Category: Business

LORD HOWE ISLAND: THE FUTURE OF TOURISM?

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Imagine a holiday to a destination with:

– a pleasant sub-tropical climate
– spectacular landscapes
– great walks
– great marine life, world-class coral and unique bird life
– a World Heritage Area
– no rubbish, with world class waste management systems
– very few other tourists (400 maximum by law)
– very few residents
– very few shops
– no advertising boards
– no internet, mobile phone coverage or TV
– very few cars, a 25kph speed limit, no seat belts
– cycling and walking predominate
– warm and friendly people
– no locks on homes and where possessions (bikes, kayaks, boats) can be left in public places
– no unemployment
– a functioning, transparent council
– 2 hrs from Sydney and Brisbane

Too good to be true? That’s Lord Howe Island!Read More »

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WHY I’M SUPPORTING OLIVER YATES –INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR KOOYONG

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As the Federal election pre-poll voting opens tomorrow (April 29), I want to tell you why I’m supporting Oliver Yates. I’ve run two ‘Meet Oliver’ sessions for friends and neighbours, organised leafletting all 93 areas by volunteers, leafletted some myself, worn my Oliver Yates teal (Independent) T-shirt and I’ll be giving out how-to-vote cards this week and next at the polling site. As you can see, I’m committed to voting out Josh Frydenberg, the current member, Treasurer, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and former Minister for the Environment, despite needing a 13% swing to unseat him.

Why??Read More »

When ‘Average’ is OK

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In Garrison Keilor’s mythical town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, ‘all the children are above average’. And that’s where we’d all like our superannuation fund returns to be – above average. And that’s what the Productivity Commission is trying to achieve, by suggesting that all default schemes should be chosen from one of the ‘top 10’ or ‘best in show’ funds and underperforming funds should be closed. It sounds great! Where’s the flaw?Read More »

Organisation/Industry Scandals: It’s the Regulators, Dummy!

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It was the ‘fake honey’ story that finally got me. How could any organisation even conceive of ‘fake honey’, let alone produce it in their products?  Each day as I read the news, the headlines are familiar. Another organisation, another industry fails to be ethical, fails to follow the rules. Each day we are shocked…by what is the same issue much of the time: it’s the lack of regulators or lack of regulators enforcing the rules. Here’s how to fix many of the organisation/industry scandals that arise from the lack of regulators.Read More »

Dear Josh (Frydenberg)

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I write to you as my local Federal member of Parliament.  After the shambolic chaos of your party’s internal power plays last week that led to yet another new Prime Minister and you accidentally being elected Deputy Leader and Treasurer, I realised that the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) you had fought so hard for, though very flawed, was a genuine attempt to plot your way through the minefield of environment and energy policy.

Though I campaigned against it, and against you because of your support for coal mining, I realised that you almost achieved balancing a carbon emissions reductions target, an energy supply guarantee and some commitment to price reduction, in the face of the warring sections of your party.  Here’s why I’m sorry now that you failed and what you need to do if you want to be the next leader of your party.Read More »

The Plastics War? We’ve Barely Started

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So we (Victorians) have just stopped using single-use plastic bags in supermarkets and we are feeling very good about ourselves.  But this is just a drop in the ocean in our plastics use.  Research shows that over 800 million – yes million – pieces of plastic enter Pt Phillip Bay from just its two main rivers each year.  Research shows that plastics have infiltrated every ocean, every water supply and many food products.  Films such as ‘Blue Planet’ and ‘The Plastic Ocean’ and TV series such as ‘The War on Waste’ show how badly our environment has been and is being damaged by our uncontrolled use of plastic.  How can we address this environmental disaster?Read More »

HOW GOOD IS YOUR WINE?: GRADE INFLATION IN WINE RATINGS

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I love wine.  But I am influenced by expert ratings and gold stars on the bottle – I can’t taste every wine before I drink it!  Over time, I’ve felt that the number of wines receiving high ratings and gold stars has increased significantly – when was the last time you say a wine rated below 90?  A bit of numerical analysis supports this:  either wines are highly over-rated…or Australia has the best wines in the world.Read More »