to gain working approval for projects.

There is no doubt that many small businesses which have established at Barangaroo did so with the drawcard of the casino tower featuring heavily in expected crowd numbers.  Challenges introduce the uncertainty of doubt and that is anathema to business decisions.   The whole approval process needs speedy decisions within a reasonable time frame to meet world standards !

Trust - and " The News " !

A century ago most households got "the News "from one of two sources.   They either had a daily  newspaper delivered each morning, or they listened to their local radio station.  That was an era where most areas was served by two commercial radio stations and an ABC relay station, and every radio station in Australia crossed to the ABC for the twelve noon and the seven o'çlock news.

The ABC news was an "institution ".  That familiar news theme drew listners and that was a time when Australia was very "British " and tended to follow the way of life of the United Kingdom. Strangely, despite Britain being famous for Magna Carta and the principle of free speech, it was determined that the only form of radio heard in the British Isles would be the BBC.   They fought tooth and nail to ban any form of commercial opposition.

Australians were mesmerised by the radio battles that broke out in England after the end of the second world war.  "Pop "music was all the rage and the BBC played that sparingly.  Pirate radio began operating and played the type of music the young of Britain wanted to hear and this took the form of stations on yachts off the coast or on anti aircraft platforms in the north sea.  At one stage the Royal Navy was ordered to shut them down.

Eventually the British government threw in the towel and Britain now has a choice of commercial radio and the BBC.  Australia never had that problem because commercial radio got started well before the government thought of and installed the ABC.

In 1956 the television era commenced here and since then the radio spectrum has advanced with the creation of FM.   It was a whole new ball game.  The three main television channels competed ferociously for viewers and quickly set up their own news rooms.   Radio sought those elusive "ratings " and both media forms began interrupting programmes with "breaking news " to snare attention.  Some of this was of very dubious content.

Today, the news format has widened further.   We have Facebook and Twitter and a host of other media devices enabling the public to present their own version of the news.  Some of this is pure racial rants and other content is of a political nature.  The ABC comes under criticism for bias and it seems clear that a left wing culture exists and that this has influenced the selection of those who formulate its news broadcasts.

Interestingly, the Australian Institute recently held a poll to determine the level of trust Australians conferred on the ABC news service.   Seventy six percent of the 1443 people surveyed think the ABC should be protected from political interference.  Just over half said they trusted the ABC news more than any other news outlet - and this breakdown was on the basis of forty-six percent of coalition voters,  fifty-five percent of Labor voters and seventy percent for the Greens.

There seems little doubt that when content involves a selection panel the balance with a left wing view predominates, but is also seems that the public is inclined to make their own judgement on the issues involved.  It seems that the recent American presidential election race adopted a format where "fake news " was a feature deliberately introduced to sway voters minds.  Some people think that is finding its way into news broadcasts here.

The outcome seems to be that most people trust the ABC news broadcasts for content and want funding and control unchanged.  Perhaps the plethora of news outlets presently serving the subject gives sufficient variety of opinion for a wary public to make up their own minds as to what they believe !

Asbestos Continues to Kill

Buyers of brand new Australian houses can today be sure that they do not contain any form of Asbestos, but those buying homes built before the Asbestos ban in the 1980's can be absolutely sure that they are riddled with this form of building material.

Asbestos was once the "wonder product  "!   The typical suburban cottage had outer walls constructed of Asbestos/cement sheeting and this was usually the wall lining for the bathroom and laundry.   Wet areas rested on thick Asbestos/cement sheeting and in the cheaper end construction it was used in corrugated form for roofing.

The Asbestos content in this old Asbestos/cement sheeting is relatively safe if it is not disturbed but the lack of new building sites and the price of all forms of housing has forced home buyers to purchase existing homes and undertake renovations.   This is where the danger is greatest because in many cases this renovation work is carried out by the new home owner.

Where a licensed builder is involved, rigid laws come into force. Asbestos needs to be removed by a licensed Asbestos removal contractor who not only protects the workers but makes sure the sheeting is wet down, encased in plastic sheeting and disposed of at a licensed disposal point - and that costs a mint of money.   Preparing an old home for demolition can cost many thousands of  dollars just for the pre demolition Asbestos removal.

The danger for the unwary may come from such a minor renovation as installing a new door bell;.   That may involve running a wire from the activator at the entrance to wherever the chime is located, but if the installer needs to drill a small hole in an Asbestos sheet this may liberate tiny fibres that can lodge in his or her lungs.  That outcome could be - Mesothelioma, an Asbestos caused disease that results in a very unpleasant death.

The government Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency estimates that there will be 19,400 new Mesothelioma deaths in Australia before the end of this century.  There is an expectation that 58% of these will stem from industrial contact with the product, but the remaining 42% will be attributable to home renovators becoming contaminated.

What is distressing is the sheer magnitude of this problem.   The vast stock of Australian homes is more than thirty years old and it is simply riddled with Asbestos, and often this is present in other than building product form.   Insulation against the cold only became an issue about the middle of the twentieth century and Asbestos in the form of free flowing fibres was a cheap and popular solution.  It was a form of reclaimed industrial waste, pulverised to break down into fibre form and pumped from tankers into the roof and walls of existing homes.    The natural flexing of house frames in periods of high wind is allowing these loose fibres to escape into the internal airways.    It is impossible to be safely removed and the usual outcome is a demolition.

One of the problems is lack of recognition of the danger by most home owners.  In any older house any form of flat sheet product will most likely contain Asbestos and should be treated accordingly.  At the very least, a renovator would be well advised to wear a simple breathing mask to prevent loose fibres from entering the lungs.   No matter how small a renovation job, an evaluation of the risk of encountering Asbestos should be part of the task.

Unfortunately, just living in an older suburb delivers a risk when a house in the street changes hands - and renovation begins.   Loose Asbestos fibres can float freely in the air and invade surrounding homes.   It is worth remembering that there is no minimum contact when it comes to an Asbestos related death !

Dangerous Gifts !

Here we are, just days away from Christmas and many people will have finished buying the gifts they will give to friends and family.  Hidden away in a cupboard until the great day will be carefully wrapped presents that the buyer agonised over during the selection process to find something "new and exciting  "!

One of the innovations on sale this season is an alcohol burner that will bring grace to any dining table.  It can be used in purely decorative form, or serve to keep food hot.  Unfortunately it can also deliver life threatening burns and property damage if it is mishandled or accidentally overturned.

The design of this burner has the intention of displaying a dancing flame to delight the eye but when the fuel is nearly extinguished that flame becomes difficult to see.   It is highly dangerous to attempt to refuel on the assumption that the flame is extinguished.   This has resulted in a spate of accidents, leading to the governments of New South Wales, Victoria,, Queensland and Western Australia to slap a sixty day ban on the sale of this product.

Shops and Internet sources must remove them from sale and customers are urged to return them for a refund.   There have been 115 reported injuries Australia wide, but it is likely that many more went unreported.  It is also likely that this warning will be disregarded either because the danger message did not get through, or because the users think they can cancel the risk by using care.  Retailers who ignore this ban face a $ 220,000 fine for individuals and a $ 1.1 million for corporations.

