A total of 1198 candidates have nominated to run in the 2010 federal election, the Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn announced today.

This national figure includes 349 Senate candidates for the 40 Senate vacancies and 849 candidates for the 150 House of Representatives seats across Australia.

Mr Killesteyn said the candidate nominations were officially declared at 12noon today at public events held around Australia.

The 2010 nominations are made up of 353 female candidates and 845 male candidates. A total of 1421 candidates stood at the 2007 federal election. Mr Killesteyn said that the secure printing of ballot papers would now start with early voting to commence in the coming week.

WATSON, Rana Australian Labor Party

ROSSITER, Ian One Nation

MAIZEY, Graeme The Greens

NICHOLSON, Barrie Sinclair Family First

The WA Coroner has been critical of a homeopath and a promiment Perth toxicologist over the death of a woman who used alternative treatments to treat her cancer. ...

Major Parties Should Commit To Election Funding Reform:

Greens Media Release [31/7/10]

Rudd Spills Guts On Operating Table

Dear Secular Party,

I heard your advertisement on Brisbane's 4ZzZ radio station and out of interest visited your website.

I agree with many of your ideas and was especially inspired by your recent submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee.

However, I note that your website states:

Why the Secular Party?

The Liberal Party is too socially conservative
The ALP is too economically conservative
The Greens are too socialist economically
The Democrats are confused about their role

All these parties condone the unwarranted imposition of religious views.

Could you please provide examples of how the Greens and Democrats "condone the unwarranted imposition of religious views"?

Regards,

Have you got a creepy sense of déjà vu?

In 2007, Australians voted for a government that promised to take action on global warming. Three years later, nothing has happened. We need your help to make this change - and fast. Take action now.

We are heading back to the polls again with climate on the agenda. But this time the major parties are offering even less than last election.

We want strong action on global warming, but our leaders fail to take on this responsibility. We need leaders who have the courage to lead, and to stand up to the big polluters. But since Julia and Tony aren't showing any sign of doing so, it's time we target the power behind the throne.

Ever wondered who makes the decisions about what a party campaigns on? Funnily enough, it is not the party's figureheads but the shadowy campaign directors. These guys are the real power brokers, so this is who we're targeting. Enter the scene, Labor's Karl Bitar and the Liberal's Brian Loughnane.

Heard of them? Maybe not. That's how they like it. But now we're outing them and telling them that enough is enough. It's time to cut the pollution.

Forget the do-nothing figureheads and email Brian and Karl today - let them know that you want action on global warming - not just spin.

We need:

A pollution standard that would rule out new dirty coal plants
A carbon price to make big business pay for their pollution and reward companies that cut pollution
To stop subsidising polluting fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy to make it cheaper

Australia has 12 new polluting coal-fired power stations on the books. We owe it to our children to begin the transition away from a pollution dependent economy to a renewable energy future. We urgently need policies that cut pollution and make large-scale renewable energy cheaper.

With the election looming, now is the time to make your voice heard. Say it loud, and say it clear.

Thank you for taking action.

The Greenpeace climate team

PS. This year's Walk Against Warming is happening on 15 August - just a few days before the election. It's time our political leaders walk with the people - not the big polluters. Make sure you join the tens of thousands of others on the streets calling for action on global warming.

..."Democracy," meanwhile, was a sort of eternal suspension of judgment, a process of endless "listening," "ambivalence," and virtuous deference to "the popular will." According to Jay Rosen, journalists had no business giving an arrogant thumbs-up or thumbs-down on everything our leaders did; they should instead by wondering constantly about who they were and whether or not they were correctly representing their constituency, the public, and asking the questions that the public would want them to ask. Rosen called his model of democratic journalism "proactive neutrality," a process of soliciting conversation with the public - "bringing people to the table" - but never "telling them what to decide." According to this reform movement, democratic culture had no place for crusading or persuasion; by definition such efforts to impress one's own views on the community were acts of unpardonable elitism. No, journalists had to be neutral above all, flexible and content-free, their newspapers understood as community fixtures like a town hall or a fire department.

Like the cult studs ignoring the world of business, one can't help but feel that the leaders of the public journalism movement were making a fairly massive error of judgment. After all, they looked out at the America of the nineties, a place in which more and more aspects of public life were being brought under corporate control, in which the concentration of wealth was at a record level, in which no group or figure, public or private, dared challenge the authority of the market, and in which so many aspects of the general welfare were breaking down, and they declared that the real problem facing democracy was an excess of judgment. They earnestly argued that the thing to do in such circumstances; the answer to such acute and well-defined disorders, was to shut up, stop criticizing and contemplate instead the majesty of The People.

Of course, if your objective was not so much democracy as restoring the legitimacy of a certain industry, such stuff seemed positively ideal. Here again, as in the world of management theory, a particularly blaring bit of watered-down thirties populism was offered up as a means of regaining public respect for journalism without calling into question any of the larger corporate developments of the ear. The soft populism of public journalism was thus an easy compromise between the demands of the ever more corporate media and the alienated, hostile public: By giving even the largest info-conglomerates a human face it promised to dispel cynicism and yet keep those mergers coming at the same time.

Even worse than that, though, by putting its seal of approval on the trademark innovations of chain journalism - polls, demographic surveys, focus groups, "town meetings" - public journalism essentially embraced the market as an inherently democratic arrangement. The key to solving journalism's problems, its leaders maintained, was to understand editing as customer service. Unlike other forms of market populism though, public journalism did not fetishize "revolution," "rebellion," or the "subverting" of "dominant paradigms." As these terms had a meaning that is all to real in the history of newspaper writing, public journalism steered well clear of them, opting instead for a determinedly middlebrow formula that promised to keep journalistic creativity on a short leash and to guard against any outbreak of the old muckraking impulse. This is no time for conflict, it insisted, for journalism that called fundamental economic principles into quesiton: This is a time for the cessation of questioning. Public journalism had no place for the more aggressive public-mindedness of figures like Upton Sinclair or Lincoln Steffens - or even for the idea that social interests might be in fundamental conflict. What it required was a sort of unilateral cultural disarmament. So in a business that was alway schizophrenic, a place both of angry outsiders and the arrogance of the state, of protests and of platitudes, of rebellion and reassurance, public journalism came down solidly on the side of the latter: it was business poet Eddie Guest over H.L. Mencken, Roger Rosenblatt over Murray Kempton.

I do not doubt the good intentions of the leading public journalists. They were sincerely concerned about democracy. And surely one must acknowledge that any number of efforts described as "public journalism" have enjoyed signal successs: the Kansas City Star's 1995 series on urban sprawl, for example, was an outstanding example of critical, community-minded reporting. But consider how neatly public journalism's dreams of a new consensus dovetail with the other great journalistic movement of the nineties - the corporatization of the news. Although both movements came to their conclusions through different logical routes, both insisted on almost an identical bill of reforms. Newspapers would have to redefine their coverage by demographic and excise the odd voices of those with funny (usually anticorporate) ideas they had come up with on their own. It was no coincidence that the most prominent practitioner of public journalism in the nineties was Mark Willes, the CEO of Times Mirror and publisher of the Los Angeles Times. In addition to hosting town meetings and coming up with various schemes for encouraging average people to read the newspaper, Willes shut down the excellent New York Newsday for less-than-convincing bottom-line reasons and tried to boost the Times's profitability by blowing down the wall between advertising and editorial, thus paving the way for all manner of lucrative synergies. Profit and populism went hand in hand. And although Willes' project was badly discredited in October 1999, when it was revealed that the Times had split the profits generated by a special Sunday supplement with the corporation that was the subject of the supplement, others cautioned against judging the paper too harshly. All the Times was doing was using the proven democratic machinery of marketing to let the people of Los Angeles see themselves in all their glorious peopleness. And please understand: Elitists aren't those who run the world; they're those who criticize the CEOs. ...

Does Your MP Care About Koalas?

... On the 30th July we will be advised of all new candidates and I will write to them also. Somewhat humorously, we will give them a koala 'thumbs up' for each question they get right and an axe to those who choose to ignore the plight of the koala.

In the current Federal Parliament, there are 128 sitting members in koala habitats and only 1 had a full paw, 11 had two claws, and sadly 116 had an axe, which is symbolic of how much our politicians regard the environment. See our wall of fame and wall of shame.

I am hoping we will get a better response this time around as we approach a Federal election in our country, especially given the state of the planet. It is hard to contemplate that it was only 6 months ago when I was in Copenhagen, and our former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and President Obama said that the planet was facing the worst crisis ever with global warming. It seems to have completely disappeared off the agenda.

As I wrote then and I do now, irrespective of whether global warming is occurring, what I know is that koala habitats go down every day, relentlessly. As we explained to our leaders in Copenhagen, every single koala habitat tree the size of a telegraph pole has one tonne of carbon and requires 2000 saplings to replace it, not to mention the ecological value of the trees. If we just stopped chopping down trees and allowed the natural environment to protect us as it always has, life would be simpler. ...

