tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111837442011-04-22T06:27:44.954+10:00Andrewnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3091100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-33780391560515127582007-11-23T18:09:00.000+10:002007-12-06T06:23:40.784+10:00

The punditocracy has been reluctant to call it. Perhaps they have experienced too many 11th hour Labor meltdowns. They seem wary of Howard’s tactical genius in wedging victory from the seeming defeat.Labor has been ahead and steady in the polls for 13 months. Only now, 1 day out, is the media even tempted to suggest a Labor victory.And not without a fight. The government gazette (The Australian)

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-84709302951022884232007-11-17T20:40:00.000+10:002007-12-06T06:24:29.904+10:00

Just had to get Brisbane in the rear view mirror.Haven't been around much in ages, weekends are just getting backed-up.So zoomed up to Springbrook National Park for some bush walking. First at Purlingbrook Falls, then at Twin Falls, which is part of the longer Warrie trail. This was spectacular; tons of wildlife, water, trees and beer at the end.Photos at: http://www.panoramio.com/user/1090083/

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-14327201669296838262007-11-17T19:38:00.000+10:002007-12-06T06:12:34.541+10:00

Last week in Brisbane, Ricky Ponting and his merry men blasted the world’s second ranked team, Sri Lanka, out of the ground with an innings win in the first test.The Australian men’s cricket team unequivocally leads the world. Backing them up, Australian women lead in world in netball and hockey and the Kangaroos are surely the top rugby league side in the world.Australia is also a world leader

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-23370113780709437802007-11-06T20:20:00.000+10:002008-12-12T07:11:18.819+10:00

Brisbane City Council is soon to launch (here and here and here) its “green heart citysmart” campaign to make Brisbane Australia’s most sustainable city and to make it carbon neutral by 2026.The CitySmart campaign will promote all of Council's sustainability initiatives and encourage people to get involved in use less power and water, recycling and reducing demand for motorised transport.The

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-16411963819822418642007-11-06T19:45:00.000+10:002007-11-06T20:35:08.248+10:00

So far the 2007 federal election campaign has been dubbed ‘me too’ election. Labor leader Kevin Rudd is trying to present such a small target, it is become difficult to distinguish the policy difference. As a result, there are few areas of public policy where the two major parties are more than a couple of billion apart. However, climate change is one issue where despite appearing shoulder to

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-20787165609435468242007-10-24T20:35:00.000+10:002007-11-06T20:34:29.532+10:00

What a cracking game of rugby at the weekend. Flowing, aggressive, end to end stuff, with great handling, direct running and a just result.Of course, I'm talking about the third place play-off between Argentina and France. The Rugby World Cup final was a different matter: a dour affair of ping-pong kicking, collapsed scrums and the most unimaginative rugby you can imagine. Even as a final it

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-49861568623563067562007-10-19T18:16:00.000+10:002007-11-06T20:34:03.827+10:00

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-31053141383662079582007-10-18T08:34:00.000+10:002007-11-06T20:33:30.102+10:00

In many ways it has been a wonderful Rugby World Cup.Fiji has ignited the stage with powerful running rugby. Major upsets are finally creeping into the game. Teams that perhaps never expected to be playing semi-finals did so. And, hopefully, one of the best sides in world rugby at the moment will rise to the top and win the competition.But in other respects it has been dour. Some of the games

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-40107855759551013122007-07-14T17:37:00.001+10:002007-07-14T17:37:59.838+10:00

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Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-38306475030337589892007-07-14T17:36:00.000+10:002007-07-14T17:37:00.618+10:00

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Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-19170360430105643932007-07-14T17:33:00.000+10:002007-07-14T17:35:17.536+10:00

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Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-56050492302820245202007-07-14T17:28:00.000+10:002007-07-14T17:31:11.016+10:00

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Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-30393257909008263802007-07-14T17:27:00.000+10:002007-07-14T18:29:14.395+10:00

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Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-15822504295226941022007-07-14T17:24:00.000+10:002007-07-14T17:27:07.264+10:00

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Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-16021568659115247502007-07-14T17:13:00.000+10:002007-07-14T17:16:29.258+10:00

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Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-77986349422786150802007-07-14T16:49:00.000+10:002007-07-14T17:13:23.245+10:00

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Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-51496389128971932962007-02-27T12:55:00.001+10:002007-04-23T21:32:30.897+10:00

Late in 2006 the Labor caucus in Council used its numbers to commission a "Climate Change and Energy Taskforce" to report on how Brisbane could become meet the greenhouse gas emissions targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol.The taskforce researched the science, asked expert and councillor opinion and consulted with the public.It is chaired by Ian Lowe, emeritus professor of science, technology and

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-28315488448524033642007-02-25T08:20:00.000+10:002007-04-23T21:33:11.614+10:00

Then again, I very rarely bother reading the first paragraph of an article in The Australian.http://larvatusprodeo.net/2007/02/24/golden-boy/

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-30147637859881834452007-02-25T07:59:00.000+10:002008-12-12T07:11:19.287+10:00

Why can't there be more demonstrators like these guys, unlike those nasty brutish types we have been seeing fighting with the police in The Australian and The Courier-Mail?

