Politics is a dirty word

 We expect questions to be asked in the Victorian Parliament about reasons for the public being ignored by Bass Coast Council and the State Government over impacts of sand extraction operations, despite clear consultation requirements set out in the Regional Sand Extraction Strategy, Lang Lang to Grantville Shire planning officers have not enforced permit provisions on a sand extraction site being prepared in Stanley Road, Grantville. Bulldozer cuts removing native vegetation have been made right down into the Bass River, creating potential erosion and pollution problems particularly for platypus and blackfish. Council officers are aware of the importance of the vegetation on the site, part of an identified wildlife corridor and which forms part of the only remaining riparian forest on the Bass River. Continuous site clearing at all hours is causing noise pollution for residents and has displaced native wildlife including wombats, koalas and Lace Monitors. The sand extraction op...

  Victoria’s Council Watch organisation has advised that Shire  Councillors are prohibited under law (the local government act) from getting involved with or directing planning enforcement.  We  have always thought that the major role of a councillor was to ensure that council actions met all regulatory obligations. Without a specific role, there seems no point in wasting time or money voting in Shire elections. Councillors cost us millions of dollars each year. We had asked for advice on how to deal with a lack of enforcement of planning permit conditions by Bass Coast Shire Council and a refusal to implement the Regional Sand Extraction Strategy, Lang Lang to Grantville. Council Watch advised “this is the local government Act the current government put in during 2020 and it is not helping any of us!”

  Australians may be about to get just what we need – more politicians. A paliamentary standing committee suggests the Federal Parliament should have an extra 49 seats. If the parliament grows to 200 seats, NSW will be the biggest winner with an increase from 47 to 63 seats; Victoria will grow from 39 to 51 and Queensland will gain 10 seats to reach 40. South Australia and Western Australia  gain five each while Tasmania  remains on five. Each additional MP  ensures thatmore bureaucrats will be deployed. Does anyone really think that more snouts in trough in Canberra will help to solve this country’s problems? The divide between city and country people will become even greater and we can look forward to ever higher taxes to feed the monster. More politicians will mean more fat-cat bureaucrats with their hands in our pockets.

 Everyone seems to be heartily sick of the constant harassment by the Government campaigners in the Voice referendum. The extent of misinformation by Albanese'sYES campaign has been astounding and almost certainly counter-productive, Sifting through the blurb it has been clear than nothing specific would improve conditions for aborigines.if a 'Voice' was established. There was nothing planned to improve education, health, or to deal with violence or other criminal acts. Politicians are elected to represent ALL citizens - so get on with it rather than squander millions of taxpayer dollars on  fruitless ego trips for the prime miunister and his minions.

  It’s hard to understand how Councillors of Bass Coast Shire believe its OK to spend $295,000 on a two week contract with a private company for work which should be undertaken in house. The contract is with Infrastructure Management Group Pty Ltd and involves assessing the suitability of council’s roads. Work started on September 11. Bass Coast has around 400 employees looking for things to do. Checking road surfaces should not be a challenge. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=706213708200963&set=a.165949912227348

  Are nuclear powered submarines really the ‘cutting edge’ technology we are led to believe in an effort to justify the $368 billion cost to Australian taxpayers? the latest submarines still base their propulsion systems on steam – which clearly is well proven old technology. In the new British dreadnought class subs t he reactor drives two GEC steam turbines linked to a single shaft pump jet propulsor, giving the submarines a maximum submerged speed of over 25 knots (46km/h. Auxiliary power is provided by a pair of 6MW steam-turbine generators.

  Ex politician and indigenous advocate,Warren Mundine, says the Prime Minister unleashed ‘racist abuse’ and attacked voice opponents “ This thing is about division and dividing this country and the racial abuse that we’ve been hearing over the last few months,” Mundine said. He added  'We don't need another body of bureaucracy; we need to recognise the traditional owners.' I ndigenous activist Myles Jerrard agrees,  saying“The Voice’ is predicated on a principle that Aboriginal people are inherently disadvantaged. “ If we enshrine that in our constitution, it is forever. “ I do not want that for my children, I do not want that for the next generation” he said. It's clea that changing the constitution with the Government's amendment will do nothing to improve conditions for aborigines. Ignore the politics .... vote NO!

The US is saving $300 billion a year by cutting the Senate. http://www.theonion.com/articles/us-government-to-save-billions-by-cutting-wasteful,17171 /

  Voting NO to the government’s referendum to amend Australia’s constitution is not something for which anyone should be pilloried. Far from being racist, a number of prominent aborigines have voiced their convictions that the Voice referendum is rubbish. Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jacinta Price has accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of getting Australians to vote 'Yes' on a referendum he doesn’t understand. Ms Price’s comments come as debate surrounds whether the Prime Minster has read beyond the cover page of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. “ If the Prime Minister had actually done what he was supposed to do and read the fine print and understand what the proposal is then he might have a slight clue as to what it is he is trying to argue,” ne of northern Australia's pre-eminent spiritual leaders and civil rights activists wants the nation to know why he's planning to vote No at the upcoming referendum on a Voice to Parliament. Reverend Dj...

