Politics is a dirty word

  Setting up small farms close to townships has become increasingly important as the prospect of a prolonged war threatens.   William Stolz, director of the Melbourne Security Forum says:  intensifying great power competition between the People’s Republic of China and the United States has meant the possibility of future war in the Indo-Pacific region has become a regular feature of Australia’s national discourse. It is surprising how little attention has been given to what day-to-day life could look like if a war actually did break out. We need to take the necessary steps to improve Australia’s preparedness. the government has a detailed understanding of how war could impact domestic supplies of critical goods and international freight transporting supplies to Australia. There are three categories of goods that would be most impacted by war: energy and fuel pharmaceuticals smart devices and electronic components. These  are ...

  Comments by Ken Henry, Chair of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, about Australia's environmental protection laws failing to stop the degradation of our natural environment really hit home. Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, he argued that the failure held back economic growth. The need for a better approach to planning and environmental issues has been apparent for some time. The community in Bass Coast Shire recognised this in the early 1990’s when plans were revealed for major sand extraction operations in the district. The community was adamant that a landscape-scale approach to planning should be introduced to limit cumulative impacts rather than the existing policy which only allowed each planning application to be considered in isolation. Residents formed the Grantville Action Group and gathered data to demonstrate the need for a massive change in planning and enviromental regulations. The Minister for Planning agreed and a working group was...

  Is US President, Donald Trump a providentialist? He sees himself as a modern day Oliver Cromwell who seized power in England and killed the King Charles 1. Cromwell firm ly belie ved in providentialism -that God was actively directing the affairs of the world, through the actions of "chosen people" God had provided for such purposes.

 The stupidity of our political system has been highlighted again by the latest Federal election. For years successive Governments have been enmeshed in internal party politics. Politicians owe more allegiance to their parties than to voters in their electorates. The people do not elect Prime Ministers – they elect local members to Parliament who appoint the PM. The best way forward is to dump preferential voting and go back to a ‘first past the post’ system for elections. That would eliminate the absurdity of candidates winning a seat (particularly in the Senate when they only receive a handful of votes. The only point of voting is to to provide an effective and stable form of Government – but that is not what happens in Australia. In recent years, our ridiculous preferential voting system has seen a host of dubious individuals elected even though they garnered just a sprinkling of votes. Not only that, political parties select leaders on a whim – which has seen the farce of...

 Rather than spending billions of dollars supporting US industries, Australia should consider cancelling the Aukus submarine deal. If it is felt that long range submarines are needed to defend Australia, better and less costly options are available Swedish C71 Expeditionary submarines are long-range, high-endurance vessels, with the accommodation and storage capacity to keep  crews comfortable, fully equipped and operational for long periods underwater. Crews will need little additional training to fully integrate the vessels with Australia's naval resources. Protecting underwater infrastructure and shipping routes is vital and Sweden’s Kockums submarines have capability in seabed operations, and can protect critical underwater infrastructure, as well as shipping routes. The submarines are powered by conventional diesel-electric propulsion machinery and equipped with the Kockums Stirling AIP (air-independent propulsion) system. The silent Stirling system contributes to the s...

 One of the great quotes from nuclear campaigner Dr Helen Caldicott is "Politics is not really politics anymore, it is run, for the most part, by advertising firms who sell politicians to the public the way they sell bars of soap or cans of beer."