Acquisitian - without compensation !

People who own property within Shellharbour village have every right to be worried.  The council is thinking of slapping a  Heritage Conservation Zone ruling on their homes.   If this goes ahead they will be prevented from making any change to their property without it first getting full approval from the council - and that means everything from applying a coat of paint without the council choosing the colour to renewing fittings such as shade awnings over windows or replacing a letterbox.

The whole point of a Heritage Conservation order is to freeze buildings within a gazetted zone in some sort of time warp - so that those interested in the past can view with nostalgia the way we lived in yesteryear !   It completely ignores the fact that owning homes in that time zone represents the biggest outlay in the owner's life and that we are condemning those owners to maintain the same standard of living as our parents and grand parents.   It is almost a form of acquisition - but without compensation.

If this goes ahead, owners wanting to install solar roof panels to generate electricity will be refused council permission - because such items were not part of the visual scene that the Heritage Conservation order is trying to preserve.

Many people think gazetting this order is a case of " too little and too late ".  Change had already overtaken the old Shellharbour village and it will be impossible to roll back to a past era and all that will be achieved is to impose a blanket of misery on present owner's lives.

It is certainly an imposition to slap a control order on people who bought their present homes in good faith and have plans to modernise - or in some cases - demolish and use the site for a new dwelling.    There has been no attempt to gauge the consent of these owners.  A capricious council is seeking to ride roughshod over any objections and bulldoze the order into law.

If this zoning goes ahead it will certainly cause a steep drop in resale values, and that means a loss that few can really afford.  Perhaps we need a law change to provide at least a measure of compensation - and that would be something to make council think long and hard before imposing such draconian measures.

Perhaps freedom from paying rates could automatically apply in a Heritage zone - and if homes must be preserved in their original form - then maybe maintaining that image should be at council expense.

It is certainly grossly unfair to simply impose a Heritage order - and leave the owners to pickup the bill !

Strange logic !

The Fairfax newspaper group has been undergoing some strange management gymnastics in recent times, but an announced policy change seems to be an exercise in wayward thinking.    Across the entire business spectrum it has become fashionable to cut costs by moving functions offshore to low cost countries where labour can be hired at a fraction of the Australian domestic rate.   Usually, the function involved is either accounting or a call centre - where a big number of people are involved.

Fairfax is dividing the newsrooms of it's regional papers - the Illawarra Mercury and the Newcastle Herald - from it's editorial production functions - and the editorial people will in future be located in New Zealand.

This breaks the nexus between on the spot reporters and their editorial bosses, who decide how to present a story and what significance it will generate in reader's minds.  The nuances of local public opinion will be lost when policy decisions are made by people in a distant country, far removed from the scuttlebutt and comment heard in the clubs and pubs that the paper's readers frequent.

There is no doubt that this change will produce friction between the newsrooms and editorial floor.   The communications age that brought us Facebook, Twitter, email and cheap phone calls will never replace the thought cohesion that connects when two people meet face to face and sort out a difference of opinion - and smooth out any lingering differences later by sharing an ale at the local watering hole.

What makes a local paper valuable to the people who buy it - is local news.  A physical separation between the people who report it and the people who decide the slant with which it will be presented makes all the difference in perception - and that will be lost when this change is implemented.

It sounds like the ravings of some marketing genius who has been brought in to " modernise " and seeks to make change - simply for the sake of having things look " different "..
Making them " work " is an entirely different matter !

The " Legally registered " trap !

The discontinuation of car registration stickers on car windscreens from next year will remove a legal trap that has ensnared many people in the past.   That registration sticker has been regarded as proof that the vehicle is legally registered and may be driven on this state's roads.

That may have been the case many years ago when all car owners were required to attend a RTA office and pay the registration fee - and have the sticker imprinted with the cash register receipt number.   Today, that transaction can be made over the phone or on the Internet using a computer, and as a consequence no such record of payment appears on the sticker.

In many cases payment for registration is made by personal cheque or use of a credit card, and in the event that this method of payment is not honoured, the registering authority simply cancels the transaction by the click of a computer key.   As a result, the vehicle appears to be legally registered and no attempt is made to recover that sticker or confiscate the car's number plates.

A second trap in this legal minefield concerns unpaid fines.  When the period of grace for paying a driving fine - or a parking fine - expires, recovering the money passes to the state office of debt recovery.   The offender receives demands and if these are ignored the usual procedure is to cancel that persons driver's license - and the registration of any motor vehicles in that persons name.    Once again, no attempt is made to recover either the registration sticker or number plates attached to that vehicle.

The risk passes to any person who buys a car from a private buyer and assumes that the sticker is a true record that the vehicle is legally registered - and that it shows what length of time remains until re-registration is required.   This new owner has a period of grace before transferring ownership is required - and may lose the legal protection of registration in the event of an accident.   Such an accident may involve costs that will cripple that person financially for the rest of their life.

The fact that in future there will be no deceptive registration stickers will remove a hazard.   Anyone buying a second hand car would be well advised to make their own enquiry to determine it's registered state - before even taking a test drive.

Third World Australia ?

Starving children begging for food are depicted in television advertisements pleading for Australians to make monthly contributions to bring them a better life.   Of course, these children are in socalled " Third World " countries - a long way from " First World " Australia !

It comes as something of a shock to realise that right here in first world Wollongong we have children who start the day without even a morsel of breakfast.   Children at Albion Park public school are given a healthy breakfast of toast, Vegemite, fruit and Milo to fill empty stomachs and help them concentrate on their lessons - for a nominal payment as low as just twenty cents.

This has been an initiative of the school canteen, and the volunteers who provide this service are finding it harder and harder to raise the money needed to keep it going from their fund raising activities.  They have been recently forced to turn to the local McDonalds for help.

This sad story raises two issues.   The first is that hard times are hitting home in Australia, brought on by the GFC of 2008, when employment started to sharply contract and as a result, family incomes became tight for many people.   It seems that in some homes there was insufficient money to provide breakfast for the kids - and many went to school hungry.

The second point is our education system.   We spend a huge amount of money on providing schools and teachers, but hungry kids just don't absorb education like their better fed peers.   It is a fact of life that kids who start the day with something in their stomach are more attentive and learn faster.

