Thursday, October 14, 2010

Headlines Thursday 14th October 2010

=== Todays Toon ===
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan, GCMG (Chinese name: 彌敦) (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was a British soldier and civil servant, who variously served as the Governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Queensland. He was Under-Secretary for Ireland from 1914 to 1916, and was responsible, with the Chief Secretary, Augustine Birrell, for co-ordinating the British response to the Easter Rising in Ireland.
=== Bible Quote ===
“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”- Jeremiah 29:11
=== Headlines ===
Dramatic Chilean Mine Rescue Finally Nears End
The 25th of 33 miners trapped more than 2,000 feet below the earth's surface for 69 days finally emerge, one by one, from their subterranean tomb.

Promises, Promises: '08 Tax Vows Broken?
President Obama pledged during 2008 campaign that middle-class families would not see a tax increase of any kind — a pledge critics have repeatedly accused him of violating, especially with Bush tax cuts set to expire unless Congress acts before Jan. 1

Police Search Father's Work for Girl's Remains
Authorities in North Carolina scour the property of a tree service company, focusing on a wood chipper and mulch pile in their search for the remains of missing 10-year-old Zahra Clare Baker

Del. Senate Debate Hot Ticket for Students
Students at the University of Delaware line up at the crack of dawn two days early for tonight's debate between Republican Senate hopeful Christine O'Donnell and her Democrat rival, Chris Coons

Breaking News
Dollar up past US99c
THE dollar was a above 99 US cents for the second time in two weeks early this morning, hitting a new post-float high in early morning trade as world markets surged.

ATO warns of fake cheques
THE Australian Tax Office is warning about realistic counterfeit cheques supposedly issued by the ATO and drawn on at the Reserve Bank of Australia in circulation.

Man robs bank then returns money
IN apparent change of heart, a New York man stole thousands from a bank only to return the money to the teller moments later and then be arrested.

'Cheating' Chilean miner rescued
A CHILEAN miner whose alleged extramarital affair was exposed as he lay trapped half-a-mile underground was rescued today, bringing the tally of freed workers to 21.

Airline captain dies during flight
THE captain of a Qatar Airways flight from the Philippines to Qatar died as it was in the air yesterday, forcing the plane to be diverted to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, the carrier said

NSW/ACT
Drug shed bursts into flames
TWO men suffered critical burns when a shed with drug paraphernalia and cars inside erupted in flames early today.

Beets kill accused set for tests
WALTER Ciaran Marsh, 49, the man accused of killing nurse Michelle Beets will undergo psychiatric testing before his trial.

Green groups casting net of lies
THE official state fish used by green groups as a symbol no-fishing zones in NSW, despite the fish thriving along the entire coastline.

Residents' fury at terminal plans
PLANS for a giant harbourside carpark as part of the White Bay cruise ship terminal have angered council and residents.

Stepmother 'faked Zahra ransom'
THE stepmother of missing Australian girl Zahra Baker will appear in a US court today charged with faking a $US1 million ransom.

David Jones case no 'witch hunt'
THE judge in the DJs sex case has warned lawyers that it should not become a "witch hunt".

Libs try to pull plug on sell-off
STATE shadow treasurer Mike Baird has written to Julia Gillard calling on her to stop the Keneally's sell-off of the state's electricity.

One woman's dislike for bikes
A DARLINGHURST local became the hero of anti-cycleway groups during her routine walk to work.

DOCS shame as deaths erased
BUREAUCRATS erase the deaths of 38 children from the state's shameful death records by changing one definition.

Queensland
Beach destroyed by wild weather
WILD seas have destroyed a Gold Coast beach, swallowing the foreshore and leaving public viewing platforms hanging in mid-air.

Tunnel drill bursts through road
AN accident on an Airport Link worksite caused commuter chaos when a drill burst through Lutwyche Rd at peak hour and struck two cars.

Report on rogue cop 'ignored'
POLICE have been accused of ignoring a damning report detailing the use of excessive force against an offender by former Whitsundays officer Benjamin Price.

Sales pitch drives up power bills
ELECTRICITY retailers are effectively driving up power prices by spending more on telemarketers and door-to-door sales pitches to households.

La Nina is gaining strength
THERE appears no let-up ahead for Queensland's wet weather, with meteorologists warning the rain-bearing La Nina weather event has strengthened.