Unfortunately, this alcohol burner is just one of many unsuitable products that have found their way into shops in this country.   Many will remember when a ship load of electrical cable was imported and sold through a hardware chain, only to discover that the insulation used was inferior and would breakdown in less than five years service.   It became almost impossible to track down where this cable was used and it is highly likely that it will account for many house fires in the years ahead.

Every year product safety inspectors pay close attention to the goods on offer in shops and particularly in the low cost markets that specialise in imported toys.    This low cost end of the market seems to attract toys with hazards like detatchable batteries and parts that will easily break away.  Dangerous goods are seized and destroyed.

It is not practical to insist that all items manufactured here and all items imported into the country first undergo a safety check.   The sheer volume would swamp whatever checking facility we could devise, resulting in both a time delay and a sharp increase in the ultimate cost.  It would require a bureaucracy of monumental proportions and this has not been implemented in any other world country.

We rely on good business practice to keep us safe.   No sane manufacturer intentionally produces a dangerous product.  The vast majority of goods offered for sale meet accepted criteria and in some cases danger arises only when they are used for an unintended purpose.   Our safety system relies on bringing these to notice when they occur.

It seems that Christmas is the danger period.  Manufacturers strive to bring new products to market at this critical time when buyers are seeking something "different " and a new novelty can sweep the market.   Last year it was the "Hoverboard ".  That produced a spate of house fires and broken bones. This year it seems that an ornamental table flame is the attraction that delivers harm !

Restricting Pain Relief !

It would be a rare Australian household that did not have some Panadeine or Neurofen Plus in the medicine cabinet.  Both are widely advertised for pain relief and top the list of "over the counter " remedies we find on the shelf in chemist shops.   They contain Codeine and it looks certain that they are about to become only available on production of a script from a doctor.

Codeine is getting a bad world press because it can be addictive. Restricting supply to a prescription requirement is already in place in the United States, Japan and parts of Europe.  Australia has already implementing a half measure.  There is a limit of how much may be purchased at one time and there is concern that some users may start to stockpile supplies knowing that this prescription only move is in the offing.

This drug is perfectly safe if used in moderation.   Hundreds of thousands of Australians pop a pill to deal with an occasional headache and this ban will reduce them to a less effective medication. There is also a danger that if there is demand for Codeine that is difficult to meet then this product will be added to the illicit drug supply regimen.    The law of supply and demand ensures that where demand exists - supply will surely follow.

No doubt the economy Mandarins will view this restriction with alarm.  There is every chance that it will result in a surge of patients seeing their doctor for a prescription and blowing out the health budget.  Not all patients have access to bulk billing and in many cases they pay eighty to ninety dollars for a GP visit.

The official reason for restricting Codeine to supply by prescription only is the risk factor involved in overuse.  When misused in conjunction with products containing paracetamol and ibuprofen they can deliver severe liver, kidney and stomach damage.  It is this addictive nature that worries health authorities.

They are also prone to a gender imbalance. A lot of women use this form of relief for painful periods and self medicate rather than seek professional help.   In some cases this can involve undiagnosed  endometriosis and should seeking a script bring this to the attention of a doctor it can lead to a permanent solution to the problem.  There is hope that requiring a prescription may break the self medication cycle for many people.

There is also a danger that this ban will result in a rash of "doctor shopping ".  Some doctors and specially bulk billing medical clinics are known for granting the patients wishes without an indepth medical examination.  Those determined to achieve supply often have a regular pattern of visits for the sole purpose of obtaining scripts - which are processed at widely dispersed pharmacies.

Restricting Codeine to prescription dispensing will certainly help in reducing addiction, but it will deny a useful product to those with intermittent migraine, tension headaches and musculoskeletal pain and force them to use a less effective medication.

Such is the way of modern medicine and addiction problems !

Forensics !

There must be some very nervous people out in the community as the police "Cold Case  "  teams wrap up old crimes.  What is unnerving to many is that dreaded box of evidence still sitting in police evidence rooms decades after the crime was committed, simply awaiting the time when advanced forensics will reveal a new understanding of what occurred.

Another ten year old mystery is back under the police microscope. Back on December 18, 2006 a seemingly happy twenty-five year old woman attended a race meeting at Hawksbury before visiting her parents and driving across the city through the Cross street tunnel.  Later, her handbag and some of her clothes were found at the Gap, a notorious suicide spot - and days later her body was found floating in Sydney harbour.

The coroner found that this womans body was inconsistent with the theory that she fell forty metres off a cliff into the sea, and tidal experts thought it highly unlikely that a body would be washed from the Gap into Sydney harbour.   Clues from her association with others  fed police suspicions and now a hundred thousand dollar reward is offered for information that might track this case.

That is a vital police strategy.  Time tends to dissipate the fear that a murderer can inflict on others and those with knowledge may now be inclined to talk - and that amount of money can be a huge incentive to come forward as indemnity from prosecutions is usually part of the deal.  Sometimes a guilt of conscience induces a witness to forego the money and help the investigation with an anonymous phone call tip.  The police have long suspected that this murder took place elsewhere and that evidence was planted at the Gap to suggest death was by suicide.

More threatening to those sheltered by the passage of time is the relentless march of science in the forensics field.   The discovery of DNA opened a new area of research and this has been ever widening.  We are fast approaching the stage where the mere presence of a person breathing the air of a room will leave detectable traces of DNA on the wall surfaces.  When the police forensic investigators descend on todays crime scene the investigation goes to lengths that would formerly seem to be science fiction - and every year the scope widens further.

Crime has always held a high degree of public fascination.   The media are well aware that intense reporting of murder trials keeps readers buying newspapers and todays electronic media are big on investigative journalism.   Shows like CSI have a big following and it is from these that the public learns a lot about the technology being used.   Unfortunately, it also imparts information on new killing techniques.

Recently a nurse employed in a nursing home killed two elderly patients by injecting them with Insulin.   Insulin is a common medication required by the elderly for the control of Diabetes and a measured dose is given to regulate blood sugars.   One of the advantages for those planning misuse is that it quickly clears from the body and is near impossible to detect after a reasonable period of time.   It seems that this nurse maliciousl6y murdered two of her patients because they had complained about her shoddy services.

Since then there has been a spate of insulin murders using this same technique.  Because of the prevalence of Diabetes thousands of people take regular Insulin injections and many self medicate. Insulin is only available with a legal script, but there is no doubt that it is freely available where drugs are sold illegally.

Unfortunately crime is an ever present reality and the battle between perpetrators and detection will never end.   Perhaps we would be wise to restrict the reporting of actual crime techniques in the public forums as a public safety measure.   As things stand, shows like CSI are actually giving the criminals a head start !

Taming the Australian Desert !

People living in cities on the Australian coastal fringe generally consider the vast centre of this continent to be a worthless desert.  It certainly does have a low annual rainfall but when the occasional flood rains arrive it instantly comes to life.  This regular life cycle around Lake Eyre is a phenomenon that attracts tourists.

