As I suggested the other day when I reblogged Tanimo’s post there is a very distinctive lack in the sense of humour when it comes to our friends from the left. A very obvious lack of any ability to see the humour in their own tendency to take themselves too seriously. Personally I am listening to my own internal laugh track when it comes to our current federal government and trying to convince myself that what we are seeing coming out of Canberra is in fact an elaborate satire from the same author who gave us “Yes minister” and “Yes Prime Minister”. To think that the farce that is the Labor government is not a work of satire is almost too awful to contemplate, yet contemplate it we must:
click for source
What saddens me about this sort of thing is that its a bribe that won’t deliver and its totally at odds with the “tough budget” claims from Swan. Ah well at least the parents of children who get this sugar hit will get better flat screens for less as the prices are much lower now than they were when Rudd financed so many Plasmas in his first panicked response to the GFC.
All the world is a stage, and Gillard and Swan are the comedy act that is playing like a tragedy train wreck, sadly for their fans the chances of their style of act getting top billing again any time soon is ever diminishing.
Cheers Comrades
Iain Hall's SANDPIT 
Good to see Conservatives have such a great sense of humour Iain…..
Lord Monkton is a climate change expert…..Funny as……classic satire…
Tony Abbott will make a great PM…..Comedy gold…..classic one-liner….
The Greens will be destroyed at the next election…..side splitting humour…….
The Greens are totalitarian’s who want a communist state……gut busting …I can’t breathe…
Trusting in Doctors and other scientists is just like having faith in Jesus……Laugh till I’m sick…..
Aboriginal/asylum seeker disadvantage is their own fault, lock them up!…….more classic comedy..
And in Victoria, slashing funds to schools and hospitals will make life better…rolling on the floor…
And just think of all those great right wing comedians at the Melbourne comedy festival all doing jokes about how sexy Sophie Mirabella is and telling the one about the refugee falling off the boat while holding her child, you know the one, they drown…..hilarious…..
I did see a right wing comic once, now where was that again? Can anyone help?
Craigy
Well I know that I do
Al Gore and Tim Flannery are funnier mate
Well time will tell on that mate but the laughs we are getting from Juliar’s time in the big chair suggest taht Tome will be a much more serious act than his predecessor.
Maybe not destroyed Craigy, that will take longer but certainly they won’t have any seats in the Reps, Oh how I will laugh about that one.
sadly for you that is no joke
Trust then only as far as they offer you a sound reason to trust them but when they sponsor ponzi schemes then trust becomes optional.
The joke is on you for conflating these issues as if they are the same thing
Really? The joke is actually that the previous LABOR government left the books and the infrastructure in such a bad way after wasting billions on that desal plant.
No the biggest asylum seeker joke was Rudd insisting that changing the ground rules would make no difference and Serco’s share holders have been laughing all the way to the bank for years
Thanks for proving my point about the lack of a sense of humour though Craigy,
“Really? The joke is actually that the previous LABOR government left the books and the infrastructure in such a bad way after wasting billions on that desal plant”
Well if I needed anything to prove you have no clue this is it.
Labor in Victoria was actually very good in the infrastructure department, at least when measured against the previous incumbents and the one that has followed.
Yep that desal plant was a real winner, just what the state needed. Another joke foisted on the population by scaremongering Flannery.
That’s a smart arse reply.
But notwithstanding that, just exactly what is the matter with having one?
Fill me in with the detail please, as you know exactly what the problem is with it, you should have no probs educating me.
Perhaps Al, you should back up your claim first. Your MO of jumping in with an unsubstantiated opinion, then when you are contradicted you demand that the other side show you proof is both laughable and indicative of your debating skills.
A bit like the AGW alarmists: they posit a hypothesis, then demand that those who don’t agree with it need to prove why they disagree.
Cart before horse.
One thing at a time.
Educate me about what is wrong with having a desal plant?
Assume I am as stupid as you think I am, and tell me.
If you can.
Wonthaggi is an area I frequent often, as I like observing the Hooded Plovers and trying to help conserve them, and they are in the area.
So you can claim destruction of habitat if you like.
How about damage to habitat of the extremely rare Orange Bellied Parrot that has also been spotted in that area previously.
Does that help you?
Maybe you can’t find the Bolt column which explains it in a highly detailed scientific manner, to quote from!! hahaha.
Is that the problem?
