It goes without saying that all of these folk could just as easily prefer a sensible, small spending government that was frugal with taxpayer funds. Right?
The Australian finally gets the information on the ABC salaries: “ABC spares no expense”
| Mark Scott | $678,940 |
Tony Jones | $355,789 |
Juanita Phillips | $316,454 |
Quentin Dempster | $291,505 |
Richard Glover | $290,000 |
Jon Faine | $285,249 |
Leigh Sales | $280,400 |
Barrie Cassidy | $243,478 |
“The ABC received $1.03 billion of taxpayer funds last financial year, of which $465 million was spent on wages, superannuation and other entitlements.”
The culture is obvious. The ABC show their respect for the taxpayer… by fighting doggedly for years in court to hide the details of their taxpayer funded salaries from legitimate FOI’s. Now that they’ve been leaked, Mark Scott has apologized to the public his staff and promises an investigation into how it happened. (Imagine taxpayers finding out how their money was spent!)
Remember Richard Glover? He gets paid $290,000 for insight like this:
“Surely it’s time for climate-change deniers to have their opinions forcibly tattooed on their bodies”. – June 6, 2011
It’s not like you can pick up that kind of ill-informed prejudice at any ol’ university refectory for free eh?
But seriously, it takes money to fund hatred on a mass scale. And where in the private sector could they find it?
So what happens when a single advertiser doesn’t just buy out all the ads, it buys the whole media outlet? Could it be that a culture of confirmation bias develops that’s invisible to those within because no one, literally no one of influence at the organisation has any interest in critical analysis of the fount of the funding? There is no one in-house to point out the Keynsian flaws, no one to remind them of the broken window fallacy. No one whose self-interest aligns with the taxpayer. It’s not about a political party per se, it’s about big-government versus small. (Though we all know which parties are more likely to deal out generous cash and conditions to the government media, and hobble the private competition.)
To say the bleeding obvious, the ABC is entirely dependent on government funding, and it very much serves their self-interest if voters also find big-government appealing. How handy then, that they also have the tools to try to influence voter opinions? Likewise, in the culture war against taxpayers who protest, other co-dependents make for useful compatriots. It’s in the ABC’s interest to promote groups who will themselves lobby ferociously for big-government, which will in turn be blindly generous to the ABC. Co-dependents that spring to mind are irrational academics (the more irrational the better), useless industrial firms (e,g. renewable generators) and fake free markets, all of which only exist thanks to government whim.
Andrew Bolt describes just how insidious the growth is — in May a private group set up Polifact, to fact check on politicians. At the same time Labor gave money to the ABC to do the same thing. Six months later, and the independent group is going out of business, but the government controlled group rolls on. How is the public served when their tax dollars are used to replace tasks that the private industry was happy to do? That’s a forced payment for a media “check” that is dependent on the government, versus a voluntary payment which the voter can retract at any time if they don’t think the media check is serving them?
To put a fine point on it — In the same week the ABC cry foul at having their salaries leaked, the ABC promotes a politically hot (but obvious) story about our government doing what all governments do (which is spy on their neighbours). The information has been available for six months yet somehow is released only at a time most inconvenient for the new slightly-smaller-government team in the midst of delicate negotiations. Who knows, perhaps it’s just a coincidence, and perhaps half those pictured above were delighted the Conservatives won?
H/t to David, Dave and AndyG: There is a petition to Privatize the ABC.
We have every right to know what these traitors are paid as we pay their wages through taxes.
Everywhere I go in cyberspace everyone is absolutely disgusted in the ABC.
I don’t view or listen to the ABC so why should I contribute through my taxes?
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It’s not only a problem for Western World national broadcasters. It’s a problem that is spreading to almost all Western media. Yesterday’s major right side free and classic liberal press is today more like yesterday’s marginal radical Marxist press. I fear we have a generation of journalists that are lost in a narrow political agenda. And when I hear or read them I simply stop reading or listening. The problem with national broadcasters is that you have to pay for the narrow political propaganda even if you see trough it and can’t take it.
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Tony Jones makes me cringe and then vomit. I really cannot put into words how much I despise that thing called him. But really now; how does the ABC get away with such far left propaganda as Q and A? The ABC should be completely non-bias, but it is not. The ABC is in no way a reflection of the voting public. The far green left of the ABC applies to a small percentage of Australians. It really should be shut down and overhauled. Can Mr Abbott do this? Yes please!
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It certainly plays strongly in to my theory that 97% of AGW advocates are in some way on the public purse.
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97% is probably a little on the low side.
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“But really now; how does the ABC get away with such far left propaganda as Q and A?”
Answer: because they have hijacked democracy and there is no mechanism but one to stop them. The one? That is to strangle them financially until the observe both the letter and the spirit of their charter. Will that happen – no it won’t.
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That leaves strangling them financially or just getting rid of them.
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Perhaps that far left group could fund it to keep it going? Smokin Joe is looking for waste so he should make supporting the ABC a voluntary opt in.
Then let’s see if those smug lefties can command those salaries in free competition outside their little nursery school!
30
the ABC broadcast a report on national television about the Queensland govt. allowing the resumption of logging in cypress and western hardwoods. They finished the segment with video of clearfelling in an exotic pine plantation together with audio of a govt. official explaining that active management of native vegetation was beneficial. I complained to the ABC. They said they didn’t have any relevant video and had no time to find any, but the story was balanced anyway. I complained to Australian Communication Management Authority. They agreed there was a factual error in the report, but said it was of no consequence. I complained to the Commonwealth ombudsman. They decided it was all OK. Taxpayers are funding an out of control green propaganda machine.
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The implosion of the “intellectual” (or should that be ineffectual) left is the real story here. In blatantly unloading their collective angst against Abbott in a transparent attempt to discredit him, they are actually making it patently obvious where their affiliations lie, and their serial ignoring of the tenets of their charter is losing them the credibility by the bucket load that they once enjoyed without question.
Their collective hubris of assuming that they are smarter than their target audience, or the common man in the street, and can put one over on them has been their undoing and the fall out of their actions will eventually swallow them up. This latest revelation/leak is merely one further nail in their coffin. Once the public at large lose trust in a journalist’s objectivity, they can never regain that trust, no matter what they do as an act of contrition.
So, it appears that the election of Tony Abbott is a gift that keeps on giving, much as I predicted it would. His singular talent for inspiring irrational, self-defeating behaviour in his adversaries is approaching mythical proportions.
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His development from that latter years of the Howard era to now has been truly amazing. My respect for him grows daily as he continues to display the qualities you would expect from someone who did his apprenticeship under Howard.
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Moments ago, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the Carbon Tax.
This was an important vote for Australian families – because the repeal of the Carbon Tax will create a stronger economy with more jobs and will save families $550 a year on average.
The people have voted against the Carbon Tax and now the House of Representatives has joined them.
The repeal of the Carbon Tax will now go to the Senate. It will be up to the Senate to respect the will of the people and vote to scrap this job-destroying tax.
If Labor decides to vote against the repeal in the Senate, it will be clear proof that Labor hasn’t changed under Bill Shorten.
I want the repeal of the Carbon Tax to be passed by Christmas – and to give Australian families and businesses the help they need.
Regards,
Tony Abbott
Prime Minister
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The problem, Winston, isn’t Abbotts adversaries. Abbotts biggest problem is his friends, namely, one Malcolm Turnbull, who has the power – as the communications minister – to hobble the ABC BUT HE WON’T. In fact he’s probably quietly and subversively encouraging Scott and the ABC.
Turnbull would be a very happy chappy at the moment, what with all the problems Abbott is juggling. His wish would be for an early grave error and exit by Abbott, clearing the way for what he wanted all the time, the Prime Ministership.
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I don’t think Abbott is under any illusion that Turnbull is a “friend” in any definition of that word, and quite frankly I think Abbott has it all over Turncoat for intellect, cahones and clout where it matters.
I’ll wager that this current controversy, when it actually plays out to its conclusion, actually consolidates Abbott’s position as P.M, and makes him much more popular not less, with the only proviso that he holds his nerve and deals with the Indonesians sternly but fairly, and in private. I also think it is actually quite smart of Abbott to allow the ego-driven ABC commentariat its head, because the more they sound off the more lunatic they seem, and the only people they convince are those already converted to marxist “socialist” view of the world, and therefore not one potential vote is lost amongst that dwindling demographic. Tony has repeatedly allowed the left to shoot itself in the foot with ill-conceived attacks on him while remaining calm and refusing to be baited, allowing him to gradually overcome an entrenched perception of him based on prejudice against his religious convictions, and a lack of the usual political vice of innate narcissism (which many who lack perceptiveness confuse with “charisma”).
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If you have been listening to the torturous debate in the Lower House this week (and I have). Turnbull’s comments on Direct Action have perhaps been the most damaging counter blows Labour has landed in the whole discussion. Very disappointing that the best ammo the opposition can fire is provided by a member of the Government.
60
Not convinced. Over 30 percent voted for Rudd! And something less than ten percent for the Greens. Almost half the voters were going to re-elect the cesspit dwellers that had wrecked the economy, the environment and the national security.
These raving nutters are half the people you work with. Half the pedestrians. Half the motorists, and almost all the schoolteachers, journalists and academics.
The nation is an utter lunatic asylum.
The ABC is not seen by these deranged clowns as being too leftwing.
by rational people yes. But they are almost a minority.
It has all gone too far. I doubt Abbott can fix it.
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Not quite right.30% voted for Krudd and 7% voted for the Green Nazis.That leaves at least 63% of us with half a brain,who voted for the Grown Ups.These figures would more than likely be a little bit different,if Our ABC had better staff in place.
40
Malcom Turnbull:
“In fact he’s probably quietly and subversively encouraging Scott and the ABC.”
Baa, I think this ABC thing maybe overridden by Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey, remember Joe on Q&A with Tony Jones:
Now Joe has the list of overpaid parasites, and as MV said, if they don’t take advantage of this gift, then it is time to bay at the moon.
He may not privatise it, but he can slash the budget to thread bare, where one of these guys or gals above can do Q&A, the 7.30 Report, the ABC morning show and then a bit of ABC radio in between. They’ll agree, because NO private media company will take any of them, including Fairfax, because they can even pay their bills now.
If they pay the ABC $1.3 billion (or whatever it was) again , then Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey have had their pants pulled down in public by this group of parasites.
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Not sure if this has been posted.
The ABC Board elects the MD. Have a look at this Lefty bunch of twits and their length of tenure and you will get an insight into why the ABC is a continuing Left wing cause’s propagandist:
Spigelman is the Chairman…enough said.
If you have a strong stomach you may like to view the current Board membership see URL below.
Here’s a little appetiser:
Appointed Managing Director for a five year term from 5 July 2006.
Reappointed Managing Director for a five year term from 5 July 2011.
Under Mark Scott’s leadership, the structure and operation of the ABC has been transformed and the ABC’s services and reach have been dramatically expanded. The ABC has established a reputation as Australia’s leading digital media innovator during this time. He has also led a shift within the organisation from a process-based culture to one that emphasises the values of Respect, Integrity, Collegiality and Innovation.
Before joining the ABC, Mr Scott served 12 years in a variety of editorial and executive positions with Fairfax Media, Editorial Director of the Fairfax newspaper and magazine division and Editor-in-Chief of Metropolitan, Regional and Community newspapers.
http://about.abc.net.au/who-we-are/the-abc-board/
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Abbott should use this as an opportunity to fire a round or two across Turnbull’s bow. He shouldn’t even consult the treacherous Turnbull on this matter, just step on and over him.
20
Man, you can write well Winston.
30
Fairfax and the ABC are truly anti- Australia. They will not stop until they have ruined the Abbott government and our reputation. The Labour party is a disgrace when it comes to Australia’s security. Our foreign aid to Indonesia should be reduced by 1 million dollars for each person they encourage to illegally enter Australia via Indonesia.
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It’s like paying someone to bash you round the head, the ABC that is.
Fairfax can do what they like as they are a commercial operation that answers to its shareholders. Speaking of shareholders…I wonder how a certain shareholder feels about Fairfax basically practising sedition through encouragement by one of its scribes for Indonesia to put 50,000 people on boats and send them here?
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Every time I hear one of these cretins mouth off, a wonderful quote comes to mind “stupid is as stupid does”. Guess who.<:o)
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i’ve been having my say on ABC salaries in the previous thread, but will note this one – my capitalisation:
19 Nov: ABC Lateline: Super El Ninos TO BE more frequent
Australian climate scientists have discovered that a new extreme weather pattern they’re calling a super El Nino IS LIKELY to strike Australia twice as often…
Scientists say THEY COULD become more frequent with continued global warming…
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3894787.htm
the sheer arrogance and vanity of ABC personnel on full display:
20 Nov: ABC: Mark Scott promises investigation after The Australian leaks ABC salary details
ABC managing director Mark Scott has apologised to staff over the release of individual pay details by The Australian, calling the figures “wrong and out-of-date”, and vowing to investigate how the newspaper obtained the information…
(HUH?) Mr Scott says it is unfair that ABC staff alone should have their salaries revealed, while other media companies have no such requirement, and doing so puts the corporation at a disadvantage…
“The matter of whether ABC staff salaries should be publicly disclosed was subject to debate and a special ‘in-camera’ hearing by a Senate Committee some years ago,” he said in the email.
“Whilst the public might be curious about what particular on-air talent earn, the ABC operates in a highly competitive media environment.
“For the ABC to be the only media organisation where salaries are revealed puts us at a significant disadvantage to our competitors.”
He told ABC 774’s Jon Faine the figures show in general that high-profile staff are not overpaid compared to their commercial counterparts, and the release will be seized on by competitors keen to lure away ABC talent…
“I’m concerned that this gives people like David Gyngell a list, a target, and it hurts the ABC’s ability to attract and retain talent.”…
News Corp has defended the release, with a spokesman saying that as the ABC is a publicly-funded institution, the public is entitled to know details of individual salaries.
But the president of Community and Public Sector Union, which represents ABC staff, says the release is motivated by commercial interests, and News Corp is attempting to reduce the ABC’s funding.
“News Corp of course is trying to make people pay for online content so there’s a clear commercial interest here for the ABC’s competitors to try to reduce ABC’s level of funding,” Michael Tull said.
“The only thing that really comes out of the disclosures is the reality that the ABC is paying its top online talent much less than they could earn in a commercial world.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/hits-back-at-leaked-abc-pay-details/5104472
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Quote Scott: “calling the figures “wrong and out-of-date”
You mean they have taken wage cuts since?
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If only someone would lure John Faine away. Even if he was paid $1/day it would be far too much. I am sure that he knows that. Unfortunately I think that we are stuck with him until the Almighty calls him away.
60
Prime Minister Abbott, now caught out in the infamous time travel spying saga, should immediately go cap in hand to the Indonesian Government, sending this group of people to apologise.
Ex PM Kevin Rudd, ex Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, ex Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, and his replacement, ex Defence Minister John Faulkner, and ex Foreign Minister Bob Carr.
Money could be saved on the return airfares, as at the same time this apology is being delivered Kevin Rudd can present his papers as the new Ambassador to Indonesia.
And for heavens sake, have someone shut that Bandt twerp up. I have never seen anyone so clueless (about everything) in my life.
Every time I see his face on TV, I almost expect his opening line to be ….. “Am I on TV yet?”
Tony.
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“Money could be saved on the return airfares, as at the same time this apology is being delivered Kevin Rudd can present his papers as the new Ambassador to Indonesia.”
Or, maybe we could take away their passports and they could seek passage on the next boatload from Indonesia.
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Spot on as usual Tony and the ultimate BS being spruked is that Obama apologised to Merkel. See if you can find evidence of that one trolls and come back here and post it.
They had a private phone call and the left media has turned that into everything from an apology to surrender of the US territories to the EU…. its a disgrace that no one seems to be questioning this oft repeated myth of an Obama apology.
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Well said TonyfromOz. If Bandt is the face of the Greens, it doesn’t auger well for the total intelligence (include life experiences in that) exhibited by Greens as a party. Come on Tony double dissolution get rid of the rest of these pests including Bandt’s nonsensical twin – Sarah Hansen-Young. Hard to distinguish between the pair. And yes – our old Auntie is a just a total left wing dysfunctional organisation. Needs some fresh air. Good idea to send Rudd and Carr to Indo to explain their authorisation of the so-called spying. Everyone spies on everyone else – what’s new? All mobile calls are monitored in Australia – just that the general public hasn’t a clue. Indonesia did it to us over Timor. Short memories. Who initiated this crap with the ABC over Indonesia. KRudd’s last parting shot?
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Tony, I’m sure we could add a few more for the on-way tickets, with passports
confiscated after they clear customs.
Should even be able to stop their pensions as well.
Oh well, we can dream, can’t we.
20
.
Okay folks, enough talk, time for some real action.
I suggest we all set aside an hour – say 8.00pm to 9.00pm local time on Tuesday, December 17 – and spend that hour on our back verandahs baying at the full moon.
.
That’ll teach ’em.
110
I think the person or persons who leaked the salary info above has actually taken far more significant action than merely baying at the full moon.
I think the hypocrisy of the ABC presenters pretence as being of the common flock has been completely shattered by these revelations (even though not surprising to you or I, I’m sure), allowing the public to avail themselves of a more realistic perspective of just whom these ABC personalities truly represent.
