Ilargi: For today’s global financial problems, there are no solutions that are favorable to either incumbent politicians or wannabe leaders (unless they’re extremists, perhaps), let alone to the people they claim to represent. All our herd of leaders can do is to postpone the inevitable outcome of inevitable processes as long as possible.

That's why we see Obama presenting yet another housing plan that won't work, and Europe setting up the umptieth Save Greece concoction that is doomed to fail before it's signed - if that happens at all -. Obama knows it, and so do Europe's leaders.

The disaster they're seeking to avert, it seems, is not so much economic depression as it is their being voted out of office. And this pattern is not going to change, not as long as they can keep up appearances by seizing ever more of our children's future wealth, not as long as we let them.

Greece is negotiating a deal with investors to achieve a 70% haircut on existing bonds, up from 21% hardly more than half a year ago, and it still won't be enough. The 49% increase since last summer should be a huge red flag for everyone.

Why that increase? Well, first of all of course because 21% was always ridiculously low. But something else is happening too: the biggest developing problem for Europe is that a Greek default can increasingly be enormously profitable for certain parties in the market. And why should they then work to "save" Greece?

It has been clear for a long time now that Greek bonds have no value left at all. During that time, the smarter kids in the class have been able to position themselves according to that fact. Therefore the noose around the EU and ECB necks gets pulled in tighter as we go along. And as the ridiculous notion of the 70% haircut being labeled as "voluntary" keeps being touted.

The IMF is pressuring the ECB to also take a haircut. Other central banks and sovereigns are next in line. Hello, Fed! Hey, China! The ECB wants to sell its Greek paper to one of the European emergency funds, which can then take the haircut. Musical chairs is making a come-back as a highly popular game these days.

The smarter kids are laughing all the way to all the banks as they are paid all the money they want by all the bankrupt nations seeking to hide their insolvency from their own citizens, squandering those very citizens' scarce remaining wealth in the process.

We can only keep our societies alive and running by telling a seemingly neverending series of lies. And if everyone had the same interests, this delusion could last quite a while; we’ve been doing it for 4-5 years already, after all (and arguably for much longer). But not everybody has the same interests, not anymore.

This lying eyes mirage system is almost perfect, but, in the words of Leonard Cohen: "there's a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in". Still, people believe most of the lies, and add their own with impunity, because they don't want to see things for what they are. So we just keep talking about economic growth, and we'll make up the numbers we need to prove it as we go along.

The plans discussed for Greece involve interest payments on new bonds of 4-5% or so. It doesn't matter one bit what percentage they come up with. Greece won’t be able to pay any interest, never mind principal, for many years to come. And everybody with a seat at the table knows it. These are your proverbial exercises in futility. They're all that's left us.

Financially bankrupt, politically bankrupt, morally bankrupt. As every additional dollar issued as debt no longer adds to GDP, but instead subtracts from it, there's no doubt where this is going. But yes, it's true, we can still choose to look the other way and wait for it to hit us over the head. Matter of preference.

If houses in countries like the US, Britain, Holland, Spain, China are ever to reach a level where they become affordable, we will find they no longer are, no matter how low prices become - receding horizons in reverse, sort of -. Because if they do reach that level, the entire contraption that is our economy will have crumbled.

So governments choose to prop up home prices. Helped in arriving at that decision by the knowledge that homeowners are a formidable political force they don’t want to turn against them. But propping up home prices means supporting price levels that were established by hot air credit in combination with liar loans and other "criminal legalities" in the first decade of the millennium.

The hot air credit is rapidly vanishing because it's put everyone and their pet hamster neck deep into debt. People can't afford to borrow anymore, a simple truth that is almost entirely ignored. Hence, to prop up today's prices at yesterday's levels, governments themselves need to step in. Can't have that ole market working its magic. What this does is it lets every single citizen pay for every single underwater homeowner's debt. And why should people who already have a hard time pay for someone else's home?

Obama's State of the Union mortgage plan, provided it doesn't simmer down and die like all the preceding plans, is based on refinancing at lower interest rates. If nothing else, this will put potentially substantial ($100 billion? $300 billion?) additional pressure on Fannie and Freddie. Which already have negative capitalization rates. And sit on trillions of dollars "worth" of highly dubious paper, most of which has not been written down to anything like reasonable, realistic levels.

Of course all the negative aspects of this were dealt with a few years back through the brilliant move to let everyone decide their own accounting standards. A move that is as dangerous as it is brilliant, however. Because nobody knows what anything is truly worth anymore. You can have lender A having a home loan on its books for $200,000, while bank B has issued securities for a strikingly similar home next door "worth" $400,000, and the just as similar home next to that one has been sold for $50,000 just last week.

Now if the "owners" of either the first or the second home default, what happens to the value of those loans and/or securities written on them? At some point, someone will demand to know the truth. But neither the government, nor the lenders, nor the borrowers want that truth to be known. Small wonder that banks would rather let homes sit empty or let borrowers stay put for years without paying. Price discovery is a bitch, and never more so than after a long period of lying about that price.

There's only one thing a government can reasonably do when faced with a conundrum such as this: nothing. Unfortunately, that's not what governments think they're for, doing nothing, and - luckily for them - neither does the majority of people they represent. In this particular case, all those homeowners want action. They demand that the government protect the value of - what they see as- their property. And so we have another plan.

America likes to tout its status of a free market country. But that's just nuts. Delusional nuts. And no, it's not that all of a sudden we see socialism or communism, popular as those accusations may be; that just comes from people who don't understand what those words mean.

What has happened is that America is electing a Liar-in-Chief every four years. His/her job is to keep the herd in the faith, to let them buy stuff all the time, preferably with borrowed money. To keep all noses pointing in the same direction, namely perpetual growth, especially when there isn't any.

The Liar-in-Chief is far more a religious leader than a political one. You can't have the herd disperse and separate and all its members running off in different direction to go and do their own thing. Nothing to do with Obama specifically either, it's simply in the job description. Taking the job, though, is indeed his own responsibility.

If Obama were a political instead of a faith-based leader, he would take his hands off the US real estate market, and let the market do what it does best: price discovery. Shut down Fannie and Freddie and their ilk, the biggest economic disaster in US history, and sell off their "assets" to the highest bidder. Write down all the losses, let holders of loans and securities take the haircuts they are entitled to, and go on with life. Look at the future instead of being stuck in the past.

There is zero chance that US home prices will ever reach their recent peak again, unless some sort of huge inflation were to take place, and that is obviously not in the cards for many years (if it were, it would have been here already) . So before that happens, other factors will have made sure that home prices are driven down relentlessly. Like, for instance, most Americans, or the ones that have jobs at least, a select group, making the kinds of wages that are current today among burgerflippers in China or Vietnam.

Fannie and Freddie are to a significant extent responsible for the fact that the financial sector has been able to take over and govern US society, including its political sphere. Whenever I say things like this, there are always people that point to all the good the GSEs have done: allowed ordinary people to afford a home etc. But in fact, from the get-go, they have driven up prices by "raising affordability", and that has allowed for the banking sector to get a stranglehold on the US population.

Today this has culminated in a situation where personal debt levels and federal debt levels have reached ridiculous levels. Debts which will never ever be serviced. All that's left is trying to let people continue to believe that they will, until creditors bring down the guillotine. Which they will, simply because there's a profit to be made.

Releasing Fannie and Freddie from their misery would amount to certain election defeat, or so goes the perceived wisdom. So that's not going to happen. We're going to have to wait for the markets to judge that the time has come when profits from wagers are more attractive than hand-outs and bail-outs. At that point, governments and central banks will be exposed as being absolutely powerless to influence anything at all, and least of all interest rates or home prices.

And that is a sad reality. For all of us who don't have seats at the big casino tables in Washington and Brussels and Davos.

It's not like I'm alone in my judgment of Fannie and Freddie, even if that's a small consolation in view of the enormity of the consequences of the decision to let an election victory prevail over the health of an economy. If you ever wonder what kind of person wants a job like POTUS anyway, keep that in mind.

...

26 January 2012: 'Amnesia Day'. WTF happened? People gathered in front of Old Parliament House to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The peaceful day was suddenly interrupted when someone announced that Tony Abbott was only meters away from the site. (It is important to know that, that very morning, Abbott had made a provocative statement to the press - expressing the opinion that the Embassy should be removed: a statement which, predictably, caused anger among the Embassy crowd). So, upon hearing that Abbott was nearby, a group of people rushed to confront the leader of the Opposition. Within minutes, the crowd had grown and surrounded the glass-walled restaurant, chanting/banging on the windows, disrupting the function (at which PM Julia Gillard also happened to be present). 10 minutes into this rather surreal scenario, Police and Security decided to launch the PM directly from the restaurant into her car - very nearly injuring her - and causing her to lose her shoe. (Commit the memory of that shoe to your minds, dear readers). This sudden event caused the crowd to lose control. Some people attempted to impede the car carrying Abbott & Gillard from leaving; whereupon police reacted with force and threatened the use of batons and pepper-spray, which very nearly escalated the situation. Fortunately, no injuries were incurred.

In the very first reports which came out of the scene news reporters for mainstream channels such as Ten exaggerated the violence of the crowd, depicting the scene as a "riot". Yet, no damage was done to the building; no-one attempted to touch the PM or Mr. Abbott. Whilst exaggerating the level of violence , several early reports failed to mention that the reason for this behaviour was not mere hooliganism, but rather Mr. Abbott's statement regarding the Embassy. By the time that the full picture was reported in later reports, headlines which depicted the PM being assaulted by a violent horde of savage natives and feral hippies had already gone around the world.

Whilst the crowd did not behave in the best way; no-one advocated violence and it was clear that no-one - including the PM or Mr. Abbott - felt physically threatened. The whole thing was turned into a spin story which has no-doubt damaged the image of the peaceful and diplomatic mission of the Aboriginal community and its supporters. Worst of all, it gave hundreds of rednecks - who were not present at the event - a perfect excuse to publicly vent their racist invectives against Aboriginal people all over the country. Embassies are about diplomacy, not violence but diplomacy.

Tent Embassy Extend Invitation To PM To Retrieve Shoe

[VIDEO, The Age - 26/1/12]

Members of the Aboriginal tent embassy have returned Julia Gillard's missing shoe after the prime minister lost it during her flight from a protest on Thursday.

The right-foot blue suede shoe was handed to a security guard just outside the doors of the main entrance at Parliament House on Friday evening.

The shoe was believed to have been transported to Capital Hill by car. ...

by Tracker editor Amy McQuire.

The most striking aspect of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy protests, which sprung onto the media’s radar on Survival Day, was the stark difference between the reports of the events, and the reality.

This week, 2000 people made their way to the tent embassy to camp on the land where four Aboriginal men had helped change the course of Aboriginal political history 40 years prior. On January 26, 1972, Michael Anderson, Billie Craigie, Bertie Williams and Tony Coorie staked their claim on the lawns opposite Old Parliament House, in a historic protest for land rights. Yesterday, Aboriginal people and their non-indigenous supporters came together to celebrate that occasion, and protest against the succeeding decades that brought little change.

The day began with a well-attended protest through the heart of Canberra. Starting at the Australian National University, the rally wound its way through the city, to Parliament House, and back to the Tent Embassy. It was peaceful, but lively, and mirrored the concerns of those four men in 1972. Men, women and children marched peacefully alongside the police escorts, calling for “Land Rights Now”.

By the end of the day, that protest would be forgotten, replaced by images of an “angry mob” that had “trapped” the Prime Minister and opposition leader in a Canberra restaurant.

I was at the tent embassy at the time we heard of Tony Abbott’s comments. Abbott had responded to the 40th anniversary by stating it was time the tent embassy move on:

“I think a lot has changed for the better since then … I think the indigenous people of Australia can be very proud of the respect in which they are held by every Australian … I think it probably is time to move on from that.”

Comments such as that from a man who wants to be prime minister were never going to go down well.
The common sentiment from the embassy was that they were insensitive remarks, and wildly untrue. The fact we were still protesting for land rights 40 years on put the lie to those claims.

There has been much discussion in the media about whether Abbott was misinterpreted, but by saying “moving on” people did interpret that to mean move the tent embassy on, and today many people are still pretty angry at the literal interpretation. For many, it was seen as insensitive because things now are not much better than the 70s (eg. the gap is only getting wider).

