A claim has been made that that the ALP had the best terms of trade in history and blew it. The short answer is the terms of trade were certainly good back in 2011 when Wayne Swan tried to bring the budget back into balance, perhaps the best ever, but they turned sour and blew his budget ambitions away. Continue reading Did the ALP have the best terms of trade in history and blow it?
All posts by Brian
Saturday salon 11/6
1. Mungo man
The real story is more complex than that SBS piece.
A 2001 study looked at Mungo man DNA and concluded:
- that Aboriginal origins were the result of two independent migrations, one of which was from a population whose origins were firmly linked with ancient Java (Indonesia).
Election 2016 open thread: budgets and pork barrels
Three weeks to go and the biggest story electionwise for me wasn’t the 10-year Labor budget plan, it was Turnbull’s pork barrel strategy.
Turnbull’s $1.7 billion pork barrel strategy
Phillip Coorey in the AFR has reported that the LNP are carpet bombing marginal seats with small vote-buying grants. We’ve had 58 “micro-announcements” in Coalition seats for projects like revamped football club change rooms, new netball courts, fixing mobile phone black spots. Some $1.3 billion has been used to sandbag LNP marginal seats. Funds have also been allocated to nine Labor seats and Denison, held by independent Andrew Wilke. Continue reading Election 2016 open thread: budgets and pork barrels
Climate clippings 174
1. Climate change makes our food poisonous
- Extreme weather is increasing the levels of toxins in our food, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Crops affected include barley, maize or millet, cassava and sorghum.
Poisons include nitrates, “prussic acid” or hydrogen cyanide, and fungai. Continue reading Climate clippings 174
Wild weather carries a warning
No doubt there has been wild weather before at this time of year, normally a drier time in Queensland. I took this screen shot of the BOM page just as the system had dumped its lot on us:
Mixed signals on renewable energy
In spite of information that Turnbull had done a deal on climate with the denialist Nationals in return for their support of the Coalition, hopes lived on that the Government would begin to take climate change seriously. At the Paris conference last December Greg Hunt, says Bill McKibben, went “on and on about his great, deep personal commitment to all of this, and how this was his most pressing personal thing you could ever imagine” and Julie Bishop more than entered into the spirit of things. The photo shows her close and friendly with Tony de Brum of the Marshall Islands. Continue reading Mixed signals on renewable energy
Saturday salon 4/6
1. Here come the Chinese
One million Chinese tourists account for 23% of tourist trip spend at $8.9 billion, an increase of 38% in the last year.
I’m not sure how excited we should get. I remember being told in Heidelberg Castle in 2008 that they got 4 million each year. In Prague the number of 70 million was quoted. Tourism here is small beer, but I wouldn’t like to live in that sort of melee. Our Brisbane Queen Street mall on Friday afternoon was pleasantly cosmopolitan. Continue reading Saturday salon 4/6
Election 2016 open thread: war edition
Economy up, living standards down, and ScoMo starts a war as a distraction. Only 29 more days to go!
The national accounts figures were ostensibly good news for the Government. GDP growth at an annual rate of 3.1 per cent is brilliant. The next OECD economy I think is the UK with 2.1 per cent.
Jacob Greber in the AFR put it this way: Continue reading Election 2016 open thread: war edition
Climate clippings 173
This edition of Climate clippings is devoted to some random transport ideas that have come my way.
1. Driverless electric pods for Singapore
By the end of the year Singaporeans could be using driverless electric pod vehicles to get to and from school and work: Continue reading Climate clippings 173
Saving the Great Barrier Reef
Our government seems bent on saving the tourist industry by airbrushing the Great Barrier Reef out of UN reports. The report “World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate”, published jointly by UNESCO, the United Nations Environment Program and the Union of Concerned Scientists, initially had a key chapter on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as small sections on Kakadu and the Tasmanian forests.
The chapter was removed at the request of the Australian government. They were worried the tourists may not come. Continue reading Saving the Great Barrier Reef
Saturday salon 28/5
Warning. There’s nothing about Australian politics in this post!
1. American teen so rich he couldn’t tell right from wrong
In 2013, 16-year-old American teenager Ethan Couch
- was sentenced to 10 years’ probation after killing four people in a drink driving incident. During his sentencing hearing, Couch’s defence team successfully argued that their client was so wealthy he could not tell right from wrong, and therefore should be given a lighter sentence.
During sentencing his psychologist testified Couch “was suffering from “affluenza” at the time, a condition resulting from the inability of his wealthy parents to instil basic moral principles into him.” Continue reading Saturday salon 28/5
Election 2016 open thread
The election campaign grinds on, and we are not yet half way there. In this post I look at some of the claims being made on the economy, and it can serve as an open thread on the election.
The Coalition has made a big play on jobs and growth, plus Labor’s said recklessness and inability to manage the economy, finding huge ‘black holes’ in their costings. Of course, Labor is yet to supply it’s costings, which in 2013 the LNP only released on the Thursday before the election. So, always helpful to a fault, they’ve done Labor’s work for them.
Problem is, say Labor, it was a litany of fiction and lies. Continue reading Election 2016 open thread