Author: Neville

NSW govt scuttles B-triple truck trial

AAP
December 30, 20129:53AM

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THE NSW government has scuttled reports that B-triple trucks will be trialled between Sydney and Melbourne.

“B-triples already operate on select freight routes in western NSW,” Roads and Ports Minister Duncan Gay said in a statement on Sunday.

“But we are a long way off a decision on whether B-triples will be trialled on the Hume, it certainly won’t happen in 2013.”

He also scuttled reports that B-triples could be allowed on the Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane or on suburban streets.

His statement follows a Fairfax report that a trial of the 35m-long trucks on the Hume highway could begin once a bypass at Holbrook was finished in mid-2013.

Once completed, the Hume highway would be a dual carriage way along its entire stretch between Sydney and Melbourne.

Allowing B-triples on the popular freight route would address the projected surge in freight activity, Mr Duncan said.

“Safety will be the top priority in any final decision on a trial, including the safety performance of HPVs (higher productivity vehicles) in areas such as stability, manoeuvrability and braking,” he said.

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AAP
December 30, 20129:53AM

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THE NSW government has scuttled reports that B-triple trucks will be trialled between Sydney and Melbourne.

“B-triples already operate on select freight routes in western NSW,” Roads and Ports Minister Duncan Gay said in a statement on Sunday.

“But we are a long way off a decision on whether B-triples will be trialled on the Hume, it certainly won’t happen in 2013.”

He also scuttled reports that B-triples could be allowed on the Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane or on suburban streets.

His statement follows a Fairfax report that a trial of the 35m-long trucks on the Hume highway could begin once a bypass at Holbrook was finished in mid-2013.

Once completed, the Hume highway would be a dual carriage way along its entire stretch between Sydney and Melbourne.

Allowing B-triples on the popular freight route would address the projected surge in freight activity, Mr Duncan said.

“Safety will be the top priority in any final decision on a trial, including the safety performance of HPVs (higher productivity vehicles) in areas such as stability, manoeuvrability and braking,” he said.

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Priests told to report child sex abuse

Samantha Maiden
The Sunday Telegraph
December 30, 201212:00AM

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Francis Sullivan, chief of the Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council. Picture: Matthew Poon Source: The Sunday Telegraph

PRIESTS should be required by law to report cases of suspected child sex abuse – without breaking the seal of the confessional – according to the new chief of the Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council.

Francis Sullivan, a committed Catholic, also believes offering a weekly prayer for victims and a moment’s silence during mass could help the church atone for atrocities.

He has also warned he wants to be an independent voice for victims and their families, not an apologist for the church.

The Truth, Justice and Healing Council was established by the Catholic Church to co-ordinate its response to next year’s royal commission, prompting sceptics to question the new organisation.

But Mr Sullivan said he believed the church should consider backing mandatory reporting guidelines for priests when they believe a child is at risk, as teachers and nurses do.

“I think mandatory reporting will need to come on the table very seriously,” Mr Sullivan said.

“There’s no running away from the law and what the law requires. But to ultimately find reconciliation you need to do more than just abide by the law.”

However, like Catholic priest Father Frank Brennan, Mr Sullivan is concerned the debate about forcing priests to break the seal of the confessional and report priests who confess abuse may be a “furphy”.

“Individuals who are child sexual predators and paedophiles, it is my understanding that part of their psychiatric condition is that the individual doesn’t believe they have done anything wrong,” he said.

“So they are not going to front up to the confessional. This is more an issue that the government wants to know that institutions have in place watertight processes that will have the safety of children paramount.”

Fr Brennan has suggested priests may still be able to report a child is at risk if they hear it at confessional without identifying perpetrators.

Mr Sullivan also wants to focus on making amends to victims. He said: “As a church community it would be a good idea, say at the end of mass, that the community does a simple prayer and maybe a moment of silence to recognise not only what’s going on for people who have been damaged but also the fact we believe in a God of compassion and a God who heals.”