When word got around the embassy that Abbott was at a restaurant less than 200 metres away from the camp, people slowly started to trickle over.

The Lobby Restaurant is encased in glass, with the interior easily visible to those outside. While protesters were angry, it’s safe to say the reaction would not have been as emotional had Abbott not made those comments.

But while there was anger, it was far from a “riot”. A riot involves violence and a disturbing of the peace. While it was definitely a loud demonstration, there was no damage. A few smudged fingerprints on the glass of the restaurant was the net result. There were about 1000 protesters around the café when Gillard and Abbott were rushed through their own mob of security guards.

When they did come out, there were few protesters in the firing line. In fact, people such as Michael Anderson, one of the original founding members of the tent embassy, was pushed out of the way and into the stair railing. One of the only Aboriginal protesters near Gillard when she was delivered to her car was a photographer who was unceremoniously pushed away by a policeman.

Similarly, it was the police that made Gillard stumble. There was no protesters around her. People such as Anderson and Tiga Bayles, a prominent indigenous broadcaster, were involved in soothing the crowd and were negotiating with police who had made a line of blue outside the restaurant. There was a call for people to return to the embassy, as the “point had been made”.

The only violence I saw was on behalf of police, who were pushing protesters away. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop media from portraying an angry mob who were bent on terrorising our first female prime minister. Images of Gillard in the arm of her protector made the front page of newspapers around the country, but would it have been such a source of public outrage if she wasn’t a woman?

There was no attempt to hurt Gillard or Abbott. Protesters simply wanted to make clear their concerns about sovereignty, land rights and Aboriginal rights to the mainstream. On that part, they were effective. Would media even be reporting the protests of the tent embassy if this didn’t happen?

Aboriginal people still want to have a national conversation about the issues that affect our communities. Unfortunately, media ignore it, and prefer to listen to the self-appointed Aboriginal leaders such as Warren Mundine, who represent the smallest percentage of Aboriginal opinion. I’m not surprised that he is the Aboriginal leader they have decided to quote, even though he was not present, and did not know the full story.

Today, the tent embassy is also peaceful. Children are playing on the jumping castle, and about 500 people are having a conversation about sovereignty in a tent set up by the organising committee. It is not the angry, riotous place portrayed on your television screens this morning.

If more people came down and saw for themselves, maybe it would be reported more accurately.

 

Tent Embassy Protest With Original Member Tiga Bayles [AUDIO]

Original tent embassy member Tiga Bayles gave Keith and John a protestor's perspective.

Police Performing Special Services:

Queensland Police Media [27/1/12]

Special Services is a user-pays arrangement for events which require police attendance over and above ordinary policing response.

Specials are a part of police management of events which may have public order or safety issues, and the decision to use specials as a part of a policing response is one for local senior officers.

It is totally appropriate that in certain circumstances organisations offset the costs to the Queensland taxpayer during events which require additional resourcing to ensure public safety and order.

The payment of specials does not influence police performance or response. Officers on specials do not take instruction from the organisation that has paid for the specials. The Service manages thousands of protests each year. Our primary role is to ensure the safety of all involved and, where necessary, to carry out law enforcement.

The special services rate is $111.10 per hour per officer for 2009/10. This is based on the average salaried level of a police officer performing specials (Senior Constable paypoint 4), at the overtime rate, plus cost-recovery for oncosts such as payroll tax and other overheads.

The special services rate is adjusted annually based on the change in payrate for Senior Constable paypoint 4.

The Queensland Police Service recovered a total of $31.6 million last financial year. This revenue is based on full-cost recovery for costs incurred by the QPS in performing services for wide-load vehicle escorts, traffic control and at events such as sporting or cultural events and other activities.

The Gold Coast Disaster Coordination Centre is monitoring the ongoing heavy rainfall expected across the city in the next four hours.

Local Disaster Coordinator Warren Day said the ground was already saturated from recent heavy rain this week.

“The Disaster Management Group is monitoring weather conditions and we need to be ready should the predicted intense rain come later this morning,’’ said Mr Day.

“Areas such as Reedy Creek, Tallebudgera Creek and Currumbin Creek are of particular interest. As of 7.45am today, there was no need for any localised evacuations but we urge people in low lying areas to ensure they have their disaster kits prepared and an evacuation plan in place.

“For road closures, residents should contact the Traffic Management Centre on 131940 and for school closures, phone Education Queensland on 55 624 888.

“We will be providing regular updates via Council’s Facebook and Twitter.

“Media should contact the Disaster Coordination Centre on 5581 1571.

“For drivers, we are urging motorists to exercise caution. If it’s flooded – forget it.”

For updates, visit Council’s Facebook site at www.facebook.com/goldcoastcity or Twitter at twitter.com/gold_coast_city.

The www.qldalert.com site has all relevant information.

... The First Nations Parliament says it's an organisation which will be re-established as a result of the Tent Embassy 40th anniversary celebrations on Australia Day.

The group says police bundled the prime minister out of the venue, knocking her to the ground in their haste.

They said Aboriginal protesters were assaulted by police.

"We're appalled at the violence we saw today directed against the Prime Minister, and the tactics police employed to try and intimidate members of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, who were peacefully protesting at a family gathering," the groups spokesman Paul Coe said in a statement late on Thursday night.

"The only violence came from police. There was no risk to the Prime Minister of Australia.

"No-one here would have hurt the Prime Minister. Even the opposition leader was safe.

Mr Coe told reporters he was shocked by the behaviour of police.

"We are appalled at the brutal behaviour that the police and the Australian security service handed out to the Prime Minister of Australia that forced her to lose her shoe," he said.

He said the group would return the shoe to her as a gesture of friendship and in the spirit of cooperation.

"We hope she will turn up here tomorrow to accept it in the same spirit," he said.

"We are not a nation of thieves," he added. Mr Coe said the First Nations Parliament would be established within a year.

"We're sending letters out to our lawmen and women asking them to meet with First Nations to convene our parliament and to draft our constitution," he said.

Four Aboriginal men set up the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, opposite Old Parliament House in Canberra, on January 27, 1972, camping underneath a beach umbrella in protest of the McMahon Liberal government's refusal to recognise Aboriginal land rights.

Over the years the issues of sovereignty became central to the embassy's ongoing protest.

Tensions boiled over on Thursday afternoon following comments by Mr Abbott who said that it was time for Tent Embassy to be taken down.

The Privatisation Of Public Profits: Utilities

... Examination of key public utilities which might be natural monopolies has shown that in all cases privatisation and deregulation has led to substantial price increases for consumers and to huge profits for the owners of companies. This privatisation of public profit, which is always promoted in terms of the alleged benefits of the market and the greater opportunities to raise capital for infrastructure investment, has often been accompanied by a decline in service quality. In Britain, despite increased investment in the water infrastructure, there are still very substantial daily leakages from water pipes. In California, the flawed electricity deregulation experiment, far from attracting new investment in power generation, instead brought extortionate wholesale price reises but no additional generating capacity to the state.

A second major implication of the above cases is the extremes to which an amoral company will go in the obsessive pursuit of short-term profit-maximisation, irrespective of the consequences for the wider public interest. Enron's behaviour, both in its fraudulent accounting and in its illegal manipulation of the Californian electricity market, was so extreme as to verge on the suicidal. In New Zealand, Mercury Energy neglected its electricity cables, including the ones which had passed their replacement date, thus undermining its core business and bringing chaos to Auckland's central business district. In Sydney, by following its contract to the letter AWS was complicit in allowing dangerous parasites to pollute the city's water supply. Indeed, privatisation and dergulation offer many opportunities to companies to tender for work at low costs in the short term, with the long-term needs of customers then often neglected. In late 2007, after yet another serieis of large increases in the price of electricity to residential customers, British Energy denounced the extensive, injurious collusion between the six largest suppliers of domestic electricity and the refusal of the reuglator Ofgem to intervene. The companies were so powerful that they were able to manipulate prices at will and to preclude the entry of new entrants to the market.

Another important conclusion of the cases examined here is that, where deregulation and privatisation occur, strong regulatory bodies are needed. It is essential that such bodies are run by people who actually believe in the concept of regulation and exercise regulatory powers accordingly. The crisis in California could have been resolved much earlier had Enron been investigated using subpoena powers in 2000, and had price controls covering western states been introduced much earlier. The key underlying problem was that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was run by people who were constrained by their fundamentalist belief in deregulation. In Britain, OFWAT has extensive powers but very rarely uses them. None of the recent profit-driven takeovers of water companies has been referred to the Competition Commission, while action has only been taken against Thames Water, the worst offender in terms of water leakages, after it had missed its leakage reduction targets every year for six years.

For public policy, one last compelling implication of these critical failures of privatised utilities is to ensure that such privatisation and deregulation does not lead to disasters which then have to be remedied using a combination of stronger re-regulation and public money. This occurred in both the Californian electricity case and Sydney's water crisis, and again demonstrates the flimsiness of the liberal rhetoric which promoted such policies in the first place.

Major Question Marks Over James Price Point:

ACF Media Release [27/1/12]

The Australian Conservation Foundation has called on the proponents of a gas plant on the Kimberley coastline to rethink plans to process Browse Basin gas at James Price Point.

ACF Kimberley officer Wade Freeman said the news that Woodside Petroleum will sell most of its 50 per cent stake in the project after being warned off by many of its investment partners should send a clear signal that the Kimberley coastline is an inappropriate site for such a huge scale industrial project.

"This latest move from Woodside vindicates the view that gas from the Browse Basin fields should be piped to alternative, less environmentally sensitive locations, such as the North West Shelf in the Pilbara," Mr Freeman said.

"The James Price Point gas hub proposal has stoked up so much opposition on so many fronts that many investors are now asking if the project is still viable, or if Woodside has already lost its social licence to proceed.

"Concern about this development has expanded in recent months from a local issue to one that has full national attention.

"The investor community and even Woodside itself now recognises that James Price Point is both environmentally inappropriate and financially unviable option for the Browse Basin gas hub.

"As well as the domestic environmental concerns about this development, investors here and overseas are increasingly sceptical about Woodside’s ability to deliver on the project.

"With Woodside now seeking to offload the lion’s share of its investment in Browse, it is clear the economics of developing a gas hub at James Price Point will simply never stack up.

"Woodside and its partners should take stock and gracefully concede that Browse gas will not be developed at James Price Point."

You can read our investor alerts here:

ACF Investor Alert on James Price Point (April 2011) [PDF]
ACF Investor Alert on James Price Point (September 2011) [PDF]

On January 26, 2012, 8:23 pm A 19-year-old Southport man has been issued with two traffic infringement notices after he was intercepted by police driving on the Gold Coast this afternoon.

It will be alleged that the man was intercepted on Albert Avenue, Broadbeach around 12.40pm and issued with a $300 infringement notice for Drive High Powered Vehicle in Breach of P2 License Exemption.

It will be further alleged that the man was stopped by police in Surf Parade, Broadbeach around 3pm where he was issued with a further $300 infringement notice for the same offence.

Senior police from the Gold Coast are investigating after the man allegedly failed to stop for police after he was seen driving on Waterways Drive, Main Beach around 3.30pm.

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

In Canberra, in front of Old Parliament House (also known as the Museum of Democracy) is the First Nation’s Tent Embassy, first established in 1972 by four Aboriginal activists who wanted to draw attention to the plight and inequality of indigenous Australians. 2012 is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Embassy and so a large gathering was organised for this Australia/Invasion day.

The Tent Embassy managed to get a lot of press today (26/1) after a large protest was held that resulted in Australian Federal Police and protective services dragging Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott to their ComCars and massively over-reacting to the presence of protesters at the site. But what really happened?

Speaking to Sam Castro, currently at the Tent Embassy, I was able to get a run down of the day’s events.

The morning started with speeches being made at the Tent Embassy on a range of subjects until one person stood up and explained to the crowd that Tony Abbott had remarked to the media that he believed the Tent Embassy was no longer relevant and should be packed up and moved on; information had just come through that Tony Abbott was at The Lobby, a restaurant near the Old Parliament House, and the suggestion was made that the group should go there and ask Abbott to talk to the crowd and explain himself.

