=== Todays Toon ===
This Harper's Weekly cartoon by Thomas Nast is a counterattack on press criticisms of the Reconstruction policies of President Ulysses S. Grant. The Grant administration (1869-1877) had the difficult task of enforcing the Reconstruction legislation of the Republican Congress in the face of an often hostile white population in the South and an increasingly disinterested one in the North
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant) (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) served as the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As general-in-chief of the Union Army during the American Civil War, he led the North to victory against the Confederate States in the Civil War.=== Bible Quote ===
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”- Psalm 139:23-24=== Headlines ===
Despite mortar and grenade attacks, Iraqi voters turn out in droves to cast their ballots in the fragile nation's parliamentary election.
Gitmo Compromise
If Obama sends alleged Sept. 11 mastermind to military tribunals, Sen. Graham says he will help convince fellow Republicans to support closing Guantanamo Bay
Elections 'Referendum' on Health Bill?
GOP leader questions why Democrats would continue to pursue health care bill during election year
TV War Fuels Oscar Blackout
Millions could lose Oscars broadcast tonight as Disney pulls ABC plug in fee dispute with Cablevision
Courts Cracking Down on Texting Jurors
New instructions are being adopted and electronics are being banned from courtrooms as jurors using their portable electronic devices continue to cause mistrials, overturned convictions and chaotic delays in court proceedings.
Man charged over Gurshan death
POLICE claim man living in toddler's house drove for three hours with body in car boot.
Rain, wind follow 'storm of the century'
CITY faces huge clean-up bill after fierce storms, but heavy rain and extreme winds are still forecast.
Mother fights dad to be the only 'mum'
MOTHER takes father to court to stop her daughter calling her new stepmother "Mummy D".
Past crimes to be laid bare at new trials
JURIES to hear of suspects' previous crimes in bid to end legal cases "stacked in favour of" crims
Gender pay gap shows no sign of abating
WORKING women can expect to be $1 million worse off during their lifetime compared with fathers. - well that would be what happens when the ALP are in government - ed.
States demand health reform details
THE Federal Government isn't prepared to discuss health spending in areas such as aged care until the states agree to its hospital funding overhaul. The states and territories are demanding more details of the reform package, which includes greater control of funding by the commonwealth. They also want more information on proposed spending in other areas like aged care. But Health Minister Nicola Roxon said today that wouldn't happen until they all jump on board. - the ALP government is not interested in a working solution. They want a blame game to take to the next election. -ed.
Pupil's Facebook slur against teacher
FALSELY accusing teacher of being a gay paedophile just "a bit of fun" said Catholic school student.
Bushwalkers found after beacon alert
RESCUE crews have found four bushwalkers who went missing in bushland in the NSW Hunter region after an emergency beacon was set off.
Asylum seeker crisis worse now under Rudd and ALP
ASYLUM seekers are now arriving at a faster rate under Kevin Rudd than under the Howard government at the height of its refugee crisis. Two unauthorised boats arrived in less than 24 hours over the weekend, carrying a combined 113 passengers. The new arrivals will push Christmas Island detention centre to near capacity, leaving only 70 spare beds. December to April is usually the off-season for people smugglers with monsoon conditions in the Timor Sea making the journey more perilous. But 20 boats have arrived this year, carrying 1050 asylum seekers. That's an average of nine boats and 484 asylum seekers a month. "In the first nine weeks of 2010 we have had more boats arrive illegally than in the last six years of the Coalition Government," Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said.
=== Comments ===
Hollywood's Blind Side
By Rev. Bill Shuler
There is a huge audience looking for films that are closer to the beat of America's pulse. Faith, values and stories of redemption resonate beyond Hollywood.
The Oscars will take on a new meaning for many this Sunday. Sure, the usual offerings will be present representing Hollywood at its most gratuitous but there is a surprise addition this year...a story of faith. "The Blind Side," nominated for best picture is the first film in history, according to Variety, to be driven solely by a female star -- Sandra Bullock -- to top the $200 million domestic box office mark.
