=== Todays Toon ===
Walking with Dinosaurs"Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to science", well isn't that a bit rich coming from this source: An ABC report.
After all, it's the same organisation that is completely leading the cheer squad of some of the most ignorant science-talking people in the world. Yes I am talking about the mad AGW mob. - ZEG
=== Bible Quote ===
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”- John 1:12-13=== Headlines ===
Timing of National Guard's Deployment to Border Stirs Anger
The 1,200 National Guard troops expected to arrive Sunday on America's southwest border for reinforcement won't finish deploying until late September, feds say, sparking confusion among Arizona lawmakers who thought the deadline was Aug. 1'Big Spending' Dems May Face New Anger
As members of Congress head back to their districts for the August recess, they could be met by the same rowdy town halls that rocked the national healthcare debate last summer
Crowd Emerges at Site of Clinton Wedding
After weeks of intrigue and secrecy about a ceremony with VIP guest list, crowds and guests gather for Chelsea Clinton's Saturday evening nuptials to longtime boyfriend at upstate New York estate
Exhausted Fire Crews Save California Homes
Working through the night to beat back flames, crews have wildfire north of Los Angeles 62 percent contained and say homes are no longer threatened by the blaze
July 31, 2010: Palestinian security forces from Hamas check the damage in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes fired missiles, killing a senior commander of the Hamas military wing and wounding 11 people in five targets hit across Gaza overnight, the group and the military said Saturday.The Israeli military said the strikes were in response to a powerful rocket fired from Gaza that hit the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on Friday.Breaking News
Thousands fight Russian forest firesHUNDREDS of thousands battle forest fires raging across central Russia in a heatwave that has killed more than 30 people.
Indian police fire on Kashmir protesters
ANOTHER protester in troubled region has been killed, bringing total shot by security forces in last two days to six.
'Worst ever' floods kill at least 800
RESCUE workers and troops in northwest Pakistan struggle to reach thousands of people affected by floods.
Zanzibar votes on 'peace government'
REFERENDUM aimed neutralising the hatred that had blighted the Tanzanian islands' politics for decades.
Child murderer sues over prison attack
IAN Huntley suing prison authorities for failing to protect him after his throat was slashed by another inmate.
Germany mourns Love Parade victims
GERMANY has held a memorial service for the victims of the Love Parade techno music festival, where 21 people were crushed to death and 500 injured in a tunnel that was the only entrance to the event.
Vicar tells churchgoers to swear more
A CHURCH of England vicar told his flock to get more "streetwise" and swear more.
Hundreds gather for Clinton wedding
CHELSEA Clinton is poised to marry her longtime boyfriend at an exclusive estate along New York's Hudson River.
Is this the new Loch Ness Monster?
MYSTERIOUS long-necked sea creature photographed by locals terrifying fish off the British coast.
Hackers dupe world's biggest companies
HACKERS at an infamous DefCon gathering are proving that old-fashioned smooth talk rivals slick software skills when it comes to pulling off attacks on computer networks.
NSW/ACT
Navy hero was shot in the streetNATHAN Brodbeck's family has not recovered from the double shock delivered by a knock on the door.
Broken promise on school zones
THE NSW Government has broken its promise to spend every cent of fine revenue on road safety.
On your bike, Clover
CLOVER Moore claims her $76 million cycleway will transform Sydney but she prefers a car.
The Big Marn's brave face
AS he prepares for cancer surgery, Darryl "The Big Marn" Brohman says he's a "a phenomenon".
Solutions to save NSW
LEADING citizens have offered solutions to the state's woes after government ministers failed to.
Ratepayers face huge hike
RATEPAYERS in Sydney's eastern suburbs face a massive 120 per cent rates hike to fund services.
Cops drop ALP 'shooting' probe
POLICE have ceased investigating a Sydney "shooting" which forced a Labor candidate into hiding.
$2m world first surf centre for NSW
WORLD'S first dedicated national training centre for elite surfers to be built on far NSW north coast.
Escapees captured after 300km car chase
TWO escapees are captured after a 300km car chase through NSW country towns.
Queensland
Balloon ban a real letdownA MAJOR waste strategy has proposed a helium balloon ban at hundreds of government-related events across the state to stop litter and protect wildlife.
Online guide to DIY abortion
A PROMINENT Brisbane obstetrician is poised to launch an online DIY home abortion guide featuring a controversial pill banned from public sale.