The commercial interest in inland Australia is concentrated on mining.  We are a country that exports minerals to the world and unfortunately that tends to operate on a boom or bust cycle.  As a result, mining no longer generates country towns.  We tend to operate mines on the "fly in - fly out " principal to avoid the cost of permanent housing.  Miners work removed from their families and mechanization is constantly reducing the numbers required.

Food security is now an issue that concerns most governments.  There is an expectation that the world population will reach ten billion by mid century and a doubt exists about whether we can feed those numbers.   Other populous countries are eying Australia with envy.  We have put restrictions in place to limit the sale of agricultural land to foreigners.

Northern Australia contributes to the economy as a source of cattle ranching and its vastness allows the herds to travel long distances in their search for food.  For the first time the CSIRO have started to carry out soil evaluation to determine its suitability for agriculture.   We are seriously considering our huge "outback " for its farm potential.

The initial reports are encouraging.  The science people have determined that soil in many areas carries the nutriments to  produce over a hundred varieties of high yield crops.  Unfortunately, water availability would only allow a fraction of this land to serve that purpose.

A century ago we embarked on a scheme to turn a wild river inland and to create intensive farming on what was then regarded as grazing country.  That became known as the Snowy River project and it delivered the Murrumbidgee Irrigation area, where a vast amount of Australia's food is grown.   That wild river also generates electricity by flowing through hydro electric pumping stations and contributes to the national economy.

If that Snowy River scheme was being constructed today we would do some things differently.   The water delivered to the MIA ran in open canals and much was lost by soaking into the soil and by evaporation.  Farming practice at that time also used flood irrigation.   Today that water would  travel in enclosed pipelines and it would be delivered to crops by drip irrigation.  The same volume of water would irrigate a vastly bigger farming area.

We have arable farming land in central and northern Australia.  Now we need to plan to deliver the water it will need.  The annual monsoon delivers the water but little of it flows inland.  Many of the coastal rivers simply return it to the ocean.   Logic demands that we trap and hold that monsoon rain and pipe it inland to where the land can be productive.   If necessary, our tropical sunshine can cheaply produce electric power to run desalination plants to supplement the monsoon where necessary.

The Snowy River scheme cost billions and took over fifty years for completion.  Developing the inland will not be any cheaper.  This could be a progressive project, under development to keep pace with the world demand for food to feed the growing population.

Australia has the potential to be the world's bread basket !

A Dangerous Year Ahead !

During the long years of the Cold War Australia was safely cocooned away "Down Under ", far from the flash points where America and the Soviet Union butted heads.  The fact that both sides realised the folly of a nuclear exchange ensured that didn't happen - although once or twice nervous fingers hovered above the button.

Today's danger zone is fast emerging as the South China sea.  It has always been regarded as International waters used by world shipping and it is recognised as a "choke point " where a hostile power could disrupt world trade.  A significant amount of the exchange of world
 goods passes through this waterway.

China makes claim to the entire South China sea on the basis of an ancient map which it claims gives it sovereignty.  This is not recognised by other countries surrounding this stretch of water and at issue is the ownership of various rocks and shoals, most of which are completely submerged at high tide. Ownership confers the right to mining of the seabed for minerals and there is a high chance that this may yield oil or gas finds.

The Chinese have undertaken a plan of occupation by stealth.  They have ignored a finding by an International court that rejected their claim and have excavated the seabed to extend a permanent land mass around these rocks and shoals and to create habitable islands.   These extensions are now capable of supporting both airstrips and harbours.

China has claimed the sky above the South China sea as its air zone and demands International flights check in with China air control.   This is studiously ignored by most countries but Chinese jet fighters regularly approach passing air traffic to support their claim.

In recent weeks this Chinese claim of sovereignty has notched higher.  Despite a promise to keep these newly acquired islets free of military arms the Chinese have announced that they have installed both defensive and offensive weaponry.  China is fast approaching the stage where it will have the military muscle in place  to control passage through the South China sea.

The American navy sends its warships through the South China sea on a regular basis to underscore its role as an International waterway and this is leading to "incidents " which are becoming more dangerous.   An American undersea drone used to map the seabed was seized by a Chinese naval ship and is currently in dispute between the two nations.

It is quite possible that this was a deliberate provocation by the Chinese to test the American reaction during the change in the American presidency.  At outgoing president would be unlikely to undertake newly decisive action just days away from his successor taking office.

That is exactly where a miscalculation may cause the situation to spin out of control.  To the entire world, the president elect is an enigma.  He is putting together his administration and his choice of those who will occupy positions of power fall outside the regular choices of the establishment. How the incoming administration would react in a crisis - is completely unknown.

Also completely unknown is the intentions of the Chinese leadership when it comes to the South China sea.   Is China seeking world territorial denomination in addition to dominance in world trade ? Xi Jin Ping seems to be whipping up a tide of "nationalism " which could be used to counter unrest if the curse of unemployment beset his nation.  China is unsteadily balanced between affluent cities and a rural countryside little changed from a long past  century.The Communist government are control freaks and they run a police state to keep their citizens in order.

The danger area will be after January 20, when the powers of the American military are under President Trumps direct control.  That is where a miscalculation by either side can quickly slip past the point of no return.   A clash of egos may result in a real shooting war !

Debtors Prison !

The Australian states and Territories live by the laws passed by their parliaments but the death of a young Aboriginal woman in a police cell in Western Australia looks like we still use the prison system as a debt collection agency.

Decades ago it was the custom in New South Wales for young men to work off fines for driving offences and other anti social behaviour by submitting to prison for the amount of time necessary to reduce the debt.  A formal scale actually existed that allowed the debtor to accurately determine the hours necessary to eliminate the balance owing.  It became a rite of passage in some sections of society.

One sassy young offender made the mistake of being insolent to a hardened criminal and was bashed in a prison yard.  His violent death shone the spotlight on this practice and it was promptly banned. Of course that ban only applied to New South Wales

The twenty-two year old Indigenous woman who died in a South Hedland police cell was arrested at her home because she owed $ 3622 in unpaid fines arising from charges that included assaulting police.  She complained that she was suffering pain from fractured ribs caused by her abusive partner and over three days in custody she was taken to hospital three times, examined and declared "fit to be held in custody ".

Video of her treatment in a police cell is alarming.  She was literally dragged through the police station and thrown into the back of a police van for transport to hospital, and when there the police suggested she was  exaggerating and had behaviour issues.   The medical examination was cursory and staphyloccal septicaemia and pneumonia from her broken ribs caused her death.  Had her injury been treated with antibiotics this death could have been prevented.

The coroners report is scathing.   Her treatment by both police and hospital staff was below an acceptable standard.  It also raises the question that an arrested person spent three days in a police cell simply because they had not been able to repay a fine.   While in custody no attempt was made to treat the imprisoned person with care or respect her dignity.  Her  Aboriginality may have been a contributing factor to the low level of treatment.

The West Australian police Commissioner was quick to respond by declaring that when arrests are made for unpaid fines those held would not be contained in police lockups.  They would not spend more than eight hours in a police lockup and no warrants would be executed unless a positive plan was made to transfer that detainee to a prison.   This was specially applicable to remote areas.

