Equity Rental levels !

The price of housing in Australia is sucking in first buyers  with ever smaller deposits with the result that mortgage repayments are absorbing a greater share of their pay.  If that becomes uncomfortable, they know they can put the home back on the market and make a profit from its new value.

Unfortunately, this is reducing the number of homes available on the rental market and we are now seeing Estate agents culling the numbers allowed to inspect the stock available.  Only those with an impeccable  rental history and the ability to lodge a substantial bond make the cut.

Many low income earners find themselves shut out of this rental market or find themselves restricted to the city perimeter with a lengthy commute.  The cost of fares to and from the city restricts their ability to have a roof over their heads.

During the coronavirus lockdown emergency legislation prevented evictions from rented property because of rent arrears.  This reduced the rental stock available and new tenants are now finding a severe shortage of rental opportunities.  The numbers sleeping rough on Sydney streets is ever increasing.

During the second world war the government imposed rental control.  The families of those serving in the armed forces had tenure until the war ended and the rent was pegged to accord with a serviceman's salary. Often, the return to the buildings owner was less than the council charged for rates.

This arrangement persisted long after the end of the war and the owners of rental property were seriously disadvantaged.  Should this rental drought persist, the government would be likely to again impose rent control and that could have serious consequences.

Interest paid by banks on term deposits is at a historical low.  Buying property - and living off the rent is a good way to invest superannuation money, but the rent needs to equate to the value of the property bought.  That is unlikely to coincide, given the present high value of housing.

The only way housing prices will fall to a level attractive to rental housing would be by an interest  rate surge.  Those with huge mortgage repayments would be forced to sell at a loss and make homes attractive again for investors.

Unfortunately, that is the way the market is headed unless sanity applies to the price of homes, or  wages surge to a high which can accommodate mortgage values, and that would be a profound shock to owners of existing housing.

  It takes a surfeit of buyers to maintain price levels out of kilter with reality  !

Floodplain Development !

Once again the weather bureaus is warning of a storm front that will deliver an unusually high tide, combined with a surge of giant waves that will threaten homes fronting onto Sydney beaches. There is the expectation that sand will be stripped away and home foundations undermined.

Flooding is fast becoming a new hazard with which Sydney homeowners have to contend.  Global warming will deliver a higher sea level and increase the risk of coastal inundation and the lack of new building sites is building pressure to extend housing onto flood plains.

We recently experienced abnormal rain which overfilled Warragamba dam and caused homes in the Hawksbury north of Sydney to flood.  This was financially damaging because victims were forced to replace costly items like carpets, electricals, furniture and bedding.  That incident was described as a one in a hundred years flood.

Councils have the power to refuse building approvals for flood plains but the need for housing in this ever growing city is causing a rethink. Sites that could expect moderate flooding at infrequent intervals are under pressure from developers.

The only alternative is extending the city ever outward and that creates problems with public transport and the provision of costly services.  There is also the impediment of national parks to the north and south, plus the barrier of the Blue Mountains to the west.  We will eventually reach the stage that the only land still available will be the flood plains.

With the right planning, this flood risk can be contained.   It would be essential that adequate escape roads be put in place to allow residents to evacuate in the event of a severe flood, and the size and type of housing would need to be strictly controlled.

There would need to be a complete ban on single story housing on concrete slabs on flood plains.  The living area would need to be elevated above the flood level and the area under the house used to garage cars.  Residents would need to accept that they would experience days of isolation during occasional floods and emergency services would need to be in place to deliver food and medical supplies.

The right type of building would eliminate water damage and the main disadvantage would be temporary isolation until the flood subsided.  There would be the expectation that a building site on a flood plain would be considerably cheaper than in a flood free area.

 The only alternative to that plan would be housing people in tower blocks. Learning to live with water may be a necessity in this twenty-first century.  A mix of the various types of housing can make Sydney  a more vibrant and interesting city - and solve out size problem !

Money Scammers !

 People facing the dilemma of safely investing their superannuation payout when they retire must think the  world is against them. Putting it in a bank on a term deposit is no longer an option because the interest rate offering is at a record low.

The stock market is dangerous territory for the uninitiated and many seek the advice of " investment advisers ", but that can also be far from safe.  A woman named Melissa Craddock gave such advice to sixty of her customers and bilked them of of $ 7.3 million.

The money was spent on a lavish lifestyle and many overseas trips and the investigators now think she may have gained as much as $14 million dollars.  She mysteriously disappeared and recently a human foot in a shoe that washed up on a south coast beach was identified as consistent with her DNA.

This week another " financial adviser " was arrested and taken to Chatswood police station.   This 42 year old man has been charged with eighteen counts of dishonestly obtaining  financial advantage by deception and one count of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime with the intent to conceal.

From May, 2017 to March 2020, he took funds from twelve people meant for share holding in a wealth fund and transferred them into his personal bank account.   This same crime   involved  another eleven complainants with the loss ranging from $40,000 to$355,000.   One case involved an 86 year old woman he had defrauded.

This deceit will earn him a stint in prison, but his clients face the loss of a comfortable retirement  and may have to apply for the aged pension.   He is cooperating with the police but it is unlikely that any of this money will be recovered.

Fortunately, the vast majority of financial advisers are honest people who give sound advice and many of their clients have little experience in dealing with money matters.  It is not only lump sum superannuation payouts they need to invest.  They may be selling a home they bought decades ago when property was cheap - and now the median house price in Sydney is topping a million dollars.

It pays to be wary of accepting advice that promises an extravagant return.  Investments that pay above a moderate interest are few and far between in the present circumstances and it is safer to invest with an institution that has capital backing - like a bank - than to invest with an individual.

It is also probable that a multi branch investment service will have probity insurance to cover the misplacement of funds, and that is a field worth enquiry when masking a selection. It is also wise to keep that old piece of logic in mind that applies to all money matters.   " If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is ! "

Danger for Australia !

 The United  Nations law of the sea grants an exclusive economic zone where the borders of a country meet the ocean, and once again that is in dispute in the South China sea. Specifically it is the area around Scarborough Reef  that is suffering armed aggression.

China has claimed sovereignty over the entire South China sea on the basis of an old map.  This claim was subjected to an enquiry by the world body - and rejected.  Unfortunately, China has seen fit to ignore the ruling of what the rest of the world acknowledges as the " Umpires Decision " and has blatantly created islands from a number of rocky outcrops and fortified them into naval and air bases.

Scarborough Reef is part of the Philippines economic zone and its fishing boats have got good and reliable catches there for centuries.  Philippine fishing boats are now being harassed by a vast flotilla of Chinese boats, many of which are armed and supported by Chinese naval vessels.

China is claiming the South China sea as its own exclusive fishing ground despite a number of surrounding countries having a claim on their territorial waters.  The South China sea is an international waterway and serves as a route for the world of commerce.  It is a vital connection, serving both the world export and import trade.

The Philippine fishing fleet consists of small boats often manned by family groups and they suffer a disadvantage against the more numerous and bigger Chinese fleet.  Many of the Chinese boats are armed and are threatening to fire on the  Philippine fishermen unless they leave the area.

So far, China has made no move to interfere with commercial traffic through the South China sea but it does challenge naval ships and particularly units of the United States navy.  There have been numerous incidents of near collisions and Chinese military aircraft have flown close to ships and planes passing through the area.

The Philippines is a poor country and its defence force could not sustain a fire fight with the Chinese navy. It seems inevitable that eventually there will be a serious incident between USS ships passing through the area and Chinese aggression and the outcome of that will affect Australia.  The bulk of both our export and import trade passes through the South China sea.

In particular, we are vulnerable to any disruption of tanker traffic because our oil refineries have been closing  in favour of the lower cost of the big refineries in Asia.  We are an oil producing country but both our transport and defence capacity would be harmed if military action stopped that traffic flow which we could not replace internally.

The fact that a United Nations ruling is being ignored and a neighbour is under threat is a clear warning that this flash point is hotting up !

Legalising Flood Plain Harvesting.

