"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. No price is too high for the privilege of owning yourself." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Long Live our gracious Aunty ...
Bob Hawkins*
21.06.18 7:15 am
I am far too old not to feel a shiver of time-worn apprehension snake down my spine when I hear Finance Minister Mathias Cormann uttering his latest pronouncements, especially when I have long come to realise it is mostly propaganda and bullshit that flows with his soporific guttural. My contemporaries, I’m sure, experience similar vertebral vibrations when they hear that accent, of which the senator himself is reported to have once said: “With my accent, no one would vote for me if I tried to get a seat in the [House of Representatives] …
• Labor: Libs cant be trusted with our ABC
• Michelle Grattan, ABC via The Conversation: The threat to the ABC is not sale but more bullying
• SMH: Footage from Liberal Party meeting reveals who voted to sell the ABC The divisive Liberal Party vote to privatise the ABC was backed by at least four of the party’s top federal officials, according to footage that also shows the idea gained support from at least one federal Liberal MP …
• Greens: Premier Busted by Photo Finish on ABC Sale Push
• Labor: Premier Hodgman lied to Parliament
• Fairfax: ‘We are not your punching bag’: ABC boss Michelle Guthrie hits back at the Liberal Party
• Greens: Liberals Committed to Trading Heritage Treasure for Trinkets
• Peter Gutwein: Labor-Green hypocrisy over Treasury Building
• First Dog on the Moon: Ian the Climate Denialist Potato wants to flog off the ABC
‘I’m nearly 100, I saw 1945 refugee crisis firsthand. I need people to listen to my warning. Vid’
Harry Leslie Smith, The Independent. Pic: Asylum seeker protest on Manus Island
21.06.18 7:07 am
I cannot sit back in good conscience while the world my generation built is left to turn feral in the hands of right-wing populists and indifferent capitalists …
The (austere) golden age of Peter Gutwein
Martyn Goddard* Pic: of Peter Gutwein from his Facebook page
21.06.18 7:00 am
… Public hospitals are in permanent crisis. School retention rates remain the shame of the nation. There are 16,500 Tasmanians unemployed but looking for work. Another 26,800 people are under-employed, needing more work than they have. The rate of labour under-utilisation – the key measure of labour market slack – stands at 16.7%. Homeless people face a winter sleeping rough at the showgrounds because there’s nowhere else to go. Despite the crippling funding shortfalls for essential government services, Mr Gutwein has permanently reduced the state’s revenue base by decreasing payroll tax. Decent funding for hospitals, schools, child protection and housing is further away than ever. Golden age? What on earth could he have meant … ?
• Peter Gutwein: Budget Reply will be a failed policy scrap heap
• Greens: Premier Busted by Photo Finish on ABC Sale Push
• Labor: Premier Hodgman lied to Parliament
• Fairfax: ‘We are not your punching bag’: ABC boss Michelle Guthrie hits back at the Liberal Party
• Greens: Liberals Committed to Trading Heritage Treasure for Trinkets
• Peter Gutwein: Labor-Green hypocrisy over Treasury Building
• Labor: Gutwein refuses to answer the simple budget questions
‘Cable car proponents threaten legal action over protest website’
Louise Sales Media Release Pic*
21.06.18 6:45 am
The Mount Wellington Cableway Company (MWCC) has threatened legal action and is currently attempting to forcibly acquire the domain of an anti-cable car website - mtwellingtoncablecar.com.au – owned by a local community member. The owner of the domain, South Hobart resident Louise Sales says “nine months later, no legal action has been taken so it appears the letter was sent simply to intimidate. I am not intimidated and I call on the cable car company to stop threatening people for having their say … ”
French Bulldogs, Faberge and the Romanov Family
John Hawkins* Pic*
21.06.18 6:37 am
Part II: The Romanov family and their bulldogs Contemporary photographs suggest that three generations of the Imperial Family owned at least 13 individual French bulldogs between 1867 and 1918: Tsar Alexander II (3); his sons Tsar Alexander III (1), the Grand Duke Vladimir (1) and his wife, the Grand Duchess Marie (3), and the Grand Duke Alexei (2) and his mistress Elizabeth Balletta (1); and finally Tsar Alexander III’s granddaughter, the Grand Duchess Tatiana (2) …
‘Looming Disaster for Norfolk Island’
Rael Donde, President, Norfolk Island Accommodation and Tourism Association (ATA) Media Release
21.06.18 6:30 am
Economic Impact of Modern Award System on Norfolk Island With just a brief two-year transition period from 1 July 2016, the Modern Award System (MAS) will take effect on Norfolk Island from 1 July 2018, representing the largest single impact on the Norfolk Island economy at a time of declining visitor numbers (-11% in last 3 months), severe economic contraction, and on top of a raft of new Federal and local Government taxes, rates, fees and charges. Despite repeated warnings of loss of employment, severe increase in business costs, reduced business viability, and damage to tourism, the Department of Regional Development & Cities (DIRDC) has not conducted any economic assessment, which many consider to be reckless, even irresponsible …
‘Poker machine fine for Canberra Raiders wiped ...’