Last week, it was revealed by the Queensland Government that their reckless experiments with underground coal gasification had led to the poisoning of bores within a 2km radius of the Cougar Energy Plant near Kingaroy. It was also revealed that it took the company two months to notify the Government, and two more weeks for the Government to notify residents.

On August 4th, we are bringing together farmers, environmentalists and concerned citizens from around Queensland to demand protection of our irreplaceable farmland and environment, before it becomes an industrial wasteland. Find out more about our Parliamentary Protest here. Coal and coal seam gas mining are expanding at an unprecedented rate. This threatens our farmers, our climate, our communities, our food security and water.

Farmers deserve a fair go. Our environment deserves protection. It's time to confront the people responsible for the explosion of the coal and gas industry across some of Australia's most valuable and irreplaceable farming lands and vulnerable nature refuges. This demonstration will be a People's Assembly, where we'll combine the strength of the farming and environmental movements, and put pressure on the government to stop the reckless expansion of coal and coal seam gas mining. Join with fellow farmers, environmentalists and concerned citizens on August 4th to demand protection of our irreplaceable farmland and environment.

When: 12pm, Wednesday, August 4th, 2010.
Where: Parliament House, George Street, Brisbane.

War dogs to feature at Pet Expo : GCCC Media Release [27/7/10]

Military service dogs will feature for the first time at this year’s Gold Coast Pet & Animal Expo. A number of dogs who have either served or are being trained to serve in war zones will be a highlight of the two-day Expo, to be held at Varsity Lakes in September. The war dog display, being staged by the Australian and Defence Force Trackers & War Dogs Association (ADFTWDA), adds to a unique line up of Expo displays and demonstrations, including yoga for dogs, a South American Macaw display and mini pigs. ...

President of the ADFTWDA, George Hulse, said staff from the Association will be available to answer questions from the public about the dogs.

“We will also be looking for potential puppy sponsors – people who are willing to take puppies into their homes for their first six months of life, before being returned to the military for official training,” he said. ...

Queensland citizens draws to the attention of the House the need to encourage the use of public transport on the Gold Coast.

Your petitioners therefore request the House to consider a free bus service 6 month trial to encourage all Gold Coast residents to leave their cars at home and utilise public transport in the region and encourage an environmentally sustainable future for the city.

One More Time For The Sopwith Camel

Taking a dump over Brisbane one last time

The Sopwith Camel will barnstorm Brisbane one last time during the upcoming "Who Cares About The Stinky Old River?" Festival.

Although last year was supposed to be the Sopwith Camel's final appearance, World War Flying Ace Snoopy will be called back from retirement once again by popular demand.

"This will definitely be the last time I barnstorm Brisbane," said Snoopy.

The Sopwith Camel will be retired in December, yet imperial wars of aggression are accelerating beyond belief.

Snoopy said that barnstorming is environmentally friendly and a great training opportunity so hippies and peaceniks could go fuck themselves.

The squadron of Sopwith Camels will be replaced with some piece of American crap that won't fly and will send the country broke.

The Sopwith Camel is expected to return next year.

Immigration Blocks Friendly Villawood Visit:

Greens Media Release [25/7/10]

Lead Greens Senate Candidate Lee Rhiannon has criticised a decision by the Department of Immigration to block Greens, CFMEU and APHEDA representatives attending Villawood Detention Centre today for a friendly soccer match and picnic. The visit has been characterised as a 'security risk'.

The event is a semi-regular occasion to maintain the spirit of detainees while in detention.

Greens Federal Senate candidate Brami Jegan, NSW Upper House lead candidate Clr David Shoebridge, Candidate for Sydney Tony Hickey and Cook Naomi Waizer are in the group that is being refused entry.

Ms Rhiannon is speaking at a Tamil vigil later this afternoon.

"I know from previous visits that contact with the outside world is critical to maintain the spirits of asylum seekers at Villawood," Ms Rhiannon said.

"Blocking this friendly visit is unnecessary and a blow to those living day after long day inside Villawood."

Ms Brami Jegan, a Greens Senate candidate, Australian Tamil refugee and regular visitor to the 39 Tamil asylum-seekers held at Villawood Detention Centre said, "The uncertainty of open ended detention makes human contact absolutely central.

"A game of soccer and a BBQ is gold for detainees and the decision by the Commonwealth to refuse us entry highlights the brutality of the Gillard government's stance on asylum seekers," Ms Jegan said.

Changes have been made to operating times at some waste transfer stations on the Gold Coast.

Changes aim to improve customer service and provide a greater range of recycling services. They are also in line with Council’s commitment towards environmental and financially sustainable waste management.

Changes include:

Miami Transfer Station – open Monday, Saturday and Sunday 7am to 4.50pm (previously open every day). However, during December, January and February it will be open every day, except Christmas Day.

Miami is a short drive to the larger Merrimac Transfer Station on Boowaggan Road, which includes improved recycling facilities.

Jacobs Well Transfer Station on Behms Road has increased operations from four days weekly to seven days per week from 7am to 4.50pm. Jacobs Well includes modern recycling facilities.

Pimpama Transfer Station is closed.

For a list of transfer stations visit goldcoastcity.com.au/greengc or call 5581 6799

Gold Coasters Win Right To Shop Even More

"The courage we need is not the courage, the fortitude, to be obedient in the service of an unjust war, to help conceal lies, to do our job by a boss who has usurped power in his acting as an outlaw government. It is the courage, at last, to face honestly the truth and the reality of what we are doing in the world, and act responsibly to change it." Daniel Ellsberg

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... These Israeli naval attacks [2008-09] began shortly after the discovery by the BG (British Gas) Group of what appear to be quite sizeable natural gas fields in Gaza's territorial waters. Industry journals report that Israel is already appropriating these Gazan resources for its own use, part of its commitment to shift its economy to natural gas. The standard industry source reports that

Israel's finance ministry has given the Israel Electric Corp. approval to purchase larger quantities of natural gas from BG than originally agreed upon, according to Israeli government sources [which] said the state-owned utility would be able to negotiate for as much as 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the Marine field located off the Mediterranean coast of the Palestinian controlled Gaza Strip. Last year the Israeli government approved the purchase of 800 million cubic meters of gas from the field by the IEC....Recently the Israeli government changed its policy and decided the state-owned utility could buy the entire quantity of gas from the Gaza Marine field. Previously the government had said the IEC could buy half the total amount and the remainder would be bought by private power producers.

The pillage of what could become a major source of income for Gaza is surely known to U.S. authorities. It is only reasonable to suppose that the intention to appropriate these limited resources, either by Israel alone or together with the collaborationist Palestinian Authority, is the motive for preventing Gazan fishing boats from entering Gaza's territorial waters.

There are some instructive precedents. In 1989, Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans signed a treaty with his Indonesian counterpart ali Alatas granting Australia rights to the substantial oil reserves in "the Indonesian Province of East Timor." The Indonesia-Australia Timor Gap Treaty, which offered not a crumb to the people whose oil was being stolen, "is the only legal agreement anywhere in the world that effectively recognises Indonesia's right to rule East Timor," the Australian press reported. Asked about his willingness to recognize the Indonesian conquest and to rob the sole resource of the conquered territory, which had been subjected to near-genocidal slaughter by the Indonesian invader with the strong support of Australia (along with the United States and the UK, and some others), Evans explained that "there is no binding legal obligation not to recognise the acquisition of territory that was acquired by force," adding that "the world is a pretty unfair place, littered with examples of acquisition by force."

It should, then, be unproblematic for Israel to follow suit in Gaza.

A few years later, Evans became the leading figure in the campaign to introduce the concept "responsibility to protect" - known as R2P - into international law. R2P is intended to establish an international obligation to protect populations from grave crimes. Evans is the author of a major book on the subject and was co-chair of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, which issued what is considered the basic document on R2P. In an article devoted to this "idealistic effort to establish a new humanitarian principle," the London Economist featured Evans and his "bold but passionate claim on behalf of a three word expression which (in quite large part thanks to his efforts) now belongs to the language of diplomacy: the 'responsibility to protect.'" The article is accompanied by a picture of Evans with the caption "Evans: a lifelong passion to protect." His hand is pressed to his forehead in despair over the difficulties faced by his idealistic effort. The Journal chose not to run a different photo that circulates in Australia, depicting Evans and Alatas exuberantly clasping their hands together as they toast the Timor Gap Treaty that they had just signed. ...

... The immense value of mangrove areas as nursery grounds for fish and prawns has become appreciated in recent years as mangroves were destroyed and fish stocks declined. Before the 1970s, mangroves in Moreton Bay remained relatively pristine. However, the increasing urban development of Brisbane led to extensive clearing to make way for canal developments, marinas, port and harbour facilities and the large reclamation works for the Brisbane Airport to the north of the river mouth. It is estimated that some 20 per cent of the total mangrove coverage has been lost since European settlement. Nearly 70 per cent of the fish, prawns and crabs that we eat are dependent on mangrove estuarine habitats for at least part of their lifecycle. At high tide, the trunks and root systems provide shelter and feeding grounds for mud crabs, fish such as Mangrove Jack, bream and perchlets and a variety of prawns and small shrimps.