 The subject of what is called " Flood plain harvesting "  is an issue up for debate in the New South Wales parliament and the licensing proposed seems to run foul of existing laws which deem it illegal.  It is evident that this is widespread in many parts of the state and many farmers see it as a means of regulating their water supply.

When rain falls from the sky the farmer gets a good crop and lush pasture, but the law prevents the capture of that water.  If water is to be retained by the building of a dam or creation of a small lake, that must have government approval because it will stop the run off water feeding into the inland river system.

Taking water from those rivers is another licensed activity and we have too many people taking too much water in many parts of the state, resulting in fish kills when water flow is deprived of oxygen levels.   This is of great concern when the flow of a river services several states.

It is also illegal to construct channels or or dig drains to direct the flow of excess water to where it will be useful for farming, and this is a form of " harvesting "  that seems about to change.   In 1995 the government capped the amount of run off water permitted to be taken in this way because of the detrimental effect on town water supplies.

Now the state Water Minister is proposing to allow this type of flood plain harvesting under license as a way of measuring the amount of water taken.  This measure is being opposed by both Labor and the crossbench who claim the government is acting in bad faith by allowing debate on an issue that has not had legal advice tabled.

There is concern that this new measure may open old wounds.  When the land was initially farmed in New South Wales there were no laws covering water harvesting and many farmers created dams and ponds on their land.  The government tends to turn a blind eye to activity that happened before water conservation legislation was enacted and now this unlicensed work may come under the microscope.

In many cases, low channelling simply diverted surface rain water to a naturally occurring low part of the property, resulting in the creation of a pond that holds water for farm use.  In the majority of cases, that work would not be permitted today and it seems inevitable that if water harvesting becomes licensed there will be pressure for this old work to be discontinued.

In many cases, water diversion can be as simple as ploughing a shallow furrow to direct the water flow to where a natural hollow will create a storage pond.  It is predicted that Australia will become a drier country as a result of global warming and how we store our water will become a critical issue in the future.

It is imperative that the parliament sorts out the legal issues before a legislative change comes into effect. 

The " Risk " Factor !

 Journalism is becoming a risky occupation in some parts of the world.  What a journalist writes is usually about events in the country they cover and if he or she is critical of the government in office  it is not unusual to face physical retaliation.

Such was the experience of Roman Protasevich who was a passenger on  a Ryanair plane travelling from Athens to Lithuania.  It seems that Protasevich had very adverse things to say about the president of Belarus and while his plane was crossing that country it received an urgent report that there was a bomb aboard.  Under the international convention, it was ordered to land immediately and the nearest airport was at Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

It seems that bomb alert was personally ordered by the Belarus president and he reinforced  his demand by sending one of his Soviet era MIG-29 fighter jets to ensure that the passenger plane complied.  The moment it was on the ground, Belarus police boarded the plane and arrested Roman Protasevich.

It seems that this 26 year old journalist worked for  a Poland based news service and his report on street demonstrations earned him the ire of the president.  Passengers on the Ryanair plane reported that he had his head in his hands and he was extremely distressed when he learned of the diversion to Minsk. He was heard to say  "  I will get the death penalty there ".

Of course, a search of the plane revealed no explosives and it was quite clear that the diversion was carried out on the instructions from the Belarus president. Belarus was closely aligned with Russia during the years of the cold war and President Lukashenko has been in power since  1994.  He is clinging to power and about 35,000 citizens are in detention for widespread discontent according to human rights groups.

No doubt the western world will protest at this abuse of international airline policy but Belarus remains in Russian orbit and Lukashenko has the protection of Vladimir Putin, who is known to send GRU assassin teams into other parts of the world to silence critics,.

At least this is a timely warning to news gatherers from across the world. When international travel fully resumes they would be wise to heed the actual route that their intended airline proposes to fly.  Even tourists can find their exit from a visited country delayed if they become involved in a spat between the great powers.

What happens to Roman Protasevich will be followed with great interest.  No doubt he will face a mock trial on the basis of some trumped up charge but the publicity surrounding the legality of his capture will probably save him from the death penalty.

It is quite clear that the news we read or watch on television comes to us at great personal risk to the journalists that gather it in many parts of the world.

Changing Voting Patterns !

It is obvious that the Upper Hunter by-election loss is a continuation of the  misery affecting the Australian Labor party in recent times, and the next Federal election could possibly be held later this year. Labor seems to have lost the voter affinity which once saw it regularly hold state and Federal office.

In Upper Hunter the Labor vote retreated 2.8% from the last election and this did not result in a gain in the vote for the sitting government party.  In fact, the Conservative vote dropped by a corresponding 2.6%and the winners were a mix of independents and the lesser special interest parties. The New South Wales Liberal government was vulnerable because it is fast becoming a  minority as scandal and innuendo strip it of a numbers majority.

Upper Hunter was sent to the polls because a Labor politician accused the sitting National seat-holder of a sex crime which still has to face its day in court. Enough of the voting public thought their member to be vindicated to vote into office another National candidate

 Clearly, the big loser is the labor leader in New South Wales who has held office for ten years.  Jodi McKay has failed to make headway against the Liberal/National coalition and will face a slate of candidates eager to replace her as leader.

It is the government that holds the purse strings and being in opposition is a long, hard grind to sell an alternative policy. The ideal of good government is to have an opposition snapping at the heels of the party in office and at all times being ready to govern when the opportunity offered.

The problem is that political parties comprise factions and it is rare to combine those factions to present a rock solid agenda to the voters.   In many cases a faction will oppose a part of their party dogma with more ferocity than they show to the party in power, resulting in many voters choosing the cross bench parties in preference to the traditional two party divide.

That drift away from traditional politics is not confined to Australia and in some other parts of the world it contributes short lived governments which pass little legislation.  A mass of squabbling minor parties hold the balance of power and this makes consensus impossible.

We are fast moving into confrontation with China and our interests will be best served by a spirit of cooperation between the states and Federal governments.  We will have to develop new markets and that would be hindered by petty jealousies and state rivalry.  Cooperation reduces costs and allows Australia to present a united front overseas.

Let us hope that the replacement for Jodi McKay is a moderate who will put Australia's interest first and before party politics.    It could eventually be a matter of survival.

The Ethics of Journalism !

 It has long been a fact of life that scandal sells newspapers and that criteria equally applied to radio and television. The apex of any journalists career was to break a " scoop " story under his or her by-line and that brought fame and fortune.

Probably the most trusted news source in the English speaking world was the British Broadcasting Corporation.   " Aunty ", as the BBC was called was meticulous in checking stories and twenty-five years ago a staff journalist named Martin Bashir secured an interview with Princess Diana on the BBC's Panorama programme.

The public was aware of friction between Charles, the Prince of Wales and his wife, Diana but in this candid interview it was revealed that Charles was maintaining a mistress.  Princess Diana made it clear that " there were three of us in this marriage. "  From there the split widened until it culminated in a Royal divorce.

Eventually, whistle blowers made the BBC aware of the tactics Bashir used to con Princess Diana into granting that famous interview. He used the facilities of the BBC to fake invoices and bank statements that suggested that members of her staff and trusted advisers were spying on Diana and revealing her marriage problems to the press.

Princess Diana became paranoid.  She was virtually a prisoner in her own home and her husband continued to flaunt his mistress openly. Her family believe  that this whirlwind of publicity was partly responsible for her tragic death in a car crash in Paris.

Now - twenty-five years later - the good name and trust in the BBC has been sullied by the actions of that news organization when they learned of Bashir's despicable conduct to gain that interview.   They simply " covered it up " and orchestrated a campaign to maintain silence.

Staff who raised doubts about Bashir's behaviour were pushed out of their jobs and others were terminated.  The BBC sacked Bashir, but rehired him years later  when time had taken these public events from people's memories.

In the interview Princess Diana made it clear that Charles did not deserve to be the future king, and this revision of a royal scandal is coming at a critical time for the British monarchy.  Queen Elizabeth is in the twilight of her reign and according to protocol Charles will inherit the throne on her death.