Ashes to artists
QUEENSLAND artist Peter Booth has appealed to relatives of the dead for their cremated remains – so he can use them to create sculptures about mortality.
Rudd will be right as Rein
FORMER prime minister and Member for Griffith Kevin Rudd will be back on his feet soon after his successful gall bladder operation, his wife Therese Rein says.
Schools rewrite prehistory
PRIMARY school students are being taught that man and dinosaurs walked the Earth together and that there's fossil evidence to prove it.
Clem7 fix to cost $200m
TAXPAYERS face a $200 million bill over a major safety flaw in Brisbane's beleaguered Clem7 tunnel, with a crash risk identified at the Pacific Motorway exit.
Hospital plans in limbo
HEALTH Minister Paul Lucas has known for months emergency departments in Logan, Bundaberg and Toowoomba are facing delays, but the news only emerged on Friday.
Letters point to jail sex
LOVE letters found in the cell of a convicted murderer allegedly reveal he was having sex with a female officer at the Brisbane prison where he was held.
Prices slashed to stay afloat
DISCOUNTS of up to 75 per cent are on offer for everything from cookware to cycles and clothes as businesses try desperately to stay afloat.
So you call this winter?
QUEENSLANDERS may think spring has already sprung as sultry conditions continue across much of the state. But the weather bureau says they won't last.
Victoria
Coup for spring fashionsMELBOURNE Spring Fashion Week will undergo a radical transformation this year with the inclusion of A-list designers.
Perfection on ice
WHEN Swan Lake On Ice first premiered four years ago it was so well received it toured the world for almost two years.
Overhauling judges
VICTORIA'S Chief Justice, Marilyn Warren, has asked Attorney-General Rob Hulls to consider changing the way judges are appointed.
Pakula drive buy
ONE of the first things Martin Pakula did after being appointed Transport Minister was to buy a taxpayer-funded GPS system.
Elderly passenger killed in smash
AN 82-year-old man is dead after a two-car smash in central Victoria.
Keep 'stay or go' policy
THE Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission's final report says the "stay or go" policy should remain and criticises the state's emergency chiefs
Northern Territory
Nothing NewSouth Australia
SA's 'terror-threat' bridges revealedSA's defective bridges can finally be revealed, after they were kept secret because the information could benefit terrorists groups such as al-Qaida.
Let us hire with racial bias
ASC Shipbuilding is seeking the right to recruit employees on the basis of race to conform with top-secret US export contracts.
Focus on the fun for City-to-Bay run
SIX weeks into their City-Bay training, Sunday Mail reporters Matt Gilbertson and Sarah Mennie are showing what dedication and commitment can do.
Police review high-speed chases
A MAJOR review of police procedures in high-speed pursuits - which have just topped 600 a year - is under way.
Body worries for homeless youth
AUSTRALIA'S homeless youth are more worried about their body image and alcohol abuse than their own personal safety, a national survey has found.
Mobiles killing quiz nights
QUIZ nights are traditionally evenings of brainstorming and beer, but these days they're more like a battleground - thanks to the mobile phone.
Ease up, Choco, they're just kids
HIT wasn't quite the same as leading Port Adelaide in the AFL but former Power coach Mark Williams was back at the helm of a football side yesterday.
CSI kit for wary parents
A CSI-style forensic kit will allow parents to fingerprint and DNA sample their children as "insurance" in case they go missing.
Gag on pipeline furore
A VOCAL critic of the new $403 million water pipeline has been hit with a new confidentiality demand.
Wild weather hits SA
A STORM that swept across SA last night saved its most dangerous punch for the tiny town of Penola, with a tornado ripping through the main street.
Western Australia
Family's travel dreams shatteredA FAMILY'S dreams of travelling the country were punctured when their custom-built trailer was stolen on Friday night.
More weekend surgery for WA doctors
DOCTORS will be forced to perform more weekend operations to cut waiting lists for elective surgery in WA.
Chloe the joey lifts ailing spirits
WHEN Jasmine Moohen met Chloe the joey at Princess Margaret Hospital it was a kiss-and-tell experience.
Stadium shame sends Soccer Cup east
PERTH'S lack of a decent stadium has cost it the chance of hosting any of the lucrative 2015 Asian Cup soccer matches - which attract thousands of international fans and 700 million TV viewers.