At the base of the food chain is the large quantity of vegetable matter (leaves, seeds, branches and logs) that falls onto the surface of the mud where it is eaten by invertebrate animals such as crabs and molluscs, or slowly degraded by chemical processes and the action of bacteria and fungi. The products of this decay enrich the soil and are washed into the waterways to provide nutrients for phyto-plankton (microscopic floating algae), other algae and seagrasses. Primary production [the rate at which plants synthesise organic material from inorganic molecules using energy from the sun. It represents food potentially available to herbivorous animals] for the mangroves of Moreton Bay has been estimated to be at least 96 tonnes of carbon per day. In Botany Bay, near Sydney, mangroves occupy less than 6 percent of the area and contribute more than 30 per cent of the productivity. ...

... Walter Rodney, the important political thinker and writer from Guyana, talked about what he called "the local lackeys" of imperialism, something you've just touched upon. Tell me more about this class of collaborators who serve the metropolitan center.

This has been such a clear pattern throughout the twentieth century that we can follow it very closely. There was a long period in the middle of the century that saw the rise of nationalism, the rise of anticolonial movements, and the rise of national liberation movements against the old empires. But already, standing in the shadows behind the old empires, was the United States of America. As the old empires were going down, they were being replaced by American power.

What happened in the middle of the last century? The Korean War. A three-year war fought by the United States under the banner of the United Nations, in the course of which the industrially strong part of Korea - the north - was completely devastated. Not a single building was left standing. Its entire infrastructure was destroyed. And then both sides agreed to a cease-fire.

Next came the Vietnam War. First, the French were defeated in Vietnam. The United States was not prepared to allow that defeat and stepped in. And for the first time American leaders thought of using nuclear weapons: John Foster Dulles, the secretary of state, suggested to Western allies and the French that perhaps nuclear force would be necessary to stop "these ants" crawling up the hills around Dien Bien Phu - the big battle where the French were defeated. By "these ants," Dulles meant the Vietnamese people; they could be destroyed.

I begin with these examples because without understanding the national movements and the role they played, we can't properly understand the role of the collaborators. The aim of the American empire was, by hook or by crook, to get rid of these governments; to maintain a nationalist pretense but put in power people who could posture as anticolonial nationalists while actually serving the needs of the great metropolitan empire.

How did they do this? They failed in Vietnam. They succeeded in dividing Korea. But they couldn't rule South Korea democratically, because no lackeys could be found who could be elected. So when you can't find lackeys who can be elected democratically, you put the army in power. The did exactly the same thing in Pakistan: A general election was planned for April 1959, which would have produced a government that would have withdrawn from the security pacts into which the U.S. had tied Pakistan. The Americans organized a coup d'état and put the military in power in October 1958 to pre-empt a general election.

The country which worried them the most in the middle of the last century was Indonesia, because it had the world's largest Communist party outside China and Russia, a party with a million members and an additional two million people organized in front organizations. The Communist Party had a big influence on the government and within the armed forces. So what did the Americans do? They organized one of the most dastardly actions we have seen since the Second World War, a military coup that put Suharto in power. Suharto then proceeded to kill a million people and wipe out the most powerful social movement in the country. The killings in the rural areas, where the Communists had organized the peasants, were horrendous. A million people dead, and as Time magazine put it, quite bluntly, it was the best news the West had had from Asia in a long time. It was a big victory. A dictator much more vicious than anything we have seen in Iraq came to power on a mountain of corpses, and in Suharto the Americans found a local collaborator who stayed in power until the end of the twentieth century. In 1975 he invaded East Timor, killed several hundred thousand people there. In Indonesia earlier he had physically exterminated the secular and radical opposition. Now many are surprised that the Islamists in Indonesia are so powerful, but this is because the Islamists are the people who were used in 1965 to kill Reds: Go and wipe them out. They're atheists, they're communists, Kill, kill, kill, kill. This is how collaborators are created.

In the most recent phase, following the end of the Cold War, the triumph of United States and world capitalism has totally disarmed even semi-nationalist politicians, who said, "Now there is nothing else to do. Just work with them, serve them." This has led to a phenomenal growth in corruption all over the Third World, and not just there - in the First and Second Words as well. There has been massive corruption in politics, which has become part of corporate life. This has been the case in the States for some time, but it has recently begun to seep through. It's been very difficult in the last twenty years to get elected leaders who are prepared to fight for their own people and the rights of their own state. …

When an unnamed President of the United States is caught in a closed room with a young girl scout less than two weeks before re-election, a hired political gun (played by Robert DeNiro) is brought in to try to take the public attention away from the scandal. He decides to construct a fake war with Albania, hoping the media will concentrate on this instead. In order to come up with his 'war', he contacts a Hollywood producer named Stanley Motss (Hoffman), who brings in a series of specialists who help construct a theme song, build up interest, and fake some footage of an orphan in Albania. ...

... shoe tossing features as an allegedly spontaneous mass cultural manifestation of tribute to Sgt. William Schumann, played by Woody Harrelson, who has purportedly been “shot down behind enemy lines” in Albania, although the development has been orchestrated by the public relations team of the U.S. President in its effort to divert attention from an incipient scandal concerning his sexual impropriety. ...

Problems with smelly gas? This pack of 5 saving graces (also affectionately known as fart pads or fart filters) effectively filters the odor caused by flatulence; simply stick one in the right place and you're ready for a chili cook-off. ...

Greens Announce Warringah Candidate To Challenge Tony Abbott:

Media Release [21/7/10]

Greens NSW Federal Senate Candidate Lee Rhiannon today launched the Federal candidate for Warringah, Matthew Drake-Brockman at the Greens new Northern Beaches shopfront in Pittwater Road Dee Why.

Matthew Drake-Brockman is a 33 year old father of one. He is studying law and works for ABC online. He nominates environmental sustainability and conserving Warringah's unique land and marine environment as key priorities for his campaign, alongside climate change and health.

"Over the election campaign we will take a derelict office space and turn it into a functioning shopfront for the Greens, to better allow us to reach out to local residents," Mr Drake-Brockman said.

"The Greens for Warringah will run a direct, grassroots campaign, unlike Tony Abbott whose electioneering will be dominated by expensive, glossy ads funded by swanky corporate fundraisers.

"The Greens are about community involvement and participatory democracy, while the Liberal Party is all about the big end of town.

"The Greens will campaign on environmental sustainability. Thiscontrasts with sitting member Tony Abbott, who once described climate change as 'a load of crap'.

"The issue of climate change needs urgent attention. It's clear from my work with residents that they are tired of the same old excuses from politicians for their party's inaction.

"The time is right for governments to drive the switch to renewable energy, and take genuine action on waste minimisation and pollution.

"Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's slash and burn approach to healthcare, clearly seen during his time as Health Minister, is dangerous. The Greens want to see a first class health care system for all Australians."

A vote for the Greens is a vote for a safe, clean environment and a strong economy. Greens NSW candidate for the Federal Senate Lee Rhiannon said:

"Matthew is an energetic and impressive young man who is passionate about Warringah. His sensible, balanced approach is a refreshing change from the rash actions of the sitting member Tony Abbott.

"The Greens are committed to protecting and conserving Australia's unique flora, fauna and natural landscape and Matthew's local campaign will throw a spotlight on how this can best be done in the seat of Warringah.

1. Ending government waste and mismanagement, reducing government debt and returning the Budget to surplus to put downward pressure on interest rates

2. Making sure population growth is based on economic and environmental sustainability.

3. More support for the public health system, keeping the private health rebate and dramatically increasing funds and support for mental health.

Downstream side of the Pimpama River at the Kerkin Road Bridge/Weir [20/7/10]

I want to vote Green, but I want a Labor government: Vote 1 for the Green candidate, then vote 2 for the Labor candidate, then number all the other candidates in the order of your preference. If there are independents or minor parties you also like, you can put them between the Green candidate and the Labor candidate. If you leave any boxes blank, your vote doesn't count.

I want to vote Green, but I want Tony Abbott to be PM: Vote 1 for the Green candidate, then vote 2 for the Liberal/National coalition candidate, then number all the other candidates in the order of your preference. If there are independents or minor parties you also like, you can put them between the Green candidate and the Liberal candidate. If you leave any boxes blank, your vote doesn't count.

I want to vote Green, and I can't stand either of the big parties: Vote 1 for the Green candidate, then number all the minor-party and independent candidates, then send the big parties a message by numbering their candidates second-last and last. If you leave any boxes blank, your vote doesn't count.

Take control of your vote - The Senate

In the Senate, you have two options.

The first is to vote above the line, by numbering just one box above the line. When you vote above the line, your vote is allocated according to a 'group voting ticket', submitted by each party/group before the election. If you vote above the line, your preferences are allocated in the way the party/group you voted for determines.

To vote Green using the above the line option, just put a 1 in the box marked "The Greens". Leave the other boxes blank.

