as posted on TheWest
3rd October 2008, 15:00 WST
It was a comment John Howard famously made a full 10 years before he became prime minister but it’s one that could well be echoing in the offices he vacated for his successor Kevin Rudd.
“The times will suit me,” Mr Howard told an Australian journalist over dinner in a posh restaurant in Washington DC in July 1986.
Back home, then treasurer Paul Keating had told Australians their country was on track to becoming a “banana republic”. The economy was going down the lavatory; the Aussie dollar had been devalued horribly; Australia had lost its AAA rating and the current account deficit was getting uncomfortably large.
Mr Howard’s comment proved untimely hubris, given that he was dumped as Liberal leader three years later. However, eventually the times did suit him and we rewarded his perseverance with 11½ years in the Lodge.
Mr Rudd hasn’t had to wait long at all for the times to suit him.
Under George Bush, a President who will not be remembered by history fondly, the US’s authority on world security, the economy and the environment is at its lowest ebb. Under this President, the US has given the world two unwinnable wars — Iraq and terror — made diplomatic unilateralism a laughing stock, set back action on climate change years and, to top it off, overseen the biggest collapse of the financial markets since the Great Depression.
The Wall Street implosion marks an ironic bookend to the Bush era of neo-conservatism. Absolute faith in the free market to regulate itself has proved disastrous, as much as the Iraq conflict.
As conservative French President Nicolas Sarkozy put it last week to world leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the “all-powerful market” and the laissez-faire attitudes that have underpinned it are dead.
An era of Big Government has begun, a period of government intervention and greater supervision of the markets. So has a period of multilateralism on world security and climate change.
If there’s one guy in Australia who is Big Government and multilateralism, it’s Kevin Rudd.
Although we love to lampoon the PM as the chief bureaucrat who’s hilariously travelled the world telling everyone how to run their show — NATO on the Afghanistan war, Asia on a new Asia-Pacific Community, China on Tibet, the US on financial regulation and the $US700 billion bailout of Wall Street and the world at large on nuclear disarmament, to name a few — momentum is building for some, if not all, of his ideas.
Where he seemed the precocious, hectoring new kid on the block a few months ago, he now is establishing himself as a potentially influential leader. What with Japan having a new PM and the US a new president next January, he’s also moving up the seniority list of allied leaders.
Of course there’s an inherent danger in Mr Rudd’s pursuit of middle power diplomacy on the world stage unhinging him at home but domestically some of his ideas are starting to gain traction and a heightened relevance. The May Budget, though criticised at the time by the commentariat for not living up to its scrooge publicity build-up, is now looking much smarter, thanks it seems to Wayne Swan’s hurried recalibration of deep cuts following a trip to Washington in March when the Treasurer was advised of the market dramas we’re now witnessing.
The establishment of the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure funds also looks much smarter and more forward-thinking than it did five months ago, given the prospect of recession hitting many of our trading partners and the hunger for our resources dissipating.
Plundering a nice back pocket kitty to redirect economic activity to local projects will have appeal when exports and jobs start sliding.
And at the Council of Australian Governments meeting in Perth yesterday he harnessed the growing public odium for cowboy financiers to push for uniform regulation of credit markets.
This comes from the same songbook he used for his speech to the UN last week which demanded tighter regulations for investment banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and financial clearing houses.
On domestic politics, the Rudd Government also has matured in its handling of interest rates and the banks.
Whereas it began the year trying to score some political points (Mr Swan saying the inflation genie was out of the bottle, for example), it has learnt to check its commentary with the responsibility of government.
Rather than take the populist tack and pressure the banks to pass on the full official interest rate cut expected next week, Mr Rudd and Mr Swan have taken a far more circumspect attitude, indicating that they would forgive the banks if they didn’t.
They’ve calculated that the populace, stretched though it is financially, will understand the need to keep Australia’s banking system strong even if this means extending their pain.
