The " Twin " Evils !

It seems strange that the things that are killing the majority of Australian citizens are the opposite of each others tastes.   We are likely to die because we absorb too much sugar, or because our body is absorbing too much salt.

Even stranger, these " Evil Twins " seem to be freely on offer just about everywhere that food is sold to the public.   When we patronise a restaurant or a coffee shop, sitting on the table in front of us are pepper and salt shakers - and some form of sugar.

We are constantly warned to reduce the amount of sugar going into our bodies and the medical people despair at our salt levels.  The visible outcome from too much sugar is obesity.  The damage from too much salt is less visible, but sufferers will surely increase the risk of kidney disease and it is known to contribute to cardio vascular problems.

The main thrust of the anti sugar campaign is singling out sugar heavy soda drinks.   These drinks are heavily promoted on supermarket shelves and manufacturers are urged to reduce the sugar content. Unfortunately, it is that sweet taste that users are after and people who consume several cans of soft drink a day are unable to avoid an unhealthy sugar level in their bodies.

Salt is even more insidious.  It is the ingredient that makes most processed food so tasty and about seventy percent of the salt in our bodies comes from that source.  Unfortunately, where manufacturers heed the pleas of the health people and reduce the salt content the product loses taste appeal - and customers switch brands to another with a higher salt level.

This matter of salt and sugar reduction to improve the nation's health has been a conundrum for the government.  There is an obvious reluctance to dictate the extent that they are present in food and the main impetus has been on public education.  By law, food products now require a disclosure on their label of both the sugar and salt levels.   The onus is on the buyer to make healthy decisions when making a purchase.

Unfortunately, the human body quickly develops what is known as a " taste memory ".  That is the reason we add sugar to tea or coffee, and why most traditional meals end with a dish referred to as " Sweets ".   That level of sugar content becomes "normal " to satisfy our taste and if it is missing we tend to add to it.

That same addiction applies to salt.  To many people, drinking a beer needs to be accompanied by a salty snack.   That is why salty potato chips are so popular. or pretzels or salted peanuts.  Most beers themselves have both a high sugar and salt level in their composition.

The medical profession is becoming more strident in warning us that unless we reduce the intake of both sugar and salt we will experience elevated levels of cardio vascular disease, stroke, kidney disease and the afflictions that are shortening life spans.

It is unlikely that salt and sugar will disappear from the tables at cafes and restaurants.   With improved education, just less people actually using them !

Punishment - and the Death Penalty !

Plans are being drawn up to to build a mini "Supermax " within the existing state prison at Long Bay.  The problem with the original Supermax at Goulburn is that it is a two hour drive from Sydney and that is costing both time and money transferring dangerous prisoners to and from for court appearances and medical evaluation.

This work will be purely a temporary measure.   The Long Bay prison is on valuable housing land needed to expand the Sydney housing stock and it will be demolished once a replacement is built in a yet to be decided rural location.

Many people will be wondering about our policy in housing the ever growing number of Islamic State terrorists held in our prison system.  It is necessary to keep them separated from one another - and the general prison population - because their efforts to plan terrorist attacks are ongoing and they actively try and convert others to their religious point of view.

A case raging in the media concerns Australian Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash who was a front man in Islamic States drive to recruit followers in Australia.  He openly urged radicalized youth to slit the throats or decapitate ordinary Australian men, women and children in the streets and he achieved a degree of success.   Two radicals were shot to death by police after attacks, and in one instance a police accountant was brutally murdered.

Prakash was caught slipping out of Syria into Turkey and now Australia is seeking his extradition to Australia.   To many people that sounds insane !  Half a dozen other countries want to deliver justice for his crimes and some of them still condone the death penalty.  If we bring him here and put him before a court he will get a life sentence and that will cost us millions housing him in a high security prison for the rest of his life.

Perhaps we need a re-think on that death penalty question.  A century ago that  "a life for a life " attitude still prevailed, but the courts were starting to look closely at the events that led to acts of murder.  Today, murder usually brings a twenty year sentence.  It is only the most depraved of killings that now attract a "whole of life "sentence with the case marked "never to be released ".

We abandoned the death penalty for a number of reasons.  High on that list was concern that an innocent person might be convicted - and executed.  Can there be a more despicable crime than trying to create an army of killers willing to snuff out the life of innocents simply because they do not follow the form of religion favoured by their host ?

We may find it repugnant to even consider reintroducing the death penalty in this country but many of those following terrorist regimes are on the "wanted " list of other countries.  In many cases they have fought in foreign wars and are responsible for atrocities on foreign soil.   We would do our country a service by acceding to deportation requests even where the outcome may lead to that persons execution.

Perhaps it is time to retreat from refusal to grant deportation to countries that retain the death penalty.  There is no doubt that the presence of Islamic State terrorists in our prison system is both creating tensions and increasing costs - and there is the expectation that this will be ongoing.

This terrorist creed welcomes martyrdom and death.    Removing them from our prison system delivers mutual benefits !

Fidel Castro !

The man who presided as president of the tiny island of Cuba for nearly fifty years and established a Communist state on America's doorstep is dead at ninety.   He was both reviled and admired across the world and he certainly left his mark on history

Cuba had been part of the mighty Spanish  empire and towards the end of the nineteenth century that empire was in serious disarray.  The Spanish/American war of 1898 was a Spanish defeat and both Cuba and the Philippines came under American control.   It was not American policy to annex countries won in wars and so both were ruled by American proxy, with dictators installed in office.  Cuba became an American playground with gambling casinos under the control of criminal interests.

The Castro name came to world prominence on New Years eve 1959 when Fidel Castro led a revolutionary army out of the hills and into Havana and deposed dictator Fulgencio Batista.   He installed a Communist regime and swept away all forms of capitalism.   US efforts to unseat him were unrelenting and led to the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 which was a serious embarrassment to President John Kennedy.  Castro was to go on and outlast nine US presidents.

The world came close to nuclear war in 1962.  Fidel Castro conspired with Russian leader Nikita Kruschev to secretly install missile batteries on Cuba and this led to a sea embargo by the US navy.  For thirteen days the world held its breathe - and then Kruschev capitulated and the missiles were removed.

Cuba under the green fatigue clad, cigar smoking Castro was an enigma.  Health and education were free of charge to all citizens, but no private enterprise was allowed and citizens were paid in a currency that had no value outside the island.   Very quickly Cubans began to put to sea in boats, trying to cross the Florida strait and migrate to America.  Cuba became a virtual prison and America gained a vast number of new citizens with intense anti Castro feelings.

The United States was openly hostile to Cuba and it is rumoured that the CIA entertained plans to assassinate Castro.  He was famous for the length of his speeches and set a record in 1960 when he addressed the United Nations in New York for four hours and twenty-nine minutes.   The Cuban economy was propped up by Russia and when the Soviet Union collapsed the island was no longer commercially viable and slipped into abject poverty.  Fidel Castro's health declined and in 2006 he relinquished control in favour of his brother Raul.

The long cold war between America and Cuba eased in 2012 when President Obama and Raul Castro held face to face meetings and since then diplomatic relations have been reestablished.  Cuban is slowly abandoning the rigours of Communism and Americans will soon be free to openly visit the island.

Fidel Castro was admired by many people with leftish views.  He claimed that Communist Cuba was a utopia, but the fact that he had to imprison those caught trying to escape the island was a common theme of other Communist states scattered across the world.   Utopia does not seem to be an apt description of those forced to endure a regime they are powerless to change.

Castro was certainly a larger than life figure and he will be prominently recorded in the history account of the twentieth century.

Communal Living !

It is a fact of Australian life that those living in a house on a quarter acre block of land are fast diminishing and being replaced by apartment blocks where the residents are subject to strata by-laws to govern the new art of communal living.   As the ratio of those who smoke some form of tobacco retreat these by-laws to control tobacco smoke become more restrictive.

In many cases, the body corporate simply passes a by-law that outlaws smoking in all areas of common property and that includes the car park, grounds and entrances.   The area of controversy is then concentrated on apartments that have their own individual balconies, and that can cause huge friction where a smoking family finds themselves next door to a fanatical non smoker.

The law is very firm on tenants rights.   Smoking is a perfectly legal habit that a smoker is free to practice within the confines of their home, and those who pay rent to occupy an apartment certainly have the right to regard it as their home.   The problem is that their tobacco smoke may not remain within those four walls - and if it becomes invasive and drifts into another residents home it opens a huge bag of legal worms.

One hotly debated topic is the issue of smoking on those balconies.  They are usually open to the weather and the typical balcony has an identical appendage located above and below - and to either side.   Each of these is regarded as an integral part of the residents "home " and yet smoke from one balcony is free to enter the domain of several others.