Once the Greens group voting ticket has been lodged, we will put a link to it

The second option is to vote below the line, by numbering all of the candidates below the line. This means that you have complete control over your preferences.

To vote Green using the below the line option, number all the Greens candidates first (they will all be in the same column), then number the remaining candidates in the order of your choice. Number all the candidates.

Information about Senate voting from the AEC

KEY CONVERSATION POINTS:

You can control where your preferences go.

How-To-Vote cards are only a guide.

The Greens are committed to informing people on how to make informed choices about voting, in order that their vote best reflects their political wishes.

Gold Coast Thrown Into Shock And Chaos By Journalism

… I was on deck, it was a beautiful sunny afternoon. And lovely breeze, the boat was sailing itself so nicely. And these dolphins started to appear around the boat. Then I looked to stern, and there were just hundreds and hundreds of dolphins leaping out of the water towards the boat. And I'd just checked the fix [satellite navigation], and I think we were going to round the rocks within about an hour or so. And they started to surround the boat, and there were just dozens all around the boat, going with the boat, and leaping out of the water. This was just spectacular. I'd seen plenty of dolphins before out there that followed the boat and dived in the bow way, but nothing like this, they just completely put a shield around the boat.

And I went down below to get the camera to take a photo. And I came up on deck, and I turned around to look forward - it was a habit, every time I went down below - when I'd come up on deck the first thing I'd do is stand up and face forward and scan the horizon to make sure there was nothing in the way. And I came up on deck and I turned around and looked forward, and there were these two huge whales, just a few yards off the bow, and they were coming at right angles to the boat, so we were going to converge on a collision course. And I just threw the camera down and leapt behind the wheel, disconnected the self-steering and pulled the boat away [like this]. And as I did that, the whale sensed - I don't know whether they sensed the dolphins or sensed the boat, or whatever, or saw it - and they both dived down, that by the time I pulled the boat away they were diving right beside me. And one went down cleanly with its tail tucked in, and the other one - as it dived its tail - just like you see in the movies, its tail just went up in the air, and it was only about 20 feet away. So it was incredible. And they dived straight down.

And I stood there, and I remember I was gripping the wheel [like this] and I was looking up in the air at this huge tail …. I just couldn't believe the sight of this …. And they dived down, and I was just standing there with this iron grip on the wheel, and my knees started to shake, and then I looked at my camera, and thought hmmm silly bitch you should have taken a photo, it was just so spectacular and all I was doing was standing there with my mouth open, looking. ….

... Kay remembers the epic voyage fondly, and hopes that many Australians have been inspired by her story to get out there and give it a go.

Kay believes herself to be “one of the luckiest people in the world” having been able to combine her dream of sailing around the world, with her fundraising efforts. In the first two years after her return – with Blackmores continued support – she raised over $1 million for the Ted Noffs Life Education Program – hopefully enabling many more Australian children to go on and pursue their own dreams rather than abuse drugs and alcohol.

Marcus Blackmore, Kay’s long-time friend said: “Kay’s pioneering spirit and determination has left a legacy for Australians to be proud of for generations to come. It is not only her drive to be the first that should be remembered but how she used her achievements to help others that should be commended. ” ...

Free Public Transport For The Gold Coast!

Queensland citizens draws to the attention of the House the need to encourage the use of public transport on the Gold Coast.

Your petitioners therefore request the House to consider a free bus service 6 month trial to encourage all Gold Coast residents to leave their cars at home and utilise public transport in the region and encourage an environmentally sustainable future for the city.

Who profits from promoting fear? Does paranoia make us blind to real dangers? How can we combat fear-mongering? These are some of the questions author Dan Gardner answers in an interview with DigitalJournal.com about his recent book Risk.

... DigitalJournal.com: Who is responsible for making us so fearful?

Gardner: First there's the media, who engage in sensationalism to tell catastrophic stories. Sadly, all the commonplace criticisms of media are true. Second, marketers love fear. There's a long list of organizations that profit by promoting fear. If a corporation makes you fear something, they've succeeded. Look at how security and home-alarm systems are a big industry: if you see their ads, there's no question they promote the fear of crime. If you're afraid of being a victim, the solution is to buy a home alarm. The third most important factor is psychology. I argue about the mismatch between our brain and the information age we live in. We have a conscious mind, the mind listening to this conversation, the mind that can think logically. But we also have an unconscious mind that does most of the brain's heavy lifting. It delivers snap judgment and offers decisions as hunches. They are feelings that are somehow true but you can't explain why. So why does the unconscious mind deliver instant results whereas the conscious mind is slow and lumbering? Because we don't always survey information logically. We take snippets of info and apply a rule of thumb.

DigitalJournal.com: Like in what situations?

Gardner: What about thinking of examples? If you can think of an example easily, it must be common and may happen in future. If you struggle to find an uncommon example, it will unlikely happen in the future. It made sense in the Stone Age. The only info available was personal experience or anecdotes from other guys. If you can quickly think of an example of someone grabbed by crocodile, you should be worried about croc attacks. In the information age, you turn on the TV and see the evening news, say a story about a German boy lured by a pedophile, kidnapped and then murdered. Now parents take their kid to a park, and they're worried about strangers abducting children. The unconscious mind processes the info and says, "How hard is it to think of a pedophile example?" It's really easy because the parents just saw a case last night on the evening news. Therefore it is common, right? And parents have an uneasy feeling because now they need to watch their kids. Abductions by strangers are fantastically rare but parents are convinced it's a serious threat.

DigitalJournal.com: Won't some parents say that there's no harm in being protective?

Gardner: When you dig deep, there's a huge cost to being overly cautious. It's significant when parents won't allow kids to play unsupervised. They keep children indoors where they don't get enough exercise and then we see a rise in obesity. That's a serious threat to their well-being. Part of the process of maturation is increasingly taking on risk. Children should make decisions for themselves. Street-proofing kids can be important, but what does it do to a four-year-old's psyche when he's being told every stranger is a monster?

DigitalJournal.com: It seems that politicians love putting the fear in us in order to win more votes come election time.

Gardner: Politicians can work on the fear of pedophiles, for instance, and say "I'm a responsible leader, and I will crack down on strangers lurking in bushes!" The media report the politician's words, the paranoia is instilled in the public and around it goes in this never-ending cycle, resulting in outsized fears totally out of proportion. ...

Greens Call For Climate Future First In Balcony Clothes Drying Laws:

Media Release [17/7/10]

Greens MP John Kaye urged NSW Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge to allow all unit and townhouse dwellers to avoid the massive greenhouse gas emissions and costs of electric clothes dryers.

Commenting on a story on page 10 of today's Sydney Morning Herald ('Change in wind as balconies air dirty laundry', http://bit.ly/smh100717), Dr Kaye said:

"Many residents are left with no alternative but to use electric dryers.

"The average electric-powered unit is responsible for almost a half a tonne of carbon dioxide each year.

"Bad state laws are forcing residents who want to do the right thing by the environment to use energy hungry dryers.

"People trying to reduce their carbon footprint face up to a year in jail.

"Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge has an opportunity to amend the owners' corporations model codes to remove the prohibition on publicly visible clothes drying.

"With NSW struggling to control the 60 million tonnes of CO2 that is emitted from the state's coal fired power stations each year, the Minister should get on with it.

"It is time to get over being prissy about washing on balconies. People wear clothes and they need to be washed and dried.

"Forcing unit residents to use energy-guzzling and expensive electric driers is bad greenhouse policy and poor economics.

"We are also calling on planning Minister Tony Kelly to amend the model Local Environment Plan to ensure that all new multi-unit developments provide residents with clothes lines.

"As more people live in units and townhouses, it is important to get this right.

"This is not about banning clothes dryers. It is about providing climate friendly solar-powered options for all apartment dwellers who want to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions," Dr Kaye said.

Election Fever Closing In: All Creatures Great And Small

Isolation on Stradbroke Island has favoured the establishment of a golden colour phase which is particularly frequent on South Stradbroke and now sporadically recorded from the northern Gold Coast to Nerang State Forest.

True Food Network News [15/7/10]

Coles one step closer to okaying GE chicken meat

Coles' response to the True Food Network reveals the company is backsliding on GE feed. Unless we can convince Coles that shoppers want their non-GE policy to stay, more of our food will soon be polluted with GE. ...

No GE in our daily bread!

The threat of GE wheat is looming in Australia. If chemcial companies succeed in progressing these trials to market-release stage, we could soon be eating polluted, GE food for our breakfast, lunch and dinner....

Major wins! biotechs back-off in Brazil, organic beats GE in India

... Brazilian farmers have made clear that they don’t want GE rice. The reasons include soaring patent costs, problems with weed resistance and consumer suspicion about having a staple crop polluted with GE. Among the farmer groups that have worked to resist GE infiltrating Brazils rice fields is the Rice Federation of Rio Grande do Sul, the region which accounts for 60% of Brazilian rice production. ...

