Category: News

Local advocate of ethical food, Richard Webb of Swamp Dog, is calling it a day. Webb has worked with many chefs in 4101 to heighten their awareness of the variety of local fish and the various ways to cook them. In the chef’s own words:

“In the last 3 years at Swampdog we’ve introduced thousands and thousands of people to new ( to them) fish. In some small way I’d like to think Swampdog has made a contribution to our culinary landscape. Through Betterfish we’ve also helped many chefs access a wider range of fish, with emphasis on more local fish. In my spare time I’ll continue helping chefs through Betterfish but at Swampdog it’s time to pass the baton. It’s well established now and the ball will continue to roll on. For me it’s time for other things. So that’s it folks.”

Swamp Dog will remain where it is, serving quality fish to customers in a relaxed and rustic setting on Tribune St.

This was actually suggested in a journal article two years ago. (Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy BJSM 2012 Vol 46)
While I disagree that constant sitting has the same type of detrimental health effects as smoking, more and more research indicates that sitting and inactivity contributes just as much to the public health cost as smoking – seriously!
So you sit and have breakfast (please tell me you have breakfast), you sit in the car, bus or train, you sit at work and you sit all over again at night! You can have a $1000 “ergonomic (now there’s a brilliant marketing term!) chair, fancy mouse pads, screen filters and monitor arms, but if you sit all day you decrease metabolism (get fat), lose muscle tone and compress key body areas, especially the lower back. Good research shows that even 90 minutes at the gym daily does not compensate for the effects of sitting all day at work.
The answer is really quite simple – don’t. For most workers reading this, standing at work may have a stigma attached – “oh he’s the strange guy with the bad back”. A change in many workplaces’ culture and leadership is needed to encourage daily workplace practices which have been proven to not only improve health and also productivity. Could you stand everytime you make a phone call? Could you move the printer away from your desk? Could you stand in meetings and still hold the conversation?
Ergonomics as an industry is a bit like weight loss. In theory, the answers are quite simple but we look for complex solutions, fancy gadgets and quite often shift the blame to someone or something else. Most modern workplaces do currently encourage sitting and we can make that as ‘ergonomic’ as possible, but, the evidence suggests strongly – if you sit all day, regardless of your set-up, you will suffer pain, reduce productivity and quite probably, suffer long term health concerns.

The Stafford by-election swing of over 18% against the LNP conveyed a dramatic message.

The public has had enough of the extreme decisions of the Newman government. This brings sharper focus to Campbell Newman’s “cash for legislation” deal with North Stradbroke sand miner Sibelco.

Following the deal, the Newman government spread misinformation to the media over its November 2013 amendments to North Stradbroke Island sand mining legislation.

Mainstream media did not check facts

An absence of fact checking by the media led to false reports that sand mining had already been extended to 2035. In the public interest, these require correction, which some media outlets have begun to make.

If the Newman amendments are not repealed, the financial benefit to Sibelco, the privately owned Belgian mining company, could be $1.5 Billion by its own reckoning – see Stop mining Straddie. But contrary to media reporting, an extension of mining at the Enterprise sand mine to 2035 (or 2027, as Sibelco previously sought) is not scheduled to occur until 2019. This is because relevant mining leases do not expire until 31 December, 2019.

In a revised article titled “Clive Palmer, Jeff Seeney and Campbell Newman’s Straddie donation”, published by the online newspaper Independent Australia, highly respected barrister Stephen Keim SC recently agreed that Sibelco cannot apply to extend the time frame for sand mining until 2019.

Parliament can repeal the Newman amendments at any time before 2019. That is likely to occur without a change of government, if the native title owners win their High Court action for a declaration that the Newman amendments are invalid under the Australian constitution.

The Newman government has misled the media and the public into believing that sand mining has already been extended to 2035 to quell dissent from the many who want to see the Queensland icon protected. If people think the extension has already occurred, maybe they will think it’s a waste of time talking about repealing the Newman amendments?

The reality is that even if the native title challenge to the validity of the amendments fails, if the LNP is voted out before 2019, the Newman amendments can be repealed by a future parliament. No compensation would be payable to Sibelco. Section 6 of the North Stradbroke Island Protection and Sustainability Act specifically rules out compensation.

Caveat emptor

This would not be an unjust result. Sibelco purchased the mine in 2009 knowing that a key mining lease had expired in 2007 and had not been renewed. It was also aware that under the State’s expired lease laws there were legal obstacles to renewal of expired North Stradbroke mining leases. It also knew that there was significant opposition from indigenous owners, environment groups and others.

The Fraser Island Inquiry in 1976 concluded that sand mining causes “major, permanent and irreversible environmental harm.” The Federal government accepted the findings and ended sand mining on Fraser almost immediately. The Bjelke-Petersen government’s request for a two year transition was rejected.

Stradbroke’s future clearly depends upon its natural environment being protected. It is remarkable that Campbell Newman, with a straight face, can talk about a so called ‘transition’ away from mining of 22 years when 40 years ago Joh Bjelkie Petersen would have settled for 2 years for Fraser Island!