Hollywood would do well to take notice. There is a huge audience looking for films that are closer to the beat of America's pulse. Faith, values and stories of redemption resonate beyond Hollywood. "The Blind Side" is a movie based on the book, "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game," by Michael Lewis. It is the true story of a conservative, Christian family from Memphis, Tennessee who take in Michael Oher, an inner-city youth who is struggling with his grades. The clash of cultures is overcome by love resulting in Michael becoming one of the nation’s top college football players and one who also earns a place on the Dean’s list at the University of Mississippi and eventually goes on to become an offensive tackle with the Baltimore Ravens.
The impact of the media on our youth today is 450% greater than time spent with parents, school and church combined (this is according to "Movie Guide"). For too long sex, drugs, alcohal abuse and the like have been the steady offerings of a movie industry that has lost touch with its audience. "The Blind Side" is proof that a movie of excellence can be made that is respectful in its view of God, faith and family.
"The Blind Side" is more than good entertainment. It has led many families to give adoption and foster parenting another look. It has challenged us to look beyond color and see people with a love that transcends self. It has created an appetite for more than Hollywood’s traditional fare.
===
INSTANT LEGENDS
Tim Blair
Ten News yesterday mentioned “the legendary Kodak Theatre” during an Oscars preview. Not bad for a building that is less than ten years old. For actual Hollywood legends, you have to go back a little further, as Mark Steyn wrote even before the legendary theatre opened:
With hindsight, the Seventies were the golden age of Oscar shows. It was fun when Marlon Brando had his award picked up by Sachem Littlefeather, Apache Indian and President of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee, protesting about the treatment of Indians by Hollywood. It was even better when she turned out to be Maria Cruz, struggling actress and Miss American Vampire of 1970. It was touching, in 1977, when Debby Boone sang `You Light Up My Life’ backed by a chorus of 11 children from the John Tracy Clinic for the Deaf interpreting the lyric in sign language. It was even more poignant when it subsequently emerged that they were just regular Equity kids pretending to be deaf and that the signing was complete gibberish. Ah, happy days.The happiness continues, after a fashion. LA’s Roger Simon:
... every year at this time, major arteries are shut off (making the already mind-bending traffic even more hellacious), the area becomes riddled with satellite trucks and temporary grandstands, and the usually quiet hills are filled with Oscar parties. Replete with bad, loud and often off-key rock and roll, echoing through the canyons — Bono doesn’t play for these things — these parties are anything but glamorous. Often an expensive-looking home is rented out to whoever (porn producers, racketeers, real estate developers) for a day or two of non-stop festivities, resulting in narrow winding streets littered with beer bottles, pizza boxes and, no surprise, condom wrappers.This year’s awards – Jules Crittenden has more – are now over. Commence the festivities! A barbeque might be appropriate:
Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker is stunned to discover that one of her relatives was accused of witchcraft during the Salem trials and narrowly avoided being burnt at the steak as she traces her family roots.The Daily Mail has since corrected its little steak mistake. They win the Oscar for spellcheck.
(Via Andrew R.)
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WE GOT NOTHIN’
Tim Blair
A puzzling post-Olympic point from Sunday Age production editor Michael Coulter:
… Russian pride will remain. They will still, after all, have Tolstoy, the Bolshoi, Tchaikovsky, sputnik, Sakharov and beating the Nazis to fall back on.Sorry to disappoint you, Mike. We’ll try harder with the forced collectivisation next time.
Shorn of athleticism, though, what is Australia? The sound, perhaps, of one hand beating on a hairy chest.
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PONYTAIL TORQUED
Tim Blair
Don’t answer that phone, Pakistan! You’ve got enough problems without listening to Charles Johnson, currently insisting that hatred of George W. Bush, support for 9/11 trutherism, opposition to anti-marijuana laws and registration as a Democrat are all indicators of … right-wing extremism. Charles perceives things differently to most normal people.