Media Release, Minister for Health, The Honourable Stephen Robertson [5/5/06]

GOLD COAST DELIVERS NEW BIRTH CENTRE

A new birth centre at Gold Coast Hospital will provide a safe alternative for women wanting a natural birth experience. Health Minister Stephen Robertson officially opened the centre today. Mr Robertson said the $800,000 birth centre was purpose-built to provide a comfortable, home-like feel but with the security of a hospital.

“This is the first public birthing suite on the Gold Coast,” he said.

“It’s fitting that this new centre has opened its doors on International Midwives Day – Friday 5 May.

“The centre provides an environment where midwives can provide specialised, natural care for pregnant mothers.

“The birth centre will staff six midwives who will deliver continuous care for women throughout their pregnancy, during the labour and up to six weeks in-home assistance afterwards.” Mr Robertson said the birth centre delivered on a Beattie Government election commitment.

“The family-friendly centre includes a clinic room, lounge room and two birth suites, each with a double bed and deep bath intended to ease labour pains and assist in a gentle birth,” he said.

“The service is located next to the existing maternity services at the hospital’s Southport Campus so if labour complications arise support from obstetric and neonatal staff is quickly at hand.

“Queensland Health is committed to providing a diverse range of high quality services for families when they need it most.” Mr Robertson said the unit was developed in close consultation with women, doctors, consumer groups and academics.

“I am proud of the collaborative approach taken by the local community and health staff in working together to create the new centre,” he said.

“The service is available for pregnancies that are deemed low risk and have no factors that will prevent them from giving birth safely under the care of midwives.”

Mr Robertson said the Beattie Government was continuing to invest in better health infrastructure on the Gold Coast.

“Last year there were 2,771 babies delivered on the Gold Coast including 2034 vaginal deliveries and 737 caesarean deliveries,” he said.

“It is expected that over the next year up to 240 mothers-to-be on the Gold Coast will choose this midwife-assisted birth over a traditional labour ward delivery.”

Mr Robertson said International Midwives Day was an important opportunity to recognise the outstanding care Queensland Health midwives provide for mothers and their babies.

“This year’s theme – the world needs midwives now more than ever – recognises the important part midwives play in the care for women through pregnancy, and during and after birth,” he said.

“There are currently more than 10,800 midwives registered in Queensland.

“Each year a number of nurses undertaking midwifery study apply for a Queensland Health Nursing Scholarship for Post-Graduate Study.

“This year, four nurses were successful in gaining the scholarship while they complete post-graduate midwifery training.”

Ms SIMPSON: Minister, I refer to Capital Statement page 125 or page 122. Last year, the minister budgeted $1.148 million on integrated ticketing equipment for the go card-the so-called smart card for public transport-but spent more than $12 million, which was a $10 million blow-out. This year, you estimate that you will spend nearly $5 million more, with the total budget now expected to exceed $22 million-a tripling of the original project cost. Minister, in regard to this year's unbudgeted cost blowout, what was the reason for this and who authorised it?

Ms NOLAN: Can you just tell me the page you are on again?

Ms SIMPSON: It is page 122 of Capital Statement 2010-11, compared with page 125 of last year's Capital Statement.

Ms NOLAN: The additional cost is largely in relation to the expansion of the go card retail network. As I touched on earlier, there are now more than 500 places-off the top of my head, it is 536 places-in South-East Queensland where a person can buy a go card and there are obviously a substantial number of places as well where those go cards can be topped up. People can also do that by ringing the TransLink call centre or by going online.The expansion of the retail network has been, for instance, with new machines which have been placed at bus stations. The retail network has been expanded through go cards being available in a whole new network of newsagents and railway stations.

Over the last six or nine months, there has been an enormous expansion in the number of places where people can buy and top up go cards. The government has done that in order to make access to the go card system easier for people. We will install up to 30 new go card readers at priority railway stations during 2010 to reduce queues when boarding and alighting trains, because obviously we want people to be able to roll up at the station and very easily touch on and then touch off at the end of their journey. I talked about bus stations. There have been 17 new ticket machines installed at busway stations and major bus interchanges, and a further 23 are being rolled out at present. I think it is fair to say that, while other jurisdictions have frankly struggled to get a major integrated electronic card system up and running, it has worked very well in South-East Queensland. Despite the opposition's ongoing criticism of the system, we now have more than 60 per cent of public transport trips very easily being taken using a go card. That has involved, obviously, a cost because we have very substantially increased the network in order to make it easier for people. That is what in large part has driven that growth.

Ms SIMPSON: Minister, last year's budget did not allow for the expenditure, and we warned the minister and the department that you did not have enough go card facilities for purchase or top-up before you rushed into forcing people to change over with the fare increase. In fact, this year's budget papers only confirmed what we warned you about-that you had not allowed for enough outlets for people to buy these without being penalised with the higher fares. Will the minister explain why this was not in fact allowed for in last year's budget and why we instead have the $10 million blow-out because the mad scurry to provide services was done at the last moment and at great cost?

Ms NOLAN: Mr Chair, the shadow minister wants to talk about the opposition's record when it comes to commentary around the go card. What is the opposition's record in this regard? Well, when the member for Clayfield was the shadow minister for transport and the go card was being rolled out, his contribution was to describe the go card as the slow card and the dumb card. The member for Maroochydore in her role, as I touched on earlier, has constantly disparaged this rollout, describing it as a debacle and a fiasco.

I think the people of South-East Queensland-well over a million of whom have a go card, and hundreds of thousands of whom very happily use theirs every day-are voting with their feet in this regard. The fact is that South-East Queensland through this government has successfully rolled out an integrated ticketing system that hundreds of thousands of people are very easily using and enjoying the benefits of, and they are doing that every day of the week. What this opposition has contributed, Mr Chair, is constant disparagement of that without ever-at any point-suggesting an alternative. So, yes, Mr Chair, there is a cost involved in rolling out a retail network. There is a cost involved in having-

Ms SIMPSON: You didn't budget for it last year.

CHAIR: Order!

Ms NOLAN: There is a cost involved in having enough go card readers so that people can very easily touch on and touch off without, for instance, having to wait in a queue. That is absolutely the case. But what exactly is the alternative that this opposition is suggesting? It is further the case, as the member well knows, that it was in October of last year-substantially after last year's budget-that the decision was made that we would massively expand the size of the go card network, that we would change the fare structure in order to encourage go card usage-and it is fair to say, subsequently, that that has been successful-and that we would move towards a paperless ticketing system. All of those decisions were made subsequent to last year's budget. They were publicly announced. The government also announced at the time that we would put further funds into TransLink in order to roll out, for instance, the 301,000 new seats and expand the retail network.

Ms SIMPSON: Minister, could you advise the committee what the capital cost is per go card user for the go card system to date plus the operational costs?

Ms NOLAN: Can you repeat the question please?

Ms SIMPSON: Could the minister advise the committee what the capital cost per go card user is to date plus the operational costs?

Ms NOLAN: Mr Chair, when the go card system was initially established and the technology for that system was rolled out up to 2008, the initial capital cost of go card was just under the $100 million
mark. Off the top of my head, I think it was $99½ million. That stands in very stark contrast to other jurisdictions. Myki, as I said earlier, is talking about a cost of $1.4 billion for a system that at this stage is not yet fully operational across the network. The New South Wales government is involved in very significant litigation with the proponents of the Tcard system, and it has to this point not yet managed to operate a system successfully across the greater Sydney network.

It is the case that the government through TransLink has an ongoing contract with the providers of go card-Cubic Transportation Systems. They are a company who are American based. They run the London oyster card. They are well recognised as a leader in this field. The contract with them was entered into back in 2003. That is an ongoing contract. TransLink continues to pay Cubic for the provision of their system and of their services. It is not the case that that contract is incremental. For instance, they do not get a cut of every go card sold or anything like that. The bottom line is that when the system was set up it cost just on $100 million. It is now operating very effectively. That record is very substantially ahead of that which has been experienced in other states.

Ms SIMPSON: Our wish is to see this work and to work cost-effectively. That is why we were concerned when battlers did not have access to go card top-up facilities or places of purchase-

Ms NOLAN: You can try to justify the things that you said as much as you like.

CHAIR: Minister, please.

Ms SIMPSON: With regard to some ongoing glitches in the system, I refer to the GPS system on buses continuing to still drop out in some areas. I note the minister's correspondence on the issue when I raised this issue. I will table that. I seek the minister's advice as to how extensive the problem with the go card GPS system falling out is and how it is costing passengers? Why have they not been advised? What is going to be done to fix it?

Ms NOLAN: Can I have a look at the tabled document?

Ms SIMPSON: Sure.

Ms NOLAN: The go card system is very reliable and robust and meets world-class standards. In terms of the reliability of the system broadly, equipment at railway stations, including gates, stand-alone readers and ticket machines, is operational more than 99 per cent of time. To cut to your question specifically, on buses it is operational 98 per cent of the time. It is occasionally the case that the GPS system, as you say, drops out and losses contact with the mother ship. When that occurs the bus driver has the capacity to manually override the system. Bus drivers know what to do. They can do that quite easily.