Mr Sullivan said he would not comment on criticism that Archbishop George Pell had struck the wrong note on the royal commission.

“What I will say is this: we have called the council ‘truth, justice and healing’, because truth needs to be revealed,” he said.

“First and foremost this is about putting the welfare of the victims and people who have been damaged by these atrocities as the number one priority. And I am particularly concerned that the compassionate pastoral voice of the church is heard in this debate. Not a legal voice that at times can be evasive.”

Meet the woman battling Japan’s whaling fleet in Antarctic ocean

Japanese hunters won’t kill a single whale this winter, Sea Shepherd activists vow
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Joanne Brookfield

The Observer, Saturday 29 December 2012 16.55 GMT

British Sea Shepherd volunteer Natalie Fox. Photograph: Sea Shepherd

One of Natalie Fox’s most cherished memories is of kayaking just off the coast of America accompanied by inquisitive blue whales. They came to “hang out with us for two hours”, said Fox, a 30-year-old environmental activist, originally from Cornwall. “The more time you spend with them in the ocean, the more you realise how special they are.”

Now Fox, a co-founder of the campaigning group Women for Whales, is to be a key player in the Sea Shepherd conservation society’s Operation Zero Tolerance. In its biggest venture to date, the society will soon be sending four ships to take on the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean with the aim of preventing the death of even a single whale.

Almost three months ago, Fox, a surfing and yoga instructor, was summoned to Hobart, Australia. She was responding to an email that read: “There’s a spot for you, but you’ve got to come, now! To Australia. Right away. And you’re undercover, so you can’t tell anyone.”

Fox is aware that the operation will be a challenging one, especially since she is prone to seasickness. The icy conditions of the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary – ideal for minke and fin whales but inhospitable for humans – will be a test, although the chance to see icebergs at close quarters, she said, will be priceless. However, she will be spending most of her time cooking, in the galley of the Sam Simon, Sea Shepherd’s newest vessel.

She is putting potential confrontations out of her mind. “I can’t think about it until I’m in the moment or it’s happening at that time, and hope that whatever happens, it’s all good,” she said.

The secrecy surrounding her “call-up” was necessary, as Sea Shepherd was in the process of acquiring the Sam Simon, which Fox has been living on in port with the other 23 crew members. The 56-metre ship began life as the Seifu Maru, an ocean research vessel used by the Japanese whaling fleet. Sea Shepherd said Japanese government officials failed to realise who was buying it.

The controls on the bridge are all labelled in Japanese and the former name remains on the side in raised metal outline. But there is also a brightly painted new nameplate: Sam Simon.

Sam Simon, the man – one of the creators of the TV cartoon series The Simpsons and also an animal activist, privately funding a shelter in his home town of Malibu – donated the money that enabled Sea Shepherd to buy this fourth vessel, which will join the Steve Irwin, the Bob Barker and the Brigitte Bardot in the Antarctic campaign.

Simon had been planning to join Operation Zero Tolerance but a cancer diagnosis ruled that out. However, 120 crew members from more than 20 countries, most of them volunteers, will join Sea Shepherd’s founder, Paul Watson, in his latest bid to halt the whaling.

In an attempted counter-attack, the Japanese whalers – in the shape of the Institute of Cetacean Research and the Kyodo Senpaku company – have taken legal action. A court order issued by the ninth circuit court of appeals in the US on 17 December enjoined Sea Shepherd, Watson and anyone “acting in concert with them” from physically attacking the Japanese vessels or coming “any closer than 500 yards”.

Gavin Carter, the whalers’ Washington-based PR representative, says the order is to “ensure safety at sea”.

Watson does not see it that way. “They are saying they are trying to protect their people from us. We’ve never injured any of them. They destroyed a $1.5m boat and almost killed six of our people,” he said, speaking via Skype from the Steve Irwin at an undisclosed location. “[Yet] they didn’t have to answer for it, they didn’t have to pay compensation for it, they destroyed it and got away with it.”

