The "History " of Australia !

There is a lot wrong with the version of Australian history we are teaching in our school systems.  For a start, Captain Cook did not "discover " Australia.  The Dutch were here a long time before Cook's first voyage and in fact Abel Tasman sailed around the coast of Tasmania in 1642 and named two landmarks after his ships Haemskerch and Zeehaen.   A version of those names applies today to two Tasmanian west coast towns.

Britain sent Cook on his voyage of discovery to chart this great southern land mass because they had a problem.   Having lost their American colonies in the war of independence they could not dispose of England's prison population to this " new world ".  The American colonies had developed a rich farming culture and was desperately short of labour.    Britain had been selling those sentenced to prison to these settlers - who had the right to their free labour for the duration of their sentence in exchange for paying their voyage fee and feeding and clothing them.  The Americans choose to remove this record of their "convict "history from the official record books.

There was no established economy in Australia when Cook arrived and the British were forced to create a penal colony from scratch.  Nobody asked the indigenous people for permission and so from the British point of view Australia was "settled "and from the indigenous it was "invaded "- and both were probably right, according to the viewpoint of those times.

This white settlement moved from Botany Bay to Port Jackson and struggled with famine in its early years.  The treatment of convicts was harsh by design because the British hoped to instill fear in the minds of England's criminals. "Transportation " was deliberately enhanced as the ultimate punishment in the hope that it would decrease crime.   That came unstuck when gold was discovered at Ballarat and Bendigo - and Australia became the land where fortunes could be made.

By a strange quirk of fate the settlement of the Australian land mass was not contested by other nations.   Unlike Africa - where explorers planted their country's flag and carved out sovereign territories the rest of the world seemed preoccupied.   The Frenchman La Perouse arrived with two ships at the same time as the first fleet, but he continued on to the north and was destroyed in a cyclone.  The outbreak of the French revolution closed that chapter of French expansion.

The Dutch were occupying what is now Indonesia and they may have investigated northern Australia, but the spice trade was their main interest and there is no evidence of their presence other than several shipwrecks on the west coast.  As a result, Australia is unique as the only continental land mass under a single unified government.

We are now regarded as one of the rich countries of the world and should we throw open our door our population would quickly double and treble, but this "Lucky Country " has not spread it's bounty evenly.  Many of it's original inhabitants are struggling to fit in to a world of commerce that conflicts with their traditional way of life.

This seems to be common in other lands where a foreign culture intruded.  Many of the indigenous people have integrated and prospered in the Australian culture that had developed over the years and yet others have been left behind, stranded in a way of life that has vanished and unable to connect to a changed world they do not understand.

Slowly, a need of consensus is emerging.   This is not a problem that will be solved in a generation, nor will the understanding of the soul of Australia be fully understood by those to whom the "Dreamtime " is merely a myth.   The hope is that integration may happen in such a way that indigenous culture becomes a part of the Australian experience that it is instantly as recogniseable as the accent and outlook that distinguishes us on the world scene.

It seems that Australia's history was written from the view of early colonizers.  Perhaps now is a time for a rewrite by those with a clearer view of how this country came into being !

" Citizens Arrest " Danger !

A case that made news headlines this Easter will have many people pondering exactly how they would have reacted in similar circumstances.  In Newcastle, a 33 year old man awoke at 3-30 am to discover an intruder in his home and this 34 year old stranger was looking into his daughters bedroom.

It is alleged that the householder attempted to restrain what he saw as the "burglar " and when he resisted this developed into a fight.   This fight progressed out of the house and onto the footpath, where another male assisted the householder to make a citizens arrest.  Somehow in the struggle, the intruder suffered a broken neck and when the police arrived he was taken to hospital.  He died some time later - and the householder has now been charged with murder.

The deceased was recently released from jail and had a history of break and enter crime.  His family say he was reformed and had turned his life around, but the fact remained that he was in someones house without permission in the middle of the night and the householder had every reason to feel aggrieved.  It certainly raises the question of what we can legally do to restrain an intruder in similar circumstances.

Two powerfully built men of similar age are locked in a struggle.   One had the intention of preventing the others escape and intends to hold him until the police arrive.  This requires a degree of force because similar force is being exerted by the intruder in his attempt to get away.  It seems to be drawing a very long bow for the police to lay a charge of murder.

To most people, " murder " is a felonious killing made with intent.  It is highly unlikely that a person awoken in the middle of the night to find an intruder in their home has the intention of ending that persons life.   Depending on the health, age and gender of the householder, the first impression is probably fear and the thought that the intruder may have a weapon.  We definitely have the right to defend ourselves, although the extent of that right is unclear in law.

It seems that our law statutes confer equal rights to the intruder.  We may not use excessive force to prevent an escape, and that is where "citizens arrest " seems to verge into the gray area of the law. The law discourages citizens from doing what is obviously the function of the police, and yet police powers are more clearly defined.  Should an offender armed with such a weapon as a walking stick threaten arresting police the officer is legally entitled to use deadly force such as firing a gun.  Any householder attempting a citizens arrest is treading dangerous territory.

There seems little doubt that this case will have have many people examining all the scenarios that may arise in this troubled world in which we live.  Simply hosting a birthday party for one of the family can result in "gatecrashers " invading the home and starting a riot.  What force may we use to legally evict them |?

We awake to find a thief "hot wiring "our car.   Do we confront the thief and try and stop the successful theft - or do we just phone the police and hope they recover our precious car in an undamaged state ?

The "worst case scenario "is to find an intruder in our house in the middle of the night.  This evokes the fear of physical attack or possibly rape and justifies defence, but it seems that the legal situation is far from clear.   The law is full of "if's, but's and maybes " and depends on what interpretation will be arrived at by others.

The outcome of this murder charge will be closely watched by many people !

Qualifying " Free Range " !

Decades ago animal lovers were horrified when social media threw the spotlight on the industry that provided us with eggs.   We saw vast warehouses filled with caged hens packed into wire cages that allowed very little movement.   There was something soul destroying in this "production line " routine. Food and water - and constant bright light - were exchanged with each hens duty to produce a daily egg, and that rolled down a wire slope to where it could be mechanically harvested.  It was not uncommon to see dead birds left rotting for weeks in this scenario.

The industry reacted by promising we could buy our eggs from a new source.  Chooks that were allowed to run free and scratch in the dirt out on green pastures.  Of course this elevated production costs way above those that applied to caged egg production and eggs from "liberated "hens would cost a little more.   The term  "Free Range "came into being to signify this production difference.

The problem was that everyone from the egg farmers to the giant supermarkets had a different interpretation of just what that term meant.  To some, just freeing hens from those wire cages and allowing them free movement within a barn qualified use of the " Free Range " term to describe the product - and justify a higher price.  New terminology entered the lexicon - and "Barn laid " was used to justify the difference from "caged ".

Egg production is a big industry and today the buyer is confused by a host of different descriptions of what terms apply to egg farming.   It is estimated that a high proportion of eggs for sale fail to meet the standards that buyers expect, and we are probably paying a premium price for hen conditions that simply do not exist.

The government is thinking of applying a new standard to sort out this mess.   It would be far simpler to require the egg farmers to disclose the stocking densities of hens on their farms to give buyers a better perspective of the conditions that apply.  The chosen measure will be the number of hens to each hectare.

Obviously, an egg farm that keeps just 1,500 hens to a hectare gives them much more individual space than a farm with 5,000 or an even bigger one with 10,000 per hectare.   This does away with all the different terminology that previously differentiated between the conditions that applied.  It devolves into a simple calculation of the area involved in egg production divided by the number of hens employed to that task by the farmer - and it is proposed to implement fines of $ 1.1 million for falsification.

There are no plans to ban the practice of egg production from caged hens. Cruel as some may think this is on individual birds it by far the most economical way of farming eggs and customers will clearly have the personal choice of accepting or rejecting when stocking density becomes the standard.  It is expected that eggs from a low density egg farm will be at a higher price than those from battery hen production.

When it comes to this "Animal Liberation " issue it all comes down to personal choice.  What is important is that when we pay a little more for an anticipated benefit the rules that apply ensure that the conditions we are paying for are not a myth.   This new compliance measure must have teeth !

Ending " Cask Wine " !

The Royal College of Australian Physicians is calling for the tax on wine to be similar to the way beer is taxed.  At present,  wine is taxed on value rather than on volume and it seems that the medical people have cask wine in their sights.

They claim that this is simply "cheap grog " that underscores teenage drinking and the best way to improve public health would be to hike the price to take it out of reach or at least make it much less affordable.   That would be tempting to cash strapped government because such a tax increase would deliver an extra $ 1.3 billion.

Like many such "good ideas " which seem to deliver benefits, it needs some thought to determine what other outcomes are involved.   This wine cask was an Australian invention and it was delightfully simple.   The wine was enclosed in a sealed bag fitted with a spigot and enclosed in a cardboard outer box.   It was basically a "bulk " buy, delivering four litres rather than the 700 ml of the traditional wine bottle - and the price was often as low as ten dollars per cask.