The British monarchy is one of the last remaining in a changing world and Charles is now an old man with peculiar habits.  Along with the title of King he will automatically become head of the Church of  England.  The fact that he married his mistress after Diana's death may not go down well with many in the Church of England congregation.

It also seems that trust in the BBC has been badly shaken.

A Security Threat !

It has long been assumed that China's hostility to Australia originated from our demand that the source of the pandemic that has swept the world be subjected to a scientific analysis to determine how -and why - it moved from the animal kingdom to affect humans.

The fact that this happened in China is an embarrassment to its Communist government.  They hid the outbreak, and in so doing unleashed it on the world.  They have tried to shift the blame to Europe and the selected ban on Australian imports is an attempt to silence Australia.

The real reason goes back further, to when Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister and Australia became the first country to ban the giant Chinese electronic network from participating in the installation of the 5G in this country.

There was security disquiet that the complex structure developed by Huawei would enable China to eavesdrop in on Australian communications and very quickly this same ban spread to other countries. It quickly became evident  that China would be in a position to simply shut down the entire 5G network if it passed that order on to its Huawei subsidiary.

Huawei denies this and protests that it would not comply with any such order, but that ignores the reality of the regime in power in China.  That power resides in the will of the Communist party.  The Communist government wields supreme power, over and above whatever is written in the constitution.

In2017 the Communist party passed a law that requires all companies, private and publicly owned, to co-operate with the Chinese government on any national security matter.  There is no law in China except the dictates of the Communist party bosses.

If Huawei were allowed to contribute to 5G, Beijing would be able to cause utter chaos in Australia by switching off the communications network and shutting down a large proportion of both industry and transport.  The Australian economy would rest in Chinese hands.

China has imposed selective Australian import bans and we have been able to develop new markets for most of these goods, with the exception of wine.  We are aware that China is looking for an alternative for our biggest export - iron ore - and they have listed a fifteen point manifesto of demands we must meet before they will restore trade to normality.

The number two on that list is acceptance of Huawei as a supplier of parts for the 5G installation in Australia.  We are asked to relinquish our security in exchange to trade preference, and that is something that could come back to haunt us in the future.

It simply means we must enhance our overseas sales efforts to widen our market share.  In the long run, this Chinese animosity may to be to our advantage.  That old adage of putting all our eggs in one basket comes to mind.

INTEREST RATE CONTROL !

 The Federal parliament was considering a law change that would remove some of the laws that govern lending in Australia.  In particular, this would save the four big banks a lot of investigative paperwork in processing loan applications.

It seems insane that the government should be promoting a " Trust the banks " option after a recent Royal Commission found them guilty of all sorts of chicanery, including continuing charging fees to dead customers.  They also chased profits by ignoring their money laundering obligations.

Fortunately, this proposal was struck down when it failed to gain the support of One Nation, sitting on the cross bench.  Its leader, Pauline Hanson  commented that millions of Australians should not be left vulnerable to  predatory banking conduct.

Labor is also opposed to this move and the government would need  the support of three of the five cross bench members to pass the bill.  Apart from One Nation it is also opposed by Tasmanian Jacqui Lambie and independent Senator Rex Patrick from South Australia.

It is vitally important that strict rules apply to the lending of money.  The licensing of Casinos is presently under review and gambling has long been the preserve of " loan sharks " who offer help to losing gamblers at usurious rates of interest.

In recent times we have seen the change from pawnbrokers to what are called " Payday lenders."  Where pawnbrokers lend money on the value of goods offered, this new entity gives cash loans that many vulnerable people can never fully repay.  The government laws cap the rate of interest they may charge.

Another new innovation in the commercial sector is the offer of goods with up to a five year repayment holiday.  This is often acccompanied by the issue of a substantial sum of money on a credit card to spend as the customer pleases.  Often this brings the unwise into financial difficulties.  

It is necessary to have laws in place to govern the lending of money.   Most people have a needs to borrow sometime in their lifetime and they need protection from lenders who offer loans that are cleverly designed " money traps ".   Often repayment shortfalls are simply tacked onto a new loan and over the years a victim owes an incredible sum of money.

Many members of the public are unaware of the pitfalls associated with loans and this has recently become apparent in the marketing of smart phones. Phone companies have been heavily fined for signing pensioners on long term contracts for  phones they are unable to use and with charges for data they don't understand.   The novelty of having such a phone and the profit the seller will gain leads to misrepresentation and fraud.

Common sense dictates that protection laws remain in place.

Medical Mayhem !

 The regional hospital system serving country New South Wales is reaching breaking point.   In many instances that name " hospital " gives a false sense of security.  There is the expectation that the arriving patient will get the service of a doctor, but in many cases there is no doctor present and diagnosis - and treatment - is via videolink with a medico located in a distant city.

A parliamentary enquiry is looking into dysfunction which has led to deaths and near misses in care and it is hearing of regional hospitals running out of basic supplies, including antibiotics and incontinence pads. In some cases, doctors treating these patients remotely from afar are reluctant to sign a death certificate for a patient they have never physically seen.

The enquiry is hearing horror stories from relatives of those treated at country regional hospitals.  In emotional testimony one woman described how her mother died while being treated by videolink  in the emergency department  of Gulgong hospital, near Mudgee.

Even worse was the treatment afforded a patient who attended a hospital at Condobolin  which lacked a doctor and was so short staffed that that the hospital cook was asked to look after the patient in the car park.  That is absolutely third world medicine, and has no place in Australia.

This is not new.  There is a serious lack of doctors in many country towns and often when a town has a general practitioner, he or she is expected to serve as the emergency doctor  at the local hospital.  This imposes an impossible workload and is the reason so many  country doctors quit and leave to the city.

We are not short of doctors in Australia.  The problem is that most of them are concentrated in the cities where they enjoy a relaxed lifestyle and a big income.  There is little incentive to move to a country town with a bigger workload and few backup services.

Medicine and law are the most sought after university studies and the output of doctors and lawyers is governed by the intake permitted.    The average doctor gains a position of prestige in the community and gains a better than average renumeration for his or her services.

As  part of their training, they are required to work under supervision in a general hospital and perhaps the time has come to also require a stint at a country hospital to give them an even broader experience.  It would not be unreasonable to extend the time serving in city hospitals by an extra year in a country hospital to extend their treatment experience.

As things stand, nurses serving in country hospitals are standing in for doctors and by necessity are giving  treatment beyond their training regimen.  Doctors jealously guard their privileged position in the world of medicine and a little country service would not be a big thing to ask as part of that training routine.

Legality of Knives !

 This week a fight in a high school play area turned ugly when a fourteen year old boy being bullied pulled out a knife and stabbed his sixteen year old aggressor.  We have very strict laws in Australia and it is a criminal offence to be found to be carrying a knife in public.

The boy with the knife was from a Sikh background and what is known as a "Kirpan " is a required as part of the Hindoo religion required of Sikhs.  They are required to wear a turban, not cut their hair or beard and carry this ceremonial knife for their own defence or to aid those in peril.

This Kirpan is about four centimetres long and is contained in a sheath and it seems that it has been tolerated in the NSW school system. Australia's laws allow citizens to choose and follow the religion of their choice and usually allows whatever customs apply to the religion chosen.

 That tolerance is treated differently in other parts of the world.   In Britain it is permitted provided the knife is enclosed in a sheath from which it is difficult to withdraw and  the Canadian Supreme court recently ruled that it was reasonable to ban Kirpans in schools.

This raises the issue of when religious practice should be applied to children.  Islam requires women to cover their hair, but this is not required of girls until they reach puberty.  Newsreels from  strictly religious Afghanistan show young girls at school with their hair uncovered, but the custom changes from country to country.

Not all religious practices would be tolerated in Australia.  What was called " Suttee " was common in India until the British banned it in 1829. Women were coerced - and sometimes forced - to jump onto their husbands funeral pyre as a mark of respect, and often very old men had very young brides.  That practice still exists in some remote parts of the world.

Unfortunately, knife crime is becoming rampant in Australia.  Settling arguments with a fist fight was common in yesteryear but today many young men carry a knife when they gather socially and the paramedics are often having to deal with stab wounds.