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-65428250141916506752007-02-12T21:30:00.000+10:002007-04-23T21:34:00.035+10:00

It is a big day in Council tomorrow for Lord Mayor Campbell Newman. He must come clean about how much his TransApex tunnel plan is going to cost the city.He has been forced by the Labor majority to hand down a report of forward estimates. It will be a big thick document, no doubt plenty heavy enough for the Labor group to beat him repeatedly over the head with.In the heady days of the election in

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-28007828302669410412007-02-12T12:38:00.001+10:002007-11-06T20:37:14.976+10:00

Despite years in denial, which allowed Australian greenhouse gas per capita emissions to rise to highest in the world, Australian politics is now wrestling with the problem of global warming.State governments have come out in favour of implementing a national carbon-trading scheme, throwing down the gauntlet to the Howard government and threatening to go it alone, with or without the

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-18591717391566204752007-02-05T16:43:00.000+10:002007-11-06T20:38:04.209+10:00

Shares in River City Motorway (RCM) – the private consortium that will build, own and operate Brisbane’s North South Bypass Tunnel – have continued to slide in value - now down more than 20% on their initial offering.The North South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT) is the first vector of TransApex, Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman’s $12bn plan to build a series of tolled tunnels and bridges under and over

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-43333414319280887882007-02-01T07:56:00.000+10:002008-12-12T07:11:20.567+10:00

We spent much of the Australia Day long weekend camping at Queen Mary Falls, on the western side of Main Range National Park.Main Range National Park is part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia World Heritage Area: a string of large protected areas in South East Queensland and Northern NSW.The Main Range Section is an extinct and eroded 24 million year old shield volcano, much

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-40287275195059107452007-01-30T07:52:00.000+10:002007-01-30T07:54:38.219+10:00

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has declared the State will drink recycled water after all.Originally the Premier has stated that Queenslanders will have a say in a State-wide plebescite in March, but such is now the urgency of the situation he has made the decision for us.The past 12 months have been the driest on record in South East Queensland and run-off into major dams has been 20 per cent

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-7556235984350624092007-01-30T07:50:00.000+10:002007-01-30T07:52:15.951+10:00

Tim Flannery – author of The Weather Makers – has received the award for Australian of the Year Award at this year’s Australia Day celebrations.With wonderful irony, the arch-Kyoto-refusenik, John Howard, had to present the award to the person who has probably done more to convince Australians of the necessity to tackle global warming, bar Al Gore.The Weather Makers was one of 2006’s best sellers

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-63091565898862398352007-01-26T09:56:00.000+10:002008-12-12T07:11:21.056+10:00

My glorious employer, Brisbane City Council has moved into recently and purpose built premises.The colourful structures at the base contain the customer service center and a rather splendid new library.Needless to say, the bright colours have attracted some disparaging and encouraging comments.It has been variously been called "Wiggles HQ", the "pencil box" and simply "a scar on the landscape".I

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-7240093877988331612007-01-24T12:27:00.000+10:002007-01-24T12:38:18.740+10:00

What would South East Queensland give for rain like this?Flooding has cut off several towns in central and western Queensland. Some areas have experienced more rain in 2 days than they did in the whole of 2006. More than 200mm has fallen, replenishing stock watering holes and bursting over dry creek banks.Brisbane and South East Queensland continue to stare down the barrel of a gun. Dam levels

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-76193124362684950922007-01-23T20:41:00.000+10:002007-01-23T20:44:27.417+10:00

I’m sure it’s just part of ‘live in the big city’, but still, when someone gets bashed, robbed and left dead in a pool of blood in the road, in your suburb, you stop and have a granny moment: “What is the world coming to…”At 2am on Sunday morning, two passing drivers reported they had found a body on the corner of Bage Street and Buckland Road in Nundah village centre. This intersection is right

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-24300836798035778132007-01-23T07:54:00.000+10:002008-12-12T07:11:21.286+10:00

THE GOVERNMENT’S OFFICIAL opposition - the Australian Institute (AI) - has again challenged the Howard administration, this time accusing it of cooking the books greenhouse gas emissions.The AI has highlighted significant discrepancies between land clearing rates as calculated by the [federal] Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) and the Queensland government’s Department of Natural Resources and

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1169077531131455302007-01-18T09:39:00.000+10:002007-01-18T09:45:31.146+10:00

Tony Blair has declared it is unreasonable to expect people to give up flying for the sake of saving the planet from global warming. Those whistle-stop Christmas shopping trips to New York or quick weekend breaks in Tuscony are, after all, the little things essential to decent life.Blair’s right. If you have the money, you should be able to spend it how your conscience dictates. Why should you

