Did anyone realise we have an Election in August?

Discussion in 'The big picture' started by Tezza, Jul 21, 2010.

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Did anyone realise we have an Election in August?

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  1. petershaw

    petershaw Junior Member

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    Really were you there?
    You seem to have forgoten the role of the Soviets and American....Many historians consider that the battle of Stalingrad as amongst the bloodiest in the history of warfare and the turning point of the war in Europe,just as was the battle of Midway in the Pacific.....Is this lapse convenient or indicative of your knowledge of history.
    The allies would have won whether churchill was there or not......but that would not be the case if America did not enter the war, and had Hitler not attacked the Soviet Union

    More importantly it was the young men and women on the frontline that can claim that achievment...

    As far as hiding in the shadows......you my friend seem to hide behind a system that provides you with a false sense and illusionary idea of freedom......I notice you speak very highly of Centre link....Do they provide your income,............Democracy.....the dictatorship of the minority by the marjority

    Incidently,Germany was a democratic Republic, when President Hindenburg appointed hitler....Hindenburg was elected by the Vote.
     
  2. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    G'day All

    I have just (for fun - warped, I know) been looking at the Group Voting Tickets for the Senate. It is very interesting to see just who, and what order, your preferred candidate will preference - if of course, you vote above the line.

    Family First (in Victoria) have preferenced the Australian Sex Party ahead of the Greens (albeit, just - second from the bottom).

    The Climate Sceptics have preferenced Family First as second (no surprises there), and have put the Liberal and Labor parties in the middle of their ticket, just a little ahead of my mate Jo (I wonder if they even know who Jo is, or more importantly, what he stands for?)

    One Nation (what, they still exist?) has got Jo down at 16, which makes me wonder whether they have read his ticket either.

    So funny, the lot of them. If only the voting populace (in their majority) bothered to look at where their vote above the line in the senate goes, perhaps they might rethink where they put that number 1.

    What!!! The Liberals/Nationals have preferenced the Greens over Labor, albeit well down the ticket for both of them.

    This is so funny.

    Anyway, back to the books...

    Night all :D
     
  3. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    Interesting Mark
    Thanks for this. It used to be a rule that the registered party preferences be put somewhere at the polling booth; and i would always have a look after voting. It was usually in some remote, dark spot. This is no longer the case.
    I never vote above the line.
     
  4. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    Well, that was a fizzer :D
     
  5. Yep, needed more CO2 to give it some zing... :grin:





    .
     
  6. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    Part One

    G'day All

    As an avid (some would say 'rabid') watcher (and sometimes commentariat) of all things political, I have decided to share with you all some of my thoughts on what the current state of affairs in Australian politics might mean for us - the permies of Australia (apologies to our international friends).

    Australian parliament operates with a total of 150 parliamentarians. Yesterday, the final three 'crossbenchers' decided which way their support would go, and subsequently we now have a 'government' (majority of 76, over 74) made up of a very interesting alliance:

    1 Green Party member - Adam Bandt (Melbourne VIC)
    1 ex Green, and ex (youthful) member of the Liberal Party - Andrew Wilkie (Dennison TAS)
    1 ex National, and now Independent - Rob Oakeshott (Lyne NSW)
    1 ex National, and now Independent - Tony Windsor (New England NSW)
    72 Labor Party members

    It is the first four that are critical to the future of permaculture in Australia (and by extension, the world), as these 'queenmakers' hold the 'balance of power' (decision making) in the Lower House. Any decision that the government decides to make (and the subsequent legislation that is the outcome of this process), can only happen with the full support of these four.

    Putting Adam Bandt aside for the moment, and possibly Andrew Wilke, both of whom in their own right have quite strong (and positive?) views on 'green' (permaculture?) issues, and let's take a closer look at a few select views from the other two that they have raised in recent parliamentary speeches that may reflect what they hold in store for us:

    Rob Oakeshott (the future Minister for Regional Development?):

    Stand Alone Power Supply:

    ...If people are not very aware on a daily basis of their electricity use in their own households and take some ownership of that and are supported in owning that through financial means, then we will fail. It will not matter what level of investment—large or small—we want to see committed. As well, I would hope policymakers consider on a broader scale the difference and the contrast between having several large investment sites, with the poles and wires and everything that has to go with that in getting it to the retail market, compared to the contrast in a policy sense of a large number of sites with a smaller investment needed to get it to the market.