It is depressing to think how little money is needed to provide a few loafs of bread, some margarine and a tub of Vegemite, and yet in these troubled times that is becoming an uphill task for the people who volunteer to run school canteens.

Surely both the Federal and state governments should look at this sort of breakfast programme as part of the education process.   Not all schools need this help, but those that do should not be denied.

Or do we need to advertise on TV for public help to find a few lousy dollars to fund school breakfasts in        " Third World Australia " ?

Alcohol - and the law !

Barry O'Farrell's proposed law to send any person who provides alcohol to a child under eighteen years of age  that is not their own   -  to a twelve month prison term makes sense - but that also presumes that parents have control over their children - and that ceased a long time ago.

The law has relentlessly chipped away at parent's rights to impose house rules and time curfews.  Parents are prevented from delivering a soft smack to a naughty toddler, and just about any form of punishment is frowned upon by child support agencies.   Kids are perfectly free to walk out the door of the family home whenever they please - and if they decline to live under the same roof as their parent's Centrelink will hand them an allowance to do their own thing - as they please !

This proposed law is supposed to crack down on wild parties hosted by parents who provide the alcohol, but it will be equally illegal to allow your own child access to a small glass of wine with dinner.   Many parents believe that a moderate introduction to alcohol in the family home leads to a responsible attitude later - because it is no longer a " new experience ".

One of the problems that will certainly arise is situations where hulking great teenagers - on the cusp of eighteen - bully their parents into providing alcohol for a party.   There are many households, particularly where a frail single mother is the breadwinner - where the kids rule the roost.   In some cases,  saying " No " will involve physical retaliation.    If this proposal becomes law, police will need to use discretion and not simply apply it as a bludgeon in all circumstances.

This proposed law specifically targets parents who disagree with alcohol laws and see no harm in providing alcohol to kids under eighteen, but laws presently on the books make it illegal to do that anyway.  It will create a huge headache for parents hosting a party for those over eighteen.   The guest list will have to be carefully culled to determine that no under eighteens will be present - and to be legal some form of proof of age would be necessary.

What effect this law will have on under age drinking will depend on how it is applied.   It took a lot of years for random breath testing of car drivers to convince the majority of people not to drink and drive.  We still get offenders, but the ratio has dropped to the exception where mass checking is involved.

Provided this law is applied to blatant cases and discretion is shown where discretion is needed, then there is a chance that over time the message may get home - just as has happened with drinking and driving.

A wrong righted !

In an era where the Automated Teller Machine ( ATM ) replaced bank branches little thought was given to the communities which lived in outback Australia.   Some of these places were served by just a single central store operating during limited hours and usually that store also served as an agency for one of the four big banks.

It seems that achieving uniformity saw most of these agencies replaced with an ATM, but an ATM owned and operated by a " for profit " provider, not by a bank, and as a result transaction fees were entirely a matter for the ATM's owner.

We city folk grizzle at the fee gouging the banks imposed when they forced us to use ATM's by closing branches, but they are only a pale shadow of the fee regimen that exists in remote areas.    It can cost as much as ten dollars to make a single transaction - whether that is to withdraw money or simply to have your account balance show on the screen.   In many cases, remote residents lost twenty percent of their pension to ATM fees.

In all fairness, there are extraordinary costs involved in providing an ATM in a remote location.   They are a complex piece of machinery that needs regular servicing, and  it can be more than a days journey for an armoured money truck and it's security crew to travel just to replenish the machines cash drawer.   It would be grossly unfair to claim that high ATM fees in remote areas was purely opportunistic greed.   But they are still an unfair impost on those who have no other way of accessing their money.

All that will change by the end of this year.   ATM access fees in remote areas will drop to comparison with those at city locations.  Along with the license to be a bank, these institutions have a responsibility to service their customers - wherever they happen to be located and for once the banks will have to pickup the tab.

Whether this is done by arrangement with the private owners of remote ATM's or by the banks installing their own machines is a matter for negotiation, but the important outcome is that people who live a long way from city services will no longer lose a big part of their income in accessing their own money !

Law Changes !

From next January 1 it will not be necessary to display a registration sticker on the windscreen of your car.  These are being discontinued in New South Wales as a cost cutting exercise following similar moves in West Australia in 2010 and South Australia in 2011.   The state government is confident that the new number plate recognition technology being installed in police cars will detect any unregistered cars and keep registrations under control.

It is promised that registration renewal notices will still be sent to each car owner and this should eliminate the excuse of the missing stickers making people prone to forget that registration is due.   That was not done in the other two states, and was the most criticised component of the new scheme.    At the very least, motorists will not miss the task of scraping off the old sticker each year and trying to remove the residue from the glass.

What remains to be dealt with is the totally unnecessary privacy law that prevents the owner of a motor vehicle to be identified by way of the vehicle number plate.   Huge numbers of people have had the experience of seeing another vehicle cause damage and then speed away.  Along with other witnesses, they have reported to the police with the registration details of that car, only to be told that the police can not reveal the name and address of the owner - because of privacy laws.

Basically, by hiding behind this law the police are actually aiding and abetting a crime.   The crazy thing is that having been supplied with this information and the statements of witnesses, the police can proceed to charge that driver with the offence of not stopping after an accident and exchanging license details - but they are still unable to supply the aggrieved party with the name and address necessary to start a civil claim to recover the cost of the damage.

Why is a person who has committed a criminal act protected from being identified ?   We urgently need a  law change to remove this veil of secrecy.  There is no valid reason why the owners of every registered motor vehicle should not be available on a common register for all to see..

It is simply a " bad law " when legislation protects the guilty from " due process " - and it needs to be changed !

The " risk factor ! "

Earning a living as a self employed person has both risks and rewards.   Most people with their own businesses earn more than those on wages, and this shows in many ways.   Proprietors usually drive a better car - live in a very nice house and take holidays other people simply dream of - but there is also a down side.

Their income stream is influenced by their skill in effectively pricing jobs and obtaining work, and they are forever at risk of their customer going broke and failing to pay them before the work is finished.

That is the situation facing a big number of sub-contractors as several substantial building firms have closed their doors and appointed administrators.  In some cases, amounts owing run to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the outcome will probably be bankruptcy for the " subbie " !