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1168502116161760772007-01-11T17:51:00.000+10:002007-01-11T17:55:16.180+10:00

A survey by travel company Expedia has revealed that Queenslanders take the least annual leave in Australia – just 16 days per year. As a whole, Australians, take 17 days. Internationally, this is the second lowest, after the US, whose workers take just 14 days holiday per year.In contrast, Germans take 27 days, Brits 24 and Canadians 26. Not surprisingly, the French topped the charts with a

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1165923722806046912006-12-12T21:38:00.000+10:002006-12-12T21:42:02.823+10:00

Victoria and Tasmania are on fire. All Australian capital cities but Darwin are facing water shortages. Many parts of Australia are hotter and drier than they have been in recorded history.The financial cost to the nation is huge:Drought payments for [continuing] exceptional circumstances are being paid to farmers who simply can’t produce Dry weather is pushing up farm gate prices, as produce

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1163496524106042132006-11-14T19:12:00.000+10:002006-11-14T19:28:44.126+10:00

November 2006 may go down in history as the month when the last tattered renegade band of global warming sceptics retreated to the hills in strategic defeat. One hundred and ten years after it was first mooted by Swedish scientist, Svante Arrhenious, and nineteen years after NASA scientist James Hansen testified before the US House of Representatives that there was a strong "cause and effect

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1162508990400803042006-11-03T09:06:00.000+10:002006-11-03T09:09:50.433+10:00

Premier Beattie’s latest strategy for beating the drought is [Christian] prayer.That ought to do it.Beattie wants to “galvanise the powers of prayer at this critical time”. Church leaders have responded enthusiastically to his call and will run a series of church services focusing on imploring the gods for some of the wet stuff.Other religious communities have all been invited to join in too,

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1162434802650656052006-11-02T12:31:00.000+10:002006-11-02T12:33:22.666+10:00

What happens when a city of 1.5 million people runs out of water?We may soon find out.Many Australian cities are facing water shortages; all capital cities (but Darwin) have some level of restriction in place. In Brisbane, Level 4 are now in place, as regional dam levels hit 25%.Level 4 means its buckets only on alternate days, when it comes to watering the garden and washing cars, houses and

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1161254330974881552006-10-19T20:36:00.000+10:002006-10-19T20:42:58.986+10:00

The chest bursts with pride. There’s a warm feeling of a job-well-done. Our civic leaders can walk tall.The great city of Brisbane leads the nation - and is only second in the world to Birmingham - in… searching for internet porn!A recent Google Trends survey has shown that there is a higher proportion of porn searches tapped into Google from IP addresses in Brisbane than anywhere else in

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1160564781435498102006-10-11T21:05:00.000+10:002006-10-11T21:06:21.450+10:00

Pics are posted from our recent trip to Girraween National Park, down near Stanthorpe on the NSW border.Go here.

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1158062872812766222006-09-12T22:06:00.000+10:002006-09-21T19:10:17.500+10:00

The polling barely moved from the time the election was called, to the opening of the stations. In that respect, no one was surprised that Beattie, sorry, the Australian Labor Party, retained power in Queensland.Queensland nominally has a Parliamentary system of government (though only one legislative chamber), but this election was all about one man. The name of the ALP’s election website:

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1154314212543537102006-07-31T12:42:00.000+10:002006-07-31T12:57:34.443+10:00

The whole atrocious fiasco in Lebanon was best summed up by a question (more like a statement) by a female Arabic reporter to Tony Blair in a press conference last week.It went along the lines of: “I find it strange to hear you describe this war as a terrible tragedy and that there needs to be an end to the fighting, yet you are content to see the killing continue, for now.”Mirroring this, a

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1150353242707549232006-06-15T16:23:00.000+10:002006-11-04T10:22:36.050+10:00

The Museum of Brisbane (MoB) is small-fry in the global museum stakes.It's certainly no Guggenheim Bilbao or London Natural History. It doesn’t even compare in stature to the somewhat eclectic Queensland Museum over the river on South Bank.It sits modestly and unpretentiously on the ground floor and basement of the grandiose sandstone Brisbane City Hall, at the heart of the city on King George

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1150326411724978962006-06-15T09:03:00.000+10:002006-06-15T09:06:51.743+10:00

A full 34 years since first kicking a football in a World Cup finals tournament, the Australian "Socceroos" this time have managed to kick one into the net. Then repeat teh feat twice more and go on and win their first ever game.To stand any chance of progressing beyong the first round, beating Japan was absolutely a pre-requisite. There could be a miracle against Croatia, but against Brazil (the

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1148590566628895342006-05-26T06:49:00.000+10:002006-05-26T06:56:06.646+10:00

“Only in America” - a phrase commonly deployed to declare an activity or event has an extreme level of ridiculousness. Mostly, because those sorts of things do happen only in America.The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) - a pro-market think tank (is there any other kind?) - has produced and aired two television commercials promoting CO2 emissions.Yes, that’s right; promoting emissions of

