Living With A " Bomb " !

Six years ago a ship called at the Lebanese port of Beirut and was found to be carrying an illegal cargo of ammonium  nitrate.  It was seized by the authorities, unloaded and stored in a warehouse where it has remained awaiting a disposal decision by the Lebanese government.

Ammonium Nitrate serves as an important substance for agriculture when it is used as a fertilizer, but it can also be used to manufacture explosives.  It is often the substance of terrorist bombs and the addition of diesel fuel makes a deadly combination.  The quantity stored on the Beirut waterfront was over 2,700 tonnes and this week that mysteriously exploded.

The size of that explosion was catastrophic and can be compared to the devastation that would be caused by an atomic bomb, except for the radiation.  It tore the heart out of the city and the shock wave wrecked buildings in a wide circle.  In the immediate aftermath at least a hundred people are dead and that number will certainly increase as the wreckage is searched. Hospitals and medical centres are battling to cope with the thousands injured.

Lebanon is a country on the fringe of a war zone. Its depressed economy has not been helped by political uncertainty and the ravages of the coronavirus and this contributed to such a huge quantity of a dangerous substance being virtually abandoned on the waterfront and left unchecked for years.  We may never know what caused this explosion, but that country's main port is completely destroyed and this will put both commerce and the food supply at risk.

The timing is awful.   The world economy has taken a hit from the coronavirus lockdown and that will decrease the ability of many nations to offer recovery help.  Thousands have lost their homes and it is probable that many of the buildings still standing will need to be demolished.  Many of the residents of Beirut will be living in the streets well into the future.

This catastrophe will have thoughts of the dangers posed within cities brought to mind here.  Sydney is the jewel in the Pacific tourist destination crown and dangerous commerce has been  stripped away to other places, and Wollongong further down the coast has become the alternative destination.  What are termed " dirty industries " have been relocated to Port Kembla and that port is embedded deeply in the city of Wollongong.  It now contains the coal loader and the grain loader and the escape of dust from grain can be a powerful explosive if the conditions suit.

Port Kembla is a scene of building activity as the terminal for liquid gas imports is nearing completion.  It is envisaged that Port Kenbla will be the main entry point for gas from either our north west shelf in Western Australia or imports from Europe or North America.  The terminal will have the capacity to receive the specially built ships that contain hundreds of thousands of metres of volatile liquid natural gas that will be pumped into holding facilities and on to pipelines connected to state industry.

We are assured that high safety standards will apply, but Port Kembla is surrounded by densely populated suburbs containing the homes of Wollongong residents and the now high rise city centre is adjacent to the port.  With what happened in Beirut in mind,  it must be remembered that natural gas is an explosive substance and should a ship explode the outcome to Beirut would be similar here.

It is simply a trade off.  The acquisition of dangerous trades brings well paying jobs and an elevated standard of living.  Wollongong was known as the " steel city " because it was home to a massive steel works, but now it is becoming the access port for New South Wales.    Just so long as we remember that does come with dangers !

Tightening the Law !

The ubiquitous smartphone is - everywhere !   The world has learned to live in constant communication and that safety aspect is not lost on parents.  It is not unusual to see little kids of primary school age with that vital link to  Mum and Dad.

The one place where it is essential that mobile phones not be used is when it is in the hands of a person driving a car.  If that person takes their eyes off the road to send or receive a text message it can be a recipe for disaster and even talking on a phone while driving is a distraction.

The law is very firm and getting caught even holding a mobile phone while driving carries a penalty of a $344 fine and the loss of five demerit points.  There are now fixed and mobile cameras in place that can clearly identify phone use while driving and these have added $19 million to government coffers from 43,000 fines imposed.

Unfortunately, the concept of fairness in how the law is applied  is slanted against the average motorist when the offending car is registered to a company and not an individual.  If the company claims it can not identify who was driving at that place and time, those demerit points are waived and the fine jumps from $344  to $1745, a five fold increase.

Almost one in every ten such offences escapes the application  of demerit points by that method.  As a result, the demerit points system that is supposed to remove repeat offenders from the road is allowing a class of privileged citizens to virtually thumb their nose at the law.  The provision of a company car, registered and paid by the company is often part of the renumeration package offered to CEO's and department heads.  It is also usual for sales representative and the drivers of company delivery vehicles to be driving a company owned and maintained car or van.   In the small business field it is common for vehicles to be company owned.