Alan
Its very simple really, desal plants take a huge amount of energy to operate and therefore they deliver very expensive potable water. further as they are sited at sea level they then need to use pumps to deliver the resulting water into reticulation systems they are energy expensive to deliver the final product to consumers. Finally the waste product of the process is hyper-salty brine that will have an effect in the environment at the point of discharge. That a government with environmental pretensions should built this sort of infrastructure is an example of utter stupidity when a dam with greater capacity and lower ongoing running costs would give far better value to the taxpayers.
It seems Iain found the Bolt article Alan. Dam the Mitchell river, what a great idea. Then we can have another empty dam come the next drought.
A sensible reply, well kind of.
I don’t profess to know the science, but I doubt desal plants are all bad.
The one in Wonthaggi, I have heard is going to be very inefficient relative to other plants elsewhere, so that one in particular may not be too good.
But you do know the ‘loopy greens’ as some call them, are also vehemently opposed to it, so maybe its alright then!!
Anyway, why is building more dams the answer.
You have been reading Andrew’s column, that’s his line.
Where would we build such a dam?
And it has to rain anyway.
All our dams were bordering on empty, so what good does an extra empty dam do?
Answers are always easy for those that don’t actually have to do anything but talk about it.
Maybe the desal plant was the wrong answer, maybe not, I don’t really know, but it’s the product of simple minds to dismiss anything and everything a Government does, or proposes, simply because you would rather the other side making those decisions.
Maybe build a new dam for Melbourne and fill it from the desal plant? At least then it will be of some use as Melbourne’s other dams are currently about 65% full pre-winter – and that’s without using the north-south pipeline from the Goulburn.
Btw, our regional dams like Eildon & Lake Hume are close to capacity and right now there is a surplus of water going down the Murray and out into the sea.
Craigy
I was not referring in particular to Bolt’s suggestions about the Mitchell river, perhaps you forget or are unaware that the Labor government up here have also saddled us with one of these monstrosities on the gold coast.
Now as you should remember I have long advocated the mandating of rainwater collection form the roofs of our houses in the cities to solve water supply issues into the future. That said if the government is to provide centralised water supplies then dams easily outstrip desalination as a solution to our drought time supply issues. as does continuing the good habits developed at a time of scarcity even when the supply is very good as it is now.
Alan
don’t know where you get that idea from especially when the reality is the antithesis of that claim
Or in my case, just get out of the dump.
Melbourne is stuffed, too many people going nowhere, and it takes hours to get nowhere.
How lucky you are living where you do, although I prefer the other side, where I am thinking Bruthen would be perfect for me; just got to convince the wife it’s best for her too!
Cardinia Reservoir will store the water from the desal plant I believe.
I don’t reckon we need a new dam.
People can now store water at their homes in tanks, it was not too long ago that it was illegal to do that in Melbourne, now everybody has them.
http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/water_storages/water_report/water_report.asp?bhcp=1
Is the site I would visit for that info, and they WERE bordering on empty a couple of years ago.
Not to mention I actually live here and can see for myself…I was at Cardinia early last year(i think it was), and it was real eye opener.
Last time was a month or two ago and the contrast was remarkable.
I’m not talking about 5000l token tanks Alan I’m talking about each house having at least 20,000l of storage as we have in rural planning requirements.
does your change of tone mean that you accept that I am right about De-sal plants?
Alan
We are a country of weather extremes and that is rather the point of objections to desal plants which were built in response to panic merchant claims that the drought was “proof” of “irrevocable climate change” rather than being just part of the cyclic variations that we have always experienced in this country, if you don’t understand the nature of our climate’s variability then you have no right to make the sort of claims that Flannery was making about permanent drought.
It doesn’t mean anything.
I don’t know anything about desal plants, so I don’t pretend to.
I am not too pleased where they located it though, but can understand why they did.
There is no change of mood at all, I will always say exactly what I think,
I have absolutely no interest in banging one side against the other.
For instance, I was not fussed in the slightest when we had a change of government here in Victoria, I just didn’t think the previous one was bad, but had no preconceived ideas of how Ted’s mob would go.
Whereas I knew the NSW Labor were a bunch of idiots, so they rightfully got theirs.
I only know a bit about NSW because most of my colleagues are situated in Darling Harbour, so I spend a lot of time in Sydney(unfortunately)
QLD, I know nothing about, so would not dare comment on it.
Federal Liberals have mostly been around a long time, so these idiots I can form opinions of.
And my opinion is, calling them ‘idiots’ is being too kind to them.
I don’t support the desal plant idea Iain, but dams wouldn’t have help Melbourne in the last drought. Melbourne was on the toughest water restrictions you could have, short of bucket showers and the population is set to increase.
