Message for Maurice
Mr Iemma just to let you know that the massive rainfall over Sydney on this weekend has topped up the Harbour from unharvested stormwater. Your desalination plant that will cost taxpayers Millions is this still your answer?
Hold it --- News to hand,.. and just 3 weeks out from polling day - the Premier has announced Councils in the Sydney Harbour catchment area have been given $4 million to develop stormwater-harvesting programs.
Your government is a disgrace Maurice - read the story here
The absolute arrogance of this guy Debus is unbelievable.
A few days ago I heard a lady in tears crying on radio 2GB about how their area was being denied funds by this NSW Labor Government in a caring field for ill children and yet this out going Minister is spending up big flitting about the nation in helicopters and having other like minded cretins do the same.
Yes helicopters - each at hundreds of taxpayer dollars per hour.
If ever there was a reason to vote this Labor Government out the door, and so far that they would have to show their passport to Chilean Immigration.
This just has to be the last straw.
People in the State of NSW are literally crying for funds for so many serious
situations that we all expected the Governments obligation to the people would provide as services for taxes.
This action by Devious Debus is bloody well criminal.
We at SOS-NEWS certainly are not politically correct, but even as a voice to concerned Australians, we are unable to print just what we think of you Labor Mafia styled cadre who in fact put the Costa Nostra to shame. They at least have honour.
"And you"? - You, display NONE.
You're a hypocrite - and a bloody disgrace.
ABC News Online - Last Update: Friday, March 2, 2007. 3:35pm (AEDT)
Debus defends north coast chopper travel
New South Wales Environment Minister Bob Debus says sending three senior
Ministers by helicopter to a native title ceremony at Woodenbong, in the NSW
state's north, was justified.
Mr Debus, Lands Minister Tony Kelly and the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs,
Reba Meagher, all flew to the site in separate helicopters.
The cost to hire each of the aircraft was about $900 an hour.
But Mr Debus says helicopter travel is not a regular perk for the ministers.
"We all were engaged in other work, so ... we came together briefly for this
ceremony and went on doing other work," he said.
"I don't use helicopters very much. I just did a quick check, I think I've
done almost 2,000 kilometres in a car in the last 10 days."
Democratic Voting?
Iemma Style
How many of you NSW readers have asked yourselves and your friends WHY this, or
Why that, is happening at the Macquarie street level? Especially when we
all know that the consensus of opinion across the public spectrum is
diametrically opposed to the final out come. Well the answer is clearly
contained within the excerpt taken from this short piece from the Sydney
Morning Herald.
Let MPs off leash and vote by heart
Sydney Morning Herald - Jonathan Pearlman - March 1, 2007
THE independent MP Richard Torbay has called for the main parties to lift
the constraints on their members and allow conscience votes on a wide range
of policies such as the environment and law and order. Mr Torbay, the MP
for the Northern Tablelands, said Labor and the Coalition relied too much on
opinion polls, and their policies were frequently determined by a handful of
operatives who dictated how MPs should vote.
Mr Torbay said that he believed many MPs would support more progressive
policies on the environment, law and order and political donations, but were
restrained by their party machine. "I think people are frustrated by the
backroom deals and factions and two or three people making every decision,"
he said.
Labor and the Coalition occasionally allow members to vote according to
their conscience, usually for laws that involve ethical or moral issues.
However, unlike members of the Coalition, Labor MPs are expelled for
crossing the floor and voting against the party.
Mr Iemma said yesterday that he supported conscience votes for matters of
conscience but policy-based issues should be decided by the party. In recent
years there have been conscience votes on cloning research and on a bill to
lower the age of consent to 16.
"Where it is a matter of policy, government MPs are required to vote in
accordance with the government's policy," said a spokesman for the Premier,
Ben Wilson. "In the ALP, policy is set by the party conference, which is
representative of the party's grassroots members. That is one of the great
traditions of the party. Independent MPs don't have those structures."
Editorial
Grassroots members! Well well… only members of the Party and their views
are considered important in entire state decision making. This from a
government that only achieves RULE by being elected on a preferential voting
system and clearly and arrogantly dictates policy with total disregard for
anyone else's views and concerns - the majority of New South Welshmen and
Women. Not political spin by an opponent but a statement attributed
directly as arising from Premier Iemma's office-minders.
And you all still have to ask why?
Brumbyy (with 2 Y's).
GREED & POLITICS AT ITS FIREY WORST.
I grew up in the bush; 'the scrub' we used to call it. Thick, lush undergrowth spawning huge vines which wound high into the canopy of the enormous Australian forest trees. Millions of tonnes of sticks and leaves were cast onto the soil, making it fertile with subsequent decomposition. Matted so deep in some places, the leaf-litter completely obscured sunlight and only the most hardy of tall vegetation grew.
Whenever a puff of smoke was observed to rise on the ridges, the observer would sound the alarm (usually a regularly spaced chant on the sawmill whistle or ringing a church or the school bell) and within a short while, several men would load onto whatever transport was available (there wasn't much in those times), a ute or a log truck or a horse-drawn cart would do. Armed with good bushmanship and a wet bag or a fresh- cut leafy gum branch, the men would simply and quickly beat out the offending flames.
A carelessly discarded 'smoke' then, caused most of the fires or an ember escaped from a farmers paddock fire. Whatever the cause, speed of attention was the best response.
Now, given there was more scrub then, just as many hot days, less fancy equipment and no big organised fire fighting brigades with the current style 'funded organisations', I find it amazing beyond belief, just how many regular big fires we are now having. Massive 'fire-fronts'.
Just a few years ago, whilst refuelling a helicopter (a machine which cost a lot of money to hire for 'inspections' and 'aerial back-burning' operations), I remember observing a basket of ping-pong balls sitting in the cabin.
"What are these for?" I asked. "They are incendiary bombs for aerial baiting forest areas, used by the Forestry Inspectors for lighting an area to be back-burned", said the pilot. I was quite bewildered when he explained how the basket, as on this occasion, was left in the helicopter between sorties. From then on, I became very much aware of the number of additional fires which seemed to be occurring, most of them in very inaccessible terrain and with multiple outbreaks, usually spaced along a line. Any thoughts?
Well, I've had nothing to alter my opinion on the 'how' of the more recent multiple outbreaks of very costly fires in Australia. Then, in a quite innocent inquiry into the funding processes, it turns out there are several 'stages' or 'categories' in the 'control-room' element of modern Australian fire fighting (you should see what section 44 allows). Stages one to three are funded by local and state bodies, but 'stage' four is funded by Canberra. My - my, there's a clue. Now it was clear as hell why the fires weren't attended to as in the days of yore. Big fires attract more funds.
But wait, there are steak knives, as the saying goes.
'Section 44' funding allows the use of those expensive big fire-fighting aircraft such as 'Elvis' and just coincidentally, mind you, two of the
Senior Executive Directors of the company which hires out these aircraft in Australia, is Philip Christian Koperberg ,
Labor candidate (pictured left) in the March 24th NSW Election
for the seat of the Blue Mountains, and currently on leave as Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service (pictured right) , PLUS !- Leonard Raymond Foster, Chairman of the Victorian Country Fire Authority
(CFA).
Do you have any thoughts yet?
Lynn Stanfield.
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