Month: August 1993

The Opposition makes a very solid point morally and a good one legally about the Government’s Budget trick.

The Government has hinted that it might put its Budget goodies and baddies in the one Bill so that the Senate has to knock back the goodies if it is to knock back the baddies. The Opposition would then be accused of preventing people’s tax cuts.

Let’s leave aside the political brawl for a moment and turn to the dry old Constitution. The Founding Fathers in Australia wanted to avoid a trap found in the United States Constitution. In the US as in Australia, revenue Bills had to originate in the House of Representatives. But in the US, the Constitution allowed the Senate to amend them. Often amendments took the form of trivial pet projects and laws, such as desexing cats or gum-tree preservation. When the amended Bill was sent back to the House, the House had to either to accept the pet project (which could be quite unpalatable) or reject the whole Bill, including the tax.
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The Mount Stromlo Observatory condemned the ACT Government’s in-fill housing development at North Duffy-Holder yesterday as a threat to an international astronomical project.

It said it would unnecessarily bring forward the day it will have to relocate and it also differed with the Government over the costs of relocation.

The acting director of observatory, Don Faulkner, said he accepted the long-term precariousness of the observatory’s position near a major city. However, the Duffy-Holder development posed a special problem because of its proximity. Alone it would shed up to an extra 10 per cent glow beyond what the observatory was already suffering.
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The ACT Government is hiving off tobacco-fee money from the Health Promotion Fund and putting it to general revenue, according to the Opposition spokesman on sport, Greg Cornwell.

Mr Cornwell said yesterday, “”In 1991-92, approximately $1.33 million had been distributed via the fund for arts, sport and health activities, or 8.1 per cent of the total revenue of $16.4 million which was generated from the ACT’s tobacco franchise fee.

“”However, in 1992-93, when total tobacco franchise receipts increased to $21.2 million, the Government’s allocation to the Health Promotion Fund was $1.03 million or only 4.9 per cent of the franchise fee.”
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Not so in the Assembly yesterday. The Opposition’s attack became unconcerted when Trevor Kaine got to his feet.

After some concerted questions from his colleagues on the suitability of a Labor appointee to the Tourism Commission, he stopped his team as it was striving for the tryline by diverting to the pet irrelevancy of the first Assembly by asking a question about chemicals in the water supply.

Remember the fluoride debate? Mr Kaine asked about a contract for sodium meta bisulphate. Was the Minister for Water, Terry Connolly, aware that it was allergenic? Would it go into Canberra’s water supply?
Continue reading “1993_08_august_sketch26”

A decade ago in the High Court a leading QC, I think it was Shand or Hughes, got into an exchange with one of the judges. The outcome was the self-satisfied conclusion that the law is embodiment of logic tempered with common-sense.

Why then, I thought, were the judges wearing silly, uncomfortable horse-hair wigs on their heads. These wigs added nothing to the processes of logic and common-sense that were supposedly going on underneath them. Indeed, they detracted from them. How could one have any faith in the common-sense of someone who put a silly horse-hair wigs on his head?

Now the judges of the High Court, at least, have abandoned them. But other continue with them. It is a cultural thing. Judges wear wigs for the same reason that some African tribes put bones through their noses or cut holes in their ear-lobes.
Continue reading “1993_08_august_sicksoc”

It is a popularly held view that before whites arrived, Aboriginal society lived in harmony with nature with cultural practices that contributed to that harmony and the survival of the population.

In the newly released book Sick Societies, Robert B. Edgerton debunks the myth of primitive harmony. In doing so he uses examples from Australian Aboriginal groups, among many others, to support a view that primitive societies worldwide should not be viewed through rose-coloured glasses, as so many anthropologists have done in the past.

Many of these societies have practices and beliefs which harm their chances of survival, or are at best neutral. Moreover, many of the practices result in great human misery and fear, much of which is unnecessary. Alienation, suffering, disquiet and rebelliousness are not the sole province of western societies and their ugly cities.
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About a dozen community groups are to hold a Save Our City rally at Acton Peninsula tomorrow (sunday) at 11am. The groups include those opposing in-fill in North Canberra and the North Duffy-Holder residents’ group.

The community groups will be expressing a range of concerns over the ACT Government’s policies on development, betterment levies, commuity facilities, conservation and the general feeling of loss of the unique feeling of Canberra, according to organisers. Organisers hope for a large turnout of Canberrans concerned with these issues.

The minimalist approach, therefore, seems to run against his political instinct. Small wonder his Corowa speech at the weekend hinted that he is moving away from it.

Initially, the Nervous Nellyism appeared to arise from the belief that Australians always knock back referendum proposals so they must not be scared too much. The whole republic thing could fall flat on its ear if the nervous Australian voter thought the change was too big.

Keating seems to have reassessed this. And quite right, too. It is based on a jaundiced view of Australia’s referendum history.
Continue reading “1993_08_august_rights”

Opposition Leader Kate Carnell’s idea for a collegiate-style government was described yesterday as a “”kindergarten ploy” by the Conservation Council.

And Independent Helen Szuty said it would be a return to the no-responsibility days of the Alliance Government.

Ms Szuty said Ms Carnell had misinterpreted community concern over consultation and direction of government as a call to change the structure.
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Documents presented by the ACT Government to the planning committee showed an appalling attitude to major Canberra redevelopments, according to Independent Helen Szuty.

She said yesterday that government documents on Duffy-Holder and development near Tuggeranong Homestead indicated that the Government assumed the planning approval would go through.

The documents said under the heading Public Consultation: “”A preliminary assessment is being prepared for public consultation. This will lead to approval of a draft Variation to the Territory Plan”.
Continue reading “1993_08_august_redev”