Spring Street Heat

As another plus 30 degrees C days heats up, the State politicians provided some unique heat of their own.
The shock resignation from the Parliamentary Liberal Party of Frankston MP Geoff Shaw, the Tony Nutt (Simon Overland ) affair and then the decision by Ted Baillieu to resign as Premier last night, kept the ABC news team on the hop all over the country.
Talkback radio has been running white hot on this affair with interviews with the new Premier, Denis Napthine and anyone else who wants to have a say.
I doubt whether any of this will spill over into "saving" the Federal Labor Party's election chances.
But it is interesting how the Liberals and Labor pollies sack their leaders.
Will we get the same outrage generated in the media regarding the legitimacy of Denis Napthine as we did for the Gillard Government?
I doubt it and yes there are important differences in how the changeover was done.
But discussions by many including this Precarious Climate blog by James Wright shows that what was done by Gillard and now what has happened overnight with the State Libs is legitimate.
The Libs have as much a right to govern Victoria as Labor has in the Federal sphere.
Will the type of politics in the Victorian House of Reps now mirror in some ways the negotiation and perceived weakness of the Gillard Government in the Federal sphere?
Whether the Labor Party can muster an attack on the Victorian Government of the steadfastness, negativity, hysteria, effectiveness and media management that the Federal Libs and Tony Abbott has managed, I doubt.
All I know is that its hot at home and getting hotter elsewhere.
Media field days roll on!

Hailstorm hits Melbourne

A tropical storm hit Melbourne yesterday. It caused chaos in a wide band through the Melbourne CBD and suburbs. We weren't in its path but nearby suburbs reported heavy damage after golf ball sized hail and lashing rain hit cars, windows and flooded streets. Enjoy!

Sustainable House Day

Today we visited a couple of properties as part of the Sustainable House Day. I have been meaning to attend one of these days for several years but work often intervened. I wasn't sure what to expect so we picked 2 properties moderately close by (in our unsustainable car) and had a look along with a fair few others.
The properties were quite different.

The first,  a newly built house which had the luxury of in-slab heating, plumbing under the slab to allow collection of water to a central area to be re-pumped to a large water tank at the back of the property. The house was built with double glazed windows which I so wished we had undertaken when building our current house (a long time ago). The property had no developed garden as yet , a sustainable one as no effort is needed! And the piece de resistance - a basin over the cistern in the loo!

The second property was also very interesting. A retro-fitting in process by a passionate owner. It had huge photovoltaic pannels and underfloor bladder tank. The owner has stopped taking mains water from earlier this year and has installed a moderately sophisticated water purification and filtration system. He personally gave a tour of the house to hordes of interested people., sharing his views on a wide range of sustainable issues outside of the building ones.
So now I have a range of glossy pamphlets and may as well get a green home assessment. Then I might have to spend few more $$ on the place. I also entered the competition on the Sustainable House website but was a little concerned about some of the conditions of entry - namely REC's are to go to shmeco.com, a web2 site on sustainable living. However, I never win anything so nothing lost, I suppose!!

Frog Hollow @ Dawn

Frog Hollow is a man made wetland with several linked ponds filtering the water from the Eumemmerring Creek. The original wetland was cleared and drained some 30 or more years ago and now has been "replaced" leading to a great increase in water bird life. Its a great place for an early morning walk (with camera and tripod of course).