    Every household potentially has the ability to be the mini generator that we all desire. The beauty in a policy sense is that it is demand side and supply side at the one point of contact. There is no need for the double handling of getting supply to market. That should be considered an advantage when establishing policy frameworks and therefore is an alternative option which is worthy of greater consideration...


    Climate Change:

    ...these are the 180-degree flips that have occurred within the last six months that have the community confused. There is currently a sense in the community of a policy void in government. It will take an enormous amount of work from government in a particularly wired election environment to recover the moment and to put in place a policy strategy that the community believes in, that is deliverable and that engages the community and government in working together, rather than one that creates the current policy void and confusion.

    I take this opportunity to raise the issue of the smoking guns that I have seen over the last six months. I smelt a rat in the shift that I saw and what looked to be—to their credit—a very well organised and very well-funded campaign from the likes of JoNova and Viv Forbes. There is more going on in those stories than meet the eye and they have seen the two major parties scat on the issue of action on climate change and on an affordable and secure energy supply for our future. The shifts that we have seen from both sides have created an unstable energy market and are a great disappointment. Again, I think there are a whole range of interests other than the national interest at play in the political process in this place that point to further smoking guns.


    Stand Alone 'Small-scale' Energy Security:

    ...I think there is a way forward. We do need the question of a price on carbon answered—and quickly. It is creating an unstable environment. There are a range of doables now, and I would encourage the ministers at the table to look at what ClimateWorks Australia have been doing. They gave some excellent presentations in this place this week. There are some really positive steps that can be taken now to set us up well for the future.

    The small-scale energy security is a question that has me really baulking today. This legislative package increases the insecurity around small-scale business and household engagement. There is still a policy void regarding the question of home energy sustainability; it is one we need some direction and answers on quickly.


    Source: Hansard
     
  7. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    Part Two

    Tony Windsor (likely to remain a 'backbencher'):

    Biofuels:

    ...the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. Now that is not happening, and we still have these bills. On the surface, they are feelgood bills. The words sound appropriate. The words from John Howard a decade ago, in 2001, when he put in place renewable energy targets, were appropriate at the time. The people in voter land listened and received the message that the government was serious about renewable energy and had put in place targets. But the putting in place of a target does not necessarily deliver anything. Many, particularly those in the coalition, would or should remember that the renewable energy target for biofuels back in 2001 was 360,000 megalitres. There is less biofuel in Australia now than before the Howard government put the target in. There is nowhere near 360,000 megalitres. So we had this feelgood announcement and a number of initiatives and grants—some of which were rorted and some of which were politically motivated in terms of where they went in the various electorates—rolled out through those coalition years. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing happened in terms of promoting renewable energy, in that case biofuels, either biofuels as a value-add to an existing process or first or second generation biofuels that could have assisted agriculture...

    On the surface of it, we might say that it is a great idea to have a Renewable Energy Future Fund to put in some money to encourage industries to start up et cetera, because there is concern about where we are going in relation to solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels and so on. But in the same budget there is a tax on biofuels, a renewable energy. I think it starts to ratchet up in 2012, although I may be corrected on that. So what is the message? Why are we starting up a Renewable Energy Future Fund to encourage renewable energy and then, a couple of pages further on in the document, actually imposing a fossil fuel tax on a renewable fuel? It is no wonder that people are getting confused...


    Hemp:

    ...I was instrumental in introducing what was essentially a legalisation, a licensing, of industrial hemp, excluding high-THC—dope-smoking hemp—to be grown as a product. That industry has not gone far. There are a number of people that are actually looking at it in Ashford as we speak. Only the other day the Inverell Shire Council passed a motion to look at promoting what the small community group in Ashford is trying to achieve. That group had trials last year. They have established a small market. They need assistance to try and grow the business and find out where the pitfalls are. They have the ingredients: the water, the land and the expertise and capacity to farm that land.