Independent Member for Denison Andrew Wilkie Media Release
19.06.18 4:37 am
... How lovely it must be to be a pokies joint in Canberra It’s outrageous that Raiders Belconnen now does not have to pay the $120,000 fine which the ACT gambling regulator had imposed for breaking the law in relation to Professor Laurie Brown …
NATION: Can Trump’s farcical Singapore Summit alert us to dangers we face in our own democracy ... ?
Urban Wronski* Pic*: Cartoon: Martyn Turner* used with permission
19.06.18 4:30 am
“A new story, a new beginning, one of peace. Two men, two leaders, one destiny. A story in a special moment in time. When a man is presented with one chance that may never be repeated, what will he choose?” High-tech-sci-fi labs, fast trains and a slam-dunking basketballer flit across the screen as a bizarre, four minute US mobile-propaganda-video, set to a dramatic musical score, fires our national and international imagination this week …
Jo Zananiri*
19.06.18 4:00 am
Private and highly confidential sources close to US President Donald Trump have indicated that he expects to be given the Nobel Peace prize following what he considers to be a marvellous outcome in his Singapore discussions with North Korean Chairman Kim …
‘Fragrance Towers in Elizabeth Street, Hobart ... Donate ...’
Brian Corr President Hobart Not Highrise Inc. Media Release Pic*
18.06.18 6:09 am
The Fragrance developments at 234-250 Elizabeth St. are now out for public comment, closing on the 12th July. It is two towers, one 49.4 metres and one 46.8 metres, both in a heritage area zoned for 11.5 metres …
‘Ending the Nation’s shame ...’
Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie Media Release
18.06.18 6:07 am
Wilkie tables Refugee Protection Bill The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, will introduce a Private Member’s Bill this morning that would provide for a fairer, more sustainable and more humane approach to asylum seekers and refugees …
Want to get filthy rich: Exploiting the Earth’s resources is the surest way ...
Ted Mead* Satire: Leunig*
18.06.18 6:00 am
Are you on Australia’s top 100 rich list? Why not? Well unless you are willing to exploit something or someone on a grand scale then it is unlikely you ever will be. So let’s take a closer look and see who’s making a killing out of our country’s natural resources …
Read a list of the Libs’ re-election bribes ...
Parliament of Tasmania ...
18.06.18 5:45 am
Regional and Community Election Commitments 2018-19 Budget and Forward Estimates
EARLIER on Tasmanian Times ...
Amanda Sully, Director of the 2018 Tasmanian Election Inquiry Ltd Media Release.