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BET ALL OUR OIL MONEY
Tim Blair
Sceptical superhorse Globalwamnsceptic is running in race 10 at Morphettville today. Jack Lacton has the form:
Connections have jumped quite a few grades here and I’d imagine that they’re looking to get a handle on how good this horse is after his devastating first start win at Naracoorte. My speed map has him jumping to the front from You Dee Cee, Carlton Forward and All About Heart.Naturally, the weather is overcast. Full field here.
The pace will be strong all of the way and my ratings have You Dee Cee winning the race. If Globalwarmnsceptic is $6+ then it’s worth an each way bet on him, otherwise I’ll be taking a few multiples with You Dee Cee and watching the race with interest to see how good the horse is. Hopefully, he makes a mess of them again.
UPDATE. In other race news, Marcos Ambrose finishes 11th in Atlanta – thanks to polite American drivers who helpfully moved out of his way:
Nice of them. That’s Ambrose’s second top-15 result in two races. He’s doing well in the press box, too:
Marcos Ambrose’s regular rounds in the media center continue to be a much-appreciated gesture. It has become customary for the Australian Cup driver to come into the circuit’s media centers himself and pass out samples of his sponsors’ products.It’s an easier way of gaining attention than the method employed by Brad Keselowski.
On Saturday, he was bearing Tom’s crackers and Nacho Rings and making small talk with the reporters at their desks.
It makes one tend to pay a lot more attention to the No. 47 Lance/Tom’s-sponsored Toyota and its ever-smiling driver.
(Via Roger Bournival)
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Maybe that’s what the Bumby Government liked best
Andrew Bolt
The London Times reports on claims that senior British police are too close to Labour - naming one officer who’s since been hired by Victoria’s Labor Government, which specialises in using senior police for political cover
A Conservative government could find itself at war with police chiefs amid accusations that some are too close to the Labour Party.
A Tory briefing document, seen by The Times, attacks the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), which represents the 350 most senior officers in England and Wales.
The note, written in Conservative campaign headquarters, accuses the association’s leaders of giving “political cover to the Labour Government repeatedly and consistently” and engaging in “gratuitous photocalls” with Gordon Brown and other ministers.
It claims that ACPO, which receives £18 million a year from the Home Office, has “publicly and privately lobbied against a number of key Conservative issues, going far beyond its role”. The document adds that despite claiming to be an independent body that acts in the public interest, analysis of its statements “shows almost no criticism of the current Government"…
It was written while Sir Ken Jones was president of ACPO, but since Sir Hugh Orde became head six months ago relations between the Tories and senior police have continued to worsen.
As for Sir Ken:
Sir Ken Jones, president of Britain’s Association of Chief Police Officers, has been recruited to run the crime unit in the Australian state of Victoria...
That said, I’m yet to hear criticism of Jones’ work here.
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What does Abbott fear they might do to him?
Andrew Bolt
The 60 Minutes transcript is not yet up, but I’d hoping that there’s context to explain away this apparrently mad comment from Opposition Leader Tony Abbott:
I feel a bit threatened as so many people do [by homosexuals].More when I know more, but for now I must say that any man who feels personally threatened by homosexuals has a few issues of their own that need sorting out - not advertising on national television.
But, again, I will wait to see the context. - Andrew, I am sorry you don't get it. Abbott's stance is not homophobic. It was all right to castigate Marr for smearing Jones and not hitting Abbott with your own smear. You would object to it if I were to say that the Victorian police had a point with their posturing over gang violence. While the police did have a valid view point, it was political chutzpah that they were in fact stating, and you were right to question it.
I know what homophobia is. I am not homosexual, but I know what it is. If I ever represent NSW I might have to sit with some unpleasant people. I can say they are unpleasant, but I can also work with them for NSW. I would point out you are not religious, and do not respect Abbott's position, but you should applaud his candidness, and his willingness to not be sidelined by his feelings. - ed.
