Monday, May 30, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
"No, let's have you pay a fair share of tax', Mr Dick Smith
There is no doubt that they talk amongst themselves...just as we do! And so this week's revelation of the richest people in the land and the fact that they earn millions and many billions in their digging, exporting and investments, has the risk of having them account for their excessive riches. And so what better man than Dick Smith, that man with the gold tongue and man about town, to be the good spokesperson to invite Mr Murdoch to head up a philanthropic foundation in which their guilt can be salvaged, the criticism can be muted and their pet projects can be supported with the anticipated photo opportunities. Call me cynical and having a rich bitch problem but I would prefer they paid an appropriate tax ( maybe even a Resources Rent Tax!) on their wealth... just as I have to do!
Let's share the wealth: call to rich
The Age
ENTREPRENEUR Dick Smith wants to see a $1 billion philanthropic foundation established to encourage more wealthy people to give.
The idea was first put forward by the head of philanthropic services at the Myer Family Company, Peter Winneke, who says publicity created by such a foundation would encourage more people to give.
Mr Smith says he has written to News Ltd media leader Rupert Murdoch to gauge his interest in setting up a foundation, which could be named after his mother, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, to recognise her philanthropic work over many years, or simply called the Murdoch Foundation.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/lets-share-the-wealth-call-to-rich-20110527-1f8ld.html#ixzz1NcOi4hJR
Let's share the wealth: call to rich
The Age
ENTREPRENEUR Dick Smith wants to see a $1 billion philanthropic foundation established to encourage more wealthy people to give.
The idea was first put forward by the head of philanthropic services at the Myer Family Company, Peter Winneke, who says publicity created by such a foundation would encourage more people to give.
Mr Smith says he has written to News Ltd media leader Rupert Murdoch to gauge his interest in setting up a foundation, which could be named after his mother, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, to recognise her philanthropic work over many years, or simply called the Murdoch Foundation.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/lets-share-the-wealth-call-to-rich-20110527-1f8ld.html#ixzz1NcOi4hJR
This is worth a read!
Forget facts, it's personality that rules reactions to climate change
The Age
Jo Chandler
The Age
Jo Chandler
May 28, 2011
In the foreword to a new book debunking scepticism of science - Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand - Oreskes argues that fear is the major driver of denial. ''Fear that our current way of life is unsustainable. Fear that addressing the issue will limit economic growth. Fear that if we accept government interventions in the market place … it will lead to a loss of personal freedom. Or maybe just plain old fear of change.''
As economist John Kenneth Galbraith observed, all great leaders share one common characteristic - ''the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time''.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/forget-facts-its-personality-that-rules-reactions-to-climate-change-20110527-1f8dl.html#ixzz1NcNKKSP9
As economist John Kenneth Galbraith observed, all great leaders share one common characteristic - ''the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time''.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/forget-facts-its-personality-that-rules-reactions-to-climate-change-20110527-1f8dl.html#ixzz1NcNKKSP9
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Age agrees with me!
Dishonest debates are crippling urgent structural reform.
THE annual rich list shows just why last June's protest rally led by Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest against a new federal mining tax looked ludicrous. Ranked No.1 and 3, the mining magnates' estimated wealth greatly exceeds any extra tax take from coal and iron ore profits in budget estimates. More seriously, this points to imbalances in budget revenues and between states.
Ms Rinehart's $10.3 billion fortune is almost as much as the budgeted revenue of $11.1 billion in three years after the tax takes effect from July 2012. Four of the top five in BRW's Rich 200 list made their $30 billion from resources, mainly coal and iron ore, to which the tax is now limited - slashing the first two years' revenue from $12 billion to $7.7 billion. The difference in the impact of the mining boom on individual fortunes and federal revenue is startling.
The worth of the three most outspoken tax critics, Ms Rinehart, Mr Forrest and Clive Palmer (fifth on the list), jumped by $8.62 billion, or 67 per cent in a year, to $21.53 billion. Treasurer Wayne Swan budgeted for an extra $8.27 billion, up 12 per cent from a year ago, from all company and resource taxes.
THE annual rich list shows just why last June's protest rally led by Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest against a new federal mining tax looked ludicrous. Ranked No.1 and 3, the mining magnates' estimated wealth greatly exceeds any extra tax take from coal and iron ore profits in budget estimates. More seriously, this points to imbalances in budget revenues and between states.
Ms Rinehart's $10.3 billion fortune is almost as much as the budgeted revenue of $11.1 billion in three years after the tax takes effect from July 2012. Four of the top five in BRW's Rich 200 list made their $30 billion from resources, mainly coal and iron ore, to which the tax is now limited - slashing the first two years' revenue from $12 billion to $7.7 billion. The difference in the impact of the mining boom on individual fortunes and federal revenue is startling.
The worth of the three most outspoken tax critics, Ms Rinehart, Mr Forrest and Clive Palmer (fifth on the list), jumped by $8.62 billion, or 67 per cent in a year, to $21.53 billion. Treasurer Wayne Swan budgeted for an extra $8.27 billion, up 12 per cent from a year ago, from all company and resource taxes.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Gittens gets it right!