A contingent of about 100 protesters made their way up the road to The Lobby and surrounded it. Though they were loud and noisy they were non-violent. Security blocked the protesters from getting close to the restaurant for a while but it didn’t take long for a few protesters to break the line and soon the rest had gotten close up against the restaurant’s walls. As the walls of The Lobby are made of glass the protesters could look in and see Mr Abbott and the others pretending not to hear them and, after about ten or fifteen minutes Julia Gillard’s white jacket was recognised and the protesters realised that she was in there along with Mr Abbott.

The aim of the protest had been to get Mr. Abbott to come out and talk to the crowd – now it wanted to get Ms. Gillard to come out and do the same as well. Yet they continued to ignore the protesters, drink champagne and take photos of one another while their constituents tried to get their attention.

A short time later a contingent of riot police and protective service officers arrived at the restaurant. All up there were about 50 to 60 officers there and protesters watched on as a group of about 20 riot police hurtled past them in V-formation, bursting into the restaurant and then locking themselves inside.

When I spoke to Sam she said that the protesters thought the riot police were arranging to form a sort of guard around the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader so that they could come out and talk to the crowd but, as the rest of the media has shown, the riot police’s real objective was to ‘escort’ the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader to their cars.

As more protesters made their way to the restaurant, the riot police charged out the doors, practically dragging Ms Gillard along, while the onlookers began to shout “where are you going?” and “why won’t you talk to us?” As the cars drove off, some people threw plastic water bottles and water at the cars.

At this point things began to get fairly nasty; one protester was knocked into the rose bushes and one gigantic cop started brandishing a can of tear gas or capsicum spray (reports differ on this point) in people’s faces and shoved Sam, another girl and a female photo-journalist in the head. When Sam told him to calm down he reportedly bared his teeth and grinned so widely his eyes nearly popped out of his head; to many on site it was fairly clear that the officer was barely under control.

Then the police began to link arms to form a line against the protesters and the protesters followed suit, ending up with a Mexican standoff. Some of the indigenous Elders called for the protesters to return to the Tent Embassy but a female Elder began a non-violent sit-down protest in the road just down from the café and soon a line of indigenous women, female Elders and non-indigenous women had been formed across the road.

The women declared that they were not going to be intimidated by the police and that they would not move until the police stood down. While some of the other protesters returned to the Tent Embassy, a large group (including some of the Occupy Melbourne contingent) remained to watch on and support their fellow activists until the police eventually gave in and stood down.

As the remaining protesters made their way back to the Tent Embassy they were greeted by applause and the female protesters went through a cleansing smoke ceremony. ...

On the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, ANTaR urges consideration of a more inclusive national holiday.

“As we finally seek to address our Constitutional silence regarding the prior occupation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we should also reflect on the symbolism of our national day,” said ANTaR National Director, Jacqueline Phillips.

“January 26 is regarded by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Invasion or Survival Day, in recognition of their experience of dispossession and colonisation.”

On January 26, a British naval officer, Arthur Phillip, raised the Union Jack over Sydney without the consent of the First Peoples. This began the British occupation of the land we now know as Australia.

“Until we choose a more appropriate national holiday, our aspiration for a modern, reconciled nation will be difficult to realise.”

ANTaR has sent a message of support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples gathering for the Corroboree for Sovereignty at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra from today.

“It is no coincidence that the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established 40 years ago today, as a protest against the failure of governments to recognise the continuing sovereignty of Australia’s First Peoples.”

“Forty years on, the Tent Embassy remains a powerful symbol of the Aboriginal struggle for equality, rights, recognition and sovereignty.”

“It is a reminder of how far we have come, but also how far we have to go to secure a truly equal place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in this country.”

“As Australians reflect on this national holiday, it is worth remembering that we lag behind our peers in failing to recognise Australia’s First Peoples and their struggle for civil rights in our holiday calendar.”

“Across the Tasman, New Zealand celebrates the historic signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the Maori and British colonisers on its national holiday. In the United States, civil rights leader Martin Luther King is honoured by a national holiday every year.”

Don’t Stop The Boats – Stop The Need For Boats. The Alternative: Resettlement

“Today resettlement is offered to less than one percent of the world’s refugees, between 1912 and 1969, nearly 50 million Europeans sought refuge abroad and all of them were resettled. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Australia resettled over 100 000 Indo-Chinese refugees from Southeast Asia under the Fraser Government. In the past, the world has demonstrated that, where there is the political will, vast numbers of people in need can be accommodated.”

The difference here historically is that Australia actively resettled, processed and safely harboured European and Indo-Chinese refugees so they did not need to embark on perilous journeys here. If we increased or at the very least provided the option of resettlement in the countries that people are fleeing from like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Iraq – which we don’t – they would no longer need to embark on a dangerous boat journey to come here. Statistically speaking, “whilst there were 2567 asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia at the end of 2009, Australia resettled only 33 in 2005, 30 in 2006, 86 in 2007, 35 in 2008 and 29 in 2009.”¹ Thus, leaving people with no other choice than to get on a boat.

This correlates with the myth that asylum seekers are coming to Australia because we ‘are a soft touch’ on asylum seekers – historical trends indicate that the truth could not be more contrary.

The introduction of TPVs under the Howard government was one of the most brutal and inhumane policies to ever be inflicted on asylum seekers. During this time though there was a huge spike in the number of children (and their mothers) on boats as they precluded family reunions. Boatphobes often ask “why is it always single men on the boats” – it was because they didn’t want to risk the lives of their families, and TPVs meant they had to if they wanted to get them out. This is an example of a ‘harsh’ government policy that only resulted in exacerbating the influx of people.

Between the end of the South Vietnamese refugee peak period subsequent to the end of the Vietnam War, and the introduction of mandatory detention of asylum seekers, there was never more than 300 people arriving by boat in any given year (1981-1992). So people weren’t coming even though Australia didn’t have desert prison camps, TPVs and Nauru. It was seven years after the introduction of mandatory detention that numbers cracked 1000 for the first time since 1975. Why? In 1996 the Taliban took Kabul. Three years later, relatively large numbers of Afghans were trying to make it to Australia. The fact that almost 100% of Afghan boat arrivals in that year (1999 – similar rates in 2000 and 2001) were granted asylum suggest that the PUSH factor was far greater than any pull.

2006-2009 fighting in Sri Lanka and the defeat of the LTTE saw a similar response in terms of Tamils trying to reach Australia. People fleeing Iran after the crackdown on the ‘Green Movement’, people fleeing Iraq has increased since the 2003 invasion. People fleeing Burma since the crackdown on the Saffron Revolution. It’s more painting by numbers than it is rocket science. But of course, it is politically convenient to ignore push factors.

On Australia Day 2006 I met three sisters from Afghanistan aged 20, 23 and 24. They were getting their citizenship. They had first applied for asylum in Australia seven years earlier – in 1999, and had waited four years to get out and to get here. Now if three orphaned girls aged 13, 16 and 17 had to wait four years to get out of Afghanistan when the Taliban controlled 90% of the country – you have to ask what is going on with the so-called “proper channels”.

Now in 2011 numbers were down by almost half from 2010. What is more interesting is that while our max cap is 13,750 a year – fewer than 9000 people applied for asylum in Aus in 2011 in total. So where’s the queue? If Australia is such a soft touch, where’s the flood? If there’s such a gap, why aren’t there more boats than there have been? If there’s usually a gap, why do people like those three sisters have to wait several years to get through the system?

If one really wants to get boat arrivals down to 1980s levels (when there was no mandatory detention, let alone TPVs or Pacific prison camps), then you’d do something about the fact people with glaringly obvious claims to asylum have to wait four years to get through the system. The answer is offer resettlement - facilitate peoples journey here.

¹Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (http://www.asrc.org.au/media/documents/myths-facts-solutions-info-apr-2011.pdf)

A woman makes sampian, an offering made from palm leaf shaped lanterns for the celebration of Galungan in Mengwi, Badung, on Tuesday. Materials for such offerings are sold for Rp 6000 (66 US cents) to Rp 50,000 ahead of Galungan, the celebration of the victory of dharma or truth over adharma or evil, on Feb. 1. (Jakarta Post/Agung Parameswara)

 

How To Make A Paper Lantern

 

No Fracking Way! [Submedia TV - VIDEO]

Includes Franklin Lopez's interview with Innes Larkin, Keep The Scenic Rim Scenic

Queensland Police Media [25/1/12]

Police are appealing for public assistance after a 93-year-old woman was knocked to the ground and her walking aid stolen during an early morning theft at Vincent.

Around 5.15am the woman was walking along Dimmock Street when someone grabbed her from behind causing her to fall to the ground. Her walking frame, which contained her purse, was stolen.

A nearby resident spotted the woman crawling along the gutter and went to her aid. She was transported toTownsville General Hospital for treatment to bruises and abrasions on her arms and legs.

The walking frame was located a short time later in a park in Burrell Lane, with the purse missing.

Local detectives are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident or saw anyone acting suspiciously in vicinity of the Caltex Service Station, which the woman was walking back from, or the general area, to contact Crime Stoppers or their local police station.

The woman has been released from hospital.

Lamenting the lack of progress in recent years within the world’s sole multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged its members to break the existing impasse and move the agenda forward.

“I urge you to seize this moment, when the world is focused intently on advancing disarmament goals,” Mr. Ban said in a message to the opening of the Conference on Disarmament, read out on his behalf by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG).

“I appeal to you to support the immediate commencement of negotiations in the Conference on agreed disarmament issues,” he added.

“Prior agreement on their scope or final outcomes should not be a precondition for the start of negotiations, or an excuse to avoid them. Prior agreement on their scope or final outcomes should not be a precondition for the start of negotiations, or an excuse to avoid them.

“The tide of disarmament is rising, yet the Conference on Disarmament is in danger of sinking.”

Established in 1979 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, the CD – as the Conference is known – primarily focuses on cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament, prevention of nuclear war, and prevention of an arms race in outer space, among other things.

It has been plagued in recent years by an inability to overcome differences among its members and start its substantive work towards advancing disarmament goals.

Mr. Ban reminded members that the CD and its predecessors have had some impressive accomplishments, including work on the Biological and Chemical Weapons Conventions, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

“Many of these were achieved during the Cold War, proving that it is possible to create global legal norms even in times of great political disagreements,” he noted.

“Yet today, this distinguished body is no longer living up to expectations,” Mr. Ban said, adding that the last occasion on which the Conference fulfilled the negotiating role given to it by the General Assembly was in 1996, when the CTBT emerged from an intensive three-year process.

“The future of the Conference is in the hands of its member States. But I can not stand by and watch it decline into irrelevancy, as States consider other negotiating arenas,” said the Secretary-General.

“Let us restore the Conference to the central role it can and must play in strengthening the rule of law in the field of disarmament. It is our shared responsibility to make the Conference work, not only for us but for future generations.”

The Gold Coast Disaster Coordination Centre has been activated to monitor the ongoing heavy rainfall across the city.

Local Disaster Coordinator Warren Day said activating the centre was a precaution and would enable coordinated response should any localised evacuations be required.

“The Disaster Management Group is currently monitoring weather conditions and we need to be ready should the predicted storm for later today dump further heavy rain across the city,” said Mr Day.

“Areas such as Coombabah Lakes Caravan Park and Loders Creek at Southport are being monitored, and while localised evacuations are not yet required, we are closely monitoring weather conditions.

“For road closures, residents should contact the Traffic Management Centre on 131940 and for school closures, phone Education Queensland on 55 624 888.

“We will be providing regular updates via Twitter and Facebook, including audio grabs. Media should contact the Disaster Coordination Centre on 5581 1583 and 5581 1571.

“For drivers, we are urging motorists to exercise caution. If you don’t have to drive - don’t, and if it’s flooded – forget it!”

For updates, visit Council’s Facebook site at www.facebook.com/goldcoastcity or Twitter at twitter.com/gold_coast_city.

With further rain overnight and this morning, Gold Coast City Council has been forced to close more roads across the region.