In many instances, the company chooses to just pay that fine because the offender is the boss or someone of importance in the company.   The fine would be treated as a normal business expense and deducted when tax was audited for the tax office. The government chooses to ignore this anomaly  because the added tax is to their advantage.

There are probably a number of privileged people using phones while driving with complete indifference to the law.  Many would have accrued demerit points that resulted in their driving license being cancelled except for this " company vehicle "  shield.  Their illegal use of phones while driving goes  unchecked.

Those phone use detection cameras have high resolution face recognition ability.  It is time law enforcement started applying taking the evidence of the offending driver to the company owning the vehicle and pursuing the matter further.   That phone use law applies to everyone.  It is not justice if the privileged escape the law !

Toll Road Dangers !

Plans are being considered for construction of what is called the " Second Harbour Tunnel " under Sydney Harbour which would connect Rozelle with North Sydney.  It is not expected that a start on this project will commence before 2022. Expressions of interest are being sought  as it is expected that these twin 6.5  kilometre tunnels will be a joint venture between the government and private financial interests.

Put rather bluntly, the government is signalling that this extension of the city road system will be subjected to a toll.  We are fast becoming one of the most expensive world cities when it comes to road tolls and for vast numbers of motorists the road system is becoming unaffordable.

In the distant past, road construction was financed from taxes and was a government responsibility, but that now competes with the need to construct schools, hospitals and housing and each section of new highway constructed is sold off to a financier who retrieves a profit from the toll extracted from users.

The alternative to using these toll roads is the choked city street system which would adds hours to the daily commute.  It is not a question of whether we need a second harbour crossing.  This constant opening of new sections of toll roads  is adding to living expenses and we are fast driving out the lowly paid workers who are essential for keeping so much of this city running.  These road tolls are a privation that will make Sydney an unhealthy city.

That other harbour crossing was achieved by giant boring machines achieving a concrete lined tunnel far under the harboiur waters, but a new method calls for trenches to be dug in the harbour floor and tunnel sections lowered into them.   This will be done from barges and there will be a consequent disruption to harbour traffic while the work is in progress.

Excavating trenches for this crossing raises the question of how and where the highly contaminated sludge from the harbour bottom will be dispersed.   At this stage it is suggested that some will go to inland landfills and the majority will be put on barges, taken far out to sea and dumped in very deep water.  It is doubtful if this disposal method accords with our obligations under United Nations rules for care of the world's oceans.

It is also evident that our plans to improve the road system sre based entirely on our past history.  We seem to be on the cusp of the electric car replacing the internal combustion engine, and cars  not needing a human driver.   At the same time, this coronavirus has wrecked our economy and what emerges when it is finally quelled is likely to be very different from the past.

Perhaps a good reason to put that crossing on hold until we see what pattern starts to emerge.  There would be little point in a toll road system that far exceeds the financial ability of the average driver to use it, and that is a something that potential investors need to keep in mind  !

The Shark Safety Net Question !

Back in the mid twentieth century a shark attack in Australian waters was so rare that it would attract banner headlines in newspapers.  Now these attacks are regular news items that merely rate a mention in the inner pages. Fortunately, many victims manage to survive, but it does raise the question as to why this is now so common  ?

Our ever growing population means there are a lot more of us to invade what we regard as the shark's home territory but we are fairly safe swimming off city beaches.  The majority attacks happen to surfers riding the waves way offshore or people swimming at more remote parts of the shore line.

We have a very controversial line of defence that stretches between Newcastle and Wollongong during the September to April swimming season.  The policy in place calls for sharks caught in these nets to be tagged and released.   The record is good because we have only had one fatality from a shark attack in the sixty years these nets have been in place - and that was sixty years ago.

What is surprising is that these nets do not stop sharks coming close inshore.  Lifesavers at city beaches often see sharks near swimmers and clear the waters while they are chased away.  In particular, the shark species deemed most likely to attack humans are great whites,, bull and tiger sharks.