For a Labor Prime Minister and Labor Treasurer to defend the banks would normally be a subject of mirth. The fact it isn’t is a symptom of the times. But even if the times do suit Mr Rudd, problems remain.
He must find a way to show he loves walking the streets of Karratha and Gosnells as much as he does swanning about the corridors of power in London and New York.
All the various reviews and task forces that were set up soon after the election have to be acted upon.
As the furore around pensions policy has shown, sticking rigidly to a predetermined process while people are crying out for action is almost untenable.
You might have all the best policies and plans in the world, but they’re worthless if people stop listening because you’re not acting.
ANDREW PROBYN FEDERAL POLITICAL EDITOR
as posted on TheWest
Friday, 3 October 2008
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Red Christmas likely for fraud accused
as posted on WAToday
* Chris Thomson
* October 2, 2008 - 7:47AM
A principal of Perth's Australian Islamic College who was charged with fraud after allegedly obtaining $3 million of state and federal funding is likely to have his passport returned so he can spend Christmas in China.
In June, Major Fraud Squad officers charged Mark Brian Debowski, 50, and his associates Abdallah Saad Magar, 69, and Aziz Magdi, 53, after search warrants were executed at three of the college's schools in Thornlie, Kewdale and Dianella.
In Perth Magistrates Court yesterday, Debowski's lawyer Andrew Maugham asked that his client's seized passport be returned so he could travel to China for business and to visit relatives between December 19 and January 29.
Mr Maugham said Debowski planned to stay in the city of Shantou, which sprawls along the coast of the South China Sea.
Mr Maugham said his client did not pose a flight risk because he had family and business ties to Perth, and a $2 million property in Peppermint Grove.
Debowski last visited China in July 2008, well after the fraud investigation had started, and had returned without incident, Mr Maugham argued.
Debowski has not yet pleaded to the fraud charges but Mr Maugham said they were likely to be defended.
"I believe there are deficiencies in the state's case," Mr Maugham said.
Mr Maugham argued there was no suggestion Debowski personally benefitted from the alleged fraud.
"My submission is the funding was required to keep the school open," Mr Maugham said.
Crown prosecutor Raymond Soh opposed the return of Debowski's passport, arguing the absence of an extradition treaty between China and Australia increased the flight risk.
Mr Soh said the Australian Federal Police, WA Police and Customs Australia had been closely tracking Debowski's movements.
"His travel plans to China are a luxury for a recreational purpose," Mr Soh argued.
Magistrate Stephen Heath adjourned the bail amendment application until November 18.
But he said he would recommend to the magistrate sitting that day that Debowski have his passport returned provided he could pay a $1 million surety, a $100,000 personal undertaking and a $20,000 cash deposit.
as posted on WAToday
* Chris Thomson
* October 2, 2008 - 7:47AM
A principal of Perth's Australian Islamic College who was charged with fraud after allegedly obtaining $3 million of state and federal funding is likely to have his passport returned so he can spend Christmas in China.
In June, Major Fraud Squad officers charged Mark Brian Debowski, 50, and his associates Abdallah Saad Magar, 69, and Aziz Magdi, 53, after search warrants were executed at three of the college's schools in Thornlie, Kewdale and Dianella.
In Perth Magistrates Court yesterday, Debowski's lawyer Andrew Maugham asked that his client's seized passport be returned so he could travel to China for business and to visit relatives between December 19 and January 29.
Mr Maugham said Debowski planned to stay in the city of Shantou, which sprawls along the coast of the South China Sea.
Mr Maugham said his client did not pose a flight risk because he had family and business ties to Perth, and a $2 million property in Peppermint Grove.
Debowski last visited China in July 2008, well after the fraud investigation had started, and had returned without incident, Mr Maugham argued.
Debowski has not yet pleaded to the fraud charges but Mr Maugham said they were likely to be defended.
"I believe there are deficiencies in the state's case," Mr Maugham said.
