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Showing posts with label Australia related. Show all posts

Jun 2, 2011

Carbon tax debate ignites controversy in Australia

A pro-climate change ad campaign that calls for a tax on carbon has sparked a row in Australia. The ad campaign funded by environmental groups including Greenpeace and the Climate Change Institute, features the actor Cate Blanchett who has been dubbed "Carbon Cate" by some of her critics. In the ad she calls on Australians to "finally" do something about climate change.

Australian conservative leader Tony Abbott, who once described human-induced climate change as "crap" is steamed about the ad campaign. He dismissed Cate Blanchett as an "out of touch" celebrity.

Guardian:

The conservative opposition leader... lambasted the advert. "People who are worth $53m have a right to be heard – but their voice should not be heard ahead of the ordinary working people of this country..."

Abbott also aimed criticism at Australian PM, Julia Gillard - "This is a prime minister who is happy to listen to actors but she won't listen to voters..."

The use of the term 'actor' in an attempt to in some way diminish Blanchett's climate change advocacy is a cheap shot. The resentment toward her in some quarters isn't only related to her stance on carbon, it is more generally directed at members of perceived cultural 'elites' who speak out on environmental issues. In the eyes of some Australians Blanchett's celebrity status and personal wealth make her suspect.

She took the criticism in her stride: “I’m not really surprised by the reactions of people on the other side of the debate. People are entitled to their opinion."

Cate Blanchett brings more than a Hollywood name to the climate change debate. She and her husband, John Upton are joint artistic directors at the Sydney Theater Company. They are behind the 'greening' of the Sydney theatre where rooftop solar panels have been installed. Attention has also been given to improving waste management and recycling at the facility.

Cate Blanchett in the solar farm of the

Sydney Theatre Company

The carbon fight has been heating up in the Australian parliament. PM Julia Gillard's plan to cut greenhouse emissions through a carbon tax and emissions trading has met with stiff resistance. She recently warned that the famous World Heritage Kakuda wetland of "Crocodile Dundee" fame is endangered by climate change.

Gillard:

"Salt water will get into the fresh water in Kakadu, changing the ecology, being a real risk for the native animals that live there, being a real risk for the indigenous communities that still rely on this ecosystem ... "

Australians are ranked among the world's worst per capita polluters. Despite the growing threat to the environment from emissions, 60% of Australians are opposed to a carbon tax. This is in part due to scare tactics used by opponents of the tax who claim that a carbon tax would inflate the cost of energy leading to an overall increase in the cost of living.

This is a shortsighted approach. Unfortunately it may take more tangible evidence of the effects of climate change before attitudes change across the board.

The Chief Executive of the Climate Institute, John Connor, accused opponents of waging "a furious scare campaign." He said "Australia is a high-polluting economy and we want to get the simple fact through that this approach would be one which started to make the big companies pay for their pollution."

Link also to Guardian - BBC - Toronto Star

Apr 1, 2010

Williams, Rudd and Riley: 'redneck' fireworks

Depending on where you hang out calling someone "a redneck" can be a dodgy proposition. There was little ambiguity when comedian Robin Williams referred to Australians as 'English rednecks' on the Letterman show. In case you didn't get his drift, he added: "Australians are basically English rednecks. You down there, 'how are ya?... I realized that if Darwin had landed in Australia, he would have gone: 'I'm wrong'."

Williams has made made other remarks in the past guaranteed to rub a few Aussies the wrong way, including a reference to macho Australian rules football as "rugby with a thong".

The comments failed to amuse Australian PM Kevin Rudd, who fired back on an Australian radio show: "I think Robin Williams should go and spend a bit of time in Alabama before he frames comments about anyone being particularly redneck."

The Alabama remark seems a little gratuitous. Generalizing when it comes to rednecks is never a good idea. Sure enough Alabama governor, Bob Riley, was in turn unamused. He said: "I'm not sure if Prime Minister Rudd has ever been to Alabama... If he has, he would know that Alabamians are decent, hard working, creative people."

It all seems like a bit of a tempest-in-a-teapot. Williams offered an apology-of-sorts to PM Rudd: "...I would like to modify my terminology and use the term `English good old boys' instead." He also invited the PM to join him at a strip club in New York.