Wine has been a fast growing Australian product and we have had amazing success overseas.  Our exports are well received and wine is sold at prices that are determined by quality.  Our top selling "Grange " commands a thousand dollars a bottle.   The wine industry grades and blends it's product and it was inevitable that the ever growing number of vinyards would have excess amounts of wine that was less than premium quality.

The invention of the wine cask solved that problem - and enhanced wine to a new market of people in what had previously been a beer drinking country.   We saw the introduction of the "Mediterranean diet " which promised good health and that saw food accompanied by a glass of red wine.  The wine cask delivered a less than premium quality but very acceptable grade of wine at a very acceptable price.  Beer sales have been steadily dropping and wine sales expanding.  The wine cask catered for those  "average " people who were not brand conscious.

This proposed tax measure would probably treble the retail price of cask wine.  That raises the question of what will become of the vast surplus of the wine industry that is now converted to cask wine sales ?  Obviously, we could expect an increase of off label bottled wine offered at low price because such a surplus would lead to a price war to move the product.  We should have learned by the example of hiking the price of tobacco that opening a price gap between a legal product and contraband invites the underground economy to serve that market.

There is also the question of the human psyche.  Cigarettes are now at ridiculous price levels and some people have quit smoking, but many simply grumble and keep puffing away.  Hiking the price of wine will certainly see some people forsaking a glass of wine with their meal, but many others will continue to pay for that indulgence - and spend less on life's necessities.   Perhaps less food on the family table.  Perhaps the kids denied much needed new shoes.

Whenever we consider change to the status quo, it is a very good idea to apply Newton's Law.   To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Our Toxic Harbour !

Sydney has one of the most beautiful harbours in the world but as out city attracts more people the human waste they generate is making it unsafe for swimming.  We have just had one of the driest summers on record and when the water was tested on March 15 the contamination count was way above a safe level.

The problem is the amount of enterococci bacteria that is released from sewage.   The safe level is below 40 parts per 100 ml but this was exceeded in most parts of the harbour.   The beach at Rose Bay recorded a level of 175 and the Parramatta river recorded 70.   In many instances, readings way above 500 were common.

The usual outcome of swimming in contaminated water - is to get a bout of gastro.   The health people report that is a sort of " unlucky lottery ".  Should a group of a hundred people go for a swim it is likely that about ten would have gastro a day later - and ninety would not be affected. Such is the way this capricious bug affects individual people.

We are warned not to enter the water for at least three days after a rain event because heavy rain causes the sewer system to overflow and all this runoff goes into the harbour.   Even in a dry period there is an amount of contamination from aged leaking pipes, plus the fecal animal matter washed off our streets and nature strips.

Treating sewage to a safety level is costly and unfortunately we humans have the habit of treating our sewers as general waste disposal channels.   The latest craze is to replace toilet paper with what are known as "wet wipes " - and this is an absolute disaster when it arrives at the treatment facilities.   Wet toilet paper dissolves in the digestors.   Despite the claim on many wet wipe products that they are "sewer safe " they fail to break down and clog both the arterial pipes and bring the treatment plants to a standstill.   There are fears that if this practice increases our entire sewer system could fail.

That is one of the reasons that the water and sewage people have plans for more overflow pipes to take the pressure off by bypassing the sewage plants and taking runoff water into the harbour when storm events occur.  We already have outlets that deliver the treated effluent several miles out to sea but as more people cram into our city we are having to cope with increased sewage volumes - and it seems that global warming is increasing the intensity of the storm systems that visit this city.

What these latest tests disclose is that swimming in our harbour delivers a risk even when the weather is mild and there has been no rain for many days.  It seems that Sydney harbour is becoming a pictorial backdrop to the city, rather than a functioning harbour that is safe for swimming.   Many people accept that risk, but they do so with the likelihood that from time to time they may suffer a bout of gastro.

The wise will do their own evaluation - and never enter the water in the aftermath of one of Sydney's summer rain events !

" Political " Decisions !

It is a fact of life that anyone holding an elected position on a council has a better chance of being reelected than a complete stranger making a bid for that position.   Name recognition is a big plus and the fact that political parties endorse candidates in local government is the deciding factor in the decision made by many voters.   Luck also plays a part.  Winning the draw to head the list of contenders usually delivers what is termed " the donkey vote " !

New South Wales is about to undergo a number of enforced council mergers because the economies of many elements of local government are simply balancing on disaster.   There is an ever growing list of high priority work which is unfunded and as council rates are capped by government decree many small councils will eventually be forced into bankruptcy.

Amalgamation by consent has been resisted fiercely.  Economies of scale would apply to the purchase and use of expensive machinery and a trimmed workforce would deliver a better outcome for less money.  The state government undertook a lengthy evaluation of the benefits and finally created new council boundaries by legislation.

There will certainly be continued outrage in many quarters as these mergers are implemented.   Those mayors and councillors affected have until April 15 to apply to be appointed to sit and represent the new council, and obviously the numbers will be far less that the combined group that represented the individual councils that have been merged.

The selection will be entirely in the hands of the minister for local government, Paul Toole - and that introduces a "political " element to the decision making process.   The political persuasion of the government in office will obviously influence decisions where the mayors and councillors have direct political affiliations with other parties.   Even with the best even handedness it is inevitable that there will be claims of political bias.

Those appointed will serve under an administrator until the next local government election, scheduled for March 2017.   No doubt there will be intense media interest as these new councils settle in and make changes and that publicity will cement office holders firmly in the memories of the voting public.   They will gain a huge advantage when March 2017 rolls around.

Choosing representatives to sit on council from the  elected regimes was probably the wisest decision. Simply combining all sitting members would have created an unwieldy group and the main objective was to create a compact council capable of wise decision making and effective use of both machinery and workforce to achieve economy of scale.

If the government plan to create bigger and more efficient councils achieves it's objectives the end result will be obvious to ratepayers.   They will deliver their verdict - at the ballot box !

Unintended Consequences !

A few years back the giant grocery chains were notorious for stamping out competition and achieving a monopoly when they sited one of their stores as the head tenant in a new shopping complex.  It was done by stealth.  Whatever price the competing greengrocer, grocer or butcher offered was undercut by the supermarket and the chain store was prepared to sell at a loss to drive those little privately owned competitors out of business.

They were ruthless to the point that their employees would visit that competitor to garner price information and moments later their own prices would drop to whatever it takes to put the competitor at a disadvantage.  Once the competitor closed their doors, the prices at the grocery chain rose to normal levels.   The media delighted in price comparisons between stores lacking competition - and the price levels where individual were locked in battle for the consumer dollar.

The government competition watchdog began to bark - and the chain stores listened !   There was talk of draconian legislation and very quickly a "gentleman's agreement "came into practice and the duopoly adopted a new code of conduct that outlawed this practice - at least as blatantly as before.

There was another outcome that is still in force.   Coles decided that their prices would be held at uniform levels across their entire chain of stores, hence the customers would buy at the same price in a big city supermarket as in a smaller store in a remote and distant part of the country.  The big freight differential would be absorbed by Coles.

Now the Federal government is considering new legislation which they describe as an "effects test " which is designed to "prohibit big companies acting in a way that reduces competition ".   Coles management has sounded a warning that this could  have "unintended consequences. "    The very price stability that they maintain across their chain of outlets could be interpreted as competing unfairly with a smaller store that has no option than to include a freight margin because of their remote location.

We could see the situation arise where Coles was forced to raise prices to reflect the freight component in country areas because to maintain city prices was seen as  uncompetitive pricing. The fact that Coles are evening out the freight component across their entire network in setting prices does disadvantage a small competitor faced with a freight bill to a remote area.

No doubt someone will cite the price difference between petrol and Coca Cola in distant New South Wales.  Petrol is notoriously more expensive the further you travel from Sydney and the stated reason is always freight costs, yet should you want to buy a bottle of Coca Cola from that same petrol station it will also be hugely dearer than the price offering in a Coles supermarket in that same town.   Could not the petrol station claim that the Coles pricing policy disadvantages a small independent by absorbing that freight cost - to the benefit of attracting custom away from the small reseller ?

The lawmakers need to think long and hard when they consider this piece of legislation.   It s indeed a worthy objective that they have in mind, but they will get no plaudits if it brings the unintended consequences of a sharp rise in grocery prices across the country towns of Australia.

The " Ethanol " Issue !

A few decades ago we were worried that the world oil supply was going to be depleted and OPEC had it's hand on the oil spigot, forcing up prices for what seemed a finite product.   How different that situation is today !    The world is literally awash with oil and the price has plummeted to a low of thirty dollars a barrel.