This right to smoke on an individual apartments balcony has been to court many times without a definitive answer.   It usually devolves to negotiations between the aggrieved parties and some sort of compromise.  It can result in ongoing neighbourly friction in many apartment blocks.

New strata laws that come into effect next week will tend to tip the balance in favour of those complaining about tobacco smoke.   Where fumes from people smoking drift into nearby apartments this is being termed a "nuisance "by the body corporate, although the issue of smoking on balconies has not been made clear.

The government is seeking to create a "safety valve " for unit blocks by suggesting that body corporates consider setting aside a designated are of common property as a smoking area. Obviously, this would need to be located where smoke could not easily drift into other apartments but it would defuse the refusal of smoking rights entirely.

Perhaps this might require application of what is now called the "Seventy five percent " law that applies to the consent needed to force the sale of all units for a building to be demolished and renewed.   If setting aside a smoking area requires a hundred percent approval by residents then the objection of one anti smoking fanatic would deem that compromise to failure.

Applying the seventy-five percent ratio of approval would certainly introduce the prospect of a more harmonious settlement in a gathering of fair minded people !

" Low Pay " Trials !

Employing young people as "Interns " is a common practice in many other countries and it is being suggested for trial here as a means of reducing youth unemployment.  Unfortunately, this terminology means different things to different people and we need hard and fast rules to ensure it doesn't allow unscrupulous employers to churn through an endless stream of low paid workers who never succeed in finding a permanent job.

The Australian "Trial Hire Bill "before the parliament is a tentative plan to offer twelve week internships at a pay rate of two hundred dollars a fortnight.   This falls below the minimum pay scales already in place but it is said to deliver an important benefit.   The young worker gains work experience in the industry that offers this facility, and he or she has a good chance of being offered a permanent job if they show talent.

The suggested hours are being challenged by the Australian Council of Social Services, who suggest that Interns work a thirty hour week instead of the fifty hours in the proposal.  This would bring their rate of pay more into alignment with the minimum pay structure in place.   The bill has passed the lower house and is awaiting consideration by the Senate.

There seems a doubt that Interns would be covered by workers compensation and insurance. In some overseas countries Internships are entirely voluntary.  No pay is involved and the entire concept is based on getting work experience.  These are often highly sought after opportunities and when they occur in prestige companies or in government departments influential parents bring pressure to bear to place their sons or daughters to the fore front.

No doubt this bill will stir the usual political controversy in the Senate.  It is likely that Labor and the Greens will seek amendments and the ACOSS input will be assessed.  It seems certain that Internships in other countries will form part of these discussions, and the outcomes have been mixed.

In America Internships within the government are highly prized and sought after - and subjected to political influence.  Internships are often allocated as a form of reward that a politician can bestow as a favour to a constituent.  A similar scheme in Ireland was terminated when difficulties emerged and in Britain there is controversy over whether the idea is delivering value for money.

There seems little doubt that some unscrupulous employers will see Internships as a way of hiring cheap labour.   There is a danger that it could be used to replace permanent employees with an endless stream of temporary workers at very low rates of pay - none of whom would have any hope of attracting a permanent position.

It certainly has value when the employers intention is to genuinely seek talented entrants to augment their work force and the employees are not merely attending to escape pressure on the dole queue. The difficulty will be in framing the terms that apply to clamp down on the inevitable rorting and deliver Internships as a valuable tool in producing job opportunities.

Sadly, many government schemes fail such practical applications !

An Inevitable Conclusion !

Megan Latham, the sitting head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption  ( ICAC ) has fallen on her sword - and resigned.  That was an inevitable outcome set in place many months ago when ICAC chose to ignore a ruling by the High Court of Australia, the supreme legal body of this country.

ICAC commenced an investigation of Margaret Cunneen, one of New South Wale's top prosecutors on the grounds that her advice to her son's girlfriend to claim chest pains to delay a breath test after an accident to a vehicle she was driving was a form of corruption.  The full resources of ICAC were deployed.  Phones were tapped.and items seized.   It began to take the shape of a personal vendetta.

Margaret Cunneen took the matter to the High Court and challenged the ICAC's jurisdiction to investigate her.  The High Court narrowed the interpretation of "corrupt conduct "under the ICAC act. Consequently the NSW Solicitor General advised that she should not face charges over material referred to the ICAC.

This was ignored.  The only conclusion that continued investigation of Margaret Cunneen delivered was that ICAC considered itself superior to the highest judicial body in Australia, and as a state body that was both an impertinence and legally indefensible.   The only question was precisely how ICAC would be disciplined.

An ICAC Commissioner has similar tenure to a judge.  Dismissal requires this to be done by the New South Wales Governor on "the address of both houses of parliament ".  The government needs to introduce a motion and have it passed by the upper and lower houses.   The NSW government decided to taske a very different approach.

The government decided to "reform "the structure of ICAC by abolishing Megan Lathams position in favour of creating a "troika " of three commissioners.  Megan Latham would be invited to apply for one of these positions.  Basically, it skirted the area of removing a Commissioner in favor of "restructuring " ICAC in a wider governing mode.

This move will bring a degree of political posturing.  It will be claimed that the present government is ensuring that ICAC will  hesitate to investigate members of whichever party is in power in this state. In the past, the body has unseated two premiers and several ministers and uncovered evidence of illegal donations to party funds that have been damaging.

At the same time, the business community has been critical of ICAC motives in conducting its investigations.  It has similar powers to a Royal Commission and it's investigative techniques have been described as similar to "pulling the wings off butterflies ".    Often the line of questioning has little direct relation to the matter under investigation.

If nothing else, this will deliver an unmistakable message in legal circles that the "pecking order "  must be retained.    The High Court is at the top of the legal pyramid and its rulings can not be challenged !

Corporate Crime !

What an interesting can of worms  the Australian parliament is thinking of bringing into law.  The debate has been examining ways to protect whistle blowers who have the courage to drag corporate crime into the public arena, often at the expense of their careers.

In the arcane world of politics, that can mean different things to different people.  In recent years we have had a litany of scandals where those at the peak of the union movement have been virtually unchecked in their access to members funds.  Evidence emerged of high living, including the hiring of prostitutes, lavish dinners and unauthorised travel.  This has been hugely embarrassing to politicians with a close association with the union movement.

The banks came under adverse scrutiny when it was revealed that customers who had gone to them for financial advice had been steered into schemes where commissions enriched their adviser but failed to provide the security being sought.  In the majority of such cases the matter comes to public notice when a whistle blower chose to speak out - and often produces hard evidence to support the claim.

At present, the authorities have a limited degree of protection they can offer such whistle blowers.  If that person is not instantly dismissed, they at least can be certain  that their career path has ended.  It is now being proposed that legislation enable whistle blowers to be granted a substantial financial reward for their courage in coming forward be guaranteed.

Both of the major political parties views that proposal with apprehension.  The Labor side of politics is dismayed that financial rewards would probably shine a spotlight into the murky world of unions, and the coalition would fear that Australian firms contracting in countries where bribery is the only way to secure business contracts would suffer exposure.

If this proposal is to be legislated into being it will be because it receives the assent of the balancing  segment of the Senate - and they are demanding that is apply equally across the political spectrum.  They demand that whistle blowers be protected - in all and any circumstances.

It seems to be the American model that is finding favour here.  The Securities and Exchange Commission can reward whistle blowers by granting them a share of the fine imposed by the court for the offence detected - and that could run to millions of dollars.   There is a real danger that such a reward would create a breed of "corporate bounty hunters " who infiltrate the business world solely to sniff out exposure opportunities.

It would not be beyond the bounds of reality that with the lure of such rich rewards such people might edge others towards indictable crime as a means of gaining this reward strategy.  Obviously it is in the public interest to reduce crime in all aspects of the business world - but that pearl of wisdom needs to apply.   Be careful what you wish for !

Miscalculations !

The surprise result of the Orange by-election certainly shook the New South Wales government.  A seat that had been firmly in the Nationals grasp for seventy years changed hands and was won by the Fishers and Shooters party by a margin of just fifty votes.

The pundits attribute voter ire to just two main issues.   The forced amalgamation of many councils - and the ban on greyhound racing in this state.  Surprisingly, the beneficiary of this turn against the Nationals was not the opposition Labor party.   The turnout for the Fishers and Shooters just emphasised  the growing voter disdain for the traditional political brands and the swing to splinter parties that is tending to "Balkinize " parliaments.

Certainly that decision to slap a ban on greyhound racing was sudden and without any sort of public discussion - and it was quickly reversed. No doubt it was a miscalculation of the numbers that support that sport.  To many people it smacked of sheer arrogance.

The move on amalgamating councils faces illogical opposition.   Many are hovering on the brink of bankruptcy and if they go under they will inflict financial ruin on their householders. Amalgamation brings the benefit of economy of scale.  Without that, the backlog of work awaiting finance will spin out of control.