More on the story - Huffington Post - Guardian

Mar 30, 2010

Australian internet filter: Conroy's plan attacked

Australia,internet filter,protest,Conroy

Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is hoping to get parliamentary go-ahead for an internet filtering system that if implemented could pose a threat to the free-flow of information. It would make Australia the strictest internet regulator among the world's democracies.

The move to set up a mandatory ISP-filtering system has been described by Google as "heavy-handed" and beyond what is required to deal with objectionable content such as child porn and sexual violence.

In its submission to the Australian government Google expressed the concern that the "scope of the content to be filtered is too wide" and that the state controlled filter "would slow browsing speeds". Google's Lucinda Barlow said the plan went beyond filters used in Canada and Germany to block objectionable content. Ms Barlow told the Australian Broadcasting Corp: "This enters the gray realms of restricted classification, seeking to ban politically and socially controversial material..."

Critics have warned that trying to block content on high traffic sites such as YouTube could overload the filter. It could have implications also for other large popular sites such as Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter.

The US state department has difficulty with the Australian plan.

Guardian:

A US state department official said that it had raised concerns with Australia over the plans, which are to be voted on by its parliament.

"We remain committed to advancing the free flow of information, which we view as vital to economic prosperity and preserving open societies globally," Michael Tran, a state department spokesman told the Associated Press.

"We don't discuss the details of specific diplomatic exchanges, but I can say that we have raised our concerns on this matter with Australian officials."

A Courier Mail article has a few thoughts on the financial downside of the plan:

The Government's plan will impose new costs on ISPs, including hardware and software purchases and installation, and ongoing maintenance which could be passed on to internet users.

Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Coroneos says the costs would be "not insignificant".

For in-depth technical info on the filter plan link to Electronic Frontier Australia (EFA).

Mar 1, 2010

5,200 naked Aussies at Sydney Opera House

American photographer Spencer Tunick is best known for his installation works that feature large numbers of naked people. These photo events usually take place in urban centers. Some cities where Tunick has staged his mass photoshoots include Dublin, Vienna, Düsseldorf, Helsinki, Mexico City, London, Montreal and Amsterdam.

The number of people involved in the installations can get into the thousands. In 2003 Tunick photographed 7,000 naked people in Barcelona.

Spencer Tunick at work

A recent installation, commissioned by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardis Gras featured some 5,200 participants who assembled on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. Those who volunteered to get naked included both gay and straight people. In the words of Tunick the installation sends a strong message to the world that "Australians embrace a free and equal society".

Apparently Tunick considered shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach, but decided it was too large a setting.

The BBC report notes that:

The naked models included a pregnant woman, who went straight to hospital afterwards to give birth, and a television weatherman whose viewers got to see considerably more than his usual Monday morning forecast.

In 2007 Tunick collaborated with Greenpeace in a photoshoot with an environmental theme. He positioned some 600 nude people in a "living sculpture" on the Aletsch Glacier. The purpose of the installation was to help draw attention to global warming and the shrinking of the world's glaciers. The Aletsch glacier retreated by 100m between 2005 and 2006.

Photos from the Aletsch Glacier installation

In speaking of what inspires his work, Tunick said: "A body is a living entity. It represents life, freedom, sensuality, and it is a mechanism to carry out our thoughts. A body is always beautiful to me.”

Spencer Tunick's work has been the subject of three HBO documentaries - Naked States, Naked World and Positively Naked.

See also - CBC report - video from the Guardian.

Greenpeace site with Aletsch glacier installation videos - here.

Jul 26, 2009

Rebiya Kadeer film: Chinese hack festival site in protest

Included in the program of the Melbourne International Film Festival is a documentary about Uyghur leader, Rebiya Kadeer. It will be screened on August 8 despite strenuous objections by the Chinese government.

Just days after the Festival opened, its website came under attack by hackers operating from a Chinese internet protocol address. They sent a torrent of spam emails in an effort to crash the site and reportedly replaced program information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans.