What you were inferring was that it would somehow involve a cost to the passenger on the bus if the system dropped out between when they touched on and when they touched off. The manual override provision-the driver control unit-has that function which means that the bus passenger is not disadvantaged. If that happens, the bus driver simply overrides it and the person automatically pays the correct fare. The system still knows where they are when they touch off.

Exclusive!! Gillard 'Facts' Exposed!

... Typical representatives of the major political parties learn the art of the trade as students. Pubescent politicians in the early 1980s and 1990s learned the art of the demonstration, learned the art of the mock public debate, learned to see that there was a difference between a public position and what happened in backroom negotiations. Many of the current crop of Federal parliamentarians have lived in the same student colleges, contested for the same boy friends and girl friends, and fought the same mock symbolic battles and ethical issues since pussy was a kitten:. They learned how to bore people stupid if necessary to win a ballot and to be the last person standing at a bbq from a very tender age. Some were signed up to the Liberal or Labor Party from as young as ten. The Australian people, and citizens across the democratic world, have come to detest this class of professional politicians who now live in a sort of separate zone of life. ...

It's been two years since Six Degrees started stirring things up and we've sung, marched, planted, cheered, sat down and blockaded but we haven't yet danced!

So please, grab your friends and come join us on the dance floor to Rock Against Coal and support ongoing community action against coal.

What: Rock Against Coal Benefit Gig, featuring Thatchwork City, Phil Monsour and Steve Towson
Where: Bohemia Bar, 27 Caxton St, Paddington
When: 7:30pm, Thursday 22nd July
Cost: $12 prepaid, $15 at the door

All money raised will go towards paying off the $4000 fine we received when peacefully blockading the brisbane coal port last year.

To buy tickets online or for more information, go to www.sixdegrees.org.au

...The later 1780s had been, for a complexity of reasons, a period of great difficulties for virtually all branches of the French economy. A bad harvest in 1788 (and 1789) and a very difficult winter made this crisis acute. Bad harvests hurt the peasantry, for while they meant that large producers could sell grain at famine prices, the majority of men on their insufficient holdings might well have to eat up their seed-corn, or buy food at such prices, especially in months immediately preceding the new harvest (i.e., May-July). They obviously hurt the urban poor, whose cost of living - bread was the staple food - might well double. It hurt them all the more as the impoverishment of the countryside reduced the market for manufactures and therefore also produced an industrial depression. The country poor were therefore desperate and restless with riot and banditry; the urban poor were doubly desperate as work ceased at the very moment that the cost of living soared. Under normal circumstances little more than blind-rioting might have occurred. But in 1788 and 1789 a major convulsion in the kingdom, a campaign of propaganda and election, gave the people's desperation a political perspective. They introduced the tremendous and earth-shaking idea of liberation from the gentry and oppression. A riotous people stood behind the deputies of the Third Estate.

Counter-revolution turned a potential mass rising into an actual one. Doubtless it was only natural that the old regime should have fought back, if necessary with armed force, though the army was no longer wholly reliable. (Only unrealistic dreamers can suggest that Louis XVI might have accepted defeat and immediately turned himself into a constitutional monarch, even if he had been a less negligible and stupid man than he was, married to a less chicken-brained and irresponsible woman, and prepared to listen to less disastrous advisers.) In fact counter-revolution mobilized the Paris masses, already hungry, suspicious, and militant. The most sensational result of their mobilization was the caputre of the Bastille, a state prison symbolizing royal authority, where the revolutionaries expected to find arms. In times of revolution nothing is more powerful than the fall of symbols. The capture of the Bastille, which has rightly made July 14th into the French national day, ratified the fall of despotism and was hailed all over the world as the beginning of liberation. Even the austere philosopher Immanuel Kant of Koenigsberg, it is said, whose habits were so regular that the citizens of that town set their watches by him, postponed the hour of his afternoon stroll when he received the news, thus convincing Koenigsberg that a world-shaking event had indeed happened. What is more to the point, the fall of the Bastille spread the revolution to the provincial towns and the countryside. ...

Wildlife Queensland has launched a postcard and poster campaign to ban opera house traps in all Queensland public waters.

Opera house traps and other enclosed yabby traps kill platypuses, turtles, Australian water-rats and water birds. Up to five dead platypuses were recovered from a single trap in Far North Queensland. While legal in Queensland, these traps are banned in all public waters in Tasmania, Victoria, ACT and east of the Newell Highway in New South Wales.

Although not listed as threatened, platypus numbers have declined in some areas due to habitat degradation and other pressures.

How many more platypuses will die in Queensland before the Government acts to ban these traps?

2010 is the year electric vehicles (EVs) hit the mainstream with EV roll-outs from many of the world biggest car makers.

To this end the Queensland government has issued a discussion paper (don't worry it's really quite short) about how QLD will promote EVs to take advantage of their ability to help reduce pollution and start weaning us off oil.

Next they want to know what we think about EVs and our ideas on how to get people into them.

According to Kate Jones: "Priority areas and actions canvassed in the Roadmap include environmental impacts; recharging and electricity grid impacts; standards, planning and regulation; consumer uptake and behaviour change; industry development; and renewable energy"

"I invite all Queenslanders who have an interest in sustainable transport solutions to consider the issues and opportunities identified in this EV Roadmap and provide their comments and ideas on this exciting new technology."

If you want to comment, you can do it here until the 19th of July, the short discussion paper is here.

Esplanade Overpass to be demolished: GCCC Media Release [7/7/10]

The overpass on The Esplanade, located south of Cavill Mall in Surfers Paradise - will be demolished within weeks.

This follows the decision by Centro Properties Group to surrender its lease on the structure to allow works associated with the Surfers Paradise Foreshore Redevelopment to take place.

An agreement between Gold Coast City Council and Centro confirms partial surrender of Centro's 50-year lease of the area in front of the Paradise Centre which is not due to expire until 2031. Council is undertaking the foreshore redevelopment works in accordance with the Surfers Paradise Foreshore Master Plan (endorsed by Council in 2007).

Divisional Councillor Susie Douglas said she appreciated the voluntary gesture made by Centro.

“The removal of the overpass is an integral part of the Surfers Paradise Foreshore Redevelopment. It will allow us to create wider, more open public space," she said.

Demolition of the overpass is scheduled to start in the week beginning Monday 19 July. Working hours and details are dependent on Council approvals and will be confirmed within the next week.

The $25 million Surfers Paradise Foreshore Redevelopment began in February this year and is on schedule to be completed around June 2011. Stage One (between Elkhorn Avenue and the northern boundary of the Soul development) will be finished in September. Stage Two (between Cavill Mall and Trickett Street) is currently under construction and Stage Three (between View Avenue and Elkhorn Avenue) is due to begin in August.

For more information on the Surfers Paradise Foreshore Redevelopment, visit www.surfersforeshore.com.au

I remember first hearing the good news of the anti-war activists decomissioning the EDO arms factory in Brighton, England. It was the 3rd. week of the relentless Israeli blitzkrieg of Gaza in January 17th. ’09. More than 2,300 air-strikes were to devastate Gaza during this three week attack, as civilians had no where to flee or take shelter. The Israelis bombed 3,354 houses, 280 schools, Gaza’s only flour mill, the chicken farm that provided 10% of the eggs in the beseiged enclave, the sewage plant, wells that provided drinking water. The massacre promised to continue without serious opposition until the U.S. Presidential inaugaration later that month. The Israeli government unleashed Operation Cast Lead shortly afer Christmas Day killing over 1400 Palestinians . ...

... No more war, no more war, no more war...
Just a little peace
No more war, no more war
All we want is some peace in this world. ...

'Why Can't We Live Together?', Timmy Thomas [1972]

Northern End Of The Gold Coast: Place Of No Journalism

... It was a sad day for cemetery caretaker Peter Dunn, who had fought to keep the tree located in the south-east corner of the Queen Street cemetery and preserve the memories of Gold Coast pioneers....

Investigative works into lost graves were halted recently after University of Queensland archaeologist Dr Jonathan Prangnell said the tree's extensive root system was unsafe and impeded the search for unmarked graves in the area.

The team had just discovered a grave shaft along with a single small sliver of wood about 4cm long and a nail which could be the remnants of a decades-old coffin.

A TransLink statement said the work to clarify the existence of unmarked graves sites in the area was being done because that land was earmarked to be acquired as part of the road-widening for the rapid transit line running along Southport's Queen Street. ...

Let us help you reach your Destiny sooner by letting others know you're single. One of the hardest questions in the world...........

If there was [sic] three people of the opposite sex standing across from you, How could you tell if any of them was single? Answer.You couldn't unless they were wearing a Destiny's Singles Ring. So put one on your finger and show others you are available.

Out of 150 single people surveyed 100% of them stated they would like to know if someone was single.90% stated they would like others to know they were single...

You can wear one if you after a brief liaison or if you're after a long term relationship.....