1-in-50,000 boy's heart skips a beat
ELEVEN-MONTH-OLD Josh Martin cries when he sees adults dressed in white.
MPs' staffers rack up crash bill
STAFF working for 10 different WA ministers have generated a $65,000 bill for crashing taxpayer-funded cars.
Footy acts on umpire abuse
FOOTBALL bosses are trying to tackle umpire abuse, by forcing coaches of teams as young as under-8s to shake hands with umpires before bouncedown.
Driving instructor 'caught texting'
A DRIVING instructor appears to have been caught red-handed texting on his mobile phone while behind the wheel.
City wakes to thick fog
PERTH was smothered in thick fog early Saturday, creating hazardous driving conditions.
Teen charged over laser incident
A TEENAGE partygoer is facing court after allegedly shining a laser pointer at a police helicopter during a wild party in Dawesville.
Tasmania
Nothing new=== Comments ===
Leaking Labor’s ship is sinking fastPiers Akerman
TWENTY days out from the election, and the Nielsen poll gives Liberals a 52-48 lead - reflecting the electorate’s decision to ignore Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s nagging exhortation to “move forward.” - Gillard is not the sole problem for the ALP. And it is clear she is not in control too. The problem is, the supporters do not know who runs the ALP. I have been walking through the electorate of Blaxland, looking for support recently. Blaxland is an ALP stronghold, with incumbent Jason Clare having 68% of the two party preferred vote at the last election. However, current voters do not know what is going on, and Clare is absent and unable to explain to them what is happening. He left a message with the local newspaper saying that three important issues for the electorate were Health, Education and the economy. I find it enlightening he didn't mention migration.
I am running for this seat and I have to recognize some home truths. The ALP have many passionate supporters who feel betrayed here, and who don't have a cohesive message to sell. Even the three areas Clare identified are major ALP policy failures. But, for me, for the election to be free and fair, I must recognize good ALP personnel are working overtime to oversee the processes. The ALP are corrupt from the top down, but they have good members .. and they are hurting. I hope I might be able to work with those people in the future too.
I am a Christian, and the first thing I tell other Christians I meet on the issue of the election is that if I am elected I will not be doing them any favors. The point is to represent the whole electorate fairly. I think God understands. I will be running on a Liberal party policy agenda. However, on the issue of migration, I must say my electorate would probably want me to say that I want a big Australia, and I want investment in infrastructure to achieve this so that migrants may live the Great Australian Dream. - ed.
===
COMEDY ELECTION CONTINUES
Tim Blair
All you need to know about the Greens campaign launch:
Oh God, there was a hippy with a guitar!Just as loathsome, Bob Brown pretending that the Greens are open-minded and reasonable:
“We will never just say no,” he said.One word, Bob: nuclear.
UPDATE. In other pixie-and-elf news, ex-Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett – now running for the Greens in Brisbane – attacks his former party:
That’s ludicrous & intellectually dishonest nonsense! Such shabby bastardry badly degrades the Democrats’ important legacy.Is that even possible?
===
CHATTY KEVNI
Tim Blair
Kevin Rudd – double agent!
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer has claimed Mr Rudd, at the time an ambitious backbencher, would seize on information given to him about his Labor rivals – and regularly feed it to the media …Rudd denies the claim, but Brereton isn’t exactly helping him by refusing to confirm or deny. And there’s one more line from Downer:
“Personally, I think Laurie Brereton’s a very competent operator, but Rudd was happy to humiliate and embarrass him,” Mr Downer said.“We would give Rudd information to use against Brereton, and he would use it.
“He was so incredibly unprincipled. When he was chairman of the caucus committee, we used him mercilessly to embarrass Laurie Brereton.”
“I can tell you that Kevin Rudd is a f****** awful person.”Further from Claire Harvey:
When Rudd kicked a hole in the wall of his own office, screaming with anger, none of his staff quite knew what to say.He does seem to be a touchy fellow. Former Daily Telegraph editor David Penberthy once took a call from raging Rudd:
It was 2007 and Rudd, as Opposition leader, had just conducted an aggressive press conference in Sydney. He returned to his Phillip St office and let everyone know how strong his rage could be. “We all saw it – all the staff,” one witness says. “It was extraordinary.”
What frequently set Rudd off was the feeling that he was unappreciated – like the flop of his speech before the UN general assembly in September, 2008.
