Blocked Sewers !

This week the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission lost a case in the Federal court.  It had been a desperate action against Kimberly-Clark Australia, the company that makes  products described as" wet wipes " that are suitable for flushing down the toilet.

The multitude of councils which treat sewage in Australian cities and towns is experiencing what they term " fatberg " blockages where these wet wipes accumulate around the agitation that is intended to keep the flow moving.  The end result is blocked sewers which not only inconvenience residents, but cost the councils a mint of money to  clear.  Sydney Water says it cost them eight million dollars a year to manually remove wet wipes.

Justice Jaqueline Gleeson dismissed the action against Kimberly-Clark on the grounds that she was not persuaded that wet wipes were unsuitable for flushing down the toilet. As such, the company's claims  did not breach consumer law because they were not false or misleading.  She ordered the ACCC to pay costs.

This is a problem that has been constantly growing in recent years. Originally, wet wipes were an innovation specifically developed for the use of mothers attending to the toilet needs of small children.  It was thought that a wet wipe would be easier on the baby's skin after a nappy cleanup and both nappy and wet wipe would be disposed of in the household rubbish bin.

It is one of life's mysteries why many adults have moved from toilet paper to wet wipes for personal toilet use. Despite appeals from councils this trend is steadily growing.  Kimberly-Clark Australia makes Kleenex Cottonelle Flushable Cleaning cloths (KCFC ) and these are gaining shelf space in Australian supermarkets.

Fortunately, this trend is small in relation to the general use of toilet paper but it is growing and council appeals for people to refrain from flushing anything but toilet paper will now be retarded by this court ruling.  There is the prospect that the ACCC may launch an appeal, but that will be some time in the future and the damage from sewer blockage is happening more frequently.

Justice Gleeson noted that the Kimberly-Clark product met the international standard for flushability test and that Australian water authorities were working on creating a new standard.  This new voluntary standard is expected to be released later this year.  In the meantime, they will continue to run an advertising campaign based on the " Keep wipes out of pipes " message.

It looks like keeping the sewers flowing action is back in the ACCC's court.  Very obviously wet wipes have gained an appeal in some minds that will be impossible to change.  Perhaps the sewage people need to improve their flow machinery to enable it to safely handle wet wipes.  That might be a lot easier than trying to change public opinion.

Sporting " Brain Damage " !

We are a nation that takes the safety of individuals very seriously.  When we drive a car or ride in one as a passenger the law requires that we buckle up the seat belt to limit the extent of injuries received in a crash.  The law extends that safety precaution to all forms of two wheeled transport.  Those who use motorbikes or the humble bicycle for transport have a need to wear a protective helmet or they could face a heavy fine.

Unfortunately, those who compete on our sporting fields seem no better protected than the gladiators who performed in the Coliseum back in the days of the Roman empire. In particular, the game of Rugby pits a physical clash of humans in  which head trauma is common.  Until recently, leaving the field was seen as " weakness " and players who had obviously suffered concussion usually played on - to the cheers of the crowd.

Research carried out by the Royal Price Alfred hospital, the NSW Health Pathology and the University of Sydney's  Brain and Mind Centre have delivered a chilling finding.   The brains of two deceased senior Rugby League players showed clear evidence that they suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy years after they ceased  playing. - which is abbreviated to " CTE " .  This is brain damage that manifests itself as depression, mood swings, short term memory loss and dementia, and some research suggests it also plays a part in the risk of suicide.

By the very nature of the rules of play it is highly likely that all the codes of Rugby can cause its players CTE affliction and the same would be present to a lesser extend with  Australian Rules players.  Even the game of Soccer involves players " heading " the ball and that impact is also capable of delivering CTE damage.

It is seriously suggested that all forms of sport where head clashes are possible should be revised to mandate the wearing of head protection,  Those who watch American football on TV will have noted that players wear protective helmets similar to those worn by motorbike riders.   Where the heads of competing players impact, the risk of brain damage is obviously substantially reduced.

All forms of football is seen as a clash of warriors on the playing field and that bodily impact is what has the crowd cheering. The wearing of helmets may not be popular with spectators and even rejected by those playing the game but unless head protection is improved there is a real risk of CTE showing up in similar manner to the " punch drunk " demeanour  of those who fought in the skill of boxing.  In that game, points are won by successfully delivering blows to the opponents head.

Some Rugby players already wear a form of head protection and this seems accepted by both the game rules - and the spectators. The rules currently in place means any signs of concussion requires the player to leave the field and receive medical attention.  That is an improvement, but the time seems right to amend the rules and make it compulsory for players to wear head protection to ensure they are not afflicted with CTE in old age.

Fake Aboriginal Art !

It is a sad fact of life that much of the " Aboriginal " souvenirs visitors to Australia buy and take home to commemorate their visit has absolutely nothing to do with the Indigenous people of this continent.  It is not even made in Australia.  This is simply " fake art " which is made in village workshops in Indonesia and intended to reap a big profit for the company bringing it into Australia.

This is cheap junk and what it is doing is under valuing the opportunity for remote Aboriginal communities to develop a genuine cottage industry in the bush where job opportunities are limited. The fake items on sale include boomerangs, bullroarers, message stones and even plastic didgeridoos inscribed with the words " genuine " and " Australia ".  Efforts have been made to duplicate the symbols and appearance that are recognised as traditional Aboriginal art.

The company responsible for this deception is now in liquidation and facing the Federal court on a charge of making false and misleading representations that products it sold were made in Australia and hand painted by Australian Aboriginal people.  The Australian Competition and Consumer Association is urging the court to award a penalty in the nature of a two million dollar fine, but the company is insolvent and that money will never reach the Aboriginal communities that have suffered harm.

This is a wake up call to stop the exploitation of Aboriginal art by non-Indigenous interests and to give it protection by the laws of patent and copyright to ensure that only the genuine product is reaching the souvenir outlets where this type of material is sold.  What is needed is an Aboriginal distribution company tasked with ensuring items originate from genuine sources and are sold at a rate which ensures that adequate profit flows back to the remote villages which are the source of this art form.

There is another expression of Aboriginality which is widely misused - and that is the Aboriginal flag. It was designed by Luritja artist and land rights activist Uncle Harold Thomas in 1971 and is protected by patent.  He still holds copyright on the design and allows its use on non commercial projects that deliver assistance to the Aboriginal community.   It has become the insignia of Indigenous Australia and proudly flies on our Harbour bridge and many council buildings.

Over time, the concept of reconciliation has progressed between the original inhabitants of this continent and the arrival of colonists from the northern hemisphere.  That is still a work in progress and it seems that some time in the future it may be the wish of the Australian people that this country become a republic and replace the monarchy with a presidential system.

When - and if - that happens it will obviously necessitate a review of our national flag and perhaps the greatest signal that reconciliation had been achieved would be the blending of those two flags.The replacement of the Union Jack with the Aboriginal flag would signify the people here before 1788 and the people who came after that date as a united people.

Strange Bedfellows !

Many people will get a laugh at the alliance between a Woolworths subsidiary and an organization trying to promote an alcohol free July.  The BWS chain of shops is specifically an alcohol outlet and their income and profits come from the sale of this product.  The " Dry July Foundation " challenges people to abstain from alcohol for the month of July to raise money for cancer patients.

BWS is promising to encourage customers to sign up for " Dry July ", provide donation points in its stores and promote alcohol free drinks.   Critics have compared this alliance to the link between alcohol and cancer. A long term study by Latrobe University found that thousands of cancer deaths each year would be prevented if Australians slashed their alcohol intake each week by about five standard drinks.  If drinkers reduced their consumption by thirty percent, about 5,500 lives would be saved.

Another mysterious amalgamation of interests came when the Bar Association, which is the body claiming membership by most lawyers in this state presented a proposal to the Commission of Enquiry into the drug Ice that personal possession of that and other illicit drugs should be decriminalized.   It is these same lawyers that make their living appearing for the accused in the numerous drug cases that clog our courts.

Under the Bar Associations plan, the  production, trafficking and supply of illicit drugs including ice and amphetamine-type stimulants would still be criminalized.   A new, non-criminal regime would be introduced to deal with personal drug use. This tribunal would be staffed with lawyers, social workers and psychologists and would  require users to undertake treatment and rehabilitation.  Non criminal sanctions would result from failure to comply.  This model draws on legislation in place in Portugal, where personal drug use was decriminalized in 2001.

