Australianewsflash

Oh boy can't believe we are still trying to get better at supporting those who have served in our military forces and are now classified as veterans.  Now there is a call for a Royal Commission into this matter.  If it is called I hope the expense is worth it.  Might be better to keep shaping up the current system to cut red tape and ensure no veterans with PTSD and or physical injuries are out there alone and suffering to the point of suicide.  The rates of the latter among veterans should make us ashamed. Some good news is that a veteran in trouble now can receive instant fiscal relief and counselling while their overall  case is assessed for longer term help.  Need some veterans in the public service ranks to work on the cases put forward.  Hard for career public servants to have a deep grasp of the issues and for them to avoid the almost imperceptible desire to be ultra careful with the government purse. A suffering veteran faced with mountains o...

My partner and I were appalled to learn that Australia has been exporting waste paper products impregnated with various bits of plastic to Indonesia.  The aim is to have Indonesia manage some of our waste.  We also used to send a lot of our waste to China to be dealt with but the Chinese have stopped receiving this waste. In Indonesia some of the paper impregnated waste was on sold to tofu factories to feed their furnaces.  It all looked ghastly with the workers breathing in toxic fumes from the waste caused by the burning plastic. Indonesia is now returning such waste to Australia and good on them for so doing. Why can't Australia develop processes to handle our waste other than the invidious landfill method that has been used throughout my long lifetime?  Waste management is one of the challenges faced by Australia and I know of various university research projects that are breaking new ground in this area. It is time to act.  Imagine being able to expor...

The conservatives won in a canter despite the pre-election polls favouring the Labor socialist opposition. Labor was stunned and already has a new leader.  He is a down-to-earth bloke and could do very well. Labor proposed a massive change agenda that resonated with many but the reality was that they miscalculated how difficult it is to get people to readily accept the unknown that change offers.  Labor had insufficient time to explain the changes and they lost the election, badly. The conservative government is cranking up their activity to carry the country for the next 3 years. Climate change almost the number one concern of the electorate took a back seat to the security of having a job in a well-managed economy.  The electorate judged that the conservatives were the ones to deliver such basic security. It's not very inspiring as yet. The conservatives won by expounding that the policies they had been pursuing in government over the last 6 years were the way to ...