Coalition's vote 10% points ahead of the ALP

Newspoll has Tony Abbott back in lead as Labor splits grow

• by: Dennis Shanahan, Political editor
• From: The Australian
• February 14, 2012 12:00AM

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is once again preferred PM after the latest Newspoll. Source: The Australian

Tony Abbott has again overtaken Julia Gillard as preferred prime minister as the Coalition continues to dominate a federal Labor Party distracted by leadership divisions.

Voter satisfaction with the Opposition Leader has risen in the past two weeks, with Mr Abbott's personal position the best it has been since October. The Prime Minister's standing has sunk to its lowest level since November - before the positive impact for the Gillard government of the visits of the Queen and US President Barack Obama.

The combination of Mr Abbott's rise, Ms Gillard's loss of the lead as preferred prime minister and the Labor Party's continued low primary vote will spur those arguing that Labor needs a change of leadershipAccording to the Newspoll survey, taken exclusively for The Australian last weekend, Labor's primary vote went from 30 per cent to 32 per cent and the Coalition's from 45 per cent to 46 per cent after changes in support for the Coalition.

Based on preference flows at the August 2010 election, the Coalition now holds a 10-point two-party preferred lead over the ALP of 55 per cent to 45 per cent. The Coalition is sitting on its best primary vote and two-party preferred vote since November. Labor's primary vote - its best since November - and two-party support remain at levels that would mean an electoral rout if an election were held now.

Ms Gillard faced fresh questions last night about the extent of her plotting to remove Kevin Rudd as Labor leader in 2010, as her senior ministers continued to accuse the opposition of talking down the economy and not caring about job losses.But during two weeks of sustained government attacks on Mr Abbott's economic management credibility and rifts in the Coalition over industry policy and budget strategies, the Liberal leader has reversed Ms Gillard's lead over him as preferred prime minister.

Ms Gillard had held a clear lead over Mr Abbott as preferred prime minister since mid-November, after she hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the US presidential visit. But last weekend her previous lead of 40 per cent to 37 per cent was reversed, with Mr Abbott's support rising three points to 40 per cent as Ms Gillard's fell the same to 37 per cent.

Labor's poor primary vote and Mr Abbott's lead over Ms Gillard for six months of last year were the fundamental reasons given by disenchanted Labor MPs for returning to Mr Rudd as Labor leader. Ms Gillard's supporters argue that she will prevail over Mr Abbott, who is seen as too negative and obstructionist.

In the past two weeks, Mr Abbott's satisfaction level among voters rose from 32 per cent to 36 per cent. Dissatisfaction with the way Mr Abbott is doing his job as Opposition Leader fell from 55 per cent to 52 per cent. It is Mr Abbott's highest satisfaction rating since the beginning of October ,and his lowest dissatisfaction rating since September.

While more people still disapprove of Mr Abbott than approve, his satisfaction rating, the difference between the two, has dropped to minus 16.During the same period, Ms Gillard's satisfaction levels have remained little changed, with satisfaction going from 33 per cent to 32 per cent and dissatisfaction rising from 55 per cent to 57 per cent.

Ms Gillard's net satisfaction rating is now minus 25 and has been minus 20 or more since September. Mr Abbott's return to preferred prime minister over Ms Gillard comes as a separate Newspoll survey showed he has regained the lead over her as the preferred economic manager.

The Newspoll survey taken last weekend, and reported in The Australian yesterday, showed Mr Abbott in front of Ms Gillard on the economy at 43 per cent to the Prime Minister's 34 per cent.

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Dr. Ross Fitzgerald's opinion piece on Julia Gillard's fate

Desperate for short-term personal survival, Gillard makes serious error of judgment

• by: Ross Fitzgerald
• From: The Australian
• February 11, 2012 12:00AM

A Gillard's misguided attempts to shore up support for her leadership have virtually guaranteed that she will not lead Labor to the next election, and may not survive until this year's budget.