It is evident that many voters have lost confidence in the political system in all levels of government. The old days of a nation fairly evenly split between the Liberals/Nationals on one hand and the Socialist Labor party on the other seem to be over.   The "swing vote "is widely distributed and the prospect of minor parties holding the balance of power has become a reality.

What fazes many rational voters is the ongoing inability of whoever is in government to predict when we will have a balance budget.  There are constant promises of a future date - which are quickly refuted as that draws near.  It is plain to all that a deficit budget is not sustainable indefinitely.

The task of Treasurer is not a happy one. All avenues of expenditure are deemed to be "essential " and yet in combination they make a balanced budget impossible.  Years ago the government realised that pensions were a monster growing out of control.  It enacted legislation to make employers contribute to their employees pension plan and there was hope that eventually the majority of people would retire without the need for government support.   That dream has not been realised.

Now this retirement issue is facing a new threat.  We have a housing price bubble that has seen dwellings in major cities escalate into million dollar price brackets.  The family home is excluded from the pension asset test, and yet should a householder realise on that asset at retirement they would be deemed too rich to draw the pension.

That is the "Elephant in the room " that the government chooses to ignore.  Both sides of politics know that including the family home in the assets test will trigger a backlash of voter ire that would strike them from office, and yet vast numbers of people enjoy a level of wealth far in excess of that of non property owners.

That seems to be the issue that eventually needs to be solved.   It is probably the fulcrum against which a balanced budget can become a reality !

"Schapelle " Comes Home !

No doubt the editors of Australian women's magazines are jockeying to arrange a paid interview deal now that the "Schapelle Corby " story is reaching its final conclusion.  On May 27 next year Schapelle will reach the end of her parole in Bali and the Indonesian government will serve a deportation order and put her on a plane back to Australia.

This all started way back on October 8, 2004 when customs officers at Denpasar airport in Bali discovered four kilograms  of Marijuana in a passengers boogie-board bag.   That passenger was twenty-four year old Schapelle Corby, a beautiful Australian girl who denied any knowledge of how this drug got into her luggage.

Schapelle became a media sensation.  She was held in the notorious Kerobokan prison and her prolonged trial became almost a running soap opera.   The Indonesian authorities were relentless and she was convicted - and ordered to serve a twenty year prison sentence.  Appeal after appeal followed and the sentence was commuted to fifteen years - and the media kept its interest.  Schapelle was the subject of several books, a mini TV series and regular updates on her life behind bars.  Finally, she was granted parole and ordered to serve the rest of her sentence under the spotlight in the Bali community.

Now thirty-nine, she will have to learn to integrate into an Australia that has vastly changed since her absence.  No doubt having family will help and the fact that her incarceration has made her a celebrity will ensure that she does not lack for money.   Australia was fascinated by her arrest in Indonesia and widely split over her guilt or innocence.   For the first time, they will get a first hand opportunity to hear how this long saga unfolded.

Deportation is a topical subject here at the moment.  When a terrorist sympathiser has served prison for their crimes we kick them out of the country if they are not Australian citizens.  What is surprising is the number of people who are not Australian citizens and who have no idea that the spectre of deportation would apply to them if they were ever convicted of a serious crime.

After the end of the second world war Australia was very aware of the "populate or perish " threat that our presence in a crowded Asia delivered.   We opened our doors to refugees from Europe and in particular we subsidized migration from the British Isles with the "Ten pound Pom " scheme.  Basically, the Australian government picked up the tab and residents of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales got a six week boat trip to Australia in exchange for ten English pounds.

As a further inducement, those coming from the British Isles were granted rights not available to non British migrants.   They were not required to apply for Australian citizenship to be eligible to vote in Federal, state or council elections.  In the minds of many such people, they assumed that they had been granted automatic Australian citizenship.

This was confusing for babies arriving with their parents.  When they reached school age they were accepted into a local school and if someone asked their nationality they would confidently claim to be Australian, and when they came of age they would be granted the same voting rights as their parents. For all intents and purposes they believed they were Australian.

Unfortunately, the precise letter of the law delivers a different outcome.   Without making the effort to seek and obtain Australian citizenship they are foreigners and should they be convicted of a serious crime, on release they would be deported to their country of birth -  Britain.

Perhaps if nothing else,  Schapelle Corby's deportation back to Australia may serve a useful purpose if it reminds many now old Australians who came here as young children to check their immigration status.  Some will find - to their horror - that they are merely "granted residency " rather than Australian citizens as far as the law is concerned.

Revenue Raising !

One of the pet gripes of New South Wales motorists is the impunity of cyclists when it came to obeying the road laws that are so so heavily inflicted on car drivers by the police.  This two wheeled brigade ignores traffic signals and stop signs, often in the presence of the police - who take no action.   It reinforced the conviction in many motorists minds that the road safety laws were a sham - and that these fines on car drivers were simply a form of revenue raising.

Occasionally these complaints would hit a raw political nerve and orders from the minister would produce a police blitz on cyclists behaviour.  It usually lasted a mere matter of days - and then the usual police apathy returned.  It was interesting to talk to one of the Highway Patrol cops and hear their stories.

The police did have valid gripes.  Establishing the identity of an erring rider was a problem.  Neither the bicycle nor its rider were required to display or have on their person any form of identification.  They could give a false name and address - with impunity.  After one of these police blitzes on cycling the debt recovery office was usually inundated with returned fine demands notated "Not at this address "- or "  Person unknown ".   To add insult to injury, the fine involved was minuscule.

All that changed on March 1 this year. Cycling fines which had gone unchanged for decades were sharply revised upwards.   The penalty for riding without wearing a safety helmet jumped from $71 to $ 319.   Running a red light or failing to come to a complete halt at a "Stop " sign " increased from $ 71 to $ 425.  Police interest in bicycle riding law breaches intensified - and fines imposed have exceeded a million dollars.

Many people contend that a mix of cycles and cars can never be safe on main city roads and country highways.  The risk of a conflict between a low speed bike and a higher speed car delivers an incompatibility that can not be reduced by law applications.   The fact that public money has been spent creating bicycle paths around the city seems to be testament to exactly that concern.   What is lacking is a law change that should require their use.

Many car drivers are confounded to encounter cyclists riding on busy roads where a dedicated cycle path is running parallel with it - and that is perfectly lawful.   It would seem very reasonable to expect the law to require cyclists to use cycle paths for their own safety and not dice with death where sharing with other traffic can be avoided.

When that March law change increased fines for cycling offences it also imposed new responsibilities on car drivers with regard to cyclists.   Car traffic is now required to maintain a one metre clearance when passing a cyclist on streets with a sixty kilometre per hour speed limit, and increase that safety margin to one and a half metres where a higher speed applies.    Since that law came into force, just fifteen such fines have been levied.

The police claim this new law is unworkable.  It is impossible for an observer to accurately measure the separation distance between a car and a rider, and yet that would be the evidence the officer is required to present in court.   At best, an officer could testify that "in their opinion " the distance appeared to be less than the one metre required by law.   That is hardly proof of guilt and many magistrates would instantly dismiss the charge.

It seems that this constant war between the two wheeled and the four wheeled brigades is set to continue !

Personal Honesty !

How honest is the average citizen ?   It is impossible to deliver a definitive answer to that question because honesty is directly geared to the circumstances of temptation.   A person who would never even think of shoplifting items from a store might not hesitate to pocket a bundle of banknotes  that fell off a passing money truck.   Usually that lapse into dishonesty is a spur of the moment evaluation between risk and reward.

In recent years the public have been treated to sordid publicity on the prosecution of Trustees who have diverted union funds for their own use.  The stories that have played out in court are lurid. Funds have been dispersed for the hiring of prostitutes, alcohol, luxury travel and expensive personal items which have run to tens of thousands of dollars.  In most cases there is little hope of any substantial recovery of the money lost.

Once again the misuse of union funds is drawing headlines.    The forty-five year old secretary of the National Union of Workers is facing charges of misappropriating $ 440,000 of funds under his control and the unions female Accounts Manager, ( 43 ) of delving into funds to the tune of $ 430,000.    It is alleged that the money was spent on Tiffany's jewellery,toys, an online dating service, personal travel - and even a Tattoo.

It is an all too familiar scenario.  Union members are charged fees to fund the union services that protect them and usually the secretary and other fund officers are elected to office from the rank and file.  Getting elected to union officeholder is a path to power and some go on to serve on the national body or get elected to parliament.   Sadly, few have even a rudimentary accounting skill.   The scene is ripe for corruption.

The union movement is a broad church.  Some unions are run efficiently by dedicated officeholders and serve their members well.   Others are little more than a criminal gang seeking to extort from the industry they serve in a combative role.   The union movement is beholden to a political party and often its direction is serving a political end rather than bringing benefit to its members.  The political choice of individual union members is totally ignored.

