EcoRadio

Author: admin

  • GILLARD POISED TO DEFEAT RUDD

     

    Party sources tell the ABC that Ms Gillard agreed that the party faced electoral annihilation with Mr Rudd at the helm.

    As a series of secretive meetings were held around Parliament House the ABC became aware of the moves against the Prime Minister and broke the story on air and online at 7:00pm AEST.

    That accelerated events as the conspirators were hoping to finalise their plans without the media catching on. As it played out it became clear that even senior ministers were unaware of the power play.

    One Cabinet minister told the ABC: “I am sitting in my office watching all this unfold on TV. I have no part in this and no idea what’s going on. This is madness.”

     

    Rudd’s pitch

     

    Announcing the party room spill, Mr Rudd listed his achievements and unfinished plans.

    “I was elected by the people of Australia as Prime Minister of Australia. I was elected to do a job,” he said.

    “I intend to continue doing that job. I intend to continue doing it to the absolute best of my ability. Part of that job has been to steer this country through the worst economic crisis the world has ever seen in 75 years. I believe the Government has acquitted itself well to that task.

    “Part of the reason the Government was elected was to deliver fundamental reforms in the health and hospital system. I believe the Government has acquitted itself well to that task as well.

    “Part of what the Government was elected to do was also to deliver fair outcomes for pensioners in Australia, and I believe we’ve done that well by increasing the pension to the extent that we have.

    “These are important reforms; infrastructure, education, health, hospitals, closing the gap with Indigenous Australians, also the apology to the first Australians. As Prime Minister of the country I’m proud of each and every one of these achievements. There is much more to be done and we intend to get on with the job of doing it.”

    And after weeks of denying the internal disquiet at his leadership style he admitted that he knew some in his ranks were out to get him.

    “It’s become apparent to me in the course of the last period of time, the last several weeks, that a number of factional leaders within the Labor Party no longer support my leadership,” he said.

    “That is why it is imperative that this matter be resolved”.

    “I was elected by the people of Australia to do a job. I was not elected by the factional leaders of the Australian Labor Party to do a job, though they may be seeking to do a job on me, that’s a separate matter.”

     

    Never popular

     

    Mr Rudd never enjoyed the popular support of his party and his autocratic style has further soured the relationship. His centralisation of decisions and the narrowness of the group of ministers he consulted is being blamed for many of the party’s woes.

    The feeling against him is visceral.

    One powerbroker said: “This crypto-fascist made no effort to build a base in the party. Now that his only faction, Newspoll, has deserted him he is gone.”

    The collapse in the polls followed hard on the heels of the decision to suspend the Government’s push to set up an emissions trading system.

    Having declared climate change the greatest moral and ethical challenge of our time, the electorate reacted viciously and polling on both sides showed many voters lost faith in the Prime Minister.

    Others in the party say it is the steady flow of asylum seekers that is killing the Government in marginal seats.

    Last night Mr Rudd suggested he was not behind those decisions and suggested that, if he was removed, the party would lurch to the right chasing votes.

    “I believe it is absolutely wrong for this country and absolutely wrong in terms of the values which we hold dear, to get engaged in some sort of race to the right in this country on the question of asylum seekers, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,” he said.

    “That’s the direction the Liberal Party would like to take us, under my leadership we will not be going in that direction.

    “Furthermore, can I say this, on the question of emissions trading which you have raised and obviously is a matter of great controversy in the community.

    “Let me be very clear. Action on climate change cannot be achieved in the absence of an emissions trading scheme. We need a price on carbon. And that price on carbon needs to be put on it within a reasonable timeframe. That would be the decision of the government, assuming I am re-elected as Prime Minister.”

    This Prime Minister usually doesn’t sleep much. He won’t sleep at all tonight.

    This is unprecedented. These are historic times. And should he fall today, history will not be kind to Mr Rudd.

    Tags: government-and-politics, federal-government, political-parties, labor-party, person, rudd-kevin, gillard-julia, australia

  • Insulation industry worried by ‘sloppy inspections’

     

    National Electrical Contractors Association CEO James Tinslay says tight restrictions are now in place to make sure there is not a repeat of the workplace deaths that happened under the original free program.

    “NECA has been working closely with the department to develop safe work procedures to ensure the safety of both workers and the householders,” he said.

    “It could be that there might be a couple of months added to that. NECA wouldn’t see that as a major issue because we know the program will be carried out correctly and we’re very happy with the procedures that have been put in place.”

    But he is not quite as confident about the inspections for bulk insulation. Mr Tinslay says his organisation has reported a number of inspectors for what appeared to be sloppy work.

    “I have heard of a couple of instances where the people who were inspecting the bulk insulation didn’t meet the expectations that we would have of somebody competent to undertake the inspection,” he said.