Unfortunately, Ice has become the drug that is now the most widely used addictive substance that is present in all aspects of Australian society.  It is equally found in both the cities and the most remote country towns and those in its grip present a huge danger to paramedics, doctors, other hospital workers and the police. Car chases in which drivers exhibit maniacal behaviour are often attributed to Ice addiction.

The drug menace can not be beaten while ever demand remains.  That first law of commerce applies. Supply will always find a way when demand delivers a willing market, and every effort to close the nation's borders has proven to be a failure.  What seems to go unrecognised is the huge number of people who manage to use drugs responsibly and manage to avoid chronic addiction..

One of the great attractions that lure people to drugs is the attraction of the forbidden.  How many youths seek alcohol before they attain the legal age to drink ?  Some may wonder if the very war on drugs is not the stimulant that produces the demand for their supply.  That is a thought pattern that is starting to emerge in many jurisdictions.

The Clash of Law and Free Speech !

Israel Folau is a very talented Rugby player who has amassed a personal fortune due to his prowess at that game.  He also has strong Christian beliefs and they caused him to place a notice on the internet warning nine offences against the laws of God would result in sinners burning in Hell.   That notice specifically mentioned " Drunks,  Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators,  Thieves, Atheists, and  Idolaters."   That seems to cover just about everybody here on planet Earth.

Some fellow Rugby players are openly homosexual and the administration of Rugby League has a rule in place in which members bringing the game into disrepute will be barred from the game.  Folau has not been selected to play since that notice appeared and the League has given notice that his million dollar contract is being torn up.

This has degenerated into a slanging match in which Folau claims his right to free speech has been violated and he is suing Rugby League.  He launched a public appeal for three million dollars to pay his appeal costs through the GoFundMe site and quickly gained $700,000 in public donations.  It appears that this appeal is outside the guidelines of the Gofundme charter and that money will now be returned to donors.  Folau is considering other options.

In its wisdom, the law in this country conferred legality on homosexuality and a very public opinion poll was heavily in favour of same sex marriage, and yet this is something that is vigorously disavowed by most of the churches.  Homosexuality still is punished by the death penalty is many overseas countries and its legality here is still questioned by some citizens.   That is apparent from the speed in which donations flowed into Folau's fund appeal.

Very clearly, this argument is specifically directed at openly homosexual players scattered through the various sporting codes. Folau is using his fame to attract a hard core of anti-homosexuals to his cause and this may degenerate into a similar activity movement that once saw " gay bashing " and even " murder " become common in places where the gay community gathered.  This could seriously undo the wide acceptance that gays have achieved in our society.

Basically, Folau is railing against the law in place here in Australia that makes homosexuality legal. There is no outcry about his naming of drunks, thieves and adulterers and yet they are widely scattered throughout out community.   This is an attack on homosexuals, cleverly hiding behind that right of free speech.

But of course that right of free speech is not unlimited.   We can not call on the public to commit murder on people we dislike.  That would get us locked up and there are laws on defamation that carry heavy penalties.  In the interests of justice this clash of law and religion will need to be clarified in a court of law.

It is a long time since the laws of the churches took precedence on how we are governed.  When someone chooses to defy the law of the country in which they live they must expect a penalty. Israel  Folau is entitled to his own opinion.   If he wishes to play the game that he loves it would be prudent if he kept that opinion to only his family and close friends.

Life on Mars ?

For as long as there have been people on Earth they have looked to the skies and wondered about Mars.  For a very long time we thought Mars was inhabited and we feared that Earth would be invaded by these Martians.   In fact Orson Welles panicked America when he produced a realistic radio play that was themed on such an invasion.

Bigger and better telescopes enabled us to examine that planet more closely and we discovered what we thought were " canals " that might have been produced to carry water from the polar regions to the equivalent of that planet's equator.   We slowly became convinced that Mars was some sort of " sister " to Earth and perhaps a calamity had destroyed its people.

The " rocket age " that followed the end of the second world war saw satellites encircle Mars and then came news of a successful landing by a mechanical rover.  Bigger and better rovers are now crawling over the Martian surface and relaying information back to Earth, and the prospect of humans landing on Mars is fast reaching towards reality.

It was a major breakthrough when we discovered that Mars had ice caps and water was present on that planet.  That made the thought of a space colony on Mars possible because it would be daunting to imagine lugging water from Earth to sustain a human outpost.  The presence of water envisioned all sort of engineering possibilities.

Now NASA's " Curiosity " rover is sending back exciting information.  It has detected Methane - and that is a gas produced by living matter.  If Methane is seeping out of the Martian soil it is a good indication that something may be alive beneath the surface because sunlight and the thin Martian air would otherwise breakup  the molecules within a few centuries.  Curiosity is finding Methane spikes at various locations and this is getting scientists very excited.

Until now, pictures sent back by rovers disclose a desolate landscape.  Scientists think Mars may have had a warmer, wetter past and a richer atmosphere with life carrying oxygen present before that drifted away into space.   It is quite possible that whatever life form was present migrated underground - and exists there today.

Some people wonder if Mars is not a warning to us inhabitants of Earth.  We are rapidly over populating and destroying the continents and oceans of this warm and wonderful planet.   The air we breathe is becoming oversaturated with Co2 and the ice that sustains our great rivers is melting away.
We have not learned to live in peace with one another and our inability to produce enough food to feed the planet seems likely to bring war between the tribes as they compete for what remains.

On our present course, perhaps one day Earth may become as desolate as Mars, drifting in space and being defined by some space travellers as showing signs of an earlier inhabitation which has degenerated to dust over the passage of time.

Trashing the Pharmacy Trade !

We hear a lot of complaints from people who claim they can not afford to see a doctor.  In fact doctors are scarce in many country towns and while they seem to proliferate in fashionable city suburbs, practices that bulk bill seem to be steadily shrinking.

Before the introduction of Medicare, which was supposed to bring a doctor within reach of all Australians, there were many families which relied entirely on the local chemist for their health needs.  That wise old pharmacist was the person to consult when symptoms appeared and the medicines he or she recommended usually relieved the problem.

Those were the days when doctors wrote scripts in Latin and most medication was actually  concocted from base materials by the chemist.  Today, medication comes pre-packaged by giant pharmaceutical companies and the chemist simply takes it off the shelf.  That chemist shop bears a strong resemblance to a supermarket with a dizzying array of medication on display.

There are still vast numbers of people who rarely consult a doctor and still rely on the pharmacy for their health needs.   The rental asked for shops depends on their location and the need to generate a profit has forced many chemists to extend the range of products far beyond proprietary medication. We are now seeing a vast array of non-evidence based or complimentary medication which ranges even into the category of homeopathic remedies.   Some chemists even employ a resident naturopath.

The Medicare regimen has a degree of control on the prices charged for prescription medication and this does not extend to what is being offered outside that category.  High profit markups can be attractive to a struggling chemist beset by fierce competition.   This is usually accompanies by promotional material making claims that can not be substantiated medically.  It is feared this can lead to customer confusion and trash the good name that pharmacists hold in the eyes of the public.


Unfortunately, this is being exacerbated by a new emerging trend in the marketing of pharmaceuticals.  This  " supermarket " thinking is seeing the creation of centrally located maxi stores which claim to offer the cheapest prices across the entire medical range.  They advertise heavily and adopt the " loss leader " tactic of offering " specials " which are often sold below cost to attract new customers through the door.

It is highly likely this tactic will see the number of Chemist shops follow the trend that resulted in two giant supermarket chains controlling eighty percent of the grocery trade.  We would do well to remember how supermarkets displaced the plethora of " corner stores " that served Australia so well.
If this trend to maxi chemist shops drives smaller pharmacies out of business those people who rarely consult a doctor will lose the valuable advice they receive from their trusted pharmacy supplier.

Perhaps one of those instances where " bigger "  is not  " better :"  !
 

Funny Money !

Facebook is a phenomenon that made founder Mark Zuckerberg a lot of money.  Basically, it is an internet communication system that lets people exchange ideas and talk to one another and 2.4 billion of the humans who live on this planet are Facebook users.  That figure would be higher if the worlds most populous country - China - did not block its citizens from Facebook access because of internal security concerns.

Facebook critics have a lot to say about the negative aspects of a world system that obeys no national controls.  It gathers massive data on individual users and this can be used in commerce to do everything from moving goods to influencing the outcome of national elections.  It is Facebook which is the source of " fake news " that is rapidly supplanting the  news gathering apparatus of the established media.