Several things have resulted in this change. Technology now allows for oil wells deeper under the oceans and more oil is being discovered, and better extraction is draining pockets of oil that were previously uneconomic.  At the same time, we have discovered new oil fields in sedimentary rock that can be tapped by what is called "fracking " and "horizontal "drilling.   Oil is now in over-supply and much of this is being stored in the surplus fleets of oil tankers, awaiting the oil majors to cut back production and raise prices to economic levels.

Back in those times of oil scarcity the wonder fuel that seemed to solve our problems was Ethanol. It was possible to run our cars on a fuel that did not come out of the ground but was grown in a paddock and harvested - and the preferred ingredient was corn, although other vegetation - including sugarcane - was possible.   A plan was devised to offer a petrol/ethanol mix in which ethanol provided ten percent of car fuel to make what we thought was a dwindling supply of oil last longer.

So petrol stations began to offer a product designated "E-10 ".   Many car owners were very suspicious and suspected it could harm their engines.   It delivered slightly less distance per litre than pure petrol and it was discounted accordingly, but only 2.5% of the fuel sold in New South Wales is E-10 and the target expected was to achieve 6%.

The Manildra group is the main producer of E-10 and this present glut of cheap oil has not been kind to them.  There is no doubt that E-10 is perfectly suitable for most mass produced cars, but those in the higher performance group need petrol with a higher octane rating and there is a distinct and quite irrational resistance to using Ethanol across the broad spectrum of car owners.

Strangely, the state government seems determined to force both motorists and the service station industry to meet that six percent Ethanol sales quota and draconian legislation is in the pipeline to  force all resellers to offer the product.   At present, many resellers do not stock E-10 in the cities and it is rarely available in country towns.   Many older petrol stations would need to completely replace their underground storage tanks and their pumping equipment to add this new product to their offering range - and that could be an expense that was uneconomic.

This legislation is certainly heavy handed.  A fuel reseller who does not offer E-10 would face a fine of $65,000 for a first offence - and should they continue to decline to offer that product the next fine would increase to $550,000.  The legislation is facing a mutiny in the New South Wales parliament and the government whip - Peter Phelps - has resigned from holding that post because of his opposition, foregoing the $20,000 a year salary increase the position delivered.

Implementing that six percent E-10 target would deliver an additional profit of $ 1.38 million to |Manildra, but basically it would be at the cost of "forcing people to buy something they don't want from people who don't want to sell it ".

Welcome to the mysterious world of politics.  Irrationality usually masks many a hidden agenda !

" Gaming " the System !

When New South Wales finally introduced the Opal card to speed up the transport system it brought an end to queuing up at train stations and bus stops to buy paper tickets.  This new system required passengers to tap their card on a card "reader " when they got on a tram or a train, and tap again to end their fare at journeys end.

One of the early problems was the need of many passengers to use a mix of transport on their daily commute.  Those that needed the services of a tram,bus, train or ferry to complete their journey found that the cost using an Opal card was greater than when they travelled on a weekly, monthly or yearly ticket - all of which were discontinued when Opal arrived.

The government resolved this enigma with a concession arrangement.  They arrived at the magic number of eight journeys per week for the average commute, and once this was reached - travel for the rest of the week was free.  This was not perfect, but it " averaged " the mix of a great number of commuters and offered price relief.

It didn't take long for a few gifted souls to put together a regimen to "game the system ".   The wheeze was quite simple.   Early in the week, select a number of closely related tram and train interchanges so that a number of short journeys will be debited against your Opal card - and from then on the rest of the week is free.   Very quickly, the transport sector began to record a revenue shortfall.

One of the marvels of private enterprise is the speed with which opportunity morphs into a new business.   A new phenomenon began to appear very early each week.  A number of young persons - often employing a skateboard to speed the journey - who would stop and swipe a great number of individual Opal cards as they hopped on a tram or entered a train station.   They were working to a very carefully constructed time and motion plan to achieve the required number of journeys in the fastest possible time.   They were also working to a cost budget.   They would meet their target for just $ 18 in fares - and thus make a huge saving on the the cost of the usual weekly commute.

It quickly became obvious that this was being worked on a commission basis.  These "couriers " had an arrangement with commuters who would hand over their Opal card and pay a "fee "for the service of managing the number of interchanges that would bring the free travel into play for the rest of the week.  This was now costing the government transport section two million dollars a week in revenue loss.

Just as these couriers had done their algorithms to bring down the time factor to achieve the necessary number of short journeys to ninety minutes, the government's whiz kids ran the numbers and increased the number of interchanges from three - to eight.   That will extend the time factor to achieve the same result - from ninety minutes to six hours - and hopefully - make providing that service uneconomic.

In today's world - there is always an algorithm that creates problems - and usually another one to provide a solution !

The " Citizenship " issue !

After the second world war ended Australia received a virtual tidal wave of immigrants to swell our dangerously small population.  Many were fleeing the advance of Stalin's Red army which failed to retreat from captured territory while others were simply seeking a better life.  Europe had taken a battering from air raids and invasion, and suffered years of food rationing.  By contrast, Australia seemed the "promised land "!

That was an era when we encouraged new settlers to learn the English language and take out Australian citizenship, but special rules applied to those emigrating from Britain.  They gained instant privileges on arrival and that included being grated voting rights.  Many assumed that this conferred instant Australian citizenship and few bothered to undertake the process of officially changing their nationality.

In particular, those bringing babies born in England with them placed them in Australian schools and they quickly became "Aussie kids ".  That was before the days of jet planes and cheaper travel costs, hence few needed to apply for a passport.   Those that did, found they needed a UK passport and were denied one by Australia.  Even worse,  should they commit a serious crime Australia could deport them back to their home country.

Several decades ago this situation broke on newspaper headlines and spurred a rush of citizenship applications.  A lot of older "Poms "who had lived most of their life in Australia moved to rectify that omission and the security it provided when citizenship became a major issue with the arrival of boat people at the end of the Vietnam war.  Today - with this new Middle East terror threat, making sure that the legalities are in place has new urgency.

Somehow that need failed to apply to our mates across the Tasman.  The relationship between the Kiwis and Aussies was forged in war and had very much been taken for granted.  It is almost as if we have dual citizenship rights because we freely travel between the two countries.  It is a sharp reminder that this does not have legal standing when six hundred New Zealanders with a criminal history have been deported in the past few months.

What exactly is involved in a deportation order being served ?   Three have served their sentence for murder, seventy were armed robbers, sixty-four have a history of drug offences, fourteen were rapists and another two hundred had convictions for violent assaults.   Many more were given their marching orders because they were members of criminal motorcycle gangs.

Deportation has always been an option, but in the past we seem to have tolerated our share of bad lads from New Zealand, and no doubt they have their share of criminal Australians living on the other side of the Tasman. Don't be surprised if the Kiwi's respond in kind and we see a mutual exchange of each others crims passing through airports.

This latest crackdown is a wake up call to all those living in this country without the protection that citizenship confers.   That piece of paper that proclaims a legal right to live in this country is something to be valued.  While we may have no intention of committing a crime, we can easily become involved in events which cast suspicion or even guilt by association.  Without citizenship, our right to reside becomes tenuous !

Public ? Or Private ?

There is no doubt that the New South Wales prison system is at breaking point.  Too many prisoners crammed into too few jails means dangerous overcrowding.  The government is seriously considering placing some prisons under the control of private sector companies who have developed the expertise to run jails on a "for profit " basis.

At present the prison system is administered under the auspices of the Department of Corrective Services, and that is probably the most heavily unionised entity in this state.  As a result, work practices have evolved to the point that it is near impossible to update the system.   There would be countless issues to resolve, most of which would face stiff opposition.   Working under public service rules delivers a host of benefits not usually found in private employment.

What the system lacks is that magic word - flexibility !  The ponderous public service has a way of doing things that resists change and it is one of the facts of life that private enterprise is quicker and better at adapting to a changing market place - and holding people under lock and key and attempting to change their ways is an ever evolving discipline.

Many of our jails were actually built and used in the days of transportation.  We no longer flog prisoners with the cat of nine tails and the food is better, but "time served " is still the essence of how punishment is metered out.   Long term prisoners adapt to a regimen from which they find it almost impossible to escape when they eventually gain their freedom.

It is a fact of life that prison is usually a revolving door.  The vast majority of prisoners return to prison for new offences within a few years of release and many "old lags "know nothing else than a life of crime.  Measures to improve the education of suitable prisoners and teach them new skills have had some success, but one of the limiting factors has been the limitations of those who serve as their jailers.  People employed to provide a security function do not necessarily have the skills of teachers or trade innovators, or even the will to provide such services.

The government needs to have a long, hard think about what it hopes to achieve.   If it just wants prisoners housed, fed and kept under control within the present system that can probably be achieved at lower cost by private enterprise but safeguards would be needed to ensure that standards are maintained.

If the objective is prisoner redemption, that becomes more complex.  Judges and magistrates need to be involved to select the prisoners likely to benefit and the actual system would need flexibility to constantly adopt new methods to suit evolving trends.   Purpose built prisons would better serve the needs of those selected for retraining rather than trying to implement such reform on grim old jails housing the general prison population.