The police are permitted to detain and pat down suspicious characters they think may be carrying a knife and that is a criminal offence when they face a magistrate.  It is obvious that now this Kirpan issue has been drawn to media attention that some people caught with illegal knives will claim to be of the Sikh religion and the knife is part of their religious duty.

Hopefully, common sense will prevail and carrying a Kirpan will apply to adult Sikhs and not be tolerated in boys of school age.  Magistrates also need the power to demand proof that a person appearing on a knife charge and pleading religious exemption is legitimately a practising member of that religion.

Religious tolerance does have its limits !

Threat to Petrol Supplies !

 In recent years Australia's oil refining plants have been steadily closing, and it is all a matter of costs.  The giant refineries in Asia can do the job at a lower cost because of the volume handled and now most of our petrol and diesel fuel arrives by ship.

We used to have a New South Wales refinery at Kurnell, but that no longer refines oil and now serves as a storage depot for the finished product from overseas.  We are supposed to have a ninety day stockpile of fuel in Australia as a backup to transport delays, but our holding is far less.

News that two of our remaining refineries were scheduled to close alarmed the government and forced a rethink.  They are offering a $2.4 billion package to enable the Viva refinery in Geelong and the Ampol refinery  in Lytton near Brisbane to remain operational and upgrade their fuel to the standard required for European cars.

The urgency of this package was illustrated by the closure of of BP's Kwinana refinery in Western Australia which produced more that one fifth of Australia's fuel making capacity.   We were skating perilously close to becoming an oil producing country that lacks the ability to service its own fuel needs.

Perhaps the prospect of a change to electric cars brought an attitude of fuel complacancy but relying on overseas refining leaves us vulnerable, from both an economic and a defence point of view.  It is as long time since the last petrol tanker drivers strike but older people remember the chaos of petrol rationing and the " odds and evens " system of number plate priority.

It is that same fuel that keeps our naval ships operating and our fighter jets flying.  Without petrol and diesel our road transport of food supplies ceases and the supermarkets  would close their doors. Fuel is the arterial blood that keeps the nation's heart beating.

We would be relying on stability in a dangerous world.  To our north, those fuel supplies pass through the South China Sea which is claimed by China and is frequently the scene of naval tension.  There is often political tension  in our Asian neighbours, some of whom have suffered coups.  The stability of our fuel supplies can not be guaranteed when refining and delivery is beyond our control.

Keeping our refineries open is money well spent.  We also need to look to our fuel reserves.  It is essential that our armed forces are able to move quickly in an emergency and it would be wise if they had fuel stocks in hand at bases throughout Australia and not relying on the commercial system to supply their needs at short notice. Keeping refineries active in Australia may cost us a few cents more at the  fuel pump but that is a small price to pay for national security.

Car Security !

 Like the price of homes, the average family car in Australia has increased in price because of the build quality and the vast safety improvements that have become standard in recent years.  Car crime has also become more sophisticated.  It is now not uncommon for a stolen car to simply disappear because it has been shipped overseas.

This is becoming common in the high end of the market and the theft method has changed accordingly. Car security has improved and taking a car by " hot wiring " is mainly used on older models.  The modern thief wants the car - and its keys, and often this is achieved by burgling the owners home.

Another method gaining credence is to wait until a wanted make of vehicle pulls into a petrol station  and the driver goes to the cashier to pay for the fuel.  Many people leave the keys in the ignition and a cunning thief slips behind the wheel and is gone in seconds.

We are also seeing a more brazen theft method when the driver returns to their parked vehicle and is confronted by a thief armed with a knife.  This type of crime is known as " car-jacking " and is fast becoming more common.  In particular, women are often the victim because they offer less resistance to an armed thief.

This high end car theft takes two forms. In some cases the stolen car is stripped for parts which are sold overseas on the second hand market, and in other cases the entire car goes into a shipping container and shipped overseas to a country where few questions are asked at the registration bureau.

The sheer volume of shipping containers in and out of Australia means that all can not individually have their contents certified and this is profitable for crime gangs.  Now older and cheaper model of cars are falling victim to a new kind of car theft.

When someone with an insured vehicle suffers damage in a crash they get a repair quote from an auto repairer.  This repairer lists the body panels required and costs them in at the price available from car dealers and this is then approved by the insurance company.

Some shonky repair firms then hand that list to local hoodlums and quote a lower price  they will pay than was applicable to buying new parts.  Often, they will offer a bonus if the parts come from a car of the same colour as the damaged vehicle to enable a cheaper paint job.

The hoodlums then seek a car of that make and model - and colour - to steal, and strip for the parts needed. They have the expertise to do this quickly and the remainder of the stolen vehicle is then left in a suburban street.

This is developing into a form of organized crime.  Gangs of youths specialise in supplying the car trade with parts to order.  Car security is becoming a growing problem for owners of both new and old cars as the parts business flourishes !

Fire Safety Warning !

 Here we are, on the cusp of winter and that is the season most house fires occur.   When the first cold snap hits we turn on heaters that have been unused all summer and often these are old and have been around for years.  Often, they have lost a degree of efficiency and replacement delivers better warmth at a lower cost and improved safety.

Alarm is being expressed about the use of unflued gas heaters.  The flame that gives warmth also releases carbon monoxide gas and it is essential that the room in which it is used has a degree of ventilation.  That is the same reason why it is dangerous to bring BBQ's and other outdoor cooking equipment indoors because carbon monoxide intake quickly leads to loss of conscious - and death.

Another common cause of house fires is electric blankets. They definitely have a use by date and become dangerous with age.  The natural wear and tear can cause a short circuit in the internal wiring and often people forget to turn them off when they wake and arise.  They are relatively cheap to replace and should be discarded at the first signs of wear.

The fire brigades despair at the number of homes that are not protected by a smoke alarm.  Even worse are the homes with a smoke alarm serviced by a battery that has not been replaced in years and which is not working, but delivering a false sense of security.

Many people owe their life to the shrill alarm sounded by their smoke alarm when it awakes them to evacuate safely.  Our sense of smell ceases to work when we are asleep and a smouldering house fire also releases carbon monoxide gas which dulls the householders response.

It is a good idea to set a date annually on which the battery in the smoke alarm should be automatically replaced.  As a general rule, once a year replacement should be efficient and smoke alarms have a safety device which allows battery life to be checked.

All that is required is to press the protruding knob in the centre of the alarm and the device will emit a loud alarm that proves that the battery is active.  It is a good idea to make this test three or four times a year as a fire precaution.

It is not well known, but the fire brigades provide a service for the elderly and people with a disability who may have difficulty in replacing the battery in smoke alarms.  If they are advised that such help is needed, they will arrange for an officer to attend the house and in most cases they will supply the needed battery free of charge.

Perhaps the best fire precaution the average householder can take is to buy and install a smoke alarm.. Considering the ever escalating cost of the average home the few dollars to provide protection is very good value.  There is never a better time than now - at the start of winter !

The " Israel " Tragedy !

 Once again Israel and the Palestinians of the Gaza strip are on the brink of outright war.  The Palestinians are sending rocket missiles over the border into the Jewish state and Israel is responding with air strikes by its air force.

This is delivering a casualty imbalance.  Israel has the fire power and a much higher  ratio of men, women and children are being killed in the densely populated Gaza strip and neither side is prepared to call it quits and negotiate a cease fire.

This " hot spot " in the Middle East has been a war zone from the day the world body - the United Nations - granted the Jewish people a homeland they claim was granted them by God according to the bible.  The only problem was that Palestinian people already lived there and suddenly the same piece of land was in dispute by two tribes.

The answer was clear.  It needed to be divided into two states, which hopefully could learn to live in peace with one another.  Both sides rejected that solution and Israel has successfully won several shooting wars with its Arab neighbours.

Several times it looked like a solution could be found, but in every case the negotiations failed because one side or the other dug their heels in and refused to compromise.  Slowly, but surely the Israeili government has been encroaching on territory claimed by the Palestinians for their state and the laws in Israel make Palestinians second class citizens.