Now Facebook is eying the prospect of printing its own currency.  That idea probably strikes terror into the world banking system because there is every chance that the world money supply would slip completely out of the hands of government control.  The very thought of 2.4 billion citizens avoiding exchange rates and conducting financial transactions over the internet in Facebook dollars is frightening to national treasuries.

We are well aware of the gyrations of a crypto currency called " Bit-Coin ".   That has ranged from less than a dollar to astronomical heights in value but it has never gained the world acceptance that Facebook currency is likely to achieve.  If Facebook customers start receiving birthday gifts from family and friends in Facebook currency it will not be long before merchants are offering to accept that currency in payment, even though conversion to official money would be in unregulated terms.

At this stage, we have no clear idea what Facebook has in mind.  Do they intend to print banknotes for circulation or will their money be held in an internet central account from which individuals can deposit and draw according to their account balance ?  There would be wide appeal to the idea of being able to move money at the tap of a computer key without the need for difficult exchange rates to be taken into account, but cyber security would be a problem that Facebook would need to control.

World government has good reason to be worried.  Facebook was a phenomenon that changed the world and that change is still ongoing.  For many decades the world currency has been the American dollar.  Commodities like oil are settled in American dollars and when inflation has devalued individual currencies in other countries the American dollar has achieved prominence as the only currency acceptable.  The very thought of this becoming overturned by a new world currency is frightening.

The big question is - what is Facebook ?  Some see it as an expansive monster that is changing the world by dictating world opinion.  Others see it as benevolent entity overcoming language barriers to create a more cohesive world.  This idea of a Facebook currency is a step into the unknown.  Terrified world government will take every step to block that move, but so far Facebook has been an irresistible force that has defied all control measures.

It is quite possible that a decade or so from now, we will not recognise how the world money system has changed. Whether that will be for the good or not is something that we will simply have to await to find out ?

Deeming Rates !

Part of the process of gaining the aged pension is having the applicants assets valued by Centrelink.  Those assets may consist of shares bought on the stock exchange, property or money held in the bank.  By rule of thumb those assets are deemed to be earning some sort of return for their owner and the government simply assesses that return by applying the " deeming rate "  to the value of the assets held by each pensioner.

In the present interest rate climate, this deeming rate is above the reality experienced in the market place.   The deeming rate for singles is presently 3.25% for assets over $ 51,200 and 1.75 % for assets below that level.  The Reserve Bank of Australia has just adjusted interest rates downward and there are indications that it still has further to fall.   This deeming rate has been unchanged since 2015.

At present, most financial institutions pay no interest at all on account balances below one thousand dollars and rates inch slowly upward until they pay just 2.55 % for holdings of at least $ 50,000.  Age pensioners are entitled to earn $ 168 a fortnight before their pension is affected.

It is even worse for part pensioners.  Many people who received a modest superannuation payout receive a part pension because of the value of their assets and because of this deeming anomaly they are punished by  having their income over valued.  All the indications are that interest paid on money held in bank deposits will fall further if the predictions of the Reserve bank become reality.

In the present interest rate climate, that 3.25% deeming rate is unachievable and its application heavily favours the government.  Pressure is building to place administration of the deeming rate in the hands of the Reserve Bank of Australia.   They meet on the first Tuesday of each month to set the interest rate for the nation and it would seem appropriate that this should also be where the decision on the deeming rate would be most appropriate.

Economists are expressing alarm at Australia's ever expanding consumer debt and it is evident that the old mantra about the benefits of saving money no longer applies.   The banks used to shower school kids with money boxes and promote savings clubs, but today they refuse to even count the change saved and are more likely to charge a fee for keeping an account open than pay interest on the savings.

The interest charged for borrowing money is calculated on the risk involved.   The lowest interest is where the loan is secured by a tangible asset and mortgage interest rates fit that bill.  The asset is the house and land secured as collateral for the loan.    The interest charged on credit card purchases is higher because there is no tangible collateral and repayment is entirely reliant on the integrity of the card holder.   Really high interest applies to what are termed " Pay day " loans which force some people to borrow to make ends meet week to week.  As the risk factor rises, so do the interest rates charged.

Fairness will not be achieved for pensioners until the deeming rate equates with reality.  The spotlight will be centred on the deeming rate until that is achieved.

The Culprits Named !

It has been five long years since all 298 passengers and crew of a Malaysian Airlines flight passing over Ukraine met their deaths when an anti aircraft missile exploded beside their plane, tearing it apart and scattering the wreckage across something between an invasion and a civil war below.

Recovery of the bodies - which included 38 Australians - was delayed while negotiations for access needed approval from the shady forces engaged in the hostilities and news stories carried pictures of a Russian army Buk missile launching vehicle scuttling back across the Russian border with a missile glaringly missing from the ordinance it carried.

An investigation of this crime has been painstakingly carried out by the National Prosecutors Office of the Netherlands despite Russian stone walling.   The wreckage of Malaysian flight  MH17 has been reassembled in a hangar and clearly shows the intrusion of shrapnel that brough down the plane in flight. At long last the individuals who caused that missile to be launched have been identified and prosecutions in an international court are ready to proceed.

It is evident that this prosecution will be held " in absentia ". because three of the culprits are serving officers in the Russian military with links to Russian security and they are safely behind the Russian border.   The other has a civilian role in the breakaway segment of the Dombas region and is unlikely to be given up for trial by the rebel regime.

Civilian airliners from many nations had been overpassing this war zone in Ukraine in the belief that the height they flew put them beyond the range of surface to air missiles.  The war on the ground was mainly involving small arms but is was supported by Russian intelligence services and high ranking Russians approved the movement of a Buk missile unit over the border.   It is three of those officers who face prosecution for those deaths.

The Ukrainian invasion is a move to unsettle the Ukrainian government and Russian soldiers had removed their identification patches.  Russia will most likely ignore the prosecution and the best that can be hoped for will be international arrest warrants issued on the four men identified.  Should they ever travel outside the Russian border they could be arrested and put on trial.  The Russian government will ensure that never happens.

The world airline industry has learned a lesson from this tragedy.  Passenger aircraft no longer overfly war zones as a precaution against a similar event and consequently it is unlikely to happen again.   Russia will continue to deny responsibility, despite the clear evidence and little has changed in the ongoing war on terrorists who seem determined to target aircraft with bombs to underscore their war on the west.

All that can be said about the MH17 tragedy is that this aircraft happened to be in the wrong place - at precisely the wrong time.

Insuring Against Building Defects !

The drama that engulfed the residents of Mascot Tower on Friday night must send shivers down the spine of millions of other people who live in multi-story buildings across Australia.  This building was completed in 2008 and has performed admirably for the past twelve years, but cracks in the walls of the underground car park caused structural engineers to order an evacuation.

At 9 pm emergency workers were knocking on doors and ordering residents to leave the building immediately.  The occupants of its 122 apartments found themselves in the street with basically just the clothes on their backs.  One man was without his wallet and credit cards and had an interesting several days before he was allowed back in to retrieve them.

The people who live in Mascot Towers are the usual mix of owners and renters.  Those renting are probably subject to a fixed rental agreement for a period of time and can be legally required to pay that rent despite being forced out of the building.  Owners with mortgages will find the banks unyielding in expecting monthly payments due dates to be met.

At this stage, the cause of wall movement in the building is yet to be determined but the owners of apartments face a demand for a one million dollar emergency  contribution to cover the cost of the supports put in place to stop further damage. There are vague estimates that the bill for finally securing the building will probably run past the five million dollar mark.

What is absolutely certain is that apartments in this building are unsaleable at present.  No financial entity would even consider granting a loan even if a unit was offered at a fire sale price, and the reputational damage will haunt this building long after whatever remedial work is completed.   The owners who bought in good faith are going to suffer a severe loss on their investment.

The natural reaction is to look to the insurance cover taken out by the body corporate.  That will certainly cover damage by a building fire or an aircraft crashing into the structure - but it doesn't cover the building falling apart.  There is the expectation that if that is caused by an external factor that can become court action to recover remedial costs, but finding the cause will involve expensive litigation because claims will be vigorously defended,.

It is obvious that this is fast becoming a financial mess.  Once the supports have denied further wall movement the residents may be able to reclaim furniture and personal effects but it is unlikely they will be able to return to residence before the structure is again structurally secure.   The fact that owners are legally responsible for  rectification costs may force some people to seek bankruptcy protection.

The fact that this city has suffered two major building defects in the past six months is going to retard confidence in high rise living.  The concept of insurance is based on the rare nature of claims compared to the risks insured against.  For instance, the number of house fires in this city is minimal when compared with the number of dwellings scattered across the city.