Both sides blamed each other for the collison that sank the Ady Gil in 2010 but an investigation by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority was inconclusive and unable to apportion blame.

“We haven’t hurt anybody,” continued Watson, “and yet they have this injunction against us, so I think any reasonable person would look at this and say: ‘Whoa, this isn’t fair.’ ”

Watson says they are going to “use some imagination” in deciding how to respond to the order. They have time, as the Japanese fleet’s departure has been delayed.

“As with all maritime operations, there are many operational factors that can affect the departure date,” says Carter of the recent refit of the fleet’s factory ship, the Nisshin Maru. It will not arrive in the Southern Ocean until mid to late January, halfway through the usual whaling season.

Watson is claiming that as a victory. “They’re certainly not going to get half their quota, even if we weren’t here, and we intend to make sure they don’t get the other half,” he says.

That sounds good to Fox. She is aware there will be challenges to be faced but said: “I’m just really, really happy to have the opportunity to be here and, literally, be doing something to save whales.”

What is the fiscal cliff?

Updated Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:52pm AEDT

Photo: Red light: Barack Obama needs to broker a deal by the end of the year to stop the fiscal cliff kicking in. (AFP: Jewel Samad)

Related Story: Obama calls leaders for last-ditch budget talks

Related Story: US fiscal cliff, debt ceiling loom large

Map: United States
With the deadline to solve the latest potential economic crisis in the US rapidly approaching, you have probably heard of the fiscal cliff – but what is it?

Here are some answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the fiscal cliff.

What is the fiscal cliff?

The term fiscal cliff refers to a combination of dramatic spending cuts and tax increases mandated to come into effect in January.

To avoid the cliff, US president Barack Obama has to strike an agreement with Republicans who control the US House of Representatives by the end of the year.

But why?

The Budget Control Act of 2011 codified in law a grudging political compromise forcing the government to slash spending by $US1.2 trillion over 10 years from January 1.

Next year’s cuts, called sequestration, would be about $US109 billion.

Also on that date, a package of tax reductions and an extension of unemployment benefits will expire, meaning taxes will rise significantly for most Americans.

Why will this happen?

How the crisis could unfold (dates in US time)

December 30House of Representatives will reconvene in an urgent session to try and reach an agreement and stave off the crisis.

January 1Expiration of low rates for individual ordinary income taxes and investment income taxes (includes capital gains and dividends). The low rates were enacted under former Republican president George W Bush on a “temporary” basis, and extended in 2010 during Obama’s first term as president.
Expiration of Obama’s payroll tax cuts of 2011 and 2012.
Return of caps on personal exemptions and itemised deductions for upper-income taxpayers, which were ended by Bush.
New taxes take effect under Obama’s healthcare overhaul including 0.9 percentage point increase in wage income tax and 3.8 per cent Medicare tax on investment for high income earners and investors.
Estate tax on assets left to heirs will rise to 55 per cent after the first $US1 million (which is exempt from tax). Current level is 35 per cent after $US5 million.

January 2Spending cuts of $US1.2 trillion over 10 years would begin. Known as “sequestration,” these were put in place in 2011 after a congressional “super committee” failed to devise a fiscal plan.

January 3Congress scheduled to convene.

FebruaryWhite House releases annual proposed budget.
Treasury exhausts so-called extraordinary measures to postpone the arrival of the US debt ceiling. Without action to raise it, the United States faces possible credit rating downgrade again

MarchFunding of federal government could expire if no resolution is reached.

Democrats and Republicans have long been deadlocked over whether to address a $US1 trillion-plus annual budget gap with higher taxes or lower spending.

The Budget Control Act was a poison-pill deal designed to force them to find a less austere compromise, but political wrangling and dysfunction meant no deal was done, and the deadline is now looming.

What happens if it is not avoided?

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the higher taxes and lowered spending could slice the $US1.1 trillion deficit racked up in the 2012 fiscal year by almost $US500 billion next year.

