Politics is a dirty word

 There is a fundamental problem with outcomes following decisions made by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Local councils make decisions on applications, having regard to local community values and expectations but an appeal to VCAT almost inevitably results in the trashing of those values. As a particular example, in the1990’s, Commissioners of Bass Coast Shire refused a sand Extraction application by Barro Group Pty Ltd. Their decision was made after wide community consultation but was overturned following the company’s appeal to VCAT . Now Bass Coast Shire refuses  to revoke the permit even though the company has breached planning conditions and destroyed key fauna habitat. We have asked VCAT to rescind approval for extraction by Barro Group on the site in McGrady Road, Grantville. Despite permit conditions requiring there be no diminution in the quantity or quality of water flowing on the western drainage line of the property. the earthworks they have cond...

 Looks like we can forget about free and fair elections in Victoria, the debacle of the November 26 state election when election results were given after only a small percentage of votes were counted shows the extent of the scam. At least 6 seats are still in doubt. The Victorian Electoral Commission has some serious questions to answer before anyone can trust it again. I lodged a complaint with The Victorian Electoral Commission about the last state election and the misleading of voters by the Sack Dan Andrews Party. The party was apparently set up to ensure enough preferences went to Labor candidates to get the labor government returned. This was part of the response received from the VEC. “ As part of the party registration process, the proposed names of political parties must satisfy the criteria in section 47 of the Electoral Act 2002 (Vic). For example, a proposed name cannot be the same as, or very similar to, the name of another political party. There is no requirement...

  Australia’s flawed political system is mainly a result of it being based on the concept of federation. Rather than being a country, it is a grouping of individual states, with politicians eager to set their own agenda’s and build their own bureaucratic empires. Another problem is the switch from a first past the post vote counting system to proportional representation which enables smaller parties to become decisive in the country's parliament. the system gives small parties the balance of power, and influence disproportionate to the number of votes they attract. Winston Churchill did not like the system of proportional representation for government, describing it as "determined by the most worthless votes given for the most worthless candidates. .”

 Bass Coast Shire Council has destroyed any credibility it tried to establish about caring for environmental values or action to limit the effects of clearing native vegetation. We have suggested that the State Government  sacks Bass Coast Shire councillors and appoint commissioners but, of course, nothing will happen until after the Victorian State election. If Labor wins again, nothing will happen either, except more vegetation will be destroyed and more species endangered. Anne and Phil wrote to Local Government Minister Melissa Horne saying: “ We ask the Government to consider sacking Bass Coast Shire councillors and appointing administrators because of the failure to properly administer the Shire planning scheme. The government-approved Regional sand Extraction Strategy, Lang Lang to Grantville was required to be incorporated into the Shire’s planning scheme but the requirement has been ignored. Mike Gooey, Ececutive Director of Local Government Victoria, advised that a...

  Rabid members of the Australian Rupublic Movement and some politicians keep trying to revive the flawed concept of dumping the monarchy and turning Australia into a republic. The Australian Government talks about holding a referendum to gauge popular support, but before thar happens, proponents need to explain what type of republic and how this country will benefit – will it cut the waste of taxpayers dollars? Will it be more democratic? Unless the answer to both those questions in “YES” why spend money on a system that offers no benefits to society? There is no point in change for its own sake. Look around the world to see how countries fared after dumping their monarchies. Do we really want to emulate Russia, France, Iran and the United States? The Republican movement needs to drop the idea – or come up with a model that is acceptable to Australians. There is a strong case demonstrating that a constitutional monarchy provides a more stable and effective government than almo...

  Clearing important native vegetation alongside Bass River in West Gippsland is creating havoc for wildlife including Powerful Owls, Barking Owls, wedgetailed eagles, Lace Monitors,koalas, sugar gliders and mountain brushtail possums. Siltation, caused by the bulldozing is also impacting adjoining farmland and water quality in the river for species including blackfish and platypus. The riparian vegetation was part of the last remaining patch in Bass Valley. Bulldozers were sent in by concrete company, Barro Group, prior to starting sand extraction. Trashing habitat in the Bass Valley demonstrates the low priority given to ecological issues. Bass Coast Shire has failed to enforce permit conditions.If the Council was serious, it would cancel the Barro Group planning permit. The importance of the area has been recognised for years, including The 1970’s Westernport Environmental Study conducted by Professor Maurice Shapiro and the 1990’s Baseline Studies of Bass River conducted by F...