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1146699437726750742006-05-04T09:33:00.000+10:002006-05-04T09:37:17.760+10:00

Of all the politically motivated sustainability oxymorons, ‘sustainable mining’ is the most ludicrous. Just how can extracting an ore from the ground be sustainable?When a ton of ore is extracted, there is a ton less in the ground. Therefore it will run out, ipso facto it is not a sustainable process. I guess any steel buried at landfill will eventually re-oxidise and once again return to a long

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1145850540920222692006-04-24T13:43:00.000+10:002006-04-28T19:05:51.696+10:00

To be sure there are some pretty big oil supply issues – tension in/with/over Iran, Nigerian extraction is down, Venezuela remains touchy and Iraq is not yet at production capacity.But crude demand is soaring, hence prices are rising; to $75 per barrel overnight. This is not quite the real price reached in 1979, following the Iranian Revolution ($88.72 adjusted for inflation), but a continuing

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1145533332352760992006-04-20T21:36:00.000+10:002006-04-20T21:52:42.843+10:00

Mount Warning forms the central core of a shield volcano on the NSW-QLD border, which last erupted 22 million years ago.Photos >>Since then, the gentle slopes (typical of a shield volcano that spews forth lava of low viscosity) have been eroded away to form steep escarpments and rugged peaks, surrounding the core.As a result of this recent volcanic activity, the region is fertile and green, and

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1145532951067265642006-04-20T21:33:00.000+10:002006-04-20T21:58:35.600+10:00

After the somewhat ludicrous situation in the First Test, which saw Bangladesh run Australia close (3 wickets, I think), normality has once again returned to the world of cricket.Or so we thought….Just after lunch on the fourth day of the rain interrupted Second Test, we were treated to the somewhat surreal event of Australia fast bowler, Jason Gillespie, knocking up a double-ton.For sure,

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1145331568490488522006-04-18T13:31:00.000+10:002006-04-18T13:39:28.496+10:00

Not satisfied with whipping the British Empire in the Commonwealth Games, Australians have thrashed the entire world in competition for paying kick-backs to Saddam Hussein, during the Oil for Food program.Indeed, the Australian competitors in question were so far ahead of anyone else, they ought to have been awarded the special “Uday Hussein Memorial Prize for Services to the Baathist Party”.

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1145331039011361972006-04-18T13:18:00.000+10:002006-04-18T13:30:39.036+10:00

The Howard government has been shown up for what it is again.A couple of weeks ago, its new “Work Choices” legislation came into effect, freeing thousands of workers from the stifling regulations that interfered with their freedom to work longer hours; freeing them to earn less on public holidays and to form an individualised bond of trust with their employer.From now on, collective bargaining

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1144737504383287422006-04-11T16:35:00.000+10:002006-04-11T21:47:00.843+10:00

Things in Australia are going to become a lot more interesting.Despite the latest Australian tourism advertisements inquiring "Where The Bloody Hell Are You?", Australia has generally been something of a global sideshow: the Lucky Country Down Under, where everyone is sanguine and simply gets on with milking their sun-drenched lifestyle, in an utterly inconspicuous manner.There have been no

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1144030568612517302006-04-03T12:12:00.000+10:002006-04-05T16:38:00.283+10:00

Though pretty quick, our great steel elevator failed to gather enough speed to break through the roof, instead stopping at level 77 to let us out on the observation ‘deck’ of Q1.Follow this: At 323m Q1 is the world’s tallest residential tower and the world’s 20th tallest man-made structure. It is the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere – taller than the Eureka building in Melbourne – but at

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1143602166351550012006-03-29T13:13:00.000+10:002006-03-29T13:20:21.960+10:00

After the batsmen tottered in the middle order, the Queensland bowlers made amends to win over Victoria and take the domestic First Class championship for 2005-06.Queensland lost 3 quick wickets and Watson to injury late in the first innings, as they slumped from 3/878 to a paltry 6/891. But middle order nerves didn’t worry the bowlers as Victoria – chasing 551 to make Queensland bat again –

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1141971394100032822006-03-10T15:58:00.000+10:002006-03-25T17:59:06.633+10:00

Qantas – hardly a truer symbol of Australian pride, the airline with an unsurpassed air safety record, a tradition of quality service and reliability – is 'off-shoring' its maintenance department to China, in the process it is firing around 300 engineers in Sydney.This will save the airline 10-15% on its maintenance bill. Chinese workers labour for far less than Australian counterparts.Qantas's

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1141958857397287332006-03-10T12:41:00.000+10:002006-03-10T12:47:37.420+10:00

Funny: BRITISH TV regulators have banned the Tourism Australian ad "SO WHERE THE BL**DY HELL ARE YOU?"Tourism Australia managing director Scott Morrison was trying desperately to put a positive spin on things, when he told the BBC "We thank the UK authorities for the extra free publicity and invite them to have a 'bl**dy' good holiday in Australia"Mr Morrison nevertheless said he hoped the