Updating this job training and educational regime is more likely to cost more money than make a saving, but if it reduces the revolving door syndrome it will deliver long term benefits.  This present overcrowding is reaching breaking point.  Change is now inevitable.   It is just a matter of whether the government is prepared to grasp the nettle and make an investment that will bring prisons into this twenty-first century !

Safety Standards !

In the run up to last Christmas the hot gift item was the Hoverboard.   They sold like hot cakes and it was not long before problems arose with the recharging of their batteries, and since then we know of four house fires - two of which totally destroyed the users home - attributed to either the failure of the lithium-ion batteries or the associated charging mechanism.

Three months later the government has banned the sale of Hoverboards that do not meet the Australian electrical safety standards - and a breach will involve a fine of up to $ 1.1 million. That is certainly like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.  We know that the pre-Christmas sale of Hoverboards ran to more than a hundred thousand units, hence there is danger lurking in many Australian homes.

That is not an unusual situation. A year earlier it was discovered that there was a flood of very cheap transformers that reduced mains power to the needs of electrical items such as mobile phone for battery recharging being sold in newsagencies and variety stores.   They were made in China and if they malfunctioned they were capable of starting a house fire.   The safety standards people issued a warning to inspect such items - and discard them if they did not have the Australian safety logo embossed on a surface.

Worse still was the importation of electrical cable used in house wiring.   Two brands from a manufacturer in China had insulation that lasted far less than the minimum forty years required by the appropriate Australian standard.   Literally miles of this stuff passed through hardware chain stores and we know that it was used by many professional electricians to wire new homes and to wire renovations and extensions.   About now, that insulation is due to start failing and there is a growing danger of house fires or electrocution if a householder comes into contact with the wiring.

A recall was issued, but we know that only a small fraction has been discovered, removed and the area rewired.  Basically, house wiring with deficient insulation is a ticking time bomb that the electrical authorities expect will be the cause of house fires for generations to come.

The question many will ask - is how was this allowed to happen ?   We certainly have safety standards in place with products like cars.  Every new model car is required to be safety tested and allocated a safety rating and that becomes a selling point stressed when the vehicle is being advertised to the public.

It seems that electrical safety is being taken on trust.  There are no automatic checks on whatever is imported into Australia and if something is sub standard that only becomes apparent when a failure occurs that brings it to public notice.  Reputable brand manufacturers comply with the required Australian safety standards, but the relentless pressure for ever cheaper products pushes production of copies into the hands of minor manufacturers, many of whom lack the technical expertise to meet safety standards.   What they churn out may look the part, but contain componentry that is downright dangerous.

All this delivers a major headache to the Australian safety people.   Ideally, all electrical items imported to Australia should receive a safety check before they clear the dock, but that would require a bureaucratic hurdle that would be time consuming - and very expensive.   The problem is the vast number of items that would be involved.   There is equal danger in two dollar transformers to charge mobile phone and big ticket items like Hoverboards.  Basically, any electrical item with a fault is capable of starting a fire or delivering electrocution.

Perhaps the only practical legislation would be to make the importer responsible for safety outcomes.  The cost of a recall would persuade many to submit a sample to Australian authorities and gain a safety clearance rather than run the risk and that would surely weed out many deficient imports.

Right now it is clear that very unsafe items are making their way onto the Australian retail market. It is a function of government to solve that problem  !

Trump issues a Threat !

Politics in America is very different to that of Australia.   For a start, you need to be a very rich man or woman to even think of running for President and the contest will be decided between whoever is chosen to represent the Republican or Democrat political parties.   Even gaining that nomination is a running battle over six months as multiple contenders go state to state gathering votes - and the magic number needed to head the party ticket - is 1237.

Almost a Melbourne cup field lined up for the Republican nomination this year and one by one they have fallen by the wayside.  The unexpectedly clear leader right from the start was Donald Trump, a big, brash and rather uncouth billionaire who seemed to fascinate by issuing insults and making outrageous policy on the run.  He is way ahead in the vote count, but gaining that vital 1237 may be out of reach because each state operates by different local rules.

Some state allocate delegate votes on a "winner takes all "basis, while others allocate them to the nominees on the ticket and leave the final sorting out to the national convention held in July.  That is where things can get tricky.  The rules allow the Republican Grandees to "broker " the selection of the candidate to run for office - and neither Donald Trump or his nearest rival - Ted Cruz - are favoured by the old guard of Republican elders.   It is possible that they might think Trump a loser in a contest with Hillary Clinton and opt for a moderate like John Kasich.

It seems that Donald Trump is aware of that possibility and is trying to head it off by making thinly veiled threats that if he does not get the nomination his supporters will riot in the streets of the nation. His line of argument is that whoever is the clear leader - but short of that 1237 total - must be chosen to represent the Republican party simply because that person has been the clear choice of the Republicans who have chosen to vote in the state caucuses.

He does have a point and in the majority of similar past cases that has been so, but many opinion polls show that Trump is anathema to middle ground voters because of the extreme policies he has endorsed.   When America goes to the polls in November everything from the balance in the High Court to the direction the nation will take will hinge of which side of politics becomes the victor.  If the opinion of the Republican elders is that Trump is unelectable, they may flout contention and look elsewhere.

In the minds of many people, the job of President of the United States of America is the most important and powerful position in the world - and the US president is often referred to as "the world leader ".   He has it in his power to declare war - and in this nuclear age that could be a thermo-nuclear exchange that destroys entire nations.  He holds the power of veto on legislation enacted by Congress and the Senate  and basically American government becomes unworkable if there is conflict between the president and whichever political party holds power in the elected houses - as we have clearly seen in recent times.

The fact that the High court has a vacancy and the Republican controlled Senate is refusing to even consider a nomination from a Democrat aligned president is an indication of the malaise that exists in the machinery of government.    There is a chilling possibility that if Donald Trump becomes the next president and tries to put into practice the policies he has been espousing on the stump speeches the working of the US government may fall apart.

What happens in the US in November will cause the entire world to catch it's breath !

Drugs - Big Business !

Australia got a look at how sophisticated the criminal drug supply chain has become when the police busted a well oiled operation that they have been tracking for nine long years - and which has turned over hundreds of millions of profitable dollars during that time.

It helped that this international syndicate had managed to recruit an assistant director of the NSW Crime Commission who provided it's "eyes and ears " on what was happening in official circles.  It was very handy to have someone looking over the shoulder of the cops tasked with tracking down drug imports.

The supply operation was being run out of Holland and it was carefully constructed to seem above board.  Ecstacy was concealed in PVC piping or in fancy pots being imported by a legitimate plant nursery in Sydney and these passed through customs without incident.   The drug was then unpacked and transported to a self storage shed in the city.  Space was not a big requirement because Ecstacy pills are very small - and sell for $30 each.

What came next was a very sophisticated supply chain.   The importer had organized for "distributors " to move their product to the "pushers "who actually made the final sale at music venues or other outdoor events, and this was done in a rather blatant manner.

They devised a secret signal that told these distributors to drive their car or van to a rooftop car park in the city, leave their keys under the sun visor or in another agreed place - and go elsewhere for a cup of coffee or take a long walk.  A gang member would then drive that vehicle to the self storage facility, load it with the drugs and return it to the car park.  This whole transfer operation took just forty-five minutes.

The money laundering of profits was similarly sophisticated, and involved the use of Australian casinos.  Gambling delivers a mix of wins and losses and when the money is the result of crime the losses are simply part of the cost of doing business, and the wins are an effective way of obtaining a tax free reward.

Sadly, this bust has probably increased the risk of dangerous Ecstacy being sold on the streets of Sydney.  The product this gang were bringing into the country was professionally produced and met a consistent standard, and as a result the vast majority of it's customers suffered no ill effects.  The resulting supply interruption will certainly see the price hiked and no doubt all those backyard drug labs will go into overdrive to fill the gap - and their product can range widely in quality.

Of course, this drug operation being run out of Holland is not the only drug operation serving the Australian market.   We can expect it's competitors to step up use of whatever channels they have established and in the criminal world the downfall of any crime empire is simply an opportunity for those waiting in the wings to muscle in and establish their own operation.

Nothing really changes.  Drugs are subjected to the law of "supply and demand "- and while ever demand exists, supply will follow.     It is just a matter of who emerges as the next kingpin to become fabulously rich from the drug trade !

Consumer Protection Laws !

A new punishment for what is termed "unfair conduct "is about to be introduced in a revamp of this nation's consumer protection laws.  It is specifically aimed at advertising designed to induce kids to "pester "their parents to buy the advertised item for them.   Just how that is interpreted will be a matter of great concern to the advertising industry because a breach will impose a fine of up to a million dollars.