Young Entrepreneur of the year, Leigh Storr, is pleased to be in the fastest growing sector of the fastest growing industry.

“The only constraint on our growth, right now, is a lack of investment capital,” he told Westender.

“In America investors would be throwing money at a company like BioSolar, in Australia, the financial institutions see rapid growth and call it risk.”

According to Storr, the secret to his growth is high-quality panels, components and installations and a focus on affordability. He achieves that by providing customers with a payment plan to keep up-front costs down, and rigorous attention to cashflow in his business.

“Many solar companies are selling incentives and are vulnerable to the whims of government policy. As governments slash incentives, our business has soared.”

He explains that customers have simply done the numbers on their power bill.

“If power prices continue to rise at 12.5% p.a. over the next ten years, the average Australian will spend an entire year of their work life, just paying for electricity.”

BioSolar now employs over 400 people and has invested in a workplace culture that has earned it the nickname ‘Google of the Gabba’. It has a vegan cafe, cinema and gym on premises and an independent yoga studio on-site. The company has a major operational centre in Darra and offices in NSW and Victoria.

Storr believes the current focus on propping up the fossil fuel industry will cost the Australian economy dearly as other countries shift to cheap, distributed energy and unleash innovation.

Before the end of the year, BioSolar will be selling low cost battery technology and generators that will allow homes and businesses to be independent of the grid (read about Guerrilla Disconnection below).

He points to companies like Google in the USA who are independent of the grid, precisely because they need to guarantee their electricity supply and control their electricity costs.

Consumer protection by Guerrilla Disconnection

The challenge for the electricity industry, recently exposed by Four Corners and The Monthly, is that the cost of the infrastructure for fossil fuel generated electricity is increasing as fewer customers need it. As a result the service charges on your electricity bill have increased much faster than the charges for the electricity itself. Not content with printing false statements blaming these costs on environmental regulation in large red letters on their bills, electricity companies are now lobbying governments to further penalise owners of solar panels with higher connection charges. The price paid for solar generated electricity is already a ridiculously low 4 cents per kilowatt and the amount of electricity that can be supplied to the grid has been capped by export limiters.

The best protection for consumers, according to BioSolar owner and CEO, Leigh Storr, is to disconnect from the grid altogether.

He said that consumers can achieve this, by simply notifying their provider of an imminent disconnection date, online. On that date, the consumer throws the switch on the export limiter and the utility records no further use.

“What are they going to do? Drive around and issue fines for people who have the lights on without being registered to a fossil-fuel-powered generator?”

He thinks the crunch will come in 2017 when the cost of being connected to the grid will exceed the cost becoming self-sufficient.

Given the positive comments in the media and the strength of the property market, it is incredible to believe that house sales are down by 45% in West End for the first 6 months of 2014 in comparison to the same period last year.

Using a 10 year average for this period of the year, the numbers of houses sold is usually around 25 compared to the 14 sales this year. So based on these facts, is it a problem with buyers or are sellers just holding on for longer?

As a local resident and Real Estate agent, I believe it’s a number of factors. Firstly, while interest rates remain low, consumers continue to pay down existing debt while still remaining frugal and cautious about the future (Recent research indicates the average mortgage holder is 20 payments ahead of schedule).

Secondly, unemployment remains a concern since the GFC. So while there has been a lift in confidence and retail spending, there is still a concern with the osmosis effect to unemployment – ‘what if it happens to me?’

Thirdly, the area is the cultural hub of the city with GOMA, The Cultural Centre, Southbank and The Convention Centre located here. Add to this the great schools, universities, hospitals, sports stadiums close by and great dining experiences and it’s easy to see why there is a reluctance to move to another part of Brisbane.

The continued residential unit development is also delivering some knock-on benefits to residents such as Aldi, Woolworths and a proposed second ferry terminal.

The big winners in the current market are local house sellers who have very little competition and are achieving outstanding prices from many buyers in the market that recognize the benefits that all local residents currently experience.

If you have any thoughts on this article, please email me on john.k@harcourts.com.au

The real estate sector is hitting back at the two major players in the online real estate market, realestate.com.au and domain. Competition has emerged in two separate announcements this week, from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland and the Certified Practicing Real Estate Agents. Touting REIQ.com.au and Roomeo respectively, the two organisations are clearly out to break the duopoly.

Owned by media giants News Limited and Fairfax, their aggressive pricing and deep reach into the consumer’s pocket via smartphones have taken a large slice of the margin traditionally enjoyed by your friendly, local agent.

“We know how much it costs to run these services because you can buy an ad on domain in Brisbane, or realestate.com.au for about one hundredth of the price they charge in their home cities,” one agent told Westender.

The REIQ site has a significant head start on Roomeo which is still in start up mode and not available to the public.REIQ features over 70 listings in West End alone. Roomeo probably has the marketing edge, though. It is a bit hard to imagine anyone crooning “REIQ, REIQ, where art thou, REIQ.”

<caption>Local tyro Leo Tsimpikas is top of the pops at REIQ