The problem is that Israel is the strongest military power in the Middle East.  The Jewish lobby in America has ensured it has been supplied with state of the art weapons, including a nuclear arsenal.  It seems that Israel is hoping that putting sufficient pressure on its Arabs will convince them to move out and seek a new home in Syria or Iraq.

The Palestinians see hope because Israel is suffering political uncertainty with its prime minister facing criminal charges and having repeated elections that do not deliver a stable government.  In fact Mr Netanyahu may be about to take the country to a fifth election this year to try and solve that impasse.  This shooting war is taking attention away from his political troubles.

Basically, this Israel/Arab conflict can be sheeted home to the United Nations decision to grant a Jewish homeland in Palestine.  That same United Nations should step in and make a decision on a Palestinian state which Israel would be forced to follow.

Unfortunately, that solution is impossible.  World politics is hopelessly divided and both sides have their supporters.  It seems to be too late to put divided states in place with the combination of undivided world opinion.

It seems that Palestine is to  remain a poisonous realm of hostility that will remain a flash point for the rest of this twenty-first century.

Our Electricity Crisis !

 An upgrade of power generation in New South Wales remains uncertain. Keeping the lights on still relies on a clutch of unreliable coal fired generators and there are plans to boost the Snowy Mountains scheme, but this will  be a major project that will take years to complete.

The government has promised that the Snowy will provide a gas fired power generator at Kurri Kurri if the private sector fails to replace those worn out coal fired old plants, but no provision was made to fund this in the recent budget.

Now a new player has thrown his hat into the ring.  Billionaire Andrew Forrest has promised to collaborate with the state and Federal governments to develop a new  650 megawatt power station at Port Kembla, near Wollongong.

Forrest's " Squadron Energy " company has interests in the development of a new hydrogen production unit which is also expected to be sited at Port Kembla.  Hydrogen ticks all the boxes when it comes to relieving our use of fossil fuels to stop global warming.

When  water is subjected to electricity it divides into two elements - oxygen and hydrogen.  This hydrogen is a gas that burns without leaving  pollution and is even more efficient than natural gas. Many scientists believe that developing a new hydrogen industry will be the answer to our global heating problem because water is the most plentiful element on this planet.

Just as the world is turning to battery powered cars to replace the internal combustion engine, science is looking to hydrogen as a power cell to replace petrol and now it is also is being promoted as the replacement for natural gas .  It is an idea that could shake world economics and some very serious players are putting their money where there mouth is.

We are facing a natural gas shortfall here in New South Wales and if a hydrogen plant at Port Kembla proves to be successful it will be as game changer, but it is a bit like the chicken and the egg conundrum.

To turn water into hydrogen and oxygen takes electricity.  It all depends if using hydrogen as a fuel can generate enough electricity to power the state.  That seems to be an equation that relies on the over supply of electricity  generated by rooftop solar being used to provide a surplus of hydrogen to power generators when night falls.

At least a billionaire like  Andrew Forrest is prepared to place a bet on hydrogen as a commercial proposition.  The alternative is the revamped Snowy scheme where surplus solar electricity is used to lift  water back to a higher level so it can be used to generate power at night, but that is a project funded from the public purse.

Hydrogen could be the answer to our global warming problem.  No other answer seems even half as promising !

Highs and Lows !

 This week recorded both the highs and the lows of the medical services that protect the citizens of New South Wales.   Emergency services were alerted when a man in his fifties suffered a medical incident which caused him to lose consciousness.

The unusual aspect was that he was suspended in harness, thirty metres up a communication tower. This rescue became the responsibility of the " Special Operation Paramedics " team who employed their new " Bronto "  cherry-picker type of rescue platform.

This is capable of elevating rescuers to a height of forty-five metres and serves a very useful purpose when speed is a necessity to save a life.  This worker was brought to the ground and transferred to hospital, where he is making a recovery.

This type of rescue tends to be spectacular and draws a crowd when it is performed on a public building. It is a comfort to window washers and technicians needing to work at heights to know that people trained in height rescue are on hand if they come to harm.

Unfortunately, the " low " in our medical system occurred when an Aboriginal man died in a Sydney hospital.  This man took his own life in circumstances where he was specifically hospitalized to prevent just that happening.

He became a involuntary patient after consulting his GP about suicidal thoughts and he was placed in the Acute Mental Health Unit. The protocol required that he be checked at thirty minute intervals for " suicide and aggression ". He was found dead in his room at 7-30 am the next morning.

This death resulted in a Coronial Inquest, which found that he died between 11 pm and 5-30 am.  The ward was in the care of a senior registered  nurse assisted by three junior nurses and the inquest found that the registration chart recorded that the man was " sleeping " at 12.30 am,  5.30 am and 6.30 am.

The blinds in that room were faulty and could not be fully opened and it was evident that the observation was made without entering the room. This was referred to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) which found that one of the nurses on night shift made three entries on the observation chart indicating that the patient was " sleeping " when she had not entered the room to check on him.

This 49 year old man had made several attempts on his life and had been sleeping in his car. It was evident that the protocol of a check every thirty minutes had not been followed.  All four nurses were found guilty of professional misconduct under the Health Practitioner Registration National law for failing to observe the patient.  All had their registration suspended.

It is comforting to know that failure to follow medical convention does have consequences. A man is dead and the medical career of four nurses has come to an end. Hopefully, this is a rare occurrence !

The Budget !

 The thinking behind the Federal budget is fairly simple to understand.  Borrowing money is incredibly cheap and the Feds are going on a spending spree that will will create many jobs and soak up the unemployed arising from the drastic lockdowns needed to tame COVID-19.

Government confidence is buoyed by the unexpected rapid recovery of the business sector now that vaccination is under way and there is the expectation that interest rates will remain low for sufficient time for the recovery to balance the books.

There will be the usual difference of political opinion on the spending mix that this money will finance, but generally it will receive a good reception and it will be judged by what happens to the unemployment rate.   There is the expectation that it will quickly recover to about four percent, which in modern terms is considered to be " full employment ".

A budget heavy on spending is always a gamble and this recovery depends on two factors remaining stable.  China has been flexing its muscle and trying to punish Australia for our efforts to determine how  the coronavirus originated; something China has suspiciously tried to cover up and deflect onto Europe. It is refusing Australian coal exports and slapped tariffs on a range of goods that will be detrimental to the Australian economy.

The holdout is iron ore. Increasing steel production in China has increased Australian iron ore imports and sent the world price to a record high.  This Australian product releases less carbon dioxide than iron ore from other parts of the world and it is in China's interest to reduce its air pollution promise by continuing using it.

It is our iron ore sales to China that have improved our trading performance and reduced the deficit. Our budget strategy depends on this iron ore market holding firm and in China Communist ideology takes preference over logic.

The other factor that could harm this budget strategy is the mystery that still surrounds COVID-19.  We would appears to have the answer to this virus by way of several vaccines but it is far from under control in many countries, and it is constantly changing its user pattern.

The future this coronavirus may take is still to be determined, but some scientists predict that it will be with us for a very long time and it seems likely that it may gain the ability to resist the vaccinations designed to halt its spread.  If that happens, we would be forced to implement further lockdowns and that would negate all the benefits this spending budget is designed to bring.

Basically, this budget relies on iron ore sales to China remaining steady and the containment  measures in place to stop the coronvirus working to plan.    Reaction to the budget depends on whether you are an optional - or a pessimist  !

Failing the System !

A lot of people are having doubts about how justice is served in Australia. Two football players are charged with raping a young woman and this week the jury of their second trial was discharged when it was unable to deliver a verdict, even when the need for a unanimous verdict was downgraded to accept a majority decision.

One of the men charged in a key player in one of Rugby League's prominent football teams and under that sports code of conduct he has been suspended from play for bringing the game into disrepute.  His club is keeping him on the payroll, but sportsmen and sportswomen achieve glory for their performance on the field and this player will not return to play until the case before the courts is decided.