Her decision to break the written contract she signed with Andrew Wilkie is clearly driven by backbench disgruntlement with the mandatory pre-commitment scheme for poker machines demanded by Wilkie in return for his support after the 2010 election.

This was not some inconsequential agreement - it was an agreement struck by the Prime Minister to allow her to form government and to deliver a one-seat majority on the floor of the House of Representatives that enabled the passage of the government's legislation. The fact that Gillard was willing to betray Wilkie speaks volumes about her precarious hold on the Labor leadership.

In her desperation for short-term survival, Gillard has made a serious error of judgment.
There was already great cynicism about the Prime Minister's lack of honesty, mostly due to her betrayal of Kevin Rudd and her infamous pre-election declaration ruling out a carbon tax. That negative perception has been reinforced once again by her broken commitment to Wilkie.

It is entirely counterproductive for her to attempt justification of this betrayal by arguing that Wilkie's plan did not have broad support and she could not deliver on her promise. She appears not to understand that is irrelevant.

After agreeing to terms with Wilkie and formally signing what is in effect a contract, she was honour-bound to make every possible effort at introducing legislation into the parliament. If the legislation was defeated on the floor of the parliament, she could then argue that the numbers could not be delivered and that Wilkie shared part of the responsibility. It is now crystal clear that Gillard is more concerned about a short-term challenge to her leadership than she is about the survival of her government.

If they have not already, Labor backbenchers will quickly come to the realisation that Julia Gillard cannot lead the party to the next election.It is simply untenable for any political party to be led by someone who is so widely regarded as untruthful and untrustworthy. If Gillard remains as leader, the Coalition will be able to run campaigns on virtually every issue of concern to the electorate.

Imagine a campaign where the Coalition alleged that Gillard secretly planned to increase the carbon tax and levy it directly on households and Gillard responded with what would be interpreted as "there will be no carbon tax directly on households under the government I lead."In the world of brutal politics, there is no credible statement the Prime Minister could possibly make to counter these claims.

The Coalition would be free to run campaigns about income tax increases, cuts to health and education, poker machine reforms, wasteful spending and much more.Every shadow minister would be able to raise issues within their portfolios where a Gillard Labor government would engage in either increased taxes or cuts to services.

Faced with a torrent of accusations, Prime Minister Gillard would ritualistically deny each and every one and while many accusations would not bite with the voting public, there would be numerous niggling doubts in the minds of many voters. Every promise or denial will be seen through the prism of that commitment that, "There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead." The Coalition would be able to credibly say that Gillard was prepared to lie through her teeth about the carbon tax and is therefore prepared to lie through her teeth about every other issue.

This situation is simply untenable, and Labor MPs and senators must know they cannot possibly go to an election with a leader so fundamentally damaged in the public perception of her honesty and integrity.This leaves two questions for the Labor caucus: when to remove Gillard as leader, and with whom to replace her.

Rumours have swirled around Canberra for some time that Labor backbenchers are actively seeking a new leader who is a "safe pair of hands". That would appear to rule out Kevin Rudd for many of them.The concern is that Rudd would provide Labor with a short-term and short-lived rebound in the polls but they could quickly end up in the same position as they are now with Gillard.

Bill Shorten has significant appeal but his current lack of experience hardly makes him a "safe pair of hands" to lead the federal Labor Party in 2012.This leaves Stephen Smith as virtually the last man standing.Smith, who usually appears solid and sure in the media, is widely regarded as having performed competently in the foreign affairs portfolio under the micro-managing of Rudd, but there are serious concerns about his performance as Defence Minister.

Many in the Defence establishment are furious at what they see as his politicisation of the Skype sex scandal at the Australian Defence Force Academy. The report into that scandal is rumoured to be highly critical of Smith's conduct. If so, it is little wonder that he has been sitting on it for weeks. The best way for a minister to distance him or herself from a damaging report is to move portfolios as quickly as possible and hand responsibility to the incoming minister.