Significantly , the coroners report failed to recommend any charges over this death in custody.  Three investigations had not delivered a finding of any police criminality and all concerned had avoided prosecution.

It seems that the concept of "debtor's prison "is still alive and well in Australia, and yet this was one of the reasons that people were convicted and sentenced to seven years transportation to Botany Bay back in 1788.   In modern day Australia those with the ability to engage a good lawyer can evade this form of punishment for debt.  It seems to only apply to our lower spectrum of those least able to defend themselves.

Nailing the Villians !

This week saw a prominent politician face a judge and receive a prison sentence for misusing the power of the office he held to enrich his family interests.  He has spent his first night under lock and key and he will serve three of the five years before becoming eligible for parole.  In addition, it is most likely that he will be stripped of the generous pension bestowed on his retirement and the state will seek reimbursement for legal aid provided to fund his defence.

There are more cases in the legal pipeline waiting to be heard and some of them resulted in profits that ran to tens of millions of dollars.  For some time this politician virtually ran this state when he headed a faction with the power to force the abdication of any premier who refused to do his bidding. By comparison, the offence for which he is serving prison time seems minor.   His family interests held the lease for restaurant properties at Circular Quay and he lobbied to have these leases renewed without calling for competitive tenders - but carefully concealed the fact of his family involvement.

No doubt being deprived of his liberty and the disgrace of a prison sentence will inflict some sort of punishment for the crimes committed, but the rewards gained from the power he held are massive.  He is a very rich man and on release he will return to a multi million dollar mansion and a very rich lifestyle.   This does raise the question of the impossibility of ever making the punishment handed down match the crime.

Another case of "misinterpretation " of the rules has resulted in thousands of citizens being fleeced by having to pay for a free service.  When we seek a loan the money people usually check our credit profile with one of the rating agencies and a "black mark " can lead to refusal.  Years ago many found to their dismay that their credit rating held errors and they were unable to have them removed.  A law was passed making every citizen entitled to obtaining a free copy of their credit report once every twelve month period.   They were then entitled to challenge any incorrect entry.

One of these credit assessment agencies carefully constructed both their literature and their phone answering dialogue to steer enquirers towards the "commercial " version of the report.   The enquirer was led to believe that they needed the "expedited " version rather than what would otherwise take ten working days for delivery.  This involved a charge of  $ 79.95.

The Australian Privacy Commissioner has found that this agency breached the privacy rules by selling a commercial product to consumers who simply wanted the free copy of their credit report to which they were legally entitled.   The Commissioner suggests that consumers make contact with the agency to arrange a refund.

That seems a very unsatisfactory outcome.   Many people do not read newspapers or closely follow the other news formats and most will be unaware that they are entitled to get their money back - if they take the trouble to lodge an application.    The credit agency has been warned to improve the nature of their procedures so that the availability of free reports is made clear and not closely identified with the commercial product.

If enquirers were deliberately steered towards paying money for what they were entitled to without a charge then a law breach occurred.  Surely, forcing the the expense of identifying those incorrectly charged and issuing a refund would be a more suitable penalty - which may deter others from similar actions.

Otherwise, the penalty bears little relation to the crime !

A " Cashless " Society ?

One of the options that will be considered at this years mid-year budget update is removing the hundred dollar note from legal circulation.  Despite low inflation, demand for this measure of money has been increasing at a much faster rate than for fifty dollar notes or even the twenty dollar bill. Economists predict that it is fuelling the "black  "economy and seriously taking a part in tax evasion.

It can certainly be argued that hundred dollar notes play a big part in the drug trade.  When drug busts occur in the full glare of television cameras it is usual to see the proceeds stuffed into suitcases - and they consist of hundred and fifty dollar bills for sheer convenience of size.  A huge industry exists laundering this drug money and returning it to circulation in a sanitized form.

If Australia takes this step and reduces the value of banknotes in circulation it will be following moves in many overseas countries.  In France, cash payments in excess of a thousand Euros are illegal and in Sweden shops that deal in cash must register all sales through a certified cash register.
Perhaps the boldest move to curtail the cash economy was taken by India.  The Indian government gave a bare three months notice that its biggest banknotes - the equivalent of our twenty and ten dollar bills - would cease to be legal tender.  The public was ordered to exchange these notes for smaller denominations in the hope that it would stifle the cash economy and drive traders to embrace electronic money transfers.

It is evident that world government is seriously looking at the way we do business with the intent of driving even moderate transactions into an accountable form.  A century or so ago the only form of money was actual gold or silver coins and the value was in the amount of precious metal they contained.    The first printed banknotes were actually a written promise to redeem their face value in gold if presented at their issueing bank.   This was a more convenient way of carrying money than heavy bags of coin.

Originally, a pound note was considered a considerable amount of money because the average worker was paid a wage of a few pence a week.  Many older Australians will remember when a ten shilling note was close to a weeks wages.  Decades of inflation saw the money supply increase until that ten shilling note became the basis of our conversion to decimal currency.

Some Australian Reserve bank officials suggest doing away with both the hundred and the fifty dollar notes.   Our biggest banknote would then be the twenty dollar bill and they think the sheer inconvenience of shuffling wads of such money would drive us to embrace card or mobile phone methods of settling bills.   The big advantage for Treasury is that all electronic money transfers leave a trail that makes  avoiding tax impossible.

That Indian experiment seems to be ending badly.  Treasury found that it lacked the ability to print new money quickly to enable smooth replacement and in many places trading ground to a halt, damaging the economy.   It quickly became evident that criminal elements had the reach and ability to exchange their old money for new and that they took precedence over legitimate shops and traders.

If withdrawal of big banknotes does get serious consideration it would need to be very carefully orchestrated.   For some time untraceable currency like Bit-Coin have been waiting in the wings and they have developed a blockchain methods of security.   The criminal fraternity consists of clever people.   In closing one door of opportunity it would be very easy to open another door - to something worse !

Taming the "Charity Dollar " !

It would be a rare person who does not get unsolicited charity appeal letters in the post or an approach from a charity collector in the street.   There are more than fifty-one thousand registered charities in Australia and they compete strenuously for the charity dollar.

How often does someone reveal a glaring need in a news broadcast that prompts a response from the public - and becomes a new charity ?   Unfortunately, some of these charities are not what they seem and to get tax accreditation they must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profit Commission, and provide regular balance sheets.

Figures show that fifteen thousand such organizations have been deregistered by the ACNC since 2012 for failing to report their earnings and expenses.   Another four hundred and fifty charities have had their license revoked because they have dropped off the reporting map and have not been heard of for more than two years.

Now there are moves to create a logo which should ensure public confidence that whatever charity is permitted to display it is properly registered with the ACNC and meets all relevant charity guidelines. The public is advised to do their own research because while charities may meet all required reporting standards, the actual cents in the dollar that reaches the supposed recipient can be very sub standard.

Some charities are notorious for maintaining a very well paid elite of "managers " who run the organization and have a need for expensive cars.   It was recently discovered that some organizations relied on street collectors who worked on a commission basis.  While they received a major share of each dollar collected, their pay was seriously below the minimum wage.