Now there is every chance the matter will go to a third trial and there is no reason to suppose that the outcome will not be similar to the first two trials.  The jury will be asked to decide on much the same evidence that has been presented before, resulting in a mix of opinions.

Theoretically, this could go on indefinitely until it exhausts the pool of jurors, but is it justice to deprive an accused of the right to earn his or her living when that living depends on the performance attained in a public arena.  Age has a lot to do with public performances, and this player risks being forgotten by his former admiring fans.

These failed trials also affect the young woman who alleges she was raped.  She has twice given evidence and had this reported in the media and it looks like she will need to submit to a third testimony before a new jury. For many women, giving evidence of rape publicly is a humiliating experience.

It is more than possible that our court system may determine that consensus is unlikely and abandon further hearings.  In that case the footballer will be forever tagged as a rapist and the women's movement will be aggrieved that a raped woman was not accorded justice.

This case boils down to the basics that needs to be determined when rape is alleged.  The accused claims that sex was consensual and the victim claims it was forced on her against her will.  How the participants behaved prior to the sexual act taking place will have a great influence on how individual jurors reach a conclusion.

These failed hearings also involve costs.  Both parties are represented by counsel in court and the costs mount as each trial is abandoned.  It is quite possible that either party may find themselves served with a crushing debt that forces them to declare bankruptcy.

As things stand, justice is an open ended matter before the courts.  A  second trial seems a reasonable alternative to overcome a divided jury, but beyond that it should be decided by a judge sitting without a jury or be automatically abandoned as having run its course.

Justice is not served when it delivers harm to both litigants !

Sporting Disharmony !

 Two of Sydney's most famous beaches are in the news because someone has launched a complaint with Waverley Council, objecting to beachgoers playing volleyball on Bondi and Tamarama.  This is a game where a net is involved and two teams of players compete to keep a ball from landing anywhere on the surface of the court area.

This is amateur sport, open to players of both gender and all ages and it usually draws big crowds of interested spectators.  On an average weekend it involves three courts at Bondi and four at Tamarama and players bring their own equipment.

Waverley Council is responsible for both beaches and has promised to investigate this complaint.  Beaches are what is termed "Crown land " and so the investigation will probably take the form of a consultation to determine what beachgoers think.

The complainant claims that playing volleyball poses a risk to small children who may be struck by a wayward ball.  It is not unusual for the ball to land thirty feet out of the playing area, but it is a " soft " ball and there is no evidence of damage to the public in the years volleyball has been played on beaches.

Beaches are a place of public relaxation.  People go there to enjoy sitting on the sand in the fresh air and " sunning " themselves.  Many take a swim in the ocean and are watched over by the Sure Lifesaving movement.  The fact that volleyball games draw crowds does illustrate that these crowds welcome some sort of entertainment.

It is also a fact that these games are spontaneous.  No fees are involved and the public is free to congregate and watch play, or wander to other parts of the beach once their interest has been satisfied.  A fast game of volleyball is considered good exercise and that is something that the medical fraternity encourage.

There have been suggestions that a fee should be charged for playing what is clearly a competitive sport on a public beach, but that introduces a commercial aspect that could impinge on all manner of beach freedoms.  We would never want to see the day the public must pay to use a public beach.

This complainant may be a naysayer who objects to any form of competition on public space or someone who has a genuine concern that harm may befall a child.  The objection is clearly unwelcome.  It is something Waverley Council can not ignore and now it will divide public opinion.   Some who enjoy playing volleyball on the beach at the weekend may feel uncomfortable knowing their enjoyment is creating a backlash of public opinion.

Hopefully, the issue will be allowed to subside without the need for by-laws to be proclaimed. This is a harmless sport that most people welcome !

Poisoned Soil !

 Sydney residents got an unpleasant shock when they watched the nightly news last week.  They learned that many backyard vegetable gardens were actually harmful to their children because of the lead content in the soil which leaches into the vegetables grown there.

Lead is a dangerous substance which retards the growing minds of children and when it is present in soil the contamination is most prevalent in " leafy " vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, and spinach. This lead  problem harks back to the 1940's when house paint was based on lead, Linseed oil, Terebine as a dryer and various fillers depending on the brand used.

It was recommended that houses be repainted at three year intervals and if left beyond that the old paint needed removal by a flame and scraper.  These scrapings dropped to the ground where they dissolved eventually into the soil and were carried by rain to the lowest point on the property.

The paint we use today is lead free, but lead contamination in soil is common in the older parts of Sydney and homeowners planning a vegetable garden would be wise to have the soil tested to determine if lead is present.

In recent times it has become the trend to demolish older homes to free the land for the construction of modern homes and lead from that past era may remain present in the soil or it may have leached from demolitions on a higher level.  The only sure way to determine that the soil is safe is to have it tested.

That need not be the end to vegetable gardens.  Householders can create lead free soil gardens by ordering in fresh soil and raising the level of the growing area by a perimeter plinth.  In this way the family can ensure a supply of home grown vegetables which are a delight to eat and save a lot of money.

This lead warning was not restricted to older homes which might have been contaminated with the paint used before 1940.   It also applied to areas serviced by heavy road traffic because the petrol used in cars in that area was " leaded " to improve performance and lead was consequently  a part of the exhaust gases which settled on land near busy roads.

In fact, lead may be found in many unusual places and the only way to be absolutely sure that your backyard is free of what may do harm to your family is to have the soil tested.  It should be remembered that during the years of the second world war many imported products were impossible to obtain because of the hostilities and manufacturers had to improvise with materials available.

In many cases, products essential at that time were produced with ingredients that today would not pass the safety test that is now applicable.  That is certainly the case with lead and its distribution is wider than was commonly realised !

Nit Picking Councils !

 Of all the businesses put under pressure by COVID-19 restrictions it was cafes and coffee shops that struggled most to survive.  The workers in city offices and the crowds of shoppers simply disappeared and with them went the reason for staying open.

Brave souls opened a new cafe in Haberfield last October, right at the peak of this retailing downturn and their location happened to be in a heritage building. Attracting customers in the harsh conditions prevailing called for ingenuity and one of the things they did was make their business conspicuous.

They chose a bright yellow paint job  for the front window and entry door and contrasted that with a subtle grey for the surrounding areas.  It was chosen to make their little business stand out in Haberfield's struggling business district.

To their dismay, Haberfield council has ordered this signage to be removed.  It seems that a local ordinance gives council the final say over what colours may be used, and putting up any sort of sign requires the expense of gaining a formal " Development Application ".

The rigours of getting a DA through council is notorious for delay, cost and the nit picking by officials who simply enjoy the power that enlivens their otherwise dull lives.  Getting a DA to final approval can encompass a time frame of months and cost hundreds of dollars.

Fortunately, the citizens of Haberfield are clearly on the side of the cafe owners.  This colour aesthetic has the approval of the customers it has attracted and a petition has gained seven hundred signatures and is growing daily.

Many prospective business owners seem unaware that even the most basic signage needs council approval and most of what we view as we pass through the city is probably technically illegal because it has never been submitted or approved by the local council.

In this instance in Haberfield, the council justifies its removal order on the basis that it received a complaint from a resident who objected to the colour used.  It will be interesting to await the outcome of the action taken by the cafe owners who have submitted a DA seeking approval of those same colours.

The council is seeking to deflect criticism by  labelling the matter as a " storm in a tea cup " but along with the rest of the world, Australia is undergoing an economic disruption that is costing its government billions to remedy.  It is vitally important that business owners keep their nerve and remain open as the recovery ripens, and councils demanding to impose unnecessary costs by ordering repaint jobs is not helpful.

It would also be interesting to know who complained ?   Perhaps a competitor who is also doing it tough in a pandemic  !

Leaving a Hole in the Ground !

Mining is certainly in the news in New South Wales, and for all the wrong reasons. New mines have been proposed in areas which contain our best agricultural soil and several existing mines need to extend their leases under people's homes, and that would undoubtedly result in building damage because of subsidence.

What really gets many people enraged is the demand of the mining industry to extend their operation into our precious water catchment areas. There is ample evidence that mining results in water contamination and cracks in the creek bed reduce the flow that eventually reaches our reservoirs.