“You don’t understand,” Rudd said. “As a result of your papers, 15 million people around the country think I’m a f****** c***!”Kevin didn’t much care for that line. On another occasion he phoned Penberthy to whine about a tiny item in our gossip pages making fun of his obsession with press conferences. And earlier this year he complained when the Telegraph called his bluff after Rudd tried to deflect blame for the insulation debacle away from Peter Garrett.
Penberthy had to laugh: “I think it’s only about 10 million, mate.”
Sensitive chap. Probably not suited to politics.
UPDATE. Spy tale disputed:
Mr Abbott this morning moved to distance the Liberal Party from the story, saying Mr Downer was disputing it and “I doubt that it’s true”.The ABC reports:
Mr Downer has released a statement this morning saying the interpretation placed on the comments he made are “wrong” …Note that he isn’t challenging the actual comments, but their interpretation. Meanwhile:
“Kevin Rudd was not used by me or other members of the Liberal Party as a so-called ‘double agent’ to leak material against other members of the Labor Party.”
Mr Downer says the journalist who wrote the story has “created a more controversial story than my comments warranted”.
Through a spokesman Mr Rudd has also denied the substance of the report.It’d be a fascinating case. First witness for the defence: Mark Latham.
He says the allegations are completely and utterly false and he is seeking legal advice.
UPDATE II. Peter van Onselen: “Leaker or no leaker, what is going on inside the head of Kevin Rudd?”
UPDATE III. Wayne Swan is asked if he is ”no more persuaded that Kevin Rudd is the source of the leaks against Julia Gillard.” Despite the ABC’s headline ("Rudd not behind Labor leaks: Swan") he doesn’t actually deny anything.
UPDATE IV. The reporting on Downer’s claim is solid. Here’s the interview transcript. Note, too, that Downer had no objections when the Sunday Telegraph reminded him that the piece was about to be published, and when the paper asked further questions about the claims.
===
SUN SETS
Tim Blair
Julia Gillard, July 17:
Moving forward means making record investments in solar power.But just 16 days later:
The Gillard government has stopped funding Australia’s solar research centre.UPDATE. Victoria goes solar! Great timing, Premier.
===
LABOR BACKS LIBERAL
Tim Blair
“How’s this for a conspiracy theory,” writes a Poll Bludgerist. “Current or former ALP Minister, on the way out the door, lays a big, big bet on the Coalition to win the election at a time sexy odds were on offer. Then, once election is called: drip, drip, drip. Come election day …”
Hmm. Might not be too far from the truth:
Senior Labor figures have placed significant bets on the outcome of the federal election, with some punting against their own party …Labor odds have shifted from $1.40 to a peak of $1.55. The Coalition is down from an outside mark of $3.25 to as low as $2.40.
Centrebet primary analyst Neil Evans said: ‘’I can’t tell you who but I can tell you this: these are people very high up betting on some of the critical seats and I can tell you they don’t always stay faithful to their party – they swap sides.
‘’They are well-known Labor figures and associates that are punting on these seats. A lot of Labor-connected money has been backing a Coalition win in marginal seats and, to a lesser extent, the Coalition has been doing the reverse.’’
===
AL GETS OFF
Tim Blair
Not for the first time, the phrase “insufficient evidence” is associated with Al Gore.
===
LOOK WHO’S CHALKING
Tim Blair
Climate change comedy in Melbourne, featuring one of our favourite apocalypse activists:
The fun continues in comments, where it is revealed that our activist mate was forced to de-chalk:An ALP volunteer got into a fight with the person who wrote it, and another took photos. I was also offended by this so I arranged for a local trader to lend a bucket and broom so that the comment could be removed by the person responsible.He had to eat his words, so to speak. Hey, at least he’s eating something.
===
Takes the ABC to hand Abbott his best ad
Andrew Bolt
Who’d have thought that it took an ABC show - the Gruen Nation - to produce Tony Abbott’s best commercial of the campaign, made by Melbourne agency Freeform?
(Thanks to reader Paul.)
===
Why it’s worth the fight
Andrew Bolt
Time explains what the Taliban will do - and not just to girls who run away from their husbands - if it gains even more power.(Thanks to reader Steve.)
===
A loss will make some Labor punters happy
Andrew Bolt
Not illegal or immoral, but surely politically stupid:
SENIOR Labor figures have placed significant bets on the outcome of the federal election, with some punting against their own party. A major betting agency said bets had been placed on members of the opposing team to win marginal seats in NSW and Queensland.