    They are asking for some degree of help. I will be very supportive of that, because we never know where that goes. Industrial hemp, for instance, is a sustainable product. Cars used to be built out of industrial hemp rather than out of the materials they are constructed from now. Industrial hemp has been used for a whole range of things, not just for ropes, tarpaulins and various clothing products. You can make furniture out of industrial hemp. It is a renewable product. We should be looking at and encouraging these sorts of people. I do not think the bills we are looking at today actually encourage the little people to motivate themselves too much...


    Climate Change:

    ...I was involved last year in a study tour to Europe and we looked at renewable energy sources, specifically in relation to climate change. I still cannot get over the enthusiasm of the researchers in those various countries. The researchers at the Scottish Crop Research Institute at Dundee were incredible in their enthusiasm for looking at various renewable futures. As I have mentioned in this place on a number of occasions, the European cropping systems are based on baling the stubble, because they have a narrow window of opportunity to plant the next crop. Currently, they bale the stubble and use it as bedding for animals or whatever else. Rather than just stop there, the Scottish are developing enzymes that will create biofuels from that biomass. In Copenhagen, for instance, I went to an electricity-generating plant that was fed by pure waste. The garbage trucks go out of a morning, pick up the rubbish, bring it back, dump it in these massive incinerators—and there are two of those—and create enough energy for half a million people in Copenhagen. That is yesterday’s fish and chips creating tomorrow’s power. There is nothing else involved. A by-product of that is central heating for people’s homes and businesses.

    There is an enormous amount that can be done. The member for Braddon made that point. None of us—no party—has done anything other than touch the dictionary and touch the surface on renewable energy. I hope that, if we are serious about renewable energy this time, we will actually start to do something and allow the people on the ground to be partners in doing those things. Whether that is in terms of the farm sector and carbon in the soil, value adding through biomass to renewable fuels, solar, wind, geothermal or using the number of incentives put in place by these bills, we have to make sure that we start to go down that road rather than be trapped at a locked gate.


    Source: Hansard

    These are the people that will be effectively running your country for the next 3-years. Once bills are passed in the Lower House, they will (by July next year) be put before an Upper House that will be controlled by the Greens. If ever there has been an opportunity for the 'voice of the permie' to be heard in both houses of parliament, that time is now!

    If we must continue to labour under a system of democracy that is fundamentally flawed, let us at least use the system to the best of our advantage. Get writing, you mob. I know I will be.

    Cheerio, Marko.
     
  8. Rob Windt

    Rob Windt Junior Member

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    To add some more background to this thread have a look at Possums' article
    "... What we are about to witness will indeed be a new paradigm, but not the one being advertised. This term looks to be the most policy rich in a generation – the NBN, health reform, a tax summit, campaign funding reform, federal whistleblower protection, a Parliamentary Budget Office and a proper review of climate change policy to name but a few..."
    Exciting times my friend
     
  9. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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  10. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    Yes, gentlemen. It appears that we all read from the esteemable member of the Crikey crew, Possum.

    Further to the information gathering process: ABC News has banded together all of the negotiation documents/data of the past couple of weeks:

    Independents' 7 points
    Labor-Greens agreement in full
    Treasury analysis of ALP policy costings
    Treasury analysis of Coalition policy costings
    Labor-Wilkie agreement in full
    Agreement on parliamentary reform
    Agreement between Labor, Oakeshott and Windsor
    $9.9b regional package

    If only the political process were this transparent during the times when previous governments had a clear mandate.

    Now that were are going to start having some real debates, I may even tune my ear into Question Time once again.

    Enough banter from me, I must return to the books.

    Have a great night/day, Markos.
     
  11. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Thanks Marko - I was going to ask you for a round up on what your thoughts about our interesting government were. Exciting times indeed. Could be "beautiful in it's ugliness" as Oakeshott said.
     