Closed Roads (Updated):

Days Rd, Coomera
Goldmine Rd, Ormeau
Hotham Creek Rd (Culvert sth of Fernhill Dr P326 – A9), Willowvale
Old Coach Rd, Coomera
Pimpama-Jacobs Well Rd (Near WRX Track), Pimpama
Rix Dve - cnr Godden Dve, Upper Coomera
Stanmore Rd (Causeway P304 – K3), Yatala
Yawalpa Rd, Pimpama
Zipfs Rd, Alberton
Reserve Road near Harts Road, Upper Coomera
Siganto Dr, Helensvale
Billiau Road, Guanaba
Birds Rd, Guanaba
Clargiraba Rd (Coomera River Causeway), Clagiraba
Hertiage Dr, Clagiraba
Piggotts Road, Guanaba
Tarata Rd, Guanaba
Chisholm Rd, Carrara
Berrigans Rd, Mudgeeraba
Gunsynd Dr, Mudgeeraba
Hardys Rd, Bonogin
Somerset Dr, Mudgeeraba
Highfield Dr, Merrimac
Araluen Rd, Tallebudgera Valley
Currumbin Ck Rd (Dolans Crossing), Currumbin Valley
Daltons Rd, Tallebudgera Valley
Mount Cougal Rd, Tallebudgera Valley
Tallebudgera Ck Rd (Past Dickfos Rd), Tallebudgera Valley
Trees Rd, Tallebudgera

Drivers are urged to take caution in the wet weather and under no circumstances should they drive through flooded causeways or roads.

Further updates will be provided on road closures as they become available.

Coomera River Rising At Oxenford On The Gold Coast

Image: Seven News Facebook [25/1/12]

Severe Weather Continues In Queensland

Stay Home!

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for heavy rain for people in parts of the Southeast Coast district and parts of the Wide Bay and Burnett and Darling Downs and Granite Belt districts.

An upper trough extends over the southern interior of Queensland and is forecast to move slowly west tonight and on Thursday.

Moist north-easterly winds currently extend into southeast Queensland and are forecast to begin easing later today.

Heavy rain which may lead to flash flooding is expected over areas southeast of about Bundaberg to Goondiwindi, particularly about the coast and adjacent inland areas south of Gympie.

Locations which may be affected include Gympie, Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Ipswich, the Gold Coast and Warwick.

At 4:30am AEST, the heaviest rain was located on radar over the Gold Coast and inland to the southern border ranges east of Wilsons Peak with the highest hourly totals between 20-30mm.

Rain and local thunderstorms are also expected in the central and northern areas of the state including:

Capricornia District: Scattered showers, tending to rain areas with local thunder, mainly during the afternoon and evening. Moderate to locally heavy falls possible. Light to moderate N to NE winds.

Central Coast and Whitsundays: Scattered showers and rain areas with local thunder. Moderate falls, locally heavy in thunderstorms. Mostly light NW to NE winds.

Herbert and Lower Burdekin: Scattered showers, rain areas and isolated thunderstorms. Moderate to heavy falls. Light to moderate NW to NE winds.

The following locations have recorded significant rainfalls since 9am Tuesday: Sugarbag Road 280mm, Meridan Way 264mm, Ewen Maddock Dam 253mm, Lower and Upper Springbrook 250mm, Bracken Ridge 236mm, Deception Bay 232mm, Parrearra Weir 219mm and Redcliffe 213mm.

The following Watches/Warnings are current:

Flood warning for Bungil Creek
Flood warning for coastal rivers and streams from Rainbow Beach to the NSW border and adjacent inland catchments
Flood warning for the Albert River
Flood warning for the Flinders River
Flood warning for the Maroochy and Mooloolah rivers and Coochin Creek
Flood warning for the upper Mary River
Flood warning for the Warrego River
Flood warning for the western Queensland Rivers

Other flood information includes:

Wide Bay: Minor flooding continues at Dr May's Crossing on the Elliott River.
Barron River catchment: Minor flood levels have been recorded along Clohesy River at Bolton Road.

Emergency Management Queensland advises that people should avoid driving, walking or riding through flood waters and keep clear of creeks and storm drains.

For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.

Road information:

Police would like advise the following local roads have been affected by localised flooding or traffic hazzards such as debris.

Brisbane North / Moreton Bay Regional Council Area - Sandgate and Breakfast Creek roads, Albion - Kingsford Smith Drive, Albion - Kangaroo Gully Road, Anstead - Bowman Parade and Cecil Road, Bardon - Abbotsford Road, Bowen Hills - Edmondstone Road, Bowen Hills - Beams Road, Boondall - Muller Road, Boondall - Groth Road and Zillmere Road, Boondall - Kremzow Road, Brendale - Countess Street, Brisbane City - Rafting Ground Road, Brookfield - Boscombe Road, Brookfield - Lancing Road, Brookfield - Green Trees Avenue, Brookfield - Gympie Road, Carseldine - Halls Road, Cedar Creek - Widdop Street, Clayfield - Dohles Rocks Road, Griffin - Henry Road, Griffin - Gap Creek Road, Kenmore Hills & The Gap - Paradise Road, Larrapinta - Leis Parade, Lawnton - Anzac Avenue, Mango Hill - Dohles Rocks Road, Murrumba Downs - Wagner Road, Murrumba Downs - Sandgate Road, Nundah - Widdop Street, Nundah & Clayfield - Youngs Crossing Road, Petrie / Joyner - Grandview Road, Pullenvale - Lancing Road, Pullenvale - Pinjarra Road, Pullenvale - Anzac Avenue, Rothwell - Bells Pocket Road, Strathpine - Lawnton Pocket Road, Strathpine - Mott Street, Strathpine - Edinburgh Castle Road, Wavell Heights - Northey Street and Victoria Terrace, Windsor - Zillmere Road, Zillmere

Brisbane South - Epala Street, Carina - Preston Road, Carina - Railway Street, Darra - Illaweena Street, Drewvale - Petrie Street, Dunwich - Goodna Road, Greenbank - Paradise Road, Larapinta - Mount Cotton Road, Mount Cotton / Sheldon - Hope Street, Norman Park - Serpentine Creek Road, Redland Bay - Marshall Road, Rocklea -Avalon Road, Sheldon - Judanne Court, Thornlands - Wilga Street, Wacol South East corner (Logan and Gold Coast Districts) - The upper reaches of the Albert River is sending a large volume of water downstream and likely to affect the following areas of Cedar Creek, Woolfdene and Wondaroo. - Beaudesert-Nerang Road at Biddadabba Creek Road, Biddadabba. - George Street and Bourndary Street, Beenleigh - Biddaddaba Creek Rd, Beaudesert - Nerang - Beaudesert Rd, Beaudesert - Coburg Road Canungra - Cedar Grove Road, Cedar Grove - Cedar Pocket Road, Cedar Grove - Days Road, Coomera - Foxwell Road, Coomera - Fryar Road, Eagleby - Upper Ormeau Road, Kingsholme - Goldmine Road, Ormeau - Tamarind Street, Marsden - Princess Street, Marsden - Kurrajong Dr, Marsden - Birds Road, Maudsland - The narrow bridge on Guanaba Creek Rd, Maudsland - Gold Course Road, Mount Tamborine - Sommerset Drive, Mudgeeraba - Springbrook Road , Mudgeeraba - Hardys Road, Mudgeeraba - Gunsynd Dr, Mudgeeraba - Mundoolan Road, Mundoolan - Millstream Rd and the Mount Lindesay Highway is flooded - Mount Tamborine Road, North Tamborine - Tamborine-Oxenford Road, Oxenford (John Muntz Causeway) - Stoney Camp Road, Park Ridge - Shailer Rd near the old on ramp south-bound to the Pacific Mwy, Shailer Park - Beenleigh-Beaudesert Road, Wolffdene / Luscombe
South West Queensland - Warrego Highway closed approximately 10km east of Roma. - Carnarvon Highway closed south of Injune and approximately 50km north of Roma. - Mitchell Highway at Yo Yo Creek between Charleville and Augathella.

Police are advising the community to avoid flooded roads, creeks and watercourses and members of the public are also reminded that road closures and road conditions can change rapidly as creeks and water courses can rise and fall quickly.

Police would like to remind motorists and members of the public of the hazardous and unpredictable nature of flood waters and the dangers associated with storm debris and road washouts.

Police urge everyone to obey road closure signs and to travel with extreme caution, limiting non essential travel in flood affected areas where possible. Parents are also reminded to ensure their children are not playing in flood prone waterways, watercourses and drains as water levels can rise quickly.

Members of the public should monitor local radio stations, their local council and organisations, such as the Traffic and Travel information site www.131940.qld.gov.au or call 13 19 40 for information on localised flooding and road closures.

Long Term Afghan Asylum Seekers Stage Mass Hunger Strike At Pontville, Three Hospitalised

Frustrations over the Immigration department’s reneging on promises of community detention and bridging visas for long term detainees have spilled over to the Pontville detention centre in Tasmania.

Around 150, more than half of the Afghan asylum seekers at Pontville detention centre, are now involved in a hunger strike. The asylum seekers have been in detention between 15 and 33 months.

“We have been a long time in detention with no result,” one Pontville asylum seeker told the Refugee Action Coalition on Monday night.

“Immigration told us that we would get community detention and bridging visa to get us out, but there is nothing. We have been waiting too long.”

A smaller group of around 34 have been on hunger strike for seven days. So far, at least three of them have been hospitalised.

In the last two days, the hunger strike has been joined by over 100 other Hazara asylum seekers.

The Refugee Action Coalition (RAC) has been told that even more asylum seekers could join the hunger strike.

“The government has reneged everywhere on its promise to release detainees on bridging visas or community detention. The announcement was a cruel hoax,” said RAC spokesperson, Ian Rintoul.

“There is nothing like 100 visas a month being issued and tensions are growing in all the detention centres.

“Darwin asylum seekers have been told there will be 30 visas by the end of the month, but so far there is no sign of that either. The Minister’s lies are coming back to bite him. The Pontville protest may just be the beginning. It is a disgrace that he can raise hopes and then smash them in this way. It is a form of mental torture. If there is a bigger wave of protests, the responsibility will be at the Minister’s feet.

“We are coming up to the anniversary of the protests on Christmas Island, you would think the Minister might have learned his lesson. The vast majority of detainees have indicated friends and relatives that are willing to assist them to live in the community. The only thing that is missing is the Minister’s willingness to act.”

The percentage of long-term unemployed (people unemployed for one year or more) was 19% in July 2011 compared to 18% in July 2010 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Of these, around 83,000 (or three quarters of long-term unemployed people) were looking for full-time work in July 2011.

For long-term unemployed people the most common difficulties in finding a job were 'own health or disability' (17%), 'lacked necessary skills or education' (13%), followed by 'too many applicants for available jobs' (11%).

The majority of unemployed people, (81%) were unemployed for less than one year (short-term unemployed), with over a quarter of these (26%) having been unemployed for less than four weeks.

Of the short-term unemployed people, 13% reported that they had no difficulties in finding another job. For unemployed people aged 15 to 24 years, the main difficulty in finding work was 'insufficient work experience' (17%), while for those aged 45 years and over it was 'considered too old by employers' (18%).

Of all unemployed people, 20% had never worked before and 21% had worked previously, but not in the last two years. Four out of five unemployed people (80%) had not received any offers of employment in the current period of unemployment.

Minister Flies Out To Shore Up New Live Export Rules

As reported in today's article from Sydney Morning Herald, Minister for Agriculture, Joe Ludwig, is traveling this week to the Middle East to discuss animal welfare standards with regards to live exports.

The trip comes following the Minister’s imposed deadline of 1 March to enact new animal welfare guidelines and “supply chain assurances.”

Live export companies have been crying out against these new guidelines, predicting that the new framework will result in decreased shipments for 2012.

A recent article in Meat Trade News daily even wondered if this could be signaling a dismal future for the industry, asking “Are live exports coming to an end?”

The fact is, demand for live exports is rapidly decreasing, and Australians have come to realise the impact that this inhumane practice has on animals. While WSPA salutes Minister Ludwig’s efforts towards animal welfare, we question the time and effort being spent on so-called improvements that the industry is not getting behind.

The Minister could instead focus on supporting our processing sector in Australia, which supports manufacturing jobs in rural and regional areas. The economic advantages are irrefutable - a sheep processed in Australia is worth 20% more than one processed overseas.

Thousands of sheep die each year on board live export vessels from starvation and disease. We are killing animals and leaking money. The Minister needs to re-focus on the chilled meat trade, which is better for Australia and better for the sheep and cattle.