Don’t underestimate the damage this has done to their credibility in the eyes of Joe Public, who may have been under the misapprehension that these public servants were receiving wages more commensurate with their market share, not to mention more in the league of the more “well to do” working classes, rather than the corporate executive high flyers.
The cat is firmly ensconced amongst the pigeons, MV, and bloody entertaining it is, just quietly.
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.
I’m afraid you missed my point entirely, Winston.
People have been complaining about ABC bias and lack of accountability for years.
Now, out of the blue, Mark Scott graciously hands the current, so called “conservative” government his head on a platter, along with the opportunity clean out that nest of vipers once and for all.
And the current, so-called “conservative” government is simply sitting back and pretending nothing happened.
If the current, so-called “conservative” government is not going to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to actually do something about the situation, then it’s a pretty fair bet that NOTHING is EVER going to be done about the situation, and you may as well all go bay at the moon for all the difference it’s going to make.
270
See my comment at #4.2 MV
50
.
I agree entirely with your comment at #4.2 above, Baa, but unfortunately the problem doesn’t just stop at Turnbull’s door.
Abbott, or more likely Brandis, as Attorney General, could have, and should have, had Scott arrested under Section 79 of the Crimes Act 1914, along with every other editor and journalist at both the ABC and Fairfax, involved in publishing the documents relating to phone surveillance of Indonesian political figures. Ditto for any members of the boards of either the ABC or Fairfax who could be shown to be have been aware and therefore complicit.
Their conviction and incarceration for up to seven years would have put an end to all this nonsense, if not forever, then at least for the next decade or so. Perhaps even more importantly it would have sent a message to friend and foe alike that we are a country governed by rule of law, NOT by the whim of shit-stirrers.
Instead, we are rapidly becoming the laughing stock of both SE Asian and Muslim nations around the world.
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Nearly four hours in moderation.
For what?
Pointless releasing it now, the conversation has long since passed this point of relevance.
30
MV: Apologies it took unusually long to publish. I don’t know why your comment got caught in moderation. I cannot see any phrases that would set it off. The auto-filter works in mysterious way sometimes, it appears to be an accident. (To put the filters job in perspective there are 4077 comments currently in the spam part of the filter, and that is only since Nov 5th 2013. I am amazed it gets it right as often as it does). If your comment was picked up by a mod they usually leave a note to explain. Unfortunately one unfunded volunteer mod who is normally here to set things free in these hours was away unavoidably tonight. – Jo
[You know, one of the mods with no sense of humour?] -Fly
120
Must have been the “sh…” word. Not do much PC as puritanical . Damn computers, but the moderation filter isn’t as Aus. product is it.?
20
Exactly, MV. Malcolm ‘I’ll cross- the- floor for my carbon trading interests’ Turnbull has a foot in both camps. The classic politician-for-hire.
He’s not the man to reform the ABC, regardless of his constituents’ wishes.
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I wouldn’t like to spoil my unblemished record in missing points, MV!
Pulling the pin on the ABC budget would obviously seem justified and a no brainer for a conservative government being attacked by it on a daily basis, however I’m not sure that the public sympathy that would arouse would be worth the risk. Especially when the ABC are doing quite a good job of destroying their own credibility without Abbott taking any active steps at all. Remember, Gillard called him everything under the sun from misogynist to racist, and it only made her more and more unpopular, while Rudd similarly levelled some low blows while debating Abbott only to eventually appear to the punters as the hollow shell of a human being that he really is.
No doubt the academics will wail, with lots of hair pulling (or is that hair shirt pulling) and gnashing of teeth. Meanwhile, the ever popular Bolta and Miranda Devine and Piers Ackerman and Terry McCrann will continue to point out their hypocrisy and their lack of interest in such trivia as the rising cost of living, the rising tide of ethnic and religious violence in our major cities, the loss of our sovereignty and border security, and other concerns of that unimportant majority of the population, whom they deem should remain seen but not heard. If anything is “done” it will be quietly and without fanfare. Boiling a frog perhaps?
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.
I’m afraid you are STILL missing my point by a country mile, Winston.
However, that is understandable.
A reply and explanation I wrote nearly an hour ago on Baa’s comment above, remains languishing in moderation.
Since there was nothing naughty or offensive in my original reply, I’m disinclined to repeat it.
.
Quite frankly I’m growing tired of the overtly “politically correct” attitude taking over this site.
40
I’ve been accused of many things in my time, Peter, but “politically correct” is a first for me, and you’ve cut me to the quick, sir. My man will contact yours in due course, where I will seek redress with pistols at thirty paces. Consider the white glove symbolically slapped across the cheek, my good man.
Back to the real world, in regard to 9.1.1.1, I think that would be a very high risk strategy when most of Abbott’s media supporters and Liberals in general went very hard (and rightly so) against Finkelstein and his media control watchdog. Now, I know that using existing legislation to protect the national interest is different, but I don’t think it would be perceived as different by the general public, and would therefore lose Abbott far more than he could possibly gain by enforcing it. As much as I would like to see what you propose enacted, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
90
Winston,
The “politically correct” comment was aimed at the moderation, not at you.
60
Winston, MV.
Have you considered
1. The ABC Budget is less than 0.3% of the overall budget
2. Doing nothing keeps his enemies in one spot (and off the streets)
3. Abbott can claim to be tolerating free speech (until such time as suits him)
4. They are shooting themselves in the foot
5. Brandt and Christine get public exposure (which could be read as exposed in public).
6. The National Party will want to defend the ABC (because so many of their supporters have little choice and some of its services e.g. disaster information)
7. Some people in the ABC aren’t going to be pleased by the salaries that some others are getting.
All he has to do is let the ABC continue until such time as their support is lower than their ratings. I think that what could happen then is a split into Radio National which does overseas and local broadcasts (esp. country) with services such as disaster info. and parliament? and Their ABC which contains the ecoloons and can broadcast all it likes on the lower power channels (which will cover the inner cities).
50
Winston,
How the “general public perceives it” (and I disagree with you on how they would), is entirely irrelevant. A major, serious law relating to national security has been deliberately broken for no better reason than to embarrass the current government, and if no action is taken then those dwindling few of us who still believe in the rule of law may as well pack up and migrate somewhere else.
Regardless of how the “general public perceives it” today, I can assure you they will “perceive it” very differently if a hotel in Bali full of Aussie tourists gets blown up in the next few weeks, as “retaliation” for our alleged spying. It is because “public perception” can change in the blink of an eye, that we have written laws, rather than mob rule.
.
Section 79 (1c) of the Crimes Act makes it unlawful for a person to “communicate” the contents of a document to a person who they “ought to know” is not authorised to receive the contents of that document (emphasised words straight from the legislation).
The law makes no distinction between the first person (Snowden), the middleman (The Guardian), or the last person (Mark Scott and the ABC). ALL are guilty of the offense of having “communicated” the contents of a document that they “ought to have known” should only have been communicated to a person authorised to receive it. That’s the purpose of the “TOP SECRET” stamp at the top.
.
There is no “public interest” defense, as Mark Scott is attempting to claim. It is unlawful in this country for the government or its agencies to spy on citizens, without going through a court approval process. And yet that was exactly what was outlined in the original Snowden leaks, and the ABC showed precious little interest in that story. Probably because it started under the Fraser government, and continued unabated and with the full knowledge of the subsequent Hawke, Keating, Howard, Rudd and Gillard governments. No anti-Abbott mileage there.
Conversely, it is perfectly legal in this country for our government and its agencies to spy on other governments and their agencies, that’s why we have “spies” goddammit. Releasing details of these activities threatens national security, the security of Australian citizens both abroad and at home, and was done solely to embarrass the current Abbott led LNP government. That’s why there are laws against it.
If Abbott and the LNP government let Scott, the ABC, Fairfax and the Guardian Australia walk away scot free from this, then they may as well all admit they are no longer running the country, resign, and all go home.
In future we can let the editorial staff of the ABC make all the political decisions.
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Graeme No3
You posted while I was writing.
My rant above to Winston applies equally to your comment.
It’s irrelevant what might be “expedient” for Abbott and the LNP.
A major law has been broken, with possible serious, even fatal consequences.
If that is not going to be addressed, immediately, because of the conflicting interests of political expediency, then the rule of law no longer exists and we may as well crown Mark Scott Dictator of Ozland, and be done with it.
90
Winston, I’m one of the people somewhat surprized by the salary sizes and your comment
hit a chord in me. I have a doctor friend at a Newcastle hospital who earns ~$200k p.a. who is expected to perform with clinical correctness to maintain his position so it irks me that a mere TV personality could earn so much more yet have little accountability to those who pay their wages (us).
Suddenly, I no longer see these TV people as being “of my flock” and it is evident that the ABC is unhappy with the revelation too.
The other side to this is that we need to pay a high price to get good quality and committed journalists and they probably pay half their salaries as income tax. I’d not want to ditch the ABC but make changes to the under-lying creed of the organisation so that it could better reflect the whole cross-section of Australian Society.
20
MV, the 18th will be better as it is ‘full’ then.
It’s like sacrificing virgins or paying carbon(sic) taxes.
Rituals are for followers & must be adhered to!
60
btw if the salary figures are out-of-date as Scott says, does that mean the salaries are even higher than what was published?
230
Possibly explains why the ABC was topped up by Labor this year.
151
Yes, according to The West, John Faine is now over $300k per annum:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/19925338/abc-probes-leaking-of-journos-salaries/
This “non-story” sure grew legs quickly.
140
do you think Faine, or any of these ALPBC spruikers, would be employable outside the ALPBC?
51
Knobody would touch them with a barge pole.They are,after all the bottom of the barrel.
30
Funny thing is these same ABC parasites promote social activism and support all those who want to denigrate our Prime Minister, but are only too quick to appeal for his assistance when their followers are arrested for piracy in Russia. I’d have thought that they would encourage time to absorb the real nature of socialism. Pathetic the lot of them.
232
Russians did us a favour to snaffle these “untouchables”. Pity the rest of the Greens weren’t on the boat as well. Five years in Siberia may slow down their other cohorts around the world. Hooray for Putin.
242
Can’t agree with you more Boris. We seem to have a predominance of Greenies in the “handout state” or better known as Tassie. Given that this is the coldest part of Oz maybe Minister for Immigration Scott Morrison could encourage some of these “no nonsense Russian comrades” (many named Boris no doubt) to migrate to the “Apple Isle” and endeavour to change the cultural line of thinking in Tassie, ie weed out the parasitic “Untouchable Greenie” types like Brown & Milne.
71
I think my “tired looking Greenie” logo is somewhat incongruous to the “real me” who in fact detests Greenies and is usually quite alert. I quite like your logo Boris – very scary & intimidating – it would make an excellent image for a new product that should be marketed in Oz – “Greenie Remover” – guaranteed to work or your money back.
70
As a Tasmanian, this ecoloon is embarrassing on many levels. Firstly, he does not have the intelligence to work out that f you don’t want to be locked up in Russian prison then don’t trespass on a Russian owned oil rig.
Secondly, he obviously has little love and respect for his wife and daughter, because if he did he would be doing his bit to care for his family instead of committing criminal acts 16,000 kms from home in a feeble attempt to disrupt 1% of the world’s oil supply.
Thirdly, he is a big fat hypocrite. If you look at the footage they are powering along the sea in rubber/polymer boats with steel, aluminium outboards burning petrol, in their gortex Stomry Seas jackets and slave labour produced nike shoes.
80
Anyone looking for a passionate advocate for their cause, please note I will happily promote your fantasy for around half the lowest number displayed above. Just drop me a PM and we will work it out.
Right now Im stuck with advocating a position that labels me a “crank” in most circles and Im not making a damn thing, so please, cut me a break and make an offer.
110
Safety I replied @ #14 aaarrggghh.
Stupid computer……operator.
50
I’m so glad this is out in the open – just as it should be.
It’s time for the ABC to go. Permanently. We don’t need traitors, we need proper reporting. We also want these traitors to go to court and to go to jail.
All counted together, the damage their years of propaganda, hatred and lack of respect for our national security has done to this country is enormous. They have to be held accountable! Treason is a serious offence.
Shame on them all for becoming enemies of the people for a buck, shame on them all for selling out Australia.
201
Well Safety at least your an honest “crank” 🙂
“Rich people are eccentric poor people are crazy” and that’s the way it is.
81
Ahh…. they call that “perspective” don’t they?
40
Yes as a crazy person I see a lot of perspectives blurred with “opportunity” and “principles”. 🙂
40
Everyone please note that the policy of the Liberal Democratic Party is to get rid of the ABC: http://ldp.org.au/index.php/policies/1146-deregulate-and-privatise
112
Pat at #9,
I think you’ll find these are are the base salaries for each as they all are on the speaker circuits in Australia especially.
With one group called Claxton Speakers International most of the above are on the list, except for Barrie Cassidy, Quentin Dempster and Mark Scott. But these others ask for large fees as follows:
A: $0 – $3,000
B: $3,001 – $5,000
C: $5,001 – $10,000
D: $10,001 – $15,000
E: On Application
Tony Jones is E
Leigh Sales is C
Jon Faine is D
Juanita Phillips is B
Richard Glover is E
Now you can see how much extra they make per year from the speaker circuit. Many of these appearances are at Universities and Government Bodies. Paid by us again. The ABC should provide these twerps FOC with the amount of money they make now.
With Leigh Sales for example, the following shows she’d make a good extra bob or two on this gravy train:
Any blooddy wonder they didn’t complain about the increases in electricity, gas, goods etc after the CO2 tax, all of them would consider these small change. I think it’s time for a good shakeup.
281
And let’s not forget the National Press Club who book these highly paid parasites:
1. Vice President – Misha Schubert ex-National Political Editor for The Sunday Age, and a regular commentator on ABC TV’s Insiders.
2. Treasurer – Tony Melville Former ABC News journalist and Foreign Correspondent.
3. Director – Lyndal Curtis – her blood type is ABC Left.
4. Director – Katharine Murphy is national affairs correspondent at The Age.
5. Director – David Speers Political Editor of Sky News Australia.
6. Director – Mark Kenny Chief Political Correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.
Amazing how the ABC give these guys plenty of air time on Insiders, and then the ABC staff get invited to the Press Club. A self feeding parasitic arrangement, but sucking the blood of taxpayers.
The ABC gets free adverts for News24 on the home page, plus all broadcasting is held by the ABC – National Press Club.
210
If the ABC was a commercial enterprise, I would have no problem with their obvious far – left bias.
But not when I’m helping to pay for propaganda in my name, thanks very much.
It’s way past time that our government started listening to the people that voted them in and had a purge of these rusted – on zealots.
231
ABC and Fairfax lefties. They hate their species and it’s achievements, they hate their nation, they hate their history, they hate their flag. They are self-hating human beings, self hating Australians. If only they would disappear up their own hate filled fundament it would all make sense.
151
Im trying to start my own movement. Here’s what I want…
An ombudsman to be appointed to regulate the ABC on truth accuracy and transparency.
Annual auditing of truth, accuracy, and transparency by the new ombudsman. ABCs chairman’s remuneration and tenure to be linked to the KPI
Open access to the ABCs resources, particularly the fact checking unit by the rest of the media and the public.
Reduced protection against lawsuit in line with the rest of the media. ABC to be responsible for damages that broadcast misleading information and withholding/omission of information causes.
131
Maybe they could use the TIO method and fine the reporter/ABC per complaint.
Complaints-handling within the TIO ranges from level one to level four. When a customer first complains, the telco is charged $31 for a level one complaint; however, the cost sharply increases to $260 for level two, $475 for level three and $2250 for level four.
50
Something like that. The point being that the ABC is a protected species a delinquent teenager that need consequences applied when they lie or cheat. Consequences are what keeps us all in line, eg… if Johnny drinks all the juice, then there will only be water to drink.
40
I don’t doubt that there is little difference across the Tasman. TVNZ pay their evening news show hosts to continually spout CAGW vapours. This evening it was suggested, possibly tongue in cheek (but one ever really knows with these idiots) that global warming was causing more heated anger in the population, which coupled with Christmas alcohol consumption was a perfect admixture for domestic violence.
Watching and listening to this whilst working out on a cross trainer in the gym, I am proud to say I nearly broke the machine.
170
Can’t watch TV1 or TV3 ‘news’ without shouting at the ignoramuses presenting their left wing one-eyed biased fact-free view of the world.
My wife thinks it’s hilarious.
160
I am sorry to say that these ABC salaries are almost laughable when compared to those of similar positions in its sister organisation the BBC.
Both the ABC and the BBC are unaccountable super-bureaucracies, where left wing ideologies rule. Because the Augean Stable is never cleaned out, the chief bureaucrats become ever more concerned with their own remuneration and internal empire building than providing an unbiased, high quality, public service.
The latter concept of ‘unbiased, high quality, public service’ always falls out of fashion whenever a Labour/Labor Party administration comes to power.
160
Must be something in the water in Australia.
Here in New Zealand we have a rabid left wing ‘green’ television station, TV 3, which is owned by ‘MediaWorks New Zealand’ and in turn owned by an Australian company called ‘Ironbridge Capital’.