Legislation is before parliament to create a statutory body to reign in the outlaw practices of militant unions.    This is being violently opposed by both the union movement and its political benefactor and passage into law is not assured.   To achieve its purpose, it is hoped that union funds would be protected from the depredations of officeholders by being insulated under the control of recognised accounting houses.

There is historical evidence that union funds are not safe when their dispersal is entirely in the hands of an elected secretary who may not be skilled in recognised commercial practice.  If those funds were lodged with an accounting firm invoices for services would get a professional scrutiny and any purchase made on a credit card would need to meet legal parameters - and be accompanied by a relevant receipt.

One of the reasons the union movement has shrinking membership can be attributed to the constant bad publicity about misuse of members funds.   It is evident that some officeholders treat the union treasury as their own personal piggy bank.    The rules that currently apply do nothing to reduce that element of temptation.

This ethos of personal honesty is not enhanced when members of parliament are chastised for exceeding their entitlements !

Legal Recreational Use of Marijuana !

The contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton not only mesmerized America.   Finding out who will command the most powerful nation on the planet - and its nuclear arsenal - kept the entire world glued to their television sets as the vote count rolled on.

American politics is like no other.  Not only do they not directly elect their president, the final decision is made by a curious number of appointees who vote according to the political content of each state, with the voting power dictated by that states population numbers.   Whoever gains the magic number of two hundred and seventy votes - wins the contest !

American presidential elections also deliver another unusual aspect of democracy.   It is possible to ask the voters to approve or reject "propositions " which the individual states consider to be too contentious for them to decide.   A number of states asked their people to make a decision on making Marijuana legal for recreational use.

This is not an entirely new issue.   This same question got approval in a similar manner at previous elections and "Pot " is a legal substance sold over the counter in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Washington and the District of Columbia.    It is also available in medical form in several other states.

This constitutes a clash between state and Federal governments.  Under Federal law Marijuana is and remains a banned drug.  The states that have legalized it have the problem of Federal law forbidding banks to conduct normal banking operations for shops that sell that product.  They can not bank their daily takings and that creates an enormous security problem.    There is pressure to relax Federal law and so far that has been declined.

This just concluded election saw a fresh ballot to legalize the recreational use of Marijuana put to the people and it won the numbers in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada.   In the eyes of many legal people, it has now passed that tipping point where legalization must become universal in the United States.

Until now, legality has occurred in the lesser states and the Federal authorities have chosen to ignore what they see as a serious breach of the law.  Suddenly, the biggest state in the union which has the world's sixth largest economy will make this a legal product.   Twenty percent of the entire population of the United States will be legally entitled to use Marijuana for recreational purposes.  The decision of California to defy Washington is bringing change  to the whole aspect of drug use.

Marijuana - or "Hemp " as it was formerly known - was a legal product used by some sections of society for recreational smoking during the earlier part of the twentieth century.   Somehow it got lumped with Opium and Heroin when a drug culture emerged after the end of the second world war.  Harsh laws were enacted and for many years people were sentenced to prison terms for getting caught with minor quantities of this substance.  In today's Australia, those caught with a "joint "are usually released with a caution.

Smoking Marijuana produces a similar "high "to the drinking of alcohol.   Some medical people consider it less harmful than alcohol and if it is legalized it will put a huge dent in the drug trade.  Already it is achieving legality in countries that include Uruguay - and now Canada.  Its legalization in California is simply too great a population segment of the American nation for this legalization anomaly to be ignored.

It has taken a long time for sanity to prevail.   The fact that Marijuana has been lumped in with other drugs under a total prohibition order has actually brought many users into contact with hard drugs because of its illegality.    That vote in California is likely to have ripple effects across the entire world !

Personal Security.

Most people are annoyed when they receive a phone call that interrupts the evening meal and the caller is a telemarketer trying to deliver a high pressure sales spiel.   At the same time, the daily mail usually contains appeals from various charities asking for a donation.  Many people wonder how they managed to get on the call listing of an overseas call centre.

One complainant tells a curious story that tends to explain this phenomenon.   He became self employed and registered a trading name.  When he opened a bank account in that name there was a clerical error on the banks part and that trading name was spelt incorrectly.  The moment he realised that the cheque book issued contained the spelling error he had the bank correct it - and gave the matter no further thought.

Just days later he began receiving incoming mail addressed to that incorrect company name and each was an appeal from a charity for a donation.   The only time that incorrect name had been recorded was when the bank made the error and so it was perfectly obvious that was where the security leakage had occurred.

In todays world your name and address are valuable, even more so if that information includes your phone number.   Every time you encounter a situation which requires you to give that information, there is a high chance that the details will put money in someones pocket when they are leaked to a specialised company compiling mailing lists.

The " bait " to get you to hand over that information is cleverly presented.  A flood of email spam offers entrance into competitions with marvellous prizes.  All that is required is for you to fill in an entry form so they know where to send the prize.

You regularly make a small donate to your favourite charity - and they always mail you a receipt because such donations are tax deductible.  Many charities make extra money by selling their mailing list on the open market, to the highest bidder.

For a long time gleaning names and addresses were the main requirement of the direct marketing trade.  They could lookup the phone number in the phone book and telemarketers only called on fixed line calls because mobile phone calling charges were considered too expensive.  Today, that has changed and your mobile number has become a valuable item.

Australian industry has adopted the cost saving of having their product servicing enquiries handled in low wage overseas countries.   When you need help with a computer network access problem or your phone service is interrupted you are probably talking to a highly trained operative in India or the Philippines - and obviously they need to know your details to help with your problem.

The chances are that whenever you need to identify yourself, there is a very good chance that this information will find its way onto a telemarketer listing.   You can also be sure that your information is being sliced and diced to add further input.   Each time your name comes up a little more information is added.    Where you shop ?   What you buy ?   What interests you have that can be gleaned from the type of enquiries you make ?   All this allows the telemarketer to zoom in with an offer that is carefully constructed to be of interest and to fit your lifestyle.

If you consider this an invasion of privacy the commercial world will beg to differ.   It is merely an extension of the door to door salesmen who used to knock on your door nearly a century ago !

A " Cashless " Society !

It has been predicted for a very long time, but the day when cash money is phased out may be a lot closer than we think !  Citibank has announced that its Australian branches will no longer dispense cash simply because this is no longer a service its customers demand.  In the past twelve months just four percent of the people who bank with Citi have needed a branch to dispense that old fashioned folding money.

No doubt the Mandarins in Treasury are salivating at the tax bonanza that the phasing out of cash money would bring.  For a start, it would cripple the "black "economy because for the first time every transaction would leave an electronic trail.   It would put an end to those little brown envelopes that change hands in the pub to pay for "services rendered " by the people who have the power to corrupt.

There is a certain inevitability in the phasing out of paper money.  It started when the banks began to close down branches and replace them with ATM's. That introduced a risk factor, both from street robberies to illicit card readers installed by bandits to allow them to capture a users PIN and raid  accounts.  As a result, most major stores permit customers to withdraw cash at their checkouts, eliminating those hazards and increasing cash availability.

The weak point in electronic money management was the need for a plastic card with an implanted chip and its attendant PIN.  Many elderly people had problems remembering their PIN and there was an age gap in the popularity of electronic banking.   Fearful of a voter backlash, the government didn't push the issue and let it proceed at its own pace.

Things speeded up with the advent of the Smartphone.  These achieved almost universal market capacity very quickly and their electronic ability to undertake other tasks included replacing both that chip embedded card and its PIN.   It is possible to pay for a purchase by tapping your Smartphone on a terminal.

Now we are starting to see limitations on cash money appear in the marketplace.  The old practice of food being handled by a shop assistant who then handles the money proffered to pay for it is falling into disrepute.   Notes and coins have become a costly burden to the retail trade.   Banks refuse to count and accept big deposits over the counter and merchants now have to pay for the takings to be picked up by a money handling firm - who charge to transport, count and do the deposit for the merchant, and that has become a substantial business cost.

The days are fast approaching when we will see retailers who refuse to accept payment in cash, or who impose a surcharge for that privilege.   All government pensions and allowances are paid electronically into the beneficiaries bank account - and how they disperse it from there is entirely their responsibility.   The government has toyed with making some pensions only tradeable by dispersal through a credit card with limitations on what can be purchased.

Transition to a cashless society may happen as the majority of merchants discontinue accepting cash or it may be imposed by government fiat - as is happening in India.   The highest denomination Indian banknotes are the equivalent of our twenty and ten dollar bills - and the government has withdrawn them from legal tender.  Citizens must take their old money to a bank and exchange it for smaller denomination bills - before it becomes worthless.