Merely showing kids enthusiastically eating a breakfast cereal is not a blatant breach but the obvious intention is to get the customer to consider buying the product when they go grocery shopping. The producer will no doubt claim that the advertisement is intended to influence the shopper but it would have equal impact on child viewers - and if it looks tasty or fun to eat it is reasonable that kids would suggest buying it to their parent.

Last Christmas the big item on wish lists was the Hoverboard.  Advertising depicted kids zooming about on them and no doubt numerous kids made their wishes clear to parents and grandparents. Just what constitutes that "pester "intent is not clear.  Deciding between the subtle and the blatant will be a nightmare for the advertising industry.

What many hope for is help in sorting out unexpected bills getting tacked on to the mobile phones that kids use.    These days kids of kindergarten age seem to have a personal mobile phone and the world is full of apps that are very attractive to young minds. In many cases, apps downloaded without parental permission result in unexpected charges, and as the phones are usually paid for by a monthly direct debit, cancelling that app and getting a refund is usually a slow and tedious business.

Of particular concern are apps that provide games that are claimed to be "free ".  Usually the level of play is pretty basic and the user is invited to move to a higher level, but in doing so a fee comes into play.  There is a requirement that the user be eighteen years of age but many kids ignore that condition and consequently there is a case of "bill shock ".   A little clarity on app procedures would be appreciated by many people.

Different states have different consumer protection laws and uniformity under a Federal code would be helpful.    Here in New South Wales the procedure for defective goods that fail within the warranty period is known as the "Three R's ".   The customer should return the item to the point of sale and make a personal choice between -  Repair.  Replacement or Refund.

Unfortunately, many retailers refuse this legal commitment and insist that the faulty goods be negotiated directly with the manufacturer.   It would be helpful if this legal responsibility was more widely advertised because many shoppers are unaware of their rights.   In this age of Internet shopping we have a law designed in the bricks and mortar age and it obviously needs to be updated.

It is also strange that consumer protection laws seem to fail in applying to big ticket items - such as automobiles.  We have no trouble seeking redress for a faulty electric toaster, but if we get a "lemon "when we buy a new car the law fails us.

The politicians have constantly promised to address this concern, and yet it never seems to proceed to legislation. A car is usually the biggest purchase we make in a lifetime, except for the family home, and subjecting cars to that same "Three R's " would seem a reasonable option.

This revision of consumer protection laws would seem an opportunity for change !

Privacy Laws !

The findings into an air crash in 2015 that killed one hundred and forty-nine people must send chilling thoughts through the mind of airline passengers.  Andreas Lubitz ( 27 ) was a mentally disturbed young pilot who it is alleged locked the co-pilot out of the cockpit and deliberately dived the passenger jet to it's doom in the French Alps.

The sad aftermath of this investigation is that Lubitz was being treated for psychotic depression and had been taking a course of antidepressants and yet the airline that employed him had not been made aware of his condition.  The doctors treating him had advised him to recluse himself from flying, but he deliberately kept his condition secret from Germanwings, his employer.

This seems to be another case where common sense butts heads with the privacy laws enacted in many world countries.   The German doctors treating Lubitz were prevented from taking any action because of these privacy laws, even if they became aware that a man in that profession  posed an unacceptable risk to the public.  Privacy is sacrosanct and comes well before any other form of public protection.

Unfortunately this Germanwings crash was not entirely unusual.  There have been several other air crashes where a pilot has committed suicide and decided to take the passengers along on a death ride.  In one instance a pilot had suffered stock exchange reverses and chose death rather than bankruptcy and in another the pilot was told he would be retrenched at trips end.

Australian privacy laws could result in a similar tragedy and it is probably a good time to reform them to allow the medical profession to intervene in special circumstances.   Suicide does not infringe the law and that is an option legally available to anybody wishing to end their life, but it would be reasonable to isolate that proviso to just the life of the individual.   A suicidal person who has the lives of many others in his or her hands poses an intolerable risk, as was evidenced in these air crash events.

As always, the devil is in the detail.  Some medical people could interpret any relaxing of the privacy laws along the thinking of their own morality and start exposing any patient with depression to the authorities.   Obviously, the job factor would be a major issue in deciding risk.  Not only air pilots but the drivers of commuter trains have the lives of many in their hands, and should a person driving a semi trailer decide to end his life by deliberately crashing head-on in traffic, the death toll could be numerous.  Selecting the dividing line of risk would be a nightmare for any doctor.

We probably need to settle that divide by legislation.  Perhaps it should become a term of employment  for all those deemed responsible for the safety of numerous lives that they are regularly medically checked and reported on by a psychiatrist of the company's choosing - and who have legally waived their right to the privacy laws.   Under such a regimen, that doctor wold be legally bound to report any abnormality to the company.

Mental health is something sufferers usually hide and to be effective it would be preferable if the examining doctor was long term and so gained a better understanding of individuals personality.  There is no sure fire answer to the deterioration of mental health but it is possible that legislating to screen the handful of professions most at high risk of inflicting death on others would provide an adequate safety valve to prevent a repeat of the Germanwings event.

A " Free Migration Block " ?

It looks like Commonwealth countries may be dragged into the United Kingdom referendum battle over EU membership.  Boris Johnson, London's Mayor has raised the issue of negotiating a migration free block of countries that would encompass the United Kingdom,  Canada, Australia and New Zealand.   It would remove the need for visas and allow residents to freely travel and work wherever they choose.  Obviously, as one of the leaders of the Brexit movement to leave the EU Boris Johnson is suggesting this as an alternative to the " ever closer " ambitions of continental EU leaders.

This will be one of the aspects British voters consider when they weigh up their voting choice in the June referendum.  On the continent, the Schengen zone allows citizens of most EU countries to cross national borders without the need for visas or passports, but it is being threatened by the mass of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan flooding into Europe.  Britain is not a part of the Schengen zone because it fears an avalanche of people from Europe taking up residence to gain access to the United Kingdom's welfare state benefits.

This free migration block suggestion comes at a specially critical time because the UK is about to tighten the number of work visas it issues annually and those with existing work visas will most likely be refused renewal.   A similar scheme has been in place between Australia and New Zealand for many years and the interchange of citizens is such that we often encounter each countries currency in the flow of coinage we get as change.

Opinion polls show an approval rating of 75% from Canadians, 70% from Australians, 82% from New Zealanders - and a surprisingly low 58% from those in the United Kingdom.  Obviously, this free immigration block idea and the Schengen arrangement can not both be applied at the same time, hence it tends to illustrate which way referendum thinking is heading.

If the referendum vote is for Brexit the United Kingdom will have to negotiate a new place in world affairs.  Before Britain joined the EU the old Commonwealth was an important trading partner, but under EU rules high tariffs were slapped on all goods that competed with whatever was being grown or manufactured within the EU group.  Commonwealth countries have since developed new markets elsewhere.

Many economists have misgivings about the long term prospects of the EU.   It was initially the union of a small  number of financially strong states but it enlarged too quickly and included countries of wide financial and size disparity.  The introduction of the Euro was a potential disaster without a form of budget control and we are seeing some members amassing a debt load that will be impossible to repay.  A British withdrawal could be the cause of the EU shedding other members and down sizing to a smaller core of more financially stable states.

The indications are that this referendum will be close, but the odds seem to be in favour of Britain retaining EU membership.  If that is the result it is hard to see how this Migration Block idea can co-exist with the rules that apply to EU members.   If the Brits choose Brexit then the UK will be desperate to reestablish trading links with the old British "Empire " and this scheme would be seen as a "door opener ".

Those with plans to either work or study in London will be watching this referendum closely !

The " Charity " Dollar !

The cost of sending a letter recently increased from seventy cents to a dollar because the flow of mail decreases year after year and the post office is now running at a loss.  Of course companies that run a business that involves bulk mailings negotiate special rates but even so it is surprising the amount of mail arriving in the average home letterbox that is an appeal from a charity pleading for a donation.

There are a lot of companies out there which make their living by compiling lists of people which they on-sell to commercial interests, including charities.  One such gimmick recently used the Qantas logo and the promise of free air fares to entice people to provide their details.  Of course nobody got any airline seat tickets, but all respondents were bombarded with telemarketers trying to sell insurance and other items.

It also seems to be a fact of life that if you do make a donation to some worthy charity the flow of appeals from other charities seems to mysteriously increase soon after.  It seems that the list of people who have made a donation becomes a valuable commercial trading item and many charities sell their donor list on the open market to increase their money flow.

Charity collecting is now big business.  Most approaches are the work of paid advertising consultants and there is a disturbing new trend of appeal letters containing gifts in the hope of obligating the receiver to donate.  Initially, this used to take the form of a personalised name and address label that the user might stick on the back of outgoing mail, but in recent times the value has increased.  Sometimes it is expensive looking pens, or a selection of birthday or Christmas cards.   There seems to be a race to offer the most appealing gift.

The danger here is that an increasing amount of whatever we choose to donate does not find it's way to whatever task the charity is trying to help, but gets absorbed in the costly business of seeking donations.  Often, the biggest part of the charity budget is concentrated on ensuring the incoming money flow and only a mere fraction gets spent on alleviating the misery of the intended victims.