100
Just the usual parasites in our water, but we’re starting to purge it.
Water is a metaphor, right?
30
Ironbridge gets most of its funds from super funds. Those super funds also put a lot of money into “renewables” because they
arewere “movers” in the investment market; driven by subsidies. (Another Germany company renewables, offshore wind parasite, announced yesterday that it’ll ve closing its doors in January because there are no more orders on its books and the outlook has been bleak since 2011.)Ironbridge specialises in “management buyouts” where those previously employed by a company “buy” their former employer when e.g. it’s privatised. However, very little of the cash comes from the former employees buying into the new company; it’s corporations like Ironbridge who fund most of the big purchases. Using, to a large extent, the taxes you’re paying when you’re not paying taxes.
30
I see the Red Thumb is out in force tonight.
74
Green thumb for you!
91
Yes just the one on most replies. Must be Bandt or Richard Glover or someone else over at Auntie with nothing to do.
101
There would be hundreds of people in Australia with equal or greater talent than this sorry lot of never-wazzers; people who would work for a fraction of these salaries, or even just for the work experience and exposure, with the aim of getting a paying job on the commercial networks sometime later.
Abbott said a while back that the privatisation of the ABC was not on their agenda. Well, enough exposure of the bias, the waste and the huge salaries and it may well just end up appearing on that agenda after all. They’ll get plenty of flack from the luvvies, but if they know it to be a popular move with the general public they will be right onto it.
140
Maybe privatisation is not on the agenda.
What about total defunding, selling off the assets and cancelling pensions for persons convicted of treason?
60
On change.org there is a petition going to privatise the ABC.
90
Link please.
20
Andy,
Just did it.
https://www.change.org/petitions/tony-abbott-privatise-the-abc-2
They need 99,520 signatures.
30
http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-privatise-the-abc-2?signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share
This is one change.org petition I will DEFINITELY sign. !
31
Here’s a test of ABC transparency.
There are frequent assertions that Britain’s BBC has a lot of green dollars invested in its pension schemes, with the obvious inference that reporters are loath to say bad things for the profitability of their pension scheme.
Would the ABC answer if it is in a situation like this?
More broadly, is the ABC aware of any significant arrangements that might compromise its neutrality on any issue?
150
Both the ABC and BBC coverage of the ‘Arctic 30’ has been disgraceful. None of these eagle-eyed journos have spotted that the arctic sunrise could easily have carried 40 or fifty more greens, or that the Russian policy on boat people is much more severe than the Aussies.
80
The ABC has become a biased, propaganda machine for the Labor party. The spying scandal shows just how far they’re prepared to go in putting their hatred of Tony Abbott ahead of the National interest. The material concerned was made known to them in June but they held on, releasing it only after Abbott became P.M. They rarely mention the spying occurred on Rudd’s watch! I used to be their biggest fan now I wish Abbott would cut their funding. “My ABC”? What a joke!
141
Email your local Liberal member and Liberal senators.
Let them know just how angry you are about this crap !!!!
112
What wages would you have expected on the open market based on their audience share, gravitas etc that they command?
04
A hat to pass around at the end of each performance?
110
“What wages would you have expected on the open market based on their audience share, gravitas etc that they command?’
One easy way to find out.. PRIVATISE !!!
and ‘gravitas’… seriously???? That’s the ABC you are referring to.
71
These two answers are the ones I expected. At least the predictability is consistent.
012
Gee Aye,
In the media industry market share, while important, is secondary to the direction of market share growth, or otherwise. In the areas where they are supposed to be the market leaders – news, current affairs etc – the ABC’s market share has been dropping for over a decade, as more and more people find their overtly left bias on everything unpalatable.
As for gravitas, perhaps we should ask Chris Kenny?
Or maybe a climate scientist?
.
What wages do I think ordinary, reasonable people would be prepared to pay for this kind of crap?
Let’s just say if ABC staff were street buskers, they would be very hungry street buskers.
Or, put another way, what’s 50% of SFA?
90
I didn’t say anything about whether they possessed gravitas or how much but just offered it as a suggestion of the sorts of attributes might contribute to their value. I could have said popularity, sense of humour, future potential etc etc. I was about to write a pithy comment that Jimmy Giggle is not paid for gravitas, but actually he commands much respect among 2-6 year olds
It is clear from comments here that posters have no idea of what is paid for such people in this industry and think it good enough to just lampoon the ABC in lieu of having anything insightful to write. Like everyone else who does a job, they get a wage and I think it is probably about the pay you’d expect (and no one here has presented anything that suggests otherwise). This is therefore a trivial component of any debate about whether the ABC should exist or not.
011
“These two answers are the ones I expected”
Oh, so you are not quite as stupid as I thought I were.
60
A person should get paid less for working in a closed workshop than in an open market.
80
so, do they?
06
GeeAye,
You say:
“It is clear from comments here that posters have no idea of what is paid for such people in this industry and think it good enough to just lampoon the ABC in lieu of having anything insightful to write.”
So you couldn’t even be bother looking up the salaries and and classes of announcers and groupings of stations for both radio and TV. Start looking up the stats and you’ll see very quickly that the ABC is indeed overpaid grossly.
To get you started there are for groups of Radio stations (for Jon Faine comparison).
Group 1 stations with a service area population of above 1,000,000.
Group 2 stations with a service area population of above 180,000 to 1,000,000
Group 3 stations with a service area population of above 80,000 to 180,000
Group 4 stations with a service area population of below 80,000.
That’s the starting point and here’s some more to check up GeeAye,
Announcer Class 1 means an employee who in addition to carrying out any of the duties prescribed for an Announcer Class 2 regularly carries out one or more of the following: interviewing, open-line programmes, describing sporting or other events, preparing programmes of a special nature such as documentaries, public appearances (including working from studios open to public viewing) or having responsibility for the production of commercials or musical programmes.
Announcer Class 2 means an employee who is employed on announcing the time of day, playing of records and/or controlling transcriptions and/or making announcements, including reading of news, stock reports or sporting results.
A Class 1 Announcer Award per week is $638.80 or $22.40 casual per hour. Now the increments or pay increases go on the grouping of the station and then rating, and advertising revenue per block. In some commercial stations eg Alan Jones, John Laws etc are the kings and salaries triple that of Jon Faines. Why, but now it’s for you to decide if John Faine were to be poached by 2GB and take Alan Jone’s spot, could he maintain the ratings and maintain the advertising revenue etc.
For TV etc look up the rest yourself.
But, could Jon Faine attract a similar revenue that Alan Jones does for example? Richard Glover $290,000 and Jon Faine $285,249 are in the top 1% of salary for commercial radio in Australia. The average commercial radio announcers Classs 1 is AUD $42,199 per year.
This is exactly the type of question I predicted you GeeAye, would ask.
130
Audience.
Faine ABC??? has an average audience of 15.1 percent(October)
Mitchell 3AW has an average audience of 14.8 percent (October)
Jones 2GB has an average audience of 18.2 per cent (October)
Income generated from advertising per month:
Alan Jones – $3 million in advertising revenue 2GB.
Mitchell – $1 million in advertising revenue to 3AW.
Jon Faine – ZERO revenue – NIL, NADDA, ZIP.
Because audience share reflects both the number of listeners and they time they spend listening, the figures reveal an interesting trend: Faine often has more listeners but Mitchell’s audience listens for longer. The end result for Jones and Mitchell is the majority of the audience listens to the whole show. Faine’s figures indicate only between 20% and 30% full attention.
ABC702’s Adam Spencer, who announced (this year) he was quitting as 702’s morning host, saw his breakfast show increase market share to 12.2 per cent, but is paid pittance in comparison to Jon Faine’s 15.1 per cent.
The salary for each announcer is paid in direct proportion to the income they generate, yet Jon Faine has no KPI or target. Yet is in the top 1% of salary payments.
80
thanks Dave for making a very good attempt and you are right that I did not make an effort to find out anything. I don’t apologise for this as I don’t actually care that much about the answer but clearly many here do but they seem to know the answer without knowing the data. So thanks for some data.
The ABC is not (meant to be) a profit making organisation. Is Tony Jones (surname coincidence not intentional) an equivalent to Alan? Is 10% fair rate if money is not being returned to the investor by the broadcaster.
What shout Giggle and hoot be paid?
07
Do we want a public broadcaster to earn money from private enterprise?
RRR and XXX do it… can the ABC?
16
also… just on Alan jones and the 3 million. It is not just AJ sitting in a chair producing that income with non other costs. JF costs money top make no money but AJ spend money to make 3M. I have no insight into what the real amounts of profit are but lets at least not pretend that your numbers are the bottom line.
06
GeeAye,
Why didn’t you ask this in the first place:
“Do we want a public broadcaster to earn money from private enterprise?”
Then you say:
“The ABC is not (meant to be) a profit making organisation.”
GeeAye, Why can’t you just express your blooody opinion for once, instead of these convoluted blooody mind games. You ask questions not even bothering to find the answer, because your opinion is fixed.
Why is the ABC not a profit making organisation?
The Defence Force is not a profit making organisation.
ASIO is not a profit making organisation.
But the ABC doesn’t consult either on releasing details of Australia’s security operations.
Is the ABC now beyond all other non profit making government departments. Please refer to MV’s comments above which you so far have avoided like the plague.
You finish with this gem:
GeeAye, How can you have no insight into the $ profits, yet form an opinion on the bottom line. You’re making all this up as you go along. Why?
90
sheltered workshop
40
ok, sorry 🙁
.. sheltered workshop.. 🙂
51
SFA. is the answer
41
I certainly wouldn’t give Snow Cone for his paltry amount of work in an average week,more than the PM of the country earns, when he is expected to be on duty 24/7 according to leftist reporters.
20
It’s hard to believe Leigh Sales gets paid $280k+ to do softball interviews with Tony Abbott.
Some mildly interesting Tweets …
For the finalé we have John Faine true to form.
Listener:
Faine on 774 Melbourne:
You can see he’s worth it for the charm alone.
140
WOWEE!!!
20 Nov: Washington Post: AP: Turmoil at UN climate talks as question of who’s to blame for global warming heats up
An old rift between rich and poor has reopened in U.N. climate talks as developing countries look for ways to make developed countries accept responsibility for global warming — and pay for it.
With two days left, there was commotion in the Warsaw talks Wednesday after the conference president — Poland’s environment minister — was fired in a government reshuffle and developing country negotiators walked out of a meeting on compensation for climate impacts….
The question of who’s to blame for climate change is central to developing countries who say they should receive financial support from rich nations to green their economies, adapt to shifts in the climate and cover costs of unavoidable damage caused by warming temperatures.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/turmoil-at-un-climate-talks-as-question-of-whos-to-blame-for-global-warming-heats-up/2013/11/20/17a34bf6-51e5-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html
u must check the pic in the above, whose caption is:
(PRECIOUS) Photo Caption: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, right, and Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres, left, talk during a meeting with the Ghana Bamboo Bike initiative, at the UN Climate Conference in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013.
WALK AWAY, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. YOU HAVE LOST ENOUGH TIME, ENERGY & MONEY ON THIS SCAM ALREADY. NOW WE’RE SPOOKING YOU, WITH THE HELP OF A COMPLICIT MSM, INTO WONDERING IF U SIMPLY IMAGINED ALL THE FAKE PROMISES & PLEDGES WE MADE! UNBELIEVABLE.
90
The MD is probably worth his $679,000 protecting the rest of the executive payroll.
Now it has been thrown to the wolves though perhaps he has outlived that usefulness.
50
Way off topic here folks,
Video of cfact session from Poland, Walt Cunningham is well worth a listen but the highlight of the session is the really really intelligent question at the 21st minute posed by the young member of the UK youth climate alliance or whatever.
90
Go direct to stupid question here.
71
The stupid question (if it is one) was handled in a mature informative manner, quite the opposite of the shrill over emotive responses you would get from an AGW zealot, oh and the “science” that she mentions doesn’t exist on this planet.
The other 2 questions on Monckton & government selected scientists are just the usual muck raking fare of todays left wing journalists, thanks for the link I’ll watch the full video later.
70
Jo-
It actually gets worse as UNESCO is basically behind education reforms globally and media and education are considered to be the 2 prongs under the broader heading of cultural communication that can advance the Scientific Marxism push Irina Bokova is now promoting.
So taxpayer paid and pushing an agenda to undermine the prosperity of the taxpayer that funds the taxes. This is a global agenda but this contains quotes from UNESCO’s “Media Literacy and the New Humanism” that would be the ABC’s marching orders. http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/descending-to-a-connected-kleptocracy-via-the-digital-learning-and-climate-change-ruses/
High salaries fit with the UN and OECD wanting tax free salaries. These people want to avoid the personal effects of the policies they advocate for.
70
Wow, from what I’ve read, the Canadian public broadcaster (the CBC) costs about $1 billion per year as well.
But Canada has nearly twice the population of Oz.
Australians really know how to overpay bureaucrats.
90
I have recently returned from visiting my daughter in Sydney. I lived in Aus for twelve years in the 70s and 80s – proud holder of an Aus passport. The difference in the output of the ABC is very noticeable and for that matter my regular newspaper the SMH. Daughter and son in law never watch ABC nor any of their friends and family.
How do the viewing figures of the ABC compare with 7,9,10 etc? From my limited sample it would seem to be poorly.
101
Generally the ABC market share in TV is below any of the others, although lately it has supposedly narrowly eclipsed Channel 10. From various comments from friends and acquaintances I would say that QI and Stephen Fry were responsible for the improvement. But the answer would depend on who does the survey. If it is a ratings agency they rely on how many are watching each, say, half and hour. They are frequently dismissed by the ABC as “biased” in favour of advertisers; quite laughable considering the amount of time the ABC shop etc. gets on the ABC. I think the ABC counts anybody who turns on their channel(s) at all as a viewer. I know that I often view the weather at 7.25p.m. if I’ve missed it on a commercial channel, but please don’t put me down as a supporter of the ABC.
In Radio it varies. A lot of workshops have the ABC going in the background without a lot of attention being paid to any talk. Thus Parliament, Music etc. boost the ABC viewer/hearer numbers without them caring anything about the ABC. People in the country often listen to the ABC for lack of choice or because it is a source of disaster warnings. When it comes to talkback radio they come nowhere.
Let us put it this way; if the staff went on strike it would be weeks before 90+% of the population missed them.
40
Quite right Should the ABC go on strike, I
d petition Big Mal to ensure there was one lackey paid to come in each shift and change the programs, and they could run through the episodes of Scott and Bailey, Luther. Midsomer Murders, Miss Fisher, Waking the dead and Wire in the Blood–any other comers,apart from QI?
It would be a cold day in hell I’ll watch any news or conversational type efforts from “our” ABC,but the drama they buy is a better class than most of the commercials can manage to afford,and I don’t like their gardening show any more unless I need cheering up them I’ll watch the opening or closing credits with the garden gnome they employ as presenter sending me into stitches every time he tries to be serious!.
00
Well at least your ABC grilled our “beloved” ignoramus David Suzuki… something the $1 billion subsidized CBC would never dare to contemplate…
80
We grill our own national treasures too.
I’ve had grilled kangaroo steak twice and last time I was in Sydney I had a kangaroo pizza at Manly. They’re tasty critters when they’re cooked medium.
Emu is good too, but not nearly as tasty as duck and a mango sauce helps.
I’ve never heard of anyone eating koala. That’s going too far.
30
Not being Australian I’m going to display my ignorance and ask, what if any alternatives are there to your ABC? I’m hard put to believe that ABC has a government enforced monopoly.
30
One important alternative is Jo’s blog, writing, and speeches which seem to be quite effective at providing information that changes minds. All without resorting to spending stolen wealth and using the gun of government to suppress alternate views or to suppress the objective evidence that supports those views.
The government does have a monopoly on the “legal” use of force. It uses that force to take the wealth of the taxpayers and use it to sustain only their point of view. Jo does not use force but uses her words and the words of others. In the long run, Jo’s path will win. Even if and especially if the government steps in and uses its power to silence Jo and the rest of us. However, expect things to be quite messy during the process of winning.
80
It has a government enforced monopoly on funding a media service through taxes. The other media companies can’t just help themselves to your income by rifling your bank account and threatening to imprison you if you defend your property, can they? That’s how the ABC is funded.
40
G’day Roy.
There are certainly alternatives to ABC radio. In Sydney, for example, ratings leader radio 2GB has a succession of broadcasters who stick it to the ABC at almost every opportunity. They have provided numerous opportunities for people like Bob Carter to kick down the CAGW house of cards. Alan Jones has had Lindzen on a couple of times and Chistopher Monckton every time he comes to Oz and even from the UK.
Whereas previously, country people had only the ABC, the advent of internet radio has now broken this monopoly. The ABC runs country and farmer interest programs but it’s been a long time since I watched/listened to them. They used to be informative but I don’t know if that is still the case.
With TV the choice is Hobson’s it has to be said. Mostly vapid, vacuous crap. My TV is never switched on before 6:00 pm. We watch the news and some news-behind-the-news programs. Paul Murray on Sky at 9:00 pm is certainly sticking it to the ALP and the Greens at the moment but even he stated that he ‘believes in Climate Change’. Funnily enough, I do too. Just not sure whether he means the same thing.