The Indian government is hoping that the inconvenience of trying to pay with a wad of smaller bills will drive the Indian economy to electronic banking, and this coupled with the introduction of a national GST will improve the economy.   India is notorious for the vast number of people who trade in cash - and pay no tax.

An Australian move to a cashless society seems likely to be a slow transition as the convenience of electronic banking merges with the increasing cost of dealing with notes and coins as they progress from the merchant to a bankers vault.   But it may be closer than you think  !

Never Pleased !

The long suffering residents of Sydney have watched the speed of the daily commute diminish as more cars are crammed onto an inadequate road system, and those that use public transport travel like Sardines on overcrowded buses and trains.  For years the calls for relief went unanswered.

Sydney's Lord Mayor, Clover Moore thought that the answer was to get people to travel on bicycles as is the custom in some European cities.  To achieve that end, the city installed a network of shared bike paths and many parking spaces for cars were sacrificed, to the annoyance of the motoring public.  The plan was an abject failure.   The people of Sydney simply ignored the call to cycle and this labyrinth of bike paths went unused.

Both the Lord Mayor and many Green thinking people oppose widening roads and making travel by car easier. Their answer is to force the people to use public transport and they oppose the extension of the freeway system and the implementation of road tolls to pay for this work.  To the despair of many people, the prospect of a massive improvement to either the road system or public transport seemed a distant dream because we lacked the money to pay for it.

The state government bit the bullet - and accepted reality.   To freeup the money needed to bring Sydney's transport system into the twenty-first century it would be necessary to realise on a public asset.   It would be a case of "pawning the family silver " to take the city forward - and the electricity system was to be the sacrifice.

The leasing of this state asset delivered billions of dollars - and we are now well on the way to having the improvements that are so badly needed, and they are a mix of better roads and extended public transport.  Surprisingly, this is being criticised by the very people who were loudest in calling for improvements.

Work is well under way in constructing what is now called a "Light  rail System "to connect  Circular Quay to Kensington and Randwick in Sydneys south east..   That is just another word for "Trams ", but these are state of the art behemoths sixty-seven metres in length.  The work will turn George street into a Mall and these new trams have the capacity to move a huge number of people

At the same time, that long awaited Metro is under construction and there are extensions to the existing rail network. Sydney will get a new airport at Badgery's Creek and the West Connex will revitalise the commute from the west into the city.   Work is under way to widen existing freeways and in time the city will have an unimpeded traffic flow to its north, south and western extremities.

The fact that both roads and public transport are getting big improvements could be expected to delight both the motoring public and the ecology people calling for public transport, but we are seeing demonstrations and demands to put a stop to the work.   It is understandable that those having property resumed to make way for new work will be unhappy, but in many cases the people making demands have absolutely no involvement or personal loss because of the work.

Now it seems that the Sydney city council is preparing to renege on its share of $222 million towards the $ 2.1 billion city light rail project.    The Lord Mayor claims that "adequate results "have not been reached on the twelve kilometre route through the heart of the city.   The complaint is that not enough trees are being planted to create a boulevard effect and that the shelters to protect tram passengers from bad weather are too big - and are unsightly.   There is also grumbling that the actual trams are too long - and that they will draw attention away from the magnificent streetscape the shops present.  It is suggested that a shorter version be employed at off peak times.

This rejection of weather protection for tram patrons is unexpected.   It is suggested that the existing shop awnings would give adequate protection but that ignores the velocity of storms that are a regular summer occurrence here in the sub tropics.  The inner city would come to a virtual standstill on days of weather extremes if the pavement area was the only shelter for those waiting to board transport.

The engineers and planning people who have put this plan together have laboured long and hard to achieve a good result.   It seems that the nay sayers don't wait to see the finished product before delivering their verdicts !

The " Black " Economy !

The Australian Tax Office estimates that it is losing somewhere between two and three billion dollars a year to what is termed the "Black Economy ".  A vast number of businesses have employees that are not recognised on the books they send to accountants and who never pay any tax because they are part of the "cash in hand " economy.  As part of this deal, they are usually paid less than the award that covers the type of work they do.

In some cases, this suits both parties.  Many unemployed who are getting the dole are also getting casual work on a cash in hand basis, while his or her boss makes a saving on what they would need to pay if that employee was officially on their books.

This black economy is vast.  Tax office investigators know that it is rife in cafes and restaurants, the beauty industry, building trades, road freight and transport.   It was recently publicly busted in a chain of convenience stores  which led to similar schemes operating in the manning of petrol stations.

The proverbial worm is starting to turn.  Last year the tax office received calls from 5573 black economy employees who dobbed in their bosses.  In the majority of cases this was by way of an anonymous phone call - which sparked an investigation.  As a result, the tax office monitored 127,000 suspected businesses and, conducted fifteen thousand audits and enforcement activities resulted in $ 208 million in fines and penalties.

The reason for these dob ins is obvious.  People who desperately want a full time job are finding that the only work available is limited hours in the black economy at a pay level well below subsistence. In many cases job scarcity means that their boss can enforce unpaid overtime on the basis that there are plenty more people prepared to work on those terms.  It is simply work and money - on a take it or leave it basis.

Black economy employers claim that the pay scales for weekend and public holiday work make opening a business unprofitable.  The only way they can keep their head above water is to resort to cash in hand employees, but in many cases this is pure greed because that lower payroll delivers super profits.

This black economy is not just an Australian problem.  It exists to a greater or lesser degree across the entire world and the loser is the government which is missing out on tax that is needed to finance the services that the entire community demands.  At the same time, pay standards which underpin awards are designed to deliver a living wage to all employees.

Fortunately, here in Australia this black economy is manageable.   The tax office chips away at it and now that underpaid employees are starting to dob in their bosses it is likely that the more arrogant cases will start to bring enforcement - and the resulting publicity will decrease its prevalence.

Spare a thought for the problems facing the tax people in India, where nearly ninety percent of trade is carried out on the black economy and a minuscule number actually pay any tax.   The Indian government has just implemented the withdrawal from legal tender of Indian banknotes equivalent to the Australian ten dollar and twenty dollar value - and the public has just a few weeks to change such notes to the legally available smaller denominations.

This tactic is designed to serve two purposes.   It will cause those with untaxed profits salted away to bring them into the open in a desperate need to convert them into small denominations and it will force the use of electronic money transfers on business to avoid the hassle of handling huge numbers of smaller banknotes to conduct any business  transaction.   The banknotes that have been discontinued are the largest produced by the Indian banking system.

It has been suggested that the only way to wipe out the world black economy would be to totally ban all forms of cash greater than one dollar.   It would force all trade into electronic banking, and as such it leaves a permanent record.   That is something that national treasurers must mull over when they give thought to turning their economies from deficit to surplus  !

The " Right " to Drink !

This week the Land and Environment Court is due to hand down its decision on whether to allow one of Sydney's "Beer Barons " to open a very large new hotel in the suburb of Casula.  This development application has been rejected by Liverpool council and it has attracted a hard core opposition who have managed to get three thousand five hundred signatures on a petition rejecting the proposal.

Proponents consider this to be a "Wowser " element trying to impose prohibition on the good people of Casula.  The objectors claim that the suburb is unsuitable for such a major development and that it will be near both a primary school and an aged care home.   They implore the court to turn down the appeal because Casula is a disadvantaged area with high public housing, domestic violence and unemployment.

It is evident that this development plan will result in a major hotel complex rather than a simple country pub.  Its bars and lounges are designed to cater for crowds ranging from five hundred to a thousand patrons and there are plans to install fifteen poker machines.  These will not be new licenses but will be transferred from another company owned hotel in Liverpool.   It is estimated that these poker machines will draw about a million dollars a year from the local community.

The listing of objections includes the usual gripes about increased car traffic density, parking problems and the creation of noise, both from the entertainment proposed and from patrons leaving late at night.  All of this is a conundrum that the Land and Environment court has been tasked to solve.

No doubt some of the objectors have real fears that a big new pub will cause harm to their suburb, but it will also deliver relief to some of the problems they cite as a reason for rejection.  A lively pub will become the anchor point for a lot of other businesses which revolve around a Mecca that attracts people - and that lowers local unemployment.   Objectors claim that Casula is "disadvantaged " - and it will remain that way if all attempts to breathe life into its commercial potential are rejected.

In reality, the reason these objections have been lodged to stop the proposal mask the real reason which is not stated.   That is the fear that a new source of obtaining alcohol will exacerbate domestic violence and family disunity in the suburb.  There is no doubt that a new pub will have a bottle shop attached and the real fear is that the availability of alcohol will increase the existing problems that excessive drinking is already causing in Casula.