 US and politicians around the world are exhibiting double standards over their condemnation of the murder attempt on author Salman Rushtie. President Joe Biden praised Rushtie for his pursuit of truth. If he really belives that truth is important he would immediately drop charges against Julian Assange whose 'crime'/ has been to provide factual information to various news outlets about illegal activities by US military and intelligence officers. Australian politicians should demand that charges against Assange be dropped. Currently the US performance on press freedom and truth is no better than Russia, China, Myanmar or Australia.

 Is a referendum really necessary to provide aboriginal people with a separate taxpayer-funded lobby group? The Prime Minister has announced plans to hold a referendum to see what people think about a propose d new parliam e ntary body of separately elected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people enshrined in the Australian Constitution. Surely all Australian citizens should have the same rights to say what we think to politicians?The Government needs to demonstrate how this body will differ from the Aborigibal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC which was disbanded  in 2005 over corruption and mismanagement problems. The experiment by the Hawke labor government was a dismal failure.

 There’s no shortage of entrepreneurs and celebrities trotting out ideas for ‘get-rich quick schemes. Promotion of cryptocurrecies such as Bitcoin is the latest in a long list. They often used to centre on pyramid selling, share market scams,negative gearing investments, options trading or margin lending. A Ponzi scheme is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Technology is the bait in cryptocurrency scams which rely on greed, gullibility and people not fully understanding what they are getting into.

 Bass Coast Shire Mayor. Michael Whelan is trying to pretend that the Shire cares about environmental issues following the latest State of the Environment Report. But the Shire has spent years ignoring extensive local data alerting Shire officers to the issues here. In the last few weeks, the Shire has refused to enforce planning permit requirements on a proposed sand extraction site fronting Bass River in Grantville.Comments on video by Cr Whelan suggest that he understands the problem but Shire actions demonstrate a total lack of care!

  It’s been no secret that the health of Australia’s environment is poor and has deteriorated due to deliberate habitat loss, invasive species, pollution and mining, Now t he Government’s State of the environment report – compiledby scientists reveal s the extent of abrupt changes in some ecosystems over the past five years, with at least 19 now showing signs of collapse. The report fconfirmed that past Governments have not properly funded environmental issues. Local, State and Federal Governments have collectively failed to implement effective measures. They approved the destruction of native vegetation and wildlife habitat while wasting money on meaningless photo-opportunities. Currently, Bass Coast Shire has approved the destruction of hundreds of hectares of native vegetation.

 Police corruption has reached new heights in Victoria. A man who spent 22 years in jail for killing two police officers has been released after a retrial found he was not guilty because evidence had been fabricated to obtain the initial conviction.The conviction for the murders of Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller was overturned because of the “reprehensible” conduct of investigating officers.

 The State government decision to increase royalties on brown coal should be followed by a similar move on charges paid for sand extraction. The tripling of Victoria's brown coal royalty rate will net an extra $252 million over four years which, the Government says, will help to pay for the  infrastructure, health and education plans. A similar amount could be gained from sand. The sand extraction companies currently pay virtually nothing in royalties, and only pay council rates based on the value of each site as farm land – even though the value of the resource on each site is often nany millions of dollars. The value of the resource should be rated as soon as planning permits are issued in the same way that development land is rated. That could help to remediate the effects of the destruction of vegetation, wildlife habitat and contamination of groundwater. 

  Dissatisfaction with Government performance was a key driver in the last Federal election and we need to build on that at  state level. The Victorian election on November 26 is an opportunity for everyone to defy the party system and elect people to represent electorates rather than political party machines. It makes sense to vote for genuine independents, not anyone who is a party hack. To maximise the result, put any Labor candidates last on the ballot paper, Greens candidates next last, then Liberals, Nationals and Democrats. Voting on the draconian emergency powers legislation demonstrated that the only party which showed any regard for the community was Sustainable Australia. It’s likely that there will be a choice of true independents to vote for in most electorates to meet local and regional needs. An example is the seat of Bass where the Government and Bass Coast Shire are keen to encourage sand extraction by destroying native vegetation and wildlife habit....

 The Victorian State Government and Bass Coast Shire are doing everything possible to clear native vegetation and destroy wildlife habitat in the Bass Valley. Despite extensive records showing the habitat value of the vegetation for a wide range of species including birds such as Powerful and Barking Owls, they are allowing unfettered extraction of sand to meet development requirements in Melbourne and elsewhere for concrete. Numerous studies have identified the regional importance of native vegetation on the land proposed for sand extraction. The Sand Extraction Strategy, Lang Lang to Grantville was approved in 1996 to protect the natural values of the area but is now being ignored by politicians and bureaucrats. As well as over 120 bird species , there are many mammal/marsupials,including koala, mountain brushtail possum, sugar glider and swamp wallaby. The bushland being removed includes the only remaining riparian vegetation on the Bass River.