The fact remains that Smith's best hope to take over the leadership is for Rudd to unsuccessfully challenge Gillard and for him to come through as the compromise candidate. But that strategy may be cast aside if Smith needs to evade the fallout of a report into his conduct.

Professor Ross Fitzgerald is the author of 35 books, most recently the co-authored political satire Fools' Paradise

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Whitney Houston has died | She had it all but in the end had nothing!

Pop queen Whitney Houston dead at 48

• From: AP
• February 12, 2012 12:10PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cjV5dTaE6U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyQdCJwJZck&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYFHAvULvJ0

Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.

Beverly Hills police Lt. Mark Rosen told KABC-TV that Houston died in her room on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton. Her body remained in the hotel and Beverly Hills detectives were investigating. Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said that the singer had died, but the cause of her death were unknown.

News of Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night - the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to case a heavy pall on the ceremony. Houston's longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward."I am absolutely heartbroken at the news of Whitney's passing," music producer Quincy Jones said in a written statement. "I always regretted not having had the opportunity to work with her. She was a true original and a talent beyond compare. I will miss her terribly."

At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale. She had the perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime."The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side. It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.

She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform."The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told Good Morning America "To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.

Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. Saving All My Love for You brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. How Will I Know, You Give Good Love and The Greatest Love of All also became hit singles.

Another multiplatinum album, Whitney, came out in 1987 and included hits like Where Do Broken Hearts Go and I Wanna Dance With Somebody. The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."

Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the Soul Train Awards in 1989."Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."

Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.

But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.
"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."

It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.

In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with The Bodyguard. Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.

It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You, which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the Bodyguard soundtrack was named album of the year.

She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher's Wife. Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, My Love Is Your Love, in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut It's Not Right But It's Okay.

But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time The Preacher's Wife was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."

In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007. Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.

She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behaviour and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, Being Bobby Brown, was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.

Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album I Look To You. The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum. Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on Good Morning America went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.

A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.

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LNP to purge Public Service of ALP hacks

Senior public servants under threat if LNP win government

SENIOR public servants with Labor connections have been told they will be the first to go if the Liberal National Party wins government next month.


One top bureaucrat, Queensland Public Trustee Peter Carne, whose ALP ties go back to Goss government days, is believed to be top of the LNP hit list.

Sources said Mr Carne was believed to have been told by a senior LNP figure ". . . you may rest assured that when the LNP takes government on 24 March, your appointment will be the first to be terminated . . ." Mr Carne, former chief executive of the Queensland Law Society and a director of Australia Post, declined to comment last week. Other senior government staff, including at least two directors-general, have also been put on notice by the LNP.

Political observer Griffith University senior lecturer Paul Williams said: "No director-general can expect their job to be safe - and possibly not their deputies."

A furious Anna Bligh slammed the Opposition for jumping the gun. "The LNP's arrogance is growing daily," the Premier said yesterday. "They're drawing up a hit list of who to sack before we've even had an election."

The Sunday Mail understands the LNP has also set up a transition-to-government committee in preparation for a victory in six weeks and a smooth ride into George St.
LNP leader Campbell Newman would not answer questions about who in Government faced the axe if his party won power. "We are not going to be presumptuous about what happens if we win government," Mr Newman said yesterday. "We have got to win this election."

Also in the firing line:

JOHN BRADLEY

Director-General, Dept of Premier & Cabinet
The long-time Labor Party member took over the $540,000-a year role as the state's top bureaucrat last June. Held senior roles working for former Treasurer David Hamill and in energy earlier in his career. Returned from a stint in WA in 2006 to head the Queensland Water Commission and then DG of the Environment and Resource Management Department. Top of the LNP's "least wanted" list.

BRONWEN GRIFFITHS

Associate Director-General, Dept of Premier & Cabinet
Former Labor Party advisor and close friend of Anna Bligh, she attended the premier's secret wedding in in 2005. Described by the LNP as one of Ms Bligh's "favoured few" when she was appointed to the $300,000-plus job last year, she will be looking for a new position if the government changes.