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Oscar gets a good home
Andrew Bolt
I’ve long loathed the moral universe of Quentin Tarantino, at least until Inglorious Basterds, but this is one Oscar that’s deserved:
Short-priced favourite (Christoph) Waltz was named best supporting actor for his performance as a Jew-baiting Nazi in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds after sweeping all major industry and critics’ awards leading up to the Oscars.
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The bureaucrat will see the patient now
Andrew Bolt
A devastating assessment of Kevin Rudd’s health care reforms from Tony Morris QC, who led the first royal commission investigating Bundaberg Hospital and Dr Jayant Patel:
According to Kevin Rudd, the… real problem with our healthcare system is a chronic shortage of bureaucrats.... Take Queensland Health, the state’s biggest employer, with more than 65,000 people on the payroll, as many as 30 per cent of them doctors or nurses. How could anyone expect an efficient and effective hospital system, when up to three out of every 10 staff members are preoccupied with caring for patients?…(Thanks to readers Frank and Mark.)
Rudd’s proposal will, he promises, “put an end to the tiresome cycle of the blame game between the Australian government and the states"… Hence, patients and taxpayers will have the comfort of knowing that state responsibility for inadequate services has reduced from two-thirds to two-fifths, while federal responsibility has risen from one-third to three-fifths.
Obviously, though, the problems go much deeper than not knowing the precise proportions in which the blame should be attributed; at present, there are simply not enough bodies to shoulder the blame. As Rudd points out, “There is too much blame and fragmentation, making it hard for patients to work out which level of government is responsible for the care they need.”
The Rudd solution is so self-evident that it is astonishing nobody thought of it sooner… Introducing a third tier of hospital administration will certainly ensure that the blame is distributed more equably…
Now ... there will be three tiers of administration, each with its bureaucratic mechanisms to deal with the projected increase in complaints. A federal directorate will divvy up the funds that have been “clawed back” from the states. There will also be a federal “umpire”, who will ensure that funds are distributed fairly…
In addition, though, there will be new “regional networks” to run hospitals at the local level. Rudd’s announcement was a bit light on the details of who is to constitute these networks. But some lack of detail is only to be expected, when the Prime Minister is proposing (in his own words), “one of the most significant reforms to the federation"…
(I)f one did not laugh at the absurdity of Rudd’s “fix”, the only alternative would be to cry at the shamefully cynical political opportunism with which this retrograde package of non-solutions is presented as the universal panacea for a healthcare system already in extremis.
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Shouldn’t the wife of the president support standards and so on?
Andrew Bolt
In this case, the problem certainly isn’t that the woman going braless is all of 42. It’s that she’s the president’s wife. I mean, it’s all a bit Roman Empire, right? Hello?
(Via Instapundit.)
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Promise disconnected
Andrew Bolt
They never promised that they’d actually work:
SOME computers bestowed to schools in Canberra’s $2 billion computers-in-classrooms scheme are not connected to the internet, Education Minister Julia Gillard admitted yesterday.
Ms Gillard said 780,000 computers—one for every student in Years 9 to 12—would be handed out by December next year.
But she refused to guarantee that Canberra’s $100 million pledge to give schools fast broadband access would be delivered within the same deadline. And she admitted that not all 220,000 computers provided to date are working, because their schools do not have web access.
Ms Gillard said the “overwhelming” number of schools had the “high 90 per cents” of their computers connected to the web.
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Iraq proves the doubters wrong again and again
Andrew Bolt
Through gritted teeth, AFP acknowledges the miracle of Iraqi democracy:
Iraqis defied waves of bomb, mortar and rocket attacks that killed 38 people to turn out in huge numbers to vote in elections seen as a test of the war-shattered state’s fragile democracy.Gritted teeth? So what’s to object to there?
First, Iraq’s economy was not shattered by the short war that liberated the country from Saddam Hussein. It’s Saddam’s misrule that did most to ruin it, and since the 2003 war the economy has grown:
Second, what is the evidence that Iraq’s democracy - a rarity in the Arab Middle East - is “fragile”? Since the 2001 war, the country has held two general elections, a presidential election, a governate election and a referendum, with many millions of voters turning out each time, despite threats to their lives.