While this would vastly improve the government’s financial picture, the CBO estimates the shock treatment would send the country back to recession and push the unemployment rate to 9.1 per cent.

Deep cuts would come to both domestic programs and defence spending.

Government suppliers and contractors would lose business, and temporary furloughs could be in store for tens of thousands of federal employees.

Taxes and automatic pay check deductions would increase for most Americans – reducing the cash they have for spending – and taxes on capital gains and dividends would rise, hitting investors.

What is the debt ceiling?

The US government will hit its statutory $US16.39 trillion debt limit on Monday, according to treasury secretary Timothy Geithner.

The limit is set by Congress and if it is not raised, the US will not be able to borrow any more money and would, in theory, be forced to slash spending to make ends meet.

Possible, but desperate, remedies would include halting pay to the military, retirement health benefits, social security and failing to pay government debts.

Will the US default on its debt?

Not immediately.

The treasury has various extraordinary measures in its armoury, including halting the issuance of securities to state and local governments, which could buy about two months of leeway.

What would a default mean?

No-one is sure: the dollar and US treasury bonds are the primary currency of global finance, and holders do not really have any alternatives.

Most believe that eventually the US government would make good on its debts.

However, the country’s credit rating could be further downgraded, likely pushing up its borrowing costs over the medium-term and possibly diminishing the dollar’s cachet in world finance.

What will Congress do?

Eventually, Congress is likely to raise the debt ceiling, but Republicans who run the House of Representatives will use the showdown as leverage to demand spending cuts from the president in return.

It is uncertain how high the raised borrowing limit will be, and in any case, any resolution will likely trigger a new confrontation between Mr Obama and Republicans the next time around.

AFP/Reuters

Topics:world-politics, business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, united-states

First posted Fri Dec 28, 2012 11:21am AEDT

O’Farrell makes way for B-triples to hit the Hume

Date December 30, 2012 128 reading now
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Jacob Saulwick

Transport Reporter

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Keep on truckin’ … B-triple trucks like this one will be getting a trial run on the Hume Highway under the NSW government’s plan.

Families driving the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne will start to share the road with B-triple trucks – the O’Farrell government is preparing for a trial of the 35-metre road giants.

As well, amid a raft of proposals to make it easier to move freight across NSW, the trucking industry is pushing to allow B-triples on the Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane, but at this stage the government is resisting.

But the government is considering clearing some major Sydney streets of parking to make it easier for trucks. These include King Georges Road in the city’s south-west and Botany Road in the inner south.

Stripping Botany Road of parking would be fiercely resisted because it has a large residential population.

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”I hope that isn’t going to happen,” said businesswoman Frederic Caillon, who owns Croquembouche Patisserie on Botany Road with her husband. ”That would be dreadful, that would be really bad.”

The trial of B-triples on the Hume Highway is set to start once a bypass at Holbrook, about halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, is finished in the middle of next year and other works, such as larger truck stops, are built.

According to the trucking industry and the government, the advantage of B-triple trucks, which comprise three semi-trailers behind the truck’s prime mover or cab, is they carry more goods than standard semi-trailers or B-doubles.

This means potentially fewer trucks on the road with B-triples, which are more than seven times the length of a Holden Commodore.

”There are enormous advantages for allowing these vehicles on the Hume once the Holbrook bypass is complete,” the communications manager of the Australian Trucking Association, Bill McKinley, said.

B-triples tended to be newer than smaller vehicles, and were fitted with safety features such as a blind spot radar. ”We have an excellent understanding of how they handle,” Mr McKinley said. ”The safety and productivity case for bringing them in is compelling.”

The NSW manager at the Australian Trucking Association, Jodie Broadbent, said the industry had started discussions with Roads and Maritime Services about a trial of B-triples on the Pacific Highway.

They were ”still very early stages, it could be two or three years before we get anywhere near to doing anything like that”.

A spokeswoman for the Roads Minister, Duncan Gay, said the government was looking at a trial only on the Hume Highway, not on city streets or on the Pacific Highway.