  Hopefully, with the change in Government there will be more support for freedom of the press. The previous Australian Government ignored the plight of Australian citizen, Julian Assange who has been charged by the US Government with d isclos ing  national defen c e information. There is no dispute that the information supplied to media outlets was factual – the US Government simply wants it to be kept secret. If there was an offence, why is Assange facing those charges alone? Every newspaper editor and proprietor who published the information provided by Wikileaks should be in the dock with him. Our government must be prepared to stand up for any Australian citizen being persecuted for political reasons. How can we regard any country as an Ally if it treats an Australian citizen like this?

  Bass Coast Shire Council has shown contempt for the community by failing to honour commitments made about the protection of native vegetation and wildlife. The Shire is developing a Forest Strategy, which it claims will help to ensure Bass Coast’s Forest continues to thrive. On its website, the Shire says forests are made up of all trees and vegetation, including street trees and other vegetation on nature strips, in parks and open space, as well as in backyards, along waterways, in industrial areas and in conservation areas. It asserts that they ‘help cool our townships during summer, clean up air pollution, support biodiversity, reduce storm water run-off, boost the economy, support social cohesion and connection to country.’ It adds that trees and green spaces are highly valued for their beauty, by both locals and visitors. Despite these exemplary statements, the Shire is enabling the destruction of key areas of native vegetation, destroying wildlife corridors and the ame...

 Hopefully we will have a truly independent government in Australia after Saturday’s federal election. A majority of independent members of parliament will be a great change from the sad party hacks who have controlled government in this country. Political parties should be banned, allowing members to truly represent their electorates rather than owe allegiance to their party machine. One of the stupid things that has evolved is the portrayal of each party leader. The only people who actually vote for the leader are the MPs in his or her party. The rest of us only vote for the local member we want to represent us. Political parties should be banned.

  The increase in the cash rate announced today by the Reserve Bank should be no surprise to anyone. The rate has been too low for far too long. Lifting it to 0.35% makes little difference. A rate of0.1% sent a message that money is worthless. With positive interest rates – even low levels such as 5 or 6% people are able to judge the value of money but at the miniscule rate it has been for years, governments have been able to maintain an illusion. Now we know that all is not well. Banks and other lenders don’t set their rates according to the Reserve Bank figure – they charge what they can after paying to attract cash and working out their costs plus their profit distribution requirements. Banks will raise rates whenever they feel like it. The world financial system has been in chaos ever since economists persuaded Governments to go off the gold standard as a means of backing currency and establishing exchange rates.

  Bass Coast Shire has been deprived of rate revenue totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars by only charging rates   applicable to farming properties on land for which sand extraction permits had been issued. The oversight has affected existing ratepayers who have been required to cover all Council costs without the input of revenue from major corporations who were granted permits for sand extraction. Ratepayers who live alongside some of the properties which were given planning permits for sand extraction in the 1990’s say “once those permits were issued the rateable value of their land should have reflected the value of the resource, it was no longer simply rural land for farming purposes. Once development permits are issued for subdivisions, rates are calculated on the new value of that land, so why are sand extraction companies given a special deal?” 

 The Victorian Government is still keen to go ahead with the wholesale destruction of native vegetation and wildlife on the eastern side of Westernport despite calls from the United Nations to limit the extent of sand extraction. The United Nations Environment Programme has called for urgent action to avert a "sand crisis," as global demand has surged to 50 billion tonnes a year amid population growth and urbanisation. In a report released on Tuesday, the U.N said “Sand is the most exploited natural resource in the world after water, but its use is largely ungoverned, meaning we are consuming it faster than it can be replaced by geological processes that take hundreds of thousands of years,” It said “the needs and expectations of our societies cannot be met without improved governance of sand resources, "and  also called for a reduction in demand by reusing sand from recycled materials like concrete and mining tailings instead of using naturally occurring sand. S...