30
NO, they get plenty of competition. See reply above.
30
Thank you all for the replies.
It would seem that access to the opposing point of view is a hit or miss proposition depending on where you live. I’ll not get into whether the ABC should be shut down since I know everyone here would probably like to see that.
We’ve a similar situation here even though the U.S. press is not beholden to government for anything, except for NPR, National Public Radio, which almost someone listens to — no sarcasm intended, they have only a fringe audience of fanatics and ratings so bad they couldn’t survive on their own. Yet the national TV networks, ABC, CBS and NBC are firmly in the president’s camp. CNN is a little better, having had to clean up its act a lot in order to stop the decline in audience that was killing them. But still there’s no real digging into what government is doing.
The only alternative TV network is Fox News Channel and its cousin Fox Business Channel. Unfortunately the people who most need to hear the other side of the story wouldn’t watch Fox, even on their deathbed if it could save their lives.
Perhaps I should ask, how is Rupert Murdoch’s little venture in Australia doing?
00
There is no room and no need for these dinosaurs.
All these state televisions are a relict of the previous century and need to be drastically reduced or better completely cancelled out.
This will eventually happen with the time, question is only for how long do we allow ourselves to waste huge amount of money yearly & pay such clowns for biased reporting that are viewed only by a small minority.
80
I am not a friend of capping salaries when it comes to private companies that are in the game for a profit. If the money comes from the taxpayer’s wallet, $100k a year should be enough for the top jobs. If they think they are really that talented I am sure the US would be grateful to have them and pay them their old salaries, too.
71
Caught with their pants down, very funny.
They claim they would be paid more elsewhere.
Go ahead, make my day!
150
Is their claim untrue though Bruce?
09
Gee, they would barely make it as used car salesmen !!
70
I don’t know about that. They could apply their current methods quite well at selling used cars.
30
Only if they can stop the punter from seeing the car!
40
Nah, they would just keep jacking the price up to unrealistic levels.
You can’t sell anything that way, except for the totally gullible !
20
I very much doubt any of the commercial stations would pay any of them even half their current salary….IF they would employ them at all.
72
pathetic
27
Yes, they are. !
50
The salaries of TV hosts are publicised all the time, sandilands, doyle, koch, etc. There’s no blue murder when that is made public, but it is when a public funded salary is? Also, they would have a fair idea of what their private counterparts earn, as most people do. I think they are fairly safe from being ‘poached’.
40
Gee Aye: I don’t know, but have they tried to get another job? Do you know?
An observation: Ms Trioli and Ms Wilkinson do similar jobs, the latter gets paid about twice as much. The latter washes her hair before appearing on her show and if she consistently makes a mess of it she is out on her ear.
Need I go on?
40
No please don’t as it didn’t make much sense. Another observation Ms Wilkinson probably has her hair washed for her.
05
And if she did make a mess of it, I’m sure she has ready access to an endless supply of bandanas.
30
GeeAye,
Are you a hairdresser called Tim by any chance?
What amazing powers of observation GeeAye, simply amazing. How do you know this and what percentage of probability do you estimate?
Then the clincher:
Need you go on GeeAye? Absolutely NOT.
I say:
I should say I guess she gets her milk from Woolworths but haven’t got any idea really. But GeeAye, start getting a grip and define your probability guesstimate.
20
Dave.. Gee always has his grip !!!
He needs no encouragement.
30
Who,in their right mind would employ any of them?The Dog Sex act they had on,plus the fowl language on Twitter from one of the so called females,would put paid to that.
30
There is actually nowhere else that would employ these far-left wing nutters.
Fairfax is full, and diminishing. The commercial channels have far better people already.
I suspect that, as you say, they are basically unemployable outside the ABC sheltered workshop.
30
You are joking–which one of the overpaid smug shirts would last one full morning or arvo session on talk back radio that was not in an enclave of leftist and green mantras,as Jones, Hadley, Fordham, Smith et al or even Smith and Morrison lost to the stupid 2ue management, or Melbourne’s Mitchell all do consistently?I bet you will try to argue for Faine,whose role is a soda by comparison,shorter and with no pressure to please anyone let alone paying sponsors!Sheltered workshop fits the ABC to a tee.
20
I think the Fed Gov’t are worried that if they clean out the ABC and SBS,that there will be a massive protest staged by the staff.
Putting a broom through Our ABC and SBS would not work,because the staff could say they are being censored by the Gov’t.
We need to sell off the ABC and SBS.The money saved(1.1 Billion a year)would help the bottom line.
I don’t think the Gov’t realise just how much,we the Taxpayers are sick of this waste.
60
the short WaPo/AP piece i posted last nite has changed drastically & is now quite a lengthy article, but same headline, url:
WaPo: AP: Turmoil at UN climate talks as question of who’s to blame for global warming heats up
Rich and poor nations are struggling with a yawning rift at the U.N. climate talks as developing countries look for new ways to make developed countries accept responsibility for global warming — and pay for it.
With two days left, there was commotion in the Warsaw talks Wednesday after negotiators for developing nations said they walked out of a late-night meeting on compensation for the impact of global warming…
U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern downplayed the dispute, saying American negotiators who had attended the meeting were surprised to hear of a walk-out.
“The meeting ended with everyone leaving,” Stern told reporters…
Also, they say the fact that rich nations, historically speaking, have released the biggest amounts of heat-trapping CO2 by burning fossil fuels for more than 200 years means they need to take the lead in reducing current emissions…PLUS MUCH MORE…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/turmoil-at-un-climate-talks-as-question-of-whos-to-blame-for-global-warming-heats-up/2013/11/20/17a34bf6-51e5-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html
developed countries invented CAGW; historically, developed countries emitted most of the CO2 they themselves claimed caused CAGW. my point is, this is a perfect time to explode the CAGW myth once & for all. once the carbon trading didn’t pan out, the creators of this myth had nothing to lose by feigning amnesia over the promises & pledges they had made to the “poorer nations” they claimed to care so much about, & who they said would suffer most!
Historical total emissions – World Resources Institute
Cumulative CO2 Emissions – 1900-2004
USA: approx 314,772m metric tonnes
China: 89,243m metric tonnes
ETC ETC ETC
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AonYZs4MzlZbdGxwVlFJZzdDbm03QU5TaTBLWWU5bFE#gid=0
Wikipedia: Copenhagen Accord
Developing countries, especially these with low-emitting economies should be provided incentives to continue to develop on a low-emission pathway…
Agrees that developed countries would raise funds of $30 billion from 2010-2012 of new and additional resources
Agrees a “goal” for the world to raise $100 billion per year by 2020, from “a wide variety of sources”, to help developing countries cut carbon emissions (mitigation). New multilateral funding for adaptation will be delivered, with a governance structure.
Establishes a Copenhagen Green Climate Fund, as an operating entity of the financial mechanism, “to support projects, programme, policies and other activities in developing countries related to mitigation”. To this end, creates a High Level Panel
Establishes a Technology Mechanism “to accelerate technology development and transfer…guided by a country-driven approach”…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Accord
21
Abbott should simply pull their funding. A few billion off the deficit would be a welcome improvement to the national fiscal position.
60
20 Nov: Times of India: Vishwa Mohan: Developing nations’ bloc walk out over lack of commitment to climate fund
In a rare show of strength against rich nations, the G77+China Group, comprising almost all developing countries, walked out of the negotiations on crucial Loss and Damage (L&D) issue early Wednesday morning. The move sent a strong message that poor nations are not going to give an elbow space to the US-led group unless they get commitment over financial aid.
Though the Indian representative was not there in the contact group meeting where the discussion on L&D was held through the night at the National Stadium here, New Delhi accepted the decision taken by the G77+China Group…
L&D is a mechanism – coined by developing countries during previous climate conference – where poorest and most vulnerable nations want financial assistance on the premise that they had to suffer losses due to the damage caused by high emissions of greenhouse gases by rich countries during industrialization.
It also refers to their demand that they must be paid for the damage that will occur to life and property from the level of emissions already up there in the atmosphere and that cannot be prevented even by mitigation and adaptation efforts…
The GCF is meant to mobilize $100 billion annually, beginning 2020, for adaptation and mitigation efforts. The developed countries are yet to come out with any timeline for even the Green Climate Fund, leaving the poor nations quite suspicious of the rich nations’ stand.
The walkout came a day after the G77+China had threatened to boycott the negotiations when rich countries stuck to their stand. The move, however, cannot be seen as a complete breakdown over the issue…
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Developing-nations-bloc-walk-out-over-lack-of-commitment-to-climate-fund/articleshow/26110077.cms
have heard nothing on BBC or ABC radio, but Matt McGrath has the following:
20 Nov: BBC: Matt McGrath: Ban Ki Moon gets on his bike at climate talks as Polish minister axed
The conference was also “rocked” by a walkout by delegates from developing countries. They were angry about the crucial issue of loss and damage and during a very late session, they walked out, raging with indignity into the cold Polish night.
Or perhaps they didn’t.
By other accounts, several negotiators did actually walk out, but only to catch the last bus home!
This group of countries, called G77 plus China, in the language of the Cop, were deeply incensed by the richer countries simply refusing to countenance a new arrangement on loss and damage that would see them legally on the hook for the impacts of rising temperatures.
In the words of EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard this concept is a red line for Europe.
“We cannot have a system where there will be automatic compensation whenever severe weather events are happening one place or the other around the planet, you will understand why that is not feasible,” she said…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25025078
Updates:
20 Nov: Reuters: Megan Rowling: Climate loss and damage talks in disarray after G77 walks out
(Updates with G77 rejoining negotiations, U.S. comments)
“Today at almost 4am, the delegation of Bolivia and all the delegates of the G77, walked out of the…negotiation because we do not see a clear commitment of developed (country) parties to reach an agreement. They are proposing solutions or texts that in some cases are not even related to the issue,” said Rene Gonzalo Orellana Halkyer, head of the Bolivian delegation.
The question of whether to establish a new global mechanism has caused deep divisions, because richer nations fear it could be used to make them pay compensation for the consequences of their planet-warming emissions to poorer countries suffering the worst impacts of more extreme weather, rising seas and gradual environmental changes such as desertification…
Civil society experts said Australian negotiators had also caused frustration on Wednesday morning by questioning language on the functions of any new body. The Australians also reportedly came to the meeting wearing T-shirts, ate snacks during the proceedings, and suggested that negotiating so late into the night might be bad for health, according to Ria Voorhaar, communications coordinator for Climate Action Network International.
But the United States disputed whether the G77 negotiators had actually walked out of the meeting…
G77 nations rejoined the loss and damage talks again on Wednesday after a few hours, according to Quamrul Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi negotiator for the least developed countries.
Saleemul Huq, director of the Dhaka-based International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), said the negotiations on loss and damage had been proceeding quite well, with attempts to explore different options put forward by the United States and the Europe Union, until the Australian intervention. “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back at 4am last night,” he told journalists.
Halkyer, the Bolivian official, also noted a proposal by Norway to deal with loss and damage in another United Nations forum, outside of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that underpins the climate negotiations…
Huq said the troubled issue would go to ministers to sort out in the remaining three days of the talks, which are due to end on Friday. But top-level officials from vulnerable, poorer states would not give ground on the establishment of a loss and damage mechanism at the conference, he added…
U.S. negotiator Stern said he thought the talks would find agreement over the loss and damage issue. “I don’t see this (Warsaw) negotiation blowing up over that,” he said. “I think we will find a resolution, but we are still some distance apart.”
http://www.trust.org/item/20131120133536-k1a0s/?source=hptop
with Australia now being portrayed as the baddie, expect ABC to ramp up the coverage!
10
so far, this excerpt (paragraph 11 out of 15)is the only mention of the walk-out i have found on ABC. ABC preferred a micro-story which attacks Australia in virtually every para, ignoring US/EU involvement. expect more though, now we have the scandal of the t-shirts & snacks!
21 Nov: ABC Australian Network News: Marshall Islands hits out at Australia and Japan over carbon target cuts
Many of the world’s smaller economies staged a walk-out of the Warsaw conference this week, after the US, Australia and the EU deferred talk of who should pay compensation for extreme climatic events until after 2015…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-21/an-marshalls-climate-minister-lashes-out-at-australia-and-japan/5106838
10
Not sure how many have caught up with The Australian’s news on the ABC salaries this morning. It reveals the gross differentiation between ABC salaries in Sydney compared with the rest of the ABC’s employees through the rest of the ABC’s empire in the rest of Australia but it sure will have put the fox in amongst the chickens in the ABC henhouse I would think.
I haven’t watched or listened to the ABC for many months now as I am up to here with their left wing lying biased BS. And I use to be an ABC listener only just a few years back
And this is from a member of what the ABC likes to believe and is deluding itself as it’s rusted on older generation.
Quentim Dempster, presenter of Sydney’s 7.30 edition gets $291,000 / year
In WA and SA the presenters of the 7.30 editions get only $111,000 / year for doing the same presentation .
In Melbourne the second most important ABC stronghold, Guy Stayner [ Don’t know or recognise any of these ABC presenters ] got $102,000 in 2011 /12
In the NT the 7.30 edition presenter got just $62,000 or less than an administrative officer in the ABC’s inner Sydney offices.
Oh to be a fly on the wall in the ABC’s inner sanctums when this hits the fan.
Although even flies like to keep out of the way of that sort of flying faeces.
90
The staff at the ALPABC are obviously being paid an amount sufficient to maintain their unwavering support for the general Leftist line. They are being paid far more than they would be worth on the open market as TV or Radio broadcasters. The ABC cries foul when their exhorbitant salaries are leaked, but the ABC promotes a politically damaging story about intelligence released, strategically after the election by The Grauniad. The timing of the release after the departure of Rudd is extremely interesting. The information has been available for six months, but was kept hidden to avoid damage to the ALP.
90
There is no skeptic at the end of a money hose.
80
Surely the Labor & the Green parties are paying back door commissions to these ABC “presenters” for their promotion of them & their causes.
This being the obvious case, we should stop paying them at all. After all we are giving them free access to a national network to use for this promotion of all things left, & surely can expect them to raise their income from this access.
60
If a coal mining company paid a consultancy fee to a TV presenter, there would be hell to pay. But if a green company pays a presenter to promote environmentalism, hardly anyone questions the transfer of money.
110
Money only affects the opinions of skeptics, its a well known phenomena don’t you know.
20
From time to time on Jo’s blog we discuss the question “Why”? As Joanne puts it so succinctly “Why is a good civilisation going to waste?”
There is of course the rationale that the Fabians, the Bilderbergs, the Club of Rome, the Trilateral Commission is engineering the decay. While many dismiss such notions as a conspiracy, I would point out that many in the British aristocracy of the 1930’s thought that Nazi terror was a conspiracy. It’s not a conspiracy when there is no attempt to keep it secret.
Then, of course, there is the proposition advanced by Strauss and Howe; that the political and therefore the economic environment changes seasonally, with each generation. Some very solid reasoning is behind this concept that the behaviour of each generation is moulded by the behaviour of the generation that precedes it. Their tracing of this phenomenon back as far as the Etruscans deserves some pause for thought. By this reaoning, the winter or ‘fourth turning’ began in 2001, and will continue until spring in 2030.
But have you ever considered that the propensity for self governing civilisations to self destruct in a couple of centuries is built into the human psyche? Here is a thought provoking essay that suggests exactly that.
51
I don’t think many realise how the elites think.
Some years back I employed a young Pommy engineering graduate to oversee some shore based work for our marine tourist operation. He was very much one of the Pommy elite, slumming it in the colonies, before getting serious about his future.
He was horrified to find that he was earning less than the senior skippers. It was beyond his comprehension that a skipper who had to have 4 years experience to be eligible for the exams, than another 2 years to be eligible to run the larger, more powerful boats should be so well paid. That the skipper was responsible for 330 passengers had no bearing on his worth.
He could not see how they could possibly be paid more than him, even when he worked 38 house, & the skipper worked over 60 hours, [11 hour days, 6 days] a week for his money.
The belief in his entitlement, & his belief that no common people could be worth what they were paid was almost laughable.
I don’t doubt the AGW scam, among others, is an attempt to stop these common people doing so well. To our elites, this is just a waste of the planets resources, which should always be reserved & conserved for these elites.
100
I’d think about that hasbeen, there are a lot of engineers on this blog, and I’d seriously think about the contributions of those engineer, the next time you travel, over a bridge, drive your car, or need an MRI.
Yes, this may be a case to note, but in the general case Engineers are paid much, much less, than the revenue they generate.
70
Bobi I was talking about a member of the British elite, who just happened to be a recent graduate in engineering, not that he considered as an engineering graduate he thought he had become one of the elite.
The British elite is more an inherited thing than it perhaps is in Oz.
40
As a possible explanation, there is this website from a Melbourne educator: http://whatedsaid.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/assessment-as-learning/ When students are assessed on their reflection and feedback rather than knowledge and ability to use it, you could pretty much bet that things are going to start heading downhill. On the USA side, we have our own education issues: http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/
10
Rod, great reference. The essay made an interesting read. I like the rational attempt to explain the intellectual, aspirational and institutional narcosis of the present moment. I note that the prognosis is not that inspiring but would add that the collective ‘we’ of the English speaking world have demonstrated an ability to haul ourselves back from the brink, at the ninth hour.
