A week in review
October 19th 2006 23:47
It's been a long time since I was last on. My computer went down and it's just taken me until now to get my computer working.
Lots of things have been happening in this time. Monday I heard Kim Beasley finally show some energy and enthusiasm as he tore into the Howard Government over Iraq. Labor seems to have developed several new policies which actually makes them look like a credible alternative (with a few Greens thrown in
... not saying the Greens would automatically side with Labor but God knows, there's little chance we'd be on Howard's side at the moment).
But the big news... boosted by enormous temperatures in October (including 37 in Melbourne) the Howard Government has finally acknowledged climate change. Unfortunately their response has been to look at introducing nuclear power to Australia, which is strange considering we have already established that nuclear power is not economically feasible.
It is understandable though. It is important to realise that the Liberal Party rely on donations from many large companies, including those in the resource industry. Nuclear power, like coal, still relies on buying a constant source of fuel, in this case uranium. This is unlike solar and wind power where once somebody has bought a solar panel/windmill there are no other opportunities to make money. Renewable energy is definitely the stronger option, it just doesn't make money for the people funding Liberal (and Labor) campaigns. In fact, that was one of the key reasons I joined The Greens, they don't take any money from businesses, so they are accountable only to their members and to voters.
The other big news are the new Federal media laws. Until this week a media company could not own a daily newspaper and a TV network or radio station in the one city. Now the floodgates have opened, PBL, owners of Channel Nine have announced plans to buy a major share in Fairfax, owners of The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. Meanwhile it was just revealed today that News Corp, owners of the Herald-Sun and many other major papers in Australia have bought a 7% share in Fairfax also. There are also questions as to whether News Corp will look to buy Channel Ten also. This is combined with some new rules for the ABC which will require the ABC to show a "balanced" opinion (meaning every criticism of the government must be backed up by a pro-government view). This will certainly lead to less diversity in opinions in the media.
This is why I'm here on the web, trying to get some Green views out there. There is a real feeling amongst educated people that voters would vote Green if they actually knew our policies, it's just sad that so many people aren't aware of them.
So yes, if you have any questions about The Greens feel free to ask me. But it looks like there could be a sad lack of views in mainstream media. Here's keeping our fingers crossed for SBS...
Lots of things have been happening in this time. Monday I heard Kim Beasley finally show some energy and enthusiasm as he tore into the Howard Government over Iraq. Labor seems to have developed several new policies which actually makes them look like a credible alternative (with a few Greens thrown in
... not saying the Greens would automatically side with Labor but God knows, there's little chance we'd be on Howard's side at the moment).But the big news... boosted by enormous temperatures in October (including 37 in Melbourne) the Howard Government has finally acknowledged climate change. Unfortunately their response has been to look at introducing nuclear power to Australia, which is strange considering we have already established that nuclear power is not economically feasible.
It is understandable though. It is important to realise that the Liberal Party rely on donations from many large companies, including those in the resource industry. Nuclear power, like coal, still relies on buying a constant source of fuel, in this case uranium. This is unlike solar and wind power where once somebody has bought a solar panel/windmill there are no other opportunities to make money. Renewable energy is definitely the stronger option, it just doesn't make money for the people funding Liberal (and Labor) campaigns. In fact, that was one of the key reasons I joined The Greens, they don't take any money from businesses, so they are accountable only to their members and to voters.
The other big news are the new Federal media laws. Until this week a media company could not own a daily newspaper and a TV network or radio station in the one city. Now the floodgates have opened, PBL, owners of Channel Nine have announced plans to buy a major share in Fairfax, owners of The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. Meanwhile it was just revealed today that News Corp, owners of the Herald-Sun and many other major papers in Australia have bought a 7% share in Fairfax also. There are also questions as to whether News Corp will look to buy Channel Ten also. This is combined with some new rules for the ABC which will require the ABC to show a "balanced" opinion (meaning every criticism of the government must be backed up by a pro-government view). This will certainly lead to less diversity in opinions in the media.
This is why I'm here on the web, trying to get some Green views out there. There is a real feeling amongst educated people that voters would vote Green if they actually knew our policies, it's just sad that so many people aren't aware of them.
So yes, if you have any questions about The Greens feel free to ask me. But it looks like there could be a sad lack of views in mainstream media. Here's keeping our fingers crossed for SBS...
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