Australians may be living real-life chaos theory after the  federal election on May 21. It  gives an opportunity for those who bother to vote  t o  change the country's  direction. There have b een too many examples of incompetence, arrogance, greed and stupidity and it is important to send a message to Canberra. The best way to do that is not to vote for any candidates who are members of main-stream parties. So put Liberals, Nationals, Labor and Greens at the bottom of your ballot papers. Do the same at the next State elections and politicians may begin to realise that voters are not as gullible as they think we are. Government propaganda (fake news) has been eagerly spread by news outlets including the ABC. It is the party system that has failed Australia. We don't vote for a Prime Minister; we vote for a local member and those MPs get together and appoint the person leading their political party. So, politicians owe allegiance to their party - not to the pe...

 Rabid members of the Australian Republican Movement and some politicians keep trying to revive the flawed concept of dumping the monarchy and turning Australia into a republic. So far, they have failed to explain how this country will benefit after changing from a constitutional monarchy to a republic – will it cut the waste of taxpayers dollars? No. Will it be more democratic? No. So why spend more money on a system that offers no benefits to society? If they feel that we must change, they may as well accept reality. We are already the 51st de facto state of the United States because for decades our governments have always done everything requested of them by the American President. Bite the bullet and ask to be formally absorbed into the United States. If that doesn’t appeal, we can wait to be taken over by China or some other country! The Republican movement needs to drop the idea – or come up with a model that is acceptable to Australians - perhaps making the President o...

 Politicians are helping to boost profits for pharmaceutical companies by enforcing mandates for Covid vaccines and protecting the companies from the consequences of any damage caused by the vaccines. The Australian government provides indemnity against liability for side-effects such as myocarditis and other heart conditions. The government will pay compensation if a member of the public wins legal action against the drug company.

  The Victorian Government is threatening the lives of residents with deadly smoke from deliberately lit fires it describes as ’hazard reduction burns’. People have been warned to stay indoors if they suffer any breathing difficulties. In recent weeks, more than 135 planned burns have been conducted. As a result, air quality has been ‘poor’ over most of Melbourne suburbs and parts of Gippsland. Far from making Victorians safer, It’s likely that health risks from inhaling the smoke from the deliberate burns will result in more deaths in Victoria than caused by a combination of the Covid virus and unplanned bushfires. “ Smoke is a common trigger for those with asthma, causing irritation in the chest and eyes, coughing, difficulty breathing, and it’s vital that those triggers are avoided as best as possible, by staying inside,” says the A sthma Foundation.

  There is never any shortage of examples of stupidity from politicians, but a special case is t he federal government’s announcement of a cynical election splurge aimed at buying votes. It says that, i f elected, It  will spend $5.4bn to build the Hells Gates Dam in north Queensland. The dam has no business case, no environmental approvals, and  experts say it will threaten the long-term health of the Great Barrier Reef. The prime minister, Scott Morrison announced that his government w il l build the 2,100 gigalitre dam – about four times the size of Sydney Harbour – that could potentially support 60,000ha of new land for irrigated agriculture. A business case cannot be completed until after the federal election. The government has said the funding is guaranteed. Earlier feasibility studies prompted serious questions about the project’s claimed economic benefit. Hells Gates has no environmental impact statement, and no environmental approvals. Local landholder...

  Israel National News claims that according to the Ukraine Ministry of Defence a group of 'influential' Russians are planning to oust Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to “restore economic ties with the West that were destroyed by the war in Ukraine,” it may be wishful thinking, but Ukraine says the removal could be achieved by p oisoning, illness or accident at any time. It seems that they think Putin's nationalist fervour upsets the wealth accumulation of oligarchs.

 Despite all the chaos in modern life such as bureaucratic bungling, having less income than needed, inadequate health services etc politicians are now spending time considering extending daylight saving so we don’t have the inconvenience of adjusting our clocks twice a year. Politicians really have fixation with population control rather than letting people get on with their lives. The answer is very simple – scrap daylight saving and maintain uniform time throughout the year. If people want more daylight at the end of their working day, Start work earlier, instead of working 9 to 5. work from 8am to 4pm - problem solved. Activity on the farm is dictated by the natural cycles of daylight and seasons – not by the arbitrary decisions of inept politicians and fat-cat bureaucrats.

  US authorities decided not to block interest payments on Russian bonds totalling $US117 million, allowing the country to avoid its first default on foreign debt in more than 100 years. The payment was processed by JP Morgan and was allowed despite monetary and economic sanctions imposed on Russia.

