The insulation fiasco has shaken the Federal government to the core. Sloppy management has left four people dead, nearly a hundred house fires - and many insulated homes treated with inferior grade products.
Waiting in the wings is a new scandal - and once again the cause is poor management of a huge project.
As part of the stimulus package the government allocated $ 16.2 billion to it's " Education Revolution " to provide school facilities such as libraries, additional classrooms, shade areas, etc.
At present, only seven percent of these projects are complete and it is suggested that waste will reduce the value on completion to a mere $ 7 billion.
There is a vast difference in results between private and government schools. The private schools have been permitted to manage their own improvements and as a result they have achieved value for money.
The government schools have been saddled with management by the bureaucracy - and as much as a quarter of the allocated funds has been siphoned off in " management fees ".
The extent of the bungle will become evident when the scheme reaches finality - and a comparison can be made as to exactly what has been achieved.
It will not be a pretty picture !
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Saturday, 27 February 2010
The price of failure !
Kevin Rudd has finally responded to the panic amongst his backbenchers and demoted - but not sacked - environment minister Peter Garrett.
The job will pass to Greg Combet and Garrett will remain a junior minister, taking care of minor matters from his past portfolio such as art and heritage.
The removal of Garrett had to come. The sheer scale of the insulation disaster was enough to bring down the government. Not only were billions of taxpayer dollars wasted but sheer negligence led to four deaths and nearly a hundred house fires.
It would be a good time to ask how this happened !
Our system of democracy sends us to the polls to elect those we wish to represent us in parliament. Unfortunately being a politician does not mean that the candidate for our vote necessarily has the skills to carry out the job allocated.
Peter Garrett was well known in the music scene because he was the lead singer of a very popular band. That band employed agents and managers to take care of the business end of making money, and as a result Garrett was not exactly a paragon of business acumen.
Couple that with the tendency of socialists to be starry eyed people with a rather naive approach to business - and you have all the ingredients of a minister who failed to see the dangers of rapidly expanding a service - and who failed to even read the warnings received by his department.
Another casualty has been prime minister Kevin Rudd. The start of this fiasco escaped Rudd's notice, and as a result his pre election image of " Kevin-07. The wonder boy " has been seriously damaged.
Perhaps the blame for the insulation debacle should really be delivered to the door of the bureaucracy. Politicians are supported by a huge and costly array of Mandarins who are supposed to advise them and make sure disasters do not happen.
In this case, both the minister and the Mandarins were asleep at the wheel !
The job will pass to Greg Combet and Garrett will remain a junior minister, taking care of minor matters from his past portfolio such as art and heritage.
The removal of Garrett had to come. The sheer scale of the insulation disaster was enough to bring down the government. Not only were billions of taxpayer dollars wasted but sheer negligence led to four deaths and nearly a hundred house fires.
It would be a good time to ask how this happened !
Our system of democracy sends us to the polls to elect those we wish to represent us in parliament. Unfortunately being a politician does not mean that the candidate for our vote necessarily has the skills to carry out the job allocated.
Peter Garrett was well known in the music scene because he was the lead singer of a very popular band. That band employed agents and managers to take care of the business end of making money, and as a result Garrett was not exactly a paragon of business acumen.
Couple that with the tendency of socialists to be starry eyed people with a rather naive approach to business - and you have all the ingredients of a minister who failed to see the dangers of rapidly expanding a service - and who failed to even read the warnings received by his department.
Another casualty has been prime minister Kevin Rudd. The start of this fiasco escaped Rudd's notice, and as a result his pre election image of " Kevin-07. The wonder boy " has been seriously damaged.
Perhaps the blame for the insulation debacle should really be delivered to the door of the bureaucracy. Politicians are supported by a huge and costly array of Mandarins who are supposed to advise them and make sure disasters do not happen.
In this case, both the minister and the Mandarins were asleep at the wheel !
Friday, 26 February 2010
Car safety !