10
21 Nov: Australian: Chris Kenny/Nick Leys: Off the books but Kerry O’Brien is still on the ABC tab
PROMINENT ABC presenter Kerry O’Brien has been paid an undisclosed sum through his production company to produce the public broadcaster’s latest political documentary series, Keating: The Interviews.
The ABC, which did not make the arrangement public until inquiries were made by The Australian, has confirmed the documentary series was proposed by O’Brien and then commissioned by the ABC…
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/off-the-books-but-kerry-obrien-is-still-on-the-abc-tab/story-e6frg996-1226764824867#
20
From the ridiculous to the utterly (or is that udderly) farcical.
http://www.france24.com/en/20131119-norwegian-army-goes-vegetarian-diet
30
hilarious, ridiculous?
21 Nov: RenewEconomy: Giles Parkinson: Australia reputation hits new low over t-shirt climate diplomacy
The Australian delegation was accused of blocking all avenues of agreement, placing brackets around any text that was approaching consensus and, worst of all – of wearing t-shirts, “giggling”, and of being “cavalier and insensitive.”…
But in this fishbowl world of the UN-sponsored talks in the National Stadium in Warsaw, Australia has now become the whipping boy of climate politics.
The fact that Australian negotiators were casually dressed at the time is not in dispute (although there seems to be some speculation over whether they were wearing t-shirts or pyjamas! As it turns out, RenewEconomy has seen photos of the meeting, and it is t-shirts). But the fact that it is now used as a lightning rod in negotiations shows how far Australia’s stocks have fallen in the past few weeks…
One EU negotiator questioned whether there was a walk-out, suggesting the meeting was breaking up anyway. But the negotiator said casual wear was not deemed appropriate “out of respect” for the other. Stinky is tolerated, t-shirts not…
Alden Meyer, from the Union of Concerned Scientists and a veteran observer of these talks, said Australia had previously done “a fairly good job” of co-ordinating the Umbrella Group and taking a responsible position.
“I know Justin (Lee, the delegation head) has been trying to be constructive, but for whatever reason they are in a totally different mode of behaviour here,” Meyer said.
“I have seen some pretty bad behaviour over the years, in terms of negotiating tactics and hardball politics – but I haven’t seen people coming with an apparent cavalier attitude.”…
“The US and others have been negotiating at a technical level in good faith. It broke down last night because of the Australians.”
Meyer pointed out that no developed country is in favour on financial compensation on the issue of loss and damage.
“By blocking a mechanism, you are saying you fear that you will be forced into compensation at some point down the road.
“No one is going to able to force the EU, the US, and other developed countries into accepting compensation based mechanism. That is very clear, they are not going to go there, but that is being used as the bogeyman.”…
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/australia-reputation-hits-new-low-over-t-shirt-climate-diplomacy-35074
Crikey presumably carrying same thing under different headline (registration required):
21 Nov: Crikey: Giles Parkinson: T-shirt diplomacy: Australia gives offence at UN climate talks
The UN’s annual climate summit will soon wrap up, and the Australian delegation is under fire for not taking negotiations seriously, blocking progress, wearing T-shirts to officials talks, and giggling. http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/11/21/t-shirt-diplomacy-australia-gives-offence-at-un-climate-talks/
10
I look at that last crikey link.. and I know exactly who the offensive ones really are.
And it isn’t Aussies wearing T-shirts ! 🙂
30
These fools at the UN don’t seem to have gotten the message yet.We know CAGW is Bull-S..t.Why would we care what the other Nations think.
We should stop funding the UN.
20
21 Nov: Irish Times: Frank McDonald: Warsaw climate talks in disarray after group walk-out
Juan Hoffmeister, Bolivian co-ordinator of the G77 group of more than 130 developing countries, said they were walking out of the late-night talks on climate finance after Australia and other developed countries blocked progress on the issue of “loss and damage” from climate change.
There has been widespread condemnation of the “bad behaviour” of Australian delegates, whose new government is planning to dismantle plans for carbon trading. “They turned up in T-shirts and gorged on snacks [during the meeting],” according to Ria Voorhaar, of the Climate Action Network…
But Todd Stern, the US climate envoy, took a more conciliatory line on “loss and damage” at a four-hour ministerial roundtable on climate finance yesterday. Previously, he had appeared to dismiss the concept, on the basis that developed countries were not liable to pay compensation.
US ‘shifts position’
British energy secretary Ed Davey said the US had “shifted its position” on climate change and president Barack Obama and secretary of state John Kerry were now “showing global leadership” on the issue. “That couldn’t be said of an American president before and it’s very, very positive.”
***Mr Davey also announced that Britain would join the US in ending support for new coal-fired power stations anywhere in the world, other than in “rare” circumstances.
“Years ago we were talking about ‘King Coal’. We’re not talking about King Coal anymore,” he told a press briefing…
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/warsaw-climate-talks-in-disarray-after-group-walk-out-1.1601768
10
21 Nov: ABC: AFP: Britain joins US in ending coal power support overseas
***Having powered the economic growth of the West ever since the Industrial Revolution, the biggest rise today is in developing countries with plentiful, cheap reserves.
United States climate envoy Todd Stern “commended” Davey’s announcement, but green groups urged stronger action…
World Development Movement’s Hannah Griffiths: “Until we can cure the private finance sector of its coal addiction, coal will carry on cooking the planet thanks to UK money.”
***The World Resources Institute (WRI) observer group says nearly 1,200 new coal-fired power plants have already been scheduled for development worldwide — more than three-quarters of them in India and China.
http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2013/11/21/3895994.htm
20
21 Nov: ABC: Sara Phillips: Australia dashes G20 climate hopes
Despite their words, there is no evidence that the government takes climate change seriously. This is concerning in the light of the upcoming leadership of the G20.
DON’T BE FOOLED by their fancy words, there is no indication the current government takes climate change seriously…
And still, we’re exporting coal like it’s about to suddenly lose its value. Probably because it is, as Christiana Figueres, the head of the UN climate negotiations reminded us this week.
The balance of fine words against meaningful action tips concerningly onto the side of empty rhetoric. Mr Abbott promises the Direct Action Plan will achieve everything the previous government’s hard-won legislation would have, and more. But with so little other evidence for a commitment to meaningful climate action, his words have a touch of Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s ‘trust me’ about them…
http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2013/11/21/3895364.htm
About the author, Sara Phillips:
Sara Phillips has been an environment journalist and editor for eleven years. Learning the trade on environmental trade publications, she went on to be deputy editor of ‘Cosmos’ magazine and editor of ‘G’, a green lifestyle magazine. She has won several awards for her work including the 2006 Reuters/IUCN award for excellence in environmental reporting and the 2008 Bell Award for editor of the year.
ABC, if this woman is given space, why not Joanne Nova as well?
60
ABC chooses comment #13 out of 18 so that we get to read Genfie’s thoughtful words on their homepage:
ABC Environment Homepage:
Sara Phillips: Australia dashes G20 climate hopes
Comments (18)
“Either Tony Abbott is a blatant liar or is incapable of pursuing policy that supports his stated position on the issue, which makes him a coward.” – Genfie
http://www.abc.net.au/environment/
10
I must say I had to laugh out loud when I heard that the Australian deligation at Warsaw turned up in shorts and t-shirts… Can’t anybody recognise the AU dress code when they see it… So much more environmental friendly than having to wear full suites and have the aircon at max…
Glad the talks seem to be coming unstuck over the real Green’s – i.e. money. It seems we have finally got to the heart of the matter.
50
.
We can only hope and pray they took their Queensland safety boots with them.
50
BTW if you want to see exactly how little anybody cares about COP19 – follow this link to YouTube for ‘warsaw COP19’ over the last week… Most videos are lucky if they break into 10’s – most are single figures. DO NOT watch them – just leave them as they are…
40
I did a bit of quick math about the youtube videos and had it peer reviewed by my counting horse called “Clever Hans”. It turns out that 97% of all youtube users believe that AGW is a scam.
20
Most of them are bog-necks. You need not dig back or look too far to find their common origin.
Apparently they believe the outlandish salaries received generate excellence. Plainly they don’t. Pity their upside down world of partisanship, bias, ignorance and incompetence has been rewarded by monies ripped from intelligent and hard working people.
Let the ABC be defunded, starting in the coming year by 10% and progressively increasing.
This will test the hypothesis that the rest of the media world is just ready to snap up these geniuses because they are so hard done by in the ABC.
40
30
ABC, BoM and CSIRO should all be investigated for their systemic political activities.
The ABC’s activities are the most obvious (being a media organisation) and despicable.
Remember the BoM/CSIRO ‘State of the Climate’ brochure from July 2010 that included blatantly misleading and dodgy assertions and graphics? http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/Climate/Understanding/State-of-the-Climate.aspx
Not to mention the suppression of contrary views from individual CSIRO scientists.
60
They should all be abolished.
These are not proper functions of government, there’s no reason anyone should be forced to fund them, and there’s no way they can be anything but systemically political. They need to stand or fall on their own merits in people’s willingness to fund them. If I don’t want a weather prediction service, why should I have to pay for others to have it? Same with the alleged benefits of CSIRO’s research. If it’s beneficial then people will fund it voluntarily, either directly, or through their consumption of goods whose producers pay for such research. The allegation that such services provide net benefits is mere empty conjuring.
30
Wow! Talk about groupthink.
Now Virginia Trioli thinks she is Michael Rowland.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW8GEn1mffc
30
21 Nov: AFP: Repeal of Australia’s carbon tax moves closer
Sydney — A bill to abolish an Australian carbon tax designed to combat climate change cleared parliament’s lower house Thursday with the new conservative government saying “it doesn’t work”…
“We will be repealing the carbon tax, firstly, because it doesn’t work, secondly, because it destroys our competitiveness and, thirdly, because we gave our word,” Environment Minister Greg Hunt said.
The government claims that removal of the tax would strengthen the economy of Australia, which is among the world’s worst per capita polluters due to its reliance on coal-fired power and mining exports…
Labor opposition climate change spokesman Mark Butler called it a “very sad day for the Lower House of the Parliament”.
“There was a great opportunity here for us to find a middle ground,” he said…
In an email to Liberal supporters after the bill passed, cited by Australian media, Abbott said: “It will be up to the Senate to respect the will of the people and vote to scrap this job-destroying tax … I want the repeal of the carbon tax to be passed by Christmas.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hjald8SNhO4PjO86h9ceKwv-_-mw?docId=58b7c8fc-d721-4293-87b7-1b7057fc5d4d
50
Now the games begin. Australians are not the highest emitters per capita. I had this out with Combet’s office over two years ago, they desisted until Andrew Leigh mentioned it today.
The bills have to be passed by the end of the income year, otherwise we could have an ETS for a year. If Labor does not roll over on this then expect to go back to the polls as this inanity has to be dealt with once and for all.
I’m all for it because I believe it would be the end of the Greens and put Labor on the opposition benches for many a terms.
40
He forgot “Because it’s a fraud on stilts.”
60
21 Nov: Brisbane Times: AAP: Carbon tax repeal passes first hurdle
The Abbott government’s carbon tax repeal bills have cleared parliament’s lower house, setting up a coalition showdown with the Senate in December.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt told parliament the package of 11 bills were about the coalition honouring its word, unlike former Labor prime minister Julia Gillard who had made a “contractual breach” by introducing the carbon tax after promising not to during the 2010 election campaign.
“This is about rectifying a fundamental breach of faith with the Australian people,” he said on Thursday as he summed up debate on the repeal legislation.
“We will be repealing the carbon tax, firstly, because it doesn’t work, secondly, because it destroys our competitiveness and, thirdly, because we gave our word.”…
The tax was “meant to cause pain for ordinary families” and drive up the price of electricity, gas and fuel.
The opposition agrees the the carbon tax should be terminated but only if it is replaced with a market-based emissions trading scheme.
Labor and the Greens separately made unsuccessful attempts to have the bills rejected…
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/carbon-tax-repeal-passes-first-hurdle-20131121-2xxzr.html
40
21 Nov: ABC: Climate change activist Ian Dunlop appears to have failed to gain a seat on BHP Billiton’s board
By Sue Lannin and Pat McGrath
The former resources executive was vying for a position in an attempt to influence the company’s climate change strategy.
He won about four per cent of the vote at the company’s London AGM last month and about 3.5 per cent of the proxy vote in Perth today.
The full vote will be released in coming days.
Earlier today, BHP chairman Jac Nasser urged shareholders to vote against Mr Dunlop’s nomination.
“I can assure you that the company and the board consider climate change to be one of the most important strategic issues, and this has been the case for some time,” he said in a speech to shareholders.
“Our diversified commodity portfolio strategy was shaped to reduce volatility and mitigate macro risks, such as climate change.
“Consequently, the board has considered Mr Dunlop’s nomination … and recommends you vote against his election.”…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-21/bhp-agm-to-vote-on-board-bid/5107296
60
Pat,
Amazing isn’t it.
Why in the phaquen hell would you put a climate change activist Ian Dunlop on a board of BHPB?
It’d be like putting Tim Flannery in charge of Dam Construction sites in Australia.
40
ecoGuy –
for years, i’ve noticed all kinds of CAGW youtubes have no viewers or comments, not just COP19 ones.
plus, i visit CAGW websites all the time, incl MSM CAGW-advocacy sites, & rarely see a single comment under anything they put out. might be because they just make stuff up!
21 Nov: SMH: Tom Arup: Carbon price achieves emissions well ahead of target
Automatic greenhouse gases limits under the carbon price would put Australia on track to deliver a 15 per cent cut to emissions by 2020.
Analysis by the Climate Institute suggests Australia would overshoot the 5 per cent emissions reduction pledge for 2020 if the automatic caps on company emissions under the carbon price are allowed to come into effect…
The institute – which supports carbon pricing – says…
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/carbon-price-achieves-emissions-well-ahead-of-target-20131120-2xvup.html
21 Nov: Age: Reuters: Australia, Japan likely to offset climate gains in US, China, study finds
Wednesday’s study, by Climate Analytics, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Ecofys, said Japan’s decision last week to ease its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions goals made it harder to reach the global 2C goal…
“These negative signals tend to outweigh some positive signals,” the study said, noting that U.S. President Barack Obama had outlined tougher action and that China was, for instance, banning coal-fired power plants in some areas***
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-japan-likely-to-offset-climate-gains-in-us-china-study-finds-20131121-2xwlb.html
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I saw several reports of Obama’s support crashing and distrust growing. It is being attributed to Obamacare in the reports. Any of this to do with the unpopular position on CAGW?
If so, the fall of the second most influential person (Forbes has Putin beating him) from CAGW scaremongering, would surely demoralise any leader contemplating that agenda and any already on the ride to consider getting off and (attempt to) walk away from it?
40
At $280,000 a year, Leigh Sales ought to have been able to pronounce “cetacean” (MP4 video).
40
Our former, former PM couldn’t pronounce negotiation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49zF8m7ys24
40
And she knew about a hyperbowl and a taliband.
40
And about Australia’s three gold stars credit rating …. lol
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And about Australia’s three gold stars credit rating …. lol
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.
Roger rogers Claude, (or in English).
UKIP shafts The Greens.
At the Horizon 2020 UN meeting, Roger Helmer gives a jolly good shafting to Claude Turmes of the Greens.
Part of the speech from the video link above:
And Rogder finished off with this:
The Greens are becoming very desperate, and the next few months will see an all out attack on anything anti-green.
Claude is a joke, and it is shown here how angry they really are. Idiots.
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“Free Press” or “Government Controlled Press”.
Pick one.
Defund the BBC, ABC, CBC, NPR, the whole lot.
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British PM David Cameron is fervently denying “Dissing the Green Cr*p”
Fresh back from putting the Sri Lanka’n leadership back in its place, Cameron continues to blow hot & cold over Global Warming, pledging the country to the GCF while privately briefing against.
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Slightly OT , but how much coverage has the talkfest in Warsaw getting in Australia? In NZ there has been very little, compared to what we got from other COP meetings.
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Well Lord Monckton hasn’t been there to give us his commentary on the proceedings so there really hasn’t been any reason to pay them much attention.
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Love it !!
I wish I could give more that 1 thumbs up !! 🙂
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Thanks for the sentiment Andy. Just call in over a 3G link though and you can give as many thumbs as you like 😉
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These meetings are still necessary for the various interested parties to come to terms with their loss. To realise that it’s all over. To accept that there aren’t enough ‘C’s in UNFCCC until you add Coal.
30
Poland sacks its Environment Minister, who is hosting the
COP 19.
50
Well folks, Green Pus activists have been allowed bail. Okay. But Putin must be ‘on’ something…….
There remains a little stinger in the tail though. Green Pus won’t be troubling the Russkies again:
40
Taken in its entirety though, I think he’s saying noble doesn’t excuse dangerous to others , dangerous to the environment and plain stupid.
If
hehis courtthe Russian court let them go now it would only encourage them to more such foolhardy actions.40
NOBLE – having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles.
“the promotion of human rights was a noble aspiration”
synonyms: righteous, virtuous, good, honourable, honest, upright, upstanding, decent, worthy, noble-minded, uncorrupted, anti-corruption, moral, ethical, reputable, magnanimous, unselfish, generous, self-sacrificing, brave.