    “That is a worry; it was a few months ago and these have been passed on to the department.”

    Cellulose insulation businesses in particular have concerns about the quality of the inspections.

    The Australian Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association says many inspectors have little experience with their product and often report problems when there are none.

    Queensland installer Geoff Hourigan says he is concerned that there is a conflict of interest because the Government has appointed CSR-Bradford for a large part of the inspection program.

    “The inspection work that we tried to get, now they’ve given it to CSR and UGL, who have no industry experience whatsoever in the cellulose industry to inspect our work,” he said.

    “These people, CSR in particular are in direct competition with us for the last 15 years and these guys are going to inspect our jobs?”

     

    Combet optimistic

     

    The Assisting Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet, says CSR is not the only company involved in the inspections.

    “CSR Bradford is obviously a large player in the industry but we also have now entered into a heads of agreement with a company called United Group Services, which will have the responsibility of engaging small and medium-sized insulation firms in the inspection program as well,” he said.

    And he says it will be difficult for anyone to rig an inspection, because inspectors are only be given an address and will not be told who installed the product.

    Overall he is optimistic the inspections will but carried out professionally.

    “We’ve done, to the best of our capacity, the work to consult with the industry using an expert advisory panel to devise the training program for inspectors to carry out the inspection work that’s been going on for some period of time now,” he said.

    “I haven’t seen a shred of evidence to suggest that inappropriate results are being recorded.”

    The Federal Opposition has concerns about the inspections because the Government is refusing to release the program’s results.

    Environment spokesman Greg Hunt says the figures for defects and dangerous roofs have been withheld from the Australian public.

    “That is rightly something to which they should have access,” he said.

    “The program on its current rate would take seven years to inspect every home done in seven months under the home insulation program.”

    That is 1.2 million roofs. At present, the Government has only committed to inspecting 50,000 homes with thermal insulation and 150,000 with foil insulation.

    But Mr Combet expects that number to rise.

    Tags: government-and-politics, federal-government, occupational-health-and-safety, australia

    First posted 1 hour 31 minutes ago

  • Governments refuse to act to save builders as ‘junk’ insurance schemes collapse

    Governments refuse to act to save builders as ‘junk’ insurance schemes
    collapse

    Canberra, Wednesday 23 June 2010

    Many builders across Australia will be forced to operate illegally or
    close their doors after June 30 if governments fail to remove the
    mandatory requirement for Last Resort Home Builders’ Warranty Insurance.

    Today in the Senate, the Rudd government refused to even acknowledge the
    problem.

    Most state governments still require builders to have the insurance in
    order to operate, even though it has been described as ‘junk’ insurance
    and has been the subject of numerous inquiries, including a Senate
    Inquiry established by Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator
    Christine Milne, last year.

    “With one of the last remaining companies offering this ‘junk’ insurance
    withdrawing on June 30, many builders will be unable to get cover and
    others will likely be subject to price gouging from the virtual monopoly
    that will be left,” said Senator Milne.

    “It’s not good enough for the government to say this is a State issue
    while hundreds of jobs are on the line. The Commonwealth can and must
    step in to save jobs and small businesses.

    “These people are the backbone of the Rudd government’s economic
    stimulus, but they won’t lift a finger to make the changes builders need
    to keep operating legally.”

    The government and opposition voted against a motion from Senator Milne
    noting the problem and calling on the government to step in.

    “It’s well past time the Rudd government took some responsibility and
    worked with the states to ensure they implement reasonable and effective
    home builders warranty schemes, along the lines of the Queensland model.

    “In the meantime, the Rudd government must urgently work with state
    governments to remove the mandatory requirement for this ‘junk’
    insurance before builders are forced to close their doors or operate
    illegally as soon as next week.”

    The Senate notes that:
    1. A crisis is looming in the building industry with Vero exiting
    the Last Resort Builders Home Warranty Insurance market in NSW by
    September 30th and in all other states by June 30th leaving only two
    providers in the market, QBE insurance and Calliden;
    2. This insurance product is mandatory by law in all states except
    Tasmania and Queensland;
    3. Thousands of Australian builders will be left without this
    insurance product on June 30th requiring them to build illegally or to
    stop building immediately unless QBE provides insurance or there is
    government intervention within the next eight days;
    4. Small building firms will be disproportionately affected as they
    will not be as attractive to a virtual monopoly provider as large
    building firms; and

    Calls on the Federal government to act immediately with their state
    government counterparts to remove the mandatory requirement for this
    product before this impending crisis in the building industry occurs.