Those appeal letters arriving through the mail also provoke thought.  Today's strategic thinking seeks to put the recipient under an obligation.   Often the request contains gifts, and some of these inflate the cost of each letter accordingly.  Pens and greeting cards are often inclusions,but the tendency has been to more exotic content.   With postage stamps now costing one dollar this form of charitable collecting has become expensive.

The use of a logo to signal that a product meets standards is not new.    The health people applied it to food and that certainly resulted in controversy.  As a reporting standard, awarding a "tick " to denote approval across such a wide spectrum must include many questionable inclusions.

Perhaps the application of a different standard would deliver a clearer picture.  When a charity submits its balance sheet to the ACNC each year it should disclose the two most important items of interest to its donors.   The amount of charity dollars collected -  and the actual funds disbursed to the purpose of that charity.

That allows the donor to decide whether that charity is run efficiently and whether it serves the purpose for which it is designed.   The ultimate is what percentage of each charity dollar actually reached the charity target.

That should be the required disclosure on all and any literature produced by the charity.    It would tend to weed out the inefficient and reward the well run charities who keep their expenses low.  The public could therefore place their support where they are certain that the major portion of each dollar  donated finds its way to the coal face - and is now swallowed up in "expenses " !

The ACNC has the ability to deliver a gold standard to charity accountability !

" Power of Attorney " Risks !

We Australians are living longer - and becoming richer.   The family home which once brought a humble price has escalated in value to the extent that in a favourable suburb it is now worth millions. Many people have assets that were once only a dream.

Unfortunately,  living to extreme old age brings with it the problem of senility.   We reach the stage where comprehension fails and we have trouble managing our affairs.   Often this is the forerunner of the onset of Alzheimer's disease.  Many people choose to sign what is known as a "Power of Attorney " to allow someone else to act on their behalf.

That is a decision which needs to be made with great caution.  It confers the right for the chosen person to spend money or deal with assets entirely at their own discretion.  If a persons money is squandered recklessly there is no recourse through the courts to seek recovery.

There have been cases where that Power of Attorney has been  granted to a close friend or family member, and it is later found that the entire fortune was poured through the poker machines.  Even a trusted person may have a hidden gambling inclination.   There is also fear that with increasing senility, squabbling family members are taking advantage of older people and using Power of Attorney to distribute assets to their own advantage.

This is raising the question of access to delivering that power to another person.  The pro-forma of both wills and Power of Attorney are readily available at any newsagent and only need the details to be filled in.  For either to be legal, they must be signed in the presence of two witnesses who together observe that signing.  A beneficiary to a will may not be a witness.

The government is considering tightening the conditions that apply to the granting of a Power of Attorney.   One aspect would be a requirement that such an instrument would need to be drawn up by a registered member of the legal profession.   That would ensure that the person granting the Power of Attorney would be carefully briefed on the risk factor and the member of the legal profession would ensure that the person granting that power was mentally competent to make that decision.It does introduce a new cost factor to the process.

There is a danger that without such control the elderly may be browbeaten by family members into granting power of attorney or be manipulated into signing at a time when their mental health has deteriorated beyond the ability to make a legal decision.

Despite the risk factor, a power of attorney is a valid means of safeguarding personal or family assets in the event of a disaster.   It is common for couples to have mutual power of attorney documents lodged with their solicitor for implementation should either become incapacitated.

Should one partner experience a severe accident or contract a debilitating disease their personal affairs go into limbo once they are unable to legally give direction.   That power of attorney enables the surviving partner to legally make decisions as if that person was not debilitated.

Powers of Attorney are important instruments of estate management.    It is just a matter of very carefully selecting the recipient !

A Level Playing Field !

The Federal Court just handed the entire Australian food manufacturing industry a reason to fear for their future when it handed down a verdict that Woolworths did not behave "unconscionably " by demanding as much as sixty million dollars from suppliers - to plug a profit shortfall.

Woolworths had tried to match Coles, its main competitor by establishing a chain of specialist hardware stores to compete with Bunnings.  For reasons that are unclear this failed dismally, to the point that the entire Woolworths empire suffered a trading loss.

It seems that Woolworths demanded varying amounts of cash from those supplying its supermarket chain with groceries on the basis that failure to comply would reflect to their disadvantage in future dealings.  They simply had no choice.  The Coles/Woolworths duopoly controls about eighty percent of the grocery market,  Their buying power is supreme.

The relationship between manufacturers and the stores buying group have become more strained in recent years.   The old days of popular products gaining automatic place on grocery shelves are over. Price offered is everything and that dictates whether it will be displayed at eye level and whether the product will be listed on that weeks "specials " to attract sales volume.   Every product has a sales volume quota it must achieve - and failure will see it disappear from the shelves.

Even popular national brands are not immune to this pressure.  The duopoly have their own in house labels and will try to duplicate their suppliers product.  Often the packaging is similar and the house brand will sometimes come into direct sales competition with the national brand by way of prominent shelf space supported by a massive advertising blitz and a price reduction.  That can be the outcome should the manufacturer refuse the buyers demands.

The food industry reports that it has become difficult to negotiate long term supply contracts. The buyers today are more interested in doing special "deals " which involved a one off quantity purchase at a very low price.   Unfortunately, this runs against the needs of manufacturing plants to plan a predictable production run to gain both economy of scale and the orderly flow of ingredients.  Sometimes orders are deliberately withheld for a time - to sharpen the price negotiation.

This Federal Court ruling came as a shock to the industry.  That demand for cash seemed so outrageous that there was the expectation that it would be struck down.  This finding seems to open the door to that same method finding form across the industry spectrum, to the extent that whenever a supply price is negotiated that may not be the end of the matter.    The buyer may come back for a second bite at the cherry.

It will be interesting to see how this ruling fits in with the recently negotiated Food and Grocery Code of Conduct which sets minimum standards for how retailers and wholesalers deal with each other. The food industry is dominated by world brands and it is evident that the expansion of food processing will be necessary to feed a world population that is expected to reach ten billion by mid century.

Whether Australia gets its fair share of food manufacturing plants will depend on whether we achieve a level playing field for food distribution.

Corporate Living Rules !

The ever increasing cost of housing is forcing more people to abandon the idea of living in a free standing house with its own backyard - and embracing the cheaper option of an apartment in a multi story building.  The state government has recently implemented changes to the strata laws that govern how body corporates rule the lives of those living under their control.

One of those changes was a reduction in the number of approvals by owners necessary to have an old apartment building demolished and replaced.  It used to be one hundred percent, but now seventy-five percent applies and so owners have a need to be represented whenever their board of management holds a meeting.

Sadly, a lot of people have an aversion to attending that dreaded "Annual General Meeting " that applies to all body corporates.  Many AGM's actually battle to achieve a legal quorum and consequently the decision making is in the hands of very few people.  In some cases this devolves into a form of management tyranny.

It is the body corporate that decides the rules that apply.   In the past, some buildings had a fanatical opposition to any form of pets - and that refusal even applied to a small caged bird or goldfish.  Parking of cars on common property was always highly contentious, as was both the placement and management of rubbish bins on commercial premises.   Smoking bans are one of the newer areas of contention.