  The Victorian Government and Bass Coast Shire are currently going through the charade of public consultation over the development of a Statement of Planning Policy covering the region’s environmental and sustainability values. They have asked for on- line comments and they will probably receive plenty about the destruction of native vegetation and wildlife habitat in the name of ‘development’. The Statement and proposed planning controls need to fully take account of the comprehensive and expert data in the Regional Sand Extraction Strategy, Lang Lang to Grantville plus flora and fauna survey work undertaken for Friends of Bass Valley Bush Landcare group as published in Baseline Studies of Bass River, funded by the Natural Heritage Trust in conjunction with Bass Coast Shire. But the reality is that the document is simply window-dressing to allow the pretence that planners, bureaucrats and politicians actually care and can bothered to do something useful. Past performance dem...

  Palestine is the name by the Ancient Greeks for an area in the Middle East between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It has a long history of control by various empires including the Babylonians, Persians, Alexander the Great and the Romans Palestine was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 and remained under the rule of the Turks until the end of the First World War, the Turks were defeated by the British. Parts of the Ottoman Empire were handed over to the French to control and parts were handed over to Britain – including Palestine. Britain governed under a League of Nations mandate from 1920 to 1948. For the Arabs it was their homeland which had been promised to them by the Allies for help in defeating the Turks. Palestinian jews claimed the same area of land had also been promised to them in the Balfour Declaration. In August 1929, relations between the Jews and Arabs in Palestine broke down. The focal point of this discontent was Jerusalem. The ma...

  There has been growing speculation about what is likely to happen when Vladimir Putin steps down or is removed as President of Russia. It  seems probable that few policy changes will be made. A long-time Putin ally, Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu may become the next President of Russia. From 1994 to 2012 he served as Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations, and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters. From May to November 2012 Sergei Shoigu took over as Governor of the Moscow Oblast (the territory around Moscow). On November 6, he became Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

  While many animal species in Australia are on the brink of extinction as a result of habitat loss, millions of dollars are proposed to be pumped into resurrecting a species that was exterminated years ago. Scientists at t he University of Melbourne say they may be able to bring the extinct Tasmanian Tiger back to life following a $5 million philanthropic gift. The Thylacine has been extinct since 1936, The funding will allow the university to establish a "world-class research lab for de-extinction and marsupial conservation science".  Specifically, The money will establish the Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research Lab to focus on : improving understanding of the thylacine genome; developing techniques to use marsupial stem cells to make an embryo; and then successfully transferring the embryo into a host surrogate uterus, such as a dunnart o   Tasmanian devil. A better move will be to protect remaining species like Dingoes, koalas and Lace M...

  Strange that Scott Morrison accuses Putin of being a bully and a thug when successive Australian Governments have eagerly joined in bullying and thuggery all over the world – including Afghanistan, Iraq, korea and Vietnam! If our Prime Minister wants to really put the frighteners on the Russian President, he should think about sending Tony Abbott to ‘shirtfront’ him! Even better, perhaps  send our ex Prime Minister to join the military fight against Russian troops.The strident tones used by the prime minister are particularly offensive to Australians who have been subjected to violence and thuggery from police at widespread peaceful protests over lockdowns and mandated covid vaccinations.

  T he hysteria surrounding Russia’s action in Ukraine is hard to understand , given the western world’s support for the US inva s ions of Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and then Afghanistan. Russian military convoys have entered Ukraine’s Donbas region, w h ich Russia recognises as an independent state with a majority ethnic Russian population.

 A key requirement for any aspiring politician should be training in hazard management. An abilty to analyse risks should be an essential political tool. Instead, politicians, with the connivance of key health bureaucrats, academics and mainstream media outlets have gone out of their way to generate mass hysteria or psychogenic illness in response to the Covid 19 virus. The damage created by the implementation of planned responses far outweighs damage caused by the virus.

  Government oppression is just mind-control

  For all the people who don't understand what the freedom protests in Canberra and around the world are about. It's not just a bunch of anti-vaxxers, This is a full explanation written by Gary Mathews  Here's why... + It’s for the family members banned from visiting loved ones in nursing homes. + It's for the people who couldn't attend funerals and bury their loved ones. + It’s for censorship on all social media platforms. + It’s for all the people too afraid to speak up in fear of being called conspiracy theorists. + It’s for the people who willingly got the J because they were told it would end the lockdowns. + It’s for the people who willingly got the J so they could open their business again, only to be told they can’t. + It's for all the people who can no longer buy homes because of housing unaffordability and unavailability. + It’s for the people who didn’t want to get J but were coerced to. + It’s for the people who don’t want to give ...