TONY O'CONNELL

Director-General, Queensland Health
Appointed to perhaps the toughest role in the public service last year when Mick Reid quit after three tumultuous years. Opinion divided within the LNP over whether he is well-placed to stay to sort out the mess or should carry a share of the blame and go.

LINDA APELT

Director-General, Communities
Well-regarded by Anna Bligh, she was a given a much-expanded role in the new super-department model. Was tipped to leave before the election and very unlikely to remain under an LNP government.

KELVIN ANDERSON

Director-General, Community Safety
Promoted from Commissioner for Corrections last September, he came to Queensland from the Victorian prisons service. Regarded by many in the LNP as efficient and tough enough to keep this key role in a conservative administration.

JIM REEVES

Director-General, Environment & Natural Resource Management
A former chief-of-staff to Labor Lord Mayor Jim Soorley, he went on to head Brisbane Water. Took his new role, replacing John Bradley, less than a year ago. Almost certain to go.

GREG WITHERS

Assistant Director-General, Department of Environment and Resource Management
The head of the Office of Climate Change is married to Premier Bligh. Enough said.

PHILIP REED

Director-General, Department of Justice & Attorney-General
Appointed to his current job in August 2010 after two years in a senior role in the Department of premier and Cabinet with the Labor Brumby Government in Victoria. The LNP will likely want their own man in a key law and order role.


GERARD BRADLEY

Under Treasurer
It could be a case of deja vu for Mr Bradley. One of the most high-profile casualties of the Borbidge Government hit-list, he spent two years in South Australia before returning after the election of the Beattie-led ALP. Regarded as a good operator by many in the LNP but resentment remains, particularly among National party figures, over his role in scrapping Queensland fuel subsidy.

BOB ATKINSON

Police Commissioner
Due to retire in October, the LNP will be happy for him to serve out his remaining time while they consider his replacement.

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Politics again shows up disunity and poor leadership

Sin-bin for Warren's sports vision

Daniel Strudwick

Thursday, February 9, 2012

© The Cairns Post

Warren Entsch's grand vision for sports infrastructure in Cairns has been
dismissed as a "hodgepodge, time-wasting
wish list" by Cairns regional councillors.

The council yesterday rubbished a report by
the Cairns Business and Sporting Group set up by
Mr Entsch, which outlines more than $51 million of "shovel ready" construction projects for sports in the region.

Councillors criticised the group for giving false ideas to the public about what it meant for a project to be shovel ready, and putting forward ideas out of step with those already in the council’s pipeline. Mr Entsch has criticised the council’s laborious approach to planning public infrastructure, insisting feasibility studies and consultancies are often "an expensive waste of time".

That prompted council bosses to take a closer look at Mr Entsch’s own plans for infrastructure upgrades.The council’s formal response to the master plan will be a one-page letter stating that the group’s priorities mostly do not align with council’s priorities over the next six years. But the letter was described as a "polite" version of how councillors really felt about the master plan.

Mayor Val Schier acknowledged the importance of upgrading facilities, but said those involved in Mr Entsch’s group might have had more success working with the council. "The figures are a bit rubbery, there’s nothing in there about the southern area, and then we’ve got small things thrown in there (that) are not at all strategic in their thinking," Cr Schier said of the plan. "To me it’s a hodgepodge list. I used to say it was done on the back of an envelope, but I have to concede the report is bigger than an envelope. However, it’s still not the planning we need to really achieve things in this region."

Mr Entsch said the criticism highlighted why the current CRC would be a one-term council.

"They have no vision whatsoever," Mr Entsch said. "The city lacks the infrastructure to consistently attract major sporting events."

Cr Kirsten Lesina said Mr Entsch’s group had lied by saying projects were ready for construction and Cr Di Forsyth said the plan was a waste of the council’s time.

