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The Paranormal
Many Australians appear to be living in a fool’s paradise believing that they can continue to shut out the world whilst running up mountains of debt and participating in a property bubble which will one day explode. For those Australians, and there are many of them, who do not subscribe to the apparently dominant mind-set, these are deeply worrying times. Far more worrying than concern about what will inevitably be a transitory virus is the probability that our way of life will have been changed forever – for the worse.
Viewpoint from “Euralie”, Yass – reshoring wool processing and manufacturing
Australia produces 80% of the wool used to manufacture the world’s woollen clothing and 80% of such wool is sent to China for processing and manufacturing. In recent times, our trading relationship with China has deteriorated and there is now the possibility that China may cease importing Australian wool.
Senate hearing Deniliquin
Last week Deniliquin hosted a Federal Senate Committee on The Multi-Jurisdictional Management And Execution Of The Murray-Darling Basin Plan. In layman’s terms, the Australian Federal Government is considering taking over all things water, essentially excluding the states from decision making.
St. Josh and the socialisation of the Australian media
Kookaburra has been watching with dark humour the gyrations around the News Media Bargaining Code. Much pomp and circumstance surrounded the Federal Government's announcement of its intention to rush into the fray and to become the St. George to the Google and Facebook dragons, protecting the sacred rights of Australian publishers to be supported in one way or another by ... government ... in return for ... favourable coverage perhaps?
ANZAC Day address: Dr Peter Barker OAM
"Could we have come to the end of wars? Could we be the first civilisation to not have enemies? To not have something, someone else wants?"
ANZAC Day, the day that the Nation pauses to say, “Lest We Forget”. But do we really remember?
Anzac Day in Sydney in 2021 saw the unthinkable occur. The 7th Division Banner was not marched. This is the Division of the Australian Army that fought the Kokoda Track. This is the banner that in recent years was preceded by a jeep in which sat a representative of the New Guinea Highland tribes who provided the ‘fuzzy wuzzy’ angels. It made the news every night of Anzac Day in the past decade. Not a mention of this momentous event.
Viewpoint from “Euralie”, Yass – the Australian Awards system
Our Awards system allows anyone to nominate a person for an Award. During the past couple of years, there will have been many people who are worthy of nomination. For example, health workers, firefighters, state emergency members, all of whom have been stretched to the limit ... I am worried about one feature of the Australian Awards system and it is that the higher Awards – AC, AO and AM - are sometimes given to senior business leaders for running companies for which they are well paid ...
Time to stop the Great Panic
Bad decisions are made when people are in a panic and a lot of bad decisions have been made since the advent of Covid-19. Indeed, the responses to Covid-19 seem to have been driven by a desire to 'look tough and organised', as exemplified by the myriad of often 'extreme' lockdowns and the closure of our international borders. Generally unknown-about public health regulations lurking in obscure Acts of the Parliaments around Australia have armed politicians and health bureaucrats with previously unheard of amounts of power over our daily lives.
Opinion – Native forests of NSW north coast
Steve Dobbyns. The native forests of the north coast of NSW are not just the backdrop for an idyllic seaside lifestyle for its 1.7 million residents, they also sustain a hardwood timber industry that has been in existence for more than 150 years ... The 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires have emerged as a tipping point for the hardwood timber industry on the NSW north coast.
That dog don’t hunt
‘The Weekly Times’ water reporter, Peter Hunt, appears to be off the scent. Mr Hunt attempted to downplay the Darling’s historical contributions to South Australia’s allocations. The article that appeared in the March 24 edition reported that ‘a 20-year-old, one-off calculation is being used by opponents of flood plain harvesting to exaggerate the value of the Darling River’s flow to Murray River communities.’
Building timber shortage
Just a ‘toilet roll' incident is an interesting metaphor to use in respect to the critical timber shortage occurring within the Australian and world-wide construction industry.
It’s time for the Bells Line Expressway
The Bells Line of Road, which provides the alternative route over the Blue Mountains to the Central West from Sydney, will be closed indefinitely due to landslides caused by the recent heavy rains. This is a timely reminder of the many years of inaction on building the long overdue Bells Line Expressway ... One of the last roles held by the the recently departed former Leader of the National Party in NSW, Ian Armstrong, was as Chairman of the Bells Line Expressway Action Group. As Mr. Armstrong said in 2010 - "the road was built for a previous age".
A message to MP Pitt from Dr Peter Barker, OAM, Cohuna
"You are surrounded by the passionate custodians of the southern Murray Darling Basin. I deal with these ladies, gentleman, and their kids on a daily basis and when they are sad or vulnerable, I hear the stories. So, what is it that is driving some to want to sell the farm as a best counselled option after weeks of therapy as opposed to the suicide planned when the wife brings her husband in the night at the point of desperation. I’m going to talk about some of the straws that are breaking backs and what follows is extracted from many conversations I have had with troubled farmers when they see a problem with no solution, they can influence ..."
Strategy would make path to $300B by 2030 less steep
John Lloyd, Agribusiness Australia. This is not a critique of the National Farmers Federation’s laudable $100 billion aspiration. Agribusiness Australia’s own ambition is built on continuity with the NFF platform, and also to ensure it becomes reality. But it’s just a matter of seeing trend against target.
WA election result an impetus to form new state
David Landini, Riverina State Group. The Labor party victories in the recent Queensland and West Australian State elections are a reminder that a Labor government will eventually be elected federally as well.
Rural land to E zones in NSW
The NSW State Government announced on 10 March 2021 that The Minister for Planning will issue a new section 9.1 direction (to the Koala SEPP) to ensure that only the Minister, and not councils, will be empowered to rezone land used for primary production to an environmental zone (E zone), or to rezone land currently in rural zones 1, 2 and 3 to other rural zones.
The new form of science or just bad government
New South Wales Government Minister Kean, Minister for the Environment, constantly says he "follows the science". A noble ideal, but only if what he is sprouting is science.
Kookaburra Calling- is it time for the ASX of water?
In a lively panel session held at the ABARES Outlook 2021 virtual conference, entitled 'Improving water market outcomes in the southern Murray-Darling Basin', Mick Keogh, the Deputy Chairman of the ACCC responsible for small business and agriculture, and lead author of a report on the water market recently handed to the Federal Treasurer, alluded to the idea of establishing a water market in Australia akin to the regulatory environment of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Opinion letters to ABC News and The Hon. Matt Kean MP – rodent eradication
... Regrettably, your ABC News story posted 2 February 2021 is fundamentally incorrect (undoubtedly, without your knowledge) ...
‘Apprehensive’ approach to draft water strategy
Speak Up Campaign chair Lachlan Marshall said removing policy makers out of regional centres and locating them in city offices has resulted in isolated decision making, where local knowledge is disregarded. He described the Snowy Hydro Scheme as “a great example of the disconnect between the southern food bowl and the city decision-makers”, and is concerned that under the latest water strategy the NSW Murray would “miss out again”.
Nero and his fiddle?
Kookaburra wonders how investment in the Victorian property, Minjah, by Michael Hintze's private company, MH Premium Farms, for about $36m, will sit in the minds of investors in the CQS fund which lost 33 percent of its value in March 2020 and a further 17 percent in April 2020, or the reportedly 50 staff who lost their jobs.
Great Koala National Park – report, criticism and response
The University of Newcastle has released an economic impact assessment and environmental benefit analysis of the Great Koala National Park proposed for the mid north coast of New South Wales. ARR.News has received a critical analysis of the report to which the University has responded. Over to you.