The insurance industry would do well to consider offering a building integrity policy against just such a structural calamity that befell Opal Towers and now Mascot Towers.   It might take assurance that such cover is in place to restore confidence in high rise investment.

Our " Creaking " Economy !

In the Australian mindset, owning the home we live in has the highest priority in terms of financial success.  In the past, many people jumped into the market with a mortgage that was barely within their capacity to service but safe in the knowledge that house prices were ever rising and demand was frenetic.

House and unit prices have retreated and that comfort zone is shrinking.   The number of delinquencies in repayments of mortgages on mortgage backed securities is increasing and Moody's reports the rate increased to 1.58% from 1.48% just three months earlier.   The option of putting the property back on the market and getting a quick sale that delivers a profit is fast fading.

One of the hopes for those with mortgage distress is the vast array of first home buyers eager to get into the market and the tendency of the banks to arrange a loan for those with a far lower deposit than was previously required.   That depends heavily on what the proverbial crystal ball has to say about the future of our economy, and there are some worrying signs.

We are certainly living beyond our means.   Household debt seems to be ever rising and is now at about two hundred percent of  annual disposable income.  The retail economy is becoming based on the " buy now - pay later " concept of long debt holidays.  That leaves a lot of people very vulnerable if we encounter even a mild recession.

What worries some economists is the tendency for the Reserve bank to use lower interest rates to stimulate the economy  In theory, lower rates puts more money in people's pockets and allows them to spend to increase the jobs market.  In reality, few change the amount going to mortgage reduction because of a rate decrease and therefore the situation changes very little.

What is alarming is that the market has priced in two more rate reductions this year and we may end up with the cash rate at 0.75 percent.  Without the salve of a rate reduction, the economy is left with the only option for relief based on deficit spending by the government.  That is a debt that will have to be repaid by future generations.

One of the indications of the softness of the economy is the passenger numbers for air travel between Sydney and Melbourne.   That is one of the most travelled air routes in the world and it is heavily dominated by business travel  and this has experienced a 3.8% drop in the past year.  There has been a similar fall in new car sales in this country.

The price in homes and units is probably the best indication of how the economy is travelling.  It has certainly slowed marginally but is generally holding up well.  The danger seems to be from a rush of first home buyers taking advantage of lower deposit loans and thinking this reduction in asking prices will soon revert to the former galloping increases.  That could cause a price panic if a lot of new entrants get in over their heads in debt and fail to service their loans.   A rash of home repossessions could send the market into a tail spin.

 So the question is - Are we heading into a recession ?  That probably depends on the outcome of this tariff war between America and China, but mini recessions seem to be cyclical and it is inevitable that we will encounter some sort of downturn in the years ahead.

What we would do well to remember is that most recessions are caused by panic.  Ordinary people lose confidence and act irrationally and the market crashes accordingly.   The problems facing the Australian economy are very manageable and there is every expectation that it will travel well going into the future  !

Australia's " Fort Knox " !

We all know about the Reserve Bank of Australia because it meets on the first Tuesday of every month and in its wisdom it sets the interest rate we will be paying on our home mortgages.   It is a mysterious entity that is often quoted by the Federal government as the source of information whenever the state of the economy is questioned.

One of the important things that this RBA controls is the money supply.  It is the RBA that designs and prints the banknotes we use in everyday trading and makes sure that nice, clean new notes are flowing into circulation and old notes showing the signs of wear and tear are withdrawn  and eventually destroyed under close supervision.  Australian banknotes are constantly reviewed and the RBA design people are constantly looking for added security to reduced the risk of counterfeiting.

Keeping the money supply flowing is an important function and the RBA needs to keep a supply of new notes handy in case we encounter an emergency, and obviously that presents a big security risk.  This is the country's wealth we are talking about and in a distant age it was measured in gold bars. Many people remember the era just after the end of the second world war when America was the richest nation on the planet.   They had a legendary fortress out in the desert that was called " Fort Knox " and it housed their gold reserves.   It is still there, but it has less gold in these days of a retreating world economy.

Our Reserve Bank is completing the building of an Australian version of Fort Knox to safeguard the stock of banknotes we keep on hand - and the value of the paper money that will reside within its blast proof walls will run to more than $ 73 billion.   At any time there is about 1.5 billion banknotes in circulation within the community.

Now there is a doubt about the integrity of the builder who constructed our new Fort Knox.  There are worrying rumours that the workforce have wages owing and many subcontractors working on the site - and on another contract to blast proof the Federal parliament in Canberra - are seriously out of pocket for work done.

What is even more alarming is a rumour that the company head negotiated a $70,000 cash loan from Russian loan sharks at an interest rate of seventy two percent and has an interest in running a company called " Boober " which is an Uber style operation providing " escorts " on call.  It is possible the firm now owes 400 creditors $ 21 million and there are worries about the security of this important money vault.

The American government long claimed that its gold at Fort Knox was safe because the fort was impregnable.  It was guarded by the American army with the latest military equipment installed in a wide radius. In fact Fort Knox was the home base for several of America's crack serving regiments.

We need to be certain that this Australian money cube has similar defences.  That is a tempting stash of money and it will certainly gain the attention of countries with ill will towards Australia.

High Rise Safety !

It was a less than memorable Friday night for the hundred apartment owners who were served a notice at 9 pm telling them to collect their valuables and vacate the building.  Cracks in the walls of the underground car park were spreading and structural engineers thought it prudent to shut down this modern high rise apartment building in Sydney's south.

It brought back memories of the Opal Towers fiasco that had a similar outcome on Christmas eve.  But that was a brand new building and not all the apartments were then in use and the insurer was quick to pick up the tab for hotel and motel rooms for the night, and later subsidized costs for the weeks that owners were locked out as repair work made the building again safe.

This high rise was completed in 2008 and during the twelve years it had been occupied there were few problems.  Those cracks started to appear about the same time as another new tower block started construction next door.   The water table at Mascot is close to the surface and there is conjecture that excavations for a foundation next door might have something to do with this change in the buildings stability.  Emergency props have been installed in the underground car park while the engineers look for a solution.

Unfortunately, those hundred families that lived in Mascot Towers are now virtually homeless.  The defect insurance cover for new buildings is far less than twelve years, hence it raises the question of who pays for the necessary repairs  ?   There is also the possibility that the building may need to be demolished if a solution can not provide the level of safety needed.

Both Sydney and Melbourne have of necessity become high rise cities.  The population density destroyed that old concept of a free standing house on a quarter acre block and modern living has adapted to the " vertical village " concept.   More of us now live in an apartment in the sky and this news of building instability is a very unwelcome development.

To add to that concern, some apartment buildings have an external cladding similar to the material that resulted in the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in London in which over seventy residents died.  That cladding needs to be removed and replaced with a safer  product and once again the issue of " who pays " is retarding action.   Owners of apartments have a very real reason to question the safety of their investment.

This failure of two modern high rise buildings is reason for a review of our building codes to ensure that proper standards are maintained and it seems more attention needs to be directed at site suitability for high rise.   We also need to look at the laws that apply to the financing of high rise apartments in the money market.  If a high rise buildings fails, the apartment owners not only lose the investment they have paid for but the banks insist on them repaying the loan for its purchase.  Perhaps it is time to spread that risk factor more widely or demand insurance against building failure during the term of the loan.

These two failures this year show that all is not well in the building industry.   Considering that a home is usually the biggest financial venture in most people's lives both the integrity of the building and the means in which it is financed need an improved safety aspect.

That " Education " Conundrum !

For a long time we have been warned how robotics and artificial intelligence will change the jobs landscape in Australia.  The future is looking bleak for young people who leave school with just the HSC as their highest level of achievement.  There is immense pressure to go to university and earn the " qualifications " that will provide both job security and a better than average income.

Unfortunately, not every kid finishing school is suitable for an academic career and we now learn that our universities are in trouble. Last year the University of New South Wales lost $ 14.2 million when eight hundred domestic students either dropped out before starting or discontinued early in term.   At the same time, the number of first year international students fell by 222, the statistics reveal.

The solution being considered by the university is to lower the ATAR level to fill those domestic gaps and to further lower the English language proficiency international students must achieve for enrolment.  This flow of international students to Australia to further their education is now one of  our greatest income earners in the field of commerce.

What is becoming clear is that many of the courses provided by our universities will no longer provide an automatic career path.  Years of study may result in knowledge that is no longer relevant as the subject has turned in new directions and what is now needed are the basics to which more depth will be constantly needed to keep track of how that particular discipline is expanding.  In many cases, this leaning process will need to be enhanced over a lifetime.