I think it’s time to frankly acknowledge that a country that was once a sinkhole of tyranny, state-sanctioned theft and devastating misrule is now that rarest and most valuable of things in the Middle East - a democracy with a fast-thriving economy.
And which leaders did most to achieve this transformation?
(UPDATE: My dates are corrected.)
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Your will is not your own
Andrew Bolt
Sir Reg Ansett naturally thought he was the best judge of who should get his own money when he died - and his son John wasn’t one of them.
But now that judges are hinting that they know better still, the Ansett estate trustees have caved in:
THE revolt of the Ansett children against the last wishes of their father, aviation tycoon Reginald Ansett, has succeeded with three winning more than $1 million each from his estate.
The final chapter in the saga of the Ansett family dynasty was resolved behind closed doors after three of the aviator’s five children launched legal challenges to Sir Reginald’s will, claiming it was grossly unfair.
The Ansett Australia founder, who died of cancer in 1981, aged 72, left a will that gave most of his fortune to race clubs, schools and charities, leaving only a fraction to his children in the belief that they should make their own way in life as he did.
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Solution: emigrate to lands where your preferred laws run
Andrew Bolt
The legal system that makes this country so safe and attractive to so many Muslims is one that’s blind to your gender, class and faith. So why destroy one it’s most vital principles - and destroy, too, the concept that our laws form a community from a collection of tribes:
ELEMENTS of Islamic law - the sharia - should be legally recognised in Australia so that Muslims can live according their faith, a prominent Muslim leader says.Matthews’ claims aren’t even consistent.
Addressing an open day at Lakemba Mosque on Saturday, the president of the Australian Islamic Mission, Zachariah Matthews, said parts of sharia could be recognised as a secondary legal system so that Muslims were not forced to act contrary to their beliefs. ‘’Sharia law could function as a parallel system in the same way that some traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law was recognised in the Northern Territory,’’ Dr Matthews told the Herald after the session.
Dr Matthews said he was referring only to certain elements of family law and inheritance law and was not advocating the sharia penal system.So he’s saying Muslims are prepared to act contrary to their beliefs in some cases where our laws do conflict with shariah law. Why the exeptions? And who decides which bits of shariah law to cherrypick? Who can guarantee that once the principle of shariah law is accepted, that the demand won’t be to have more and more of it institutionalised?
Matthews also suggests the adoption of those aspects of sharia law which would offend a widespread Australian notion that a woman is not the property or minion of a man - and double so when they are divorced:
Dr Matthews said a clash occurred in some custody matters. ‘’Under sharia law, if a couple divorce and the mother remarries, her former husband has the right to decide whether the children will live with the new husband or not,’’ Dr Matthews said.
‘’There is still a preference for the child to go with the mother, but the father has the ultimate decision...”
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As I wasn’t saying…
Andrew Bolt
Gerard Henderson continues his series on great media U-turns, First, Mark Westfield:
Mark Westfield on Why the Coalition Cannot Win the 2010 Federal Election under Tony Abbott’s LeadershipMark Westfield on Why The Coalition Could Win the 2010 Federal Election under Tony Abbott’s LeadershipUnder Tony Abbott’s leadership a minority [of the Liberal Party], in effect, is holding the moderate majority hostage. It is an unsustainable situation which will be resolved with a likely heavy defeat of the Coalition parties at the next election….An expected hot summer and more bushfires will make Labor’s job at the next election arguing for action on climate change an easy one.
- Mark Westfield “Calculated Treachery”, Business Spectator, 16 December 2009.