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1141358125315488112006-03-03T13:49:00.000+10:002006-03-03T13:57:34.616+10:00

"Australia has officially been named the world's number one 'nation brand' according to the Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index (NBI). Australia was ranked first in tourism and immigration (preferred place to live and work) as well as being second, behind the US, as the country where investors are likely to open up a new overseas office.Australia, a new entry in the NBI, has replaced Sweden as the

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1141269237784967652006-03-02T13:11:00.000+10:002006-03-02T13:14:35.870+10:00

Brisbane has some decent pubs. Unfortunately you can count them on one hand: The Victory Hotel, The Breakfast Creek Hotel, The Caxton Hotel, The Grand View in Cleveland…Most pubs have been ruthlessly sapped of any character by an invasion of 'Pokies' (slot machines), Keno (24 hour TV bingo) and racing.Silence greets you when you walk in; the only patrons obsessively pushing money into machines or

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1141180967301295392006-03-01T12:35:00.000+10:002006-03-01T12:44:04.306+10:00

Mount Barney National Park is a rugged area of bushland, encompassing a number of high peaks straddling the border between Queensland and NSW.We were sent to down here to witness the "most beautiful swimming hole in the known universe", the Lower Portals, on Barney Creek.Mount Barney itself is a 350 million year old igneous intrusion of granophyre (granite), weathered down from its original 2000m

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1140750423109978752006-02-24T12:55:00.000+10:002006-02-24T13:09:26.360+10:00

The water supply situation in Brisbane just keeps on getting worse.The city's three water sources, Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine dams are now down to 32.45%. Level 3 restrictions, kicking in at 30%, now seem likely than any easing.Put simply, it hasn’t rained… again. Through late November and December, South East Queensland experienced numerous, intense, but isolated tropical storms. The dams

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1140059256432766422006-02-16T12:54:00.000+10:002006-02-16T13:07:36.456+10:00

If the guy who Dick Cheney shot (Harry "Dick" Whittington) dies from his heart attack, I guess it won't really be that funny...Until then, I think it's funny as hell - one of the craziest things Cheney has done since going on the duck hunt with the Chief Justice (Scalia), one of the people reviewing his case in the Supreme Court !Summed up perfectly by the New York Times (via the BBC):"The

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1139976543408887602006-02-15T14:07:00.000+10:002006-02-15T14:09:03.426+10:00

Dear Sir,Hats off to the England cricketers for their achievements in the Ashes this summer, which rightly earned Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff BBC Sports personality of the Year. Winning a two-team tournament against a nation with a much smaller population once in every ten attempts, then never shutting up about it makes me proud to be British.Yours,XXXXX

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1139888072439865052006-02-14T12:54:00.000+10:002006-02-14T13:34:32.470+10:00

LAST NIGHT'S much publicised Four Corners on ABC television claimed that greenhouse gas and energy policy in Australia is dictated by the coal industry 'mafia'. Publicly funded scientists are also routinely gagged for daring to suggest the government is mistaken in believing that burning coal is the answer to our problems.The Four Corners reporters made two arguments:That [the coal] industry has

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1139258434400019252006-02-07T06:36:00.000+10:002006-02-07T06:40:34.433+10:00

I HAVE lost count of the hours I have traipsed through the bush, head in air, searching for koalas. And in koala 'hot spots'. (A koala hot spot is an area where there is at least one koala per hectare; ie that is one in every square block, 100m X 100m.)It was ironic then that the first (wild) one we saw had made its home in suburbia; in Lawnton.However, it is still pretty special to then see, not

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1138970988633819522006-02-03T22:49:00.000+10:002006-02-07T17:59:20.360+10:00

Enraged and amused: News that smells funny

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1138849742449085982006-02-02T12:57:00.000+10:002006-02-02T13:11:25.676+10:00

WHILE GOVERNMENTS representing half the world's population prevaricate over whether to slow their burgeoning greenhouse gas emissions, Australia's Great Barrier Reef is suffering a further bout of coral bleaching. This time, three months earlier than ever before.University of Queensland scientists studying reefs off Great Keppel Island (at the southern end) have found a major section of bleaching

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1138091401295569872006-01-24T18:28:00.000+10:002006-01-25T17:10:25.253+10:00

Sydney pics are posted here....Just Rainbow Beach to go.

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1138090265351107012006-01-24T18:10:00.000+10:002006-01-25T17:10:49.040+10:00

Pics from Christmas in Mount Tambourine are posted here....