  12. Kardella

    Kardella Junior Member

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    An article in today's Age newspaper may be a portent of things to come "Advocate tips junk food ads crackdown". A public health advocate - Michael Moore - has highlighted the Green's policy on banning advertising of junk food to children and of alcohol during sports broadcasts. Given the likely support of other independents it would be difficult for Labor to resist strong measures being implemented. Whilst I would see this as commendable in itself, more importantly, it will reduce the effectiveness of the wealthy lobby groups and mean that both major parties will need to think about more than the interests of the big end of town!
     
  13. palpasacafe

    palpasacafe New Member

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    I don't know about it. And what are they planning for the Elecation. Are they providing the high security.
     
  14. Grahame

    Grahame Senior Member

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    I guess it's back to business as usual. I once worked for the federal public service and this was the way we often reported our sections work for the week at meetings. "Business as usual". Which is pretty much short for, doing the things we need to do to keep our jobs; not too much that we make others look bad and not enough to draw attention to ourselves.

    Did you ever see the TV series The Hollowmen? It was so true (and not in the slightest bit exaggerated) which is frightening considering how farcical it really was/is.

    It blows my mind how little regard for reality politics has. How did it come to this.
     
  15. springtide

    springtide Junior Member

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    I thought the best part of the election process was "The Gruen Transfer" coverage on the ABC.
     
  16. springtide

    springtide Junior Member

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    It proved again and again that both parties were running negative campaigns - not how they were going to make things better, just how bad the other team/s are. When Mr Abbot said how Labor had destroyed Australia's mining investment credibility and that Nigeria, parts of south America, etc were in front (places where you can hire the local army for a thousand bucks a day to permanently extinguish native title and a well paid worker gets 10 bucks US a week - all in all no hassles and lots of cash places) - What has Labour got to do with that, they were always preffered, its just that our iron ore is more pure and gold is so expensive that keeps the mining here, not yearly policy..... Well i thought some words I can't type and voted Labour because i thought Liberal made it first to the bottom of the barrel.
     
  17. springtide

    springtide Junior Member

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    I don't like the mining scene but it does help keep me employed - and from an electrical trades standpoint what does electrical and insulation practices (bad ones) have to do with Peter Garret? (more like planning and infrastructure or worksafe) :)
     
  18. paradisi

    paradisi Junior Member

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    voting is finished, the government decided and then;-

    Paul Keating was known as the great follower, because he never ever had an original idea or went out on a limb for anything

    John Howard was known as the great mistkake, because we believed him and his rhetoric about no GST, the kids really were thrown over board and work choices would not harm an worker

    and then there comes the great depression, also known as the budgie smuggler and the mad monk who is so desperate to get into the lodge he will do absolutely anything. Earlier in the year he told us not to believe everything he says because he is a politician. Now we have to understand that we can't believe everything he signs, presumably because he is above the law and above a thousand years of legal precedence. ie you sign a contract and it is binding.

    For those us in the real world and not inside the looking glass which is Australian politics, tony abbot is the great depression and he signed an agreement to allow pairing of votes for the speaker of the house. Normally the speaker does not cast a vote, he/she is supposed to be the imparital arbiter and the one who carries the great cudgel to knock politicians on the head when they get out of line and a member of te speakers party enters the vote for him. That agreement was to allow democracy to happen.

    The great depression has deemed it more important that he sits in the lodge and the only way he can do that now is to force an other election and hope the voting public are as stupid as they always are
     
  19. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    I now Declare the ELECTION well and TRULY FINISHED...

    I declare the Greens Party as the unanimouse OUTRIGHT WINNERS...

    Thankyou for voting

    Tezza

    This post was visited over 1100 times..... 13 votes outa several hundred eligable, is a pretty low turnout....

    But as they say .. Its the end result that matters.

    For those who took the time to visit the booth to vote greens, well done .we got 2 extras elected to parliment
     
  20. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    *bump*

    Sometimes it's both sad and fun to re-read old posts.
     

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