Press Release: National Traditional Country Music Association Prepared by Bob Phillips, Public Relations Director, National Traditional Country Music Association, Inc.
www.ntcma.net

LeMars, Iowa - As 'Occupy' occupiers gather in America, the music of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie ultimately fill the air wherever they are camped out. Many of them celebrate the music of Guthrie. Dylan, in particular, is releasing "Chimes of Freedom" a 4-CD tribute honoring the 50-year existence of 'Amnesty International.' Rest assured this will be followed by a massive Guthrie 'new music releases' and celebration, especially since 2012 is his 100th birthday.

Why would Iowa be a focal point of Guthrie's birthday? In 1980 and 1981, Woody's widow, Marjorie Guthrie, came to Iowa for a couple of reasons. One, to accept Woody's induction into 'America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame,' and secondly, to support the work and music of another Moses Asch recording artist, Bob Everhart, who makes his home in Iowa. She brought with her an old guitar she said Woody often played on, but certainly not the guitar that boldly proclaimed "This Machine Kills Facists." The guitar she brought is proudly displayed in the Pioneer Music Museum, along with a bountiful display of Guthrie's works. Marjorie spoke often of her solid relationship with Woody, how they called themselves "World Shakers and World Changers," and indeed they did just that. She came to a festival promoted by Bob Everhart called the "National Old Time Country, Bluegrass, & Folk Music Festival and Pioneer Exposition of America's Rural Lifestyle." It was the name of the event, as much as Everhart's work with Moses Asch, that prompted her to become involved. She later had Everhart as a special guest at the Woody Guthrie Music Festival in Oklahoma City.

Known as the "Dust Bowl Troubadour" Woody witnessed the destruction a natural disaster could do to his birth state, Oklahoma. "So Long It's Been Good To Know Ya" he sang (or at least thought) as his family struggled through the hard times. He rode boxcars all the way to California, and reminded us all "Going Down This Road Feeling Bad" was a national experience as well as a personal one. He rarely had a decent place to sleep, much less eat healthy food. He was a self-proclaimed conservative, and though accused of being a communist, he never was. His songs created folk radio, and his persona created Bob Dylan. In today's political world he is more relevant than ever, so a celebration of his birth, especially in Iowa, speaks highly of his influence, in the past, and today. ...

Gold Coast City Council meetings will now be streamed live on the internet to provide greater community access to Council decisions.

Mayor Ron Clarke said the move would enable the public to have access to decisions and debates without having to leave their homes or offices.

“If the community wants to know what Council is considering and what the outcomes of decisions are, they now don’t have to get in their cars, come to the meetings and sit for hours in the public gallery,” said Cr Clarke.

“Most people these days are so busy that even if someone is interested in an issue, they often don’t have the time to attend Council meetings.

“With a Budget process that’s open to the public, I have always said this Council is one of the most transparent in the country and live-streaming is another step towards greater public engagement in the local government process.

“Often the community only hears about a decision through the media and don’t get the benefit of context by watching the actual discussion - incorporating the differing points of view of various councillors. Live-streaming offers real time access to decisions wherever you are and for those actively interested in city affairs, this will be a very useful tool.”

Live-streaming of meetings includes audio and video and requires the Flash Player program for PC or Mac, which can be downloaded free from the Internet. Live-streaming will commence next Monday (30/1) for the first Council meeting for 2012. The cost of providing live-streaming is $1800 per month.

To access live-streaming, visit goldcoastcity.com.au and click on the link on the homepage.

2 February each year is World Wetlands Day. This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Each year since 1997, the Ramsar Secretariat has provided materials so that government agencies, non-governmental organizations, conservation organizations, and groups of citizens can help raise public awareness about the importance and value of wetlands.

"Wetlands, leisure and tourism – take a breath of fresh air"

With their natural beauty and biodiversity wetlands make ideal locations for tourism. The income can be significant and support livelihoods locally and nationally. Wetlands provide other ‘services’ , too, such as water, food, water purification, erosion control ,etc., for the benefit of tourists and tourist accommodation. The income generated by tourism for national and local economies in and around wetlands can be substantial: the Broads in the UK supports the equivalent of 3,000 full-time jobs; over 1.6 million people visit the Great Barrier Reef every year, generating an income of over 1 billion AUS$. But - unsustainable tourism may bring short-term benefits but long-term losses to wetland health, compromising ecosystem services and sometimes local livelihoods. ...

More On Latest Brisbane River Oil Spill

Up to five pelicans are believed to have been affected by an oil spill in the Brisbane River that has spread upstream to Breakfast Creek.

Five tonnes of fuel oil leaked into the river at about 6.45am (AEST) on Monday as a livestock carrier was being refuelled at Hamilton wharves.

Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) said about five pelicans covered in oil have been spotted but it's believed only one has so far been rescued.

MSQ acting general manager Jim Huggett said it would take several days for the oil to be cleaned up.

"The incoming tide carried some oil sheen upstream as far as Breakfast Creek but as the tide turns our aim is to prevent oil affecting areas downstream such as environmentally sensitive mangroves," Mr Huggett said.

Containment booms are in place to stop the oil from reaching the mangroves, he said.

"An oil skimmer vessel is sucking up oil from the water and trucks with vacuum hoses are pumping oil directly from the spill site to wharfside," Mr Huggett said.

The clean-up is expected to be called off on Monday night and to restart early on Tuesday morning.

MSQ has begun an investigation into the cause of the spill.

The cargo ship GL Lan Xiu was being refuelled by the Valliant III at Hamilton Number 4 Wharf when the spill occurred.

About 2000 head of cattle, which were due to be loaded on board the GL Lan Xiu, remain on shore, MSQ said.

Brisbane Oil Spill At King Tide A Tragedy For Moreton Bay And Estuarine Wildlife: Greens Media Release [23/1/12]

The Queensland Greens say that the refuelling accident at Hamilton Wharves on the Brisbane River this morning is not just inconvenient for commuters and river traffic but probably lethal for a range of wildlife.

"Although the king tide was pushing against the rivermouth this morning, when the tide turns it will be extremely low and the worry is that the oil will spread north and south into Moreton Bay," Queensland Greens state spokesperson Libby Connors said today.

"I am worried about its effects on sea birds and marine life especially near the river mouth.

"Luggage Point is an important bird resting site and the Boondall wetlands are a protected Ramsar site.

"This not a minor spill and the effect on riverine and bay habitats will be awful.

"We need several answers from government ministers.

"Vicky Darling needs to explain what effect the spill will have on international environmental commitments to protect Ramsar sites.

"Craig Wallace as the minister responsible for marine infrastructure needs to tell the people of Queensland whether recommendations from past oil spill inquiries have been fully enacted.

"There has been a lack of preparedness by authorities in the past - sadly oil and shipping mishaps are becoming all too frequent in Queensland waters and are likely to increase given the massive port expansions in train.

"It is less than three years since Moreton Bay had to cope with the Pacific Adventurer spill followed by the Shen Neng in 2010.

"The government needs to restore our confidence in maritime services' ability to prevent these serious environmental disasters in our fisheries and marine habitats."

"The government needs to restore our confidence in maritime services' ability to prevent these serious environmental disasters in our fisheries and marine habitats."

Cyclonic winds, reaching gusts up to 170kph lashed Hughenden overnight, causing seven houses to lose their roofs and a further eight to lose sheeting.

The severe system has been described by the Bureau of Meteorology as a ``freak storm'' with further rain and storms expected trhoughout the week.

In Hughenden, about 35mm of rain fell within 10 minutes just after 8pm on Sunday, with a further 20mm falling within half an hour. There was a total of 77mm throughout the night, with the fiercest part of the storm over within three quarters of an hour.

Bureau forecaster Lauren Murphy said while Sunday night's flash flooding and damaging winds should not repeat itself, there was a monsoonal trough in Cape York peninsula, which was expected to drift south throughout the week, bringing heavier showers and storms to the Flinders region by Thursday.

``The monsoonal trough should have reached Georgetown by Wednesday and will keep drifting south,'' Ms Murphy said.

``From today there will be scattered showers and rain in the Flinders area, tending to rain and isolated thunderstorms, more frequent in the afternoon.

``There shouldn't be any freak storms again but more sustained and widespread showers.''

The Bureau has forecast that between 50-150mm of rain could fall between Wednesday and Sunday.

Emergency workers were in full force in Hughenden throuhgout Sunday night and managed to restore power to the majority of the township by midnight. They also managed to cover most of the damaged houses with tarps.

The outskirts of the town, including Prairie and Torrens Creek, were still without power on Monday at midday, with it expected to be returned by the afternoon.

The Flinders Shire Local Disaster Management Group met at 10am on Monday to discuss the recovery. This included members of the SES, EMQ, QPS, QFRS, as well as Council Mayor Brendan McNamara and CEO, Stephen McCartney. Ergon Energy also communicated an update to Council. Mr McCartney had been out from 8.30pm on Sunday night surveying the damage.

The main issue for Council was ensuring there was no fruther water damage to the uncovered houses, as well as ensuring two powerlines, one at the airport and the other on the eastern side of Mowbray Street, were manned to protect the community and sight-seers. There were also a large number of trees uprooted throughout the town, which needed to be cleared.

``There have been clean-ups of the obvious areas, including the school grounds with the first day back at school today,'' he said.

``We have started rubbish pick-ups from the footpaths and we will continue theses for the next two weeks.

``We will continue to put updates, including road closures on the Council website, Facebook page (Hughenden Connect), community noticeboard and will communicate with the media.''

There has only been a minor increase in the flow of the Flinders River at this point. The Shovel Creek crossing, between Charters Towers and Hughenden, had opened to 4WDs just after midday. By 1:30pm it had opened to all vehicles in both directions.

Residents are urged to contact Council on 47412900 if they have any issues.

Australia Day Flag Drivers More Racist: UWA

People who fly Australian flags on their cars in the leadup to Australia Day express more racist attitudes than others without flags, University of Western Australia research has found.

UWA sociologist and anthropologist Farida Fozdar and a team of assistants surveyed 513 people at last year’s Australia Day Skyworks extravaganza on Perth’s Swan River foreshore.

One in five fireworks fans said they had attached flags to their cars to celebrate Australia Day.

WHITE AUSTRALIA POLICY

Professor Fozdar said 43 per cent of people with car flags believed the long-abandoned White Australia Policy had saved Australia from many problems experienced by other countries.

Only 25 per cent of Skyworks goers who did not adorn their cars with flags thought the same way.

A total of 56 per cent of people with car flags feared their culture and its most important values were in danger, compared with 34 per cent of non-flaggers.

And 35 per cent of flaggers felt that people had to be born in Australia to be truly Australian, while 23 per cent believed true Australians had to be Christian.

This compared with 22 per cent and 18 per cent respectively for non-flaggers.

MINORITY GROUPS

Professor Fozdar said there were clear differences in how people with car flags felt toward minority groups.

Only 39 per cent of flaggers expressed a positive view toward Aboriginal people compared with 47 per cent of non-flaggers.

And 19 per cent of flaggers felt positive towards Muslim Australians compared to 26 per cent of non-flaggers.

Just seven per cent of flaggers were positive towards asylum seekers compared to 24 per cent of non-flaggers.

And 27 per cent with flags felt positive towards Asian Australians compared to 48 per cent of non-flaggers.

Three survey questions sought views on Australian cultural diversity: 64 per cent of people with car flags agreed that it was good for people from different ethnic, religious and racial groups to live in Australia, compared to 75 per cent of non-flaggers.

AUSTRALIAN VALUES

An overwhelming 91 per cent of people with car flags agreed that people who move to Australia should adopt Australian values, compared to 76 per cent of non-flaggers.

A total of 55 per cent of flaggers believed migrants should leave their old ways behind, compared with 30 per cent of non-flaggers.

However, majorities of both groups - 60 per cent of flaggers and 73 per cent of non-flaggers - also felt it was best to respect and learn from each other’s cultural differences.

Professor Fozdar said there was no clear link between flag flying and education, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, voting pattern or income.

However, her survey showed a slightly higher likelihood of younger rather than older people adopting the practice.

NATIONALISM

In terms of nationalism, 88 per cent of those with Australian flags on their cars said they thought it showed they were proud to be Australian, while only 52 per cent of those without flags thought so.