We are in danger of enticing more people into something that is above their level of competency and causing them to not complete their studies.  They will walk away without a qualification, but saddled with a very large debt.  The courses the universities offer are suited to the way the world was half a century ago rather than the way the world will be as early as a decade into the future.

The number of people dropping out of university studies is a tragedy that sometimes reaches fifty percent.  This attrition rate surely indicates that we need to have a new look at giving entrants the knowledge they need for entry onto a career path and then giving them the opportunities to enhance that knowledge further as their career advances.   The purpose of education is to make someone attractive to an employer by the knowledge gained and enable them to advance in that field as their career progresses.

Universities are probably unsuited for that task and some disciplines are more suited to the university approach - and both law and medicine come to mind.  A short, refresher introduction to some disciplines which would probably take just three months would be better suited to something like a TAFE operation.  The training would need to keep vocational and be tuned to the directions that industry was heading.

Unfortunately, we seem to be heading in the wrong direction if we continue to try and cram students into the existing university routine.   This drop out rate is a sure indication that change is needed and it seems evident that our academics are resisting change.   We will be doing our young people a serious disservice if we fail to bring education into alignment with the needs of their future.

A New Direction !

In the eyes of many voters the links between the Australian Labor party and the unions are synonymous.  Not only are the unions a source of valuable funds to keep the party viable at election time they also have a big say in the policies that  are presented to the people.   How the average voter feels about unions can be a decisive factor in how they cast their vote.

Over the years there have been some very disappointing revelations about high living by union officials funding their lifestyle from workers dues.  That has resulted in a drop in union membership over the years and at the recent Federal election the Labor party received a disappointing share of the vote.  It was the election they were expected to win.

A few big and very militant unions give the union movement a bad name when they use their muscle to seek rewards that are far outside what the economy can provide.  The relationship between these unions and the companies that employ their members is close to a war footing and strikes and work delays are common. This recent election loss is a signal that the Labor party needs to rethink its links to the more militant unions bringing the union image into disfavour.

Labor in Australia has made a new start with a new national leader.  Anthony Albanese brings a lot of goodwill to the table and he is allied with Sally McManus, the secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions to demand that the leader of the CFMMEU step down from office over a speech in which it is claimed he denigrated one of the nation's domestic violence campaigners.   Those comments from a CFMMEU head are diametrically opposite the stance taken by the Labor party.

This is heading for a make or break situation.  That leader denies he made those comments but they were witnessed by reputable people and this dismissal could give Albanese the test of his new authority to withdraw the Labor party from the notion that it is under union control.  It will not break with the union movement, but it certainly needs to withdraw from the influence of those very militant unions bringing disharmony to the workplace,

Anthony Albanese has an opportunity to take the Australian Labor party in a new direction.   Union membership is in decline and Labor needs to prove that it speaks for the vast majority of workers who are not part of a union.   It can not do that if those very militant unions are directing policy from within the Labor tent.

It is a fact of life that we only achieve the best from a government when they have a very viable opposition snapping at their heels and with the credentials to be elected to office with a working majority should a snap election be called.  Labor leadership has lacked that charisma for a very long time !

Fishing Expeditions !

In November, 2017 the news headlines in Sydney reported a huge drug bust when police discovered a large quantity of liquid  ecstasy destined for the music market.  A man arrested in relation to that bust had connections with the Hell's Angels Sydney chapter and consequently he was denied bail and remanded to await his trial.

This week we got a vivid view of just what is wrong with our criminal justice system in this state.  That man has been waiting in jail for over eighteen months and this week the long awaited trial was suddenly cancelled - and postponed  to a new date which remains to be advised.   The reason for the delay  ?    The state could not find a prosecutor to take the case to trial.

Just as accused prisoners have the need to engage private counsel for their defence, it seems the state also engages those versed in the law in private practice to undertake prosecutions.  The reason for this trial cancellation seems to be that such a prosecutor unexpectedly withdrew from the case and returned the brief to the government.

What happens next seems to be a mystery.  A prosecutor needs adequate time to study the evidence in relation to the charges being pressed and then the case needs to find a place on a judge's docket. There is now the probability that this trial will not see the interior of a courtroom until April next year in which case the accused will have served  two and a half years in prison  without having been convicted of a crime.

This strikes at the very heart of the criminal justice system.   In this instance the accused has made two bail applications to the district court and one to the Supreme court - and all have been refused. There is the expectation that some sort of statute of limitations should be applied to the court process to make the state either take the case to court - or automatically release the accused on bail.   The remand statistics in this state speak for themselves.  The average time those refused bail spend on remand has blown out to 674 days and that in itself is a custodial sentence of significant magnitude.

It could also serve a tactical purpose for the police.  If the evidence gathered at the crime scene was not compelling a long period on remand before a trial in court would give extended time for further investigations to be carried out.    That is what are known in the trade as " fishing expeditions ".  An arrest on a relatively minor matter to enable the investigation to delve deeper into other suspected major crime activities.

Preventing a felon from fleeing out of a prosecutor's reach or interfering with witnesses is the usual reason for denying bail, but justice is not served if this is open ended.   A statute of limitations under which trial must go to court or the person on remand granted bail would seem a reasonable way of ending these defacto prison sentences.

The Slow Grind of Justice !

That old maxim of " Justice delayed is justice denied " certainly applies in our court system.  The tenet that an accused must be promptly put before a judge and the matter decided is a fallacy if that person is denied bail and spends months in a prison cell awaiting the case to appear on a judge's docket.

In recent years our bail laws have been tightened.  More and more people are finding themselves on remand and in particular it seems that young people the courts recognise as " children " stay behind bars for longer than the usual sentence for the crime for which they are accused.   The figures for 2018 show that 204 citizens walked free after a long period on remand when their hearing ended in acquittal.

Unfortunately, this is a situation that is steadily deteriorating. More than two hundred people spent more than a year in jail before being acquitted and this is an increase of  thirty percent since 2014.
That period on remand can take a heavy toll on the prisoner's quality of life.  Not only are they separated from their family, they often suffer both a loss of job and housing,.

Defence lawyers are aware that bail refusal usually increases the risk of a custodial penalty because waiting on remand is seen as a degree of criminality.  In many cases the person is freed on the basis of " time served " when that time in remand is taken into account.

In today's world the courts are often forced to wait until the prosecution is ready to proceed and that can be caused by delays in processing the wonderful array of crime detecting paraphernalia that is constantly coming on stream to aid law enforcement.   The speed of the trial is usually influenced by the delays that take place in laboratories as evidence is sifted and joins the waiting list on the basis of the crime priority.

What seems obvious is that the front end of the justice system is not keeping up with the back end.  There is not a great deal of alignment between bail refusal and what someone is ultimately sentenced to, if anything.  Serving a sentence in prison is an expensive option that the courts seek to avoid.

Delay seems likely to further increase  the numbers held on remand.   We are certainly remanding more people than before and the figures are compelling. They increased from 472 in 2013/14 to 781 in 2017/18, a rise of  sixty-five percent over five years.

What is alarming is the tendency for children to be remanded and spend time rubbing shoulders with hardened criminals in our prison system.  It is often said that the prison system is the university of criminology and we may be unwittingly turning out people with crime diplomas by our overuse of the remand system.

Beijing Aggression !

The thirty year anniversary of the democracy massacre in Tiananmen Square went unrecognised in mainland China but was a very big event in Hong Kong.  The " one country, two systems " approach which was the basis for the 1997 return of Hong Kong to China is now being eroded as a new mood of aggression takes hold in Beijing.

The Hong Kong legislature is not voted into office by the people of Hong Kong. Beijing must first approve the candidates seeking election and consequently those holding office must show allegiance to their mainland masters.  This week more than a million people took to the streets to reject an ordinance that would allow people charged with crimes to be  removed from Hong Kong to face trial and imprisonment somewhere on the Chinese mainland.

That Tiananmen square suppression is a precise reason why Hong Kong citizens bitterly oppose this legislative move.  So complete has been the Beijing shutdown of access to any mention of that massacre that vast numbers of Chinese residents in mainland China are completely unaware that it happened.  It has been expunged from the history books and even comments made by a Chinese General at the Shangri-La conference in Singapore will be deleted from news broadcasts in mainland China.  China turned tanks and guns on its own people demanding democracy and has installed a veil of secrecy over that crime by pretending it didn't happen.