    Tim Hollo
    Media Adviser
    Senator Christine Milne | Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Climate
    Change Spokesperson
    Suite SG-112 Parliament House, Canberra ACT | P: 02 6277 3588 | M: 0437
    587 562
    http://www.christinemilne.org.au/| www.GreensMPs.org.au
    <http://www.greensmps.org.au/>

  • Greens call for immediate increase to aged care funding

    Greens call for immediate increase to aged care funding

    Wednesday 23 June, 2010

    The Federal Government has again demonstrated its lack of understanding
    of Australia’s aged care needs, failing to commit to the immediate
    funding increase called for by the aged care sector and supported by the
    Australian Greens.

    Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson for Health and Ageing used
    today’s Question Time to ask the Government if they planned to restore
    the Conditional Adjustment Payment supplement of 1.75% from July 1 in
    order to correct the nation’s alarming aged care funding shortfall.

    “Yet again, Government has failed to provide leadership on the issue of
    aged care,” Senator Siewert said today.

    “Over the last decade, successive Federal Governments have presided over
    a widening gap between the costs of providing care to Australia’s ageing
    population and the level of funding being invested in the sector,”
    Senator Siewert said.

    A Government letter, responding to concerns raised today by the Aged
    Care Industry Council claims a significant increase in spending on aged
    care over it’s term in office.

    “This increase does not represent a real increase in the level of
    subsidy being provided across-the-board to meet recent significant rises
    in the cost of providing care,” Senator Siewert said.

     “What is needed is the immediate restoration of the 1.75% Conditional
    Adjustment Payment supplement for residential care, and for it to be
    extended it to community care from July.

    “The Greens understand that aged care providers are not at all happy
    with today’s response from the Government and we will continue to
    support the campaign for sustainable aged care funding,” Senator Siewert
    concluded.

    _______________________________________________
    GreensMPs Media mailing list
    Media@greensmps.org.au
    To unsubscribe, change your details or change delivery options for this email, visit: http://lists.greensmps.org.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/media

  • Obama’s oil drilling ban overturned

     

    White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says president Barack Obama strongly believes that drilling at such depths does not make any sense and puts the safety of workers at risk.

    The court order was a big victory for offshore energy producers including BP, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell, whose operations have been hamstrung by the ban.

    The companies have been considering relocating their giant drilling rigs to other basins, like Brazil.

    The Obama administration says it will appeal against the judge’s decision, and offshore oil operators say they will wait until the outcome of that appeal before they restart drilling operations.

    The April 20 explosion of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people and has since caused the worst oil spill in US history.

    The well is majority-owned by BP.

    – ABC/AFP

    Tags: business-economics-and-finance, industry, oil-and-gas, disasters-and-accidents, accidents, maritime-accidents, world-politics, united-states

  • 100pc green energy possible by 2020: report,

     

    Currently, wind and solar power provide less than 1 per cent of Australia’s total energy needs.

    The most commonly cited obstacle to renewable energy is base load power – the need to provide electricity 24 hours a day, during the day and night when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing.

    But the Beyond Zero Emissions report insists Australia could achieve the 100 per cent renewable energy goal.

    Beyond Zero Emissions executive director Matthew Wright says the 10-year road map focuses on technologies that are already commercially available such as wind and large-scale solar thermal.

    “The inherent design of a solar thermal plant is that it stores its heat away for night time,” he said.

    “We’ve modelled that from our 12 solar regions across the country and our 23 wind sites that we get 100 per cent of our power needs, 365 days a year, 24-7.”

    The report says the goal would also depend on a $92 billion upgrade to create one national electricity grid that would link the renewable projects to the city and urban areas.

    University of Melbourne Energy Institute professor Mike Sandiford says cost should not impede the switch to renewable energy.

    “To do it in 10 years is in many ways akin to a infrastructure roll out of a wartime-like operation in many senses,” he said.

    “But the important point of the plan is that costs are not a real impediment. The total costs of our business as usual comes down to about a cup of coffee per person per day.”

    But the modelling for the report assumes that by 2020 energy use will drop by half through energy efficiency savings.

    Professor Sandiford says the plan is also based on a shift towards public transport and electric cars, which he says would offset any projected increases in electricity use.

    “In many ways the plan is looking across the total energy domain,” he said.

    Senator Troeth says it is a worthy goal to aim for 100 per cent renewable energy but remains to be convinced about the path to get there.

    “The ambitions of this report are commendable … [but] I may not agree with all of the recommendations put forward in this report,” she said.

    “It’s important that we continue to have a robust debate on the most effective and efficient ways to reduce carbon emissions.”

    Tags: environment, alternative-energy, science-and-technology, energy, solar-energy, wind-energy, geothermal-energy, australia

    First posted 1 hour 37 minutes ago