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Janine Aitken | Cairns Organiser & Regional Industrial Advocate, stands for no monsense

ENTSCH’S CREDIBILITY IN TATTERS AFTER TOURISM BEAT-UP

9 February, 2012:

Janine Aitken

Cairns Organiser & Regional Industrial Advocate

Transport Workers Union of Australia Queensland Branch

Cairns residents are scratching their heads after Warren Entsch’s bizarre, nonsensical fearmongering in defence of his mates at the big end of town.

"Why is Mr Entsch repeating Bruce Buchanan’s and Alan Joyce’s hysterical disinformation?" Transport Workers’ Union FNQ Organiser Janine Aitken asked today.

"There isn’t a snowflake’s chance in hell that Jetstar will cease services to Cairns or Darwin, and their threat to do so if foreign crews are paid Aussie wages gives us an alarming insight into their valuation of hard-working families in Cairns.

"Alan Joyce and Bruce Buchanan won’t cancel services; this is just more threats from an arrogant company that treats passengers, workers, and the tourist industry with contempt. "If Jetstar left Cairns today, Virgin Australia would pick up the capacity tomorrow. "Down at the airport, aviation families are appalled at how cheap and dangerous the talk is coming out of corporate HQ."

Mr Entsch’s remarks were reported at the same time as increased flights into Cairns were announced.

"Instead of licking the boots of his mates at the Big End of Town, Warren Entsch should support the workers whose productivity has supported this Australian icon" Ms Aitken said. "Warren Entsch should stop talking down tourism, and start talking it up.

"While he’s at it, he needs to do a 180-degree turn on his attitude to the people whose hard yakka is keeping our community prosperous.  "He would rather see Qantas use underpaid, non-taxpaying foreign workers who spend what they earn in overseas markets. He’ll sell off what’s good for the nation for what’s good for Warren. 

 "If foreign crews are part of Jetstar’s Australian flights, then they must be paid Aussie pay rates. It’s a simple matter of what is fair and what is right.  "When the Australian public heard that Jetstar was paying Thai workers $400 a month, for working Aussie flights, it was disgusted.  "The only people who don’t understand the rank immorality of that revolting business practice are Alan Joyce, Bruce Buchanan, and Warren Entsch.

ENDS              

Media contact: Michael Wong 0411 875 910

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Julia Gillard broke advertising code

Labor carbon tax ads broke rules, says Auditor-General

• by: Milanda Rout
• From: The Australian
• February 09, 2012 12:00AM

THE Auditor-General has found the $20 million carbon tax advertising blitz breached financial regulations.

It also may not have delivered value for money and failed to effectively sway the public as the government scrambled to mount the campaign.

The audit discovered that at the height of the carbon tax controversy, the Gillard government awarded a $2.7m contract for the printing of an information booklet after a tender period of just 36 hours and demanded companies provide updated quotes in just 90 minutes. It also gave media buyers just one week to secure television and radio airtime for the campaign, undermining the effectiveness of the advertising because it limited the ability to get the best spots.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet unveiled the Clean Energy Future campaign in July to a storm of political outrage, including claims made by the Opposition Leader that they were inaccurate

Mr Combet yesterday seized on Auditor-General Ian McPhee's report as proof that the key message - that nine out of 10 homes would receive financial assistance - was factually accurate, contrary to Mr Abbott's claims.

But Mr McPhee did raise concerns about the key claims not being properly referenced in the advertising material, saying the government was not able to establish a "clear line of sight" between 52 statements of fact and sources used to support those statements. The audit, the first on the government's entire advertising spend from March 2010 to August last year, also revealed the department breached financial regulations in its tender process."A verbal approval was given by a (Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) delegate for a spending proposal, valued at $1.7m, for the household mailout distribution contract," he wrote."However, a different person was recorded in DCCEE's systems . . . resulting in a breach of the financial management regulations."

