On the Radio this morning is the cheerful news that Peter Greste has been released and deported from Egypt I am sure that his family will be very pleased indeed, I am as well even though I don’t share the view that seem prevalent among the usual suspect that some one who is a journalist is automatically some kind of secular saint. Anyway that is an all’s well that ends well situation.
Now to events closer to home and something that has left me feeling profoundly depressed, Yep the state election its a terrible result for Queensland that will see the incompetent Labor party back into government. That said we live in a democracy and that means I have to accept the result with good grace, fucking hell though its hard with that idiot of a woman in charge. The irony is that for all of the rhetoric about the reforms made by the LNP over the last three years, things like the thinning of the bloated public service and other fiscal savings will not be reversed so its, once again going to be a case of the LNP wearing the pain of necessary reforms and the ALP will be able to get the benefits gratis.
I feel nothing but dread for governance of our great state of Queensland over the next three years… On the upside though It will be far easier to attack the government’s inevitable incompetence than it has been to defend the missteps of the previous administration.
Not much to cheer about from my perspective Comrades
Iain Hall's SANDPIT 
Wonderful news about Peter Greste.
Iain, I share your foreboding for the governance of your great state of Queensland over the next three years. I grew up in North Qld. Now that Labour is back, it’s a return to spend, spend, spend and borrow, borrow, borrow to create government jobs that produce absolutely nothing but an ever increasing government debt.
Welcome to the Hellenic Republic of Queensland.
Meanwhile in Victoria, the cancellation of the East West Link construction means that Labor’s Premier Andrews is paying almost as much in compensation to cancel it, as it would have taken to build it. Victorians are poorer for that decision, both in economic terms and future infrastructure.
Thanks Labour
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/east-west-link-consortium-anger-at-contract-breach/story-fni0fit3-1227163115449?nk=9f17df0f69b4559a919d5f399090c46a
Another day in Labor
another Labor failure
https://iainhall.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/another-day-in-labor/
well it seems that Labor has not quite done it because despite all of the hoopla they do not have quite enough seats to form government in their own right and there is still a possibility that the LNP could form a minority government…
But you are right about the east west link in Victoria that is a mad situation in these economic times.
Napthine built NOTHING. The contract for East West Link (the one he signed just weeks before the election) was a political ploy and loaded with a clause that guaranteed Napthine’s mates $1 billion if Labor cancelled it. That’s criminal in my opinion. Labor made it clear to the electorate beforehand that they would cancel it if elected. Furthermore, during the campaign Napthine made it clear that that would cost Victorians $1 billion. Yet Victorians still voted Napthine out and Daniel Andrews in, knowing full well the consequences. In other words, this was the peoples’ decision – they think the $1 billion payout (if it ends up being that much) is worth it. Better that than to have a do-nothing Coalition Govt in power that only looks after its mates. Btw, the cost of just stage 1 of the (phony) East west Link project was $6 – $7 billion so actually, Andrews is saving us money, not wasting it. And guess what? East West Link would have run at a loss and not solved traffic issues.
As for QLD, well, I think the voters have spoken. One term of slash & burn (and corrupt) Newman was enough to do a total backflip and return to governance for the people, not for big business and mates.
Ray
It has been many years since I last drove in Melbourne traffic but I tend to think that the road was actually necessary but you southerners will wear the consequences of cancelling the project. That said no matter what the rights and wrongs of the project it sets a very bad precedent when it comes to any government contracting for public works to repudiate the contract signed by a previous administration.
Its not yet decided, certainly Campbell has lost his own seat but Labor have not got the numbers to form government so in a tight parliament we may yet see the LNP retain the treasury benches
The East West contract was a political ploy designed to hoodwink voters into (a) believing the Coaltion govt of 4 years was finally going to build something (b) not voting for Labor because doing so would mean a $1 billion payout if they cancelled the contract as they had promised to do.
In the circumstances, the only “poor form” was Napthine signing that contract and payout clause just weeks before the election knowing full well that the polls were against them retaining govt and that Andrews had made it clear he would not go ahead with the project if the ALP were elected. That’s the “precedence” that was set, Iain. By the Coalition. They set a booby trap and, worse still, boasted about it during the campaign as a way of trying to win votes. Thankfully, Victorians did not take too kindly to that kind of political bullying and blackmail and put Napthine and the Coalition back in opposition after just one term – where they belong.
As for QLD, the worst case scenario for the ALP is a minority govt. The LNP cannot form govt. They’re gone.
(a) it would have been built and Melbourne needs it to be built
(b) Andrews promised voters that there would be no payout, knowing full well that there would be.
Thanks Labor, another billion dollar debt and still NO infrastructure.
Victorian taxpayers are now paying for a useless desal plant that has yet to produce a drop of water and a roadway that will never be built.
Another day in Labor, another Labor failure.
Do you have a link for that Ray, or is it just hyper-bowl?
For financially challenged leftards, Australia is currently paying one billion dollars per month in interest on the debt accrued by Labor.
If a billion is incomprehensible, try this ready reckoner:
1 million seconds is 11.5 days
1 billion seconds is 31 years !!
