Andrews flounders on IR
Kevin Andrews betrays the government’s fear of Common Law actions bringing WorkChoices unstuck in his attack on Beazley . We outlined the danger back in March .
Category: Archive
Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
Qld Democrat Senator pulls the plug on new dams
Queensland Democrat Senator, Andrew Bartlett, has launched a petition for the people of South East Queensland to show the State Government they want water recycling rather than dams. What if it was your valley? "The people of Brisbane and surrounding areas need to show their support for those communities in the Mary Valley that face Continue Reading →
Turnbull backs Toowoomba’s recycling solution
Federal Parliamentary Secretary for water Malcolm Turnbull has criticised the Beattie government’s plan for a $7.5 billion water pipeline from north Queensland, saying it made more sense to pump water from northern NSW to Brisbane, reported The Australian Financial Review (26 July 2006 p14).
Dams under fire: Mr Turnbull, who has been an advocate of desalination and recycled water, also questioned the cost and efficiency of two new dams for south-cast Queensland.
Hints at water solutions being larger than state juridiction? “The solutions to south-cast Queensland’s water crisis should not stop at the state border,” Mr Turnbull told the Brisbane Institute on 25 July night.
Pipe dream: Earlier this week, Mr Beattie commissioned a feasibility study into piping water from the Burdekin region, south of Townsville, to Brisbane to help ease the water crisis. The Queensland Premier admitted the project might not be feasible for another 50 to 100 years.
Problem is now, not in the future: South-cast Queensland is in its worst drought in 100 years, with Brisbane’s dam levels at 28.6 per cent. Drinking water is due to run out by mid-2008 unless there is significant rainfall.
Turnbull staying clear of Toowoomba vote … A spokeswoman for Mr Turnbull said he had no plans to visit Toowoomba this week ahead of Saturday’s referendum on recycled effluent being used as drinking water.
… but will turn on money tap if residents approve recycling: The federal government will allocate $23 million towards the $68 million Toowoomba water recycling scheme if residents support the project.
The Australian Financial Review, 26/7/2006, p. 14
Source: Erisk Net
Aussie links to US criticised as `subservient’
In recent times, the Howard-Bush relationship seems unofficially to have given ANZUS a much broader scope, reflects an article in The Age (26 July 2006 p19). Australia today acts as though it is unquestioningly and irrevocably tied to support of American policy worldwide.
"Blind" follower? This is unwise of Australia. The war in Iraq is probably the United States’ greatest foreign policy blunder since the Second World War. Australia has supported Bush right down the line.
Canada, UK maintain some distance: In contrast, the Canadian Government has preserved a healthy independence over many issues, including Iraq. The British Government has criticised Guantanamo and the military tribunals that Australia has resolutely supported, and which it is clear would not provide a fair trial for David Hicks, an Australian citizen. Has the United States come to regard us as their territory, to do their bidding, at their wish?
Hope for changed status in future: ANZUS is worth maintaining and it is to be hoped that the next American administration with the next Australian administration might well re-establish an appropriate relationship. However, if the subservient relationship now existing is the only one that we can have with the United States, perhaps it would be preferable to forgo the alleged benefits of ANZUS.
The Age, 26/7/2006, p. 19
Source: Erisk Net
A Time to Break Silence by Rev. Martin Luther King
By 1967, King had become a prominent opponent of the Vietnam War and a critic of overall U.S. foreign policy, which he deemed militaristic. King called the US "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." Read King’s speech
A Time to Break Silence by Rev. Martin Luther King
By 1967, King had become the country’s most prominent opponent of the Vietnam War, and a staunch critic of overall U.S. foreign policy, which he deemed militaristic. In his "Beyond Vietnam" speech delivered at New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, King called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world Continue Reading →