The governments revision of strata laws sought to make them fairer.   Where one owner has a number of units in a building the placement of a commission agent on the board to represent that owners is now illegal.  Unfortunately, some management cliques are implementing plans to subvert those laws so that they can dominate the decision making for the building.

One of these strategies is what is known as "proxy harvesting ".   Using the confidential records of the body corporate to access email addresses to enable an approach to be made to solicit the awarding of a proxy vote for one of the selected members of that management group.   Owners not in the habit of personally attending body corporate meetings are particularly vulnerable to this ploy.

Where management rests in the hands of a wealthy group of owners, decisions on spending may seriously disadvantage those with lesser means.  Building maintenance and the issue of managing the lawns and gardens are often a divisive issue.

The government is promising to crack down on efforts to subvert or ignore the intention of the new rules in place to deliver wider representation.   Perhaps the biggest need is to convince those who lack the confidence to attend formal meetings or who put their trust in the decision making honesty of others that it is in their interests to attend AGM's.

That is something that can not be achieved by legislation !

When Love Goes Wrong !

"  Revenge Porn  " is a weapon of the electronic age.   The technology of mobile phones, computers, printers delivered a degree of privacy that was impossible in the days of film cameras. Pictures no longer needed to pass through the hands of a third party for processing and printing.  We entered a more permissive age where nudity and sex became a more open part of relationships.

The problem is that when relationships break down they often end on a sour note. Sometimes this parting is little short of open warfare and that is where intimate moments recorded for posterity can be used to wreak revenge.  What was designed for the eyes of a lover can flash across the Internet with the intention of causing extreme embarrassment.

Victims sometimes have success in having the offending pictures taken down by the social media through which they are showing, but by then it is too late.  The damage has been done.  There has been pressure to resolve this problem by the passage of legislation, but both the states and the Commonwealth are proceeding with caution.   It would be very easy to create a law that had unexpected consequences.

The New South Wales attorney general suggests that this would be better treated as an invasion of privacy issue rather than a matter of criminal law.   Treating is as " Tort  " would allow the victim to sue for damages in a civil court.  It may be that the expectation of a severe financial penalty may be more effective than the unlikely imposition of a prison term for an offence of that nature.

The Commonwealth and States have been asked to submit their views and that enquiry closed on October 30.  It was hoped that it could reach common ground and that uniform legislation would apply across Australia.   One of the issues raised by both the NSW Law Society and Legal Aid - was how age restrictions would apply.

That is indeed a tricky conundrum.   What would be quite reasonable when applied to adults would encounter difficulties in law where juveniles are the culprits.  Those under the age of eighteen are subjected to the administration of the juvenile court and that would differentiate if the offender or the victim was between the ages of sixteen and eighteen.

To further complicate the issue,  a curious protocol known as "Sexting " is common between kids ranging in age from primary to high school.   Couples having a "relationship " are under pressure to exchange nude photographs of each other and it is often such immaturity that results in these images appearing on the Internet when that relationships ends in acrimony.

It also raises the issue of the age of consent.   Content depicting actual sex by those under the age of consent would certainly result in prosecution of the offender.   There is a tendency for some applicants to this enquiry to suggest that any legislation be strictly reserved to apply only to adult offenders.

The law framers will also wrestle with defining what constitutes an "offensive image ".   It could become unlawful to post any sort of picture of a person without their consent to uphold the privacy laws.   Or the legislators may simply consign this entire subject to gather dust in the "too hard " basket  !

Mercy - At Last !

Most people hope they will have a merciful death.  The ultimate would be a peaceful death from natural causes in their dotage.   Unfortunately reality is somewhat different.  A lot of people suffer an agonising and lingering death from one of the many diseases that life's lottery chooses to bestow.

The laws that relate to the act of dyeing are heavily influenced by church doctrines.  Some still regard suicide as a mortal sin but in todays world suicide is perfectly legal in most countries, provided the person wishing to die acts alone.   Should someone help, that person could face a court and serve a prison sentence as a penalty.

This creates a fine line between mercy - and legal responsibility.  The doctors and nurses who administer to the dyeing tread a treacherous path.  Delivering relief that may lessen agonising pain may tip the balance between life and death.   They have to decide between their conscience - and the law.

That led to impossible situations in many hospitals - and resulted in the creation of hospices. These were dedicated places where the dyeing could expect the utmost efforts to be made to ease their suffering, even if so doing decreased their life span.  They were places where legality chose to shut its eyes and ears.

Unfortunately hospices are few and far between.  Many people are unable to achieve that relief and we are aware that both medical people and relatives bend the law to ease terminal suffering.  From time to time this help results in a lurid court case and a prosecution.

Opinion polls show that the majority of the Australian population approve of the right to die with dignity, but there is a hard core of very vocal opposition and this spooks the politicians.   The Northern Territory passed a law to allow the terminally ill to end their lives - only to have that disallowed by the Federal parliament.  It is only the states that have the right to legislate on that subject without Federal oversight.

Just that is now happening.   The premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews has broken ranks with the other states and will introduce a law to legalize euthanasia.  It will have very limited application and be only available to those in the terminal stage of their illness, and will require the consent of two independent doctors.

This law will be drafted by an independent panel over the next six months and will then need to pass both houses of the Victorian parliament.   The earliest it could come into operation would be 2018 because an eighteen month delay is proposed.   The bill will be subjected to a conscience vote in the Victorian parliament.

Daniel Andrews is being courageous.   Some sections of religion will fight this bill vigorously and it remains to be seen if it will receive bipartisan support.  Mr Andrews commented that the death of his father heavily influenced his decision to introduce this legislation.  Many who have witnessed a loved one die in the grip of unceasing pain will have empathy.

The impasse in Australia is finally being broken.   It seems inevitable that pressure will build for the other states to follow !

End of the " Checkout Chick " !

The future is right before our eyes whenever we shop at a Coles or Woolworths supermarket.   We have the choice of passing our grocery purchases through the hands of a checkout assistant who uses a scanner to identify and price each item. This same assistant packs our purchase into carry bags and supervises our payment choice, giving change if we pay with cash or helping us navigate a card payment through the machine.

We also have the option in those same stores of processing the items purchased through a machine without human help.  Swipe each item across the machines scanner and pack it into a convenient carry bag.   Payment may be cash or card and the big advantage is speed.  It removes the inconvenience of waiting in those long checkout queues.

Statistics tell us that the ratio of shoppers proffering cash steadily declines each year and is replaced by more electronic transactions.  The "  App  " has become the navigation instrument that allows us a wide freedom of choice and now Amazon, that giant American retailer is offering a completely new way of doing grocery shopping.   It is opening stores that lack any form of checkout.  Customers simply make their choice from the shelves - and walk out.  Scanners throughout the store identify each item and debit them against the customers Amazon account via an App.   These first stores are merely the forerunner of two thousand this firm is planning to open across the United States.   It seems inevitable that this form of marketing will spread to the rest of the world.