Toyota is experiencing a huge loss of owner confidence as a result of various safety glitches that have led to massive car recalls. The very idea that a car may accelerate out of control is a buyer turnoff.
One of the problems facing the car industry is the continuous list of " improvements " that are added to the basic vehicle. Most modern vehicles now have " cruise control " and in recent years rear vision cameras and satellite navigation instruments have become standard on the higher priced models.
All of these add to the things that can develop faults and which should receive regular servicing, and in some cases they can affect vehicle safety.
Today's cars are better built and more reliable than cars of yesteryear - and a whole lot cheaper when we take into account what we now get for the money, but with that progress comes a lot more gadgetry with the capacity to develop faults.
Toyota is paying the price for becoming the market leader. No doubt these present problems will be quickly overcome, but it is hard to imagine what the automobile of future decades will contain in the way of " driver aids ".
And what problems they will eventually reveal !
One of the problems facing the car industry is the continuous list of " improvements " that are added to the basic vehicle. Most modern vehicles now have " cruise control " and in recent years rear vision cameras and satellite navigation instruments have become standard on the higher priced models.
All of these add to the things that can develop faults and which should receive regular servicing, and in some cases they can affect vehicle safety.
Today's cars are better built and more reliable than cars of yesteryear - and a whole lot cheaper when we take into account what we now get for the money, but with that progress comes a lot more gadgetry with the capacity to develop faults.
Toyota is paying the price for becoming the market leader. No doubt these present problems will be quickly overcome, but it is hard to imagine what the automobile of future decades will contain in the way of " driver aids ".
And what problems they will eventually reveal !
Thursday, 25 February 2010
The numbers game !
Apprehension by some people to the suggestion from Federal Education minister Julia Gillard that every school child will be allocated a personal identification number to track their progress on the " My School " website.
Years ago the idea of an " Australia card " form of ID was rejected as too authoritarian and " Big Brother ", and yet we seem to have no problems with an existing form of numerical identification which we must produce to do all sorts of transactions - from opening a bank account to purchasing shares or bonds.
The day we start work we become attached to a tax file number, and that number accompanies us through all the years until we finally end up in the grave.
That " TFN " allows every form of government, both state and Federal - to track our progress in the commercial world and through social security channels. A tap on a computer - and all our details are instantly available.
Julia Gillard claims that giving each child a number will ensure privacy, and in the event of a change of school - all the necessary background information will be helpful.
In this age of the computer - identification by number is simply a fact of life.
Years ago the idea of an " Australia card " form of ID was rejected as too authoritarian and " Big Brother ", and yet we seem to have no problems with an existing form of numerical identification which we must produce to do all sorts of transactions - from opening a bank account to purchasing shares or bonds.
The day we start work we become attached to a tax file number, and that number accompanies us through all the years until we finally end up in the grave.
That " TFN " allows every form of government, both state and Federal - to track our progress in the commercial world and through social security channels. A tap on a computer - and all our details are instantly available.
Julia Gillard claims that giving each child a number will ensure privacy, and in the event of a change of school - all the necessary background information will be helpful.
In this age of the computer - identification by number is simply a fact of life.
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
A curious sex enquiry !
Life in the navy in peace time could be a little boring and it seems that the crew of HMAS Success devised a game to ease the monotony.
It was called " The Ledger " and created a money pool competition. The objective of this competition was to score points by having sex with female crew members, and each female crew member was " handicapped " by age, rank - and perceived beauty.
A complex scaling of points was awarded from each conquest, and presumably the winner walked away with the money pot.
Somehow the navy heard about this - and was not amused. This led to an enquiry which produced a negative finding, and now a fresh enquiry is underway - headed by no less than a Federal Court QC.
The interesting point is whether this charade actually broke any laws.
It would certainly enrage feminists - and it was undoubtedly in poor taste - but is there actually any law on the books that forbids betting on sexual success ?
It was called " The Ledger " and created a money pool competition. The objective of this competition was to score points by having sex with female crew members, and each female crew member was " handicapped " by age, rank - and perceived beauty.
