Target 155 down the drain

Posted to Waverley Leader (25/2/11) on 26/2/2011 at 11:07 PM
Commenting on "Target 155 down the drain"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/target-155-down-the-drain/

Liberal Government definitely made the wrong decision in ditching the Target 155 campaign,. In business and in life, we set targets and goals not that we will achieve them definitely, but they are something to aim for, to better ourselves in many aspects of performance.

Whether or not it was introduced by the former Labor government or anyone, Target 155 "was" a fantastic idea. Saving water should not be viewed as a policy; it should be a way of life. The best part of Target 155 was that no additional tax was imposed on people using water above the target. The public made conscious and unconscious decisions to conserve this valuable "resource".

By axing the campaign, or more correctly removing this magical target, many will revert back to bad habit using more water, causing increase in household spending, which can either increase household debt, or cannibalise spending on other services.

Target 155 should be synonymous to Keep Australia Beautiful, Cleanup Australia, Planet Ark, Greening Australia, Earth Hour, etc. The program should be expanded instead of being axed.

Why are there shortages of beds?

Posted to Your News, Waverley Leader on 1/12/2010 at 2:11 PM
Title: Why are there shortages of beds?
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/your-news/story/why-are-there-shortages-of-bedsr/

Ted Baillieu has a tough job ahead, not only on health reform, but also on hospital culture reform.

There are wards in some hospitals not open, tying up many beds. There are no doctors and nursing staff to service them due to lack of funding. If remains at status quo, these wards will never be opened.

When Brumby opened "additional" new beds in hospitals, old beds were shut down, and the staff were reshuffled. In fact, there were hardly additional beds opened during election time.

New wings or buildings of hospitals were not well thought out and lack accommodation. In addition, some hospitals placed unnecessary emphasis on certain racial needs, wasting valuable funding resource.

Like many public services, unused monies before end of financial years are spent on unnecessary renovation or replacement of furniture.

Gidley elated to take Mount Waverley

Posted to Waverley Leader (27/11/2010) on 27/11/2010 at 9:35pm
Commenting on “Gidley elated to take Mount Waverley”
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/gidley-elated-to-take-mt-waverley/

Congratulations to Michael Gidley for your tireless effort to win Mount Waverley back for the Liberal Party. During the ABC election broadcast Michael said that Victorians were not happy with rises in utility bills, and wanted a change. I would like know how a Liberal Government and Michael Gidley can reverse the rises?

Mulgrave Greens want tax review (Post 1 of 2)

Posted to Waverley Leader (16/11/2010) on 16/11/2010 at 9:45am
Commenting on "Mulgrave Greens want tax review"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/mulgrave-greens-want-tax-review/

John Janetzki, if stamp duty is cut, what will replace the revenue shortfall? I hope you are not another politician who specialises in policy-on-the-run, and knows nothing about costing.

Daniel Andrew, please explain a bit more clearly what "the tax needed to be viewed in context" really is in simple, easy to understand everyday ordinary people language. Not only stamp duty needs to be reviewed, but also land tax - which is another rip-off. Superficially Australia is in tip-top shape; this may be true for the banks and big corporations, but many small businesses will tell a different story.

Courtney Mann, what are you going to do about "a whole generation of families who are being priced out of the area" if you are concerned about this? Do you have any idea what the Liberal party's policy is, or hasn't the party any policy on this?

Monash councillor Banerji to contest safe Liberal seat

Posted to Waverley Leader (26/1/2010) on 27/8/2010 at 2:10am
Commenting on "Monash councillor Banerji to contest safe Liberal seat"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/monash-councillor-banerji-to-contest-safe-liberal-seat/

It was a good attempt by Joy in Election 2010, but she needed to work harder! Kevin Andrews was a popular choice, and to win the seat from him, Joy should not just bank her resume for being the past role as Monash Mayor.

There are many arm-chair candidates in every election. Most voters have no idea who are running for the seats. The candidates cannot be bordered or too lazy to door knock to introduce themselves, despite their being preselected by their respective political parties months ago. Unlike Wyatt Roy, the 20 year old, youngest MP of Longman, many candidates do not make any genuine effort to change voter's voting pattern or intention, but to rely on preferences stated on the "how to vote" card.

Monash councillor Banerji to contest safe Liberal seat

Posted to Waverley Leader (26/1/2010) on 31/1/2010 at 11:14am
Commenting on "Monash councillor Banerji to contest safe Liberal seat"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/monash-councillor-banerji-to-contest-safe-liberal-seat/

Should Liberal win the next election, will Joy Banerji "assist the government in achieving some success" and "further their cause"?

A good politician should represent the people at large, not just to serve the Party. Will she be a good politician from her statement? You'll be the judge!

Federally funded insulation sparks 13 house fires in Melbourne

Posted to Waverley Leader on 16/12/2009 at 10:28 PM
Commenting on "Federally funded insulation sparks 13 house fires in Melbourne"
http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/federally-funded-insulation-sparks-13-house-fires-in-melbourne/

I can't agree more that the Rudd Government has no concept of money management. The insulation grant benefits the insulation material producers, installation companies which employ large team of inexperienced cowboys; many are overseas students and people who don't quite understand English.

Roof insulation is a totally biased grant. A lot of heat gain or heat loss is through glass windows. The grant should have included all drapes, curtains, internal or external window blinds, door seals, window films, and any glass insulation etc.

I really wonder any member of the Government has substantial financial interests in the insulation business. The opposition, Liberal Party, should seriously look into this matter. I smell rats!

The Death of “Sweet Sixteen”

Posted to Waverley Leader on 23/3/2009

The Death of “Sweet Sixteen”

http://waverley-leader.whereilive.com.au/your-news/story/the-death-of-sweet-sixteenth/ (has been removed)

Whether we like it or not, casualisation of labour market has been around for quite awhile, and it is here to stay. The last hours of debate to kill off the Work Choices, introduced by the former Liberal Government, was bogged down by the definition of the size of employment capacity. Once again, Senator Steve Fielding, the trump card holder in the Upper House, allowed the bill to be passed after giving concession to Julie Gillard, the deputy prime minister, that for the first five years a small business is defined as one which employs 15 full-time equivalents(EFTs) and after which will amend to 15 individuals in total.

If the politicians care to talk to the store holders in shopping strips and shopping centres, particularly the hospitality business including take away outlets, they will realise that most of them would probably employ more than 15 casuals and part-time. Many current small business owners employ students as casual sales assistants, waiters and cleaners for a few hours of work per week, and are generally paid at under-award rates. Most students understand that they have been exploited and yet remained silent, for the fact that the little money they earn helps to subsidise their accommodation rental, daily expenses and education fees. Many business operators pay the casuals by cash-in-hand, and by doing so, they do not contribute adequately to Work Cover. In short, their annual income reported is not worth the paper it is written on.

Another industry that uses a lot of casual employees is the education sector especially in the TAFE colleges. Public TAFE colleges do employ more than 15 staff, but not many small private institutions or Recognised Training Organisations (RTO). Hundreds of competencies (or subjects) are available and being delivered (or taught) by skill-specific casual or sessional teachers. It is possible that 15 casual teachers are employed to deliver 15 competencies, each for 2 to 3 hours a week. Indeed, the total hours requires engaging the 15 teachers are less than 3 EFT’s.

Gillard’s definition for small business will force many more business owners not to record casual workers on their payroll, thus putting more workers at risk as they will be not covered by Work Cover. For the private RTOs, they will likely to sacrifice quality by employing sessional teachers who are able to deliver multiple competencies but of mediocre standard.

A fairer definition should place more emphasis on the earning capacity of the business rather than the number employed!