Sorry (polite; rhet). There is nothing whatsoever ‘noble‘ about Green Pus in view.
30
If them Russkies sentence many of the Arctic 30 to Jail time they will possibly become in line for the Nobel Peace prize.
Keep just enough so as not to bring attention to their martyrdom.
30
Green groups give up on Warsaw climate talks
We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing – Churchill
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That’s the Developing Countries, the Green Groups, Australia , supported by Canada, Japan who Germany will soon be following, whether declared or not, and Poland, the hosts sacking their Environment Minister who is hosting it.
Who exactly does that leave for the final wrapping up day?
40
And wait, there’s more!
David Cameron at centre of ‘get rid of all the green crap’ storm
The Grauniad reports this. Early days – unsure whether it will pan out – but it seems there’s a certain restlessness brewing amongst the political classes who are beginning to dully perceive the electoral, economic, and practical consequences of their consensus actions may well result in their careers-with-desirable-salaries being eventually and inconveniently fed to Dr Guillotine.
There won’t be enough pop-corn in the World for this grand ‘unfolding’.
40
Oh Dear… what a pity ! 🙂
40
Of topic a bit.. but the second quote at this link, attributed to Richard Muller of all people, will surely get up the nose of the catastrophists. 🙂
http://australianclimatemadness.com/2013/11/22/britain-to-be-hit-by-entirely-typical-weather/
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Oh Noes! Not the dreaded regression to the mean!
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Looks like the eco loons have decided they dont want any more of those dirty fossil fuel developed tax payer dollars
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/21/us-climate-talks-ngo-idUSBRE9AK0OM20131121
Typical dummy spit. They are above the law (Arctic30), above debate and above us all.
Jolly good, #@$% off we are not amused anymore.
50
After considering MV’s elegant suggestion for the privatization of the ABC, I have 2 bob to throw in.
Perhaps the government could do a Telstra & sell it off/ give it away in tranches.
All of these overpaid self righteous precious princesses who deign to enlighten us with their version of the truth should be offered a share bonus scheme where they as self appointed arbiters of political righteousness should be awarded shares leading ultimately a takeover of their beloved institutional soapbox. Further the rate of bonus shares should be awarded in reverse to the ABC ratings of media market share.
This would put them in a perfect position to be responsible for their every act & the renumeration & welfare of those “they” employ ( & their entitlements)
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And so how much does Andrew Bolt get from sucking at the teat of shareholders like you and me………..
013
Totally irrelevant. If you don’t like how YOUR (shareholder) money is spent, sell your shares and take control of YOUR money.
If you can’t see the difference between public and private funding, nobody on this blog can help you. You need to help yourself.
I’d suggest reading books on logic and reason for a start.
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Major understatement there Baa.
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.
A troll who confesses to owning shares in Murdoch’s Evil Empire?
Will wonders never cease?
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Just for the record MV, I forwarded (sourced & credited)a copy of your “share scheme” to my local member.
20
Even though Andrew’s opinions may be unpalatable to you, probably most especially when he is correct, he is fully accountable in the marketplace for his opinion and must justify his worth on a daily basis. If he makes a mistake that renders him unpopular or compromises his employer, he is gone- just ask Graham Kennedy what happens when you step over the line.
Those who dwell in the lofty bureaucratic ivory tower of the ABC, however, are virtually accountable to no one, they have almost unlimited security and all the fringe benefits (including generous maternity leave schemes, long service leave entitlements, etc) accorded to them as public servants, and are free to pontificate without the slightest recourse to being factual, impartial or even morally centred. They have an obligation in their charter however to represent a broad range of opinion, yet it is plain that the ABC has become a clique of like minded hypocrites who reinforce each others stilted elitist and Marxist view of the world, while ostracising anyone who might hold an opinion more representative of the broader Australian community.
But of course, Jeremy, those commoners are just “plebs”, so who cares about them, right?
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Spot on Winston. Im pretty sure (sorry no fact checking) that AB would not have had legal aid for his recent court appearance, nor would the bill have somehow ended up with the taxpayers. He sinks or swims under his own steam.
On the other hand when the ABC screws up, we all pay.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-13/rosalie-kunoth-monks-defamation-damages-order-nt-supreme-court/5089614
See the difference Jeremy ?
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That would be funny except that you all believe its true.
00
Whatever it is, it surely is NOT a government handout! Fool!
20
22 Nov: Age: Frank Jotzo: Dinosaurs block climate action in land of coal
Australia is frustrating climate talks to shield an industry destined for extinction
(Frank Jotzo is associate professor at the Australian National University’s Crawford school of public policy and attends the Warsaw Climate Change Conference as an observer.)
“Australia obstructs the process at every turn,” sighs one sleepless negotiator. ”At least sometimes the Australian negotiators apologise for the unhelpful interventions, explaining that this is what Canberra tells them to do.”…
The immediate suspicion is that our government’s position can only be explained by wanting to shield our coal industry from falling global coal demand. That fall would be inevitable if the world takes strong action on climate change…
Contrast that with China. China’s climate change minister, Xie Zhenhua, has been at Warsaw already for days. And he keeps a high public profile, appearing regularly at the events put on in the ”China pavilion”, a special area in the football stadium where the climate conference is held.
Perhaps it is because China has such a positive story to tell about action to change the trajectory of its economy and its emissions. A succession of central and regional government officials make matter-of-fact presentations about their actions: emissions trading in Shanghai, Beijing, three other cities and two large provinces; closing down coal-fired power stations and inefficient factories; unheard-of rates of increase in renewable power; electric cars taking off; buildings getting more energy efficient…
Stopping the growth in coal use is a real near-term goal for China.
And so Australian coal exporters are no longer expecting China to be a growing market. Instead, they pin their hopes on India and other developing countries where industrialisation is still in the rampant, polluting phase…
On the bright side, renewable is becoming a cost-competitive zero-carbon option. And Australia is not just the land of coal, but also the land of opportunity for renewables.
Tell delegates at Warsaw about Australia’s opportunities in solar, also wind and geothermal or wave energy, and there’s a look of envy on their faces – mixed with incomprehension as to why Australia would stick with the dinosaurs and obstruct progress in the climate talks…
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/dinosaurs-block-climate-action-in-land-of-coal-20131121-2xygz.html
22 Nov: Age: Tom Arup: Victoria axes $50 million grant for HRL coal-fuelled power plant
A $50 million state grant for a new coal-fuelled power plant in the Latrobe Valley has been quietly axed, with the Napthine government saving $34 million.
Coal technology company HRL had proposed a new 600-megawatt power plant using gasification technology it says lowers the greenhouse gas emissions from using brown coal.
But the project has been in limbo for years after it failed to attract financing and suffered a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruling that it could not go ahead until the equivalent amount of electricity generation was retired in the Latrobe Valley.
A separate $100 million Commonwealth grant to the same project was cancelled well over a year ago because of HRL’s failure to meet milestones…
The end to HRL’s grants comes as the state and federal governments are expected to imminently award $90 million in promised new grants to projects in the Latrobe Valley to develop and deploy technologies that reduce the emissions intensity of brown coal.
The state government grant to HRL was originally awarded by the former Labor government in 2006. By August 2010 it is understood $20 million of the grant had been given to HRL, with $30 million held back until more project conditions were met…
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victoria-axes-50-million-grant-for-hrl-coalfuelled-power-plant-20131121-2xynw.html
00
We have apparently been the land of opportunity for renewables for a long time now. Only problem is that opportunity has not and does not look likely to be realised.
Solar is still an emerging technology with limited domestic and local use at best for any level of efficiency. Wind is just a ridiculous and costly joke and despite almost 8 years playing with hot rocks at the tax payers expense, our premier geothermal company has only recently produced a spark (1Mw test plant) and does not look set to go much further despite operating for most of its 8 years on pure handouts while the share price went from $1.20 to now 8.5c
Im reminded of the words “fantasy” and “delusion”, in reading that post.
30
time will tell whether Jotzo or Nasser was correct:
21 Nov: SMH: Unattributed: China’s resources hunger won’t wane soon: BHP
Mining giant BHP Billiton says China’s economic growth is resilient enough to drive strong demand for commodities for the next 15 years…
‘‘China and other emerging economies will be the major drivers of global economic growth in the long term, which could deliver up to a 75 per cent increase in demand for some commodities over the next 15 years.’’
‘‘Only a few countries in the world are well placed to supply this increased demand for commodities, and Australia is one of them,’’ Mr Nasser said. ‘‘Therefore, we believe your company remains well positioned to contribute to the prosperity of the regions where we operate, including Australia.’’…
The company’s production in the first quarter of the 2013-14 financial year was higher than analysts had expected.Chief executive Andrew Mackenzie told BHP’s general meeting that production would increase by eight per cent in the coming two years.
‘‘We are increasing our focus on our four pillars – iron ore, petroleum, copper, and coal, and and we continue to operate our aluminium, manganese and nickel businesses as efficiently as possible,’’ he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/chinas-resources-hunger-wont-wane-soon-bhp-20131121-2xx9z.html
00
21 Nov: Economic Times, India: Vishwa Mohan: India tells rich nations not to treat climate issues for providing market to domestic companies
In a remark which may not go down well with the US, specifically on HFCs issue, Natarajan said, “The issue should not be seen from a business perspective of providing markets to domestic companies”.
Though she did not take names of countries or companies, her remarks articulated the concerns raised back home about reported attempts of US to push the issue of phasing down HFCs merely to benefit couple of American private companies who are manufacturing refrigerants using technology\substitute whose cost is quite higher than existing ones used in India…
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/global-warming/india-tells-rich-nations-not-to-treat-climate-issues-for-providing-market-to-domestic-companies/articleshow/26111507.cms
00
21 Nov: Wall St. Journal: China Shares End Steady; Defense Stocks Fall but Coal Miners Gain
“It’s reasonable for the market to take a breather after a rally and it takes time for investors to digest the sweeping reform plan,” said Amy Lin, an analyst with Capital Securities…
However, coal miners rose on hopes for stronger heating demand due to a colder-than-expected winter in north China.
Zhengzhou Coal Industry & Electric Power gained 6.2% to CNY6.20, Datong Coal Industry added 4.8% to CNY6.39 while Yanzhou Coal Mining rose 3.0% to CNY10.17…
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20131121-701774.html
00
LOL. our CAGW chorus in the MSM like to imagine Obama is green (btw don’t mention fracking); it is the Greens & their apocalyptic followers who are “green”, or pretend to be. grow up & face reality:
21 Nov: The Diplomat: Shannon Tiezzi: How US Companies Benefit, from China’s Coal Addiction
China’s reliance on coal has serious environmental consequences, but is keeping U.S. companies in business
While China and the U.S. disagree on many issues, they share a strong interest in the coal industry. They are the top two producers and consumers of coal in the world, with China leading in both categories. Yet the two countries’ coal consumption is diverging rapidly. In 2011, China accounted for 47% of world coal consumption, with the U.S. in a distant second at 12%. Between 2008 and 2012, China’s coal consumption increased by 34% while the U.S.’s went down by 20%. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), U.S. coal consumption is projected to fall by 14% between 2011 and 2017. Meanwhile, China’s coal consumption is expected to double between 2011 and 2035, as China’s overall energy use continues its rapid rise…
Based on these figure, it might seem that the two countries no longer share a common interest in coal. However, changes in global coal consumption have only tightened the ties between the U.S. coal industry and China. As natural gas becomes increasingly plentiful in the U.S., coal is losing ground. Coal’s share in U.S. electricity generation dropped from 50% in 2007 to 27% in 2012. At the same time, stricter emissions regulations are making it harder to sell coal to Europe, which has traditionally been the largest destination for U.S. coal exports. Based on these two trends, the IEA warned in late 2012 that “large shares of coal production in the U.S. will eventually become unprofitable.” This could translate to thousands of layoffs, particularly in coal-rich regions such as Appalachia. To prevent lost income and lost jobs, coal companies are increasingly turning towards exports, and particularly towards China…
As a result, the total value of U.S. exports of metallurgical coal to China skyrocketed from $138,000 in 2008 to over $975 million in 2012…
With the United States and Europe cutting back on coal, U.S. coal companies are aggressively expanding their exports to China, hoping that China’s growing energy demands will keep them in business. It’s potentially life-saving for U.S. coal industry, but could have deadly consequences for the Chinese and global environment.
China currently uses coal to provide about 70% of its energy…
China’s 12th Five-Year Plan laid the groundwork for reducing reliance on coal both by increasing the efficiency of existing and future coal plants and by investing more in alternate power sources such as renewable energy and gas. As these changes take place, the share of coal power in China’s overall energy use is expected to drop from around 70% in 2012 to 44% in 2030, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance Report. Despite this, because China’s overall energy use will also be growing rapidly, China’s coal consumption in absolute terms will continue to grow rapidly at least through 2022.
It’s hard to see how China’s energy consumption patterns can mesh with global efforts to prevent climate change. China’s coal use is certainly at odds with Christiana Figueres’ call for coal companies to begin closing “subcritical plants” and to leave existing coal reserves untapped. China’s leaders have taken action to stem the problem, but they are unlikely to severely cripple China’s energy growth in order to meet global emissions targets. And that is exactly what U.S. coal companies want to hear…
Ironically, only a few weeks before the UN convened its Climate Change Conference in Warsaw, Beijing was hosting a very different sort of international meeting — the China Coal and Mining Expo. The U.S. Department of Commerce and the West Virginia Development Office are both listed as supporters of the event. The global coal industry, where China and the United States enjoy one of their most productive partnerships, soldiers on.
http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/how-us-companies-benefit-from-chinas-coal-addiction/
00
Hi Jo. Just want to say I’m a great fan of your site and the work you do; I visit regularly though very rarely comment. However, the quote you attribute to Richard Glover, whilst correct, needs to be read in context. He regularly writes lightweight humourous pieces for Saturday’s SMH. The quoted line comes from a tongue-in-cheek piece he wrote parodying how, in general, “alarmists perceive deniers”; in context it is neither an instance of ABC “insight” nor “ill-formed” prejudice.
The danger is this quote is now firmly enmeshed somewhat in the sceptics lexicon; WUWT comments at the time went ballistic when the quote was used, inappropriately out of context, as an example of “alarmists” thinking. By way of helpful criticism attributing a meaning at variance with the context I do not think is helpful, however angry we (and I include myself here) may feel at the time. As for attacking the now appalling ABC – let her rip.
Disclaimer: as a published author I have had a number of on-phone and in-studio interviews with Richard Glover (he still occasionally calls) and I can assure you the out-of-context quote in no way represents his personal views.
14
John Smith101
You mean the article that starts off:
And finishes with:
Yeah, real bundle of out-of-context, tongue-in-cheek laughs there, John.
Sorry John, but I for one don’t feel particularly particularly forgiving this morning.
But I tell you what, John, in the spirit of fair play and all, how about Richard write a follow-up article that “represents his personal views”?
If the MSM won’t publish it, I’m sure Jo would be happy to make it a guest post here.
110
Point taken MV, we all get angry at times and I am often in the mood to be unforgiving myself, especially currently at the ABC. Nonetheless, my point stands (albeit with local knowledge): Glover is a minor humourist and commentator well known to Sydney audiences for his afternoon Drive Time show on ABC radio, as well as his Saturday morning article in the SMH, the latter of which does not employ sarc tags to denote to people unfamiliar with his style that what he writes is tongue-in-cheek. At a personal level I think the article is weak and in very poor taste and Glover was unwise to tread down that path but note: the quote was lifted from the SMH; nothing to do with the ABC. Using a quote lifted from the SMH to refer to something else, and one so loaded with additional layers of meaning, I do not think is wise; the ABC provides an endless source of quotes on a daily basis that could have been used. Let’s strive not be driven by any emotion (as the CAGW scam certainly is) that gives the deadbeats and trolls any footing whatsoever.
02
“in no way represents his personal views”
Well, if that is the case, he should have the GUTS to come out an make his view public.
Until he does that, he is one of the AGW scambots, whether he likes it or not !!
20
21 Nov: Financial Post, Canada: Peter Foster: Burying lousy climate policies in Warsaw
Gore in Toronto, chaos in Warsaw, and carbon capture on the ropes
The Al Gore climate parade rolled into Toronto Thursday, apparently oblivious to the fact that he was coming to praise the Ontario Liberal government for its successful relaunch of the province’s giant fleet of nuclear reactors, 4,250-megawatts of carbon-free electricity production. Premier Kathleen Wynne, in comments at an event with the Goracle, also neglected to mention that it is thanks to nuclear power that her government can now go through the charade of proposing a complete ban on the burning of coal. Oh oh. Time for Ontarians to start hoarding charcoal briquettes…
The Obama administration recently raised its “social cost of carbon” to around $40 a tonne, but that is way higher than the “price” of carbon on European emissions markets, which collapsed some while ago. Meanwhile even if the $40 figure were correct, CCS projects would still make no sense without huge and destructive carbon taxes and/or subsidies.
That fact was acknowledged at Warsaw this week by the Global CCS Institute, a vast industry and corporate lobby group, which pointed out ruefully that government support for CCS is on the decline all over the world.
