Newspoll has Abbott sinking further into the mire. Essential gives him some hope, but finds Justice Heydon should go. Continue reading Poll stuff 26/8
All posts by Brian
Climate clippings 152
1. Speed of Glacier Retreat ‘Historically Unprecedented’
Glaciers observed in a recent study are losing between half a meter and one meter of ice thickness every year – two to three times more than the corresponding average of the 20th century. Continue reading Climate clippings 152
Defanging environmental watchdogs
- The Government has decided to protect Australian jobs by removing from the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) the provision that allows radical green activists to engage in vigilante litigation to stop important economic projects.
Section 487 of the EPBC Act provides a red carpet for radical activists who have a political, but not a legal interest, in a development to use aggressive litigation tactics to disrupt and sabotage important projects.
That strong language comes from a Government media release. Continue reading Defanging environmental watchdogs
Saturday salon 22/8
1. Kathy Jackson flames out
Kathy Jackson who once posed as a whistleblower has been exposed as a liar, a thief and a hypocrite. The $1.4 million she lifted from the Health Services Union makes Craig Thompson look like a petty thief. Continue reading Saturday salon 22/8
Dyson Heydon judges himself
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) will ask the royal commissioner into trade union corruption, Dyson Heydon, to disqualify himself – an application he will hear today.
If the move is unsuccessful, the unions will appeal to higher courts.
Professor Nicholas Cowdery QC thinks Justice Heydon can be impartial in judging himself. You see, it’s the training of the legal mind. Continue reading Dyson Heydon judges himself
At last, a truly practical solar sports car!
Via Gizmag, the Immortus solar sports car is so light and aerodynamic, has such a light footprint on the road and so many built-in solar panels, that it is designed to drive for an unlimited range on a sunny day. Continue reading At last, a truly practical solar sports car!
Liberals bicker, Bill gets a lift
On Monday night Abbott presided over a cabinet meeting. I heard on Radio National:
- The Guardian reports that there was not a single formal Cabinet submission to consider and that has some MPs concerned that the Government’s policy agenda is looking thin.
Climate clippings 151
1. Shorten gets solar + storage and the energy revolution
It’s happening, he says, through the action of consumers and industry.
- “This is a consumer revolution, as much as it is an energy transformation empowering Australian households, communities and businesses,” Shorten said. (It is) putting control back in the hands of the user, shifting the balance away from big power companies.”
The state of politics: weekend political commentary
Three articles from the weekend news media go a long way to sum up the parlous state of politics in Australia.
Guy Rundle has a piece in the Saturday Paper The political caste playing student politics in Canberra which goes a long way to explaining how this state of affairs has come to pass. Continue reading The state of politics: weekend political commentary
Saturday salon 15/8
Whatever happens now, the royal commission is crippled
That’s the view of Laura Tingle in the AFR. She has plenty support.
Judges have to appear impartial. Justice Dyson Heydon has said so very forcefully in the past as a judge. Continue reading Saturday salon 15/8
Poll stuff 14/8
On the morning before the joint party room discussion on same sex marriage I received an email from the Courier Mail with the headline
Pack your bags Tony
- OPINION: Tony Abbott is toast. He pleaded for six months at the start of the year. That time is up and John McCarthy says he is now in an even worse position. Do you agree? Join the debate from 6am
Abbott’s climate con
Laura Tingle is wonderful when she loses patience. She reckons Abbott’s climate policy is “the dodgiest bit of public policy in recent years, possibly since the Coalition’s now infamous $11 billion hole in its 2010 election policy costings.”
She describes the policy a “rubbish” and says that the real target is the Labor Party. Abbott wants to argue that Labor would wreck the economy with higher electricity charges. Continue reading Abbott’s climate con