No doubt most charities are indeed worthy causes, but the problem is that there are just too many of them.  Obviously, a portion of the outgoing appeals receive a response, otherwise that approach would cease, but we have no way of knowing how many cents in our charity dollar go into the "advertising budget "of the charity concerned - and how much is spent on "operational funds ".

It is hoped that all charities are subjected to exactly the same auditing procedures that apply to other commercial interests and part of that audit should determine exactly what percentage of every donated dollar reaches the target to which it is intended - and that should be a legislated requirement on all charity literature.

As things stand, the public makes a donation decision with very little knowledge beyond the name and intended purpose of the charity.  It would be helpful if a judgement of that charities effectiveness could be made part of every approach and the obvious standard would be a measure of how much of each charity dollar reached it's target.

That could quickly become the gold standard in attracting donations.  It would sort the efficient charities out from those that just churn out begging letters and have high overheads that absorb much of received donations.   More to the point, it is a task that many donors expect from a diligent government to ensure that their charity donations are not wasted.

Prison Reform !

There is no doubt that prison overcrowding in New South Wales is at desperation point.  We are cramming three prisoners into cells designed to hold a single occupant and this has led to riots that required tear gas to control.  The inability to house new prisoners is putting added pressure on both the courts and the cells that local police stations use for holding prisoners overnight.

This overcrowding manifests itself in people given bail - who should remain locked up - and reoffending by prisoners who have been given early release to ease the pressure.  Now there are moves to reopen Parramatta jail on a temporary basis - and that will simply waste a lot of good money that would be better spent on a long term solution to our prison problem.

Parramatta jail first opened in 1798 - in the convict transportation era - and it was constructed accordingly.   It was designed to hold 580 prisoners under the conditions favoured at that time, and which would not be tolerated today - and the building is now such a wreck that it was closed down and passed into the control of the local Aboriginal Land council.   Before anything can be done, it will be necessary to negotiate with the Land council to sign a lease - and pay rent to reuse this prison.

Kirkonnell - a much smaller jail - was recently reopened and had four million dollars spent on it.  The estimate to partially restore Parramatta will run to many times that figure, and we will still have a prison with a design that harks back to a past century.   Parramatta can never be a modern penitentiary short of demolition and a complete rebuild.

The problem is that prison reform always gets the short end of the stick.   It is said that there are no votes in prison reform.   There are votes in glitzy new road solutions or new trains to serve the suburbs of Sydney and politicians crowd to be at the laying of foundation stones, but spending money on prisons always gets pushed onto the back burner.

There seems to be a quaint notion that crime is some sort of temporary problem - that we will miraculously learn how to reduce one day.   The population of this state continues to expand and part of that increase will be a natural percentage of criminals that we will need to reform.  In some other countries they have learned how to make prisons productive and with an increased rehabilitation success but we are still employing the same methods of a century ago.

The big problem seems to be the "one size fits all " solution to incarceration.  We have the "Supermax "to house very dangerous people at one end of the spectrum and prison farms for those nearing the end of their sentence, but the vast majority are still housed locked away behind bars. Depriving a person of their liberty is an effective form of punishment and the state would benefit from more open institutions tasked with teaching prisoners new skills and making them more productive to offset the cost of their board and keep.  The temptation to escape would be curbed by the reality that to do so would result in a far longer sentence under much tougher conditions.

Instead of restoring crumbling convict era prisons, the money would be better spent on productive centres which would thin out the prison population in the existing  system and make them workable. New construction is always way cheaper than restoration work.   The fact that overcrowding is forcing the government to take action brings with it an opportunity to put in place a new regime that may actually reduce crime.

If the present system is not delivering results, it is time to try something new !

" Driver Assistance " Technology.

Every new car model that appears on the market is relentlessly configured to deliver what the car industry describes as " driver assistance " technology.  The minor items include windscreen wipers that automatically turn on at the first hint of rain and automatic headlights that replace driver decision making and decide when they are needed.   The major items are automatic braking when the car's  computer senses an obstacle ahead, all manner of stability control to sort our road surfaces and whiz bang electronic navigation devices to get us to our chosen destination.

All this is part of the process of developing a car that will drive itself and such test cars are already undergoing proving drives in many parts of the world.  We may be sharing the road with a car with a human sitting behind the wheel, but the actual operation of the car controlled by sensors linked to an on-board computer.   The media gleefully reported a crash when a Google test car managed to collide with a bus and it seems that technology tasked with automatically handling a passing manoeuvre on a multi lane freeway was only saved from disaster when the human grabbed the wheel.

It seems certain that we will progress to cars that drive themselves without any form of human input - and they are probably a lot closer than we think.  But in the interim the mix of technology between models is delivering the sort of driver confusion that can be fatal.  The days when the basic automobile was something that anybody with a driving license could drive and control are long gone.  Jumping from one model into another can confront a driver with a host of innovations with which they are unfamiliar.

That sort of problem has been with us for a long time.  The fact that the world is divided on whether to drive on the right or the left of the road has delivered uncertainty on whether turn indicators and light control are the reverse of our expectation. Many car models which come converted to  right hand drive mode continue to have the turn indicators configured to the left hand drive mode. A driver unfamiliar with that car can cause confounding signal confusion when encountering city traffic, often with unfortunate results.

We are seeing similar problems in the aircraft industry.  Modern aircraft are fast approaching the ability to fly from one airport to another without human input, but some disastrous crashes have been proven to be confusion between human expectation and what has been programmed into the plane's computer - as a safety measure.   At present, the car industry seems to be somewhere in that same no-mans-land of having a driver behind the wheel and his or her car with a mind of it's own when it comes to safety.

This raises the obvious question of license grading, and that is already in place.  When we go for a driving license we either test in a geared or an automatic car, and we are granted a license accordingly.  The average person acclimatizes to the vehicle they own, but there is danger when they find themselves behind the wheel of an unfamiliar car owned by a friend, or supplied while their own car is being serviced.   Even a small difference - like the traffic signal indicator on the opposite side of the wheel column - can be critical to personal safety.

It seems obvious that as the manufacturers develop the self driving car each new model will include features that require new driving techniques and understanding.   It is highly likely that we will need to upgrade our skills and that someone with just the ability to drive the old clunkers of yesteryear would be very unsafe behind the wheel of what the car industry will see as innovation.

It seems that " safety " is a double edged sword !

Saving Your Life !

A heart attack is what ends the life of many Australians and we are constantly urged to get immediate help if we experience chest pains or any of the other symptoms that give early warning.  But what happens if we are alone and far from the availability of summoning that help ?  It seems that there is a form of self medication that is a huge improvement - on just doing nothing !

START COUGHING - REPEATEDLY AND VIGOROUSLY.    A DEEP BREATHE SHOULD BE TAKEN BEFORE EACH COUGH AND THE COUGH SHOULD BE BOTH DEEP AND PROLONGED, AS WHEN PRODUCTING SPUTUM FROM DEEP WITHIN THE CHEST.

BREATHE AND COUGH MUST BE REPEATED EVERY TWO SECONDS UNTIL HELP ARRIVES -  OR THE HEART REGAINS IT'S NORMAL RHYTHM.

DEEP BREATHS GET OXYGEN INTO THE LUNGS AND COUGH MOVEMENTS SQUEEZE HEARTS AND KEEP BLOOD CIRCULATING.

This is a form of self CPR.  We are urged to learn basic CPR so that we may save the lives of others, but in many instances the timing of a heart attack finds us alone.  The above action may not save us from a massive heart attack but it is certainly very helpful and may make the difference between life and death where a less massive attack is under way.

One of the known causes of heart attacks - is obesity.  Fat people put their heart under strain pumping blood around the body and we are urged to mind our diets and have at least a little exercise each day.  Weight loss is now a billion dollar industry and in recent years there have been a rash of new gymnasiums open and most magazines implore us to try the diets they offer to shed a few kilos.It is a known fact that many young women smoke because they believe is assists in weight control.

There are few people who have not at some stage in their life started a diet or undertaken some form of regular exercise to reduce weight - and most have discontinued it either because it failed to deliver what they needed - or it intruded in the way they wanted to live their lives.

There is a form of surgery that comes into play when weight is life threatening.  A stricture surgically inserted reduces the size of the stomach and makes it impossible to over eat.  That is not something to be considered by the faint hearted, and now medical science has come up with a new medical miracle that promises to help people reduce weight - without effort on their part.

Saxenda is a new drug that encourages the natural gut hormones to send a message to the brain that food has arrived in the stomach.  It simply turns off the urge to eat and takes care of the problem for those with an insatiable appetite.

Of course, there are bound to be some sort of side effects and this is not a form of self medication. It takes a daily injection, requiring a daily consultation with a doctor and that raises the obvious problem of the costs involved.