The institute points out in a voluminous report that the U.S. and Canada lead the world in CCS projects, but that merely confirms that rich countries can pursue perverse policies, at least for a while…
Al Gore is a big supporter of CCS, but the technology makes little sense in economic or climate terms. Mr. Gore is also anti-nuclear, which is the real reason Ontario has technically reduced carbon emissions. Gore seems to have his priorities backwards. As for Ontario, the rest of the world is building more and more coal plants, from Germany to China, because it makes economic sense to do so. Keep the barbecue burning.
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2013/11/21/peter-foster-burying-lousy-climate-policies-in-warsaw/
20
something else our CAGW MSM never seems to mention when they demonise coal:
13 March: E&E News: NUCLEAR ENERGY: Obama admin placing big bet on small reactors
Hannah Northey
The Obama administration is promoting a bold, long-range plan for building dozens of small, factory-built reactors capable of replacing coal-fired power plants that are expected to be retired in the coming decades, a Department of Energy official said yesterday.
DOE’s effort is aimed at establishing an industry that would manufacture as many as 50 small modular reactors (SMRs) a year by 2040 or sooner, said Rebecca Smith-Kevern, the director of light water reactor technology at the department’s Office of Nuclear Energy, which oversees the licensing of tiny nuclear plants…
By 2030, the industry would produce about 20 small modular reactors a year with the support of production tax credits and feed-in tariffs — allowing for a mature industry to develop. By 2040, the United States could produce up to 50 of the small plants annually with the potential for an import and export market, she said…
Lake Barrett,former DOE official and nuclear consultant: “How successful SMRs are going to be, we really don’t know yet,” he said. “If the world is going to phase out older coal plants because of carbon concerns, you have to replace them.”…
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059977788
00
19 Nov: UK Telegraph: Bonnie Malkin: Fukushima meltdown is warning to the world, says nuclear plant operator
Naomi Hirose, president of the company that runs Fukushima, said Britain’s nuclear industry must be ‘prepared for the worst’…
Speaking to the Guardian, he said that despite what the nuclear industry and the public wanted to believe, nuclear power was not 100 per cent safe…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10461452/Fukushima-meltdown-is-warning-to-the-world-says-nuclear-plant-operator.html
Cockburn/St. Clair may not be to your liking, but they are, at least, willing to see Obama as he is & not as what they (or even Obama’s rightwing critics) make him out to be:
11 Nov: TheEcologist: The ring of eternal fire
Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair
Apparently acting predictively on Brower’s piece of sarcastic wisdom, the US has deployed four nuclear plants near the Ring of Fire fault lines, two of them in Brower’s home state of California. In Eureka, California forty miles up the road from CP headquarters in Petrolia, there was a boiling-water reactor that was closed in 1976 following an earthquake from a “previously unknown fault” just off the coast.
In its place, there are now spent nuclear fuel rods – except one they now cannot find – in ponds, right on the shoreline; nicely situated for a tsunami, such as the one that disabled the relief diesel generators that were designed to pump emergency coolant in the Fukushima plant. Three plates meet at Triple Junction off Cape Mendocino. The region experienced a 7.1 earthquake in 1992.
Moral number one in the nuclear business: eyes wide shut at all times; deny the predictable…
Pro-nuclear greens like Monbiot and the despicable James Hansen prattle on about “better safeguards.” Can they not get it into their heads that nuclear power’s entire history has been the methodical breaching of supposedly reliable safeguards? There are 40-foot sea walls around much of Japan’s coastline. The Fukushima tsunami went through them like a wavelet through a child’s sandcastle…
President Obama, for example, took plenty of nuclear-industry money, specifically from the Exelon Corporation, for his presidential campaign.
***In his State of the Union address in January 2011, Obama reaffirmed his commitment to “clean, safe” nuclear power, as insane a statement as pledging commitment to a nice, clean form of syphilis.
Post-Japanese earthquake, Obama’s press spokesman confirmed that nuclear energy “remains a part of the President’s overall energy plan”. Even as Fukushima Daiichi threatened a runaway meltdown, Obama found time to record a TV interview for a news programme in southwestern New Mexico on his 2010 proposal for nuclear-warhead development…
Why choose the moment of Fukushima’s collapse to address New Mexico? As the TV interviewer made clear, it is home to powerful potential donors of Democratic Party campaign funds: Lockheed Martin (which manages the Sandia National Laboratory, Bechtel, Babcock & Wilcox and the urs Corporation (which, along with the University of California, collectively administer Los Alamos)…
In the US only a handful of Greens have spoken out. Why have we not seen furious demonstrations outside every one of America’s 104 nuclear plants?
***One reason: major environmental organizations long ago made a devil’s pact with the nuclear industry, which since the early 1970s has worked to frame carbon dioxide as the real environmental problem and nuclear power as its only solution.
Fixated by speculative and increasingly discredited models of anthropogenic global warming, mainstream greens took the nuclear option. We are talking here about the Natural Resources Defense Council, the World Wildlife Fund, the Sierra Club – which forced out David Brower when he opposed Diablo Canyon – and people like Obama’s White House advisor John Holdren, along with supposedly progressive outfits like the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
There has been no upsurge against nuclear power here because American progressives still mostly cram in under the toxic umbrella of Obama’s energy plan. When the House of Representatives (though not the US Senate) voted for a climate bill in 2009, a “clean energy bank” to provide financial backing for new energy production, including nuclear, was part of the bargain…
This shameful pact between the nuclear industry and many big greens must end.
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2154180/the_ring_of_eternal_fire.html
00
What I now want to know is “How much tax do they pay?”
10
And do they enjoy a taxpayer funded defined benefit superannuation scheme that guarantees their pension amount that remains indexed for life? While mere mortals superannuation is invested and the end result not guaranteed or indexed.
10
This is my idea of Climate Action:-)
Looks like Australia has won its fourth Fossil Award at the Warsaw Gabfest.
Also,
http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/climate-change-alarm-is-un-extortion.html
” … But one wealthy nation’s government actually gets it.
Australia’s representatives have treated the U.N. meeting with the irreverence and contempt that it so richly deserves. We wish others, including our own, would act as rationally.” [INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY]
30
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
And in the cricket, too 🙂
40
I see we’ve been getting a few mentions…
“The Guardian attributes the walkout in part to the Australian delegation, which wanted to table funding loss and damage until after a full treaty is signed in 2015. The Australian delegation is apparently fearlessly following the national mandate they received in their recent election and are openly speaking out against the most egregious elements of the climate process…With Australia blocking treasured warming-left initiatives, Russia formally calling into question the fairness of the entire UN process, and Poland scheduling a coal conference and firing its environment minister in the middle of the COP, it is clear that many major countries no longer feel a need to go along with the global warming agenda…Meanwhile: Bravo, Poland! Bravo, Australia! (And, dare we say?) Bravo, Russia!…Marc took on faulty climate computer models and fake reports of scientific consensus and then expressed his enthusiasm for the changes sweeping Australia, where it seems every day they are tossing aside some further wasteful warming policy. “The model for the world right now should be Australia. Scientifically they get it. Politically they get it. And particularly when it come to the United Nations, they get it,” he said.”
20
While he’s at it, perhaps he could investigate why his organisation leaked the Snowden material about Australia spying on Indonesia. And why they waited until now, when they’ve had it since July.
50
Who was it that said the Universities these days are nothing more than a political party with a campus…no prizes for guessing what colour.
It seems now that the ABC is a media outlet paid for by the masses to be pimping for the same political party that prevails in Universities.
Might as well declare our selves the Socialist Republic of Gondwanaland and be done it
50
Dunno, but whoever it was was correct. I just hope that the whole edifice is subject to cyclical influences. I’m old enough to remember the inception of Monash Uni. Radicals!
The thing is, so much hatred can be traced back to those times. The Vietnam war, the Dismissal ( Young folk and non Australians can google Gough Whitlam dismissal ) Malcolm Fraser. Perhaps the most politically definitive ten years in Australia’s history. My theory is that the left side of Australian politics has never recovered from the Dismissal. Whitlam, who until recently enjoyed the mantle of Australia’s worst PM, was the darling of the Me! Me! set. You know them. ” I don’t have a job/education/house/baby/insert preference here. It’s the responsibility of Government to provide these things”. Gough promised lots, and delivered nothing except debt. Sound familiar? He had some good ideas. The Americans would
killlove to have Medicare. So would the English. It took a fiscally responsible Government to make it work. Enter John Howard. As Treasurer in the Fraser Government. Howard made this stuff work. He understood the value of Whitlam’s ideas, and knew that it could work if funded, without resort to ridiculous Pakistani loan merchants. Medicare is paid for by a levy. University education is paid for by HECS, something that only happens once the doctor, engineer or lawyer etc., starts to earn. Did this endear him to the great unwashed? Like hell. Free should be FREE was the mantra. Dunno who will pay the lecturers etc. Stalin, perhaps? Honecker? Anyway, Howard became the focus of leftie hate. Why not Fraser? Well, he’s playing tootsie with Whitlam, as if the whole thing never happened. The man who stared down the PM, the GG, and in fact the Australian Constitution turns out to be a soft cock. Who would have thought?So, the left hate Howard. They have NEVER forgiven the Dismissal, and JWH was the Treasurer in the next Government, and now they have Tony Abbott, a man who was, perhaps still is, mentored by JW Howard. Tony Abbott hasn’t even had the luxury of a honeymoon period
We’ve had the same people who rallied to Julia Gillard’s cry of “misogynist” keep mum when their heroes call Bronwyn Bishop “The Witch”. What if this epithet was applied to Carmen Lawrence? Cheryl Kernot? Oh, wait; she probably doesn’t count. Tanya Plibersek then. Penny Wong?
I really believe this theory ( it is mine, after all ). I doubt that it will ever be reconciled. I believe people are that stupid. I hope I’m wrong.
30
the cricket’s been great.
in the spirit of what i’ve posted today about left/right misperceptions of Obama:
Bolt is all worked up over Gillard, Sky & anyone else demanding Abbott apologise to SBY, AS OBAMA DID TO MERKEL, & the comments take his lead to the max. they are behaving as ridiculously as Gillard/Sky/ABC/ETC.
ABC: Tony Abbott should promise not to tap Indonesian president’s phone in future, Julia Gillard says
Ms Gillard says it is not appropriate for her to comment on intelligence questions, but she endorsed the way United States president Barack Obama handled similar allegations that the US was spying on the German chancellor Angela Merkel…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-22/senior-indonesian-politician-accuses-abbott-of-mishandling-spyi/5109632
Sky News: Gillard tells PM to follow Obama example
http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=927004&vId=4238819
i put a comment over there earlier, asking for a link to be posted by anyone at Bolt’s blog, or by gillard herself, showing evidence that Obama apologised to Merkel. no-one has done so yet. this is the timeline beginning with Der Spiegel on 23 October:
23 Oct: Der Spiegel: Merkel calls Obama over suspicions US tapped her mobile phone
(changed to “Berlin Complains: Did US Tap Chancellor Merkel’s Mobile Phone?” tho the original headline is in the url)
By Jacob Appelbaum, Holger Stark, Marcel Rosenbach and Jorg Schindler
In response to the allegations, a spokeswoman for the US National Security Council told SPIEGEL: “The President assured the Chancellor that the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of Chancellor Merkel.”
The spokeswoman did not wish to specify whether this statement applied to the past.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/merkel-calls-obama-over-suspicions-us-tapped-her-mobile-phone-a-929642.html
the “source” in the Chancellery has never been identified:
27 Oct: Reuters: UPDATE 3-German paper says Obama aware of spying on Merkel since 2010
Citing a source in Merkel’s office, some German media have reported that Obama apologised to Merkel when she called him on Wednesday, and told her that he would have stopped the bugging happening had he known about it…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/28/germany-usa-spying-idUSL5N0IH0Q420131028
as late as 10th Nov in the very same Der Spiegel (which, by not challenging McCain, is admitting not knowing of any apology), Republican, John McCain, demands Obama apologise & that the head of the NSA resign or be fired. of course, McCain doesn’t miss an opportunity to shill for military attacks on Syria & Iran in the process:
10 Nov: Der Spiegel: John McCain on Merkelgate:
Obama ‘Should Have Apologized’
Interview By Marc Hujer and Holger Stark
SPIEGEL: Should Keith Alexander, head of the NSA, resign?
McCain: Of course, they should resign or be fired. We no longer hold anybody accountable in Washington…
McCain: It’s conceivable that he didn’t know it, but the fact remains that he should have known it. Responsibility always stops at the president’s desk.
SPIEGEL: How should the president have reacted to the revelations that were made public?
McCain: Knowing how angry Angela Merkel was, he should have apologized. You know, I’ve had to do that on numerous occasions in my life. The pain doesn’t last very long…
COMMENT by optional:
Mr. McCain is being so disingenuous it’s hard to believe. I don’t hear any apology coming from him and he has been a force in the Senate for years. Yes Pres. Obama should have apologized and also Sen. McCain. And I don’t mean apologize for being caught, but apologize for what he has allowed to happen. While he’s at it, he might try apologizing to his own citizens as it was in their name the this outrageous behavior took place. This is nothing more than a political stunt using your publication to damage Mr. Obama. There’s plenty of blame to go around and I’ve yet to hear any apologies, painful or not. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-john-mccain-on-nsa-spying-on-angela-merkel-a-932721.html
no-one has any evidence whatsoever that Obama apologised to Merkel. period. and, when it’s politically expedient, and the shoe is on the other party foot so to speak, a Republican like McCain will demand exactly what Gillard & the rest are demanding of Abbott. how boring is partisan politics? i’m off to the cricket again.
00
I do have to wonder.. why is Gillard still getting any attention at all?
She is a NON-ENTITY when it comes to politics, and Mr Abbott should TOTALLY IGNORE her suggestions, as the meaningless twaddle they are !
Basically she should go back to knitting koalas or whatever and STFU, because we sure don’t want to hear her whinging drone for another second !!!
31
Perhaps Malcolm Turnbull might be half-interested in some of the intelligent comments here and get a glimpse of public feeling on the ABC’s ongoing and blatant bias.
malcolm.turnbull.mp@aph.gov.au
20
Australian Braindead Columnists/Compares/communists whatever, if the name fits.<:o)
00
Jo,
Could someone please contact Richard Glover’s mother and ask her to sew up the holes in his pants pockets – he obviously has far too much contact with the unemployed!!
00
It’s a good idea, but I fear that Malcolm is only interested in Malcolm. I know that the principal definition of ‘politician’ is narcissist, but Malcolm has taken self idolatry to lengths that even KRudd must envy.
I’ll email him anyway. Who knows?
20
As for Aunty, I believe she really MUST be kept but she obviously needs some very, very harsh pruning (top down) so that we can all appreciate her true independent rejuvenation.
10
There is. I signed it. But why is it on Change.org? I was nagged to save the Polar Bear by Greensleaze. I’ve got nothing against polar bears, but I have a great deal against Greensleaze. It makes me distrust the whole petition. I once signed a petition on GetUp! before I knew their agenda. I’ll bet I’m still one of their many ‘members’.
10
It probably explains why there are only about 600 sigs so far. Do Pozible do petitions? Time to find out.
20
more proof it’s not a partisan thing. UK Tele should know better than to pretend this is a “surprise move” by a “leading” environmental group:
21 Nov: UK Telegraph: Ben Riley-Smith: ‘We are open to fracking’, says leading environmental group
Campaign to Protect Rural England tells The Telegraph it could back controversial energy plans and calls for ‘calm debate’ in boost for Number 10
A leading environmental campaign group has declared it is “open” to fracking in a surprise move that will boost the Government’s case for adopting the new energy source.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) told The Telegraph it is prepared to back the controversial procedure because there are “no easy solutions” to the UK’s energy problems…
The comments are likely to raise eyebrows in the Coalition given that CPRE – whose slogan is “save our countryside” – has been a persistent thorn in its side over green issues.
The position also contrasts with the fierce opposition from other environmental groups which have criticised the speed which the Government is moving ahead with fracking.
In what are believed to be the first public comments about the new position, Shaun Spiers, chief executive of CPRE, explained why the organisation was “open” to fracking.
“We all have a role to play to reduce our energy consumption but we are realistic and recognise there are no easy solutions to our energy mix if we are to meet our current needs,” he said…
COMMENT by MajellaMcCarron
Thorn in the side of the coalition over green issues – no longer with David Montagu-Smith in such a prominent position in CPRE. Mr Montagu-Smith is currently Chairman, CPRE West Northamptonshire District. But Mr Montagu-Smith is also Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rathlin Energy Limited and Rathlin Energy (UK) Ltd. Rathlin Energy (UK) is exploring for oil & gas in Yorkshire while Rathlin Energy Limited is exploring for oil & gas in Northern Ireland in an area which includes the Giant’s Causeway. I don’t know what way Montagu-Smith plans to extract the oil/gas in Yorkshire but I do know that he does not rule out fracking to get the oil/gas in NI. I know because I was present when he admitted to it.