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1138072461053353232006-01-24T12:58:00.000+10:002006-01-24T13:14:21.083+10:00

Our Thursday Sydney itinerary was similarly hectic (as the soon to b posted Day 1). We had booked a bus tour (oh my) into the Blue Mountains to savour an introduction to somewhere which demands at leasr a few weeks more attention than we gave it.The tour included a drive through the Blue Mountains from the north west of Sydney, through Windsor, then back in to town along the Great Western Highway

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1137983783949227672006-01-23T12:34:00.000+10:002006-01-26T11:59:48.986+10:00

Rainbow Beach was another of our recent trips, not previously mentioned. For this jounrey into the wilderness we borrowed a friend’s 4WD; allowing access to the more sandy parts of Great Sandy National Park.This NP stretches north from Noosa Heads along 60km of beach to Inskip Point. From Inskip you can throw a rock across the channel to Fraser Island, where the wilderness continues another 175km

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1137159012398594132006-01-13T23:20:00.000+10:002006-01-13T23:30:12.430+10:00

My generally optimistic outlook on life has taken something of a battering of late, particularly following this week’s AP6 climate meeting.We’re screwed.Thinking selfishly, the best course of action for any individual is now to throw your lot in with the polluters and spend your time travelling to exotic places to see habitats that will soon be destroyed.In their vision statement, the AP6

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1137122010799787352006-01-13T13:07:00.000+10:002006-01-13T17:09:28.310+10:00

The conflab in the Antarctic Ocean between the Japanese whale meat processing ship Nisshin Maru and the Greenpeace monitoring/demonstration vessel Artic Sunrise has again got us chattering classes, well chattering.The video evidence (available from both sides [ICR][Greenpeace]) is inconclusive, particularly when it has edited to not portray the whole incident (as is the case with the Japanese

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1136862648122897632006-01-10T13:09:00.000+10:002006-01-10T13:10:48.126+10:00

The house (“Yurnga”)Yurnga is an Aboriginal term for ‘big views’. And they were big. From the deck, some of the bedrooms and bathrooms, there was a wonderful view north east to Southport and the Stradbroke Islands. Of the 0.97 hectares or so of land, some was a (fairly) well manicured garden, some was rainforest and a valley of pasture, most likely a disused orchard.But most strange was the

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1136862514245640282006-01-10T13:02:00.000+10:002006-01-10T13:09:01.116+10:00

Having both the topographical map and the proverbial bible (“Bushwalking in South East Queensland”, currently out of print) allows you to explore some of the more obscure (and off-track) parts of Brisbane Forest Park.Most are a delight (the scramble up Cedar Creek to Love Creek Falls), but some are a little disappointing (the walk to a dry Enoggera Creek).On New Year’s day we explored the upper

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1136862123803274092006-01-10T12:58:00.000+10:002006-01-10T13:02:03.826+10:00

Many of Queensland’s popular beaches are either netted or ‘drum-lined’, to prevent sharks from coming into close contact with recreational swimmers.However, there are no such measures at Amity Point on North Stradbroke Island (near Brisbane), where last weekend a young woman was mauled and killed by a pack of bull sharks.Like most catastrophes of this kind, the woman decided to swim at a time,

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1134977164856469432005-12-19T17:22:00.000+10:002005-12-19T17:26:04.886+10:00

Finally, we have broken our koala 'duck'. The great irony is that despite endless tramping through their prime habitat of open eucalypt forest, head in the air, searching, searching, one eventually turned up, asleep in a tree above a suburban street.The locals to Lawnton (Pine Rivers Shire) probably have to contend with a whole bunch of koalas in their front yard each morning, but needless to say

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1134542216826180722005-12-14T16:35:00.000+10:002005-12-14T16:36:56.830+10:00

At one minute to four, on the morning of Friday 9th December 2005, the four millionth Queenslander was born at a hospital in Caboolture.The mother of the baby girl, weighing a respectable 8lbs, will receive a commemorative certificate to mark the milestone, although as this baby was just the ‘statistical’ four millionth, any child born on that day is eligible to receive a certificate and

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1134542127975621902005-12-14T16:33:00.000+10:002005-12-14T16:35:27.976+10:00

David Hicks, the Australian political prisoner held the US base at Guantanamo Bay has been granted UK citizenship. This should clear the way for his eventual release, after fours unlawful incarceration.That Hicks had a British mother – and was hence eligible for UK citizenship - was discovered in a chance conversation with his lawyer. This set in motion his application for citizenship, which

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1134541953563391812005-12-14T16:32:00.000+10:002005-12-14T16:32:50.923+10:00

Australia’s contribution to the threat of climate change has been reduced to a simple barrage of ‘ifs’ and ‘justs’. From today’s Australian:“Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell said yesterday a breakthrough in capturing carbon (dioxide, presumably) at the top of a power station's chimney was crucial to addressing climate change.”“If we get that breakthrough, it's just a matter of pumping it

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1134471934234346732005-12-13T20:59:00.000+10:002005-12-13T21:05:34.250+10:00

A return to an ole' favourite last weekend, to break my Mother and Andy into the Buckwell routine...Generally a weekend of eating, drinking, eating, resting to cool off in creeks and scrambling up mountains. Oh, and did I mention eating?