Centrebet primary analyst Neil Evans said: ‘’I can’t tell you who but I can tell you this: these are people very high up betting on some of the critical seats and I can tell you they don’t always stay faithful to their party - they swap sides…
The revelations follow a 24-hour betting frenzy in which the Coalition’s odds tightened from $3.32 to $2.64 and the ALP eased from $1.32 to $1.46.
===
If Labor wants us to look at past extremism, let’s look at Gillard’s
Andrew Bolt
So much for “moving forward”. Labor’s got nothing left to sell, so reaches back into the past for the slops:
LABOR’S election campaign is set to enter a new aggressive and negative phase designed to exert maximum pressure on Tony Abbott by highlighting his ‘’extremist’’ past rhetoric.Sauce for the goose. So if we’re looking for extremist positions from the past, why not also examine Gillard’s own? Why not examine her leadership of the Socialist Forum and the deceitful claims she’s made to hide an involvement that ended only eight years ago - and examine, too, the positions she then took:
After a collapse in support following a series of leaks, Labor will be using its new underdog status to turn the blowtorch back onto Mr Abbott, warning voters to take a closer look at the man who could be prime minister.
Labor is preparing a smear campaign drawing attention to Mr Abbott’s controversial past rhetoric. The Sunday Age has been given an extensive dossier containing dozens of comments by Mr Abbott on issues such as industrial relations, abortion, teenage sex, marriage, and climate change. It includes extensive material on Mr Abbott’s hardline attitudes to women and abortion, including a 2006 statement that there was ‘’a bizarre double standard in this country where someone who kills a pregnant woman’s baby is guilty of murder but a woman who aborts an unborn baby is simply exercising choice’’.
SCRAPPING the ANZUS treaty, twinning Melbourne with Leningrad and introducing a super-tax on the rich were among radical policies devised or backed by Julia Gillard as a student activist… Founded in 1984 as a pressure group within the ALP, the Socialist Forum also wanted to sever Australia’s alliance with the US, remove the spy base at Pine Gap, introduce death duties and redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor…This is especially legitimate given Gillard’s own analysis of how fellow socialists could use Labor to quietly push their own agenda:
In a pamphlet from the mid-1980s, Ms Gillard describes herself as a “socialist and a feminist” and someone who joined the ALP at 16.
“Contrary to what may have been suggested, Socialist Forum is not a secret organisation nor is it a sub-caucus with the Socialist Left,” Ms Gillard says in the pamphlet.
“The members of the forum are drawn from varied backgrounds. Around 45 of the forum’s members left the Communist Party of Australia in the division of a year ago and about 80 are members of the ALP. The largest group are not members of any political party.”
UPDATEReader Charles kindly transcribes the above:
===
Downer: we gave Rudd the bullets he fired at Labor foes
Andrew Bolt
So who is the Labor leaker who has so devastated Julia Gillard’s campaign? I think Alexander Downer has a keen suspicion:
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer has revealed Mr Rudd, at the time an ambitious backbencher, would seize on information given to him about his Labor rivals - and regularly feed it to the media.I’m not sure Downer’s revelations help the Liberals, who’d prefer to have Rudd seem the poor and honourable victim of a scheming Lady Macbeth, rather than the spectacularly incompetent and treacherous monomaniac who got precisely what he deserved.
“We used him mercilessly to embarrass (Labor’s then foreign-affairs spokesman) Laurie Brereton,” Mr Downer told The Sunday Telegraph.
“We would give Rudd information to use against Brereton, and he would use it.”
Last night, Mr Rudd told The Sunday Telegraph from his hospital bed: “Mr Downer’s allegations . . . are completely and utterly false...”
Mr Rudd, who entered parliament in 1998 determined to rise quickly through the party’s ranks, was chairman of Labor’s internal national security and trade caucus committee when he began his campaign against Mr Brereton - angling for Mr Brereton’s plum post of Opposition foreign-affairs spokesman. He launched an all-out campaign to get the job by publicly disagreeing with Labor policy on diplomatic and foreign-affairs issues.
“Personally, I think Laurie Brereton’s a very competent operator, but Rudd was happy to humiliate and embarrass him,” Mr Downer said....
“He was so incredibly unprincipled. When he was chairman of the caucus committee, we used him mercilessly to embarrass Laurie Brereton.”