Chinese authorities accuse Ms Kadeer, leader of the World Uyghur Congress, of inciting the recent riots in the Xinjiang region. This is a charge Ms Kadeer denies.

Director Richard Moore says staff has been bombarded with abusive emails. He described the language in the messages as "vile."

The Festival is standing by its decision to screen the Kadeer film - The 10 Conditions of Love - despite the intimidation. Extra security is being put in place. Private security guards have been hired to provide protection for Ms Kadeer and other patrons.

The film has proved to be very popular and has sold out.

Three Chinese film directors have withdrawn their films from the festival in protest. The director of Perfect Life, Tang Xiaobai, told a Chinese daily that "I do not want to see my film screened on the same platform as a film about Kadeer."

Richard Moore says the hack attacks began about 10 days ago.

Moore:

We've been subjected to a number of these attacks and we can see behind the scenes on our website that there are hundreds, well, if not thousands, of people from outside of Australia trying to get into our website and trying to damage us.

This has been going on... since obviously the call from a Chinese consular official who told me in no uncertain terms that I was urged to withdraw this particular documentary from the film festival and that I had to justify my actions in including the film in our programme.

Hey, we're an independent arts organisation and it's our programme!

Australian police are currently investigating the website attacks.

Guardian article on attack - here.

Mar 18, 2009

Australia: internet 'blacklist' includes Wikileaks

As part of its effort to censor the internet, Australia's Communications and Media Authority has compiled a list of censored sites .

The blacklist includes several pages from Wikileaks - the popular website that publishes anonymous submissions of sensitive info relating to corporations, government and other areas of interest.

The number of blacklisted sites in Australia is around the 1,370 mark. According to the Sydney Morning Herald this could increase to 10,000 or more sites.

A very real concern here is that an internet censorship plan in Australia or elsewhere, could easily be extended to include censorship of sites carrying political opinion. In both the Thai and Danish cases the blacklist has gone beyond porn sites to include sites with political content. The Thai list reportedly includes more than 1,200 sites deemed to be critical of the royal family.

Blacklisted sites have been distributed to Australian ISP's. They are required by law to make filters available.

As it stands at present Australia's Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) isn't going after the average internet user but is targeting webmasters who post links to sites that are on the blacklist. A site named Whirlpool was threatened with fines of $11,000 a day unless it removed a link from its forum that connected users to a site hosting graphic abortion images.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported a few hours ago that Wikileaks has posted the Australian list. The leaked list, understood to have been acquired from an internet filtering software maker, contains 2,395 sites - so significantly more than the 1,370 mentioned up top.

According to the Herald, roughly half of the entries include "online poker sites, YouTube links, regular gay and straight porn sites, Wikipedia entries, euthanasia sites, websites of fringe religions such as satanic sites, fetish sites, Christian sites, the website of a tour operator and even a Queensland dentist."

Government attempts to censor the net have run into quite a bit of opposition. Senator Scott Ludlam of the Australian Greens describes the move as a "deeply unpopular and troubling experiment to fine-tune its ability to censor the internet."

Reporters Without Borders has placed Australia on its "watch list" of countries imposing anti-democratic internet restrictions that could result in abuse-of-power and control of information.

Mar 1, 2009

Australian film pulled after violent incidents

The Combination, an Australian film set during the race riots in 2005 has been pulled from Greater Union cinemas in Sydney after fights broke out during screenings.

One of the fights was sparked by a smoking complaint. In another case a brawl in the foyer of a cinema reportedly involved four people with about 50 onlookers.

The film is controversial. It revisits a particularly troubling time when tensions between gangs of Australian Lebanese and white youths in Sydney's western suburbs sparked rioting. Some might consider the movie to be provocative or even an excuse for acting-out. But still this is no reason to pull it. It's a critically acclaimed film that addresses the problems associated with violence.

Australian film critic, David Stratton, calls the decision to pull the movie a 'knee-jerk reaction'. He said "It's akin to shooting the messenger. Good films are meant to provoke and challenge, and that is what this film does."

The Australian Film Syndicate (AFS) has called the decision to pull the film "unprecedented".