Mr Maugham argued there was no suggestion Debowski personally benefitted from the alleged fraud.
"My submission is the funding was required to keep the school open," Mr Maugham said.
Crown prosecutor Raymond Soh opposed the return of Debowski's passport, arguing the absence of an extradition treaty between China and Australia increased the flight risk.
Mr Soh said the Australian Federal Police, WA Police and Customs Australia had been closely tracking Debowski's movements.
"His travel plans to China are a luxury for a recreational purpose," Mr Soh argued.
Magistrate Stephen Heath adjourned the bail amendment application until November 18.
But he said he would recommend to the magistrate sitting that day that Debowski have his passport returned provided he could pay a $1 million surety, a $100,000 personal undertaking and a $20,000 cash deposit.
as posted on WAToday
Nursing home operators hit a brick wall
as posted on TheAustralian
Victoria Laurie | October 02, 2008
RESIDENTIAL nursing home owners are closing beds and turning down hundreds of new federally funded bed licences in Western Australia, prompting warnings of a looming crisis in aged care in the fast-growing state.
Aged care operators have declined to take up 360 bed licences out of 1000 offered in the federal Government's 2007-08 funding round because they cannot afford to build new facilities or find staff for them. It is thought to be the first time a state has declined to take up such funding.
WA is 2000 beds shy of government targets, and the shortfall is expected to increase rapidly. A Productivity Commission report released last week found that demand for aged care services would rocket in the next 40 years. The number of Australians older than 85 is forecast to increase fourfold.
Stephen Kobelke from Aged and Community Services WA said the industry had spurned once-lucrative bed licences. "I was shocked," Mr Kobelke said. "Normally there would have been competition for those licences, but now the Government can't give them away."
He said several not-for-profit aged care facilities had told him they intended to hand back bed licences because they could not find staff to work in jobs paying less than $40,000 a year.
Construction of new residential care homes had slowed to a trickle, Mr Kobelke said, due to a 9.3 per cent hike in building and operating costs in metropolitan Perth. "There is no business case to set up a new aged care home, even on a charitable basis," he said.
Mr Kobelke welcomed the Senate inquiry into aged and community care facilities announced last week, but said inadequate funding coupled with the WA's resources and construction boom made the state a critical case.
The Productivity Commission found that the number of people older than 85 would increase from about 400,000 to 1.6million by 2047, and that changing health patterns would increase the number of frail older people needing intensive nursing care.
But Amana Living chief executive Ray Glickman, whose Anglican Church body operates 15 residential care facilities, said staff were already in acute short supply in Perth.
Mr Glickman said 40 per cent of shifts in some nursing homes were being covered by costly agency staff, and he was struggling to keep doors open in regions where even agencies could not supply any workers. "Things are too serious now for us to remain silent," he said.
David Fenwick, who runs the 173-bed Amaroo Village in Gosnells, in Perth's southwest, said he had closed his waiting list when it reached 153 people.
"The Government has abandoned Australia's elderly in both pensions and aged care, and we need help to meet the real capital cost in Perth of providing new aged care beds at $220,000 per bed place," he said.
as posted on TheAustralian
Victoria Laurie | October 02, 2008
RESIDENTIAL nursing home owners are closing beds and turning down hundreds of new federally funded bed licences in Western Australia, prompting warnings of a looming crisis in aged care in the fast-growing state.
Aged care operators have declined to take up 360 bed licences out of 1000 offered in the federal Government's 2007-08 funding round because they cannot afford to build new facilities or find staff for them. It is thought to be the first time a state has declined to take up such funding.
WA is 2000 beds shy of government targets, and the shortfall is expected to increase rapidly. A Productivity Commission report released last week found that demand for aged care services would rocket in the next 40 years. The number of Australians older than 85 is forecast to increase fourfold.
Stephen Kobelke from Aged and Community Services WA said the industry had spurned once-lucrative bed licences. "I was shocked," Mr Kobelke said. "Normally there would have been competition for those licences, but now the Government can't give them away."