Critics of these nets complain that they catch and drown a host or protected species.  Of the 480 animals caught, only fifty were dangerous sharks, mostly great whites and unfortunately the over kill contained  dolphins, turtles and many " harmless " shark species including hammerheads and the protected grey nurse shark.   Whales also get entangled in these shark nets as they make their annual journey along our coastline.

Now most lifesaver patrols are equipped with drones and these cheap eyes in the sky are able to give early warning of sharks approaching.  Seasonal movement of bait fish encourage sharks to follow schools inshore and beaches are closed until this danger passes.  Critics who demand those nets be removed think modern technology is better able to keep bathers safe in the water.

One alternative used where an attack has occurred is the drum line approach.  Baited hooks attached to a float are regularly inspected and the tag and release policy applies.  This is more selective than netting, but it still culls a degree of protected species and draws the ire of critics.

Despite the damage they do to the ecology those shark nets have a proven safety record.  Swimming at a popular city beach with lifesavers in attendance is enjoyed by vast crowds and it is reasoned that there is safety in numbers.  It is the lone swimmer at a remote beach that seems more likely to suffer a shark attack.

We would do well to remember that when we go into the water we are entering the sharks feeding ground, and to a shark a human is an unusual delicacy unlike the other fish it encounters.  Curiosity creates an urge for it to take a nibble to see what we taste like.

Keeping that thought in mind is probably the best precaution most swimmers need to make sure they - and sharks - do not encounter one another in the water  !

The " Newspaper Mandarins " of Politics !

When television first started in Australia in 1956 it was thought that this new way of presenting the news cycle would drive newspapers out of business.  The number of mastheads has certainly been reduced to a small number of corporations, but it is a fact that the political leanings of their proprietors has a big impact on how the news is presented.

One Australian man has dominated the press both here and in Europe and today Rupert Murdock has great influence on how the news is presented.  His company - News Corporation - is the publisher of such important mastheads as " The Australian " and the " Daily Telegraph " and in the television world he is head of Fox Corporation.  That degree of control influences the politics of how the news is presented to the public.  Murdock's goodwill is vitally important to the leaders of Australian political parties.

Rupert Murdock is now 89 years old and eventually control will pass to his heirs.  He has two sons, James and Lachlan, and both have recently worked in the family company, but now a split has occurred and it is plain the family political outlook is not equally shared.   James Murdock has resigned from News Corp and made if quite clear that the separation was not amicable.   He disagreed with the family's political direction.

Rupert Murdock's political views were directed at what are termed " right wing "  politics and James has viewed the world through a " left leaning " prism.   The flash point probably came as a result of the deadly white supremacist protests in Charllottesville, Virginia in 2017 and the slant in which it was portrayed in Murdock newspapers.  This caused James to write an open letter to the company criticising President Donald Trump's response.  He commented:  " I can't even believe I have to write this: standing up to Nazi's is essential: there are no good Nazi's - or Klansmen or Terrorists. "

There will be a degree of consternation in Australian political circles.   It seems to set in stone the direction the political outlook the Murdock empire will take when Rupert's life ends.  There was the hope of balance with two brothers with differing political views but now all hope of consensus is broken.   With the departure of James, the heir apparent is now firmly settling on Lachlan's shoulders and he seems destined to follow in his father's footsteps.

The interesting question is what James may choose to  do with the rest of his life.  He and his wife recently donated $860,000 to Joe Biden's presidential campaign so he is very interested in American politics and he certainly has newspaper " know how " in his blood.   Rupert certainly set British newspaper publishing on its head when he went rogue and broke union power in London decades ago.  It remains to be seen if James will establish his own masthead and how that would influence the direction that politics takes in Australia.

The big question is whether James will emerge as the left wing newspaper voice to trumpet the socialist view across Australia.

Does Australia Need a Gulag ?

We live in a very disobedient age  !  Thousands of Australians took to the streets in defiance of both court orders and pleas from the health providers when they deemed the " Black lives matter " crusade took preference over stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

Now we are shocked to hear that one in four of the people who have come in contact with the virus and been ordered to undergo a period of isolation are not obeying that instruction.  We are seeing suspicious new clusters appearing in the community that can not be attributed to a known source and when police and army personnel started  making house calls to check, an alarming number of supposedly isolated people could not be located.