It’s amazing what a difference three zeros make.
Thanks Labor
Based on what authority do you say that, GD? The details released by Labor – ie the details contained in the Coalition’s so-called studies – actually showed the Eastlink tunnel would be of no benefit whatsoever, would not ease traffic congestion on other freeways and would be under-utilised, as well as running at a huge loss and forcing tolls on currently untolled roads to be imposed. You made the statement so if you’ve got some other report indicating that “Melbourne needs it” then cough it up.
It HAS produced water, GD, and was last year used to top up a major dam. Yes, we’re “paying” for the COMPLETED desal plant (or rather, Melbourne households are) via about an extra $100 per so per household per year. So what? The point is that the desal plant guarantees Melbourne will never again suffer severe water shortages, as it did a decade ago when the project was first conceived/started. So what if we pay an annual premium for that kind of insurance? You also pay a “premium” for fire insurance on your home but that doesn’t mean you need to make a claim on it every year to justify having it. Just because your house doesn’t burn down every year doesn’t mean you shouldn’t insure it, or don’t you agree with that? It’s called using prudence and good management. Covering your arse in case of a disaster. Do you seriously suggest Melbourne would be better off without the deslal plant and should just take the risk that there’ll never be another drought? Do you seriously suggest that building the desal is a black mark for Labor? Get real. What did the Coaltion ever build?
Another fact is that the Bracks/Brumby ALP govts managed to build the desal (at a cost of over $1 billion) WITHOUT going into deficit and WITHOUT great debt. 11 years of surpluses, a major infrastructure water facilty that can (and will) deliver a near endless supply when it is needed. And it will be needed some time in the future – that’s for sure.
Covered above. Even if we have to pay the $1 billion that the Coalition agreed to pay (in a secret side letter designed to thwart the legal system) we’d still be better off financially than going ahead with the $6 – $7 billion dud.
And in nearly 18 months in power the Coalition has failed to rein in any of that debt (like they said they would) and have actually blown it out by what, about another $100 billion or so? How’s the deficit going? Oh, it’s worse than Labor’s.
Look GD, the writing’s on the wall for your lot in Canberra, just as it was for Victoria and Queensland. The Coalition don’t have a clue how to manage the economy and will be thrown out at the next election. At least Labor keeps things buoyant – your lot are just slash & burners with no plan for growth.
(No disrespect meant here but before you jump in again on matters economic, GD, please have a rethink. It’s not your strong suit mate as you’ve repeatedly shown. No hard feelings and HNY to you and the WesternSydney Muslims)
You’ve asked for links, where is your link for this?
Come on, Ray, do some work instead of spinning for Labor while ignoring the billion dollar monthly interest payment incurred by Labor. Economic managers indeed!
I’ll give it to you straight after you give me yours for saying, “Melbourne needs it (the EastWest Link Tunnel) to be built”, GD. Don’t worry, I can definitely provide a link to what is already common knowledge for you – i.e. that the Coalition so-called study into the project was only made public after the election and that it was a dud – if I have to. But seeing that you made your unsubstantiated claim first (without qualification), and seeing I asked you first to back it up, the onus is on you old chap. So if it is (as I suspect) just an opinion you hold (a biased and unsubstantiated one) why not try saying that instead? Then I’ll forgive you. Go on, be honest.
GD, please don’t ask me to do the work YOU failed to do in the first place. Cough up your links or admit it was just an opinion without any facts or (dare I say?) that you just made it up. Come on, don’t be afraid to utter these words, “Well yeah, I don’t know the first thing about it, I was just barracking”. I’ll think better of you if you do.
And now Dan Andrews is paying a billion to build NOTHING. That makes sense.
Ray, why would it have been used to top up a major dam when Victoria has had substantial, more than adequate, rainfall these past few years? By the way, what major dam was that?
Perhaps you should check out this link:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/billions-in-desalination-costs-for-not-a-drop-of-water/story-e6frgczx-1227094416376?nk=319346f8859fb903ca4f054d5406625c&login=1
A couple of quotes from the report for your edification:
Clearly this is another example of Labor’s superior economic management.
Another day in Labor, another failure.
More later, I have a busy day ahead busking for falafels in your wonderfully integrating islamic utopia in Western Sydney.
Allah Akbar
btw could you provide a link for this spurious claim?
Why should I? You failed to back up your claim that “Melbourne needs it (the EastWest Link Tunnel) to be built”, so you divert onto the desal plant and demand that I provide proof that it has in fact pumped water into Cardinia reservoir. Well, it did; not a lot (because under the Bailieu & Napthine Govt they refused out of spite to order anything but the minimum top up) but it WAS done. Go find it yourself. It happened.
You can blabber on all you like about the cost of the Victorian Desal but the fact remains it has droughtproofed Melbourne for the forseeable future and the extra costs people are paying to both maintain it and pay for its construction are simply the insurance premiums you MUST pay if you want to ensure a drought-free future. The Desal plant will in time be regarded as one of Australia’s greatest infrastructure projects. Built by a Labor Govt. Without going into deficit or unmanageable debt. Something your Coalition mob only do in their (wet) dreams.