When the stimulus stops. Just as well they are still building school halls because things are going to get a bit grim for those employed putting up new houses. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics this morning show things are really slowing down in that important employment sector.
It’s surely time for the Reserve Bank to stop and have a little think again about the level of interest rates.
What would happen if it was close? As the Labor Government decided to back away from its principled stand on treating asylum seekers with at least a hint of decency, the Morgan poll was releasing figures showing the Government once again well ahead. On a two party preferred basis Morgan puts it at 58 to 42 which would result in a landslide victory if repeated on election day.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is apparently not a believer in such a prediction but more interested in a finding that a clear majority of Australians believe anyone arriving illegally by boat should be sent back. The details of the poll can be found on the Crikey blog site.
An applicable quotation? Christopher Booker writing at the weekend in the London Telegraph:
Three virtually indistinguishable parties squabble over trivia, leaving the electorate without any clear alternative – so that on May 6 almost half the voters may well stay apathetically or sullenly at home.
If it wasn’t for compulsory voting would Australia be any different to Britain?
The temperatures keep rising. Now that Kevin Rudd has decided to squib making global warming into an election issue the evidence of a warmer world keeps coming. This is from this morning’s Times of India:
And now for an update on the world wide trend and I’ve chosen the data measuring temperatures at 14,000 feet because the graph has the 20 yer average (in yellow) as well as all the record highs over the same 20 year period (purple), last year (green) and this year so far.
This year is markedly hotter than last, well above the 20 year average and for much of the time hotter than the previous record highs.
What is it about bikes? Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett and the Greens Leader Nick McKim went cycling up Mount Wellington at the weekend so they could have a quiet chat about the state’s political future. Meanwhile Liberal Leader Tony Abbott was pedalling up the Snowy Mountains with journalists in tow. At least Tony Wright of the Melbourne Age had the good sense to conduct his interview while mounted on a motor bike.
Concussion becomes an issue. As I watched players return to the field of battle during the weekend’s rugby league games I could not help but think our sporting administrators have failed to grasp the significance of recent developments in the United States where litigation from long retired NFL players is now becoming common place. The claims are based on concussions in their youth during games being the cause of mental problems later in life.
Similar workers compensation claims are sure to be made in Australia before long.
Thanks for having the courage to raise the topic of global warming. It seemed for a short while that it had been put to one side; hidden from the public in the hope that it will go away.
Three issues dwarf most others on the world stage: Response to GFC (Taking the risks out of the banking system), Anthropogenic Climate Change (Doing something realistic about increasing global energy generation while at the same time reducing atmospheric CO2) and Collective Idiocy (Allowing know-nothings and frauds to hog the public stage when there is serious business to resolve).
Best of luck.
Glenn Stevens is at least six months behind trend. He was when he put interest rates up just before the GFC and he is again if he thinks it’s over.
I read an interesting article on the NFL situation (I’ll add a link if I can remember where i read it), and I think part of the problem is because they wear helmets, they actually take more risks and end up with greater impacts than if they didn’t.
So potentially it may not be the same problem with rugby in Australia … but rugby is still very dangerous.
Richard, I know you were a late comer to global warming and still haven’t got your head around the context, but…
You might have noticed a correlation between fossil-fuel burning and global warming. I’m sure most of the pollies are using bike-riding as a cynical vote-winner, but to say someone who decides to ride a fossil-fuel powered bike has “good sense” is taking unconnected thinking a bit far, even for you. I know it gives people a bit of a stiffy to knock greenie hippie poofta commo bastards, but it looks a bit silly when you’re always banging on about global warming.