She said it was unlikely a trial could begin next year.

”Allowing [high-productivity vehicles] on the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne could cut the number of freight trucks needed to service the growing road freight task,” she said.

”On initial estimates, this could result in almost a million fewer B-double-equivalent trips over a 30-year period.”

The government’s draft freight strategy also revealed it was considering reviewing parking in major roads used by a lot of trucks.

”For example, arterial roads, including sections of King Georges Road and Botany Road, often allow parking,” the strategy said. ”This not only eliminates the use of the kerbside lane, but also slows traffic in the adjacent lane.”

Mr Gay’s spokeswoman would not say if other roads were also open for review, with a final strategy to be released next year.

Labor’s roads spokesman, Ryan Park, said he was not concerned about a B-triple trial on the Hume Highway, but would be worried about where they were allowed to go in Sydney. ”They’re obviously not suitable for suburban roads.”

The Greens transport spokeswoman, Cate Faehrmann, said the trial would lead to bigger crashes.

Poll: Should B-triple trucks be permitted on the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne?

Poll form Yes, it makes good economic sense.
No, it poses too great a risk to other road users.
View results

Poll closes in 3 days.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/ofarrell-makes-way-for-btriples-to-hit-the-hume-20121229-2c0b5.html#ixzz2GTrf7fZB

Antarctic lake research abandoned

British scientists halt project to take samples from lake entombed under nearly two miles of ice after drilling fails to go according to plan
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Alok Jha, science correspondent

The Guardian, Thursday 27 December 2012 14.55 GMT

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The British Antarctic Survey team had to abandon the search for life in Lake Ellsworth after almost a month of drilling through the ice. Photograph: British Antarctic Survey

An ambitious plan by a team of British scientists at the Antarctic to look for life in a lake buried under almost two miles of ice was abandoned this week, after a decade of preparation and almost a month of drilling.

Speaking to the Guardian from Antarctica, Prof Martin Siegert of the University of Edinburgh said he made the “sad decision” to halt the project in the early hours of Christmas Day, after the drilling did not go according to plan. He said the scientists remained committed to the project, however, and would return to complete the job, though that might take at least four or five years. “You don’t do this kind of research without thinking about the risks involved,” he said. “It is the cutting edge of science.”

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey flew to the site above Lake Ellsworth on the West Antarctic ice sheet in early December, joining a team of engineers who had already set up camp with the drilling equipment. They planned to use a hot-water “drill” to cut through the ice cap and sample the contents of the lake, which is liquid because of the extreme pressure of the ice on top of it. By looking for any forms of life in the water, which has been cut off from the rest of the world for anything up to a million years, they hoped to find clues about the evolution of life on Earth and, perhaps, the possibility of life on other planets.

Search for microbial life in a subglacial lake Link to this video
“We need an awful lot of water to melt down 3km,” said Siegert. “The technique we use to establish a reservoir is to create a cavity, with another borehole, 300 metres beneath the ice surface. That was done very successfully.

“What we then have to do is, with the main borehole, drill very close to the first one and make sure that it goes directly into the cavity and once we’ve achieved that hydrological link, we can then continue to go further, using the water in the main reservoir. If we didn’t make the cavity, we cannot go on with the experiment.”

Though the team were able to create the initial cavity and keep it open for 40 hours, they were unable to locate it to make the link with the main borehole, which was drilled only 2 metres away from the first. “In hot water drilling, it’s often the way that you don’t hit [the cavity] first time and you have to go back up. It might well have been that the cavity was a different shape than we expected. It might be that, simply, we were unlucky this time.”

Siegert said he was disappointed, given the decade of preparation and testing, but that the team was resolved to try again. “The science aims haven’t changed and we want to explore the glacial Lake Ellsworth, see if there’s life in that extreme environment. The scientific drivers of this work remain unchanged; we are as committed to wanting to understand the research at Lake Ellsworth as ever we were.”