Whether you like or loathe this idea it is a harbinger of what is coming in the elimination of the vast array of low skilled jobs that absorbed a huge component of the work force.  Electronics and robotics are advancing at warp speed and the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia predicts  that forty percent of all existing jobs will disappear in the next two decades.

That is frightening when we consider the impact that could deliver on retailing employment. Already we are seeing bricks and mortar stores under stress from Online shopping and general merchandise is fast adopting a self serve approach to contain costs.   If the days of the " Checkout Chick " are now numbered, perhaps those of the vast array who serve behind counters across the entire retail spectrum are sure to follow.

Our education system is not doing well in comparison with the rest of the world.   We are a first world country churning out a mixed skill percentage which dooms the unskilled to ever decreasing job opportunities.  In the past, a significant section of the workforce was employed in what we termed the low to medium skilled sector.   Clerical and retail were a big component of that grouping.  That seems to be the skill sector that is about to join the jobless.

Strangely, we are a country that has almost a permanent class of unemployed and at the same time a desperate need to fill a vast array of unfilled job opportunities.   Bringing in the fruit and vegetable harvest is reliant on attracting overseas backpackers to do this work.    These are jobs shunned by those not prepared to move to where work is available or undertake the type of work offering.

The Australia we live in is going to become a very different place a decade or so from now.  So far we have been throwing money at the education system - with very poor results.   It is time we adopted a national curriculum and got serious about education standards.   We need to train our young people for the jobs of the future, not look to the past for opportunities that are fast disappearing.

Righting a Wrong !

Seventeen years is a long time to wait for an enquiry to deliver a finding.   That is the time it has taken for an Obudsman's investigation into "Operation Prospect " to be published, and just days away from release legal action has been taken to prevent that happening.

"Prospect "was a serious matter of malfeasance that occured at the very top of the New South Wales police force and it has complicated political ramifications.  The coming retirement of the police Commissioner had senior police jockying to be first in line for the top job and somehow Internal Affairs launched a curious investigation in the hope of uncovering corruption.

Forgeries and false documents were put before a judge to justify the bugging of the homes and offices of over a hundred serving police officers and this extended to their mobile phones.  This operation was relentless and a corrupt officer was turned into an informer equipped with a recording "wire "to attend functions in the hope of trapping fellow officers into incriminating confessions.  It became a witch hunt that ruined careers, caused mental breakdowns - and in some cases led to suicide.

Clearly, setting up Prospect involved a host of illegalities.  It should have been an open and shut matter of tracking who presented forged documents to that judge, but somehow the right questions were not asked.  A public enquiry and the Ombudsman's enquiry ran side by side - for years and years - without coming to a definitive conclusion.

There were many victims who suffered loss from Operation Prospect but it seems that the main target was Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldos.   He was well liked and supported by rank and file police but perhaps his "politics " were not acceptable to the ruling hierarchy.  These enquiries into the bugging scandal completely failed to identify the culprit and so the Commissioner was persuaded to extend his term in office.   This removed the pressing decision of making a choice on who would replace him.

Eventually, Nick Kaldos was told he would not be the next police commissioner - and he retired from the force.  Many of his colleagues described him as "the best police commissioner we never had ". Those involved in the scandal heaved a sigh of relief and hope that the matter would now quietly terminate.   The public enquiry fizzled out inconclusively and the Ombudsman retired without delivering a finding.

Eventually, a replacement Ombudsman completed work in progress and it is this report that is nearing release.   Nick Kaldos is concerned that his grievances raised at the enquiry were ignored and that the emerging report fails to adequately address any of the truths.   The enquiries were fundamentally flawed from the beginning.   It is likely that once the report is released it will be claimed that the mater is now closed  - and a very serious law breach at the very top of the police force will go unpunished.

It also leaves the matter of the next police commissioner in limbo.   The present commissioner will retire next year and a big question mark hangs over that replacement decision.  It seems that Nick Kaldos has stepped in to prevent a whitewash - and keep this affront to justice in the media spotlight.

That " Three Strikes " Law !

Stopping young people below the legal age to access alcohol from gaining supply has been a perennial problem for law enforcement.  For the first half of the twentieth century the age of "maturity "in Australia, which allowed citizens to both vote and consume alcohol - was twenty-one.

The Vietnam war and the conscription that went with it brought change.   It seemed unreasonable that when a young man attained his eighteenth birthday he could be subjected to a lottery, put in uniform and handed a rifle and sent off to fight a war - and yet the law said he could not vote for the parliament that imposed that law - and was forbidden alcohol.   The age of maturity in Australia was changed to eighteen.

Enforcing liquor laws is a state matter and compliance requirements are in place.  Bottle shops are supposed to require proof of age and liquor licensing police regularly visit hotels to detect under age drinkers. Penalties for non compliance are severe.

Scams to evade that law are legion. Forged documents that purport to prove the holder is of legal age are common and any person without proof of age is usually given the benefit of the doubt. Appearance is everything.  Many parents condone drinking by their sons and daughters and become their suppliers.  Parties held in private homes or on hired premises totally ignore these liquor laws. The annual "Schoolies " week of celebration is a well televised event of drunken revelry.

The laws in New South Wales come down heavily on pubs that turn a blind eye to under age drinking.   What is known as the " Three Strikes " law imposes the loss of a trading license for hotels that incur three convictions for serious offences under the liquor act - and that  cancellation lasts for three years.   During a period of license cancellation draconian restrictions are placed on trade and this imposes costs in excess of $8,000 a year.   The industry is lobbying to have those laws reviewed.

There is a disparity in how this law is applied to clubs as opposed to hotels.  If a club is convicted under the three strikes law the penalty is imposed on the licensee.   With hotels, the penalty is applied to the premises.   The industry is asking that in both cases the licensee be the appropriate person to shoulder the penalty.

The government would be wise to think carefully before adopting that strategy.  The victim in the spotlight is a big, popular north shore hotel that got caught with four seventeen year old girls drinking on its premises.  This hotel is part of a chain under the control of a man who owns a number of similar hotels and which involves multiple shareholders.   Should the penalty apply to its licensee, that position could see replacement by another person with little change to trading conditions.

Unfortunately, this same law applies to struggling little country pubs in towns with declining populations.   In most cases the licensee is also the owner, and license loss may be terminal to the business.

It seems that the law makers need to consider balance in applying penalties.  Selling alcohol delivers big profits and many high volume outlets disregard the law to favour their bottom line.  They will continue that policy if the penalties are weak.

Whatever laws are put in place, we can be certain that under age drinkers will continue to test the law. We have been unable to eradicate that in the past - and it would take an overly optimistic person to think that it can be achieves in the future !

Options !

Two very different scenarios seem possible.   Either the President Elect is such an imbecilic Boofhead that he picked up the phone when it rang in Trump Tower - and found himself talking to Tsai Ing-Wen, the president of Taiwan.   She was simply making a president to president congratulatory call over his win in the recent election.

Those of an opposite political persuasion might see this as an act of a wise and far sighted president elect in delivering an inescapably clear message to Xi Jin ping, the ruling strongman holding the reigns in an increasingly aggressive China.