Some thought the increased popularity of flying Australian car flags was due to increased patriotism.

Others said it was simply peer pressure to follow the trend or avoid seeming unpatriotic.

Many said the phenomenon was caused by marketing and the cheap availability of car flags.

Others thought it was a response to loss of culture due to multiculturalism, immigration, invasion and terrorism.

“What I found interesting is that many people didn’t really have much to say about why they chose to fly car flags or not,” Professor Fozdar said.

“Many felt strongly patriotic about it - and for some, this was quite a racist or exclusionary type of patriotism - but it wasn’t a particularly conscious thing for many.

“Very clear statistical differences in attitudes to diversity between those who fly car flags and those who don’t show that flag waving - while not inherently exclusionary – is linked in this instance to negative attitudes about those who do not fit the ‘mainstream’ stereotype.”

Fewer people - one in five - reported flying Australian flags from their cars in 2011 compared to 2010 when it was one in four.

Auckland Police Probe After Occupy Arrests

Three police officers are being investigated for wearing matching identification numbers while helping Auckland Council evict Occupy protesters today.

Protesters claim up to four officers in Aotea Square were wearing the same badge number - Z557 - while police shut down Occupy camps this morning.

Photographic evidence partially backs those claims, with one photograph showing two officers wearing the same number.

Police this evening released a statement confirming the officers were now "subject to an employment investigation" over the incident.

It is police policy for each officer to wear their own identification number.

"An employment procedure has commenced into this breach of policy," Inspector Gary Allcock said.

Police, security guards and council staff today moved to shut down the Occupy camps across Auckland, leading to the arrest of three protesters and frequent scuffles and standoffs between the parties.

Protester Merlin Blackmore, who today claimed four officers were wearing the same number, claims the identical numbers are being used to allow police to act with impunity.

"The police are supposed to have an identification number so you can identify them if they're being naughty.

"That's like having two people with the same driver's licence or passport... One of them was one of the people who was being physically quite brutal whilst arresting a protester and yanking them out of the van."

Blackmore believed police could use this tactic to deny complaints, saying the officer could not be identified.

However, the break-up of the protest and subsequent arrests were carried out in front of a large media contingent and members of the public.

It is not yet known why the officers were wearing the same identification numbers.

A police national headquarters spokeswoman confirmed the officers should be wearing their own numbers but referred calls to Auckland police, who have not returned calls.

This is not the first time issues have been raised over the way police dealt with Occupy protesters as the movement spread across the world.

Officers in Oakland, Boston and Houston were found to have covered their nameplates and badges while dispersing Occupy protests in the US.

"This is exactly the kind of thing that we've seen in New York and across the world where police have covered their badge numbers and [used] these kinds of tactics," Blackmore said.

It was also reported that some officers in the US were targeted by internet hackers as a result of their involvement in arresting protesters.

Blackmore said they would discuss what they would do as a result.

"We will be seeking appropriate legal recourse, we'll have to talk to our lawyers and we'll have to have general assembly and discuss that in consensus.

"This is a complete crock of s---".

The West End Community Association (WECA) has again succeeded in supporting sound development in its local area through the courts.

On Friday (20th January) the Planning and Environment Court took just five minutes to uphold WECA's appeal against a controversial proposal pushed through Brisbane City Council (BCC) by former Lord Mayor Campbell Newman.

The court accepted consent orders in favour of WECA and refused the development application at 321 Montague Road, West End.

This order overturns the BCC approval for several 12-14 storey buildings in an area where the current legal planning scheme specifies a maximum of seven storeys.

"The message is loud and clear: the community will not be sidelined, and inappropriate development will not be tolerated," said WECA President Darren Godwell.

"This approval was for a development twice the size allowed by the local plan had no basis in town planning. It was indefensible politics interfering with sound development principles."

"City Council had every opportunity to defend its decision in court, but as has happened before they settled without even appearing before a judge."

"WECA repeats its support for City Council's planners to stand firm in the face of undue political pressures. Politicians must not be allowed to break the rules in this way."

"WECA is supported by its members and residents of the local community, who are willing and able to use their resources and experience in planning and environmental law. The Association continues to be vigilant and an active defender of sound development on the Kurilpa peninsula, promoting local leadership for local development."

About WECA

The West End Community Association (WECA) is a non-profit, non-aligned, incorporated association of residents advancing the liveability of South Brisbane, Hill End, West End and Highgate Hill. WECA's members are active contributors to many of the neighbourhood’s activities, events and community organisations.

WORLD PEACE HANGING BY A THREAD

Reflections by Comrade Fidel

Yesterday I had the satisfaction of having a pleasant conversation with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I had not seen him since 2006, more than five years ago, when he visited our country to participate in the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement of Countries in Havana. During the summit, Cuba was elected for the second time as president of the organization for a three-year term.

I had become gravely ill on July 26, 2006, a month and a half prior to the summit, and could barely sit up in bed. Many of the most distinguished leaders who participated in the event were kind enough to visit me. Chavez and Evo visited me several times. One afternoon four visitors came by whom I will always remember: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan; an old friend, Abdelaziz Buteflika, the president of Algeria; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran; and the vice minister of Foreign Affairs and current Foreign Minister of China, Yang Jiechi, on behalf of the leader of the Communist Party and the president of China, Hu Jintao. It was really an important time for me; I was in the midst of intense physiotherapy on my right hand that I had seriously injured when I fell in Santa Clara.

With all four I spoke about some of the difficulties facing the world at the time; problems that have become progressively more complex.

During our meeting yesterday, I noted that the Iranian president was absolutely calm and tranquil, completely unconcerned about the Yankee threats and, fully confident in the capacity of his people to confront any aggression and in the effectiveness of their arms —which, in large part, they produce themselves— to inflict an unpayable price on its aggressors.

In reality, we hardly spoke about the topic of war. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was focused on the ideas he had presented at the Main Hall of the University of Havana during his conference on the struggle of humankind: “Moving towards reaching and achieving peace, security, respect and human dignity as a fundamental desire of all human beings throughout history.”

I am convinced that Iran will not commit any rash actions that might contribute to setting off a war. If a war were to be unleashed, it would inevitably be completely as a result of the recklessness and congenital irresponsibility of the Yankee Empire.

I believe that the political situation surrounding Iran and the associated risks of a nuclear war that involves us all —regardless of whether one possess nuclear weapons— are extremely delicate because they threaten the very existence of our species. The Middle East has become the most troubled region on the planet, the same region that produces the energy resources vital for the world’s economy.

The destructive power and the mass sufferings caused by some of the weapons used in World War Two led to a strong movement to ban weapons such as asphyxiating gas and others. Nevertheless, conflicting interests and the huge profits made by arms manufacturers led to the production of crueler and more destructive weapons; modern technology has now added the means and material to build weapons that if used in a world war would lead to extinction.

I support the opinion, undoubtedly shared by all those with a basic sense of responsibility, that no country big or small has the right to possess nuclear weapons.

They never should have been used to attack two defenseless cities such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing and irradiating with horrible and long-lasting effects hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, in a country that had already been militarily defeated.

If fascism indeed forced the allied nations against Nazism to compete with this enemy of humanity in the production of such weapons, once the war ended and the United Nations was created, the first duty of this organization should have been to prohibit nuclear weapons without exception.

However, the United States, the strongest and richest power, forced the rest of the world to follow its lead. Today, they have hundreds of satellites that spy and monitor the entire world from outer space. Their naval, air and land forces are equipped with thousands of nuclear weapons; and they control the world’s finances and investments at their whim via the International Monetary Fund.

Analyzing the history of each Latin American nation, from Mexico to Patagonia, by way of Santo Domingo and Haiti, one can observe that each and every country, without exception, have suffered for 200 years, from the beginning of the 19th century up until today. And, in one way or another, they are increasingly suffering the worst crimes that power and force can commit against the rights of a people. Brilliant Latin American writers are emerging in an increasing number. One of them, Eduardo Galeano, author of the book Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent that describes the aforementioned, has just been invited to open the prestigious Casa de Las Americas Awards as a recognition to his outstanding body of work.

Events happen incredibly fast; but technologies report them to the public even faster. On any given day, like today, important news comes out a dizzying pace. A cable report dated from January 11 states: “The Danish presidency of the European Union confirmed on Wednesday that a new series of more severe European sanctions against Iran, because of its nuclear program, will be discussed on January 23. The new sanctions will not only target the oil industry but also the Central Bank.”

During a meeting with international journalists, Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal said that “We will increase sanctions against the oil industry in addition to sanctions against financial structures.” This clearly demonstrates that, in order to impede nuclear proliferation, Israel can go on accumulating hundreds of nuclear warheads while Iran is not allowed to produce 20% enriched uranium.

Another article, from a respected British news agency, states that “China gave no hint on Wednesday of giving ground to U.S. demands to curb Iran's oil revenues, rejecting Washington's sanctions on Tehran as overstepping …”

The sheer tranquility with which the United States and civilized Europe carry out this campaign with incredible and systematic acts of terrorism is enough to shock anybody. Just look at these lines reported by another important European news agency: “The murder on Wednesday of Iranian nuclear specialist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan [a scientist at the Natanz nuclear plant] was the fourth attack to kill a leading scientist in the country in almost exactly two years.”

On January 12, 2010: “Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a particle physics professor at Tehran University is killed when a booby-trapped motorcycle explodes outside his home in the capital. “

On November 29, 2010: “Two attacks target leading Iranian nuclear scientists on the same day. Majid Shahriari, a key member of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, is killed in Tehran by a limpet bomb attached to his car. His colleague Fereydoon Abbasi Davani is also targeted by a bomb attached to his car, but escapes.” The car was parked in front of the Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran where both men worked as professors.

On July 23, 2011: “Gunmen shoot dead Dariush Rezaei-Nejad, a senior scientist who is reportedly associated with the defense ministry, and wound his wife as they waited for their child outside a Tehran kindergarten.”

On January 11, 2012 —the same day that Ahmadinejad travelled from Nicaragua to Cuba to give a conference at the University of Havana—, scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, “a deputy director at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, is killed in a car bomb blast outside the [Allameh Tabatabai] University in east Tehran.” As in previous years “Iran once again accused the United States and Israel.”

The killings represent a systematic and selective slaughter of brilliant Iranian scientists. I have read articles by known Israeli sympathizers who write about crimes carried out by Israeli intelligence services in cooperation with the United States and NATO as if they were the most normal occurrence.

At the same time, Moscow news agencies report that “Russia warned that in Syria a similar scenario is developing as to that in Libya, and added that this time the attack will be launched from neighboring Turkey.

“The secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, said the West wants to ‘punish Damascus not as much for repressing the opposition, but because it is unwilling to sever ties with Tehran.’”

"…NATO members and some Persian Gulf states, operating according to the Libya scenario, intend to move from indirect intervention in Syrian affairs to direct military intervention…This time the main strikes forces will not be provided by France, the U.K. or Italy, but possibly by neighboring Turkey."

“Washington and Ankara are now assumed to be negotiating a “no-fly” zone over Syria, where Syrian armed insurgents can be trained and concentrated, added Patrushev."

News is not only coming out of Iran and the Middle East, but also from other parts of Central Asia near the Middle East. These reports show the great complexity of the problems that can arise from this dangerous region.

The United States has been led by its contradictory and absurd imperial policy to get involved in serious problems in countries such as Pakistan, whose borders with Afghanistan were drawn up by the colonialists without taking into account culture or ethnicities.

In Afghanistan, which defended its independence against English colonialism for centuries, drug production has multiplied in the wake of the Yankee invasion. Meanwhile, European soldiers, supported by drone airplanes and armed with sophisticated US weapons, carry out deplorable massacres that increase the people’s hatred and ward off any possibilities of peace. All this and other dirty actions are also reported by Western news agencies.

“WASHINGTON, January 12, 2012 - US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called the actions of four U.S. marines who urinated on corpses in Afghanistan “utterly deplorable” The video of the act was circulated in the Internet.

"’I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable…’

"’This conduct is entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military and does not reflect the standards of values our armed forces are sworn to uphold…’”

In reality, Panetta neither confirms nor denies the action, and anyone, including the Secretary of Defense himself, may harbor doubt.