Mr Rudd would leak the information to his media contacts as an anonymous source, Mr Downer said.
“I don’t use the c-word, but I do use the f-word pretty freely, and I can tell you that Kevin Rudd is a f****** awful person,” he said.
Mr Brereton, who resigned from Labor’s front bench in 2001 - handing his portfolio to Mr Rudd - and left politics in 2004, declined to confirm or deny the claim yesterday.
UPDATE
Former long-time Liberal strategist Ian Kortlang says on Channel 10 that Labor is makign the same mistake his lot did when they axed John Howard. They haven’t give Rudd a good job to placate both him and his more ideological acolytes, who he believes are the real leakers. Rudd must be made Foreign Affairs Minister now, he insists, if Gillard wants to save her campaign.
UPDATE 2
On the other hand, the anecdotes now coming out from those who knew Rudd PM well are startling, and explain why many Labor ministers would find Kortlang’s advice perfectly reasonable - were it not for Rudd himself. Just a few of the many examples:
What frequently set Rudd off was the feeling that he was unappreciated - like the flop of his speech before the UN general assembly in September, 2008.UPDATE 3
The UN auditorium was three-quarters empty, and Rudd’s then-chief of staff, David Epstein, nodded off. That was bad enough, but when Rudd got wind of the Australian news reports mocking his appearance, he lost it.
In his private suite on the jet home, surrounded by staff and RAAF personnel, Rudd raged.
“He actually punched the wall of the plane,” one observer says. This time, luckily, he didn’t put his foot through it…
Advisers were horrified when, at the Council of Australian Government meeting last December, Rudd suddenly began shouting at Victorian Premier John Brumby.
That encounter was echoed in March this year, when Rudd blatantly ignored NSW Premier Kristina Keneally at a meeting when she tried to welcome him....
PUBLIC and private behaviour modes blurred with Rudd. At business lunches, he would eat off the plates of others.
“He just sat there eating the chips off my plate, chip after chip,” says one senior business figure who dined with Rudd when he was Opposition leader. “It was a bit strange...”
Rudd didn’t consider it necessary to be honest with his own office. Media advisers would press him to give an answer on a particular topic, and he would obfuscate or flatly deny. Days later, they would be startled to hear him say the complete opposite on air.
Ousted prime minister Kevin Rudd is threatening to take legal action over claims he leaked damaging information about his own party - fed to him by the Liberals - while in opposition.Tony Abbott on Channel 9 says Downer denies the story that he fed Rudd material which Rudd in turn used against Brereton. I look forward to seeing how Downer wriggles out of this.
UPDATE 4
Peter van Onselen fingers Rudd as a leaker - and one who might be advantaged by a Labor loss:
A Rudd confidant from Queensland, who has had a private conversation with the former prime minister, says Rudd still considers that he has a deal with Gillard to become foreign minister if Labor is re-elected, a promise from their meeting on the afternoon of the leadership coup.UPDATE 6
He also claims Rudd has said he still has leadership ambitions, believing it is not impossible that, in time, he could again be considered for the top job, given his profile and one-time popularity.
That scenario would probably need to involve an election defeat, but even Rudd’s confidant thinks it is crazy talk.
“Of course it’s crazy, but try telling Kevin that,” he says. The source says Rudd made a number of other observations to him since he was deposed as leader: that Wayne Swan drove the agenda on the mining tax, and didn’t want to compromise right up until the very last minute; that Rudd is disappointed at Penny Wong for deserting him so quickly on the night of the coup—after he had done so much to advance her career; and that the very first time Gillard had made Rudd aware of her concerns about his performance as prime minister was when she telephoned him on June 23 to announce she needed to meet with him, the meeting that ultimately involved her announcing she would be challenging him for the leadership.
When The Weekend Australian put these comments to Rudd, he categorically denied them.
A spokesperson said Rudd had never had a conversation with anyone “on the range of topics indicated”.
Mr Downer also issued a statement on the matter from overseas, saying his comments had been misinterpreted.(Thanks to reader Matthew.)
‘‘Kevin Rudd was not used by me or other members of the Liberal Party as a so-called ‘double agent’ to leak material against other members of the Labor Party,’’ he said.
‘‘Unfortunately, (the journalist) has created a more controversial story than my comments warranted.’’