That is probably correct, but it needs to be judged on the overall effect that a high volume attraction of patronage will deliver and whether that will add a vibrancy that lowers unemployment and enhances new entries to expand the shopping centre.   Progress comes at a price, and in this instance Casula will become a more vibrant place if it attracts shoppers who usually go elsewhere.

A reality check will reveal that there are few problems being experienced by Casula residents in obtaining alcohol.   The people who drink have their supply chain firmly established and it is unlikely that a new supplier will increase volume consumed.  At most, the patronage may change from one supplier to another offering more convenience.

The Land and Environment Court will take those issues into its consideration when arriving at its judgement. !

That " Seventy-Five Percent " Law !

On November 30 a "revision " of Strata law comes into effect.  It will make some owners of strata apartments very rich - and it will absolutely terrify others.  It is known as the "Seventy-five Percent Law "" and it reduces the ratio of owners consent from the present hundred percent for the forced sale or redevelopment of an existing apartment building.

Like most law changes it delivers a mix of benefits and liabilities.  In the past the owners of old unit blocks that were occupying valuable land were frustrated by a single holdout who refused to sign on the dotted line to allow redevlopment.   We are desperately short of land to create new housing and in many cases this form of redevlopment will furnish the original owners with a better apartment, but also make them richer from the sale of additional apartments in a new and more modern higher building.

Proponents claim that this law change will deliver many opportunities for improvements that do not require demolition and rebuilding on the site.  Changed land use laws may make it possible to add extra stories to an existing building, or excavate to create a parking garage for many cars below.

In particular, Sydney is blessed with many apartment buildings built shortly after the end of the second world war in the eastern suburbs, inner west and the lower north shore.  Most of these are small by modern standards, with probably about a dozen apartments each but now standing adjacent to new buildings which tower above them.   Their apartment layout and standard fittings are way out of style and the site is absolutely begging for renewal.

This law change completely reverses the right of any individual to stop a redevelopment agreed to by the majority of owners.  The power is now back in the hands of the body corporate and that much vaunted "right of tenure " has limitations.   It is inevitable that some people who do not wish to move will be forced out of their home.

Those familiar with the housing industry can see a new strategy emerging to enhance profits. There is nothing to stop the body corporate of a dated old apartment building making application to the council for a development approval depicting replacement with a modern, multi apartment fashionable building.   They would be aware that a site with an approved DA would be immensely more attractive - and valuable - to developers and would therefore deliver higher profits to the original owners.

One of the side effects may be a price increase offered to owners of older style buildings by consortium's seeking to achieve that seventy-five ownership status so that they can force renewal and enhance their profits.   Any owner fighting a proposed redevelopment would be very suspicious of an apartment purchase by a mysterious new owner who then offered the newly acquired apartment for short term lease.

No doubt this law change will be good for the city and will result in many older sites getting a speedier renewal and a consequent increase in housing density, but it will also force out many pensioners who find to their dismay that this forced sale has added to their means tested assets and either decreased or ceased their pension.

Sometimes unexpected and added wealth can be a burden !

The Message !

Now that the shock of Donald Trump winning the presidency election in the United States is starting to wear off it is starting to become clear that his rhetoric has ushered in a big change in the way the average person considers many issues.

The status of women took a drubbing from the men's brigade that still insist that the place for a woman is in the kitchen. For a long time it has been socially unacceptable to use the term "Bimbo " or disparage women publicly.  Trump crossed all the boundaries with relish and even ventured into the sexual assault justification field.   It will be noted that he offered no apology to the women who accused him of groping them - and this may be seen as a green light by others.

Trump took a hard line with his threat to deport all those undocumented people brought into the country by people smugglers or who entered legally and simply overstayed their visa.  Many of them are now grand parents, with homes and businesses.  The only real answer is to create a path to legal citizenship and Trump has firmly closed the door for that option.

Perhaps the biggest mood change was created by Trump thumping the tub and promising to exploit American "exceptionality "!   He has created the expectation that jobs will return for those with low scale education and training - and yet the world is heading in the opposite direction.   The rise of automation is displacing workers in low wage regimes and as computers advance their learning capacity the workforce will continue to retreat.  Trump's reasoning seems simplistic.   Slap a big tariff on imports and such items become economic to make locally.   The price also increases sharply - and fuels inflation.

The big coming change is America taking a lurch to the right.   Trump in the oval office coincides with both houses under Republican control and the conservative view of that political party will be in the ascendancy.   In particular, it will be Trump's choice of an appointment to the High Court that receives ratification in the Senate and if he chooses an ultra conservative to tip the court balance that may bring a significant change in social values.  In particular, we may see the reversal of Roe versus Wade - and the withdrawal of abortion rights.

The deployment of the American military seems to be another question mark. Trump made it clear that America will no longer foot the bill for protecting countries with which is has military alliances. This raises the spectre of withdrawal from NATO and a new nuclear arms race as those sheltering under the American nuclear umbrella seek nuclear arms.   World leaders worry that an American withdrawal will encourage China's expansion in the South China sea and set Russia on a course to absorb the Baltic states and other satellites of the old Soviet Union.

For decades America has assumed the role of the worlds policeman.  Its actions have been predictable and consequently it has been involved in much military action - with subsequent loss of blood and treasure.   It seems that predictability has come to an end - and what will replace it is completely unknown.

It seems to be a case of get in, fasten your seat belt and hang on for what may turn out to be a rough ride.   The man in the American oval office is unlike any we have seen before.   This looks like being a journey along unknown roads - that are totally devoid of both distance markers and destination signs !

Till Payday Loans !

Money is said to be the root of all evil.  It probably has a place somewhere in all forms of crime and yet the world would come to a stop without it.  It creates conflicting emotions and we both glorify and vilify those whose business is in the money world.

From the beginning of time respect was bestowed on institutions that provided large sums of money for commercial purposes.  In today's world we call them "Banks "!    They are the place we go when we want to buy a home and we need the mortgage money to make a purchase, or we want to build a factory that employs  people and produces consumer goods.

At the other end of the scale there is what is called "Consumer credit "- and that takes many forms. If we need to buy a new car and the asking price is beyond our ability to pay in cash we have a respectable transaction with a finance company.   We usually pay a deposit and repay the loan over a period of time by way of regular monthly repayments.  Because the object of the loan is secured by what is termed "collateral " the interest charged on that loan is moderate.

Consumer finance also extends to what are termed "personal loans " - which relate to the credit we are allowed on plastic credit cards.   We use these for all sorts of purposes - overseas holidays, dining out and those day by day small purchases.  Because they are unsecured the interest is much higher than is charged on home mortgages and collateral loans and to a large extent relies on our credit rating as a reliable bill paying citizen.

Unfortunately there is a level of credit need by those who would fail the credit test for consumer credit.   In the dim past they were served by the pawnbroking trade.  If they had goods to hock the pawnbroker would advance money and retain the item for security.   High interest was charged, but the owner could reclaim the item by repaying both loan and interest by a stipulated time frame. Failure to do so saw the hocked item become the property of the pawnbroker.

In today's society this trade has morphed into what is euphemistically called "Payday Loans ".  Moneylenders openly advance cash that is supposed to fill a customers empty wallet for the few days before their next  pay packet arrives.  It is a totally unsecured loan and the government has legislated the interest rates applicable to exercise a degree of control.

This trade has an unsavoury reputation.  Missing repayments are rife and some lenders include unpaid balances in new loans, extending the loan content to unpayable levels.  Very high interest charges tend to balance profits on the basis that good loans more than cover losses made on bad loans.   Often, violence is threatened - and sometimes used - to recover unpaid money.

The government is getting tough on enforcing the legislation that regulates Pay Day loans.  One of the leading national providers has just been levied a $ 1.35 million fine for making 118,000 small loans to customers that failed to meet the criteria required under the relevant act.    It also ordered refunds amounting to $ 11 million to reimburse customers whose rights were violated by that omission.

Because people needing these Pay Day loans have a low educational standard and lack of budgetting training the government requires that the lender takes verifiable steps to make reasonable enquiries to check customers income and expenses - to determine that these loans can be paid back affordably.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission ( ASIC ) found that the lender guessed those figures, using an assumed benchmark that had "no real relationship to the real expenses of the individual consumer ".

ASIC has stepped in to guard vulnerable people from the hazards of their own inability to manage their money !

A Changed World !

The world as we knew it ceased to exist yesterday when against all odds Donald Trump won the United States presidency.  The vast majority of knowledgeable pundits tipped Hillary Clinton to win office but an unprecedented number of usually apathetic voters turned out to record their vote and they chose the man who promised to take America back to the halcyon days of the twentieth century.

The seeds of political revolution have been flourishing in most other parts of the world.  The old political parties have lost ground and populist rhetoric is in the ascendancy.  America has long professed to lead the western world. Trump's rise to power will invigorate the forces rising against " Do Nothing " forms of government holding office in other countries.