Both the industry and the unions are calling for tougher measures to ensure sub-contractors are protected when government jobs are involved.  There is a contention that the government has " deep pockets " and that it should payout the " Subbies " when a government contract goes bad, but this flies in the face of the entire system of private enterprise.

What is missing is acceptance that risk goes hand in hand with all forms of contracting and the percentage of job failures is just a tiny percentage of the entire industry.   The only way to ensure total financial safety would be for the government to own it's building arm and thus guarantee that it's subbies would get paid.

We know what happens when governments get involved in commercial transactions.  Everything gets hopelessly wrapped up in bureaucratic red tape - costs blow out enormously - and for some strange reason everything costs a lot more than when the work if carried out by private enterprise.

The present system definitely needs fine tuning.  At present, work completed is evaluated and payments made to the builder on that basis.  In a well run operation, sub contractors could expect to get progress payments on the same basis, but that relies on the prime contractor being solvent - and that is the present weakness.

Perhaps the answer is to legislate to open a new avenue of insurance guarantee.  Perhaps it is time for the insurance industry to try a new approach - and for governments to require a certificate of compliance that a policy to guarantee the payment of sub contractors is lodged before any work contract is signed.

Unfortunately, the cost would be prohibitive - and it would probably destroy the sub contracting system that has served us well for ages.

Perhaps that would be a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water !

A troubled world !

It is not unusual for the person losing an election to dispute the result and refuse to leave office, but the situation in our near neighbour - Papua New Guinea - is fast becoming serious.   The country has two prime ministers and the validity of each seems to be beyond reproach.   One enjoys the confidence of the parliament and the other has the support of the Supreme court.

Yesterday, Sir Michael Somare, the prime minister granted legal status by the Supreme court went to the residence of the Governor General to have his cabinet sworn in as required by law.   He was met at the gates by a contingent of police - and refused entry.

Opposing Somare is the choice of the parliament, Peter O'Neill and obviously the country is dividing between these two men.   The problem is that the men with the guns - the police and the army - can not have it both ways.   There can only be one legitimate prime minister and the way things are heading it may not be too long before push turns to shove - and the guns start firing !

The Pacific Island communities used to be a peaceful place, but now we have a coup in Fiji and the head of the armed forces has set himself up as a dictator.   The constitution has been suspended, and civil rights no longer exist.  Australia has just completed a United Nations role in the Solomon islands, to counter an armed rebellion arising from a territorial dispute - and now the Papua New Guinea question awaits an answer.

This sort of problem is what the United Nations was created to solve.   Theoretically, the Security Council has the authority to step in and make decisions when law and order breaks down in a member country, but such decisions are subject to world politics - and five members have the right of Veto to thwart the usual concept of the primacy of majority decisions.

Fortunately, the Pacific area nations are not play things in the chess game of world politics.  The great powers did not become involved in the dispute that saw Indonesia retreat from East Timor and hopefully both Fiji and Papua New Guinea can be resolved peacefully.    Perhaps it may involve a few " blue helmets " policing a return to democracy - but surely that is better than descent into civil war ?

Australia can expect the United Nations to look to this country if intervention is needed.  Australia is seen as the major power in the lower Pacific area.  At least - if we are acting under a United Nations mandate, we can not be accused of imperialistic designs or actions to interfere with our neighbours.

So far, Australia has a credible record of minding it's own business in the regional affairs of this part of the world !

Time to close the book !

Yesterday Abdelbaset al Megrahi died of cancer in Tripoli.   He was the only person put before a court, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the bombing of a PanAm  airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland that caused the death of 270 people.

Even that act of retribution caused a scandal.   He was controversially released from a Scottish prison on humanitarian grounds in 2009 because it was believed that he had just three months to live.   Later it was rumoured that this release was part of a deal to gain access to Libyan oil - and relatives of the dead were bitter because this medical opinion was clearly wrong.    It seems that politics triumphed over humanity.

Now there are calls to reopen the Lockerbie case and start a fresh investigation.  Some people believe that Megrahi was innocent and that others have gone unpunished.  The British government is resisting on the grounds that events in Libya have moved too far for there to be any hope of a successful conclusion.

This seems to be a rational point of view.   Libya has gone through a violent civil war and the man who admitted giving the green light to the Lockerbie bombing - Dictator Gaddafi - met a violent death at the hands of his countrymen.    There is still no authoritative central government in the country and fighting is still continuing in many areas.   There is absolutely no hope of conducting a serious enquiry in those circumstances.

It is time to close the book on Lockerbie.   Twenty-four years have passed and the trail has gone cold - and probably many people who knew secrets are now dead, either of old age or because of the bloody civil war.
Airline passengers will be better served by concentrating on the present threats from terrorist groups - and bringing down airliners in flight is still high on the list of priorities for al Qaeda.

We learned a lot from Lockerbie - and our defences have proved adequate despite several recent attempts.
It would be a waste of time delving into the past when our efforts would be better spent combatting the new breed of bombers who are using science to perfect their trade.     That seems to be a war that never ends !

Reef damage is inevitable !

Once again we find our Great Barrier reef in danger from a ship adrift with engine room failure.  In this instance, tugs reached it in time and it will be safely towed to port for repair - and that precious coral has survived.  Luck was on our side, but in the long term view, a reef catastrophe seems inevitable.

This weeks near miss is just one of many over recent years and in some cases actual damage has occurred, but of a minor nature.   What must throw a doubt in many people's minds is the surge in new coal mines being developed in northern Queensland and the prediction that shipping through the Great Barrier reef will increase ten fold when that newly mined coal is exported to world markets.

As things stand, ship's masters chart their own course in and out of Australia, within regulations that are supposed to ensure safety.  Most previous accidents have involved human error.  In some cases, economic considerations have persuaded navigators to take a " short cut " and disobey the rules and in others the error can be sheeted home to sheer incompetency.

We need a rule change to ensure that all Barrier Reef sea traffic is in the hands of maritime pilots and that all shipping takes the most direct route to the open sea, irrespective of whether that is the most economical way to clear the reef.    At least a single, well defined traffic route stands a chance of limiting damage to a single section of the reef, rather than having ships travelling at random along it's length.