Hong Kong people fear that if this legislation becomes law the accused will simply disappear without trace.   There will be no mention of either trial or verdict on the Hong Kong record and the secret police will have easy access to remove leaders who voice any form of opposition to rule by Beijing.  Even the limited free speech enjoyed by the " Yellow Umbrella " movement will be curtailed and its leaders deported.

This legislation simply codifies into law what has been practised illegally for a long time.  Booksellers in Hong Kong who have retailed titles suppressed by  Beijing have tended to " disappear " and later reappear somewhere in mainland China proffering an apology for their anti social activities. Those that fail to reappear are presumed to have refused to recant and will serve time indefinitely in a remote Chinese prison.

There is fear that this law will be used to control both the thoughts and the activities of Chinese students studying abroad and members of the Han dynasty who are permanent residents in other countries.   Family members living in Hong Kong will be the pawns used to control the measures ordered by Beijing.  Reported visits by the secret police to Chinese residents will ensure Chinese living outside China obey the edicts of the Communist party.

Unfortunately, that million person march will achieve nothing.  This legislation will be pushed through despite protests and it is quite clear that the Communist government is completely ruthless in ensuring its own survival.  Thirty years ago the PLA obeyed orders when it turned its guns on its own people and it will do it again if so ordered.

It seems that China now feels it has the military might to do what it pleases with external territories such as Hong Kong - and Taiwan.  It is only a matter of time before Taiwan is forcefully returned  to mainland control.

Surgeons Fees !

There is a parallel to be considered in this debate about limiting the fees that specialist doctors can charge for their services.  In the Soccer world, Messi and Ronaldo are probably the highest paid players on the planet and that is because they have a remarkable ability to kick goals.

The clubs that employ them are happy to shell out that money because with such stars on the field they win competitions. In fact the remarkable money paid to all soccer players is in direct relation to the fame and adoration they have achieved on the field of play.

In the field of medicine a very similar situation exists.   A few exalted surgeons gain fame as the " miracle doctors " who save lives because they have a skill that is superior to others.  That fame attracts patients who are prepared to pay the price asked for those skills and in so doing these doctors become unavailable to the general public.  This generates anger when people deprived of their services must make do with lesser surgeons.

It is simply the law of " supply and demand ".  Demand exceeds the number of gifted surgeons available and these few limit the number of operations they perform - and this results in the fees they charge moving ever higher. Such is a tenet of the capitalist society in which we live here in Australia.

But this capitalist society has a socialist undertone.  When we introduced Medicare the aim was to provide the benefits of medical care evenly across all strata's of society.  Its aim was to make the services of a doctor available to even the poorest and most distant in Australian society and treatment in public hospitals was to be without charge. That introduced a limitation.   The doctor who would perform those services would be one recruited and paid for by the state.

That is where medicine has arrived at now in Australia.  We have a vast public hospital system dispensing care alongside private hospitals where gifted surgeons operate on private patients and charge fees that far outweigh even the highest scale of private insurance cover.   The out of pocket cost is enormous but the benefit received is lives saved.   There is no doubt those surgeons skills are well above the average.

The danger is that this situation may destroy public confidence in the Medicare system and the benefits it delivers.  The public health system does involve waiting time for surgery and specialist services, but its success rate is well above expectations and it is being constantly improved. If we were to limit the fee doctors could charge we might send our best and brightest to serve in overseas countries and simply displace the private hospital system here which relieves medical pressure on the Medicare regime.

A doctor with exceptional skills has the right to charge a premium for his or her services.   We interfere with that at our peril.   Our mix of public and private medical services attracts patients from nearby countries and we are known as a country of medical excellence.   This mix of prices charged serves us well  !

The Risk of Insurance Loss !

At some point in their lives, many people have had a variety of short term jobs and consequently they find themselves with a multitude of different superannuation accounts.   Each of their employers have paid in to  whatever scheme the business has chosen and consequently individuals have many such accounts with a small account balance.

The problem is that when they finally retire they will lack the nest egg to keep them comfortable for the rest of their lives.  Many of the funds are inefficient because of their size and because of the many job changes no further contributions have been made for a long period of time.  The government has introduced a scheme to combine these small superannuation accounts to achieve economy of scale.

The industry is warning the people who own this superannuation to carefully read the letters they are getting from their funds.  As part of this superannuation many funds also provide life insurance cover and total and permanent disability protection, plus income protection.   That cover will lapse unless the insured chooses to opt in or reinstates the fund by making fresh contributions.  The cut off point is where funds have not received a contribution for the past sixteen months.

That insurance cover is a form of protection many account holders have forgotten and the small annual premiums are eating away at their account balance.  In some instances their health situation has changed since the cover was introduced and they may not qualify for similar cover today.  It would be in their interests to keep that insurance cover valid.

The big danger is that many people may do nothing and allow these accounts to lapse.  One of the biggest superannuation funds reports that with 220,000 contributors the response at June 1 had been about six percent who had reactivated dormant accounts.  It is important account holders seek advice to gain the best outcomes from this change.

It is highly likely that many with such scattered superannuation holdings have become home owners and are paying off a home mortgage.  It is usual for such home mortgages to include insurance cover to eliminate the balance owing on the death of one of the contributors and provide cover against disabilities.  They may have adequate private cover in place and no longer need the cover provided with their superannuation.  It is important that this be evaluated.

Th biggest danger is apathy.  Where account balances are small people tend to disregard letters and emails and take no action.  In many cases this consolidation will achieve the result of getting that money earning again and keeping in place the insurance cover that may otherwise be hard to now achieve.

The date when action will commence is getting close.  It will happen on July 1  !

Missing Person Mysteries !

A car accident on the south coast of New South Wales signals a danger that may account for some of thepeople who mysteriously disappear without a reasonable reason ever being found.  It is not unusual for someone to simply disappear without a trace and later we learn that their bank account has had no money movement.

It seems that a 67 year old woman was driving alone from Moruya to Wallaga Lake on the Princes Highway late at night when her car ran off the road.  It manages to leave the road without leaving a trace and crashed down a steep embankment, coming to rest upside down in a small creek.   The woman was knocked unconscious and lay trapped in the wreckage.  It was seventeen long hours before she regained conscience and became aware of her situation.  She was injured and unable to escape from the wreck.

Fortunately, she could access her mobile phone and called a relative.  Dazed and frightened, she had no idea where she was and when her relative raised the alarm that phone signal was the key to directing rescuers to the wreck.  Triangulation between several base stations pin pointed the location and police and ambulance crews were soon on the scene.

It was a difficult rescue. This driver needed to be cut out from the wreck and  there was a difficulty bringing the gurney back to road level, but she was taken to hospital and looks like making a full recovery.  This is an accident that could have ended with a missing person forever being an unsolved  case in the missing person files of the police service.

That wreck might have remained undiscovered - for years.  Even if road maintenance workers noticed a wreck in the bush they would tend to think it was an accident that had been covered by the police. It is unlikely that they would make that difficult climb down a steep cliff to investigate and hence the human remains might never be discovered.

It does raise an interesting question.  It is not unusual for the motoring public to notice a smashed car in a roadside paddock or the burned out shell of a car hidden away in roadside bush.  If we did not see that crash happen there is a tendency to assume it is old history and ignore it.  Sometimes these wrecks standing in plain sight can hold the fate of what become missing persons in the police network.

The mobile phone is a relatively new invention and this accident illustrates its value in bringing aid to a motorist in distress, provided that motorist is still alive and able to access the phone.   With the huge number of miles of road on this continent it is quite possible that a number of missing person mysteries may be masked by crashes that were never investigated.  It seems that it was sheer luck that this one on the south coast did not join that category.

Whats in a Name ?

For many families the traditional Sunday roast is lamb, served with potatoes and greens - and lashings of mint sauce.  That definition as " lamb " is something that makes farmers desperate to rush their young sheep to market because somewhere between ten and fourteen months old the state of their teeth sees them defined as " hogget ".  When that happens the price they receive at the abattoirs drops by about forty dollars per animal.

That is a big mystery to most meat lovers, but to the farming and meat industries it all depends on when young lamb lose what are called their " milk teeth " and start entirely depending on cropping grass for their meal.  The time that happens is indeterminate but usually somewhere between ten and fourteen months of age.  As part of the ageing process the incisor teeth push out the milk teeth - and in the twinkling of an eye that animal that was classed as " lamb " becomes far less valued " hogget ".   As many farmers ruefully observe, " It can happen between the farm gate and the trip to the abattoirs " !