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1134023879218241572005-12-08T16:32:00.000+10:002005-12-09T08:42:10.593+10:00

The Howard government has released its latest “Tracking to the Kyoto Target” report, for 2005. This annual statement measures Australia’s progress towards meeting its greenhouse gas emissions reduction objectives, as agreed at Kyoto.Although Australia never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the government did make a commitment to meet its allocated target during the accounting period; that is CO2

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1134023315076462722005-12-08T16:26:00.000+10:002005-12-08T16:28:35.093+10:00

It was close – 3 runs – but Australia have finally managed to get one over its smaller (but obviously invariably more talented) neighbour, New Zealand.After dumping the prodigious All Blacks out of the Rugby Union World Cup in 2003 and holding their own in the 2004 Tri-Nations series, Australia’s rugby team has fallen apart, suffering the indignity of being completely written-off before the final

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1133909847185418952005-12-07T08:53:00.000+10:002005-12-07T12:41:53.926+10:00

This festive season we have been told that ‘tech-savy’ kids are shunning the ‘traditional’ (wooden toys? top trumps?) and demanding the “latest in electronic interactive entertainment” (Courier-Mail). And don’t bother trying to second-guess them, just cut the crap, go-ahead and ask them what they want.We have been told too, what are this year’s ‘in-brands’. If we are to maintain our status as ‘

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1132627779227668032005-11-22T12:45:00.000+10:002005-11-27T06:19:41.216+10:00

"Nothing ever happens" is Del Amitri’s ode to public apathy. The song’s lyrics describe our dystopian preoccupation with the frivolous and the inane. All that “Angry, from Manchester” can think to complain about “is all the repeats on TV.” It is an incisive and thoroughly pessimistic vision of contemporary [non-] culture. Triple-M played it yesterday on the radio.In a round-about way related, one

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1132545593921536562005-11-21T13:58:00.000+10:002005-11-21T13:59:53.940+10:00

WIFE: "What would you do if I died? Would you get married again?"HUSBAND: "Definitely not!"WIFE: "Why not - don't you like being married?"HUSBAND: "Of course I do."WIFE: "Then why wouldn't you remarry?"HUSBAND: "Okay, I'd get married again."WIFE: "You would? (with a hurtful look on her face)."HUSBAND: (makes audible groan).WIFE: "Would you sleep with her in our bed?"HUSBAND: "Where else would we

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1132627493036413592005-11-21T12:44:00.000+10:002005-11-22T12:44:53.066+10:00

Despite denying reports Wallaby skipper, George Gregan, will retire from international rugby following the Test match this weekend against Wales.This game will round off Australia’s 2005 international fixtures and will be Gregan’s 50th game as captain.I am not a founder member of the “Get Gregan” campaign, but I have become a keen advocate – at least an ‘active committee member’ – during 2005.

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1132545670981246712005-11-19T19:04:00.000+10:002005-11-21T14:04:06.706+10:00

82,000 people crammed into Sydney’s Telstra Stadium on Wednesday night to watch Australia against Uruguay in the second leg of their qualifier for the FIFA World Cup Finals.Australia last made the finals in 1974. Four years ago, they fell at the last hurdle, losing against Iran in the play-offs. This time round they went one better and won on penalties in a thrilling finish.With defeat at the

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1132209432561085772005-11-17T16:32:00.000+10:002005-11-17T16:41:39.656+10:00

Brisbane’s first major terror alert – which closed down the city public transport system twice earlier this week – has officially been declared a hoax, following the arrest of a 46 year old man from Beaudesert.It took Brisbane police just 36 hours to identify and detain, Rodney Watson, a truck driver.It appears the alleged, Mr Rodney Bruce Watson, has never watched a single episode of NYPD Blue,

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1132110854484974182005-11-16T13:03:00.000+10:002005-11-16T13:14:14.530+10:00

Brisbane city must accommodate 145,000 new dwellings by 2026. This has forced a rethink of the current City Plan, which as it stands, cannot cater for this level of growth.In a break from the top-down, zoned approach of the past, Brisbane City Council (BCC) is attempting to refine its new plan in close consultation with residents through the ‘Neighbourhood Planning’ process.But what happens when

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1132023670272964352005-11-15T12:59:00.000+10:002005-11-15T13:01:10.396+10:00

Brisbane had its very own terror alert yesterday; a sure sign that it has shaken off its “Big Country Town” image.Police received a series of phone calls warning that 8 bombs (4 on trains and 4 on buses) were set to go off at midday. A later phone call warned of a bomb set to go off at 5pm.In response the State government decided to shut down trains and buses for 15 mins either side of noon and

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1131966654087369522005-11-14T21:02:00.000+10:002005-11-14T21:10:54.110+10:00

These are some pictures from last weekend away at Peach Trees campsite in Jimna State Forest. (Click on thumbnail to open larger images.)