The other option is to limit coal exports to a single port and thus reduce the number of shipping lanes within the reef.  Reef safety is of vast economic value to Australia as it is one of our best tourist attractions and the cost of bringing new mines into rail access to that single port is part of the price we must pay to keep it pristine and free of damage.

So far, luck has been on our side.    What we need is a legislative approach to bolster that luck with a  clear set of rules to limit potential damage by putting control of ships using the reef in Australian hands.   It's our reef - and those who want to sail in our waters need to obey our rules !

Cruise ship safety !

The popularity of taking a leisurely cruise on a luxury cruise ship took a hit in January when news flashed on television screens showing the Costa Concordia laying on her side, half sunken after hitting a rock off Giglio island in the Mediterranean.    There was a confused evacuation of the 4,200 passengers and crew and reports that some of the crew had no idea how to lower the lifeboats.   Thirty-two people died in this shipwreck.

The Mediterranean is one of the most heavily populated areas on this planet.  It's coastline is virtually wall to wall cities, and as a consequence cruise ships simply sail from port to port to give passengers a taste of different cultures.   Things are very different, here in the Pacific ocean cruise industry.

The Pacific is a very big ocean with a limited number of island communities, and not all of them are able to offer a safe harbour to berth a big ship.   As a consequence, cruise ships visiting places like the Isle of Pines in New Caledonia anchor offshore - and the passengers are ferried to and from the island - using the ships " lifeboats ".

Even that terminology has changed.   They are no longer referred to as lifeboats.   They are now the " ships' tenders " and they have come a long way from the open boat days, when rescued passengers were required to man the oars.   Today's rescue craft are fully enclosed and equipped with twin screw diesel engines - and offer a full range of safety equipment and creature comforts.

It must be comforting to people with images of the Costa Concordia still in their minds to witness the skill and familiarity with which Australian cruise ship crews handle these tenders when they are required to ferry people ashore.     There can be no doubt that this task has been performed with such regularity that it would be second nature in an emergency.

Plans are now underway to raise and tow the Costa Concordia to a ship breakers yard where she will be dismantled for scrap.   This will cost in the vicinity of three hundred million dollars, and it will probably attract heavy attention on news channels as the work proceeds.

The cruise industry - here and in other parts of the world - will be pleased when that incident fades from view.  It is a jarring note that emphasis a risk that does not exist in the Pacific ocean cruise industry, because crews here lower safety equipment on a regular basis.   It is simply part of the ship's  routine.

Battle lines drawn !

Yesterdays two hour teachers strike was the first round of an ongoing battle to reform the education system in this state.    The government is locked in a battle to give more power to head teachers over who teaches in their schools - and to award higher pay where it is deserved.

The militant teacher's union is determined to retain the " public service " ethos of hiring and placing it's members. It is anathema to even consider awarding pay preference or promotion on results achieved.  It will fight tooth and nail to keep teachers within the faceless and anonymous ranks of public servants who do precisely what is required in their job specification - no more and no less - and will progress through the system based entirely on seniority and length of service.

There is a degree of truth in both sides of the argument !

Letting head teachers " manage " by having control of their school budgets and the hiring and firing power to select staff will improve teaching standards, but it will also confer on government's an opportunity to shift blame if they reduce education funding.   Being a talented head teacher does not necessarily include good management skills.  Some head teachers will be found wanting in that regard.

Managing the school budget will provide an incentive to increase class sizes and there is no doubt that any responsible head teacher will employ new staff on a casual basis for the first few terms while their ability is evaluated.                     For the first time, teachers will be required to "perform" to attain that much sought after " permanent " classification.

It seems to be a classical case of " the swings and the roundabouts ".     Twelve months after the new regime is in place there will be some horror stories about how it went wrong, but there will be some shining examples of how it brought education to new heights.

It will be an interesting battle between the government and the teachers union to win the hearts and minds of parents, but there is certainly room for improvement in the education system and most probably what will emerge is some sort of compromise.

Sorting out that compromise seems likely to be a long period of inconvenience to parents - and political cut and thrust in the parliament as one side of politics sits behind the teachers - and the other opts for reform !

A pervading stink !

Speaking at the ACTU Congress in Sydney, former boss Bill Kelty commented that he could not understand why the present Federal government was so unpopular.   One of those reasons was staring him in the face.

When an average citizen is accused of a crime the legal system springs into action.  There is an investigation - usually followed by an arrest and a court appearance - or if no evidence can be found - the matter is dropped.

The Craig Thomson-HSU affair has been running for years and we are now told that it will probably continue well past the 2013 Federal election.  The investigators just don't seem to be able to put together a cohesive file of evidence and follow normal procedure - and few voters believe that this isn't spin to protect a politician whose single vote it critical to the government staying in office.

This investigation was carried out by Fair Work Australia ( FWA ) and that is a creature of this government.
If the FWA people can not bring an investigation of the misuse of union funds to a proper conclusion, then the blame can be sheeted back to the very people who created it - and that is what is putting mistrust and apathy into voter's minds.

Now a new factor has entered the equation.   There is a suggestion that a two year time limit exists under the Workplace Relations act of New South Wales, and even if FWA or the police finally produce evidence to take the matter to court - it will be struck down as " out of time ".

Is it any wonder that in some quarters the voting public claim to have lost confidence in the Federal government's ability to govern this country - and some wags have insisted that it would probably have difficulty successfully " raffling a duck ".

The old adage that " justice needs to be done - and be seen to be done " is missing from this investigation, and there is a pervading political stink about the whole affair.

No amount of spin can cover the fact that obstacles have been deliberately put in the way of reaching a judicial conclusion !

Unions - and relevancy !

Australian Worker's Union ( AWU ) Secretary Paul Howes hit the nail on the head when he spoke at the ACTU Congress and reported that it will be difficult to raise Australian union membership more than the present twenty percent - unless the unions fight for for non-unionised casuals.

The relevancy of the unions has been slipping steadily over the past few decades because the outlook and vision of the movement has not moved with the times.    Attention remains focussed on the old concept of permanent jobs with people working fixed hours under regimes that are set in concrete as far as conditions are concerned.

