Category: News

Sunnybank was the site of Brisbane’s Moon Festival last weekend, with stunning lantern displays, traditional dancing and music. (more…)

Kevin Andrews has been named Minister for Social Services, under Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott’s cabinet – placing most of the control of the Not for Profit sector under one portfolio.

The social services portfolio, described by Abbott as “the largest area of expenditure and payments in the Budget”, will be responsible for settlement services, multicultural affairs and aged care.

Labor Government portfolios including Housing and Homelessness, Community Services, Disability Reform, Mental Health and Ageing, and Climate Change have all gone.

“The Hon Kevin Andrews MP will be Minister for Social Services and be responsible for the largest area of expenditure and payments in the Budget,” Abbott said.

Senator Mitch Fifield will be Assistant Minister for Social Services responsible for the development of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and aged care.

Former Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin says she’s disappointed that the Minister in charge of delivering DisabilityCare (NDIS) which she describes as the single biggest social reform in since Medicare – “has been quietly demoted and will not sit in the new Cabinet”.

“It is deeply worrying that the biggest social reform in a generation is not a high enough priority for the new Government to warrant the attention of a Cabinet Minister.

“We need someone inside the Cabinet room to fight for people with disability when the tough decisions are being made – not waiting outside.”

Also in the Abbott line-up, Senator Marise Payne will be Minister for Human Services. Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services with special responsibility for multicultural affairs and settlement services.

Andrews had reiterated at the Not for Profit pre-election forum at the National Press Club in Canberra last month that the Coalition would abolish the charity regulator, the ACNC, if elected into office and replace it with a Centre for Excellence.

Community Council for Australia CEO David Crosbie reserved judgement on the Coalition Cabinet.

“We need to look beyond the headline titles and see the Administrative Orders which explain in more detail exactly which Ministers and Assistant Ministers are accepting responsibility of each area of administration,” he said.

“There may well be a range of changes in the structure and operation of programs and services outlined in these Administrative Orders.  These are due to be released on Wednesday.”

Crosbie said the CCA had always welcomed the Coalition commitment to reducing red tape and compliance costs, to establishing a new Business Community partnership and a Centre of Excellence for the sector.

“We look forward to working with Minister Andrews, Senator Sinodinus and others to implement these policies,” he said.

Other appointments include Scott Morrison as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and Senator Michaelia Cash as Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection which will also include Customs.

“As promised, the administration of Indigenous Affairs will move into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet,” Abbott said.

“Senator the Hon Nigel Scullion will be Minister for Indigenous Affairs.”

George Brandis has been named Attorney-General and Minister for the Arts, and Greg Hunt Minister for Environment.

Julie Bishop, the only female in the Cabinet, was named Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Re-published from http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2013/09/coalition-gives-andrews-control-not-profit-sector

To Divest or Not to Divest? What can fossil fuel divestment offer our climate, communities and economy?

Everyone’s talking about it. From Obama and Desmond Tutu to the IEA and Lord Stern. (more…)

West End businesses have significant levels of support when it comes to interfacing with government.

The West End Traders Association is a group of local businesses, mostly retailers in the strip shopping centres of 4101, banding together to support, organise and benefit from local activities. They meet at the Croquet Club in Musgrave Park on the 1st Thursday of the month. Westender is a long term member of the association. Founding editor, Kerrod Trott is a past president of the association,

Business South Bank has the tag line, well connected and lives up to its name, catering for the engineering firms, big hotels and glamourous businesses of South Bank. It provides a range of opportunities to network, lobby and promote the precinct between the river and the rail line to the rest of Brisbane.

There are three classes of membership starting with Bronze membership for businesses who rent their premises and have less than ten employees. Fees are available on application.

South West Chamber of Commerce services businesses between the River and the SE Motorway as far south as Acacia Ridge. Focused on small to medium enterprise (SME) it has sister relationships with international chambers such as the Philipine Australia Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Australia Business Associations; as well as local groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland and West End Traders Association.

Annual fees start at $165 per annum for a business membership. Westender is a season sponsor of the Chamber and regularly covers the Chamber’s business breakfasts.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland offers considerable depth of resources including advice on Industrial Relations, Occupational Health and Safety and other regulatory and compliance issues. Their motto is powering business potential and they hold regular city-based training and seminars.

Entry fees depend on the number of employees and start at $360 a year for companies with less than four employees.

The Brisbane City Council offers a range of services to small business, including the Lord Mayor’s Business Forums and the Digital Brisbane hub to help business in Brisbane take advantage of online services. Lord Mayor Quirk has outlined a range of services provided by the Council for business, but there is not a single point of entry into council for business services. The various Chambers of Commerce offer a valuable service in providing this interface.

The Queensland Government operates a portal business.qld.gov.au which provides a neat interface to its range of services for business. One of the services available here is an Australian Business Account which provides a one stop local, state and federal government advisory service for business. This is a real boon for business and well worth the rather small amount of effort required to get on board.

Clive Palmer ran his election campaign on a Mister Nice Guy platform that failed to mention one of the biggest environmental battles of our time, the coal miners versus the farmers and environmentalists in the Galilee Basin.

Palmer’s vast China First coalmine was given clearance to go ahead by the Newman government during the election campaign. Now the federal environment minister has the right to sign off on the project.

It is only one of a number of coal mines in the Galilee Basin, however.

Gina Rinehart’s Alpha Coal is in court this week to argue against Coast and Country Association of Queensland’s objections that the impact on water has not been properly assessed.

Local farmers and community group Coast and Country Association of Queensland claim that the evidence for impact on water has been swept under the carpet and only  the “best case scenarios” presented as likely outcomes of the mine impact. The objections will be presented to the court by a Melbourne-based QC, who has given his time for free (no Queensland barrister was prepared to put their neck on the line opposing coal mining companies).

You have the chance to get involved in this court action along with hundreds of other opponents of the expansion of coal mines at the expense of farm land and water this Wednesday,

When: Meet 9AM sharp, Wednesday the 18th September. Stay longer to hear landholders giving evidence in the court room from 10AM.
Where:  Meet Outside the Land Court of Queensland, 363 George St, Brisbane CBD
What: A respectful but playful act of solidarity with the landholders and other objectors to the Alpha mine to help attract media attention and show landholders our support.
Dress smart. Whether you’ll be attending the court hearing afterwards or not.

Who: Lock the Gate Alliance is coordinating the event with support from a number of groups. Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/235457349938248/

You can hear local environmentalist, Jo Bragg on the ABC Radio discussing the challenge at http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2013/09/cost-of-appealing-planning-decisions.html

Many Westenders are actively involved in the case, or in groups that have been mounting long term opposition to the ripping up of the Bimblebox Nature Reserve to build the world’s biggest coal mine, but the action comes right to the middle of Boundary St this Sunday with a fundraiser at Lock ‘n Load.

When: 4.30pm, Sunday 22 September 2013
Where: Upstairs at Lock n Load, 142 Boundary St, West End
Cost: $10, including a free drink
RSVP: via the facebook event here:https://www.facebook.com/events/163939023803661/?fref=ts or email bimbleboxactionbrisbane@gmail.com