Climate inertia shows ugly side of the Australian character
The AgeRoss Gittens
It's a sore test of faith when people put power bills before their children's future.
Like most people, I'm an instinctive optimist. In any case, I see no margin in pessimism. If you concluded the world was irredeemably wicked, or destined for certain destruction, what would be left but to curl up and die? Since we can never be certain the end is nigh, much better to keep living and keep plugging away for a better world.
I confess, however, I've needed all my optimistic instincts to avoid despair over the terrible hash we're making of the need to take effective action against global warming. We're showing everything that's unattractive about the Australian character.
We pride ourselves that Aussies are good in a crisis, but until the walls start falling in on us we couldn't reach agreement to shut the door against the cold.
Poor Rina can't afford the resources tax!
Rinehart cracks rich list glass ceiling
The AgeGina Rinehart's $10.3 billion mining fortune has propelled her into the position of Australia's wealthiest person, taking the crown from Frank Lowy who topped last year's BRW Rich 200.
Not only is she the first woman in the list's 28-year history to lead it, but she also made the biggest fortune ever to be recorded by the BRW Rich 200, with her wealth more than doubling from $4.75 billion last year.
"This is the first time anyone has cracked $10 billion," said BRW Rich 200 editor, Andrew Heathcote.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Conservatives make it look easy!
Climate change model? Just look at old Blighty
The AgePaddy Manning
NO, YOU don't have to live in a cave to tackle climate change. Just look at Britain, where the coalition government led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron this week bound itself to halve greenhouse gas emissions against 1990 levels by 2027 - the most ambitious target in the developed world.
Read it and weep. As Australian politics sinks deeper into a sleazy mire, making progress impossible, dear old Blighty - amid a crippling recession and austerity cuts - is lighting a path to a clean economy.
Britain, with 62 million people, emits about 574 million tonnes of greenhouse gas a year (say nine tonnes a head). That should drop to roughly 380 million tonnes a year by 2023-27.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Never never means never, Malcolm. ....even (r)Abbot knows that!
The Australian Newspaper
Malcolm Turnbull will never lead again: Liberal MPs
SENIOR Liberals have declared that Malcolm Turnbull will never again lead the party after he questioned the Coalition's direct-action climate change policy, undermining Tony Abbott's attack on Julia Gillard's carbon tax.
Mr Turnbull, who was ousted as Liberal leader over his deal on the carbon pollution reduction scheme with Kevin Rudd in 2009, is under fire after saying the Coalition's direct-action policy would not achieve deep emissions reductions without putting a financial strain on the budget.
The remarks on Wednesday night angered colleagues, some of whom yesterday described them as a deliberate attempt to destabilise the Opposition Leader.
But the Prime Minister said Mr Turnbull had "told the truth" that the Coalition's plan would not work and would blow the budget. Ms Gillard accused Mr Abbott of "running around the country trying to scare Australian families, trying to scare Australian businesses, trying to scare people and convince them that they're going to lose their jobs".
Malcolm Turnbull will never lead again: Liberal MPs
SENIOR Liberals have declared that Malcolm Turnbull will never again lead the party after he questioned the Coalition's direct-action climate change policy, undermining Tony Abbott's attack on Julia Gillard's carbon tax.
Mr Turnbull, who was ousted as Liberal leader over his deal on the carbon pollution reduction scheme with Kevin Rudd in 2009, is under fire after saying the Coalition's direct-action policy would not achieve deep emissions reductions without putting a financial strain on the budget.
The remarks on Wednesday night angered colleagues, some of whom yesterday described them as a deliberate attempt to destabilise the Opposition Leader.
But the Prime Minister said Mr Turnbull had "told the truth" that the Coalition's plan would not work and would blow the budget. Ms Gillard accused Mr Abbott of "running around the country trying to scare Australian families, trying to scare Australian businesses, trying to scare people and convince them that they're going to lose their jobs".
It never rains...it pours!
Climatologist: Flooding the Result of Climate Change
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Connecticut rivers have been high this spring, but nothing like the record-breaking, devastating flooding of the Mississippi River. Some climatologists point to climate change as a direct cause of these extreme weather events.Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, says the environment in which all these storms are occurring is different than it was, for instance, 30 years ago.
"When we look at the statistics, we find that the very heavy rains are increasing at a substantial rate. In general, it has become wetter in the U.S., especially east of the Rockies."
The increase in the earth's temperature has led to an even bigger increase in the amount of water vapor over the oceans, he explains, contributing to massive storms.
The time is past when all these storms could be attributed just to natural cycles, Trenberth says.
"You can't simply blame this all on natural variability. Natural variability is certainly playing a role, but equally, climate change that we humans have something to do with is also playing a role."
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Innovating the Cities - David Owens
Worth a listen....
Author of Green Metropolis, David Owen reflects on how moving to the country means more cars, why Manhattan has the smallest carbon footprint of any US city and how public transport can work.
Author of Green Metropolis, David Owen reflects on how moving to the country means more cars, why Manhattan has the smallest carbon footprint of any US city and how public transport can work.
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