It is the usual battle between the ecology - and jobs.  Mining is a rewarding - but dangerous - source of income for miners and if mining extensions are refused the people employed will have difficulty finding other work that pays on the same scale.

Unfortunately, there is another side to mining that seems likely to impact on the public purse.  All mines will eventually close when the last of the product mined is extracted, and it is part of their mining agreement with the government that they restore the mine site when that happens.

In many cases, the method of mining used is " open cut " and this results in a vast hole in the ground and surrounding " mountains " of " spoil " that has been removed.  The mining company is responsible for filling that void, covering it with top soil and planting grass and trees to rejuvenate it to the state prior to commencing mining.

There is doubt that most mining companies would lack the financial resources to complete that task and remedial work would then be financed by the taxpayer.  This is precisely what has happened in various overseas countries when mining companies have filed for bankruptcy and avoided their restoration obligations.

There are  twenty-three mine voids in just the Hunter region of New South Wales and it is estimated that it would require an outlay of between $ 11.5 billion and $ 25.3 billion to rectify the damage done if they closed.

Miners are required to lodge a bond with the government when a mining lease is approved and the bond holding for the entire Hunter reason is just $ 3.3 billion.  In the event of a shortfall, this would be a mere pittance of what would be required to make those mining sites productive farmland once again.

Perhaps the cost of restoration after mining is finished is the issue not being taken into account when these mining decisions are being evaluated.  It is certainly a cost which should take a big part in the approval process because otherwise mining will leave a scar on the landscape.

It would also be reasonable to expect that restoration money be put up front when the mining proposal is being evaluated. It is obvious that the bond required is presently far less than the value of what will be required !

War Drums are Beating !

 An Australian general has warned the special soldiers he used to command  that the " war drums are beating " and eventually conflict with China seems inevitable  He noted that China was already engaged in what he called " grey zone " warfare against our country and it was likely this would spill over into actual conflict in the future.

What Major General Adam Findlay is saying is what a lot of people in government are thinking.  China has chosen to virtually annex the South China sea and fortify the islands it has created there in defiance of a United Nations ruling.  It is harassing fishing boats from other nations and sea traffic is being constantly monitored by units of the Chinese navy.

China is now ignoring a treaty it signed with Britain when the lease on Hong Kong expired and it returned to Chinese control.  It has reneged on the freedoms promised and Hong Kong citizens can now be tried in mainland Chinese courts for what the Communist government terms " disloyalty " and whisked off to labour camps deep in the interior.

Its Communist government badly mismanaged the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan province and allowed it to escape to kill millions around the world.  When Australia insisted on a scientific enquiry to determine how it emerged, China angrily retaliated b y slapping tariffs on Australian exports and discouraging Chinese students from attending Australian universities.

There have been numerous cyber attacks on Australian industry, seeking out our trade secrets. It is obvious that they maintain a spy ring in this country which distributes misinformation and puts pressure on people from a Chinese background that now have citizenship here.  Those with relatives still in  China are particularly vulnerable.

China is in trade conflict with the United States and is using its huge trade surplus to influence its relationship with Pacific rim countries.  It is quick to fund infrastructure projects by way of a loan, and if payments lapse it will negotiate alternatives, such as access to a port as a supply  base for its navy. Its aim is to clearly gain superiority over the US  Navy.

China is seeking world power, but this is completely different to the old cold war with Russia.  Russia sought to export communism to the world and impose it on other countries - by revolution or with military force where necessary.

China simply wants to dominate world trade and needs the worlds biggest military machine to force its edicts to be recognised.  It is likely to force land conquests if the threatened food shortage eventuates, and that's when it may turn its eyes on Australia.

That's why it is important for Australia to keep its defence treaties intact with friendly other countries and maintain a coordinated defence against Chinese aggression.  We are a " middling nation " in the South Pacific and would be best served as part of a defence bloc.

Major General Findlay's warning is something we can not afford to ignore.

Authoritarian Sports Training !

 Australia is very proud of its record of sporting achievements in the world of sport and many parents dip deep in their pockets to help their children attain the fame and fortune that success can bring.  Success is usually the result of professional coaching and training and now a report from the Human Rights Commission has revealed a systemic disfunction awaiting those that take this training method.

The report noted the handicap of a fragmented national structure, leading to friction in leadership and pressure to perform for the sake of funding. This pressure trickled down and led to a toxic culture which created a haze around people's judgments on what were ethical and healthy ways to achieve these goals.

Sadly, this report makes it plain that there exists constant instances of  abuse, misconduct and bullying, and that this includes sexual abuse. Some instructors were known to have " wandering hands " when positioning  their charges to obtain the best results and students devised signs and signals to give warning to others.

Young sports people have an urge to succeed and contend that this abuse is simply part of the system and necessary if they are to achieve their ambition.  In reality, it delivers risk and  harm to athletes and the report contains twelve recommendations to bring training under control.  

Gymnastics Australia, which last year commissioned the report said it was " confronting " and  that it would adopt all recommendations. It is quite obvious that strict oversight is necessary to clean up abuse that should not have been allowed to happen.

It seems that the coaches have been able to instill a culture of fear and control which one submission detailed as " archaic and authoritarian " and which relied  on guilt as a key driver. The driving force was focussed on perfection.

What seems to be missing is the reality that not everyone in a class is going to become a champion.  It will quickly become obvious that unrelenting harsh indocumentation of all will not attain for many the pinnacle necessary for outstanding sporting success. 

Honesty is the best policy. Pushing a person beyond their best ability without hope of ultimate success is actually harmful. They will be better physically and mentally if they choose a new goal and that this is one in which success is possible.

That depends on which is deemed more important.   The success of the coach and trainers, or the development of a champion from those being trained.

Ability to Pay !

The need to achieve distance apart during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was subjected to a thousand dollar fine   During that period, which ran from January 1, 2020 until February of this year the police issued 1854 such fines and fewer than a quarter have been paid in full.

It seems that most have been ignored .  Just 246 have been reviewed, resulting  in 206 being upheld, 12 withdrawn and 23 replaced with a caution.  All these fines would have returned  $ 1,854,000 to the government but the return to Treasury has been a mere $ 415,000.

If nothing else, this fine fiasco illustrates the gross unfairness of fixed sum fines being applied to offences without the slightest examination of that persons ability to pay or their age. Some of these thousand dollar fines were handed out to children aged between ten and eighteen and few of these would have any taxable income.

By edict, most businesses were forced to close and while several government relief schemes kept wages constant a lot of individuals slipped through the net and lost their means of support. It is what happens next that becomes a burden on these people.

It is likely these unpaid fines will pass to the government Debt Recovery office, which will pursue them relentlessly. When the debtor eventually returns to the workforce a " garnishee " will probably be served on their employer requiring a portion of their wage to be withheld and paid to the debt recovery department.

It is also likely that issues like obtaining a driving license, or registering a car may be refused until such unpaid debts are settled.  In fact, unpaid fines  may be taken into account when the debtor applies for a housing loan later in life.

In certain circumstances, such debtors may find themselves serving time in prison because of the unpaid debt.  In past years, this was a favourite means of wiping the slate clean, mainly used by young men for motoring offences.

Both the severity and the punishment value of a fine is directly related to the wealth of the person fined. This will be exacerbated by the withdrawal of warning notices and the extending of hours for mobile speed camera use which is now in effect.   Exceeding the posted limit by a mere fraction will now incur an automatic fine of equal magnitude to a wealthy business person, a pensioner or perhaps a student driving to university.

Ability to pay is not taken into account.  What some people would accept in their stride would be catastrophic to those on a lower level of society, and this is handed out daily when a fixed sum fine is applicable to every day transgressions.

Our fine system is simply grossly unfair. But it seems that those thousand dollar pandemic fines will be allowed to run their course  !

Those " Watches " Fiasco !

 It seems that the sacking of Christine Holgate as the boss of Australia Post is coming back to haunt the Prime Minister.  Once again our big four greedy banks are cutting back by closing branches and removing ATM's  from public streets.