But it is also extremely inhumane that men, women and children, or an Afghani combatant fighting against the foreign occupation, be murdered by bombs dropped by drone planes. Another very serious incident: dozens of Pakistani soldiers and officials who safeguarded the country’s borders have been killed by these bombs.

Afghani President Karzai stated that the outrage committed against the bodies was “simply inhumane.” He asked for the US government “to urgently investigate the video and apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime.”

Meanwhile Taliban spokespersons declared that “over the last ten years, hundreds of similar acts have been carried out that were not reported…”

One even feels sorry for those soldiers, thousands of kilometers away from their family, friends and country, sent to fight in countries that they might not have even heard of during their school days, where they are assigned the task of killing or dying to enrich transnational companies, arms manufacturers and unscrupulous politicians who each year squander funds needed to feed and educate the uncountable millions of hungry and illiterate people around the world.

Many of these soldiers, victims of the trauma suffered, end up taking their own lives.

Is it an exaggeration to say that world peace is hanging by a thread?

Fidel Castro Ruz

January 12, 2012

9:14 p.m.

Brisbane City Council has suspended CityCat services at its Bretts Wharf terminal following an oil spill this morning.

Services have been temporarily suspended to assist Maritime Safety Queensland with the clean-up.

The oil spill, which was unrelated to Council, is expected to affect services for the next hour.

The decision to suspend services is in addition to the suspension of CityCat operations at the Northshore Hamilton Terminal this evening and tomorrow morning as a result of the oil spill.

For more information on CityCat timetables and affected services contact TransLink on 13 12 30 or visit www.translink.com.au

At Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony, UN Urges Protection Of Children From War: Media Release [21/1/12]

Top United Nations officials today urged for the protection of children from the scourges of war during a Holocaust remembrance service to honour the memory of the estimated six million Jews and countless others killed in the Nazi death camps during the Second World War.

“One and a half million Jewish children perished,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his remarks to the congregation of the Park East Synagogue in New York.

“Tens of thousands of others were murdered, including people with disabilities, as well as Roma and Sinti.

“Many died of starvation or disease. Many others were orphaned by the war, or ripped away from their families. We will never know what these boys and girls might have contributed to our world. And many survivors were too shattered to tell their stories. Today, we seek to give voice to those accounts,” Mr. Ban said.

“Children are uniquely vulnerable to the worst of humankind. We must show them the best this world has to offer,” he added.

President of the General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser echoed Mr. Ban''s remarks and urged countries to protect the rights of those most vulnerable regardless of race, colour, sex or religious beliefs.

Mr. Al-Nasser stressed that the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, observed each year on 27 January, ensures that “the Holocaust will forever remain, in our time and for future generations, a warning to all people about the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.”

Mr. Al-Nasser also underscored the critical need to establish dialogue among various faiths to ensure widespread peace and stability.

“As part of our efforts to build peace, we focus on what brings us together: our shared humanity,” he said. “Initiatives that enhance mutual understanding, harmony and cooperation – that turn words into action – are the way forward.”

Next week, the UN will remember the children who perished during the Holocaust with a week of events culminating in a memorial ceremony to be held in the General Assembly Hall in New York on Friday.

The events include film screenings, exhibits and talks, as well as the launch of a website offering videos and testimonials from over a thousand Holocaust survivors, as well as educational tools and resources for students and teachers.

Greens’ spokesperson for gambling, Senator Richard Di Natale, said today that the Greens would introduce $1 bet legislation when Parliament resumes.

“The Government has made it clear that it doesn't have the courage to implement meaningful poker machine reforms. If they won't help problem gamblers, the Greens will,” said Senator Di Natale.

“I will introduce legislation when parliament resumes that would put a $1 limit on bets, a limit on jackpots and a $20 limit on the amount of money that can be loaded into machines at one time.

“This is one of the Productivity Commission's key recommendations and the legislation can be enacted immediately.

“The Government has suggested that $1 bet limits would be too expensive but that flies in the face of independent research.

“I call on the Government to release their departmental advice on $1 bets.

“Coalition members I have talked to agree that $1 bets would be the simplest, cheapest and most effective option for reform. Tony Abbott has not ruled out $1 bets so I hope he will show the courage that this prime minister lacks and throw his support behind my bill.”

Canberra's licensed clubs will share at least $36million worth of compensation and the Federal Government will pay to upgrade or replace some of their older poker machines if a trial of mandatory pre-commitment technology goes ahead.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie withdrew his support for the Government at the weekend after Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she did not have the numbers in Parliament to keep her promise to introduce mandatory pre-commitment by 2014.

Ms Gillard wants an ACT trial of the technology, which requires players to set maximum loss limits before a pokies session.

A written offer from Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin for a trial to be conducted in Canberra will be considered by ClubsACT members over the next fortnight.

The written offer said the trial would run for a year from February 2013, followed by a six-month evaluation and review period.

Venues would be paid in monthly instalments a combined $36million participation fee: 20 per cent of their 2010-11 gross gaming machine revenue.

During the trial, two reviews would be conducted by an oversight committee and an independent auditor to assess if the compensation structure should be revised.

Clubs would be able to request ''extra assistance in exceptional circumstances due to the implementation of mandatory pre-commitment''.

The Federal Government would meet all infrastructure costs for the trial, including upgrading or replacing poker machines not suitable for mandatory pre-commitment.

The ACT Government previously estimated it would cost between $20million and $30million to network the territory's poker machines as part of mandatory pre-commitment, but a temporary network could be cheaper. ...

Slow, Cruel and Pointless: Cetaceans and Entanglement

January, 13th, 2010, Hawaii: “The entanglement remains life threatening. One of the wraps is seated in a deep wound just forward of the dorsal fin. The animal is in poor condition. It is emaciated, has a heavy load of orange-colored cyamid amphipods (whale lice), is blotchy-looking, and has two line scars between the blowhole and the wound in front of the dorsal.”

Of the numerous threats facing cetaceans, injury and death by entrapment in fishing gear must be one of the most heart-wrenching to witness. While reports are thankfully rare on the Silver Bank, a badly entangled young calf was encountered in 2009, and despite a valiant but unsuccessful day long effort to free her, the odds for survival were small and she almost certainly perished as a result. This month we review the issue and efforts to ameliorate a universally tragic consequence of our sharing the seas, and its bounty, with marine animals.

It has been estimated that over 300,000 cetaceans worldwide, die each year as a result of entanglement in lost or active fishing gear (Reid et al 2006), including pot gear (lobster and crab traps), long line and most deadly of all, gill nets (Clapham et al 1999). In Australia, shark nets pose a problem, particularly to humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), a coastal species (Remove Shark Nets, 2010). Along with ship strikes, it is considered a major threat at the population level to the great whales (Clapham et al 1999). Pinnipeds, small whales and dolphins may drown relatively rapidly but for great whales like the humpback, able to drag heavy line, gear and buoys long distances it may be one of the cruelest threats to the species.

Entanglement incidents are widespread although research acknowledges what we see and observe is very likely an underestimation. Tired, emaciated whales, dragging heavy line and buoys long distances, rapidly lose blubber stores and on dying, carcasses will quickly sink and are unrecoverable. Still, entanglement in fishing gear is cited as the most frequent cause of injury and death in the Atlantic humpback population (Wiley et al 1995, Barco et al 2002). In the Pacific, photo identification studies showed that around 30% of individuals in Hawaii and over 50% in southwest Alaska (Neilson et al, 2009) showed scarring consistent with entanglement. For humpbacks this is frequently around the tail (caudal peduncle) and mouth.

Populations in heavily fished regions like the eastern seaboard of the United States are especially at risk (Clapham et al 1999). Numbering only 250-300, studies showed that over 70% of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), showed scarification consistent with entanglement (Johnson et al 2005).

Interestingly, growth of the whale watching industry in the northeastern U.S. over the last 30-40 years added not only a dimension of empathy and concern for the animals but importantly extra eyes looking out for them. Prior reports to authorities were sporadic and when animals did wash ashore, fishing gear had often been cut away and removed (NOAA, 2010).

Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network Work to improve the problem focuses on reporting and disentanglement efforts as well as increasing understanding of gear type and subsequent gear modification. More reporting and evidence is needed of gear type first and foremost (Neilson, 2009). Technical modifications include weak links which will rupture, break or experience calculated material failure upon receiving sufficient load. Or ‘pingers’ which provide an acoustic warning in the hopes that whales will avoid the area (Johnson et al 2005). Work on incidental catch of small cetaceans in a north Atlantic long line fishery (Pilot whales and Risso’s dolphins) showed that reducing line length below 20 nautical miles, reduced entanglement events (Garrison, 2007).

Of course, one of the very best things you can do to help whales and the oceans every day is make ethical seafood choices. Do your research: there is a lot of conflicting information. Wild netted, trawled and long line caught species may well entail both by-catch and entanglement risk.

The extent of the entanglement problem and the sheer scope of the oceans means that these tragedies will continue but we have come a long way in emergency response. On the eastern seaboard of the U.S. the federal government has established the Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network (with authorization under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act). Initially set up in Cape Cod in 1984 at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS), the center operates a network of response teams including a number of agencies and trained respondents.

In partnership with NOAA, the center developed a technique called “kegging,” a modified trick of 19th century Yankee whalers. After harpooning a whale, whalers would attach kegs (barrels) to the harpoon line to tire and slow the animal. PCCS response teams snap a control line to an existing trailing entanglement line then additional buoys or floats can be safely attached to slow the whale down but allow easy snap on/snap off release in the unfortunate event that a rescue attempt fails. Freeing a forty ton great whale is a task left to trained responders: although the Center notes that one of the most important elements of any rescue operation is that of standing by or staying with an observed entangled whale, until rescue teams can get there.

On Boxing Day 2009 (December 26th), the determination and tenacity of two teenage boys to free an entangled humpback in The Bahamas was tested with success. The story also illustrates why it is so important to let professionals complete rescue efforts. The boys managed to cut most of the culprit fishing net away but it took a diver to remove the last pieces. The PCCS stress that removing some but not all of tangled lines can be worse than none: as the load is lightened and the animal can dive again, it is gone. This story had a happy ending. As we work towards cleaning up the oceans, step by step, we hope there are many more. ...

Brisbane’s bus services will return to normal tomorrow (Monday) with all but 33 of Brisbane City Council’s gas powered bus fleet going back on the road.

Council’s 569 gas powered buses were removed from service yesterday as a safety precaution after a gas tank ruptured at Virginia Bus Depot early on Saturday morning.

Council is removing from service until further notice all 33 buses that are fitted with cylinders within a six week period before and after the date of manufacture of the failed cylinder.

Council will continue working with DEEDI to further investigate the cause of the cylinder rupture.

For up to date information on bus services and timetables, visit Translink’s website at www.translink.com.au or phone Translink on 13 12 30.

 

Rick Santorum Gets Glitter Bombed [VIDEO]

 

Image: @annarchism

 

I.B. Posse Wins Inaugural New Zealand Sandcastle Competition

Imperial Beach:

I.B. Posse took first place in the Inaugural New Zealand Sandcastle Competition held Saturday in Christchurch. Their trophy came with a $2,500 cash prize.

The team also won the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition in Imperial Beach in 2010 and 2011 for sculptures saluting the troops and depicting the BP oil spill.

The sand sculpture that won the team top honors Saturday was a member of the All Blacks, New Zealand's famed rugby team, coming out of an iPhone “to reflect an All Blacks mobile app,” I.B. Posse said on their Facebook page.

“It all came about because of Imperial Beach,” said Gail Sheriff with Pegasus Bay Charitable Trust, who organized the event. “It was the most amazing day and for the community, the best day they have had in a long long time.”

Organizers estimate that 20,000 people came to New Brighton Beach to watch a total of 18 teams compete Saturday, including Orange County-based Archisand, who won the People’s Choice award.

Both Southern California sand sculpting teams were invited to the inaugural in New Zealand last year, but it was canceled after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near Christchurch. Instead of competing, Gonzales and his family made a baby kiwi sculpture in memorium to lives lost in the earthquake.

As a result of the rough handling - one of the protesers - a 65-year-old woman - had her fingernail ripped out. Both women at the end of the banner have bruises on their arms.