A complex scaling of points was awarded from each conquest, and presumably the winner walked away with the money pot.
Somehow the navy heard about this - and was not amused. This led to an enquiry which produced a negative finding, and now a fresh enquiry is underway - headed by no less than a Federal Court QC.
The interesting point is whether this charade actually broke any laws.
It would certainly enrage feminists - and it was undoubtedly in poor taste - but is there actually any law on the books that forbids betting on sexual success ?
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Car weight tax.
Kristina Keneallys fifty billion dollar transport plan for Sydney makes no mention of just where the finance will come from to bring it to fruition - except for a new tax that will provide a $ 500 million dividend.
The transport plan will benefit the residents of Sydney, but this new tax will be levied on every car owner in this state. People who live in the most distant village and never visit Sydney will still be lumbered with the tax man's hand in their pocket every year at car registration time.
A tax of between $ 5 and $ 30 per car will apply - on a weight basis. Cars below 975 kilos will be exempt. Obviously this has been carefully selected because vehicles below that weight are scarcer than hen's teeth !
There is just one glaring little worry that must occupy the mind's of this state's car owners.
Given the track record of the present government in making transport arrangements that conclude with cancellation - and the statistics are fourteen such announcements in fifteen years in office - what odds that this one will also fall by the wayside ?
And what odds that when that cancellation occurs - the cancellation does not include removal of the weight tax ?
The transport plan will benefit the residents of Sydney, but this new tax will be levied on every car owner in this state. People who live in the most distant village and never visit Sydney will still be lumbered with the tax man's hand in their pocket every year at car registration time.
A tax of between $ 5 and $ 30 per car will apply - on a weight basis. Cars below 975 kilos will be exempt. Obviously this has been carefully selected because vehicles below that weight are scarcer than hen's teeth !
There is just one glaring little worry that must occupy the mind's of this state's car owners.
Given the track record of the present government in making transport arrangements that conclude with cancellation - and the statistics are fourteen such announcements in fifteen years in office - what odds that this one will also fall by the wayside ?
And what odds that when that cancellation occurs - the cancellation does not include removal of the weight tax ?
Monday, 22 February 2010
Transport Fairytales !
The people of this state can not be blamed if they take this latest transport plan with a grain of salt.
The present government has been in office for fifteen years and in that time it has announced fourteen widely different transport plans, all of which were subsequently cancelled - as is the case with the proposed $ 5 billion Metro.
Each announcement - and cancellation - has been at great cost to the taxpayer. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on drawing up these plans, acquiring property and letting contracts for preliminary work. This waste of public money has not improved our outdated rail system and left Sydney a car reliant city.
This time around the plan intends to finally extend rail to Sydney's west, extend the light rail system, buy six new ferries - and provide a thousand new buses. The details on finding the money to create this are vague, but it has been suggested that car registrations will take a hit.
Surely it is no coincidence that this bright idea is trotted out with an election just over a year away - and that even if the plan is implemented we are talking about an event that will occur decades into the future.
There is an old adage about leopards not being able to change their spots.
On past history, this particular leopard is indeed a very spotty beast !
The present government has been in office for fifteen years and in that time it has announced fourteen widely different transport plans, all of which were subsequently cancelled - as is the case with the proposed $ 5 billion Metro.
Each announcement - and cancellation - has been at great cost to the taxpayer. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on drawing up these plans, acquiring property and letting contracts for preliminary work. This waste of public money has not improved our outdated rail system and left Sydney a car reliant city.
This time around the plan intends to finally extend rail to Sydney's west, extend the light rail system, buy six new ferries - and provide a thousand new buses. The details on finding the money to create this are vague, but it has been suggested that car registrations will take a hit.
Surely it is no coincidence that this bright idea is trotted out with an election just over a year away - and that even if the plan is implemented we are talking about an event that will occur decades into the future.
There is an old adage about leopards not being able to change their spots.
On past history, this particular leopard is indeed a very spotty beast !
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