Strangely, this revolution - and it was a revolt against the inertia that has plagued America since a president from one political party has governed with both houses of parliament having a majority from a different political party.  That situation produced - stalemate !   The deficit continues to grow and the government has simply ceased to function.

The majority of American voters chose to take a chance and elect Trump.  On the night, his acceptance speech was conciliatory.  Gone were the bombast and threats and there seems a chance that a more moderate Trump may emerge now that the politicking is over.

The world will hold its breath and wait for his policies to emerge.  There is a vacancy on the High Court and it seems likely that a Trump nominee will get that job because the Republicans have a majority in both houses.   The log jam has been cleared away - and if Trump appoints a conservative Roe versus Wade may be swept away.  America may stifle abortion rights.

This Trump presidency will cause other world leaders to review their defence situations.  America is the leading force in NATO and it has individual defence agreements with many other countries - including Australia.  On the stump, Trump promised change.  He hinted that America might not automatically continue to provide a defence shield and if correct this could lead to a new nuclear arms race.  Both Japan and South Korea could be expected to seek their own form of nuclear protection.

Trump campaigned with the slogan "Make America Great Again " and he promised to restore manufacturing jobs which have escaped offshore to low wage Asian countries and across the border to Mexico because of the NAFTA agreement.   The only way that could be achieved would be with the imposition of tariffs - and that would stand world trade on its head !   If Trump were to withdraw America from International trade treaties and the bonus of Globalization there is a high chance that could usher in a world recession.

The new president garnered support with a whole lot of promises that appealed to a red neck supporter element, and now he has a tiger by the tail when it comes to implementation.   There is the matter of a wall along the Rio Grande to seal off migrants from Mexico and the matter of arresting and deporting literally millions of undocumented people who provide the labour force that American workers shun.   In many cases, the undocumented parents have children who were born in the United States and have automatic citizenship.

Yesterday, Trumps success at the polls delivered a shock factor.  He will not take office until January and the process of sorting campaign rhetoric from sanity will take place between the president elect and the grandees of the Republican party.   It is quite possible that some parts of Trump policy may have the same degree of open hostility vote in both houses as Hillary Clinton would expect had she won the presidency.

The world needs to take a deep breath - and wait until the real Donald Trump emerges from behind the campaign mask.  He may be plain "barking mad " as some have predicted - or usher in more moderate solutions that have escaped his predecessors.

Whatever the outcome, the world will have to learn to live with it !

Defence Peril !

The weapons used by a nations army, navy and air force in the twenty-first century are marvels of ingenuity and sophistication.  They are constantly being upgraded and their need for cleaning and protection involve some very dangerous chemicals.  Unfortunately some of these carry a risk to both the public and service personnel and tests are showing that both the soil and ground water of many defence establishments are sources of danger.

We have long been aware that the chemicals used to clean the fuel tanks of the R.A.A.F's fighter jets is carcinogenic and that asbestos is still used in some critical applications in navy ships.  All the services have a need for Poly-fluoroalkyl, designated as PFAS but its exact use is not disclosed - and it is known to be highly dangerous.  Then there is acqueous  film forming which is an ingredient of fire fighting material.  When this is sprayed during a fire the contaminant soaks into the ground and leaves a permanent hazard.

The list is long and as a result tests at various Australian defence establishments are sounding a warning, but at this stage no off site testing has been carried out.  Civilians living in housing estates that have been established close to defence bases have reason to worry.  The extent of the contamination is yet to be determined.

In the past, states clamoured for the establishment of armed service facilities because they were a source of civilian jobs and they contributed to the local economy.Many of them rubbed shoulders with the civilian population and here in Sydney we have an army base at Holdsworthy, Navy facilities at Garden Island, and a R.A.A.F facility near Newcastle.   There are also extensive naval installations at Nowra and in Jervis Bay.

The potential for contamination extends to every state.  Queensland has a major defence facility at Townsville and the R.A.A.F has forward air fields near Darwin in the Northern Territory.   It will be a case of determining what chemicals are in present use - and what have been used in the distant past that may be leaving a presence in the ground or in the water table.

This will become a major headache for our defence planners.  More work needs to be done to determine the extent of the contamination  at existing defence establishments and there will certainly be pressure to conduct off site testing to determine if the surrounding area is safe.

Then there is the question of what the future will deliver in the way of new hazards.  The world spends billions on weapons upgrades each year and weapon sophistication is ever increasing.  It is inevitable that along with this sophistication will come storage and training hazards that will need to be tailored into our weapons regimens.  In some cases it may be necessary to restrict such weapons to facilities located far from civilian contact.

Unfortunately we can not refuse weapons that include new contaminants.  Our armed services need to be up there with whatever the potential enemy possesses  and the world has been in an armed race ever since someone invented the bow and arrow.   This is a problem we have to learn to live with !

Legionnaires Outbreak !

As Sydney's temperature reaches new heights due to global warming the necessity of air conditioning is bringing a new threat of death to city workers.  The hotter the climate brings a sharp increase in the outbreak of Legionnaires disease which is directly linked to the contamination of air conditioning cooling towers on city buildings.

Once the Legionnaires bacteria establishes a thresh hold in a cooling tower because of shoddy maintenance it breeds rapidly and tiny particles float free to descend to the streets below.   The victims are ordinary men and women who either visit the city or who are regular workers in those contaminated office blocks.

This year Sydney had outbreaks in March and May. Fifteen people required hospital treatment - and one died.  For the first time the Health authorities used genome sequencing to establish that the same strain was present in all victims and by questioning movements were able to pin down the source as being between Clarence and York street in the central city.

There are twelve thousand registered cooling towers in the 12.3 kilometre inner city radius - and probably a lot more that have been installed without notification.  Tests are underway, using satellite imaging to identify those not on the register and bring them under the inspection regime.

Safety from Legionnaires is a simple matter of regular cleaning maintenance. Unfortunately some building owners are careless and in this age of cost pressures extending the maintenance period seems to be a good way of saving money.   The moment even a hint that there may be a Legionnaires outbreak appears in the media guilty property managers rush to get their cooling towers cleaned before the inspectors arrive.   This makes it very difficult to establish the precise source of the infection.

The penalties for having an infected cooling tower run to $ 55,000 or twelve months jail for an individual, or a $ 275,000 fine for a corporation.   We were lucky in that these two recent outbreaks claimed just fifteen victims. In other parts of the world similar outbreaks have been numbered in vast quantities of people - with a high death toll.

Tracking down the possible source of a Legionnaires outbreak is not easy.  When a city is hit with food poisoning we immediately ask the victims what they have eaten - and from where ?   With Legionnaires the contamination is blowing in the wind and it may be contracted a huge distance from the actual source.   It takes time to reconcile information and find a common factor.

Here we are on the cusp of another summer and there is every indication that global warming will continue.  City offices would be intolerable without air conditioning and it is inevitable that more new buildings will increase the number of cooling towers providing that service.   Each new tower adds to the risk - if it is not meticulously maintained.

Building owners rarely service their own cooling towers.   That work is carried out by contractors with the required skills and it may be necessary to require this industry to notify the health department of which cooling towers are under their care - and certify that each has been regularly maintained.  Unless the cleaning of cooling towers can be brought under control there is the risk of a high level health tragedy !

18 C

This week the president of Indonesia was forced to cancel a state visit to Australia because the Christian mayor of Jakarta made a remark that many Muslims thought showed disrespect for the Koran.  As a result, thousands marched through the streets and were met with police water cannons and tear gas.  It was an ugly riot.  Many were injured and one demonstrator died when tear gas brought on a stroke.

Australia has been mercifully free of eruptions of violence over offence taken at remarks made by a public figure.  We value the freedom of speech protection enshrined in our legal code and when there has been a reaction to some perceived insult it usually involves limited numbers of people and action that is easily contained.

That could change unless sanity prevails and we take action to make a change to the Racial Discrimination Act.   Section C of that act makes it an offence to "Offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or group "on the basis of race or ethnicity.   Section D does contain several exceptions, but generally this act is unworkable.   Even the mildest form of criticism could be construed as an offence under this acts guidelines.

Already citizens with an axe to grind or those thin skinned zealots of personal rights have cases in court awaiting jurisdiction.  A number of Queensland University students were facing charges over matter they posted on Facebook.  If you can be hauled into court over sharing an opinion on social media that seems more like an invasion of personal privacy rather than an infringement on the rights of others.

It seems that the subtle humour of the talented cartoonists which grace our morning newspapers is under threat from this act.   One cartoon depicted a deadbeat Aboriginal man having his son handed back to him by a copper - and asking "Whats his name ?  Ït awaits determination by a court.