  Bass Coast Shire Council and the Victorian Government Department of Earth Resources Regulation have been asked for a timeline for construction work to begin on upgrading Stanley Road as required prior to the start of sand extraction by Hanson Construction Materials and Barro Group at Grantville. Hanson divisional landfill and development manager Daniel Fyfe has acknowledged . “We are required to meet several preconditions, including designing and constructing a section of Stanley Road to accommodate quarry truck traffic. The Hanson site is projected to produce around 300,000 tonnes of sand a year – all travelling down Stanley Road. The Barro Group operation will be a similar size meaning that the total tonnage to be carried over Stanley Road may be 500,000 – 600,000 tonnes a year. The State Government has forecast more than 5000 sand haulage trucks a day will clog the Bass Highway once sand extraction sires are in full production. It identified the Bass Highway as the maj...

 B urns being carried out by the state government's forest fire management crews are impacting the health of thousands of people as well as destroying wildlife and important vegetation . There is no real science behind the burning.  Bureaucrats claim, mistakenly, that it makes wildfires less of a risk and saves lives,    Various burns have been lit near us , such as at Kilcunda,Kongwak, Cape Paterson and Mirboo North, covering our farm and the region with a thick blanket of smoke. The State Government has ignored researchers at Harvard University who found evidence that exposure to elevated levels of fine particle pollution found in bushland smoke may have led to thousands more cases of covid-19 and more deaths among those who tested positive for the Covid virus.

  The political rush to cut out fossil fuels and force us all to buy electric cars is a recipe for disaster. By-products from oil refineries are more vital than diesel and petroleum.   Benzene is a raw material for dyes and synthetic detergents, Benzene and toluene are used in making.polyurethenes and xylenes to produce plastics and synthetic fibers. Butadiene, an elastomer is used in making synthetic rubber. Nylon, teflon polystyrene. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Global ethylene production was 190 million tonnes and propylene was 120 million tonnes in 2019. About 32-million tonnes of rubbers are produced annually in the United States, and of that amount two thirds are synthetic, total world demand is over70 million tonnes. Without synthetic rubber, electric cars will have no tyres and any ban on plastic production will eliminate many automotive components as well as the majority of office and household items and building products. instead of chasing an illusion about ele...

 We have asked the Prime Minister and the Attorney General for some answers on the referendum over a ‘Voice to Parliament" our request was “There seems to be a general lack of understanding surrounding the benefits of a YES vote in the referendum to add ‘A Voice to Parliament’ to the constitution. Can you please clarify what actions will follow such a change?” We also referred the question to Noel Pearson’s Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership. It will be interesting to see their responses because we haven't seen anything to explain any direct benefit which will flow from a constitutional change. From everything which has been revealed to date 'the Voice' will just be another bureaucracy designed to exploit taxpayers.

 The element Hafnium, found as a small percentage of the mineral zirconium, is being considered by scientists, military leaders and arms dealers as the next super weapon. One gram of hafnium contains the equivalent energy of 660 pounds (299 kg) of TNT. Because of its high neutron-capture cross section and excellent mechanical properties, hafnium is used for fabricating nuclear-control rods. the US Army, Navy and Defence Threat Reduction Agency are all trying to perfect the weapon, as is the UK’s Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. It seems likely that China and Russia (as well as a few other countries) will also divert funding from their biological weapons programs to develop hafnium weapons of mass destruction. Australian Strategic Materials Ltd is producing a high purity hafnium dioxide from ore mined at Dubbo in New South Wales.The company is part of  Alkane Resources.  chaired by Melbourne business heavyweight Ian Gandel. Production capacity is expected to e...

  Given the way they are working. The newly named Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) would be better described as DED, Department fot Environmental Degredation.

  Australia’s biggest concrete company is facing huge penalties before it starts sand extraction at Grantville. Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority has cancelled Barro Group’s licence to operate its Sunshine Landfill site at Kealba . Action against the company began in  2022 after many complaints , The EPA said Barro Group failed to meet compliance issues required under its licence. Bass Coast residents are concerned that the company will show equal contempt for its permit conditions at Grantville. Charges issued alleging non-compliance with the General Environment Duty have a maximum penalty of $1.8 million for the company and $360,000 for each director. Barro Group has a sand extraction permit on a site adjoining Bass River in McGrady Road, Grantville. Neighbouring landholders have advised Bass Coast Shire that the company has already breached its permit conditions but the Shire has taken no action.