Man on 500 graffiti counts
BRISBANE'S Taskforce Against Graffiti has charged its most prolific offender yet: a 24-year-old Everton Hills man accused of more than 500 offences.

$2800 to beat $100 parking fine
A MAN who challenged his $100 parking ticket in court is now facing a $2871 bill after a magistrate halved the fine, but awarded costs against him.

Mining boom hides jobs crisis
UNEMPLOYMENT is rising in 60 per cent of regional Queensland with some areas struggling with increases of 50 per cent.

City flood alert after dam release
THE decision to open the floodgates on southeast Queensland's biggest dam could trigger flooding in inner Brisbane, residents are warned.

Cash for Nuttall 'kept in tin'
A BUSINESSMAN allegedly kept more than $100,000 in a hidden tin which he used to make large cash kickbacks to former state minister Gordon Nuttall.

Victoria
Man bashed in late-night attack
A MAN was punched up to 10 times in the head in an ugly, unprovoked attack in Melbourne's west last night.

Woman killed in hit-run
A WOMAN is dead after a suspected hit-run in Melbourne's outer east this morning.

$20m to restore Flinders St station
ABOUT $20 million would be enough to restore Flinders St station to its former majesty, industry experts say.

Twins show spirit in health battles
FORTUNE has smiled on 10-month-old identical twins Aurelia and Indiana Oliver from the moment they popped into this world.

Crisis meetings over promotion row
JEREMY Rapke's future remains under a cloud after meetings over the promotion of a junior solicitor that has left his office in turmoil

Proud Vics loyal monarchists
VICTORIANS all let us rejoice, for our patriotism is growing - and we think ourselves artistic, sophisticated and tolerant monarchists, to boot.

Call for busy tram stop expansion
YARRA Trams has begun a safety review into the Flinders St tram stop in front of Federation Square.

Residents angry at park rules
BEACH umbrellas, kites and stone throwing have been banned from public land in northern Victoria through bizarre regulations.

Man killed, woman injured in crash
A MAN is dead and a woman in a serious condition after a car crash in the states north east tonight.

Cops told to go soft on bikies
POLICE ordered to take a softly-softly approach to an outlaw motorcycle gang ignored bikies riding at up to 140km/h, they said.

Northern Territory
Jessica Mauboy slammed for video 'sleaze'
JESSICA Mauboy's latest film clip has been panned as "cheap", "tacky" and "disappointing"

South Australia
Death prompts call to share road
CYCLIST groups want more signs on major roads to lift motorists' awareness of cyclists and to encourage all of them to share the road.

Secrecy over whooping cough
AUTHORITIES refuse to reveal how many health workers have whooping cough vaccinations but an Adelaide expert believes it may be only 40 per cent.

Death charges after hit-run hunt
A MAN faces hit-run charges over the death of a woman struck by a car on Main North Rd last night.

Trucks forced into Port heart bypass
ABOUT 1100 trucks a day will be diverted away from the heart of the Port in what traders are hailing as a crucial victory in the fight to revitalise the town centre.

New leads in murder manhunt
MAJOR Crime detectives want to talk to three young men who might have information on the murder of Elizabeth North pensioner Bev Hanley.

Campaign to lower speed limit
A MOUNT Barker woman has set up a Facebook site demanding a lower speed limit on the South Eastern Freeway following yesterday's fatal crash.

The mood at Holden is just Cruzy
MORALE at the Elizabeth Holden plant is on the rise with the opening of its new Cruze bodyshop.

Conduct code unfair, say councillors
RULES restricting sitting members during local government elections are giving a free kick to other candidates, some West Torrens Councillors say.

Slush funds top up hospitals
THE State Goverment is siphoning off millions of dollars earmarked for hospital equipment, instead using it for operational purposes.

Gun used in uni precinct robberies
A GUN has been used to threaten victims in two robberies near a suburban university campus.

Western Australia
Sharks close south-west beaches
THREE popular south-west surfing beaches remain closed to the public today after a shark sighting yesterday afternoon.

Suzuki clue to Iveta murder mystery
POLICE are searching for a vehicle that may hold important information in the investigation into the suspected murder of Parmelia woman Iveta Mitchell.

Voelte to retire from Woodside
WOODSIDE Petroleum has ended long-running speculation about the tenure of its chief executive, with Don Voelte today announcing his retirement.