Like you I am a fan of tank water, having lived off tanks for 25 years now. Still, most of us had to buy water during the drought. My own dam did give us garden water while the rest of the inner city just had to watch their gardens die though, but not everyone has the space for that.
Given the natural cycle meme which you mention, it will be interesting to see how soon we get our next major drought down south, which did come every thirty to seventy years on average in years past.
I hope you are right and we won’t see another like it in our life time, but if you are interested in listening to the scientific warnings, then it is smart to plan for the large possibility that they will become more frequent, followed by large rain events and increased storm activity. People are very active in our area in preparing for the long term changes.
Drought in England, while not part of the evidence used to explain AGW, does sound very strange Iain….don’t you think so?
Craigy
Good to hear about your personal position on Desal.
But I don’t know about more dams in Melbourne in particular but I will say that it seems to me that the trigger point for water restrictions could probably be adjusted sooner as dam levels fall and or water saving should be strongly encouraged even when the dams are full.
yeah I had to buy water a few times too but if the people in the cities can integrate the same sort of frugality with water that you and I take for granted then what they have would last longer.
It also suggests to me that we should be mindful of water more than land area when we consider population growth.
Well I have always thought that the most important thing that we must do about climate is to be prepared to adapt to the events as they happen rather than pretend that it will ever be at all predictable.
Part of the problem in the UK has been the every increasing call upon an finite resource, due largely to unfettered immigration, that said the drought there has been followed by record rains in April Hmm strange indeed.
Yes Iain, I read about the record rains after unprecedented drought in the UK…..Now some computer models did show this as an outcome of increasing global temperatures due to humans burning CO2, but I guess they just got lucky hey?
“yeah I had to buy water a few times too but if the people in the cities can integrate the same sort of frugality with water that you and I take for granted then what they have would last longer. ”
Well I think you will find that in Melbourne they have, if their daily is any guide.
The problem with bygone days you were not allowed to collect your own water in Melbourne, and there was probably no realisation that water supply was not ever going to be a problem.
And I doubt that rural is necessarily any more frugal than metro
I can remember being in Barham where all the sprinklers were going berserk and water was freely flowing down the gutters.
Across the river in Koondrook, they must have had restrictions that the other side of the river didn’t.
So Barham had this lovely looking green oasis, and the other side was basically dead.
And that was about 3 or 4 years ago when the drought was going strong.
Alan
I doubt that to be honest
Is that really the case? Hmm I doubt it to be honest.
That I know is utter bollocks, Now I have not lived anywhere which has had town water for more than thirty years live with tank water for that long and you know how valuable potable water actaully is.
Now I don’t know where those towns are but they must have had a reticulated supply or been drawing from a bore either way that is not the sort off rural that I’m talking about.
Correct Iain…. is isn’t against the law and I don’t think it ever was (to collect rainwater) although you may require a permit and you must use a plumber to install connections to your house.
It is not recommended you use Melbourne rain water for drinking without testing first.
Also I agree, those who spend a long time on tank water are far more aware of what they use….We are always checking and if our tank is below half and it hasn’t rained for a while, we start to reduce the time we spend in the shower and other things.
One thing that is still an issue is the time it takes for hot water to get through the pipes. I understand there is a system to help with that. We use instant gas to heat our water and it does waste water waiting for it to come through to the tap. Storage hot water is quicker but it costs more as you keep the water hot all the time.
It must be better up in QLD where the water doesn’t get so cold over night and in winter…..Sometimes I have to boil water to thaw the frozen pumps on a cold winter’s morning…..
Sorry, you may need a permit to install a tank…… I may not have been to clear on that…
Well, I really don’t give a stuff what you doubt.
I know it’s true, and that’s ALL I care about.
Just because you don’t believe something can be so, does not mean it isn’t.
I don’t lie just to give opposing views to you.
Closed minds on the job again.
Water tanks were illegal in suburban Melbourne.
http://tinyurl.com/776cmtj
contains this……
“The Millennium Drought also brought
about a shift in local government and planning
regulations. Once illegal in many cities,
rainwater tanks are now a proud feature of
urban and rural properties in response to government
incentives in the form of rebates for
tank installations.”
or from here of all places…..
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-295353.html
….where one poster says this……
Asking why one more dam isn’t better seems to me a bit like asking why another tank out the back of your house isn’t better.
It wouldn’t fix everything by any means, but it wouldn’t mean we were “no better off”. It would be another storage of water..
Anyway I do think people in Melbourne should get tanks installed. I can’t believe they were illegal until recently. Or the attitude of Melburnians who think it’s insane to use (let alone drink) this water – growing up in the country, we lived on tank water.