Obeying that isolation rule is both a moral and a legal requirement, but implementing it is more bluff than substance.  A fine of a thousand dollars is unenforcible on someone who lives from one paycheck to another and has virtually no assets.  In fact, time in prison is still the option employed by the state debt office when all other means of collecting the money have failed.

In the early stages of this pandemic, people returning to Australia from overseas and testing positive to the virus were held in hotels at government expense.  That has changed, and now such detainees will be presented with the bill when their isolation period ends.  It will be interesting to learn what procedure swings into place for those unable to settle that bill  ?

Requiring offenders who break isolation orders to serve a prison sentence is also an option not likely to be widely employed.  Our prisons are overcrowded and offer an opportunity for the coronavirus to spread like wildfire, and there would be justified retribution if the authorities knowingly placed infected offenders amongst the very prisoners they are charged with protecting.

Many overseas authoritarian  regimes impose control over the masses by the use of what we term " gulags ".   Usually this operates entirely outside of the regular court system and offenders against the edicts of the government simply disappear and find themselves contained in these work camps for an indeterminate period of years.   The brutality and harshness varies from country to country but they are greatly feared.   Break the social isolation code and you get whisked off to the Gulag.  They have no place in our democratic way of life.

That does present the various governments of Australia with the quandary of what to do with citizens who simply refuse to live by the civil code and obey an instruction to remain at home for a set period until infection from the coronavirus abates.  Their disobedience can have the outcome of spreading the disease and it is inevitable that some such victims will die an unpleasant and painful death.

In earlier centuries such offenders might have been put in the stocks in a public place where they would be shamed by being pelted with rubbish and rotten fruit, but that form of punishment has long gone out of fashion.  Willfully spreading a deadly disease is a social crime that seems to be awaiting the displeasure of the masses  !

The End Of " Retirement " !

Access to superannuation is only supposed  to be allowed in special circumstances, and yet thousands of Australians are withdrawing money from their superannuation fund because of hardship caused by this coronavirus pandemic putting them out of work.  It has been revealed that there is absolutely no eligibility check on why three million people have withdrawn $28 billion from their retirement accounts.

In some cases the need is genuine and the money will be used to put bread on the family dinner table but financial analysis is now delivering other interesting stories..  One senior banker who was not authorised to speak publicly hinted that there has been a ten percent increase in the customers who are up to $25,000 ahead on their mortgages.   The banker said early superannuation access was a factor contributing to that trend.

Another mortgage executive recounted an increase in customers attempting to use the money withdrawn from superannuation as the deposit for a house purchase. Changes to stamp duty laws intended to increase activity in the labour  intensive building industry are making home purchase more attractive to first home buyers.

The purpose of " superannuation for all " legislation, when it was introduced was to ensure that all Australians retired with sufficient income to free them from depending on the old age pension.  There was concern that this aged pension might otherwise retreat beyond the ability of the government to finance it unless the numbers were substantially reduced.

What is causing concern is the reality that some superannuation accounts are now empty.  The entire contents have been withdrawn because of this perceived emergency and the people concerned at are at an age when accumulating a new sufficient retirement total looks unlikely.  Part of the Australian workforce now seems likely to have to work into old age and make do on the old age pension when they finally retire.

To make matters worse, we are encountering the phenomenon of " Stagflation ", which reduces the cost of living and cements in place the stagnation of wage levels which were overdue for an increase.  All this is artificial.   The lockdown stopped people taking holidays and spending money, and this immobility of cars decreased petrol usage, resulting in an oil glut and a sharp price fall.  There is no indication when this coronavirus will end or what sort of economy will then emerge.

Analysis of credit bureau records is also illustrating.   There has been a jump in spending on what the analysts term non-essentials and this includes, gambling, liquor and furniture.   That does contrast sharply with the " hardship " eligibility which is supposed to underscore superannuation withdrawals.

What is done - is done.  And we have to live with it.  But for many the hope of a comfortable retirement is now an illusion.  Sacrificed on the altar of surviving the coronavirus pandemic  !