The plunge in Kevin Rudd and Labor’s opinion poll figures, and the corresponding recovery of the Tony Abbott-led Coalition has caught most pundits (including this writer) by surprise. It has been the speed of the Labor fall from grace that has been most surprising - triggered by the insulation batts fiasco, but due also to a number of slow-burn policy failures - rather than closing of the poll gap itself, which was widely expected on both sides of politics as we move towards an election. Tony Abbott finds himself in a fortunate position, courtesy of Rudd’s many failings. But then the Opposition knew it was only a matter of time before voters wised up to Rudd, though the wait has been frustratingly long….A Coalition win is unlikely, but it should not be ruled out.If only Mr Westfield had looked into his crystal ball in mid-December and seen not bushfires in Victoria but, rather, floods in Queensland he might have come up with a different prognosis the first time around.
- Mark Westfield, “Abbott is a chance as Rudd runs out of the clock on reform”, Business Spectator, 2 March 2010.
Second, Peter Roebuck:
Peter Roebuck On Why John Howard Is Not Qualified To Be President of the International Cricket CouncilPeter Roebuck On Why John Howard Is Qualified To Be President of the International Cricket Council.Cricket Australia’s decision to nominate John Howard as its candidate for the top job at the International Cricket Council is as pitiful as it is disrespectful. Howard’s knowledge of cricket is more characterised by enthusiasm than depth or imagination. Plain and simple, he is not qualified for the job.
- Peter Roebuck, “Howard choice is the wrong way to go”, The Age, 22 January 2010
Although political enemies will disagree, the appointment is hardly a calamity. Only the most churlish will deny Howard his experience and acumen. This was a contest between heavyweights. Howard may be captivated by the bright lights of cricket but he is also familiar with the dark arts of manipulation. Better him than a hundred sweet-talkers.
- Peter Roebuck, “Howard can bring purpose to the fraught and fractured game”, The Age, 3 March 2010
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Young drivers drink to their safer driving
Andrew Bolt
Only in New South Wales:
THEY were the pioneering group of young people who signed up for the government’s road safety campaign to combat speeding.(Thanks to reader CA.)
They took the Slow Down Pledge in December, vowing they would not speed or get into a car with a speeding driver.
So how did the RTA reward these paragons of virtue? With bucketloads of free alcohol at the cricket.
Over summer, the RTA was the official promoter for a competition inviting 150 young people to attend the VIP lounge at ANZ Stadium for the Twenty/20 cricket match on January 17, where food and alcoholic drinks were provided. Photos have since been posted on the campaign’s Facebook site showing many young people with a beer in hand, with one user saying: ‘’was soooo good! Free [alcohol] and food =D. I was so drunk afterwoods [sic]. Lol.’’
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Public hot for Rudd’s plan, but less so for Rudd
Andrew Bolt
His hospitals plan (or at least the vague promise of more cash) is undeservedly popular, but the slow slide continues:
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has received overwhelming public support for his push to take a bigger role in funding Australia’s hospitals.If the hospitals plan comes to be seen as one more bureaucratic mess, Rudd will be in strife. He cannot afford to have his for-now useful brawl with the Premiers go on for too long without a resolution.
In an Age/Nielsen poll showing Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s approval rising while Mr Rudd’s continues to fall, Labor leads the Coalition 53 per cent (down 1 point) to 47 per cent (up 1) in two-party terms…
Mr Abbott has narrowed the gap as preferred prime minister to the closest since the election, but he is 22 points behind Mr Rudd… Approval of Mr Rudd is down 3 points since February to 57 per cent, his lowest approval as PM and the first time since he’s been in government that he has had a rating in the 50s.
But for now he has an issue - and, it must again be emphasised, he has a handy lead as well.
For the Liberals, the most heartening news will be this result, for the man widely thought to be unelectable:
Mr Abbott’s approval has jumped 6 points to 50 per cent.PS:
Victoria is again confirmed as the reddest state:
In two-party terms, Victoria is the best state for Labor, which leads 58-42 per cent.UPDATE
The Premiers like Rudd’s plan less the more they study it:
KEVIN Rudd faces growing distrust among premiers over his proposed health funding shake-up, reducing the chance of a negotiated agreement on a federal takeover of public hospitals.