The same problem can be solved by simply down sizing the plate to reduce our meal size - and creating the illusion that the smaller meal on a smaller plate achieves the same image as our former bigger meal.  It is also helpful if we make a habit of a thirty minute brisk walk after the main daily meal.   All that takes is a little personal discipline !

Offering Australia - to Australia !

There is no doubt that self funded retirees in Australia are struggling.  The interest rates offering for term deposits are at an all time low and the Reserve bank is warning that a further cut is possible. In some parts of the world, bank interest is now in negative territory.

The big danger is that people watching their nest egg erode will be tempted to try their luck in risky ventures that promise a much better return, and that can deliver catastrophe for the unwise.   Sheer necessity will drive some families away from the safety of interest bearing term deposits and into the hands of charlatans selling " get rich quick " schemes.   It is in the government's interest to maintain reliable returns for self funded retirees because if they dissipate their superannuation they will join the Centrelink queue and apply for the aged pension.

Recently, the New South Wales government collected a mammoth $ 10.3 billion dollars from the sale of Transgrid.  This huge injection of new funds is financing a decent road system in Sydney and the provision of new rail services.   This money came from an IPO - an Institutional Public Offering - which was taken up by institutional investors in other countries.   Obviously, they would not have offered their money unless they were convinced that owning " poles and wires " in New South Wales was a safe investment that would deliver a good return.

Now the state is proposing to sell a 50.4% stake in both Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy and it is likely that this will also proceed by way of an IPO.   Surely it would make more sense to offer this investment to the Mums and Dads of Australia and let the self funded retirees have a chance to get a decent return on their investment money rather than see it going into foreign hands ?

From a government point of view, an IPO is less messy.  Consortium's put money together for a consolidated bid whereas making an offer to the public to invest runs to a far longer timetable.  The public need to be wooed with a prospectus and like all investments what risks exist need to be spelled out clearly - and any shortfall can be offered on the international market.

There was a recent degree of uproar when Australia's biggest dairy company changed hands and became the property of a foreign buyer.  Strangely, it was owned by New Zealand interests, but the fact that it is now Chinese owned means that the final destination of the milk it produces will be decided in a foreign board room - and may not serve Australian interests.   In fact, it may result in a domestic milk shortage in this country.

The government keeps an eye on our strategic interests from a military point of view but many people believe that investment in land and services is best held in Australian hands and when a sale is proposed, it should at least be offered in the Australian money market.  Any portion not taken up could then be put to international offer.

This sale of Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy has yet to be finalised.   There is definitely a wealth of investment money in private hands - looking for a decent return - and it is likely that if these investments go to an IPO they will be snapped up quickly by foreign institutional investors.
The government would be wise to open this investment opportunity to the Australian public before even thinking of a foreign IPO !

" Sin " Taxes !

It is always tempting for the government to increase " Sin "  taxes when they find themselves short of money and the present budget deficit has probably encouraged the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education to call for a ten percent tax increase on all alcohol to force a reduction in the consumption of what it terms a dangerous product.

The Foundation predicts that raising the price of alcohol by ten percent will bring about a 9.4% reduction in purchases, with consequent benefits in a reduction in public drunkenness and damage to health.  The cynics may smile and suggest that is wishful thinking.

The price of bottles of wine now retailing in the $15 to $ 20 range would rise by about $ 3.80 and a glass of beer served over the bar would rise by about five cents.  The big question is whether the drinking public would be sensible and forego their use of alcohol, or whether they would simply indulge their habit and fund it by spending less on food and other necessities.

We have a classical example of the " unintended consequences "  of punitive price increases right before our eyes - when it comes to tobacco.  It is government policy to eventually end nicotine addiction in Australia and hand in hand with advertising bans and forcing the product into unattractive packaging is a steady regimen of price increases.  Each individual cigarette which used to cost pennies - now has reached the dollar each level, and smoking rates have marginally dropped.

What also has decreased is the flow of tax dollars from tobacco products into Treasury because the slack has been taken up by smugglers.  Customs announce regular seizure of huge amounts of contraband at our ports, but across the retail spectrum it is ridiculously easy to buy both cigarettes in pack form and in what is called "Chop Chop ", loose tobacco used by those who " roll their own " cigarettes.

The penalties are far less for getting caught smuggling tobacco than for importing narcotics and the sheer volumes passing through our ports ensure that smuggling remains very profitable.   It would not take the vision of Nostradamus to predict that if we hike the price of alcohol we are simply making it attractive for the black economy as a new form of contraband.

There is also the option of illicit alcohol production becoming a reality in this country, as happened in America in the days of prohibition.  Setting up a " still " is not difficult and as we have seen in the drug industry, the relentless search for " profit " has seen a rash of drug production kitchens magically appear in suburbia, often with dangerous side effects.

In many cases, illicit alcohol distilled by amateurs can range from raw spirits  of unknown alcohol content, to what is really ethanol - and deadly if imbibed.  That is something that is virtually unknown in this country - and we would be wise to keep it that way.

There is no doubt that alcohol is abused by some members of the public and we have seen some draconian laws enacted to moderate venue timing, but the vast majority use this product in moderation.  If the government is tempted to hike the price to alleviate a budget problem by imposing an unpopular and financially damaging burden on the average person, they are opening the door to the ever watchful crime fraternity.

It is worth remembering that anything we try to restrict immediately acquires a cachet of desirability !

The Powerless !

It is something we in Australia take for granted.  We flick the switch when night falls and the marvel of electricity lights our homes.  It seems strange that while the world population is now more than seven billion people, 1.2 billion live without the reach of electricity and their lives are similar to what we call the " dark ages " !

There are vast parts of sub Sahara Africa and parts of Asia which the electricity grid does not reach and it seems that few are interested in investing in the poles and wires that would bring electricity to the masses because electric power is too easy to steal.   In many areas serviced by the grid less than twenty percent are connected by a meter and huge numbers are served by a mass of private connections.  To make matters worse, many with legal connections are reluctant to pay their bills.

It seems to be an attitude of mind.  Otherwise honest people seem to think that tapping into this invisible stream of matter which enriches their lives is some sort of right.  This destroys the incentive for power companies to extend services.  As fast as they disconnect illegal connections a fresh array of new wires appear almost overnight.   They are lucky if they garner a third of the return for the amount of electricity they generate.

This lack of electricity condemns their societies to poor health, wealth and advancement.  They are breathing the smoky fumes of candles made from animal fat or from kerosene lamps, industry is limited to the use of hand tools - and consequently income is diminished - and education is limited to daylight hours.

Slowly, a new innovation is being offered that not only brings light to where there is darkness but which will hopefully change attitudes.  Some of the charities have melded together innovation with modern technology and micro economics to produce a simple product that must seem near miraculous to those living in the new " dark ages ".

It is a solar collector connected to a rechargeable battery which allows the user to select the power to light from one to six diode light cells, hence how much light is used depends on the needs of the user. Children gain the ability to do homework or read a book.   There is sufficient light for food preparation - and the living area is no longer a dark household.

Mass production has reduced the price of this quality light source to just ten dollars, and that is beyond the means of most people without the use of micro finance.  The dark parts of the world are getting their first experience of what we once termed " credit " or " Hire purchase ".   A few cents down and a few cents a week and they will eventually pay off the item - and own it outright.

It also introduces another aspect of the western world.  Our need for " social elevation ".   Once the household next door has electric light, the motivation is strong to emulate their success.  Very cleverly, these solar/battery/electric generators have the added capacity to charge simple mobile phones, hence for the first time many in a remote village may gain both light - and communications.

The power generating companies hope that the need to pay for their first light source may change attitudes to gaining the benefits of supply from the grid.   If nothing else, exposure to the commercial world will be a new awakening to a people used to barter to gain goods.   Along with basic electricity - has come the world of finance.   For most - life will never again be the same !

The Sexual Revolution !

This weekend an Australian Prime Minister attended as a spectator at the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras.  It was a sign of how far the sexual revolution has progressed - and how far it has yet to go.  We still have migrants who are now Australian citizens subjecting their daughters to genital mutilation in breach of Australian law.   Some young women still experience their first menstruation, ignorant of the cause of this life change because their mothers are afraid to discuss sex.  Some little children are still taught that a flying stork delivers babies.

Many remember the first Sydney Gay Mardi Gras back in 1978.  Huge crowds watched the colourful parade while angry police tried to haul sequin clad participants off floats.  What a difference today.  Now the police join the parade and they have apologised for their actions at that first Mardi Gras - which is a now a world event !

It seems that sex is the last uncrossed frontier.  The laws have changed and homosexuality is no longer a crime.  Opinion polls show that the majority of Australians agree that same sex couples should be allowed to marry, but there is a hard core of opposition on both sides of politics that refuse to put it to a vote. A Labor Senator is resigning because Bill Shorten requires his party to endorse a gay marriage bill   and the government is facing a predicament with holding boat people offshore in Nauru.  Homosexuality is still a crime in Nauru - and two of the detainees are gay.   They face very real physical danger from both within and without and we will undoubtedly receive censure from the United Nations.