The unions have fought multi-skilling tooth and nail.   The last thing on their mind has been cooperation with the employer to make the business more efficient - and survive in a shrinking market place.   Some union bosses actually celebrate when an employer goes under, citing that as some sort of victory.  It is a case of the union boss still drawing his pay packet - while those dismissed join the dole queue.

What is needed is a clearly defined space between unions - and politics.   The union movement is seen as little more than a branch of the Australian Labor party.  Paying union dues is compulsory, and many resent seeing their money handed out to a political party whose aims they do not support.   There would be more support for unions if they maintained an arm's length approach to politics and negotiated in good faith with all political points of view.

Then there is the sleaze factor.   Many of the rank and file seen union bosses as little more than a bunch of thugs, spending union funds as their personal piggy bank and using strong arm tactics on anyone that opposes their rule.   It is indeed a brave member who fails to raise his hand to approve strike action at a union meeting.    The consequences may be more than being " sent to Coventry ".    It may involve broken bones and an exit from that form of employment.

It has become a fact of life that many workers simply do not trust the unions - and have no intention of joining them - and that will not change until the union movement cleanses itself and ceases to be the lap dog of one side of politics.

It will only have a mandate to speak for the workers when it clearly has just one objective in mind - and that is to look after the interests of it's members.

Unfortunately, that is not how it is seen at present !

Ducking the issue !

Hundreds of Wollongong people will be holding their breath  when a Federal enquiry into the failed Trio Capital collapse is released this week.  For most, it will mean the difference between retiring with a little private superannuation money to tide them over their final years - or being totally reliant on the old age pension.

Trio Capital's flagship fund was a fraud.   The money was syphoned off to overseas tax havens and not a cent of it could either be traced - or recovered.    Three government agencies tasked with policing the investment industry failed to perform their duty and the ratings firms who bestow triple A approval of investment funds also granted it the nod.

A class action sought to sheet home the blame for failure to properly probe this fund against the Australian Securities and Investment Commission ( ASIC ), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority ( APRA ) and the Australian Tax office.  ( ATO )

The Federal government accepted limited liability and setup a $ 55 million compensation fund to reimburse losses, and then made the amazing decision that hundreds of investors would miss out because their funds were " self managed ".

According to government thinking, those whose funds were managed by authorities approved by the government and were mislead by this fraud somehow deserve compensation, but those who self manage their own affairs should have read the signs and not made this bad investment.

A clever shyster put together a scam that fooled ASIC, APRA, the ATO and a vast array of professional money managers who advise investors, but the government is claiming that these mums and dads are the only ones not to be compensated - because making that investment is their own fault.

The flak that decision caused was immense and the Federal government hastily retreated, and decided to have a second go at getting it right by holding the enquiry that is about to deliver it's findings.

There is no doubt that the appropriate government checking agencies failed miserably - and it seems that nobody has so far lost their job because of that failure.   Now it is a matter of whether the government is prepared to put it's hand in it's pocket and be fair - and deliver compensation to those who missed out because of a bad decision.

This week will be almost life or death for many !

Be very afraid !

The lives of the seven billion people who call this planet home are about to undergo change.   Change is in the air, and the only problem is to determine what shape that change will take.

Nearly a hundred years ago the world experienced the first world war.  It was the bloodiest war on record and it led to a man named Lenin proposing an alternative form of government.   Russia executed the Czar and embraced Communism - and with that the entire world order changed.

Fifteen years later the economy of the world crashed when the " Great Depression " put millions out of work, and in Germany the despair of the people caused them to reluctantly accept National Socialism - and a man named Adolph Hitler rose to power.

Once again a fiscal catastrophe is nibbling at the world economy.  Half a dozen of previously civilized European countries have massive numbers of their citizens on the dole - and they can't pay their national debts. The entire Middle East is aflame.   The citizens are in the streets, facing death to unseat tyrants and there is every prospect that when the tyrants retreat they will leave behind them religious wars.

It seems unrealistic to expect a soft landing.   Already the vacuum left by banished despots is morphing into religious intolerance and we are seeing the emergence of factions like al Qaeda - who insist that all who fail to follow their hard line stance must be put to death.    Offshoots are causing carnage in Asia and Africa - and this will be exacerbated by financial power  gravitating quickly from west to east.

So - somewhere on the planet - a visionary will come up with a new idea of how to run this world.  It will probably sound as Utopian as the principles of Communism or National Socialism were to those mired in abject poverty and hopelessness.

The stirrings of discontent are roiling the nations and the old order of things are not providing answers.

This seems to be a time to consider the future with trepidation !

The "eye in the sky !"

There is a certain inevitability about the plans for drone aircraft to be included in the air wing of state police forces.  When we visit a city centre or any entertainment district we know that every move is being watched by cctv cameras - and this pays a safety dividend.

There is a suspicion that drones will be used to replace speed cameras on our road systems, particularly if the government adopts a timed distance method of detecting speeding.   The weakness of the fixed camera system is our ability to recognise where the cameras are located - and act accordingly.    Drones locked into satellite positioning technology would be able to police almost any section of road - and turn it into a revenue stream for government coffers.

Our opposition to drones revolves around the sure knowledge that we sometimes drive just a fraction faster than the law allows - and we resent paying a fine and losing points when they develop a new method of catching us !

Drones are inevitable because they are hugely cheaper to buy than a manned police helicopter.  As a consequence, we can expect to see more of them in the sky and this will help with swiftly detecting the outbreak of bushfires - and surveying bush areas for illicit Marijuana plantations.    They will also be invaluable as a SES aid in tracking lost bush walkers.

The march of technology is relentless.  Drones have changed the concept of battlefields as wars have morphed from people in uniform carrying weapons - to shadowy figures in mufti delivering concealed bombs in civilian areas.

Before we condemn progress, it would be a good idea to consider the benefits.  A decade from now, that " eye in the sky " will probably be no more unusual than the " smart phone " in our pocket - and all the benefits that it delivers !

It 'aint over !

Just when we are being told that the Great Financial crash of 2008 is over, two news stories this week should scare the pants off those with superannuation money in the hands of the banking industry.