BBC news:

AFS managing director Allanah Zitserman said Greater Union's decision to pull the critically-acclaimed film was "devastating for everyone involved, especially for the audiences".

The Combination is still showing at Hoyts in NSW and the ACT; at Hoyts and Greater Union in Victoria and Queensland; and at Palace theatres in Victoria and NSW.

The Australian quotes a movie patron named Kamal Nassouh who attended a Hoyts screening as saying: "There's always fights after movies in these areas. It doesn't make sense that this one is taken off because there had been a few fights."

You can watch a trailer for The Combination here.

Dec 23, 2008

Nick Hac: threatened with arrest for using his Blackberry

Sydney resident, Nick Hac, stepped outside his apartment for a smoke. A group of police officers went rushing by armed with video cameras. Since the police were filming in a public space, Hac decided to film them. He put his Blackberry into video mode and started shooting.

When members of the New South Wales police force spotted him doing this, they confiscated his Blackberry and threatened Hac with arrest under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act.

The abuse of power by the cops included taking it upon themselves to go through the contents of Hac's Blackberry.

Tech Wired Australia:

“They also interrogated me, and told me that they would be deleting the video I had taken. They also went through all my contacts, photos and emails before returning the Blackberry to me. They even had to ask one of my business partners how to delete files on the Blackberry as they wouldn’t let me do it”

“I told the two Police women repeatedly that I did not consent to them going through my mobile. They embarrassed me, I had two of my business partners with me”

“The world we are living in is becoming too restrictive, I was just being a citizen journalist capturing video in a public place, the public need to know their rights, and so do the Police”

Hac described the two female officers who verbally accosted him as "drunk with power." When he asked what crime he had committed, they told him to shut up.

The Blackberry is Hac's private property. The cops had no right to seize it without his permission ... certainly not without a warrant or probable cause. Under law Australians have the right to take photos and shoot video of people and public places.

On the comment thread attached to the Tech Wired article Nick Hac points out the following:

“Unauthorised” photography in Australia has in fact been authorised since the 1937 High Court decision in Victoria Park Racing v. Taylor (1937) 58 CLR 479 (at p.496).

This was reaffirmed recently in ABC v Lenah (2001) HCA 63, where the Court ruled that despite the passage of decades since Victoria Park, any concept of a “Tort of invasion of privacy” still does not exist in Australia.

As Justice Dowd put it with blunt clarity in R v Sotheren (2001) NSWSC 204:

“A person, in our society, does not have a right not to be photographed.”

Anti-terrorist measures have been used in both the US and Australia as a pretext for reining in people's rights under the law. This is an example of a cowboy-like response, with cops using bullying tactics on a citizen who was operating within his rights. Incidents like this need to get more media coverage, if only to signal to the watchers ... that they too are being watched.

Oct 2, 2008

Is Harper lying about the Howard speech?

Despite his criticism of the arts, Canadian PM Stephen Harper is in fact an artist in a class of his own when it comes to keeping himself above the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. No matter what hits the fan, Harper always appears on TV looking like Mr Clean - whether it be accusations related to Mulroney, the Obama memo, the Cadman affair or any other murky behind-the-scenes dealing. Harper is above such doings, kind of like Saint Teflon-of -the -Hill.

Here we are again. Yet another incident has come to light - involving plagiarism this time - and while an aide commits political hari kari, we are meant to see Harper as the blameless victim-of-circumstance, duped into parroting a John Howard speech in the Canadian parliament in 2003 when he was leader of the opposition.

Harper is a man who micromanages the details - a perfectionist who rewrites speeches just to make sure every "i" is dotted and "t" crossed - and we are supposed to believe that he stood up in the Canadian parliament and reproduced a doctored version of a speech given by Aussie PM, John Howard, without any knowledge of its source?

The speech writer who recently fell on his sword was one Owen Lippert. We aren't talking about some insider here who developed his skills in back rooms. Lippert is an experienced foreign policy researcher with a PhD and expertise in intellectual property. He is an unlikely candidate when it comes to lifting chunks from a foreign leaders speech on-the-fly and handing it to the leader of his party during a critical time in 2003 when conservatives had to stake out an authentic position in relation to US foreign policy initiatives. It is more likely that he proceeded on the understanding that parts of the Howard speech could be reworked and that nobody would know the difference - as in fact turned out to be the case. It has taken years for this to come out.