He said several not-for-profit aged care facilities had told him they intended to hand back bed licences because they could not find staff to work in jobs paying less than $40,000 a year.
Construction of new residential care homes had slowed to a trickle, Mr Kobelke said, due to a 9.3 per cent hike in building and operating costs in metropolitan Perth. "There is no business case to set up a new aged care home, even on a charitable basis," he said.
Mr Kobelke welcomed the Senate inquiry into aged and community care facilities announced last week, but said inadequate funding coupled with the WA's resources and construction boom made the state a critical case.
The Productivity Commission found that the number of people older than 85 would increase from about 400,000 to 1.6million by 2047, and that changing health patterns would increase the number of frail older people needing intensive nursing care.
But Amana Living chief executive Ray Glickman, whose Anglican Church body operates 15 residential care facilities, said staff were already in acute short supply in Perth.
Mr Glickman said 40 per cent of shifts in some nursing homes were being covered by costly agency staff, and he was struggling to keep doors open in regions where even agencies could not supply any workers. "Things are too serious now for us to remain silent," he said.
David Fenwick, who runs the 173-bed Amaroo Village in Gosnells, in Perth's southwest, said he had closed his waiting list when it reached 153 people.
"The Government has abandoned Australia's elderly in both pensions and aged care, and we need help to meet the real capital cost in Perth of providing new aged care beds at $220,000 per bed place," he said.
as posted on TheAustralian
Suspicious fire in Maddington
as posted on TheWest
A fire that damaged a two-storey house in Maddington this afternoon will be investigated by the police arson squad after being labelled as suspicious.
The blaze at the vacant weatherboard home on Morley Street was reported to the Fire and Rescue Service at about 12.15pm and was brought under control 20 minutes later.
A Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said the cause of the fire was suspicious with the incident causing an estimated $70,000 in damage.
No-one was injured in the blaze.
PERTH
DALE MILLER
as posted on TheWest
A fire that damaged a two-storey house in Maddington this afternoon will be investigated by the police arson squad after being labelled as suspicious.
The blaze at the vacant weatherboard home on Morley Street was reported to the Fire and Rescue Service at about 12.15pm and was brought under control 20 minutes later.
A Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said the cause of the fire was suspicious with the incident causing an estimated $70,000 in damage.
No-one was injured in the blaze.
PERTH
DALE MILLER
as posted on TheWest
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Calling all Ghost Walkers
as posted on COGsite
If you have a flair for acting, a love of history or a passion for the great outdoors, then why not become a Ghost Walks volunteer?
The City of Gosnells’ popular Ghost Walks series is fast approaching and there are places for fresh faces to join the cast of ghosts and the team of walk leaders.
Ghost Walks is a live theatre performance in the hills of Orange Grove with four walks from November to March.
Leaders take groups of 20 along a 5.5km moonlit track through the bush, which gets interrupted by ‘storytelling ghosts’ from pioneer days.
The history of the 1860s Mason and Bird Timber Mill Company is shared with the audience through colourful performances by volunteer actors.
Up to 20 volunteers fill the roles of ghosts, leaders and sound-effect operators for each Ghost Walk. Previous acting experience is not necessary and all volunteers receive training.
To become a Ghost Walks volunteer, contact Leisure Services on 9452 9901.
Ends
as posted on COGsite
If you have a flair for acting, a love of history or a passion for the great outdoors, then why not become a Ghost Walks volunteer?
The City of Gosnells’ popular Ghost Walks series is fast approaching and there are places for fresh faces to join the cast of ghosts and the team of walk leaders.
Ghost Walks is a live theatre performance in the hills of Orange Grove with four walks from November to March.
Leaders take groups of 20 along a 5.5km moonlit track through the bush, which gets interrupted by ‘storytelling ghosts’ from pioneer days.