===
Brumby sells us a solar crock, just as even Gillard sees the light
Andrew Bolt
The Brumby Government, desperate for Greens preferences, last month promised to make Victoria use much more of one of the most expensive forms of power known to man:
Between five and 10 large-scale solar powerplants will be built across Victoria under an ambitious Brumby government plan. Premier John Brumby announced a target of 5 per cent of the state’s energy coming from solar farms by 2020…Wow. Up to 10 new plants…
“The policies we are releasing today will make Victoria by far the solar capital of Australia,” Mr Brumby said.
including an existing proposal to build a station outside Mildura by 2015.Ah, yes. The Mildura plant. We’ve had that promised by desperate governments before, of course, along with an insane amount of taxpayer money to make the unlikely happen. From 2008:
MOST of Mildura could be powered by solar energy following a $290 million agreement signed by TRUenergy and Melbourne-based Solar Systems for the world’s largest photovoltaic solar power station to be built in the north-west of Victoria.A $420 million plant, propped up with $130 million in government handouts, plus laws to make consumers pay extra for its product. So what’s it’s worth now?
Building of the $420 million, 154-megawatt power station starts next year… TRUenergy will provide $40 million to Solar Systems in exchange for 20% ownership. It follows the $50 million contribution from the Victorian Government and a $79.5 million by the Howard government in 2006.
Rooftop solar panel manufacturer Silex Systems will pay $20 million for the remains of Solar Systems, the failed Abbotsford business behind a groundbreaking proposal to build a $420 million plant near Mildura.From $420 million to just $20 million? Despite all that promised cash from the federal and state governments? And even then, Silex, the new owners, say this plant on which governments have bet so much cash in the hope of seeming green may not be a goer:
The sale - conditional on agreement on the final contract - follows five months of uncertainty over the future of Solar Systems and its pioneering photovoltaic solar concentrating technology, after it went into voluntary administration last September. It shed more than 100 of its 150 staff.
SSG’s solar technology is applicable to large utility-scale electrical power generation using its proprietary “Dense Array” concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar conversion technology… Following completion of the acquisition, Silex will conduct a 12 to 18 month technology commercialization program in parallel with business development and marketing activities, with the aim of commencing commercial project activities in 2011. This program could then lead to the construction of a 2MW pilot facility in Mildura (potentially a precursor to a ~150MW power station), pending confirmation of financial support from the Victorian State and Australian Federal Governments (see attached Supplementary Information below)…Let’s sum up. The only one of the five to 10 solar plants “promised” by the Brumby Government over the next decade that’s even likely to be built has already lost the original investors $130 million, with the new investors refusing to commit to actually completing the thing. It will provide uncertain and very expensive power, but only after the Victorian and Federal Governments agree to stump up the rest of their promised $130 million in handouts.
As noted above, approximately $150 million has been invested to date in research and development activities, power generation projects, manufacturing plant and equipment, and business development activities. The assets to be acquired include ... (a) development site and adjoining acreage (option to acquire) for a proposed 154MW solar power station project in Mildura, Victoria. This project potentially has the support (to be confirmed) of the Australian Federal Government ($75m in funding previously announced – refer Media Release –
25/10/06 at http://www.solarsystems.com.au) and the Victorian State Government ($50m in funding previously announced – refer same)....
But the Gillard Government is actually pulling money out of solar research, presumably on the grounds that this is an insane money pit. For instance:
THE Gillard government has stopped funding Australia’s solar research centre. The University of New South Wales’ Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence - where the multibillionaire solar entrepreneur Zhengrong Shi studied - recently lost funding under the federal government’s Australian Research Council grants.In fact, Gillard thinks other useless and expensive mirages have more substance even than solar:
Old car owners will score a $2000 rebate if they buy a new fuel-efficient vehicle, under a “cash for clunkers” scheme announced by Julia Gillard today… The $394 million cost of the scheme will be financed by cuts in several other climate programs, including $220 million coming off the solar flagship program.John Brumby is just one more green con man.
UPDATE
Reader David Archibald explains why Government shouldn’t be backing winners like this with your cash:
No wonder Silex’s share price has come off. Solar Systems’ technology was an ok project when it started, but thin film PV is now cheaper and much easier to scale.The Californians are financing big experiments in solar technology in their deserts (20% renewable requirement by 2012). If we were smart we would wait to see how those play out before building anything.One further thing. Victoria is too cloudy for solar. Your solar plants would be better located a few hundred km north in central NSW.But even thin film PVC isn’t meeting its initial expectations.
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