Hughes says woman 'guided' him in sex
A FORMER state cricketer charged with raping a woman has told a Perth court she was the one "guiding'' him during the sex.

Grisly school death 'not suspicious'
DETECTIVES have identified a man found dead by a student in a cubby house at Lake Monger Primary School yesterday as pupils returned from holidays.

Young man found dead in bed
A 27-YEAR-OLD man has been found dead in his bed by a flatmate at a house in Perth's north.

Kimberley search for missing man
A search is under way for an experienced bushman who has been missing in Western Australia's Kimberley region for four days.

Armed cops raid Coffin Cheaters again
HEAVILY armed TRG officers storm the Coffin Cheaters' clubhouse in Bayswater for the second time in a week, laying charges against one.

Tasmania
Collectors host's child porn case adjourned
ABC personality Andy Muirhead has had his child pornography charges adjourned in the Hobart Magistrates Court today.
=== Journalists Corner ===
Saving the Chilean Miners!
It's all been leading up to this ... with the rescue mission underway, we're there as events unfold! Stay with the Fox News Channel for continuing coverage.
===
Elizabeth Warren Exclusive!
How a new government bureau is stepping up to secure the banking sector. The consumer czar reveals D.C.'s latest strategy.
===
Countdown to the November Elections
George Stephanopoulos and Dick Morris make midterm predictions! Plus, body language analyzes the housekeeper in the Meg Whitman controversy!
===
Tom Daschle and Hannity Square Off!
Tom Daschle says ALL Americans should give Obamacare a chance! So, can he convince Sean? Then, Senator John McCain sits down with Greta.
On Fox News Insider:
VIDEO: How Will the Miners Hold Up Mentally?
Chile Mine Disaster: By the Numbers
Highlights: Whitman, Brown Battle in Televised Debate
Where the Jobs Are: Southern Automakers
=== Comments ===
More Bad News for Democratic Party
BY BILL O'REILLY

Far-left bomb-thrower George Soros says he is now going to stand down from the upcoming election. He told the media he doesn't want to get in the way of an "avalanche." Mr. Soros apparently believes the Republicans are going to rout the Democrats in three weeks.

But I don't believe George Soros. I think he will continue pouring tens of millions of dollars into organizations like MoveOn that try to verbally assassinate Republican candidates.

But there is no misreading the poll numbers. Let's start with Connecticut, where President Obama has lost a stunning six percentage points off his job approval rating in just 10 days, according to a new Fox News poll.

For the first time in Connecticut, Mr. Obama's disapproval ratings are higher than his approval. That bodes well for Republican senatorial candidate Linda McMahon, who has now pulled within six points of her Democrat challenger Richard Blumenthal.

In Ohio, the situation is bloody for the Democrats. President Obama's job approval rating has fallen to 33 percent; 58 percent disapprove. That means there will be a likely landslide for the Republicans in the Buckeye State.

In Nevada, President Obama's disapproval rate stands at 55 percent, with 40 percent approving. That's why Sharron Angle leads Sen. Harry Reid by two points.

In the very liberal state of Washington, Senate Republican candidate Dino Rossi has pulled ahead of liberal Democrat Patty Murray by one point.

One of the few bright spots for the Democrats is Delaware, where Mr. Obama's approval rating is 48 percent, disapproval 45. In the senatorial contest, Democrat Chris Coons leads Christine O'Donnell 54 to 38. So it looks like Karl Rove could be right about Delaware.

Of course, the bad economy is hurting the president and Democrats in general, but there's also uneasiness about the direction of the country.

On Tuesday in Paris, France, thousands of people protested the French government's attempt to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. Can you believe this madness? France is financially underwater just like America, so it is looking for ways to save money. But these loons won't even give their country two years. Pathetic.

"Talking Points" submits that most Americans see scenes like these and get angry. Most workers here would consider 62 an early retirement.

And it is an entitlement mentality that Democrats have been pushing, but most Americans are self-reliant people. They don't want the nanny state. They don't want to be like France and other Western European countries.

But it seems like President Obama admires those societies, thus the gulf between him and many Americans. That combined with the bad economy has created the avalanche to which George Soros referred.
===
AND THE BIKE YOU RODE IN ON
Tim Blair
Sydney woman Julie Heard takes on Clover Moore and the cycle stasi. A reader poll at that link supports Ms Heard, who leads a popular uprising against two-wheeled tyranny.