Freedom of speech is fast vanishing in many parts of the world - if it ever existed in some countries !  Repression can take many forms.  Tyrannical regimes jail journalists and close newspapers if they dislike the news they report.  One of the freedom here in Australia is the right of every citizen to respond to an opinion with which they disagree by writing to a newspaper or engaging with a radio or television commentator.   The moment our opinion is curtailed to exclude any possibility that it might "offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate "another person then that opinion becomes worthless - and worst of all - it becomes a legal liability.

Just about any opinion on politics, religion or even one of the sporting codes is certain to have an opposite feeling by some other members of the public.  If neither party is able to legally offer that opinion then we have a form of sterility from which society can not progress.  It is from debate that new ideas emerge.

The fate of 18 C depends on a Senate enquiry which is examining the ramifications of making  changes to the act.   Because of the wide diversity of opinion held by the members of the Senate it is inevitable that discussing this subject will cause some to be offended by the views of others - and parliamentary debate usually contains many insults.  It is likely that those with a minority view may feel humiliated - and because of party politics it seems certain that lesser coalitions may be intimidated.   The only missing ingredient - is if someone introduces an element of race or ethnicity to the argument.

If nothing else we would all miss those jokes that start with "An Englishman, an Australian and an Irishman met in the pub and .........  " !

The Thin Blue Line !

Once again there is innuendo that all is not well within the ranks of the New South Wales police force.  A young woman was tortured and brutally murdered by a criminal who had serious drug charges mysteriously withdrawn on the recommendation of a senior police officer.  As a consequence, there is a witch hunt within the force to determine just how this release happened.

Disturbing facts are coming to the fore.  This officer has risen through the ranks despite some behaviour that came close to dismissal from the force.  He was involved in a drunken brawl at a cricket match at the SCG and on another occasion he tried to avoid a RBT check and during the escape attempt he crashed a police car.  He received reprieves from two police commissioners.

There is also a suggestion that he is homophobic.  Openly gay officers now serve in the police and when two gay police served at the same station as this officer they were placed under surveillance because it was suggested there could be drug use.  This cost over $ 250,000 in police wages alone, and the eventual finding was that there was "no evidence "of drug use or other misconduct.

Perhaps our expectations of the police are unrealistic.   We take ordinary men and women and have them serve a lengthy training period at the police academy.  That is supposed to rid them of phobias and prejudices and make them suitable to deliver justice on the streets.   We seem to forget that they are also human beings with all those old ingrained beliefs hammered in by religion, politics and the natural cultures of their race of origin.

Wearing the blue uniform of the police force opens many doors of opportunity for reward.  A police officer is the recipient of power.   His or her decision usually depends on whether a charge will be laid or the matter will be dismissed with a caution.   This places the officer in jeopardy when the matter involves a relative or a close friend. All police can be called upon to justify their decisions by an internal police tribunal.

Serving in the police is also a competitive environment.  The salary paid increases by rank and each vacancy is hotly contested by the many that are qualified for promotion.  Decisions are open to appeal and in many cases the decision rests on the whim of a senior officer and may not follow the usual criteria.   Personal loyalties contribute heavily to promotional choices when officers undertake empire building.

The integrity of individual police is protected by the police union and this has a powerful influence on the government.   Whenever the government undertakes political action that arouses a section of the public it is the police that they rely upon to keep order and ensure that the streets of the city are safe.   The ultimate disaster for any government would be the prospect of a police strike.

The dismissal of a police officer for misconduct is heavily influenced by this police union.  In the dark past, some notoriously corrupt police have survived repeated enquiries into their conduct and even survived accusations of murder.  Given the numbers involved, it is inevitable that at least a few serving officers are breaking rather than upholding the laws.

That is unlikely to change.  The only valid defence is to maintain checks and balances to keep corruption to a minimum.  !

Crime DOES Pay !

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is a government body tasked with keeping a strict eye on the business world.   It carefully examines proposed mergers to ensure that these will not result in the creation of monopolies that will corner the market and hike prices, and that the claims made for products are not grossly exaggerated.   Its purpose is very much protection for the public.

Unfortunately, once an illegality is identified the penalty for that offence passes out of the hands of the Commission and the case wends its way through the court system, and in many instances the outcome falls short of the expectations of both the Commission and the public.  A recent case falls into that category.

A leading paint manufacturer claimed that two of its products had the capability of cooling homes in the summer heat.   Prospective buyers were promised that their roof paint would drop temperatures inside a house by up to ten degrees and that wall paint would reduce the heat of external walls by as much as fifteen degrees.

These products were promoted and on sale between 2009 and 2012 and each carried a price premium for the claimed benefits.   The sales of roof paint over that period reached 144,00 litres with an extra $ 4.95 added per litre and the wall paint achieved sales of 48,000 litres, with a surcharge of $ 2.20 per litre.   The premiums delivered an additional profit of $ 805,600 to that company's bottom lime.

Surprisingly, when the matter went to court the company admitted that it had no reasonable grounds for making those claims.  There were no added ingredients and the customers were paying an extra premium above that of the standard product - for absolutely no additional benefit.

To illustrate the thinking disparity between the Commission and the Courts, the penalty imposed on the paint company was a mere $ 400,000, plus the ACCC's legal expenses of  $ 150,000- for a total of $ 550,000.    Considering that the paint company garnered an exstra profit of $ 805,600 from its deception, it still came out in front by $ 295,600.

Who said crime doesn't pay  ?    This was clearly a scam to extract a premium price from the public for a promised benefit that did not exist.   More to the point, the entire system of justice rests on the thinking that crime is punished by the imposition of a penalty.   It is hardly a penalty when the nature of the punishment results in the culprit retaining a benefit from the crime.

Certainly the threat to wrongdoers would be enhanced if the ACCC could mandate that the penalty to be imposed was directly related to the benefit delivered by the crime - and a good rule of thumb would be to impose a doubling of the illicit profit gained by way of the fine.

It is not unusual for manufacturers to claim exotic benefits from their products and the law requires that they must be able to substantiate such claims.  A fine doubling the profits gained by such deceptions would go a long way towards ensuring honesty.

It is claimed that " naming and shaming " is in itself a penalty for bogus claims, but many court actions result in a small reference on an inside page of a newspaper - that few notice and even fewer remember.

One of the tenets of justice - is making the penalty fit the crime !

Modern Day Slavery !

It can be argued that a form of modern day slavery is rife here in Australia and that the Fair Work Ombudsman is conducting an investigation that may cause red faces in the boardrooms of some of our biggest corporations.

We are a country that protects workers by stipulating the rate of pay that applies.  This is calculated on the number of hours worked and contains "loadings " for overtime or work on weekends and public holidays.  Employers are required to keep accurate records of those on their pay roll and these must be available to inspectors on demand.

When we see a national logo on a business it often means that a vast public company is actually conducting its business by way of "franchised " outlets.   This is common in the fast food industry, convenience stores and petrol resellers.   Each individual outlet operates under the national brand, but is owned by someone who pays to attract customers by using the respect that logo achieves.  The staff employed are employees of that person, not of the national company.

Obviously, the cost of paying staff to work that business is a major overhead and the Fair Work Ombudsman has received many complaints of pay deficiencies. In particular, it seems that students from overseas studying in Australia are being asked to work long hours for very sub standard pay. They are vulnerable because under their visa rules they have work restrictions and some employers agree to ignore those rules in exchange for paying well below the award.

We recently had a wage scandal that engulfed many convenience stores working under a franchise.  Some operated on a twenty-four hour basis - and they usually also sold petrol.   Now one of the major oil companies is in the spotlight and once again it is franchised outlets and the Ombudsman will be examining pay records with the view of launching prosecutions.

The part time adult rate for service station workers who work behind the counter is $ 19.56 an hour, rising to $ 29.34 for the first three hours of overtime.   On Sundays, the rate climbs to $ 29.34 an hour and on public holidays to $ 39.12.    Those employed on a casual basis are entitled to $ 25.65 an hour, rising to $ 33.34 on weekends.

Some workers claim they are paid as little as $ 13 an hour for all hours worked, and penalties apply if a customer fills a car and drives off without paying.   The attendant is required to makeup that loss and it is deducted from their pay.

This pay scam can take several forms.  Sometimes the rate of pay is scrupulously correct for the number of hours stipulated on the pay check, but the actual number of hours worked was far in excess of that claim.   In other cases the recipient is a "ghost worker ".   He or she does not appear on any formal pay documentation - and pay is cash in hand.

This system of "loadings " for weekend work and public holidays is a relic from an earlier age.   We are now a twenty-four-seven society and a uniform pay for all hours should apply.  Not only would this deliver increased job prospects, many people actually seek unusual working hours to enable them to indulge in sports, study or research activities.

Paying below the hourly rate is a newer form of slavery.  Not only does detection result in "name and shame "in the media, it also brings the guilty to court to face charges !