All that is about to change from this July.  Australia and New Zealand compete on the overseas export lamb trade and we have had two distinctly different definitions of that word " lamb ".  It has been decided to stick with the New Zealand definition and from July a lamb will be defined as a young sheep that is under twelve months of age or has a permanent  incisor tooth that is bigger than its milk teeth.

Basically, sheep fall into one of three categories when it comes to their definition in the meat trade. It all depends on their age and so they are presented as lamb, hogget - or mutton and their skin is branded accordingly.   The size of the meat offered is usually a fair indication if older sheep defined as " mutton " are involved but it is near impossible for the shopper to determine a difference between lamb and hogget if that skin has been removed.  It is common for hogget to be sold as lamb is high volume supermarkets and few customers notice the difference.

Because of the drought, the prices of lamb has shot up the price scale and when the drought ends farmers will hold back stock from market as they try to rebuilt their flocks.   The fact that the highest price asked is for lamb  should have cost conscious cooks looking at what can be achieved with the cheaper varieties offering.  Many people shun hogget as inferior when the difference between higher priced lamb can usually be a matter of days when milk teeth drop.  Many customers define anything other than lamb as " mutton " and reject it accordingly.

This change in title will not be apparent at the point of sale.  The meat from sheep can deliver a delicious meal if the right cooking method is selected.  The wise cook looks at the meat and decides both the type of dish and the cooking time that will deliver the taste and flavour sought, and that is the skill component that makes some people great cooks.

Investigative Journalism !

When Federal police officers served search warrants to enter the offices of the ABC at Ultimo it raised the spectre of censorship being imposed on all forms of journalism in Australia.  A similar police raid had been carried out on the home of what is described as an " investigative journalist " to ferret out  how she derived her story that Australian soldiers in the Afghanistan war were guilty of misconduct that resulted in the deaths of innocent women and children.

The purpose of the raid was clearly to seek the identity of the whistle blowers who provided the information that sparked the story.  The media in Australia jealously guards the identity of the brave souls who put life and liberty at risk to reveal crime in high places.  In many parts of the world what used to be called the " free press " is being stifled by aggressive new laws and in some cases journalists who persist are being murdered.

Governments tend to hide behind the defence of " national security " when it comes to closing down embarrassing news stories and journalists run the risk of our defamation laws if they damage the reputation of another person with claims that can not be substantiated.  Often these news stories have a long background of careful examination to gain conclusive proof before they appear on news pages.  The journalist puts his or her reputation on the line when they add their by-line.

The world has been following the long travail of Julian Assange who revealed secrets the United States government wanted kept secret.  Assange is now awaiting extradition to the country where he will face trial and probably end his life in a high security prison.  The pursuit has been relentless and power prevailed, despite Assange hiding out in a friendly embassy for seven years.

There is an old saying about corruption in high places.   It goes unchecked while good men do nothing.  The fear that keeps those in high places on the straight and narrow is the risk that their sins may be revealed by a whistle blower.  We silence those whistle blowers at our peril.

This raid on the ABC seems to be a turning point.   The Federal police intruded into the personal effects of journalists and examined diaries and phone histories to widen their investigation.  The identity of informants can be guessed if the contents of the emerging story leads in their direction and usually a whistle blower knows that disclosure will come at great personal cost.  Such is the cost of choosing disclosure in the public interest.

Journalism can not keep us informed without the services of public minded men and women who take the risk to disclose corruption.  It is the investigative journalist that roots out endemic corruption that exists at the highest level of public service and is covered by official secrecy.  It will take a law change to protect such disclosure from being negated by the very force created to uphold the law.

Interest Rate Risks !

The Reserve  Bank of Australia took an enormous risk yesterday when they cut the cash rate to a record low 1.25 percent.  Theoretically, this should ginger up the economy because the people with home mortgages will have more money in their pockets to spend and spending that money should be reflected in more people gaining a job to service that demand.

The problem with " theoretical " solutions is that they usually don't work out that way.  There is the expectation that mortgage rates will drop but the banks are still licking their wounds from that bank Royal Commission and it looks like the rate cut will only be partially passed on to bring mortgage relief.  ANZ bank has indicated it will grant just 0.18 of the Reserve banks 0.25 reduction on to borrowers.

We live in a particularly perilous world with China's Foreign minister making thinly veiled threats about Taiwan and Chinese acquisitions in the South China sea.  The worlds two biggest economies are engaged in a tariff war and it is hard to expect that can end peacefully.  The pundits are talking about a coming recession and Australia has nothing in the kitty to cushion the outcome.

When the world economy went sour in 2008 we had a twenty billion surplus in hand and we went into deficit to splash money where it would do the most good.  House prices took a dive but they quickly recovered and went on to scale new heights.  No one can accurately predict what will happen with home values if the world economy takes another dive like 2008.  One of the things that saved the day after 2008 was a drop in interest rates.   We no longer have that option waiting in the wings to come to our rescue.

Unfortunately, Australia is very much a small player when it comes to the world economy.  The big issue at present is this tariff war that America's president chose to inflict on China.  That is fast developing into tit for tat upgrades and it could easily revolve into the entire upset of world trade patterns.  Perilously, the world seems threatened by dividing into blocks supporting either China or the United States.

Europe is in flux with the British withdrawal from the EU nothing short of an unholy mess.  There is a far right mood sweeping many European countries and barriers to migrants are threatening the magnificent  Schengen concept which allows Europeans to cross national borders without passports or visas and have the use of a common currency.  Once again the spectre of dictators is rising as voters abandon the traditional political parties.

Our Reserve bank has made a decision and we have to live with it.  It would be a healthier financial world if interest rates were a lot higher but the signs of recovery are fast melting away and it looks like a particularly rough road ahead.  We can only hope that the Gods of commerce are kind, and Australia rides out this blip in world finance by retaining that epithet of " the lucky country "  !

The Danger of " Roundup " !

The first legal action to seek compensation for harm caused by the weedkiller Roundup is progressing in an Australian court. A 54 year old Melbourne gardener has launched action against the makers of Roundup with a claim that exposure to its base chemicals have resulted in him suffering non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The active ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate and it is known that this can cause DNA and chromosomal damage in human cells, cancer, kidney disease, infertility and nerve damage. The problem is that Roundup and similar products containing glyphosate is the wonder weedkiller without which agricultural commerce would be impossible.  Not only is it the farmers best friend, it is also essential for councils and local government to economically maintain weed control on public land.

Roundup was originally the product name registered by American Agribusiness Monsanto but last year it was sold to the German chemical giant Bayer.  Now it has been accused in a Supreme Court writ of ignoring  the carcinogenic impact of this top selling herbicide.

The use of glyphosate has gone hand in hand with the genetics of crop development. Crops have been genetically developed to ignore the presence of glyphosate and hence spraying a thriving crop will only remove troublesome weed growth which would otherwise require expensive hand weeding.  To many farmers, banning this aid would be unthinkable.

The problem is that Roundup has been on the market now for many years and it is sold widely in supermarkets and plant nurseries.  One of the problems is that it is used by home gardeners and some may not be bothering to heed the safety precautions indicated on the pack.   The fact that it is sold without restrictions may lead users to think it is harmless.

It is also possible that commercial use on farms has resulted in the dangers being downgraded.  The people using commercial spraying equipment need to be suitably garbed and provided with air filtration and it is common to see workers in the field wearing little other than shorts and a sun hat. It is clear that the safety warnings need to be urgently upgraded.

No doubt the availability of where it may be sold will also get a closer examination.  There is a public perception that goods sold openly in supermarkets must be safe because there would otherwise be stringent restrictions governing their sale.   In fact, using many dangerous materials has the need for extensive training leading to the attainment of a license and this may be the ultimate need to ensure glyphosate safety.

The ultimate objective will be to ensure that home gardeners are aware that this product that they have so freely used in their garden does have danger if used incorrectly.  Like most  dangerous products, the risk can be eliminated if the user reads the instructions carefully - and uses common sense  !

Tiananmen Square Revisited !

For thirty years China's Communist rulers have meticulously scrubbed any mention of the events of 1989 from the Chinese history book.  Censorship is imposed on the internet and the net has been so tightly closed that a whole class of people are totally unaware that thousands of students were gunned down by the PLA when tanks rolled into Tiananmen square to put down a demonstration demanding democracy.

China's defence minister, General Wei Fenghe was attending the Shangri-La security summit in Singapore when he openly applauded his governments action and claimed that the action was justified and enabled the long period of stability that followed.  General Wei chose to introduce the topic of Tiananmen square in his speech warning America against getting closer to Taiwan.