UPDATE. Dave comments:
I heard on the radio that Clover yesterday participated in ride to work day then fell off her bike and had to take the arvo off. I’ve not seen it reported anywhere in the written media nor seen any priceless images.
I heard something similar, but put it down to the hallucinatory powers of cold medication. If bicycles endanger even Clover herself, what might they do to the rest of us?

UPDATE II:
Sydney’s bikeways have become lawless express lanes with cyclists rolling through red lights and riding on footpaths.

While motorists are fined for driving in bus or bike lanes, cycling infringements go unnoticed.

Sydney City Council and the RTA are holding urgent negotiations to consider methods to penalise reckless riders.
They should be hobbled.
===
WATCH KEITH WORK
Tim Blair
Keith Olbermann smiling to himself as he considers his own genius doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that will lure many viewers. Likewise, Olbermann’s deliberations over whether to use “liberate” or “emancipate” (look at the man think!) might not be the ratings winner MSNBC is hoping for, although some may tune in to enjoy the fellow’s super-rapid pretend typing.

Jim Treacher presents an earlier version of MSNBC’s promo.
===
MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE
Tim Blair
Respected mainstream publisher Eric Beecher – generator of “measured commentary”, apparently – may need to have a word with his political correspondent Bernard Keane, whose latest measured commentary is directed at The Australian‘s James Massola:
what a c**t
It’s another lovely Twitter moment, which some may say lets Keane off the hook – just a stupid comment, not journalism, leave him alone etc. But according to Keane, Twitter is “an extension of existing forms of journalism” and “important”, so back on the hook he goes:

===
TESTED ON VEGANS
Tim Blair
Sounds like a great night:
We’re hosting another party selling certified cruelty free women’s shoes. Anyone interested in women’s vegan shoes are welcome to come along.
They won’t get much of a crowd. It’s a well-known fact that women actually prefer cruel shoes.

(Via Joe Hildebrand)
===
BELOW ENGLAND
Tim Blair
This hurts:
Australia have dropped to fifth place in the ICC Test rankings following their 2-0 series defeat in India and are placed below England for the first time since the rankings were introduced in 2003 … It is their lowest ranking ever.
But if we beat England this summer we’ll leap up all the way to …fourth.
===
Brisbane gets for free what Gillard charges the rest of us $43 billion for
Andrew Bolt
So why is the Gillard Government spending $43 billion to do for the nation what Campbell Brown can do for Brisbane for nothing?
BRISBANE residents will have super-fast broadband within four years under a deal which will be announced by Lord Mayor Campbell Newman today.

The deal, which Cr Newman says will be rolled out at no cost to ratepayers, will see fibre optic cable run through the city’s sewers to allow residents access to high-speed internet.

Cr Newman said fibre optic cable capable of a download speed of 100 megabits per second, would be installed from early next year, after a successful trial by Brisbane-based company i3 Asia Pacific…

He said he was not prepared to wait for the National Broadband Network.

“I support everyone getting access to high quality internet however the NBN has not put the needs of Brisbane on as high a priority as we would like and we didn’t want local residents and businesses to be left behind in the 20th century,” he said.
This kind of thing, repeated often enough, risks gutting the NBN of its most profitable markets - the only ones remotely likely to justify the colossal investment.

(Thanks to reader John.)
===
BBC promises balance even in covering science, now
Andrew Bolt
Attention, the ABC. Watch and learn:
Climate change sceptics are likely to be given greater prominence in BBC documentaries and news bulletins following new editorial guidelines that call for impartiality in the corporation’s science coverage.

The BBC has been repeatedly accused of bias in its reporting of climate change issues… But the BBC’s new editorial guidelines, published yesterday after an extensive consultation that considered over 1,600 submissions by members of the public, say expressly for the first time that scientific issues fall within the corporation’s obligation to be impartial.

“The BBC must be inclusive, consider the broad perspective, and ensure that the existence of a range of views is appropriately reflected,” said BBC trustee Alison Hastings.

“In addition the new guideline extends the definition of ‘controversial’ subjects beyond those of public policy and political or industrial controversy to include controversy within religion, science, finance, culture, ethics and other matters.”
(Thanks to reader Ian.)
===
Save the planet! “Consider stabbing to death” the fishermen
Andrew Bolt
The green movement is just fantasising at the moment - of blowing up sceptics and hanging children - but what will be the next step?
THE official state fish - the blue groper - is being used by green groups as a symbol of the desperate need for more no-fishing zones in NSW, despite the fish thriving along the entire coastline…

The reporting of the SHMS campaign in Eastern Suburbs magazine The Beast has made anglers fear retaliation from those fed misinformation.