The audit also revealed Julia Gillard approved an extra $8m on top of the original $12m campaign because there "remained confusion" in the public's mind about "key elements of the government policy" and competing ads against the carbon tax. Mr McPhee said a draft evaluation of the campaign, done by the Independent Communications Committee, found it was not very effective. "There was limited acceptance of key messages related to carbon pricing and household assistance. They did not translate into high levels of action," the committee told Mr McPhee.

Opposition climate change spokesman Greg Hunt said the findings were extremely serious. "They indicate that proper processes were completely disregarded in the government's desperate attempt to put a positive spin on the unpopular carbon tax," he said. Mr Combet called on Mr Abbott to apologise to public servants for saying the ads were inaccurate. The department has said it will amend internal processes to address issues raised by the auditor.

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Julia Gillard's appeal to factory floor

• by: Matthew Franklin and Barry Fitzgerald
• Additional reporting: Sophie Gosper
• From: The Australian
• February 09, 2012 12:00AM

Julia Gillard has dramatically shifted Labor's economic narrative to reconnect with blue-collar Australia, insisting her job is to run the economy "in the interest of working people" and accusing the Coalition of favouring the rich.

The Prime Minister has also pledged indefinite taxpayer-funded backing for car manufacturing and sought to undermine Tony Abbott's blue-collar support by accusing the Opposition Leader of wanting to "chuck overboard" jobs in the troubled sector.

Ms Gillard's factory-floor pitch came yesterday amid new evidence of pressure on manufacturing from the high value of the Australian dollar, with Alcoa announcing a review into the future of its Point Henry aluminium smelter at Geelong, raising doubts about its long-term viability and the jobs of 600 workers.

The news sparked a claim by Mr Abbott that Labor's $23-a-tonne carbon tax, to be introduced on July 1, would make matters worse. Ms Gillard described the argument as a "disgusting" example of his preparedness to scaremonger about jobs. But Alcoa managing director Alan Cransberg confirmed that the carbon tax would increase pressure on his company, although it did not prompt the review. "Obviously post July 1 that will make life more difficult for us," he said. "Post July 1 we have obviously got another challenge to overcome and we're very keen on doing that."

Mr Abbott stood firm in the face of Ms Gillard's attack, declaring that if the Prime Minister was serious about protecting manufacturing jobs, she would dump the carbon tax. Despite Ms Gillard's description of Mr Abbott's comments as disgusting, Alcoa's Mr Cransberg said the tax would hurt business, although it was not the cause of the review of the Point Henry facility.

After pressure on manufacturing over the past year, it has been a rough start to this year for thousands of workers, with at least 3700 lay-offs announced since January 1, most in the financial and manufacturing sectors.

While job losses have poured misery into Labor's electoral heartland for months, the government's economic narrative for the past year has focused on Wayne Swan's demand for credit for Labor's record in protecting Australia from the worst effects of the global financial crisis.

During the same period, Mr Abbott has pillaged Labor support by visiting dozens of factories and worksites across the nation to warn that the carbon tax will kill jobs. Yesterday, as Alcoa said the soaring dollar was among factors that had rendered the Point Henry operation unprofitable, Ms Gillard shifted tack, meeting car industry workers in Canberra and declaring she was "all ears" about how to protect their jobs.

Accusing the opposition of standing for privileged interests by proposing to dump Labor's new mining tax, she said: "We, unlike Mr Abbott, believe that the economy should be run in the interest of working people, that we should have a diverse economy for the future, that manufacturing should take its part and that the car industry needs to be part of that. "You've got to be running the economy for a purpose, and the purpose is to serve the needs of working people so they can have jobs, they can have opportunity, they can have prosperity."

The Prime Minister also plugged the $36 billion National Broadband Network into the economic argument, saying there was no point in asking Australian businesses to compete using "yesterday's tools".

And she aggressively rejected questions about the long-term future of taxpayer-funded subsidies for carmakers, justifying her government's "co-investment" policy by arguing the skills and technologies available in the automotive sector were critical to the nation's entire manufacturing base as well as the maintenance of 46,000 direct jobs and 200,000 indirect jobs.