18.06.18 5:30 am
… On watering down firearm laws Mr Browne, spokesperson for Gun Control Australia stated: “The Premier didn’t bother telling the Tasmanian community he intended on watering down gun laws because according to him, it was ‘one of 200 policies not published on the Liberal Party’s website’. Is he seriously suggesting he was unaware of the community’s deep concern for tight gun laws? This is secrecy and manipulation at worst, or a completely out of touch Premier, at best …
As Tasmanians, we get to live in one of the best democratic systems in the world. However, democracy, in these days of darkness, is fragile. We are watching major democratic institutions start to crumble. Tasmania can be a shining light to the world as a place of equality, health and happiness – but only if it is a functional democracy …
• Examiner: What the Liberals promised during Tasmania’s election in 2018
• Sophie Underwood, PMAT, FAN: Chinese celebrate Cambria Green before Council deliberations – what do they know? Revelations the Chinese backers of a mega-development on Tasmania’s idyllic East Coast celebrated its progress three days before a Glamorgan-Spring Bay Council (GSBC) meeting approved a request to change the planning scheme raises serious questions about the processes of the Council. It has also been revealed, that despite its massive scale, councilors only had knowledge of the request four days before the meeting …
The Hag*
18.06.18 5:07 am
Mykonos takeaway has been an institution in Sandy Bay, Hobart, for decades; if you haven’t had a late night feed there, you haven’t experienced Hobart …
‘Ombudsman agrees to new Centrelink investigation’
Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie Media Release. Pic: Kim Peart
18.06.18 5:05 am
The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, will call on the Federal Government to shut down the disastrous Centrelink robo-debt program once and for all, after the Commonwealth Ombudsman agreed to his request to investigate it again in light of revelations from a whistleblower …
• Andrew Wilkie: Revealed: Government’s latest Centrelink cash-grab
• Andrew Wilkie: Wilkie to question PM on cruel Centrelink cash grab
EARLIER on Tasmanian Times ...
John Hawkins* Satire: Leunig*
18.06.18 5:00 am
… Curious, I ask this question: Did the $250,000 for the Devonport Chaplaincy Inc grant, which helped to boost the Tasmanian economy, come through the Office of the Assistant to the Minister for Cities where Whiteley has an advisory role as mentioned; see the Advocate item above … ?
The human footprint ... It’s bad on all accounts ...
Ted Mead* Pic*
18.06.18 4:45 am
Regardless of what ethnic background we come from there is one consistent belief amongst us all, and that is there are too many of us on the planet now. Human over-population, dwindling natural resources and increasing climate change impacts are marginalising all living things on Earth. So how long will it be before this unsustainable lifestyle we have created finally collapses … ?
Bob Lubout* Pic: of Nick McKim from the Greens' website
17.06.18 5:37 am
During the live election results coverage from the Hobart tally room at the last Tasmanian election, Greens’ Senator Nick McKim said that, ”the poor result of Green votes was more or less expected and due to the fact that the Greens had no major environmental issues in progress at the moment” …
‘Commonwealth Department Intervention “calamitous” for Island: Claim’
Chris Nobbs Media Release
17.06.18 5:30 am
The intervention on Norfolk Island over the last three years by the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities’ (DIRDC) is described in a new report (*) as “calamitous” …
French Bulldogs, Faberge and the Romanov Family
John Hawkins* Pic*
15.06.18 4:30 am
Part 1: The breeding of French bulldogs at the start of the 20th century L’Entente Cordiale. (Sir) John Lavery (1856-1941). This portrait is believed to be of Violet Manners, Marchioness of Granby and later Duchess of Rutland, with her English-bred, rose or drop-eared bulldog. The painting was purchased by the Manchester Art Gallery from Thomas Agnew and Sons at their Independent British Art Exhibition of 1906. The Entente Cordiale was an agreement signed on the 8th April 1904 between Britain and France in an effort to improve Anglo-French relations. (Illustration courtesy of the Manchester Art Gallery) …
Long Live our gracious Aunty ...
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• Welcome to the Duncan Meerding newsletter!
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Moss covers rock around Australia on national tour
Hobart Bookshop: Slipping Through the Cracks. TONIGHT
Cable Car: Back to the Future ...
A little installation at Legacy Beach, Coningham
It’s a bit sad when someone is not far off 100 and yet still not much smarter than when they were born. Does he not…