A story in The Beast used a photo of a spearfisher who had caught a blue groper legally in Western Australia and carried a caption that said: ”If you ever see this guy you should consider stabbing him to death.”
(Thanks to reader Max.)
===
If they identify with terrorists, why not kill their audiences?
Andrew Bolt
Composer David Chesworth turns murderous members of the far-Left terrorist group into subjects of his Richter/Meinhof-Opera, to be staged at the Melbourne Festival. It wouldn’t be the first time an artist exalts what a citizen should deplore:
The dramatic impulse of the artist, playwright or composer shares common ground with the bomber, says Chesworth. To deny this is to deny the public’s fascination with terrorism and those who perpetrate it.

“Terrorism has a glamour aspect to it, it’s one of the biggest acts of theatre,” he says. “Most terrorist acts are acts of creating a situation and an audience who is not prepared but who is there to bear witness and feel fear. And people are interested in looking at the aftermath of devastation from a position of safety.”

There are enough examples of such glamorisation - from Ned Kelly to Che Guevara - to raise uncomfortable questions about why some killers are lionised and others are vilified.
Interesting that the dramatic impulse is seen as an act of destruction rather of creation, of terrorising rather than affirming. But greater artists know better than to identify more with the terrorist than the terrorised.
===
That’s $44 billion now, and you still can’t use it
Andrew Bolt
Terry McCrann on the spending of another $1 billion to stretch the national broadband network from every street to every home - but still leaving the wires just dangling on the wall outside:
SO NOW we discover that the $43 billion National Broadband Network is the mother of all asterisks. As in: batteries not always included.

We are going to spend $43 billion to build the thing. But if we all want to connect to it, to, well, use it, rather than just admire it conceptually, that’s extra.

But the much, much bigger cost is the exact opposite. That we spend $43 billion to build it and too few of us want to connect to it.
===
Ahmadinejad whips up Hezbollah
Andrew Bolt
What might this fascist do next to back his fighting words, aimed at supporters of an Islamist group with a terrorist wing
Thousands of cheering Lebanese welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Lebanon on Wednesday, throwing rose petals and sweets at his motorcade during a visit that underscores the growing power of Tehran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah…

The exuberant welcome in the streets was largely organized by Hezbollah, who encouraged the mostly Shiite crowd to come out in droves. Ahmadinejad’s trip also includes a provocative excursion to the border with archenemy Israel on Thursday.

But the Iranian leader’s splashy arrival only exacerbates fears among many Lebanese - particularly Sunnis and Christians - that Hezbollah and Iran are trying to impose their will on the country and possibly pull Lebanon into a conflict with Israel.

Ahmadinejad said he was a friend of all Lebanese, while emphasizing the need to fight Israel…

He said both Lebanon and Iran ”oppose the occupation and aggression and the crimes committed by the Zionist enemy and those who support it.”
===
A prize for freedom and a writer who fought for it
Andrew Bolt
Alvaro Vargas Llosa celebrates his father Mario’s winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature:
Another cue I hope younger readers take from my father is that being a “public intellectual” carries responsibility. Observers in developed nations have trouble understanding the influence public intellectuals have in poorer ones - somewhat akin to the magic powers attributed to storytellers who preserve the memory of a tribe. But few actors on the Latin American scene have contributed more to the region’s under-development than its public intellectuals, with immeasurable help from some of their US and European peers who quenched their thirst for utopia by espousing in exotic lands the horrors of which they themselves would have been the victims if they had taken place at home.

My father broke with that decades ago, opting for a quite solitary, often misunderstood defence of individual freedom. This cause is more widely supported in Latin America today, a region where the notion of self-effort is growing rapidly, as the millions who have left poverty through enterprise account for, and where the dust of anti-Western protectionism is being blown off by the winds of globalisation. But it took time, and in some parts authoritarianism still weighs heavily on societies.