J P Morgan Chase, one of the biggest of the US banks - has reluctantly conceded that a complicated hedging strategy has gone wrong - and that it lost $ US 2 billion dollars.   J P Morgan Chase can withstand that loss and it will survive without the need for a bailout, but this is one of the banks that have led the charge to water down regulating legislation to curb credit default swaps and derivative trading.   It is precisely those same strategies that are delivering this repeat scenario.

When these strategies succeed they deliver handsome profits that fuel big salaries for bank bosses and return good dividends to customers, but when they go wrong - they throw the world's money markets out of kilter and come close to causing a world wide depression.   The banks are gambling with our money - and it seems that they have learned nothing since the lesson of 2008.

The other unsettling event is a general election in Greece.   The Greeks went to the polls and failed to deliver a government because the political parties can see that the country is in a hopeless situation !
Greece is broke - bankrupt - and the terms that have been imposed on it's citizens in exchange for massive loans that they will never be able to repay - is penury for this entire century.

Logic insists that a number of financially failing countries be allowed to leave the European Union and the Euro and reestablish themselves.   It will be a long, hard road back to prosperity, but as things stand the only winners are the rich countries of Europe, who are underpinning their standard of living by clinging onto a failed union.

Unless common sense is applied to the banking world and it is brought into line on standards, and the mess that is the EU is resolved in accord with the law of supply and demand, it is inevitable that we will see a replay of the 2008 GFC - and that is hovering just over the present horizon !

A massive con job !

Magic is the art of deceit !    The magician uses his or her skills to make you believe that an illusion is real.   The magician's art can also make solid objects seem to disappear, take a different shape - or simply vaporise into thin air.

Strangely, politicians seem to have similar skills - and it seems that the public is being prepared for a spectacular magic act.

There have been suggestions that the supply of natural gas to the east coast of Australia is running low.  It is claimed that the gas field in Bass strait is dwindling and that the vast reserves in the Cooper basin are not as great as previously estimated.   It is suggested that - in two or three years time - the supply of natural gas will fall short of demand.

Part of the magicians art is to prepare the audience.  If sleight of hand is to be employed, it is necessary to get the attention of the audience fixed  away from where this will take place.  Could it be that this scare campaign is designed to make us gladly accept a promised reprieve from the horror of unused gas heaters, cold showers and unlit gas stoves ?

And what form could that reprieve take ?     Surely not supplementing that clean piped gas that now runs our gas services - with coal seam gas that will be drawn from the gas wells that will soon dot every square mile of the countryside ?

Cynics will smell a massive con job.    There are problems with coal seam gas and public opinion is firmly against it.   The evidence is  mounting that gas wells poison agricultural land and redirect natural aquifers.  In some instances, wells are so tainted that drinking water is impossible to use and leaking gas poses an explosion threat.

On the other hand, there are great profits to be made from " fracking " the sub layer and extracting gas, and wherever their is profit - there is collusion to disguise the ill effects.

Australia has some of the biggest natural gas reserves in the world.   We are a major supplier of gas to China and India and a massive distribution hub is being built in Western Australia to export this commodity to the world, but expect to be told that we can not tap this supply to service the east coast of this continent.

Russia has built gas pipelines for thousands of miles to get it's gas into most countries in Europe, but it seems that vested interests here have turned their backs on this natural bounty, and instead want to make obscene amounts of money by extracting gas locally, despite the risk this will pose to our agricultural land and way of life.

The magicians have started preparing their spiel.   Wait for the smoke and mirrors to complete the illusion !

The threads start to unravel !

A preventable death !

Measles was fast becoming an extinct disease in Australia, but in other parts of the world it accounted for a big proportion of childhood deaths.   India and Africa headed the list of countries in which it was prevalent but world health services report a dramatic drop in deaths in the past decade.

Statistics are not very reliable in most third world countries, but it is estimated that child deaths from Measles dropped by three quarters between 2006 and 2010.  According to this estimate, mortality decreased from a high of about 535,00 to just 139,000 - and the main cause was - immunisation !

First world countries have been making serum available at low cost and third world countries now have improved health services that are spreading to regional areas.  A similar situation is fast developing with other diseases, including polio.

The sad thing is that here in first world Australia, Measles if making a comeback.  We are seeing outbreaks of this children's disease because some parents have refused immunisation.   There is a fear that something in the immunisation process - and mercury is often blamed - links giving immunity from diseases with the onset of autism.

This has not been proven conclusively - either way, but the risk is small and it is a truism that no medical procedure is entirely free of risk.    There is plenty of evidence that many unimmunised children have developed autism, hence it is a balance between a greater good and a very small risk factor that must be taken into account.

The problem is that if Measles again takes hold it will gain strength and be difficulty to combat.   Just a few unimmunised kids can provide the breeding ground  and from there it could spread to the general adult population - and specially the old and frail.

It would be one of life's ironies if we manage to defeat a killer disease that was running rampant in the third world, and at the same time allowing it to regenerate and gain strength here in Australia, because a rumour was persuading parents to refuse immunisation for their children.

A ticking bomb in our midst !

On April 16, 1947 the French registered SS Grandcarro was unloading 2300 tonnes of Ammonium nitrate in the US port of Texas City.   Without warning it exploded, causing massive damage to the city centre, killing 581 people and injuring thousands.   It was the worst industrial accident in United States history to that time.

A subsequent enquiry could not determine the exact cause of the explosion, but it was surmised that a worker lighting an illicit cigarette was the most probable cause.

The residents of Newcastle would do well to Google that accident - and reflect on the MCP Kopenhagen which is riding at anchor directly off that port - and is loaded with 3000 tonnes of Ammonium nitrate.   This ship has an appalling safety record and an inspection revealed faulty fire safety equipment, broken navigational aids and a malfunctioning sewerage system.     This is an old ship long past it's seaworthy days, being used as an offshore storage facility.

They might also ponder the wisdom of turning Ammonium nitrate into industrial explosives for the Australian mining industry at the Orica plant on Kooragang island.   Kooragang island is one of the main industrial centres for hazardous material manufacturing in Australia, but some would doubt the wisdom of siting an explosives factory in other than a remote location well removed from other industry or housing.

The Kopenhagen sitting at anchor offshore is to relieve pressure while the Orica plant is undergoing maintenance, but it should be noted that this ship loaded the Ammonium nitrate in Newcastle and will enter port and unload it's cargo again - when that maintenance is complete.   It also raises the issue of regular shipments of this dangerous chemical passing through Newcastle and being shipped out in finished form once it passes through the Orica plant process.