In particular, the banks are losing interest in providing services to country towns. Instead of providing the services people need, they want to drive most forms of financial transactions onto computer contact which greatly enhances their profits.

Ever falling letter rates and the vastly increased price of stamps was making Australia Post a dwindling asset and the government feared that closure would send thousands of employees who ride motorbikes and deliver letters to households onto the dole queue.

In desperation, they lured Christine Holgate from the private sector and hoped private sector magic might save the jobs at Australia Post.  It would take new thinking and private sector initiative to do just that, and Christine Holgate's mind was equal to the task.

She turned Australia Post into a bank, and that was an incredibly complex negotiation with the states and territories. All the people manning post offices all over Australia will keep their jobs and the government will be spared the anguish from closing down an essential service.

Christine Holgate achieved this miracle by the negotiations of her four top lieutenants and in true private sector reward she  presented each with a Cartier watch, which represented an outlay of $20,000.  That fell outside the guidelines of the public service and sent the Prime Minister into a rage.  He used the power of his office to influence the government appointed Post Office board to force Ms Holgate's resignation.

Now it seems the wheel is making a full turn.   The big four banks are closing branches in city suburbs and country towns despite a big section of the public still preferring to do their banking on a face to face basis. Christine Holgate got it right when she undertook the difficult negotiation to turn the Post Offices into a bank.  It looks like the Post Office bank will be the only bank in many suburbs and country towns.

The government sought private sector ingenuity to get it out of trouble, and then reneged when private sector rewards were bestowed on the talented executives who made this success possible.  It is a sorry story of government ineptitude and Ms Holgate is using the courts to validate the integrity of her actions.

We live in an ever changing world and the rigidity of the public service will need to give way to private sector methods to solve many problems.  That will not happen if people recruited to save faltering services are crucified for using private sector thinking to solve these problems.

The Prime Minister should at least admit that he was wrong, and extend a public apology to Ms Holgate.

Progress - At a price !

 The Sydney suburb of Randwick is popular as a residential location and one of its attractions is its famous racecourse in the middle of the suburb.  This provides a vivid patch of green and the new light rail connection provides a fast and comfortable journey into the city centre,.

Land in Sydney is becoming a very valuable commodity and now the Australian Turf Club has set its sights beyond merely running day time race meetings.  It is proposing to convert Randwick racecourse to night racing, and use the vacant ground in the middle of the track as a landing zone for skydiving.

These proposals are causing consternation amongst local residents.  For a start, night racing will require the ground to be lit and that will encompass the installation of seventy five light poles, each forty metres heigh at a cost of about $23.4 million.

These lights will turn night into day for a vast area around the track and that will not be welcome by some families,. It will be hard to get kids to go to sleep when light penetrates their rooms and this light source will make any form of astronomy impossible.

The ATC is proposing to hold sixteen night racing events at Randwick, between 6 pm and 10 pm, during the October to April period.   During race times, attendees usually park in nearby streets and this will create a shortage of parking space for residents who can not park on their own properties.  It is common for there to be more than one car based at each house.

The proposal to use the track centre as a landing ground for skydivers has many residents worried as it is intended to become the premier tandem skydiving landing point.  Sudden wind gusts can throw skydivers off course and this suggests damage to surrounding homes.  There is also the privacy aspect.  Backyards will no  longer be private if people are hanging in the air above.

The proposal suggests skydiving would operate about four times a month on Sundays and public holidays, from 8 am to 5 pm.  These are changes that alter the complexity of the suburb and were not present when most residents made the buying decision  on their homes.

Obviously, two different objectives are in play here.  The ATC has a valuable asset which would generate a higher profit if its time of use and complexity was extended.  The residents simply want to enjoy this suburb of their choice without the necessity for change.

Such is life in this twenty-first century.  If it is not the government compulsorarily acquiring your home for a car park it is commercial interests intruding with developments which will upset the equilibrium.

Tax Relief !

 For many years Australia was served by a clutch of breweries which used their power to keep small craft brewers from selling their product across the bar in pubs.  The spirit trade was in International hands and only wine was widely produced and sold by individual vinyards.

That has been fast changing in recent times and today there is a much wider choice of beer available in most pubs. In fact, brewing beer is a fast growing industry and Australia now has six hundred, small independent brewers competing for market share.

A similar change has taken place with the distilling of spirits.  There are now four hundred small distilleries scattered across the states and territories supplying a wide range of spirits, including some new tastes which are finding wide appeal.

Next month, a new excise package will come into force that will make it easier for this industry to achieve market penetration.  Eligible brewers and distillers will be able to claim a refund on any excise they pay up to an annual cap of $ 350,000.

 This will replace the present arrangement, where  they are entitled to a rebate of sixty percent of the excise they pay up to a cap of $ 100,000.   The incentive will be there to expand and find a bigger market and this will dovetail with the return of our tourist trade, where visitors are looking for a host of new experiences.

Treasury department modelling expects this to benefit small brewers and distillers by about $ 55,000 a year, and these sectors directly employ about 15,000 Australian workers.

This is a long awaited relief. Our excise code is complicated and the tax on distilled spirits is the third highest in the world with a bottle of whiskey or gin attracting 57% of the retail price to tax.  Breweries also suffered an unfair tax burden, with tax on both drafted and packaged beer being the fourth highest in the world.

There is also an expectation that craft brewers and distillers will have a look at the export market. Australians travelling overseas would be gladdened to see a familiar brand on the shelves and would use the opportunity to introduce Australian ingenuity to friends and hosts.

This excise tax change is overdue and very welcome.  In the early days, all forms of alcohol was frowned upon by the churches and heavy taxes and reduced opening hours were imposed, resulting in the notorious " six O'clock swill ".

It is now recognised that a glass of beer after a days work, or wine or spirits with a meal is part of civilized living.  It is unfair to tax it out of existence !

The Call is " Genocide " !

American President Joe Biden has taken the step of  calling the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a genocide.  This is a question that has been delicately pushed under the carpet because after the war what was left of the Ottoman Empire became Turkey  and its leaders hotly deny their guilt.  To complicate matters, Turkey is a key component of NATO.

When the first World War started in 1914, Germany sought the massive Ottoman Empire as an ally in its fight against Russia, France and Britain.   In 1915 a battle between Russians and the Ottomans at Sankamish resulted in a crushing defeat at the hands of the Russians.

At that time,. Armenians were looking for autonomy and many Armenian soldiers were serving in the Ottoman army.  The defeat was blamed on Armenian treachery without any certifiable evidence and Armenian troops were promptly disarmed.

The Ottoman government then decided to be rid of the Armenians living in its country and rounded up over 200,000 men, women and children and force marched them over the border and into the Syrian desert.  No arrangement to provide for water or food was put in place and the vast majority of these deportees died under the summer sun.

The number who died is hotly contested.  The Armenian people still living in and around Turkey are still seeking an independent state and they claim more than a million brethren lost their lives in pograms within Ottoman land during the war.

It seems strange that Turkey indignantly continues to deny that a genocide took place, despite photographs and survivors accounts featuring in the world news at that time.  Turkey does agree that Armenians were forced to leave the country, but strenuously denies that this constitutes genocide.

The rest of the world has diplomatically left this matter undecided in the interest of maintaining good relations with Turkey.  It is quite possible that America's decision to call out the " genocide " epithet may have trade repercussions between the two countries and Turkey may even leave NATO.

It is probable that Joe Biden is rewarding the Armenian diaspora for their support against ISIS during the war to evict them from Syria and Iraq.  The Armenians are mainly Christian and and that expulsion from the Ottoman empire in 1915 was most likely more a religious clash than disregard for Armenian loyalty. 

The Armenians again suffered horribly under ISIS and willingly participated with American troops when fighting began to take back captured territory. On the other hand, Turkey has often been difficult in its relations with NATO allies.  Now that 1915 genocide is being named for what it was Turkey would be wise to accept reality.

What else can you call sending two hundred thousand people to their death in a desert   ?