This speech had an air of belligerence.  The defence minister also mentioned the confrontation that is happening in the South China sea where China has created artificial islands and installed airfields and defence equipment contrary to international law.  He cited the collapse of the Soviet Union and claimed this was because they failed to take the necessary action to defend Communist party rule.  He was quick to quote the observation by Chairman Mao that " political power grows from the barrel of a gun " and added that " the regime has a firm grip on that gun ".

It was noticeable that this hard line stance reflected the high level of confidence that China now had on the ability of its military.  General Wei went on to warn Taiwan not to seek independence from China and suggested others would be wise not to interfere in the Taiwan question. He also took a swipe at Donald Trump's " America First " trade policy and said.  "  If the US wants to talk, we will keep the door open.  If they want to fight, we will fight to the end ".

This comes at exactly the same time that China is threatening to use the acceptance of its technology giant - Huawei - as the dividing line to separate nations into either a pro China or pro America block.  It seems likely that this will determine the way trade preferences are decided in the future.

It is unlikely that General Wei made this speech without the sanctions of his president and it may be the first step in a more abrasive China outlook to the rest of the world.   Sooner or later the question of Taiwan needs to be settled and China may be warning that the time of a settlement is fast approaching.

Taiwan has sheltered behind an American guarantee on its security since the defeated Nationalists moved to the island of Formosa at the end of China's civil war.   Renamed Taiwan, it is a functioning democracy and engages in world trade. Communist China has been tightening the screws and eventually threatening an invasion across the Taiwan strait.

China would claim to be restoring a rebel province and that could be accepted in much of the world.  It is doubtful if a war between America and China could be limited to just Taiwan and the clash of such super powers brings the prospect of Armageddon.   It depends if General Wei's sabre rattling heralds a more militaristic China cementing its place in the world order !

Escalating the " Huawei " War !

China seems to be stepping up the pressure as the tariff war with the United States reaches a new crescendo but its latest move will certainly have trade repercussions in board rooms across the rest of the world.   Companies are being put in the position of having to publicly decide whether they support the United States - or China  ?

This seems to revolve around the Chinese communications giant Huawei and its exclusion from supplying parts to western telephone systems.  The world is rolling out the improved 5G system and it is feared that Huawei componentry will enable China to spy on traffic flowing through the system.  A Huawei ban in the United States is flowing to other countries and now a wide range of organizations connected with communications have cut ties with this Chinese technology giant. The New York based  Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers have refused to allow Huawei scientists to review journal publications and a similar stance has been taken by Google.

China has announced that it will establish a " blacklist " of " unreliable entities " around the world which would harm the interests of Chinese companies.  It is suggested that the Chinese Commerce Ministry will directly target foreign companies that refuse to do business with Huawei because of the American ban.   The world is being asked to take sides.   They will need to decide who they favour - America or China.

What has alarmed many countries was the Chinese response when a Huawei executive was taken off a plane making a stopover in Canada and served with an extradition order to the United States to face court on a civil action.  Two Canadian tourists on a private visit to China were taken into custody on a spying charge.  There is a growing fear that executives on this list of " unreliable " companies may have similar problems gaining exit after visits to China.

It is noticeable that executive travel to China has dropped to a mere trickle since the tariff war gained impetus.  It seems that media comment attributed to individuals that may have appeared in earlier publications is sufficient to create obstacles when business people plan to return from a China visit. This " unreliable " listing simply takes the uncertainty further.

It has always been assumed that the world's two greatest economies are so dependent on one another that they have to solve their trading problems short of war.  The fact that they are both nuclear armed makes war unthinkable, but there is a friction point in the South China sea which China claims as sovereign territory and which the rest of the world sees as an international trade route.  A clash between the two country's navies in the South China sea seems inevitable.

This Chinese initiative seems to take the economic rivalry into new territory.  Granting trade access to Huawei may now determine trade preferences on an arbitrary basis.  The world is in danger of splitting into two distinct trading blocks.  Just where this all ends up is an economists nightmare !

Return of the Water Tank !

The last time Sydney had water restrictions was back in 2009 and that was the reason we spent a lot of money installing a huge desalination plant to ensure that the taps will never run dry.  We don't have a water shortage.   We are actually surrounded by the stuff, but it is just a bit salty to be used as drinking water.

After a stint in mothballs that desalination plant is up and running once more. Warragamba dam is hovering close to half full  - or half empty if you are a pessimist - and stage one water restrictions are back in force.  No garden watering in the heat of the day.  No hosing down paths or hard surfaces.  Fines will apply but we are permitted a period of grace and there is hope the period of restrictions will be short lived.

Now would be a very good time to give some thought to Sydney's long term needs.  Every year the population of greater Sydney increases and yet we are reliant on Warragamba dam for our water supply.  There are plans to raise the height of the dam walls to contain more water, but that depends on greater rainfall in the catchment area and it is predicted that we face a drier future.

Water is something we take for granted and during that last shortage a remedy came into use that seemed to grip national fervour.  Thousands of people enthusiastically paid to have a home water tank installed and connected to save the water that fell on their roof.   In some cases the water saved was used for keeping the lawns green and the garden healthy, but others had their indoor plumbing connect from their water tank to toilet flushing and washing machine use.

That was a time many makers of water tanks vied for our business.  Water tank advertising was rife in Sydney newspapers and many new home builders included a water tank as one of the reasons for choosing their new model homes.  It also coincided with threatened increases in water bills and many home water tanks were installed with the joint motive of taking pressure off Warragamba - and saving money on increasing household outgoings.

When plentiful rains returned that interest in water tanks evaporated.  There are thousands of homes with water collected from the roof and eventually disappearing unused into the storm water system when the storage overflows.  Tank design was carefully chosen to blend with their surroundings and many water tanks are probably ready to again help Warragamba overcome this new drought cycle.  If their owners put them to use.

If the pundits are right about global warming, we face a permanent water shortage because of reduced rainfall.  Fortunately, coastal rainfall is fairly consistent and that is where the majority of people on this continent live.  It can be very comforting to know that what falls on your roof is available as a source of drinking water for your family.  The logic for having a home water tank has never been stronger.

It will be interesting to see if water restrictions renew the impetus for suburban residents to install home water tanks  ?

Our Paramedics at Risk !

One of the most valued aspects of our civilized society is the sure knowledge that if we encounter a medical emergency a 000 phone call will result in an ambulance with trained paramedics being despatched to bring aid at any time of the day or night.  In many cases, the outcome is the saving of a life that would otherwise be lost.

Paramedics - along with fire fighters - used to be the valued heroes that many children wanted to become when they grew up, but in todays world this is becoming a dangerous profession.  An ambulance crew consists of two people and of necessity they have with them medical supplies which would be of high interest to drug users.

Many years ago there was a tragic accident when a train dislodged the Bold street bridge and it crashed onto carriages below and caused death and injuries to many passengers.   When ambulance crews climbed down to give aid, their ambulances - left unguarded - were looted and when the paramedics returned they found them bare shells, with even basic equipment missing.

That respect for paramedics has retreated even further today.  Ambulance crews are likely on the basis of " more often than not " to need to use physical restraints on the people they are tasked with helping.  The cause of this aggression - is the drug  " ice ".  People in its grip often refuse help and this irrational behaviour is also common amongst loved ones and their friends.   Often paramedics are prevented from giving aid or even taking the victim to hospital.

Taking a patient to hospital in an ambulance has risks.  One paramedic is driving and so the other is alone with the patient who may be physically unruly.  It is not unusual for the security staff to be needed on arrival at the emergency ward as this aggression continues as doctors and nurses take over care from the paramedics.

Unfortunately, ice use is hitting a peak on the NSW south coast and southern highlands.  It rose 31 percent in the last year compared with 5.7% in the rest of NSW, according to the  Bureau of Crime statistics and research.  Paramedics dread a call out when the reason given is " behaviour disturbance " or " mental health issues ".  That is often a pseudonym for  " ice affected ".  Statistics show that the average ice user is male, aged 30 to 55, often with a history of trauma, very often unemployed or underemployed and homeless.  The paramedics sometimes need to call for police assistance but in many instances they need to handle the situation themselves.

If this risk continues to grow it seems obvious that future ambulance call outs may need a police presence or the ambulance service may need to provide its own roving security to deliver backup when paramedics face a hostile patient and carers.

This is an essential service but the prevalence of ice is putting it at risk.