... The movie stars Dave Gleeson, lead singer with The Screaming Jets. Gleeso ripped into the role like a professional, found plenty of laughs where there would have been none without him, and generally pulled the gold from a way too long script and made it shine. ...

Electronic Frontiers Australia today welcomed the delay in the Gillard Government's internet censorship policy but expressed disappointment that it is still on track to be implemented in the Government's next term.

In an announcement today, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy indicated that the filter will be delayed until a 12-month review of the "Refused Classification" category is completed in conjunction with the states.

"While we welcome a review of the RC category, this is just tinkering around the edges of the filter's problems," said EFA Chair Colin Jacobs.

"Applying a classification scheme designed for books and movies to the internet was never going to work. Altering the definition of one category won't change the fact that the government will never, ever, be able to review enough web pages to make any difference to anyone."

The Minister also announced that Australia's 3 largest ISPs will be implementing a voluntary filter targeted only at child abuse material.

"The industry has been trying to engage with the Minister for a long time, and we're glad he finally decided to listen. It's still not clear who will be helped by taking the next step to a compulsory government filter," said Jacobs.

The Minister also announced several measures designed to improve transparency, but indicated the blacklist would remain secret.

"The Minister had an excellent chance today to let the filter die a natural death. Instead they've left the ailing policy on life support for another year. We still urge the Government to listen to the experts, drop the filter, and focus on improving broadband access for all Australians," said Jacobs.

YOUR SAY: Have you noticed that any news reports you read, hear or see from Russia, Japan, Korea and Washington are nothing but sabre rattling, sloganeering, jingoism?

A couple of hundred years before the mines were laid, an Aboriginal man had used the land himself. He was on walkabout and thirsty. Aboriginals were often thirsty. This came from living in an enormous desert. The fellow in question was thirsty but he was cool. He was cool because he know that all he needed to do was find a desert oak tree. It wasn't called a desert oak tree in those days of course, what the Aboriginal in question called it one can only guess at. Possibly, 'Sir' or perhaps 'darling', something appreciative certainly because this tree was going to save his life. You wouldn't have thought of it as a life-saver, not to look at certainly. No one, not even its mother, could have called it an inspiring or handsome tree. The desert oak was, and in fact still is, as a breed, a hugely unimpressive scrappy, crappy little tree. Its best friends would say so.

'Tree,' they would say, realizing that you have to be cruel to be kind, 'do not go entering yourself in any horticultural shows. You will only embarrass us all.'

But the desert oak can smile knowingly to itself, it has a secret. Because although on the surface it may be just a six-foot skinny streak of fibre with about ten leaves to its name, beneath the desert floor it is a very different story. For the desert oak can put down roots as deep as three hundred feet. In fact, as far as need be to reach water. Let there be no question about it, ugly as fuck though it is, root-wise the desert oak does not mess around. Still waters run deep and so do desert oaks. Other factors that make this tree remarkably together, as far as living in the desert goes, include its ability to 'die' at will. When times are hard, and let's face it they almost always are, for a tree in a desert, the top bit of the tree just switches off. Drops its leaves, shrivels up and pretends to be dead.

You wouldn't notice the change to look at it, of course. So unimpressive is the desert oak in full bloom that the difference between it stretching its branches and saying, 'God, it's good to be alive and a tree today' and it pretending to be dead, is not marked. In fact, the two states are almost identical. None the less, that is what it does, on the surface the tree 'dies'. Underneath though, the search for water goes on and when that water is found, after what could be as much as fifteen or twenty years, the top bit comes back to life and blossoms into its full patheticness.

Possibly conscious of the trouble it has gone to find water, once found, the desert oak makes the most of it. It stores it, sucking up as much as it can up through its three hundred foot roots, and storing a few pints in its horrid, spindly little trunk.

And this is where the thirsty Aborigine come in. Because the Aborigines have always known about these trees. They had worked out a way to get at that water without the tedious necessity of having to put down three hundred foot roots and pretend to be dead for twenty years themselves. What they used to do was this. They would make a little hole in the bark of the tree and put a twig in. Then they would sit under the twig with their mouths open and wait for the water to drip in.

This is what our man did, hundreds of years ago, on the site of what was to become the over-mined, useless uranium plant. And once he had drunk enough, he didn't just get up and piss off, leaving the tree to drip till it died. No, he removed the twig, got a bit of gum from the bark of a nearby eucalyptus, and bunged up the hole he'd made. This was the way it was done. You plugged up your hole.

The Aborigines were a Stone-Age society, one of the most primitive on earth. They had not even developed a simple television game show. But they knew that if you looked after the environment there was a good chance it would look after you.

Now Sly and his friends had taken what they wanted from the land just as the Aboriginal had done. But they had no intention of bunging up their hole. 'Too expensive, too much trouble'.

The term 'primitive' is clearly a highly subjective one.

...The car is pitching us towards each other. Who has not experienced the feeling of putting oneself in a car and suddenly being transformed into a motorist? The pure act of putting oneself behind the wheel seems, for almost everyone, to lead to egotistic behavior, a situation where everyone is trying to gain something on someone else’s behalf. While driving a car, one’s fellow human beings (other drivers, public transport users, pedestrians, bikers) become nothing more than obstacles. Who cannot, honestly, recognise the almost aggressive and competitive feeling that the car produces in oneself? Since we do not want to encourage this kind of behaviour, and since we are confident that one is not born a motorist, but rather becomes one, we strongly believe that the risk of people becoming motorists has to be minimised.

Because of this we do not only want to change the order of the traffic hierarchy and take the car down from its pedestal. Rather, we want a society built on totally different premises. A society where no one is forced into motorism, whether passively or actively. A society where proximity and availability to what people need to satisfy their needs and desires are put at the forefront...

... The costive celebrations of the foursome, the nigglings, the prurience, all festooned the evening from eight until ten when they decorated the sandwiches like parsley sprigs and became garnishings on savouries. A satisfying evening. An evening of unchristian destructiveness at which they all assisted with gossip snippets directed at their two new victims. Whenever the conversation digressed into behaviourisms less spectacular, it was drawn back to its central theme by Jess Talbot who found the topic magnetic.

"I'm interested in people," she explained earnestly. "I don't feel that by being interested one is being uncharitable. Do you?" Her voice was loud and assured and frighteningly well educated. It ploughed through the sponatneous assents. "I can't help it, you know. I make it my buisness to know other people's business. I feel it all helps towards an understanding."

Her beautiful long hair was drawn back into coiled plaits that shone redly beneath the Welches' table lamp. Alec looked at her admiringly. He loved the simple virtues.

"True," Welch said. "Very, very true." He was a technical college, not a university, man, and he felt slightly resentful towards Talbot with his union tiepin, and his careful articulations. At heart he hated him, hated him for his union tiepin and his careful diction, but publicly could not bring his irritation, his dislike to the point of being rude or even cool. Now and again he exhibited just the merest shade of truculence that exploded in fountains of venom when he talked alone with Marian and the two of them stripped the synthetic social mask aside.

"How long has it being going on?" Marian speculated for the dozenth time. She never tired of flinging this query into the listening air. Titillated by the gossip, she thought of Lunbeck and ogled Talbot, who dropped his church-worker's eyes modestly to his glass.

"Who knows?" Jess Talbot's vowels were at the top of their form. The bowled all verbal opposition aside like gigantic iron spheroids. "Too long, I think. Remember, we do have the effect upon the youngsters at the school to consider if the scandal gets around" - making mental note that it would, that it must. "It's exposing them to moral danger to allow them to suffer such a relationship between members of the staff. Teachers are supposed to be looked up to, surely." "The horrible thing," Marian said, loving it, "was that he didn't seem a bit ashamed. Not a bit. He actually smiled when Sam asked him if he came up on Saturday. He almost seemed to be enjoying the situation. Didn't he Sam?"

Sam Welch filled up his sherry glass and leant back in the moquette depths of his chair. Tonight, in some indefinable way, the enjoyment of the scandal eluded him, leaving him with the feeling that the seediness of immorality lay within this assemblage. He glanced round at the three faces, uncomplicated except from the effort of detraction, busy with a liberal transcription of the actions of others. In a moment of astonishing and impersonal clarity he saw, for perhaps the second time only in his marriage, the uninhibited sexual jealousy upon his wife's face, slanting the eyes and the mouth in to narrows of unkindness. He saw the oval faces of the Talbots filled up with false godliness, sharpened and lengthened by the shadows of the lamp. Being deliberately boorish, he gulped at his sherry and ran the back of his hand across his mouth. The three of them sickened him, and he felt suddenly that he didn't want to be in all this, that he was sorry for having mentioned the business. Still, he told himself, nothing would have stopped Marian. Nothing on God's earth would stop her when she made up her mind to do something. ...