So it’s no wonder that CPRE are backing fracking. Absolutely disgraceful that a reputable charity such as CPRE has so compromised its position.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/10465022/We-are-open-to-fracking-says-leading-environmental-group.html
the CPRE spokesman in the Tele piece:
Wikipedia: Shaun Spiers
Shaun Mark Spiers (born 23 April 1962) is the Chief Executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England and a former Member of the European Parliament…
He was educated at Brentwood School, read PPE at St John’s College, Oxford and later took a Master’s degree in War Studies from King’s College London writing Tom Wintringham and the Socialist Way of War for the Institute of Historical Research in 1988….
In 1994 he was elected Labour MEP for London South East. He served on the Agriculture and Rural Development committee. He was not re-elected in 1999 under the list system, and became Chief Executive of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL) which represents the vast majority of credit unions in Great Britain. Spiers has been Chief Executive of CPRE since 2004…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Spiers
re the comment at the Tele:
Rathlin Energy: Board of Directors
DAVID MONTAGU-SMITH
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rathlin Energy Limited and Rathlin Energy (UK) Ltd.
His career includes 10 years with Total, managing government and joint venture relations in the Middle East, 4 years with the British National Oil Corporation, setting up an international business and 3 years with Grindlays Bank, creating an energy banking department. Since 1986 David has led his own company, Montagu-Smith & Company Ltd, in the development of large scale energy projects and the negotiation of contracts and concession agreements, with a specific interest in the development of natural gas markets and power generation.
http://www.rathlin-energy.co.uk/content/board-directors-rathlin-companies
Feb 2013: BBC: Rathlin Energy begins drilling for oil in East Yorkshire
The Canadian company has previously carried out studies in the region to determine where oil and gas might be found…
Commenting on the financial risks involved, David Montagu-Smith, chairman of Rathlin Energy UK, said: “This is a high risk operation, we call this a wildcat drilling operation”…
Planning permission was granted by East Riding of Yorkshire Council in June, despite objections from some residents.
Bill Rigby, from the Hull and East Riding Green Party, said: “It beggars belief. The whole of East Yorkshire has been parcelled up by the government as a gift to these exploiters.
“It will have a serious impact on climate change and will offer no future at all for the community at large, leaving behind a whole wreckage of pollution and so on.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-21469665
June 2012: BBC: Rathlin Energy confirm they will drill second hole in Ballycastle
David Montagu-Smith, chairman of Rathlin Energy said: “Once we’ve gone through the analysis of the data we are bringing together our objective is to have chosen a well location by the autumn…
Although the meeting was primarily to inform local residents about the drilling of the second well concerns were raised by the residents about the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing possibly being used on the site…
A spokesperson for the company addressed these concerns “Rathlin Energy is still hoping to be able to extract any oil and gas it finds by a conventional drilling process. If for some reason that proves impossible, the company may in future consider hydraulic fracturing, but that’s a very, very long way off. Anything the company does will be subject to strict planning regulations.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18416728
00
There seems to be a lot of disdain for the ‘lefty’ ABC here despite the fact that it is run by John Howard’s hand picked mate, Mark Scott. Mark Scott is the one setting these salaries and paying these people as he runs the show like a ‘business’. I find it a little ironic too that Tony Abbott will pay Leigh Sales $75k when she has her second baby.
00
The distain, as you put it, is really a matter of principle. The ABC has a Charter that requires it to be impartial in its reporting. It is also owned and funded by the taxpayer.
The high salaries paid to front-of-camera staff may be justified when a commercial broadcaster is competing for eyeballs and hence advertising revenue against other commercial broadcasters, but the ABC is not competing with commercial broadcasters for advertising revenue in the “impartial” space it is supposed to occupy, as a public broadcaster.
Hence there is no justification for these salaries, irrespective of who appointed whom.
10
So Rereke I am still a bit puzzled. Are we angry with the Conservative man Mark Scott for not following the ABC Charter and wasting our money on these front-of-camera characters or are we angry with the ‘Lefty bias’ apparent in the characters he chooses? Should we be be calling for the ABC to be shut down or sold off or should we be calling for some ‘unbiased’ management and front-of-camera characters? Or does it need a Conservative ‘makeover’ to be more like the commercial channels to make us happy? Perhaps Mark Scott has fooled us all and he is really an ALP stooge or worse still, a Green menace?
00
The word you are struggling for Joe, is “traitor”.
And if that is too strong for you, then I’ll settle for “criminal”.
Mark Scott and others at the ABC and Fairfax, have clearly breached S79(1c) of the Crimes Act 1914.
About the only thing more traitorous and criminal in this whole sorry mess, is the fact that Abbott and the LNP “government” (if they still warrant that term), are going to let them get away with it.
00
Joe,
There are two debates going on simultaneously on this thread (as often happens).
One is over the “lefty bias” in the characters who work for the ABC. Like tends to hire like, and there has been a slow drift from an admixture of staff with a range of views, to one that has a definable left bias. This is partly because they deal with politicians, and the left has been in power for a while, so that influences who gets to interview whom, etc.
With a significant swing in the polls, it is clear that the population want something different and more center or right of centre. The problem for Mark Scott, is how to change the ABC culture back to the centre where both political parties can be reported on, or criticised, without there being an obvious bias. That will need a change of staff, not only in front of the camera, but in the production support teams.
The other debate is the one I alluded to above. In a public broadcaster, the “personalities” in front of the camera are less important than the message they deliver. A public broadcaster needs good anchor men and women, but they don’t need to be “names”, nor should they expect the salaries and perks that go with being a “name”. By changing the people, Mark Scott can go some way to addressing both problems.
The ABC provides a public service, as does the BBC in the UK, and RNZ in New Zealand. It is beholding to nobody but the Government for its funding, and it should ideally be immunised from expedient Government interference by its Charter, and the fact that it has the option of impartially reporting any attempt by Government to bring undue influence to bear on content. It should certainly not be sold off, free exchange of information is one of the pillars of democracy.
20
Rereke,
I can’t believe you actually wrote that.
Unfortunately I don’t “do” red thumbs.
10
There are lots of things that you don’t believe MV — it is part of your charm.
What, in particular, led you to consider a red thumb?
00
Well, let’s see, Rereke,
Mark Scott, head of a wholly publicly-funded institution, has used his position and the resources of that publicly-funded institution, to commit a serious breach of Australia’s National Security laws.
In doing so he has trashed Australia’s reputation at home and abroad, neutered and side-lined the duly elected government of the day, placed in jeopardy our working relationship with a nearest large neighbour, including sinking any cooperation on people smuggling, risked multi-billion dollar trade relations, and probably placed Australian citizens at much greater risk of terrorist activities, both here, and overseas.
And your theory is that it was all done to, quote: “change the ABC culture back to the centre”.
.
You don’t perhaps think, if that was truly his aim, he couldn’t have come up with a slightly less devastating way of accomplishing it?
00
Now I have two debates going on simultaneously. Ho, hum …
MV,
When I responded to Joe, I was trying to avoid becoming embroiled in the specifics of a situation, about which, I know considerably less that your average okker. I therefore focussed on what Mark Scott should have done, rather than going off half-cocked on a topic where I did not have all of the background information.
The fact that Scott didn’t take my post hoc advice, and instead possibly behaved like a half-witted moron on dream-weed, does not detract from what I believe he should have done.
In regard to your second substantive paragraph, I am party to a binding agreement of confidentiality in regard to people smuggling. However, I will say that I doubt any lasting political, or trade relations, damage was done.
Pax Australis?
00
.
My “second substantive paragraph” was not limited to just Indonesia.
The American authorities have already let us know that the purloined data includes a significant amount of material potentially embarrassing for Australia with regards to ALL our SE Asian neighbours and trading partners, including Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and China.
Now that Mark Scott knows he can leak these things how and when it suits him, with complete disregard for non-existent personal consequences, to cause maximum damage to the current government, they are effectively neutered.
To all intent and purpose the left-wing latte sipping intelligentsia who infest our universities, education system and bureaucracies, are now effectively running the country, with Scott as their mouthpiece, and with the entire resources of the taxpayer-funded, billion dollar ABC at his disposal. Abbott may as well call another election, and the LNP may as well let Labor win.
.
This is not going to end well.
10
Thanks Rereke, yes I see what you mean about the two debates in this thread. I think that the original article that Jo posted basically just highlighted the huge salaries that ABC management and front-of-camera were getting paid and somehow that turned into a ‘Lefty bias’ debate. I think that even if these characters had a ‘Conservative bias’, that their positions should not be paying that much public money. Why on earth would we pay a news reader $300k? Would hate to know what they pay the weather people. Surely we just need someone who has reasonably good diction and articulation and who can read – not a tall order. If thy move on to a better paying job, good luck, we just get the next in line. Any number of journalist students would jump at that job. You could probably even charge the unis a few bob for the privilege.
You mention that the problem comes down from the top – like hiring like, which might confirm that Scott is a secret Lefty but it also implicates him in establishing this ‘commercial culture’ of paying these characters the going ‘industry rate’. You talk about how Mark Scott needs to clean things out to get it back to the ABC of old but you cut him a lot of slack, why not just say we need to get rid of Mark Scott if indeed the problems come down from him? Why does he escape the criticism and sacking in your mind?
00
And that was the spirit of my response to you. Left of centre, right of centre, above centre or below, there is no commercial justification for what they are paid, and thus no justification at all.
My comment about like hiring like was a hat-tip to MemoryVault’s point of focus. Scott is definitely left-leaning, even within the norms of Australia, which, until recently, was a country run by a bunch of rabid socialist trade unions (and probably still is). He will attract people he has “empathy with”.
He doesn’t. But, if I were advising the responsible Minister, I would recommend a course of action that either forced Scott to do the “right” thing [pun intended], or encouraged him to resign. Either course of action, on his part, would save the Australian tax payer some money.
10
How about we just charge him (and any other editors and journalists involved) under S79 (1c) of the Crimes Act 1914, and send them all to jail for seven years?
10
Go for it. You don’t need my permission.
Look, we all know that not all is well in
the State of DenmarkAustralia. You are closer to the situation than I am, and your focus tends to be from an Australian perspective. My focus is on Asia and the Pacific, excluding Australian geopolitics, for reasons I won’t go into.Joe asked a question late on a thread that was going quiet, regarding the remuneration paid to the talking heads, so I gave an opinion on what I believe should be happening generically, in regard to the duties of a public broadcaster, paid for by the public purse. I did not initially refer to any specifics, or alleged misdemeanors because I am not qualified to have an opinion on those matters.
You came back to me with cryptic one-line comments that assume that I have a full and detailed history of the entire sequence of events that culminated in your one-line comment.
Well, I don’t.
I have tremendous respect for your breadth of knowledge and prodigious memory. But that is part of the problem, I don’t share that knowledge, I don’t have such a memory. And since there is no way for me to acquire either, you will have to cut me some slack, when I am obviously off the ball. Or you can ignore me completely. It is your choice.
10
Rereke,
I couldn’t possibly ignore you –
You’re one of the most entertaining posters here.
.
Let’s leave it as friends and see how things pan out.
10
In my opinion the ABC are set to become Tony Abbott’s biggest spruiker. The nuttier they get, the more isolated they get from mainstream Australia and the shriller they get, the more they drive ordinary folks to think about alternatives. Delicate business Democracy, fool some of the people some of the time, or so it goes.
00
Loved the article, Jo. Loved the link in a comment to the LDP Australia policy re privatisation of the ABC: all citizens to be issued with shares for $0 for the ABC (presumably as a listed corporation) and take it from there. Top idea.
00
So while there seems to be a bit of an ‘anti Lefty’ sentiment happening here in this thread, can I chip into this debate and say:
I don’t watch all of the ABC shows but of the ones I watch, I have not seen a ‘huge Lefty bias’, not even in the comedy and satire which just seems to target the Government of the day regardless of who they are. I can’t really see that the ABC has moved from a position of ‘unbiased’ to being ‘Lefty’ over the years. If anything, it has gone the other way. I think that John Howard’s appointment of Mark Scott back in the 90’s was a deliberate measure to remove some of the perceived ‘Lefty’ bias in those days. People like to say that political shows like Q&A are ‘Lefty’ biased but I can’t see that. Scott deliberately ensures that the live audience has a political makeup to match the current political demographic Australia wide. The panel always has high profile, well spoken Conservatives, I don’t see them picking ones that are out of their depth. Tony Jones himself has little influence over what is said in the debate, he may make some ‘Lefty’ quips now and then, but I have never seen him cut off a speaker in the way someone on commercial radio like Alan Jones has done, if he did not personally like their point of view. Even with some of the non-political episodes with speakers like David Suzuki I don’t see that that forcibly promoted Suzuki’s climate views, it did much more the opposite and really opened his views on climate change to proper scrutiny and as for the end result, I would say it did a lot more good for the other side of the ‘climate debate’ than Suzuki’s.
Tony Jones and most others at the ABC definitely tow the Mainstream Media points of view and are never prepared to confront controversy or ‘conspiracy’ or scientific ‘truths’. This is most definitely not about being ‘Lefty’ or ‘Greenie’, it is about being beholden to the big players in this world, those in control of the agenda. The average persons all get caught up in this simplified ‘Lefty vs. Righty vs. Greenie’ debate because it is easier to blame all your woes on one of these. This whole ‘climate debate’ is a good example, people are quite happy to accept that it is a ‘Lefty and Greenie’ evil plot.
People should remember that things like carbon abatement and the ETS were dreamed up long before Labor held the reins here. John Howard was a big fan of an ETS, even Abbott and the current Enviro. Minister were big on the idea, in fact most of the peoples in Australia had been convinced of the merits of how such a scheme would save us from the evils of carbon. The ‘grass root’ Greens did not dream up this scheme, but were first to jump on the bandwagon and why not, as it promised to save mother Earth and that has been their bag all along. Labor here was in the unfortunate position of a minority Government with the Greens and bought into the always unpopular idea of bringing in a tax measure at a time of much needed revenue. It is blatantly wrong to lump the Labor ideology in with that of the Greens. Labor has never been champions of the environment, for most part of their political life they have been opposed to Greens ideology which was most often seen to risk the jobs of workers. There are many here passionately slamming the Greens for their protests with calls to ‘lock them up’ but don’t forget that while the ‘climate debate madness’ being blamed as a ‘Greenie and Lefty scheme’ that the Greens are side by side with the National Party in protesting Coal and Coal Seam Gas extraction in farming areas or anywhere where ground water is at risk. Should we be locking them up for that too and letting the Nationals fight it alone or are we talking about locking up the protesting Nationals too? The whole Greens, Labor, Conservatives is a three cornered thing, not a two sided thing and always has been. People seem to have been distracted to focus on the ‘carbon dioxide’ aspect of fossil fuel and now conveniently forget about the other (older) concerns of fossil fuels like the millions of people killed over ‘resource driven wars’, brown air smog pollution in big cities (the type you actually can see and taste unlike CO2), damaged water aquifers, raped landscapes, and loss of farming lands. We are now much happier to barrack for ‘clean green nuclear power’, and seemed to have lost our concerns too for the issues of radioactive waste and contamination, consumption of a greatly limited resource, because at least we wont be releasing the evil CO2.
People have been so caught up in this ‘climate debate’ as a simplified political contest that they are blind to the real drivers of this scheme. Do people really believe that the wealthy bankers and traders all around the world who were sitting ready to cash in on trading this new bogus commodity were really Greenies or Lefties? Was the David Rothchild millionaire dude who sailed his plastic bottle boat out to Australia spruiking climate change, a grass roots Greenie? Is Al Gore likely a Greenie? Is the United Nations a Greenie charity? Hardly! Trading bogus financial instruments is nothing new, in fact most of the ‘things’ traded are not of tangible worth. You can make a motzah by trading ‘futures’, ‘put options’, so that if the bottom falls out of the market you actually make a profit. Plenty of scope for rorting here as you only need to spook the market to suit your options and then cash in on the fall. Don’t forget too, that Abbott has promised to get rid of the ETS but his plan is still to ‘buy cheap overseas abatement permits’ so he is relying on there still being overseas carbon credit schemes. So basically we still buy those bogus commodities but locals are forbidden from generating or exporting these same bogus commodities. So what is the point of being ‘half in the scheme’? One of the first things Joe Hockey has done is to ante up with another $9bn to the Reserve Bank who will no doubt just buy up USD as there is money to be made just on hedging currencies and the Reserve Bank can pump exchange rates up and down at will.
People should be looking a bit harder to see what/who is really driving a lot of the BS that we are fed and subjected to rather than being sucked in by the mainstream media (including the ABC) and the local political straw men. Consider the big picture. Don’t be afraid to wear the foil hat and investigate a bit harder and don’t be fooled by the straw men.
11
Just seen this posted on my liberal (to my English mind, not sure what you call them in Oz) Sydney-dwelling cousin’s Facebook page
https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/media/save-the-abc–2/save-the-abc#.Up-BOktjolc.facebook
00
This morning ABC Propaganda wash pushing the Climate Council eg Tim Flannery thoughts on Australias weather, as if this was coming from consensus of world scientists on weather ??? How old is the earth ? How many years has weather been happening on earth ? How many times has Australia experienced 40 + degrees heat ?
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Once upon a time I worked at a local radio station. I was appalled, one shift, when one of the leading staffers commented : “it doesn’t matter if no one is listening. As long as we’re on air”.
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