"The economic decision for the government is about whether that is worthwhile, not only in terms of direct jobs, but the supply chain and the skills and capacities and innovation that comes with it for the rest of manufacturing," she said, accusing the Coalition of failing to commit to subsidies beyond 2015 and of plans to cut $500 million from assistance.

After savaging the Coalition over inconsistency among its economic spokesmen over when a Coalition government would return the federal budget to surplus, Ms Gillard then ridiculed its attempt to initiate a debate about Labor's role in sparking an ugly protest by indigenous activists on Australia Day.

While she wanted to discuss the economy, the Coalition had nothing to offer but "a stream of abuse", Ms Gillard said. "(Mr Abbott) knows that if we are debating the economy in this chamber, he will lose."

Mr Abbott said the Coalition was proposing to deliver the same level of car industry assistance as existed under the Howard government. "I want a strong, viable car industry in this country and the best thing you can do for the car industry in this country is stop the carbon tax," he said.

Turning to the Alcoa announcement, the Opposition Leader said that without a carbon tax, Alcoa would be "in a much better position". "The carbon tax is an additional substantial cost to an operation which is already losing money and I say to the Prime Minister: If you are serious about protecting the jobs of the manufacturing workers in this country, scrap the carbon tax."

Alcoa's review extends the gloom over the $14 billion aluminium export industry, which is among the nation's biggest carbon polluters and directly employs 17,000 people.
Profitability has been smashed by a slump in aluminium prices, the rise in the Australian dollar and China becoming a net exporter.

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Taylor Point | after 30 years the battle is still being fought

Conservationists in 'final battle' to save Taylor Point from development

Melanie Petrinec

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

© The Cairns Post

Conserve or develop?: This land at Taylor Point is the subject of a legal dispute with a developer trying to build 30 homes on the site.

CONSERVATIONISTS who have spent 27 years campaigning to preserve Cairns' only remaining unspoilt headland hope a court hearing which began yesterday will be the final showdown with developers.

It is the third time a development application for the untouched outcrop, north of Trinity Beach, has been before a judge with previous owners trying to get their plans through court in the 1980s and 1990s.

Opponents of a new plan for 30 residential lots on the 18.8ha site believe the case will test whether the council’s planning laws can prevent over-development of the region’s hill slopes.

The 10-day hearing will examine local developer Robert Prettejohn’s appeal over the council’s rejection of his proposal in 2010, despite the project being approved by the Department of Environment and Resource Management.

Outside court, Environmental Defenders Office principal solicitor Patrick Pearlman, who is representing the Save Our Slopes protest group, said the case would set a precedent for the effectiveness of Cairns Regional Council’s planning laws.  "Certainly it is our contention that it is going to be very important in terms of determining whether or not council’s goals and objectives in reducing the degree to which the hill slopes around here are developed is going to be implemented, or if more of the hill slopes will be developed," he said "This is the last undeveloped headland on the urban coast and we would certainly like to see it remain that way."

Mr Prettejohn’s barrister, Christopher Hughes SC, said the proposal was more environmentally friendly than previous bids to build more than 200 units on the site.  "Previous attempts have been a bit greedy," Mr Hughes said. "The housing (in Mr Prettejohn’s plan) is not obvious, but nestles in."

He said there was a perception the land was open to the public for fishing and other recreational activities, but that was not the case and it had always been privately owned. Mr Prettejohn would, however, ensure two areas were available for public access to the beach should his plan gain approval, the court heard.

John Vagg, a leading legal consultant for planning and environment cases in Queensland, told The Cairns Post a 30-year battle over land was "unusual". He said if the court upheld the council’s decision, Mr Prettejohn, who built the eco-friendly Thala Beach Lodge near Port Douglas, could only take the case to the Queensland Court of Appeal if he believed an error of law had been made.

The hearing continues today before Judge Bill Everson, who will be asked to decide whether a proposal for the development to go from 31 houses to 30 is so major that the plans will have to be resubmitted to the council.