Harper and Howard, H & H, were political compadres. In fact the relationship was so symbiotic the Aussie paper, The Australian, in a May 2006 edition described Harper's campaign as being "straight from Howard's election handbook in almost every way."

Howard was the first foreign leader invited to address Parliament in 2006. Like Harper, Howard is a small "c" conservative. When the two got together they had a lot in common - support for the Iraq war, opposition to Kyoto being two of the more obvious. They were also Bush cheer leaders.

The Harper speech delivered in 2003 when the Tories were in opposition is identical in parts to the Howard speech:

Howard: "Over the last four months we have seen no evidence to suggest that Saddam Hussein will willingly comply with resolution 1441."

Harper: "Over the last four months we have seen no evidence to suggest that Saddam Hussein will willingly comply with resolution 1441."

If Harper and associates had absolutely no knowledge of any cross-over, what planet do they live on? Any of them try Googling even a sentence or two of Lippert's offering? Nobody in their circle tune into the Howard speech when it was given? I mean this wasn't a lightweight speech about the problems of municipal garbage collection in Sydney, it dealt with weighty matters of the day - and the Tories are telling Canadians that they hadn't the foggiest clue what Howard had to say.

Aug 19, 2008

Mount Isa: mayor Molony urges 'ugly women' to move in

The population of Mount Isa in Queensland, Australia, is around 25,000. There is a slight gender imbalance with males in the majority. In order to attract more females, mayor John Molony has a radical immigration plan. He recently urged ugly women to move in assuring them that they would find a man who was eager and willing.

He used the term "beauty disadvantaged" to describe the female demographic to which he was appealing, and said that Mount Isa was the perfect spot for them because they would encounter "less competition" from good looking women.

After digging this hole for himself, Molony proceeded to dig deeper. When challenged about his remarks, he offered explanations about what constitutes his idea of beauty. Included in his list of positive assets are "a good set of teeth."

Molony managed to offend women and men just about equally. Town councilor, Gary Asmus, described the mayor's comments as 'an insult to the town's menfolk.' He went on to say the mayor was: " ... returning us to the Dark Ages and making the guys that live in this town seem like sex-hungry starved men that will pounce upon the first girl that they see walking down the street."

Last report ... up to 100 local women intend to protest the mayor's 'ugly' comments.

Jul 8, 2008

Australia stifles dissent in advance of Pope's visit

The Pope is going to be visiting Australia and will be attending "World Youth Day" in Sydney. In preparation for the visit, authorities in New South Wales have put new regulations in place in a misguided effort to spare Catholics "annoyance or inconvenience." Anyone arrested under the new laws could be fined up to $5,500.

Legal experts have described this clampdown as "draconian, repugnant and unnecessary." President of the New South Wales Bar Association, Anna Katzmann, has raised legitimate concerns about the merits of introducing these regulations:

"The Government has by-passed the normal parliamentary scrutiny that would be available if they were introduced by an Act of Parliament ... They are also an unreasonable interference with people's freedom of speech and movement."

Police have informed organizations that intend to protest the Pope's visit that they must have the messages on their placards, banners and T'shirts pre-approved or they risk losing protest "rights."

This astonishing assault on democratic rights, also applies to those groups that intend to protest against child abuse by Roman Catholic clergy. The crackdown by NSW authorities has created a backlash. Rachel Evans, spokesperson for the NoTo Pope coalition is going to hand out condoms at a rally planned for July 19. When asked about the clampdown she said:

“We will protect our civil liberties and help young people to protect their health, and no Pope or premier will stop us.”

An online retailer is advertising T'shirts with protest slogans that read - "$5,500 - a small price to pay for annoying Catholics" and "The Pope touched me down under."

The Atheist Foundation of Australia is encouraging people to defy the law. President David Nicholls said:

“When governments enact laws or police overstep their discriminatory powers in enforcement, against the common good, the obligation upon the public is to react with civil disobedience.”