The history of the 1860s Mason and Bird Timber Mill Company is shared with the audience through colourful performances by volunteer actors.
Up to 20 volunteers fill the roles of ghosts, leaders and sound-effect operators for each Ghost Walk. Previous acting experience is not necessary and all volunteers receive training.
To become a Ghost Walks volunteer, contact Leisure Services on 9452 9901.
Ends
as posted on COGsite
Mahmood gets another chance with England
as posted here
11:00am Tuesday 30th September 2008
By Graham Hardcastle »
Former Bolton League ace Sajid Mahmood has been given another England lifeline with a call-up to the Performance Programme squad to tour India in November.
The 26-year-old Lancashire pace bowler, who has played eight Tests and 25 one-day internationals for his country, has been out of the international reckoning since April, 2007.
He played for the England Lions in a one-day friendly against South Africa earlier this summer, and was also named in the provisional 30-man squad for the cancelled ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Mahmood has had an impressive summer for Lancashire, claiming 35 County Championship wickets at an average of 32.77 from 12 matches. But he has been out since August 23 with a left intercostal strain.
However, he will be fit in time to join up with the likes of Joe Denly, Robert Key, Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid on November 21 when the 15-man squad travels to Bangalore.
The squad will play two matches, a three-day fixture in Bangalore and a four-dayer in Mumbai, while they will also train with the Test squad.
Mahmood leads a whole host of Lancashire players that are spending their winter playing in foreign climes.
Lancashire opener Paul Horton will not be changing his plans to go to Perth for five months, where he will captain grade side Gosnells, after being omitted from the Performance Programme squad.
Steven Croft is on the verge of signing a winter contract to play New Zealand state cricket with Auckland, while the likes of Mark Chilton, Steven Mullaney, Stephen Cheetham and Steven Parry will all play grade cricket Down Under.
Lancashire cricket manager Mike Watkinson said: “We keep tabs on where they are going to make sure they have got the right coaching and strength and conditioning resources. They will hopefully come back improved cricketers.
“Many of them need to grow as individuals. It is also a big part of life development being away from home for six months, standing on their own two feet.
“It is an extra pressure for them to have to perform in a tough environment in Australia or wherever they go.”
as posted here
11:00am Tuesday 30th September 2008
By Graham Hardcastle »
Former Bolton League ace Sajid Mahmood has been given another England lifeline with a call-up to the Performance Programme squad to tour India in November.
The 26-year-old Lancashire pace bowler, who has played eight Tests and 25 one-day internationals for his country, has been out of the international reckoning since April, 2007.
He played for the England Lions in a one-day friendly against South Africa earlier this summer, and was also named in the provisional 30-man squad for the cancelled ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Mahmood has had an impressive summer for Lancashire, claiming 35 County Championship wickets at an average of 32.77 from 12 matches. But he has been out since August 23 with a left intercostal strain.
However, he will be fit in time to join up with the likes of Joe Denly, Robert Key, Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid on November 21 when the 15-man squad travels to Bangalore.
The squad will play two matches, a three-day fixture in Bangalore and a four-dayer in Mumbai, while they will also train with the Test squad.
Mahmood leads a whole host of Lancashire players that are spending their winter playing in foreign climes.
Lancashire opener Paul Horton will not be changing his plans to go to Perth for five months, where he will captain grade side Gosnells, after being omitted from the Performance Programme squad.
Steven Croft is on the verge of signing a winter contract to play New Zealand state cricket with Auckland, while the likes of Mark Chilton, Steven Mullaney, Stephen Cheetham and Steven Parry will all play grade cricket Down Under.
Lancashire cricket manager Mike Watkinson said: “We keep tabs on where they are going to make sure they have got the right coaching and strength and conditioning resources. They will hopefully come back improved cricketers.
“Many of them need to grow as individuals. It is also a big part of life development being away from home for six months, standing on their own two feet.