Mr Prettejohn declined to comment on the case yesterday.

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Former Department of Premier and Cabinet chief Ken Smith not called by flood inquiry

• by: Daniel Knowles
• From: The Courier-Mail
• February 08, 2012 12:00AM

                                  

Watch

Michael Madigan reports from the Brisbane Magistrates Court at the state of the continuing flood inquiry.

couriermail.com.au


7 February 2012

NOT NEEDED: Former top public servant Ken Smith  did not attract the interest of the flood inquiry. Source: The Courier-Mail

THE man at the heart of Queensland's flood emergency was not called to give evidence at the flood inquiry, despite repeatedly offering to do whatever it needed of him.

As director-general of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Ken Smith was involved at the very highest level in handling the flooding that swamped Queensland last year.

Mr Smith was Premier Anna Bligh's right-hand man during the emergency, receiving regular updates on rainfall, dam and flood heights. But it still wasn't enough to attract the interest of the inquiry, despite offering to help.

Confusion rules at flood crisis meeting. Listen to audio

In a letter to commissioner Justice Catherine Holmes on January 29 this year, Mr Smith, now the state's agent-general in London, says he writes "to reiterate my availability to the Commission of Inquiry".

Dam chief denies any 'oh dear' moment

Barristers have continued quizzing a senior Seqwater boss who recorded the wrong Wivenhoe flood strategy during the January floods two days after it had been allegedly changed.

Speaking from London last night, Mr Smith confirmed he had not been contacted personally until the inquiry was extended following revelations made in The Courier-Mail and The Australian newspapers.

He said he could not comment on why he had not been called, but had not been contacted since he submitted his statement on February 1. The commission yesterday posted Ms Bligh's 312-page statement to the flood inquiry online, which includes emails, her diary, and even the running sheet for the live telethon organised to raise money for flood victims.

In her statement, originally dated February 5 but signed on February 6, only hours before it was due at the flood commission at 9am, Ms Bligh repeats she had no detailed involvement in the running of the dams holding back the floodwaters above Ipswich and Brisbane. "I had no involvement in the choice or timing of the dam operations strategies used in the operation of Wivenhoe Dam between January 7, 2011, and January 12, 2011," she says in the statement handed to the flood commission. "The documents that I have attached to this statement show that the choices and timing of dam operations were being taken by the operators of the dams, in consultation with Bureau of Meteorology and each of the Local Government Authorities in the catchment areas."

But on Page 342 of the 471-page statement that Mr Smith has subsequently been asked to provide since the commission was shamed into extending its inquiry, is an email from Seqwater detailing its plan to change from protecting rural roads to preserving Ipswich and Brisbane.

The email, received by Mr Smith at 11pm on January 9, was forwarded to Premier Bligh's email address the next morning at 5.44am. LNP leader Campbell Newman said yesterday there were accusations Wivenhoe Dam was mismanaged in the lead-up to the Brisbane and Ipswich floods lapping at Premier Bligh's door. Mr Newman said Ms Bligh told the media only two weeks ago that she knew nothing about the operations of the dam during the floods.
"Clearly that has now been blown out of the water," Mr Newman said yesterday. "We know now that she has been involved, in fact a year ago, in detailed discussions about the operation of the dam. "All I can say is it is a murky issue, that is this whole commission it seems, that is now lapping at the door of the Premier's office.

Adding to the confusion is the meeting notes of the State Disaster Management Committee attached to Ms Bligh's commission statement, which show Mr Newman was inside the meetings.

Ms Bligh's statement gives a blow by blow account of the floods, from concerns the devastated regional towns were being forgotten to emergency powers being used to evacuate a 60-year-old man armed with a rifle who was refusing to leave his home. Most chillingly, the John Tonge centre had the capacity to hold 50 bodies, the disaster committee was told.

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Why are we subsidising slackness at Holden?

Why are we subsidising slackness at Holden? Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog#97779#97779#97779