World Environment Day 5 June 2014: Tony's Hate Campaign

This Thursday will be World Environment Day. As such I thought a recent list of 'environment' news would be instructive. So please give generously of your time, money, brains to supporting our environment. Do it NOW. Its your support and work that is helping our Environment, not the Government.

• The Federal Budget as a starting point brought more bad news for Environment Groups leading to my email inbox being inundated with meetings, petitions and requests for funds.
• Solar Citizens is holding a "Our Solar at Risk" Public Meeting on 19 June at RMIT- Tickets are free but limited: Check out details at  http://www.solarcitizens.org.au/melbourne to book. 
• The Climate Council has published the "Abnormal Autumn" report.
• See the Conversations take on the Abnormal Autumn report.
• Australia's environmental laws including the RET have delivered more than our Kyoto Targets, with very little change to our economy. But these will be wound back with a great new tax (Liberal Party's Direct Action) on the Australian people  instead of the small Carbon Tax on a few companies. To protest at changes to the RET (Renewable Energy Target) join Getup's Protect the RET.
• Dirty air is being breathed by the most poor and vulnerable in Australia according to this report by the Conversation. Equity issues here as everywhere else in Australia.
• Australia's leading place in Mammal Extinction continues with recent reports showing our current efforts are leading to 1 mammal going extinct per decade. How to stop this trend requires money, cost-effective analysis and involvement of industry and stakeholders. But money is now tight and there is not an effective science, conservation or climate change minister in the Federal Government.
• Barack Obama plans a 30% cut in Carbon emissions from its dirty coal-fired power stations. He will have to use Presidential decree to get the plans through and like Australia, the reaction from industry is predictable with politicians in coal industry areas running for cover. He risks the same response as we have had. A new government sweeping away any and everything to do with improvement in environmental laws to benefit the fat cats and conservatives of industry. So much for innovation and new industry development which is sympathetic to clean air, water, local industry and good jobs.
• ABC Lateline reports "The head of China's most advanced carbon emissions exchange says australia could scuttle the creation of a global system of carbon trading by dumping its scheme at a crucial time." We should be careful about annoying China as it starts to flex its considerable economic and political muscles. As well as trying to get its rampant ecological problems under control using clean technology. 

Post Budget Blues

Two weeks after the Federal Budget the fur is still flying.
Are you surprised? I'm not after the effort Mr Abbott went to in Opposition making everything simple, sloganish and sooo negative.

Street Art: A sign of things to come perhaps?

They are now reaping the results of the 3 year intensive, misinformation and almost hate campaign against Labor.
Labor of course is somewhat hamstrung by its own problems, mainly having lost credibility they are still struggling to have any meaning except when behaving like Tony Abbott.

Its clear to me we will need to cut something
Its clear also that some form of taxation will need to rise to meet the outgoings, whether that is GST, Carbon Taxes, or levies.
We also face the positive tsunami of costs associated with an ageing population, expensive basics and movement of wealth offshore.
I'm happy to work, part-time til I'm 65, but by then the chronic conditions that already afflict me may be less easy to manage.
My employer may also not find me productive enough.

Attacking the most down and out is not really an efficient way of raising the funds. My observation of the people who come into my library looking for work shows me many are pretty unemployable, unless you forcibly pick them up and dump them in the outback to do hard physical labour, where personality 'quirks' may not be too important. Certainly, organisations that exist with customer service functions would not employ them.

My colleagues with disabled adult children tell me the sheltered workshops which employ them are being closed through withdrawal of funding from State and Commonwealth bodies. A retrograde step if I've ever heard one. These people actually work for what they produce, somewhat cheaper than the rest of us and are grateful for the job.

But lets face it, the poor will get much poorer with this budget.
Crime will rise, health will disimprove and an opportunity to invest in the next big thing - Carbon friendly business and jobs- is being squandered.
Apart from the deficit levy, the rich and big business are getting away with little impact on their bottom line.

So keep the Carbon Tax and Mining Tax Joe and Tony, and work on reducing the spending.
Attacking the poor, elderly and unemployed will get you sacked from Government, eventually.
Unless you produce the mother of all disinformation campaigns in the future.
A likely prospect.