….and when he/she says recently that is the operative word, as it only happened during the just gone drought I am pretty sure.
As for those towns they are either side of the Murray….Barham in NSW, Koondrook in Vic.
I don’t know where they get their water from, but I would assume it’s the Murray in both cases.
Still that is irrelevant if it’s being wasted in Barham. Different states, different laws I suppose.
Craigy
There may ahve been some dislike of rainwater tanks in the cause of mosquito control Craigy and council regulations created to that end but I doubt that any state legislation was ever invoked to ban rainwater tanks
Hmm I suspect that the use of lead flashing on old houses may have something to do with that.
Those who know need no explanation, those who don’t know are often immune to explanation
How far from your shower is the HWS Craigy? and do you have the pipes all lagged?
On a side note do you remember my header tank project? well that has worked out very well and provided a good energy saving as well (not that I’ve measured it) The other thing that I like about having my own water system is the water charges freedom it give us when our rates bill arrives, I’m sure that we are a head even after paying for a few loads of water* in the dry times.
You are right though about the temperature thing I have never had to unfreeze a pump!.
*don’t know about you but it seems that every time we buy water it the rains!!!
Alan
Mate when I say I doubt something don’t take it so personally because if I wanted to call you a liar then I would do plainly without any artifice. I was just extrapolating what I know about the situation up here in Queensland.
Fine, then just tell me you now concede I was correct!!
Yes, Murphy’s law, buy water and it will always rain. My other half claims that if we need rain all I need to do is work on one of the cars as we don’t have a shed yet.
Don’t you have to pump to your header?
My new pipes are plastic and dont need lagging and they dont run far. I think It’s just colder down here.
Alan
It certainly appears that there was some anti tank regulations at a local government level, but to say that they were “illegal” is probably gilding the lily somewhat.
Yes I do have to pump to the header but that requires far less running time than having a pressure pump that switches on every time you turn on a tap.
oh I give it up andrew, no point talking to people that have minds welded shut, and always need a rider, just so they can’t be wrong
Alan there is no Andrew here.
yes there is…..Y O U.
Andrew Hall? Is that Iain’s real name?
perhaps you should…
Alan,
Alan ,
Alan 🙄
Mate I don’t know if I should laugh or feel pity for you.
you’re an Andrew Bolt clone, so Andrew it is, as far as I am concerned.
even when it’s demonstrated you are wrong, you still won’t accept it.
I don’t pretend to know laws or anything about QLD, but you on the other hand, know everything about Vic and probably everything about everything.
Andrew, you can pity me all you want, laugh all you want, but the fact remains that you and your namesake Bolt, are two of a kind.
Minds welded shut, and the only people that can be right are yourselves.
Maybe somebody else besides me is deserving of pity?
Alan
Think whatever you please but any future comemnts addressing me as “Andrew” will not be allowed, check out my comments policy before you complain.
I accept it when I am wrong, however the bar I set for that is rather higher when i detect a lack of debating generosity from my interlocutors
Yep I’m a walking encyclopaedia about all topics (sarc) I’m opinionated, so what?
The reality is that the variations between the way that things are done in Local government areas are seldom that different, nor are the reasons for doing them.
Really? I detest Opera, Bolt loves it, I say water tanks and Bolt says Dam the Mitchell river, I could go on and on but all I need to do is to point out that there are many issues on which I disagree with Andrew Bolt.
So you claim to be a betting man aren’t you willing to back yourself to beat me in debate?
Or do you only back yourself when you think its a sure thing?
🙄
When the bigots go, they go really hard.
http://www.catherinedeveny.com/columns/2012/5/8/hilarious-letter-to-cardinal-george-pells-lawyers-must-read.html
The answer is yes, only fools bet when they don’t know the odds are in their favour.
And so we will go back to tanks being illegal in Melbourne……how much would you like to bet me that they were not illegal?
As the probability is 1(i.e. certainty) in my favour, would you like a bet on that?
In your case there would be no point betting, considering you don’t have a job and probably get support off the government.
There’s a difference to opinionated and being just plain wrong as you were, and yet you still would not accept the fact that you were.
Set the bar however you want, wrong is wrong is wrong is wrong, and nothing can change that.
Read my lips…..IT WAS NOT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, it was ALL of Melbourne covered by the MMBW(Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works).
Melbourne metro is NOT just one council but many.
And YOU are wrong.
Did I say you were wrong?
The answer you give when you’re incapable of admitting when you are wrong.
Oh well, at least you had something to say(even if it’s nothing), unlike GD, that hasn’t yet figured out how to say that Christopher Booker is not a dimwit of the highest calibre.