There is no easy answer to this problem.   If this was a new plant being processed through the system it would probably not be allowed to be established on Kooragang island, but if regulations forced it to be relocated - it would probably go offshore, to where cheaper labour would contain costs and some governments would not be too fussy about dangers to their citizens.

At least Newcastle residents can be aware of what is involved in processing Ammonium nitrate - and make their own decisions about where to buy a house or seek employment, with that danger in mind.   What happened in Texas city in 1947 would be a reminder of what can happen if  just one worker breaks safety rules!

Education - and HECS !

It is becoming obvious that the TAFE system in New South Wales is facing change.  TAFE has been described as " the poor man's university " because it tended to teach trade skills as opposed to the academic disciplines of university life.   This distinction is now blurred - and it seems inevitable that HECS will soon be applicable to both centres of learning.

What is alarming the NSW Teachers Federation is the prospect of TAFE embracing privatization - as has been installed in Victoria.   The Teachers describe this as a " disaster " and claimed that it had descended to a poorly regulated market, consisting of hundreds of private providers offering short courses in a fraction of the time they should take - with " huge HECS like fees ".

Of course, this is the expected claim launched by the Teachers Federation.   They have a vested interest in the status quo and as a militant union they fear losing the tight control they now have over education policy and staffing.  It is highly unlikely that those working in a privatized system would be union members.

The HECS question is a separate issue. As part of the COAG agreement, NSW has signed the Council of Australian Government agreement which requires the introduction of HECS type fees to TAFE courses.
HECS are coming, irrespective of whether TAFE is privatized, or remains a form of education remaining within the NSW government education system.  

A privatized model as opposed to the present government TAFE model raises a number of questions.   The original TAFE concept was to equip those less academically qualified with the skills to earn a living as qualified trades people.   Many students were enrolled as apprentices, and as such attended TAFE several days a week and did on job training for the remainder.   Some claim these courses are long winded and pedantic, and could deliver the same results in a shortened form.

The pivot point of success or failure for privatization - will be the skill of those teaching in the private sector.  That will depend almost entirely on the standards set by the government and what sort of checks and balances are put in place to monitor compliance with those standards.   It seems inevitable that class sizes will increase in a " for profit " TAFE regime, unless class size is determined by legislation.

No doubt this issue will generate angry debate, but some sort of change is inevitable, given that all levels of government are desperate for funds and need to cut costs to remain solvent.   The one thing that is certain is that getting any sort of useful qualification will come at personal cost - and the most likely outcome is " learn now - and pay later " - and that is the basis of HECS.

If the government opts for privatization, it will need to be diligent to see that the new regime delivers value for money !

A risky decision !

We live in a dangerous world, but it seems that this Labor government  puts a surplus budget a long way ahead in it's priorities - over defence.   Crucial decisions to chop two billion dollars from defence spending have been made and these will quickly feed into Australia's defence readiness.

Socialist governments have long histories of downgrading defence needs to fund social experiments.  There is no discernible threat to this country at present - and so the thinking goes - we need not spend money buying toys for the people in uniform.   Such decisions have a habit of coming back to haunt us.   Our defence situation can change very quickly, and there is a long lead time between drawing up plans for advanced weaponry - and delivering it on the battle field.

The plans for equipping the army with self propelled artillery have been scrapped.   Acquiring the first two Joint Strike fighter jets have been pushed back two years and a host of lesser decisions have been quietly dropped from the defence budget.    The only positive decision seems to have been approval to replace our ageing fleet of six submarines with twelve new vessels - but even that is a long term measure.    Even the decision on which type of design to build will not be made until 2017.  It will be a very long time before we see the first launched from the slipway.

Australia has always had the most advanced military forces in our area of the Pacific ocean.  We are not an aggressive nation, but our defence readiness has ensured that neighbouring countries choose not to mess with us.  That equilibrium is fast changing as economic clout passes from the west to the east, and new alliances form between power groups in our region.

This is not the time to walk away from our defence needs on the basis that there is no immediate threat.  A lot of Kiwi's have moved to Australia since that nation renounced it's defence policy and took the stance that New Zealand had too small a population to be able to finance a credible defence force - and would throw itself on the world's mercy - and be defenceless.     It scrapped it's air force,  dropped plans for new naval ships and depleted it's army to that needed to maintain United Nations obligations.

Those decision were made under a socialist government.   It is not a mode of thinking we would like to see applied to Australia !

Traffic jam solution ?

The state government is considering an innovation to free up congestion on arterial roads and virtually make traffic jams a thing of the past.   It certainly has short term merit and it might work to maintain an even traffic flow - bit what delivers a gain for some motorists will create a new problem for others.

This innovation works on the principle that what ails Sydney's arterial roads is too many cars trying to use too little road space at peak times.   It doesn't take Einstein to deduce that if you lower the number of cars the traffic will move faster.

The idea is to install traffic lights at all intersections that feed into these arterial roads - and regulate the number of cars that may enter to what the arterial road can manage.

The sticking point that will enrage many people - is just how this will be done.   It is envisaged that there will actually be two traffic lights at each point of entry, with just one car space separating the two.   Back at base, the road controllers will decide how many cars to add to the car stream and activate the front traffic light - to release one car at a time.

In that way, it can add cars to the stream at varying rates.   One every forty seconds - or perhaps just one a minute on a bad problem day - allowing the traffic stream to recover and flow at an even speed.

It certainly has the potential to make the arterial roads flow faster, but it will create a huge bottleneck of cars waiting their turn to use this main road system, and that can lead to road rage and drivers simply ignoring that red light that impedes progress.  

There is little point in achieving such a fast flow if it is at the expense of vast queues of frustrated drivers waiting interminably for their chance to join the stream - and it does nothing to solve the problem of Sydney having too many cars for too few roads - and that is not going to change.

The other limitation is - cost.   It will take a mint of money to install such a complex dual system of traffic lights and team them to a central control room to manage the road system.    Perhaps this would be better spent improving the rail system, and convincing commuters to leave the car at home and take the train.