'Verney' ('Rakeevan')

...The financial collapse of the Brisbane Newspaper Company in 1894 led to the liquidation of Charles Hardie Buzacott's estate, however. His house was purchased in 1895 by John Ferguson, a fellow parliamentarian also from Rockhampton and one of the original proprietors of the fabulous Mount Morgan Mine. Ferguson brought 'Verney' as a residence for his daughter and her husband, A.H. Chambers, manager of the Union Bank. They changed the name to 'Rakeevan' after the Chambers' family home in Ireland. When Chambers was transferred, Ferguson presented 'Rakeevan' to his second daughter and son-in-law, Mr and Mrs J.T. Bell. A son of the noted Bells of 'Jimbour' station, Joshua Thomas Bell [1863-1911] became a member of the Legislative Assembly in 1893 and held various offices, including Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, from 1909 until his death. ...

'Craigerne'

... 'Craigerne' was built by the stonemason and building contractor William McCallum Park. In 1866 Park purchased an area of land which he subdivided into 20 allotments. He retained three of these allotments for himself, and in about 1880 he built 'Craigerne' on the land. It seems the Park family occupied 'Craigerne' for three years before renting it to Major Walter H. Snelling from 1885 to 1887. Then Park's father, Andrew Park, occupied 'Craigerne' briefly before Park went into liquidation in 1892. ...

'Cook Terrace'

... 'Cook Terrace', which fronts onto the Brisbane River, was built in 1888-89 by Joseph Cook, who claimed that the terrace cost him £6000 to erect. By 1890, however, Cook was declared bankrupt, along with many other Brisbane builders (including McCallum Park). Andrea Stombuco also ceased building at that time. ...

'Astrea'

Despite its appearance, 'Astrea' was not built as a single house but as a pair of semi-detached houses with a brick party wall which incorporates fireplaces and chimneys. Two-storey timber terraces of this kind can be found in some of the older working-class inner-city suburbs of Melbourne (Port Melbourne) and Sydney (Balmain), but they are something of a rarity in Brisbane.

These particular houses were built in 1887 for Fedder Jensen. One was occupied by his son Magnus, a solicitor, for a few years before he moved to Toowong. Jensen built the houses as an investment, with the intention of renting them out, and it is quite probable that he intended to build another identical pair on the remainder of the land, as the owner of 'Brighton Terrace' had done, but was deterred by the economic climate around 1890. ...

As you may be aware, the Federal Government has asked the Productivity Commission to develop detailed options for restructuring Australia's aged care system to ensure it can meet the challenges facing it in coming decades.

The ANF will be making a comprehensive submission and we are also seeking the views of individual members for this important inquiry.

We need to inundate the Commission with our ideas and concerns to ensure we influence what they recommend to the federal government in their draft report. Nurses, carers, midwives, residents and their families, and campaign supporters can participate in this important activity.

Your actions are more important now than ever. To get involved, please go to www.becausewecare.org.au to:

1. Sign our online petition;

2. Tell us your story about staffing levels, wages and workloads; and

3. Download our new campaign leaflet.

Initial submissions are due by 30 July 2010, and you can find more information, including how to file a submission, at http://www.becausewecare.org.au/html/get_involved.html

... When asked why Komen launched this initiative, Elizabeth Thompson, a spokesperson for the organization, said that concern about carcinogens has "come to the point where we need all hands on deck."

"We're delighted and think it's about time," Barish replied in response.

Komen's partnership with the Institute of Medicine was announced shortly after the May 6 online publication of "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk," a landmark report by the President's Cancer Panel. The report warns that carcinogens are causing "grievous harm" to Americans and that the number of cancer deaths related to pollution has been "grossly underestimated" due to a lack of sufficient research.

Formed in 1971 to monitor national cancer policy, the President's Cancer Panel has never before made such sweeping statements, instead focusing its previous reports on issues such as health disparities, barriers to care and cancer survivorship rates. ...

The Sir A.W. Fadden Forum Gala Dinner

The Sir A.W. Fadden Forum invites you to the 2nd annual Gala Dinner with special guest, former Prime Minister, the Hon John Howard AC.

I look forward to introducing you to Mr Howard and together enjoying a delightful evening with great entertainment followed by insightful anecdotes from arguably the greatest Prime Minister in the history of the Commonwealth.

- Stuart Robert MP
Patron of the Fadden Forum

Hey Brumby! Everybody Knows Fast Food Makes You Fat

What's in That cheeseburger?

Some claim it's the pinnacle of American cuisine: a ground-beef patty with a slice of melted cheese served on a bun (pickles optional). In the U.S. alone, people eat more than 13 billion cheeseburgers each year, which works out to about one or two every week for the average American carnivore. When you stop by your favourite fast-food place and order a nice, juicy cheeseburger, what are you really getting? Here's some info that might quell your appetite:

* Bun. The wheat used to make the buns was sprayed with pesticides and fungicides, and traces of these chemicals may remain. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), often used as a preservative in baked goods, causes cancer in lab animals at large doses. And even though many fast-food restaurants have stopped using trans fats in their cooking, these fats - which increase your risk of heart disease nad diabetes - are still found in many baked goods.

* Cheese. dairy products may contain growth hormones and antibiotics. And eating large amounts of alkaline sodium aluminium phospate, used as an emulsifier in cheese, makes it harder for the body to absorb calcium and phosphorous, two important nutrients.

* Beef. The antibiotics and hormones used on cattle can get into the meat you consume. According to the Centre for Food Safety, several of these hormones likely have bad effects on people, including cancer and impacts on child development. The European Union has banned U.S. beef since 1985 because of concerns about hormones. The cattle may also be infected with antibiotic-resistant strains of food-borne bacteria, such as E.coli.

* Lettuce and tomato. There could be pesticide residue on the veggies in your burger. These chemicals kill insects, mold, and other pests, so it's no surprise that they may pose dangers to humans, too. The Pesticide Action Network reports that chemicals commonly used on lettuce and tomato crops include diazinon, maneb, chlorothalonil, dimethoate, and methoxyfenozide - all of which can cause cancer, birth defects, infertility, and developmental problems.

Most of those 13 billion cheeseburgers get wolfed down without a thought. But the next time your stomach's rumbling, think about what's in the food you're about to eat, and consider healthier alternatives. Knowing where your food comes from is half the battle.

Factory Farming

When people think of a farm, many imagine animals grazing in green pastures, a big red barn, and a few chickens scratching around the barnyard. But that idyllic picture couldn't be more different from the realities of 21st century farming. Small family farms are giving way to factory farms, huge operations that treat agriculture as an industry rather than a way of life. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), between 1974 and 2002, the number of corporate-owned U.S. farms increased by 46%, with the largest 1.6% of farms accounting for half of American agricultural production. That means big farms are getting bigger.

The food in your local grocery store likely came from a factory farm, a big, industrialised facility that produces large quantities of food. Animal farming lends itself to this practice more easily than grain farming, so the term "factory farm" usually refers to an agribusiness that raises large numbers of animals to slaughter weight in the shortest time possible. The U.S.EPA calls these farms concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). As that name suggests, these are crowded farms that are more concerned with keeping animals alive until it's time to butcher them than with giving them any decent quality of life. And as the EPA defines it, a CAFO is an agricultural operation that keeps animals confined. So instead of being sent out to graze in a pasture, animals get fed in their stalls, cages, or other enclosed area, and the animals are kept in this confinement for at least 45 days in any 12-month period. ...

... The uniformity on Planet Norte is striking. Each person is a unit, installed in life support boxes in the suburbs and cities; all are fed, clothed by the same closed-loop corporate industrial system. Everywhere you look, inhabitants are plugged in at the brainstem to screens downloading their state approved daily consciousness updates. iPods, Blackberries, notebook computers, monitors in cubicles, and the ubiquitous TV screens in lobbies, bars, waiting rooms, even in taxicabs, mentally knead the public brain and condition its reactions to non-Americaness. Which may be defined as anything that does not come from of Washington, DC, Microsoft or Wal-Mart. For such a big country, the "American experience" is extremely narrow and provincial, leaving its people with approximately the same comprehension of the outside world as an oyster bed. Yet there is that relentless busyness of Nortenians. That sort of constant movement that indicates all parties are busy-busy-busy, but offers no clue as to just what they are busy at.

We can be sure however, that it has to do with consuming. Everything in America has to do with consuming. So much so that we find not the slightest embarrassment in calling ourselves "the consumer society." Which is probably just as well, since calling ourselves something such as "the just society" might have been aiming a bit too high? Especially for a nation that never did find enough popular support to pass any of the 200 anti-lynching bills brought before its Congress (even Franklin Roosevelt refused to back them).

On the other hand, there is no disputing that we do reduce all things to consumption. Or acquiring money for consumption. Or paying on the debt for past consumption. It keeps things simple, and stamps them as authentically American.

For example, now faced with what may be the biggest ecological disaster in human history, I'm hearing average Americans up here talk of the Gulf oil "spill" (when they speak of it at all -- TV gives the illusion those outside the Gulf region give a shit), in terms of its effect on: (A) the price of seafood; and (B) jobs in tourism and fishing. Only trolls stunted by generations of inbred American style capitalism could do such a thing: reduce a massive ocean dead zone to the cost of a shrimp cocktail or a car payment. ...

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