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1131444746394105902005-11-08T20:07:00.000+10:002005-11-08T20:12:26.396+10:00

I fully understand ‘Lord’ Alexander Downer’s concern that terrorists might ‘possibly’ have been behind the attack on a cruise ship Seabourne Spirit in Indian Ocean last week.After all, it is becoming so difficult to determine who are pirates and who are terrorists, particularly since these days pirate ships seem never to fly the skull and crossbones.Worse, some fair dinkum terrorists are now

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1131444436808056822005-11-08T19:58:00.000+10:002005-11-16T14:56:35.326+10:00

UK’s GDP is currently $1,782,000,000,000 pa – one thousand, seven hundred and eighty two billion (US) dollars.According to a new report from the pro-market think tank, International Council for Capital Formation (ICCF), the UK’s economy will be devastated if it attempts to meet its Kyoto targets.Meeting its obligations will knock 1.1% off its economy by the mid-point in the target period, 2010.

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1131348534269578492005-11-07T17:26:00.000+10:002005-11-07T17:28:54.296+10:00

One Aussie team does well….Punter Ponting’s men have finally found some and focus. After crashing in the Ashes over the winter, they have dispatched a World XI in 3 ODIs and a Test and now crushing – utterly – an enthusiastic West Indies team in the first Test in Brisbane.Long gone are the days of illustrious Windies teams, but this team was still expected to put up some fight. In the end, each

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1131260111185786252005-11-06T16:32:00.000+10:002005-11-06T16:55:11.206+10:00

Rather cleverly, our resident bearded dragon population (now at least 3 adults and 1 juvenile) has taken to following me round the yard when I'm mowing the lawn.Far from being twitchy about rapidly spinning blades, they follow three of four paces behind you, picking up the insects disturbed by the mower.Then, when you turn to come back, they scurry for cover.This (grumpy-looking) chap, is nearly

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1131230924795009142005-11-06T08:48:00.000+10:002005-11-06T08:48:44.870+10:00

Guambat Stew: Pinkos and Greenies

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1131107130678384212005-11-04T22:22:00.000+10:002005-11-04T22:25:30.696+10:00

“The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the worldview and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible. It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought -- that is, a thought diverging from the principles of Ingsoc – should be literally

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1131070803158946562005-11-04T12:11:00.000+10:002005-11-04T12:20:03.180+10:00

I sent the attached letter to my local Councillor, Kim Flesser, date as marked. Despite what residents are beginning to cry out for (see here and here), Brisbane City Council – under the leadership of Lord Mayor Campbell Newman – continues its strategic drift towards assuaging the car driver and a malign acceptance of projections showing growing traffic levels.This city-wide surrender is

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1131071169375763812005-11-03T21:30:00.000+10:002005-11-04T12:26:09.376+10:00

The ability to lie or disclaim responsibility convincingly.The inability to lie or disclaim responsibility convincingly.Don Watson (Weasel Words) defines plausible deniability as: “A political doctrine developed in the 1950s ad applied to CIA operations. Deliberately loose chains of command enable the President and others in high office to deny giving any instructions that have gone wrong.” “The

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1130811840325287772005-11-01T12:19:00.000+10:002005-11-01T23:18:16.580+10:00

Don Watson was ex-PM, Paul Keating’s (aka The Lizard of Oz), speechwriter. As such, he is a one-time purveyor of the weasel words for which he has written a book.To be honest, he was more known as a straight shooter and would only lapse when his boss required evasive action, spin, or to say with ‘absolute certainty’, when he means ‘possibly, maybe not, what do you take this government for?’Not

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1130735153939506732005-10-31T14:58:00.000+10:002005-10-31T15:07:20.406+10:00

On 2 February 1971, the first modern inter-governmental convention on conservation and sustainability was signed in Ramsar, Iran. The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat was an important historical marker, creating a framework for the protection of the dwindling wetland habitats, at the time under rapacious assault from urban coastal

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1130734533397437172005-10-30T14:54:00.000+10:002005-11-01T23:31:25.860+10:00

A young Australian man, Tuong Van Nguyen, faces death by hanging within weeks, after final pleas for clemency have been unsuccessful.The Australian government, as an opponent of capital punishment, is obliged to do all it can to ensure that the death sentence is not carried out.Nguyen was caught red handed at Singapore Airport with 450g of heroin strapped to his body. He cooperated fully with the

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183744.post-1130622806779393062005-10-30T07:44:00.000+10:002005-11-01T23:34:16.163+10:00

Brisbane and South East Queensland appear to have ridden out the latest water crisis. A dry summer in 2004-05 and little substantive rain throughout the winter, coupled with Brisbane residents’ traditional profligate use of water, had seen dam levels plummet.Level 3 restrictions were just a week away from imposition, before some early summer rain in the last two weeks rescued us from the 30% dam

Andrewnoreply@blogger.com0