“It is an extra pressure for them to have to perform in a tough environment in Australia or wherever they go.”
as posted here
ALL NINJA (250) R RIDER (SKITTLES) RIDE 5th October
Monday, 29 September 2008
Horton humble over England chances
as posted on TheBoltonNews
10:49pm Sunday 28th September 2008
By Graham Hardcastle »
Paul Horton may have helped Lancashire avoid relegation with their fifth win of the County Championship season on Saturday with yet another score above 50.
But the 26-year-old opener, who was born in Sydney, does not think his 58 against Somerset at Taunton will help him gain a call up to the England Performance Programme squad today.
Horton helped Lancashire put the finishing touches to LV Division One survival in the West Country on Saturday with his 113-ball innings, which included 11 fours.
It was the Liverpool-based star’s ninth score above 50 this season, and he finished with impressive stats of 966 runs at an average of 42 to back up last season’s haul of 1,034 runs at 49.2.
Horton has notched two centuries this term, and was being watched by the England selectors through the middle of the summer. Though a lack of a century since May, 30may have has cost him dear.
“I don’t think I'll be involved, so I’ll be heading off to Perth to work on my game,” he said.
“I’m going on Friday unless I get a call up on Monday. If I get a call that would be great, and I’ll change all my plans for the winter, but I’m planning as if I’m not involved.
“I’m going to Perth to play for, and captain, Gosnells for five months. I will be able do some training, and hopefully come back a better player.
“I’ve learned that consistency is key. You’ve got to keeping turning up day in day out, trying to impact on games, and win cricket matches for Lancashire. My job is to score runs, help us win games, and affect games with the way I play. That’s what I’ve tried to learn.”
Horton was helped along by Mark Chilton’s fluent 97 at Taunton, as Lancashire polished off the final 60 runs they needed for victory. The pair shared 151 for the opening stand, the highest of the summer.
Karl Brown chipped in with a typically aggressive 15 not out from 19 balls, including three boundaries. Lancashire captain Stuart Law clinched the win by hitting Charl Willloughby for two consecutive fours in the first over after lunch.
as posted on TheBoltonNews
10:49pm Sunday 28th September 2008
By Graham Hardcastle »
Paul Horton may have helped Lancashire avoid relegation with their fifth win of the County Championship season on Saturday with yet another score above 50.
But the 26-year-old opener, who was born in Sydney, does not think his 58 against Somerset at Taunton will help him gain a call up to the England Performance Programme squad today.
Horton helped Lancashire put the finishing touches to LV Division One survival in the West Country on Saturday with his 113-ball innings, which included 11 fours.
It was the Liverpool-based star’s ninth score above 50 this season, and he finished with impressive stats of 966 runs at an average of 42 to back up last season’s haul of 1,034 runs at 49.2.
Horton has notched two centuries this term, and was being watched by the England selectors through the middle of the summer. Though a lack of a century since May, 30may have has cost him dear.
“I don’t think I'll be involved, so I’ll be heading off to Perth to work on my game,” he said.
“I’m going on Friday unless I get a call up on Monday. If I get a call that would be great, and I’ll change all my plans for the winter, but I’m planning as if I’m not involved.
“I’m going to Perth to play for, and captain, Gosnells for five months. I will be able do some training, and hopefully come back a better player.
“I’ve learned that consistency is key. You’ve got to keeping turning up day in day out, trying to impact on games, and win cricket matches for Lancashire. My job is to score runs, help us win games, and affect games with the way I play. That’s what I’ve tried to learn.”
Horton was helped along by Mark Chilton’s fluent 97 at Taunton, as Lancashire polished off the final 60 runs they needed for victory. The pair shared 151 for the opening stand, the highest of the summer.
Karl Brown chipped in with a typically aggressive 15 not out from 19 balls, including three boundaries. Lancashire captain Stuart Law clinched the win by hitting Charl Willloughby for two consecutive fours in the first over after lunch.
as posted on TheBoltonNews
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)