Diplomatic protocol demands that the rest of the world ignores Taiwan if they hope to maintain a cordial relationship with mainland China.   China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has long promised reunification by force.   Prior to 1972 America promised to defend Taiwan if China invaded across the Taiwan strait, but a historic meeting between Richard Nixon and Mao had America withdraw its ambassador from Taipei and open an embassy in Beijing.

Over the intervening years Taiwan has been an enigma.  It is a prosperous little island that is armed to the teeth with American weapons.  While it is denied political recognition, it trades with the world and until recently it accepted the " One country, two systems " cover that applied to Hong Kong.  Now there are stirrings for independence - and Tsai Ing-Wen heads a political party with just that ambition.

The world survived many long years of the cold war between America and the Soviet Union simply because of MAD - standing for " Mutually Assured Destruction ".  It was recognised that a nuclear exchange would wipe out both countries - and so it never happened.

Nothing has really changed. Vladimir Putin's Russia is still armed with nuclear weapons and Chinese nukes threaten America, but an all out nuclear war between these main players seems a zero sum game.  Perhaps Trump was delivering a message that his presidency would be very different from the Obama terms.

Obama's presidency was concentrated within America and he seemed disinterested in world affairs. His lack of aggression in Syria convinced some that American power was declining, hence the Russian move on Ukraine and Chinese brinkmanship in the South China sea.   Perhaps Trump was seeking to close off the dangerous gap between his election and taking of office in January.

That could be seen as a policy vacuum.  An outgoing president would be reluctant to take decisive action and his replacement would lack the authority to step in should a world event materialize. The ever ambiguous Donald Trump threw a spanner into the machinations of other world leaders.   The lights will be burning in government offices worldwide - as they try to figure out just what message this protocol breach delivered.

Perhaps the most perplexed will be the American voters.  Never before has anyone ever won the oval office without clarity of purpose being clearly defined !

Nation Building !

Forward thinking people must be appalled at plans for another big housing estate on Sydney's outskirts.  We are simply gobbling up precious farmland to create what is fast becoming an unworkable city.  Sadly, the bulk of the Australian population is concentrated in each of the state capitals which all crowd along our coastline.   The only inland city with more than three hundred thousand people - is Canberra.

The airlines are very aware that the air corridor between Sydney and Melbourne is the fourth busiest in the world.  We should be well on the way in connecting those two cities with a very fast train network - but that is not even in the planning stage, and yet driving the Princes Highway is only a thousand kilometres between the two cities.

Japan invented what it called the "Bullet Train " and both France and Germany quickly followed with the GTV.   China is fast developing an extensive fast train network and even more exciting ideas are in the pipeline.   Fast transport of people is a development that many countries now consider to be the basis of nation building.

The logic of connecting Sydney and Melbourne with a fast train is inescapable. It removes the tyranny of distance between home and work for most people.  It enables new cities along that route to expand as industries gain elbow room to grow and attract widely dispersed workers.   The thought of people living in Sydney and travelling to work daily in Goulburn could become a reality.

It would breathe new life into country towns that are withering away.  It would enable us to disperse our population and absorb the numbers that world events may add to our country in the years ahead.  It should be high on the list of our priorities.  Just as the NBN was intended to deliver universal fast communications, a fast rail connection would integrate city and country at somewhere similar to airline speed.

It seems that fast transport may be on the cusp of a new development.  Some people consider than Elon Musk is a genius similar to James Watt or Thomas Edison.  He made a fortune when he developed a payment system he called PayPal and he has created the worlds first high volume electric car with the Tesla brand.  Another of his companies - SpaceX - has developed the ability to have space rockets deliver their cargo into orbit and then return to their launch pad for reuse.

He is developing a form of transport based on the vacuum tube common in commerce back in the 1940's.   In that era, when you made a purchase in a department store the attendant took your money and put it in a container that was sucked along a pipeline by vacuum - to a central cashier.   The container returned with your change and receipt to that point of sale.

Musk envisages small carriages capable of comfortably seating about twenty-five people travelling between cities at warp speed.  This may compete with the conventional fast train concept and with magnetic levitation methods to even exceed the speed of air travel.   Instead of rails, the coverage would consist of sealed tubing to accommodate this form of travel.

Sadly, devising and building the transport of the future in Australia seems bogged down with the usual political inertia.   Not only would it need consensus in Canberra, but it also involves two competitive states and the vast array of local government in between.   Achieving approval of a common plan would be unlikely.

Australians journeying overseas and experiencing the advantages of fast transport must wonder why this concept is not even on the drawing board in this country !

Tightening the Screws !

A few years ago a major health scandal in China delivered a bonanza for the Australian and New Zealand baby formulae industry.  Some Chinese food producers reduced the milk content of the baby formulae they produced and replaced it with Melamin, a product used in plastics which created the illusion of a rich, creamy texture.

The result was catastrophic.  There were a number of fatalities but thousands of tiny babies fell ill and many were only saved by immediate hospital treatment.   The Chinese Communist government tried to coverup the scandal, but word of mouth raced the news across the country - and a legend was born !

Chinese mothers placed their faith in baby formulae from Australia and New Zealand.   The locally produced stuff sat on shop shelves unwanted and the imported product was fought over by customers. We quickly found empty shelves here in Australia as Chinese mothers implored Chinese students studying here to buy the Australian product and send it by post to their home country.  Despite Australian baby formulae manufacturers cranking up production we were unable to meet demand and this product quickly became high priced on the Chinese black market.

More producers piled into production in Australia and New Zealand and we started to make inroads into this backlog, but now it seems that the Communist state has moved to protect its local industry. The Chinese government has decreed that all foreign companies importing milk products into China will require fresh registration to sell their product across internal cross border channels.   This is claimed to be part of new food safety laws and importers have been given until January 1, 2018 to gain certification.

The whisper has gone around that not all imports will gain acceptance and this has led to savage discounting by many lesser known Australian and New Zealand brands, desperate to clear stocks. The intentions of the Chinese government are unclear but it seems likely that this is a matter of national pride and pressure from the local baby formulae industry has brought a decision to force a greater market share by way of home consumption.

This news had the rumour mill running in overdrive.  Bellamys - one big Australian producer - saw five hundred million wiped off it's Australian capitalization as its shares dropped by 43.5% in a single day.  Expansion plans by other producers here have been put on hold.  Decisions by the Chinese Communist government are opaque at the best of times, and this directive breaks new ground as far as food imports are concerned.

One of the problems with the Chinese market is its governments ownership of many manufacturing companies.   These "State Owned Enterprises " or SOES are often heavily indebted to Chinese banks and run at a loss.  In the past, the government has chosen to ignore these losses and to bail them out when necessary - but new thinking is starting to emerge.   Allowing them to close would exacerbate the employment problem, hence forcing the public to use their production may mean closing out whatever imported products are competing for sales.

This move is unsettling.  If China is starting to adopt a protectionist stance for local products it will make it harder to create a trade balance when we predominantly export mineral resources. rather than manufactured goods.   Baby formulae has been a high profile success story.   Now its continuation is in serious doubt !