Governments are designed to legislate laws that express the will of the people.  That is the purpose of elections.  Nominees  are supposed to answer questions and make promises when they appeal for votes and so far the naysayers have managed to prevent the gay marriage issue coming to a vote where their intentions will be publicly counted.  It has been flick passed into the " too hard " basket - with the promise of a future referendum.

Now a new issue is about to project into the public domain and there is absolute certainty that it will cause widespread dissension..  It is proposed that sexual learning will be introduced into the world of child care and kindergarten.  The aim is to prepare toddlers for the sexual world they will encounter and this will include the entire gambit of those with different sexual views and lifestyles that are present in the community.   The aim is to demystify sex and bring a sense of " normalcy " to the lifestyle of television, magazines and everyday life events that they will encounter as they grow up.

Of course whatever form the curriculum takes some will accuse it of promoting the gay lifestyle, and religion will be used as the basics of many forms of protest.  There will probably be an increase in home schooling to avoid sexual education and many child care centres and kindergartens  provided by church groups will absolutely forbid the discussion of gay lifestyles.

When it comes to matters of sex, progress tends to be incremental.   Look at the difference between that 1978 Gay Mardi Gras and the situation today.   There is no doubt that there will be bitter resistance to sex education for toddlers when this curriculum is introduced, but a decade or so from now many will wonder what all the fuss was about.

It is all a matter of persuading those who prefer to live in the past that those old shibboleths are dead and buried.  The toddlers of today will be the citizens of tomorrow, and hopefully they will live in a more tolerant and open society !

A Missed Opportunity !

The resignation of Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldos has been described by critics of the New South Wales police force in ironic terms.  "  The best Commissioner we never had ".  Kaldos was clearly the man best suited to sort out the labyrinthine inner workings of politics  and schism that entangle the operations of our crime fighting body.

Nick Kaldos rose to Deputy Commissioner the hard way.  He was born in Egypt in 1958 and his Coptic Christian parents moved to Australia in 1969 with Kaldos joining the New South Wales police force in 1981.  He was fluent in three languages and these included French and Arabic, a rare gift at a time when communications between police and migrants from the Middle East were almost nonexistent.

He had an illustrious career and headed up the investigations into the murder of schoolgirl Samantha Knight and the political assassination of MP John Newman.   He was sent overseas to train fledgling police recruits in Iraq and then seconded to the United Nations to investigate the murder of the prime minister of Lebanon.  His stature as a policeman was recognised on the world stage.

Here in Australia he was seen as a " natural " to take on the top job when the present Commissioner  ended his term, but that post was sought by others and a nefarious scheme was put in place that involved having a judge sign off on false documentation that resulted in the homes and offices of a hundred NSW police officers being bugged by Internal Affairs.   Nick Kaldos was a victim of that plot.

It was a witch hunt that abounded with false accusations - and ruined careers. There were mental breakdowns and at least one suicide, and what followed certainly did nothing to enhance the professional reputation of New South Wales police.   Numerous enquiries under insufficient terms of reference meandered endlessly without reaching a conclusion and eventually both a Royal Commission and an enquiry by the Ombudsman petered out - and have yet to deliver a finding.

It is probably a classic case that will become the butt of late night television comedian jokes. A police force that is determined not to follow the most basic of clues and do precisely what it's intended purpose is supposed to be - to solve a crime !  Instead, the investigation goes in ever decreasing circles - and remains clueless !   It seems patently obvious that solving this case would deliver a finding that is incompatible with the politics and pressures that shape the internal workings of the power pyramid.   That is the status quo that has existed for fourteen long years.

The present Commissioner has been asked to extend his term in office and delay retirement because under these circumstances choosing a replacement would shine the spotlight on the divisions that exist within the upper echelon.    It is rumoured that Nick Kaldos has been advised that he will not be the next commissioner and he has decided to walk away from the mess that is the command structure of New South Wales police - and will be head hunted to a senior position in international policing.

An opportunity lost !

Direct Debit Trap !

We are finding that an ever increasing list of services are only available if we agree to pay the monthly fee by way of a direct debit payment from our bank account.  The problem is that each vendor seems to have their own rules on how cancellations will apply and every bank applies different thinking on who has the authority to cancel further payments.

A trading company has just had a $ 200,000 fine imposed because it was found guilty of " misleading " it's customers in applying the rules of trading it imposed on sales.  In particular, it insisted that lay-bys could not be cancelled and direct debits would continue - even after the final payment had been made.

This company allowed it's customers to spread the cost of Christmas by selecting from a catalogue of food and presents and pre-paying by way of regular monthly payments.  It seems that each years input did not cease with the pre-Christmas delivery and those direct debit payments continued to amass funds for a similar trade for the coming year.   Once you became a customer it was extremely difficult to withdraw from the scheme.

This raises the question of contract terms.  Unless this is clearly stated it tends to be resolved only on the interpretation in the minds of either the company or the customer, who may have entirely opposite thoughts.  In this case, the court found that the interpretation adopted by the company was deliberately misleading.

Unfortunately, direct debit seems to have no clear rules applying.  When a customer changes the source of supply of a service it is unclear whether that customer must cancel the direct debit for the cancelled service, or if that would automatically be done by the previous supplier.  In many cases, the customer only discovers that the direct debit is still applying when he or she checks their bank statement - and starts the procedure for a refund.

The rules that apply to cancellations also differ between banks, credit unions and Building Societies when it comes to cancellation authority.   Some insist that these can only be cancelled by the receiving party while others grant that to the payee. Some will take action only on a written instruction while others will act on verbal instruction.  It all seems to change from institution to institution.

The recent sharp increase in postal charges seems certain to increase direct debit as the required method of payment for many more services, and a new trend is emerging where even annual fees now attract a discount if the customer agrees to " automatic renewal " by lodging credit card details to come into effect on the renewal date.

It is claimed that this " lock in " renewal discount is a reward for avoiding the cost of printing and postage to remind the customer that renewal will shortly occur, and once in place it replaces the option of renewal decision and bonds the buyer solidly to the supplier.  Cancellation then becomes a necessity of direct action on the part of the customer.

It would be helpful if the application of direct debit was covered by Federal law, to remove the different thinking that applies state by state and by the various payee institutions that process these payments.  A clear set of rules needs to apply to what seems likely to become the future method of payment for most personal and household services as we adope to what is becoming the " electronic age " !

Coagulation !

A news story about parole will certainly have the " Lock 'em up and throw away the key " brigade frothing at the mouth and screaming like Banshees !   It seems that a now twenty-six years old man was released from jail after serving eighteen months of a two and a half year sentence imposed for having sex with a thirteen year old girl.

He made the journey from prison to his home by train and in the carriage he encountered two girls, aged fifteen and sixteen, and struck up a conversation with them.  He convinced them to accompany him to a park in the western suburbs and bought a quantity of liquor, later returning to the liquor outlet to top up his supplies - and it is alleged that he raped the sixteen year old.  He is now back behind bars and he will face court again next month.

That certainly is a contender for the title of the fastest re-offender. It seems that parole is an automatic sequence in cases where the sentence is three years or less - and the judge stipulates the minimum time to be served.  The prison authorities prepare a report on the prisoner and one of the terms of the release requires the offender to report to a nominated parole officer for further supervision.

This mans pre-release report noted that he had a history of ignoring supervisory orders and had a moderate to high risk of re-offending.   It recommended inclusion in a sex offenders re-training programme but noted that this take two years to complete.

Pressure is building to make parole much harder to earn and for a far tougher regimen to apply to those who are released, but this totally ignores the explosive overcrowding that currently exists in our prisons.  We are presently putting three people into jail cells designed for a single inmate and often the early release of minor offenders is conditional on the prisons being able to accept those convicted of more serious crimes.

Imposing further restrictions on parole release risks coagulation with minor prisoners clogging prison arteries and bringing the system to a stand still.  Every day a vast number of prisoners complete their initial term of imprisonment and are given early release on parole, and the vast majority return home without incident.  It is the exceptional offender who flouts the rules and attracts media attention which brings the whole system into disrepute.

Supervision while on parole is a thankless task imposed on an under strength army of parole officers. The only real weapon in their armoury is the revocation of parole and the return of the parolee to prison, but given the overcrowding that is reserved for the most serious violations.  There is the expectation that a high proportion of offenders will return to some sort of crime and in many cases that will involve drugs.   Fortunately, re-offending within hours of release is rare !

If we seriously expect to toughen up the parole system and impose a draconian regimen of release supervision the taxpayers will have to put his or her hand in their pocket and shell out for many new prisons and an expanded number of parole officers.   That can not be achieved within the scope of what serves our state at this moment.

It is the usual contrast between what is ideal - and what is practical.  Our prison system is what the taxpayer is prepared to pay for, and the results are delivered accordingly !