| Thursday Ongoing Report (October 4) |
| Sunday, 07 October 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||
Page 1 of 9 Update: Pulp Mill Approved A commissioned study by the government found that the mill should be subject to some extra stringent conditions, and it seems Turnbull has taken their advice. Dr Peacock, the researcher chairing the report commented that the mill would likely conform to "world's best practice" and would have a "neutral environmental impact". He also said that "the dioxins that would be produced by the mill daily were estimated to be about 1/10,000 of 1 per cent of Australia's daily dioxin emissions" and that "these would empty into the Bass Strait, which he said was about the size of 10,000 Sydney Harbours." The main complaint by environmental groups is that the impact on Australia's greenhouse gas emmissions due to increased harvesting of native forests to feed the mill were not taken into account When I find the new 'conditions' on the mill, I'll post them up. The fact is that Gunns has previously stated they would not go ahead with the mill if extra conditions were placed on them. Today, Gunns were quick to welcome Turnbull's decision. It really makes you wonder if these new conditions actually have any teeth! Edit: The full list of conditions can be found here (PDF). The Herlad has a short list up on the web (html link) here. The science report by Dr Peacock is here (PDF).
There's an article in today's Fairfax papers detailing a poll taken in North Sydney. 53-47 with Labor in front are the numbers (13% swing from 2004!). Sample size is 400. The poll also found that Rudd was more popular than Howard among North Sydney voters. Article is here.
Pulp Mill likely to be approved - Turnbull in trouble? Not surprising really - but according to The Age, it looks like it's going to get approved. Turnbull might find himself in some more trouble if that report is true. His electorate, which is considered quite socially progressive, now has two 'key' issues - rights for same-sex couples and a distinct lack of green credentials from their sitting member who happens to be Environment Minister. Turnbull could well argue that Labor would never block the mill - but they aren't in power now to stop it, so that point is moot. Plus their environmental credentials are pereceived as superior - Rudd has said ratifying Kyoto will be one of his first acts as Prime Minister. On same-sex issues, according to a Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report, there are of 58 federal laws that against same-sex couples. Turnbull does personally support changing these laws, but has been unable to shift Cabinet (Abbott is one tough cookie). The Labor candidate, former local mayor George Newhouse, can confidently state that a Rudd Labor government will make all 58 changes. So, all in all, not looking good for Turnbull. On Telstra & Political Interference: There is another article in the herald that calls Telstra "a corporate behemoth the previous Labor government created". While not criticising the Labor party for it, I find this description confusing. While Labor may have de-regulated the telecommunications market, surely the reason Telstra can be so problematic now is due to its privatisation? Anyway, it will be interesting to see what impact Telstra's campaign may have on voters. I do wonder whether it will be against Labor's interests to be seen as receiving support from Telstra. Or put another way, a fight between the Coalition and Telstra may be just what the doctor ordered in order to show that the Federal government is serious about looking after telecommunications in rural electorates. Child Care Tax Break: It is interesting to see the Coalition treading carefully here, despite their massive $17.3 billion surplus. What would a Liberal loss mean? A brief snipper from the article to give you some idea: Urbanchich was the first president of the Liberal Ethnic Council in 1978 and Clarke became one of its executive members. The following year, the party conducted an inquiry into allegations against Urbanchich and found that articles he had written as a Slovene nationalist in the 1940s contained "virulently anti-Semitic propaganda". The party's state executive recommended his expulsion but the vote at state council fell short of the 60 per cent majority required. During the controversy, Clarke proposed a public rally in support of Urbanchich, which he predicted would be attended by between 5000 and 7000 people, including 3500 Croatians. Hancock observes: "This perhaps was the first occasion in the party's history where an office bearer thought it appropriate to utilise ethnic warriors for a political battle." Anyway - quite a good article, well worth the read for a hypothetical that may well come true. On that note, if you haven't seen the 1996 to 2007 poll comparisons, have a look here - the similarities are startling and look very promising for Labor. Views: 3226
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