With Western Australia and Victoria already openly hostile to the Prime Minister’s plan to seize 30 per cent of state GST revenues to bankroll the move, Queensland hardened its attitude yesterday by linking its co-operation to a major increase in funding for aged-care services.
And NSW Premier Kristina Keneally said her state’s bureaucrats were “livid” over Mr Rudd’s lack of consultation on the issue.
The comments came as Tony Abbott accused the Prime Minister of purposely alienating the states for political reasons.
He pointed to Mr Rudd’s refusal to reveal to premiers details of other health reforms such as boosting bed and doctor numbers but expecting them to embrace his plan.
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Garrett was the insulation
Andrew Bolt
A whistleblower in Environment Minister Peter Garrett’s department alerts a Senate inquiry to the chaos within the Rudd Government as it rolled out the disastrous insulation program:
In Confidence. Senate Inquiry—info from Department of Environment that might be of interest..This was a disaster not of Garrett’s making, but of Rudd’s. And these failings will not be restricted to this one program.
Explicit verbal instructions were given to the Department of Environment to deal directly with (Minister for Employment Participation) Mark Arbib rather than our own minister..
This led to a breakdown in the ordinary briefing process and caused confusion as to who we were actually to report-advise.
Furthermore, we were told to provide all media opportunities to Mark Arbib first and only when rejected by his office would they be given to Garrett.
And then, Garrett’s office told us to cut Arbib out; it led to the competitive photo opportunity between the two and cutting Garrett out from key economic stimulus plan meeting.
I can’t convey to you how much it was rammed home to the dept that this was an economic stimulus program, less an environmental one—and there was a real concern about how you tell the Prime Minister’s Office and his parl[iamentary] sec[retary]—that rolling a program out this quickly in a fractured and unregulated industry was not a good idea: it was pump money into the economy over prepare a program carefully…
I fear, having seen the new announcements that this approach will happen again with the new scheme set to roll on June 1. You can’t fix a fractured unregulated industry in 12 weeks.
Read Glenn Milne’s take on the link above.
(Thanks to reader CA.)
UPDATE
The bungling goes right to the top:
KEVIN RUDD insisted on closely supervising the management of the home-insulation program as far back as October, says a letter from the Prime Minister signing off on proposals by the environment minister, Peter Garrett.
It is understood that the letter - dated October 29 - approved several changes designed to improve the safety of the scheme and insisted that the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet be ‘’kept closely informed’’ on the running of the program.
The Prime Minister’s office yesterday would not release the letter or confirm its contents.
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Gurshan case: Indian charged
Andrew Bolt
A tragedy, a mystery and perhaps another case of Australia being not to blame, after all:
A MAN who lived at the same house as Gurshan Singh Channa has been charged over the three-year-old’s death.Comments closed on this post. Let the courts now decide.
Gursewak Dhillon, 23, appeared in an out-of-sessions court hearing last night charged with manslaughter by criminal negligence.
Police say Gurshan Singh died after being driven around suburban Melbourne in the boot of a car, unconscious, before being left where his body was found.
Homicide squad Det. Sen-Sgt Ron Iddles said Mr Dhillon put Gurshan in a car unconscious last Thursday, but had believed he was still alive.
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Poorer for having their “rights” protected
Andrew Bolt
The Daily Telegraph has fallen out of love:
TENS of thousands of NSW workers face pay cuts of up to $370 a week under sweeping Rudd Government workplace reforms.
In a major election-year challenge to Labor, truck drivers, funeral workers, bar staff, aged care nurses and clerks are furious at award changes…
Nearly 50,000 NSW truck drivers stand to lose up to $200 weekly because they will come under a new national award scheme from July 1. They now plan to take their protest direct to Canberra with a 1000-strong convoy organised for June.
While the Prime Minister and Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard promised no worker would be worse off under their industrial reforms, a Daily Telegraph investigation reveals this declaration to be another Rudd Government broken promise… The loss of pay and conditions is a result of the Government’s plan to condense the numbers of national and state awards - from more than 2000 to 130.
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