 

Astounding symbolism as Australians trampled by foreign CSG corporations with support from government and police - Kerry CSG Blockade [VIDEO]

Drilling rig trucks crushed Akubra hats into the dirt this morning as Arrow Energy sought to end a 10 day standoff with angry farmers and landholders in the Scenic Rim, in Queensland's south east.

Emotions poured over as Kerry Valley farmer Rod Anderson addressed the crowd of more than 100 people, who had been blockading a coal seam gas exploration well.

Before throwing his hat in front of the departing drill rig in the traditional Australian challenge to a fight, his message was clear:

"I’ve been standing over by that strainer post for the last bloody 10 days quietly behaving, like all of us locals have.

"I’ve got a little place up the top there, it's only small, might be insignificant to some, but it's my house and it's my home. There’s plenty of farmers around here, and no-one’s listening to us, treating us like there’s no one underneath these hats. They don’t give a shit. We’ve had a gut-full.…

"And fancy, it's just absolutely mind-boggling that good citizens and good farmers and good people with no criminal history, just blokes off the street who are trying to do the right thing for this country, are forced to come down here and bark at cars like mongrel dogs. That’s bullshit. It's not fair.

"The whole place here is built on generations of farmers, generations of business people that’ve done the best they can do for this community and are putting stuff back into the community. I can’t believe that we have to justify ourselves to the government and justify our existence and farming and our concern for the water table to the government and to arrow. Arrow should be down here justifying their existence to have the right to ruin our water. And the government’s letting them do it.

"So I’m here to make a stand for all the people who were too afraid to come down here because of the stand over tactics and they didn’t want to be involved and they didn’t want to be seen…they were frightened. But By Gee whiskers there’s a lot of bloody locals here that have had enough and I tell ya what: if that rig or any other rig comes back into this community there will be a shitload more people that’ll stand up and then we’re in for a good fight. So I’m putting my hat down in protest, and all the other peoples hats down that I know that are me mates. I’ve had a gutfull. Its bloody un-Australian. We need our help here from our government and its about time that someone come down here saw us….."

"Drive over that!" he yelled, as other landholders also threw down their hats.

Police looked on uncomfortably, as Mr Anderson then challenged the officers to move an Australian flag, placed. Then Arrow energy trucks drove over the hats as they left in a move symbolic of the way the Scenic Rim community feels about its experiences with Arrow Energy.

"Today's decision by Arrow Energy to drive over those hats - iconic symbols of the Australian bush - is the visual depiction of how we feel: a community which feels it has been ridden rough-shod over by the mining industry and the police force, which it always believed was in place to protect the people," said Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic spokesperson Innes Larkin.

"This is one small battle in the war against coal seam gas. We might not have stopped the drilling, but we know the court of public opinion is with us. This small blockade has achieved so much, with support from all levels of government, business and communities across Australia.”

“The Scenic Rim community is now fired up and stands ready to help other communities in their efforts to challenge the rush for coal seam gas,” Mr Larkin said.

Lock the Gate Alliance committee member Michael McNamara told the crowd that the Kerry blockade represented a significant turning point in the fight against coal seam gas:

"Arrow Energy, through their arrogance and disregard for local people, local government and the state laws under which they operate have radicalised and activated a traditionally conservative community. "

The rig was expected to depart on Monday. Arrow has announced that they have completed the exploratory drilling. Protestors speculate that the rig was pulled out early due to swelling local support of the blockade, and Campbell Newman's Saturday announcement that, if elected, he would refuse production permits in the Scenic Rim.

The ObserverTree is a platform situated 60m above the ground in an old-growth Eucalyptus Delegatensis tree, in the heart of Tasmania’s southern forests. On the 14th of December 2011 conservationist Miranda Gibson climbed a rope to the top of the tree and vowed to stay untill the forest is protected. Miranda’s upper canopy home is a tree under imminent threat, in a forest due to be logged any day now.

The tree top platform is fully equipped with the technology to communicate to the world. This website features Miranda’s daily blog about life in a tree sit, commentary on the state of the forest negotiations, updates on flora and fauna monitoring and video footage from the tree sit. Watch this space for celebrity and guest blog appearances too!

If logging commences Miranda will also, sadly, document the destruction of the forest around her, streaming these images out to the world. The traumatic process of forest destruction that occurs every day in Tasmania is generally hidden from public view. Now these archaic practises will be fully exposed, allowing the global community to see for themselves what is really going on in our forests.

Why?

This area of forest is in an area earmarked as one of Tasmania’s future forest reserves. It was promised protection by the State and Federal governments. Yet, if the logging industry has its way, it is going to be logged this summer! What is really going on in Tasmania’s forests?

A brief history of the Tasmanian Forest Negotiations:

2011 could have been a year of celebration for Tasmania’s wild forest. In October 2010, A statement of principles signed by Environmental NGO’s, industry groups and Unions paved the way for comprehensive forest protection and a restructuring of the logging industry. But, more than a year later, not one tree has been saved, more cash has been delivered to the timber industry and destructive logging continues in some of our island’s most sensitive and iconic forest areas. So what went wrong?

A series of broken promises, industry pressure and Government backpeddling have jeapordised the progress of this historic agreement.

First, in December 2010, the Tasmanian Government failed to implement a promised moratorium on the logging of 572,000 hectares of high conservation value forest. Forestry Tasmania, the State-owned forest management agency, flaunted this failure of leadership by pushing ahead with roading and logging in some of Tasmania’s most contentious forest areas.

In August 2011, the Tasmanian and Federal Governments signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that promised immediate protection for 430,000 hectares of high conservation forest. The IGA stipulated that the Tasmanian Government would ‘ensure that the 430,000 hectares of State Forest identified … is not accessed [for logging]‘ and that the Commonwealth would compensate any contract holder affected by the protection of these areas.

But the agreement also required that hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of sawlogs and veneer peeler logs must continue to be supplied to the industry. Malaysian logging company Ta Ann Holdings has been promised an ongoing supply of over 265,000 cubic metres of timber per year from Tasmania’s forests. Forestry Tasmania argued that they could not supply this timber without continuing to log within the 430,00 hectares. In another backflip, the Tasmanian and Commonwealth Governments have turned a blind eye to the ongoing logging of pristine forests within an area they earmarked for immediate protection.

As 2011 draws to a close, Tasmanians are suffering the loss of hundreds of hectares of native forest that should have been saved from logging. Activists have occupied forests on the flanks of Mt Mueller to document this destruction. Prime Minister Julia Gillard must keep her word before the trail of broken promises undermines this crucial opportunity to protect Tasmania’s forests.

Where?

Mount Mueller is a spectacular mountain located near the Styx Valley, Southwest Tasmania. The Weld, Styx and Florentine rivers all flow from this iconic mountain. While the mountain top is protected in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, the pristine ancient forests at its base remain under threat from industrial scale logging. The Tree Top Watch Spot lies in the heart of these forests.

This area of forest is known to Forestry Tasmania as “TN044B.” We have affectionately named it “Julia’s Forest.” Named after Prime Minister Julia Gillard. She is, after all, responsible for the life of this forest. On the day she signed the Intergovernmental Agreement, making a promise to protect this forests, she became it’s guardian. Julia will be accountable for every tree that falls in this forest.

Julia’s Forest is a prime example of Tasmania’s spectacular and unique forests. The ridges are lined with giant Eucalpyts, the tallest flowering plant on earth. Steep fern gullies are bursting with tree ferns, sasafrass, leatherwood and other Tasmanian rainforest tree species. Unique and threatened wildlife have been found in Julia’s Forest, including Tasmanian Devils, Spotted Tailed Quolls and the unique Tasmanian White Goshawks. The waterways in this forest are also home to a rare and threatened Hyrdrobiid snail.

The terrain is so steep in this forest that the loggers need to use specialised cable logging machinery. This is despite the historical land-slips that have occurred in the area. This type of logging causes irreparable damage to the soil and waterways. ...

The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, has withdrawn his support for the Federal Government due to the Prime Minister’s failure to honour her agreement on poker machine reform.

``I can no longer guarantee supply and confidence for the Government because the Prime Minister has told me she can’t honour the promise to introduce mandatory pre-commitment on poker machines by the end of 2014,” Mr Wilkie said.

``Consequently I regard the Prime Minister to be in breach of the written agreement she signed, leaving me no option but to honour my word and end my current relationship with her Government.

``Frankly, a deal’s a deal and it must be honoured. Our democracy is simply too precious to trash with broken promises and backroom compromises. So I will walk, take my chances and so be it.

``As someone said to me this week, millions of people are concerned about poker machines, but everyone should care about politicians being true to their word.

``Moreover the Government has failed to seize the opportunity to enact genuinely meaningful poker machine reform. This Parliament presents a remarkable opportunity to finally do something about poker machine problem gambling and its devastating social and financial damage cost. But instead the Government took the easy way out.

``The Government’s explanation that it doesn’t have the numbers is simply wrong. The legislation should be debated in the Parliament and tested on the floor of the House. After all, that’s what democracy is supposed to be about.’’

Mr Wilkie acknowledged that the Government is pursuing limited reform and expressed the hope that this first step would lead to meaningful reform.

``I will not stand in the Government’s way because I do feel that in the circumstances it would be better to achieve at least some reform.

``The push for pokies reform has not failed,’’ he said. ``Poker machine problem gambling is now a hot topic, polling shows a strong groundswell for reform and the Commonwealth is set to intervene in gambling regulation for the first time in our history.

``But our foothold is small, so it’s more important than ever that pressure is kept on the Government to deliver the reform package announced today and eventually much more.

``Some people will ask why I would still withdraw my support for the Government when it’s progressing reform.

``But the issue is not that the Government is not progressing poker machine reform. Rather the issue is that the Government has decided it can’t deliver on the reforms it agreed to, which I’ve insisted repeatedly were the basis for my ongoing support and which I’ve honoured since the agreement was made some 16 months ago.”

Mr Wilkie added that in relation to matters of confidence, it’s in the public interest for parliaments to be stable and go full term.

``I will only support motions of no confidence in the event of serious misconduct and not support politically opportunistic motions. I will consider budget measures on their merits.

``As far as I’m concerned it’s still early days in the campaign for reform because too many people are being hurt by the pokies and the vast majority of people are looking to their elected representatives to do something about the problem.

``This and future governments must be forced to understand that this is just the start. The millions of people affected adversely by poker machines now and in the future deserve nothing less than our full support to minimise the damage.

``I will continue to push for mandatory pre-commitment and $1 maximum bets.’’

Residents are alarmed at the number of rogue motorbikes racing over State government-owned land in Ashmore, revealed Gaven MP Alex Douglas today.

Dr Douglas said land north of Keen Road in Ashmore had been cleared by the State government with no notification of intention to surrounding residents.

“The State government has approved clearing on this site which has now provided the perfect illegal playground for motorbike racing,” he said.

“This land links to a major land parcel which connects through to Keen Rd and the lack of transparency surrounding the government’s planned use of this site smacks of a cover up. What is the government hiding and why?

“Residents are complaining to me that the motorbikes are not only loud in what is a normally quiet residential area , but they also pose a risk to surrounding families as they tear through the neighbourhood.

“I call on the State government to make their intentions clear to residents, the GCCC and the local member of state parliament as it is an historic site, having the Southport 100 year old rail tunnel within it.”

Passengers have once again been stranded on the Gold Coast when a Surfside bus failed to turn up in Surfers Paradise late last night, according to Member for Gaven, Dr Alex Douglas MP.

“This comes on top of at least 300 people being stranded at Nerang Railway Station on Christmas Day when buses failed to arrive,” he said.

“At least ten passengers waiting for the last 745 bus to Nerang at 11.18 pm had no way home on our faltering public transport system.

“One person phoned my office this morning angry that she was forced to pay $30 for a cab after phoning Translink and being told there was nothing they could do.

“At least three passengers phoned Translink last night from the bus-stop in Surfers Paradise and each were told there was nothing that could be done.

“Some of these passengers were from Switzerland, who are just bewildered by our unreliable bus system, which is also one of the most expensive in the world.

“What is the point of having a Translink help line when passengers are told it’s not their problem and there is nothing they can do?

“The angry passenger told me she was now purchasing a bicycle as the only reliable way of getting from Surfers Paradise to Carrara at night.

“Our public transport system is making us a laughing stock amongst our international tourists.”

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