Which is why, in reply to the kind emails, letters and calls from Cubans, Venezuelans and other oppressed people that my family has received in the past few days, I say by way of consolation: Let’s hope the Nobel Prize for Literature 2010 makes your circumstances feel a tiny bit less dark.
===
Where’s Wally, the brave editor?
Andrew Bolt
The fear is palpable:
(T)he Washington Post and other newspapers pulled Wiley Miller’s syndicated “Non Sequitur” cartoon from their comics pages two Sundays back, because Miller pulled a familiar-to-Reason-readers “where’s Waldo?” gag with the Prophet Muhammad, satirizing the new 21st century taboo on the depiction of even jokes about the fear of depicting a historical figure who really existed.
Style editor Ned Martel said he decided to yank it, after conferring with others, including Executive Editor Marcus W. Brauchli, because “it seemed a deliberate provocation without a clear message.” He added that “the point of the joke was not immediately clear” and that readers might think that Muhammad was somewhere in the drawing.
Wow. Even to suggest Muhammad might be in a picture is now deemed too dangerous for the paper that exposed Watergate.

The excuses for not running the cartoon are risible:
[Boston Globe] Deputy managing editor Christine Chinlund said via e-mail: “When a cartoon takes on a sensitive subject, especially religion, it has an obligation to be clear. The ‘Where’s Muhammad’ cartoon did not meet that test. It leaves the reader searching for clues, staring at a busy drawing, trying to discern a likeness, wondering if the outhouse at the top of the drawing is significant — in other words, perplexed.”
Perplexed is what I’m now feeling, thanks to these editors. Let’s remove them, too.

Cowards. What else won’t they publish for fear of even seeming to give offence?

(Via Instapundit.)
===
Let the climate changers first tell us what difference their plans will make
Andrew Bolt
Professor Bjorn Lomborg says the cut-the-carbon movement is demanding huge sacrifices for little benefit to the climate:
You can find examples all over the world, but one of the best is in my home country, Denmark, where a government-appointed committee of academics recently presented their suggestions for how the country could go it alone and become “fossil fuel-free” in 40 years. The goal is breathtaking: more than 80 per cent of Denmark’s energy supply comes from fossil fuels, which are dramatically cheaper and more reliable than any green energy source.
I attended the committee’s launch and was startled that Denmark’s Climate Commission barely mentioned climate change. This omission is understandable since one country acting alone cannot do much to stop global warming. If Denmark were indeed to become 100 per cent fossil-free by 2050, and remain so for the rest of the century, the effect, by 2100, would be to delay the rise in average global temperature by just two weeks.
And the latest tactic, to claim there’s an economic payoff for setting an example to an impassive world, is nonsense:
Being a pioneer is hardly a guarantee of riches. Germany led the world in putting up solar panels, funded by E47 billion ($66bn) in subsidies. The lasting legacy is a massive bill and lots of inefficient solar technology sitting on rooftops throughout a cloudy country, delivering a trivial 0.1 per cent of its total energy supply.
The Australian asks why an open debate on these issues is being stifled by influential parts of the media:
ON a subject as important as our climate, reasoned, informed public debate is the key to finding the consensus that must underpin an effective policy response.

Interest groups that attempt to keep the public in the dark by suppressing alternative views have succeeded only in eroding the credibility of their own arguments.

So it is puzzling that a supposedly liberal broadsheet newspaper, The Age, not only failed to cover the Royal Society’s revision of its Guide to the Science of Climate Change but took a swipe at those who did. The story, which The Age ignored when it broke in this and major British newspapers on October 2, was significant because the Royal Society is regarded as the world’s most authoritative scientific body. It was clear from our report and commentary that the society was not dismissing climate change—far from it. The need for co-ordinated global action is no less pressing. But the Royal Society guide undercuts many of the exaggerated claims of looming ecological disaster, spun in order to scare the public into supporting various political positions.
===
I’m tipping it’s Gillard who’ll go to water
Andrew Bolt
This latest green scheme is going to scorch the Gillard Government:
KEY independent Tony Windsor has threatened to push for alternatives to mass water buybacks, including redirecting water into the struggling Murray.

This comes as the Gillard government faces a political firestorm in rural communities over plans to rescue the river system.

Mr Windsor, whose NSW electorate of New England falls within the Murray-Darling Basin, told The Australian yesterday he doubted the Murray-Darling Basin plan would ever see “the light of day” in this term of parliament, despite Water Minister Tony Burke saying that he believed the plan would get through if the government got the balance right.

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