But then - like the road system, rail is above capacity at peak times anyway.    Perhaps we need traffic lights to impede rail passenger entry at station gates, to regulate the flow to what the trains can hold ?

The possibilities seem endless !

Cold hearts - and closed minds !

A few years back someone started a new custom to signal " eternal love ".     Couples had padlocks engraved with their names and a declaration of love - and fixed them to the safety railings at local beauty spots.  It was  usual to ceremoniously throw the keys into the void as a declaration that the union would survive to eternity. In Wollongong, the Mount Keira lookout and the Sea Cliff bridge are favourite locations for this custom.

It certainly did not find favour with Wollongong council.   Without notice or warning council send a work gang with boltcutters to remove these padlocks from Mount Keira lookout.    There was understandable dismay, and council has now apologised and invited owners to call at a council depot and reclaim their property.

It raises the question of what harm did this custom do that council should close it down.   Mount Keira lookout and Sea Cliff bridge are both popular tourist destinations and many people thought these expressions of love were charming.   Photographs were taken - not only of the view - but of the wire fencing and the padlocks and this custom is likely to spread as the example becomes widely viewed.

It seems just one example of the " Scrooge " mentality that pervades the official mind.   Perhaps anything that people enjoy offends the " fun police ", or it could be resentment that people are getting away with a joy that has escaped their ever reaching tax net.

The nay-sayers and finger waggers are ever encroaching on past customs.   Once it was unthinkable to attend a wedding without sprinkling confetti on the bride and groom when they emerged from the church.   Today, most churches forbid the practice and they do have a point.    We live in an age of pollution and someone has to clean up those tiny portions of paper, but many responded by substituting rice for confetti - and now many churches ban that too.  Surely this custom does no harm - and the cleanup is carried out with speed and enthusiasm by the sparrows, pigeons and other birds that call all public spaces home.

It is not only officialdom that has a cold heart and a closed mind when it comes to matters that give people pleasure.   We recently had the issue of a resident making an official complaint to council because kids had built a cubby house in a tree.  Of course, it didn't have building approval and the council over reacted by threatening a million dollar fine - but an inspection revealed dozens of similar " illegal constructions " throughout the wooded area, all built by local kids.

Whatever happened to that motto that solved most problems ?   It was called - Live and let live !

This ever changing world !

People under thirty years of age would find it almost unbelievable to visit the world that existed half a century ago.   Sunday was a day as " dead as the Dodo " !     No football or horse racing.  No movie theatres open.   The shopping centres shuttered - and deserted.   The pubs were firmly closed - and only residents catered for with meals.

Saturday was the " fun day " of the week, but in many cities and towns the shops closed at twelve noon, and then the supermarkets began to open all day, but with some quaint restrictions on trade.   It was illegal to sell red meat after the clock struck noon.  It was necessary to put covers over meat displays because the butcher shops closed at noon - and supermarkets were seen as unfair competition with their extended hours.

The unions imposed a draconian pay impost on any employer who wished to operate outside the hallowed Monday to Friday, nine to five operating scene.   Time and a half and double pay rates became the norm - and they are still with us, despite the civilized world opting for seven day trading as we now know it.

The NSW Business Council is seeking an end to penalty rates and the implementation of pay scales that reflect the real world that we now live in.   They claim that employees still work a five day week, but that the five days may be scheduled anywhere during the seven days that shops are open to trade.   Penalty rates would only occur if an employee was asked to work longer than a regular shift, or on an extra day added to that five day working week.

This existing mish mash of pay scales has caused many businesses to close on Sundays and it certainly inhibits employers from considering expanding trading hours.   Removing penalty rates would certainly lower unemployment and expand job opportunities because penalty rates make increasing staff to the levels needed to give good service a bar to profitability.     If any business can not return a profit, then there is no option other than to close the doors and cease trading.

We live in a new - but ever changing - world and yet the dogmatic unions are still clinging to an era that ceased a long time ago.   Getting a job requires an employee to provide service when the public wishes to shop and that can be at any time of the day or night - over the entire seven day week.    The employer will only open a business when the demand for service exists - and today the public lifestyle is ever more expansive.

Strangely, the unions are claiming that Saturday and Sunday are somehow hallowed and must be preserved for family time together, and yet it is the same employees now working extended hours who are the new customers seeking service when their shift ends - and they seek an expanded lifestyle - provided by others cheerfully manning the services they crave.

The world has moved on from the nine to five mentality.  It's time trading hours and penalty rates reflected the world as it now exists !

A " Wake-up call ! "

The interim report tabled by Ian Temby QC into the Health Services Union East branch enquiry should be a wake-up call to all union members in Australia to demand a full accounting of the financial structure of the union to which they belong.

This interim report lays bare a rort that has seen millions of dollars of members funds wasted on lavish lifestyles of senior office holders.  The union function has had no system of checks and balances, resulting in lack of tendering and work allocated without contracts - and in many cases to individuals or companies which are directly linked to those same office holders.

In particular, this report is scathing on the uncontrolled use of credit cards by union officials.  There has been no policy structure on their use, and the average spend  has been a staggering $ 600,000 per year.

The members of the Health Services union have put their trust in the people running the union - and that trust has been sadly betrayed.   It seems that the top union people have been living the good lifestyle and rorting the spending of union money for years - and they have been getting away with it because their members have demanded no checks and balances.

That has got to be a wake-up call to alert all members of unions in Australia.   The union dues that you have to pay are funds that you need to control. The people running your union are your servants - not your bosses.  They are accountable for every cent that they spend - and now would be a very good time to haul them before the membership and demand that they prove they are running a tight ship financially - and that you approve of how your money is being disbursed.

You need to think long and hard before you automatically re-elect the same people to the top positions in the union - year after year.  What happened in the Health Services union is a prime example of the membership taking it's eye off the ball.      The rorters are being called to account - but some of the blame must fall on the head of union members for not being vigilant and taking an interest in union matters - and how the administration was being run.

In some people's minds, unions and politics are inextricably linked - and union bosses obey the dictates of a political party rather than pursue the aims and betterment of their members.    Perhaps a good shake-out is long overdue - and the members start to demand that their interests come first.

Catching union bosses with their hand in the cookie jar could be the first step in a meaningful reform of the whole union structure !