Heads of state are rarely accorded these extraordinary concessions, but in the case of the Pope, New South Wales is prepared to put new laws in place in order to regulate the right-to-protest. Activists are completely justified in calling for protests in defiance of this move.

Feb 23, 2008

Beth Morgan: sex for planning permission in Wollongong

A public inquiry into alleged corruption in Wollongong, a coastal city near Sydney, has been a big item in the Australian media lately. The story stars town planner, Beth Morgan, who had a thing for aging property developers. In order to get her approval for various projects, such as illegal high-rise buildings, the clients were encouraged to put out. Developers were pursued and in most cases bedded by alpha-planner Morgan.

In addition to bestowing erotic attentions, the clients expressed appreciation for Ms Morgan in more tangible ways. She was showered with gifts. These included a vacation in China, a digital camera, perfume, cash and designer handbags.

Embarrassing emails have also surfaced, containing steamy confessions. In an email to businessman, Frank Vellar, Morgan writes - "you have driven me insane with thoughts of you." Vellar offers a cryptic response - "I am not your normal guy. I am complicated. Ciao Franco."

Another developer named Michael Kollaras is described as "a gorgeous Greek". In an email to Kollaras, Morgan explains why she had a strange look on her face during an earlier get together - "the funny look I had last night at the boat trip suggestion . . . was more about your Turkish wife finding out than the other."

Four of Morgan's clients regularly met up for meetings dubbed "the table of knowledge", held in a local kebab shop.

Former colleagues of Morgan aren't terribly sympathetic. One describes her as "rude, arrogant and ruthless" and claims she was always "sucking up" to the bosses. Repeated complaints were made about her relationships with developers, including the sexual liaisons, but nothing was done.

The developers Morgan was dealing with were high profile with connections to government. Five ministers have been linked directly or indirectly with the affair. The scandal is proving embarrassing for the New South Wales state government.

When it became apparent that the cat was out of the bag, Morgan and Vellar hired two men who were posing as anti-corruption officials. They forked out $150,000 believing that the 'officials' could get rid of incriminating evidence. Vellar is alleged to have offered a bonus. He told one of them that Ms Morgan would also be available for sex. A very busy lady by all accounts.

Morgan was fired by Wollongong city council for "serious misconduct" and was recently the star attraction at the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry. She has been appearing at the inquiry wearing large dark glasses.

Nov 16, 2007

Santa Clause losing his ho?

It's November and the countdown is on. Street decorations will shortly be going up, and kids will start wondering what surprises Santa has in store this year. However, if they stay up late on Christmas eve to try and catch a glimpse of Kris Kringle driving his reindeer across the sky, instead of the traditional "ho ho ho" ... they are liable to hear a very unSanta-like "ha ha ha".

Santas in Sydney, Australia, have been told not to use the traditional "ho ho ho" in case it offends women and frightens children. The reasoning behind this development, is that Santa's "ho" is too close to the American slang term for prostitute. It's highly unlikely that kids would associate Santa's legendary "ho ho ho" with hookers on the downtown drag. But now that these linguistic correctness crusaders have drawn their attention to it, no doubt kids will start making the connection immediately. Good job.

How long will it be before words are only allowed to have literal, singular and correct meanings? No questionable connotations or colorful allusions.

It isn't only the Aussies who are cleaning up Santa's act The US company, Westaff, has informed its Santas that "ho ho ho" is "discretionary". Which of course will likely be interpreted as "not PC to use" by those men-in-red who wish to hold onto the job. So the stealth blackballing of yet another age-old custom has begun.

If this catches on perhaps "he he he" will be substituted for "ha ha ha" by those who consider "ha" to be insulting to Vietnamese women of that name . But then "he" might also turn out to be problematic. "He" is the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet considered sacred by some orthodox Jews, who might be deeply offended at having it used in a jocular vein by a bearded man of pagan lineage. Plus there might be some touchy guys who take offense at the abuse of a relative pronoun that identifies things male.

The way the PC-iffying of language is going these days, a few years down the road reprobate Santas in out-of-the-way hold-out towns might be the only ones left belting out "ho ho ho".