Posted by Steve on February 3, 2012
Australian Greens communications spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam today launched a campaign urging the Government to strengthen media cross ownership laws and protect diversity in the Australian mass media.
Senator Ludlam said the recent Fairfax raid by mining billionaire Gina Rinehart was just an example of the ongoing concentration of media ownership in Australia.
“This is not about Mrs Rinehart’s personal world view. It’s about the mass media in Australia being run by a tiny handful of people which is getting smaller and smaller.”
“Eleven of Australia’s twelve capital city daily papers are owned by either Fairfax or Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd. The remaining newspaper is effectively controlled by the owner of Channel Seven. It stands to reason that the concentration of media ownership in this country has gone far enough.”
“Disturbingly, Australia is already ranked 30th in the world for press freedom. By comparison, Canada is 10th and New Zealand is 13th.” (Reporters Without Borders – Press Freedom Index 2011/2012)
Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has bought almost 14% of Fairfax Media, adding to her 10% stake in Channel Ten. The reach of Fairfax extends beyond the city mastheads the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age into regional towns right across Australia.
“The weakening of Australia’s media ownership laws by the Howard Government has had a negative impact on the integrity of public debate in Australia, a situation that will worsen if further concentration of ownership is permitted.”
“With the support of the Australian Greens, the Government can take the urgent action required to protect diversity in media ownership in Australia. We have asked the Australian people to write to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy through our website – http://www.greensmps.org.au/media-ownership – to urge him to take action before it is too late.”
Posted by Jim McDonald on January 25, 2012
The Greens candidate for Noosa, Dr Jim McDonald welcomed the announcement for an election date by Premier Anna Bligh, this morning.
Dr McDonald said that the LNP and Labor leaders had descended to a schoolyard level of debate on the election date.
“I have no doubt that the decision will be controversial concerning the decision to push back the Council elections, but people have been confused between coverage of State and local government elections.
“The Greens policy supports fixed terms and the adoption of that principle will take away the demeaning argy bargy that we have seen this week between Campbell Newman and Anna Bligh.
“However, the biggest problem we face in Queensland is that no party once in government seriously commits to any long term action planning.
“People often say to me that The Greens can never win government so it is a wasted vote. But voting for The Greens is a vote for the future. We must leave behind the dysfunctional ratbaggery that has characterised the Queensland Parliament and deal with long term issues beyond the three-year electoral cycle instead of short-term, populist programs.
“If I am elected to the Parliament for Noosa I can focus my contribution in representing Noosa on the solutions requiring long-term strategy and action, such as a commitment to the infrastructure planning and programs necessary to prepare for the effects of climate change in the region and economic prosperity for Noosa in the post-carbon economy.
“This is not something you ever hear from Mr Elmes or the Young Labor candidate from Brisbane.
“Because I am not constrained by the vested interests that support Labor and the LNP, my focus will be on the benefits for the whole of the electorate and the region rather than select groups and the coal and gas industries.”
Dr McDonald said, “The Noosa and Hinterland Greens Branch are organised and ready for the long campaign.”
Jim McDonald campaigning for the Greens
Jim McDonald
Greens Candidate Noosa
Media Release, 25 January 2012
Posted by Jim McDonald on January 24, 2012
Jim McDonald, the Greens Candidate for Noosa, writes to the Noosa News about de-amalgamation:
I’d like to thank Bob Ansett for pointing out what the LNP’s website says about Noosa’s de-amalgamation because what the LNP spokesperson for Local Government, Gympie MP, David Gibson, says and doesn’t say on that website is quite different from the LNP’s actual policy.
As The Greens candidate for Noosa, I have called for a referendum to establish the ratepayers’ wishes as the primary step in giving the Noosa community the local government it really wants. This is a community-focussed process of decision-making and the role of the Government will be then to facilitate – through community consultation – any changes resulting from the community’s response.
The LNP proposal is for “an advisory poll of voters in any proposed new Local Government boundary” after a Queensland Boundaries Commissioner has prepared their “preferred options” for any changes after he or she has considered submissions from the community.
These are important differences that need to be understood by all the groups involved. The LNP offers the Noosa community an “advisory” role in a poll. The policy does not indicate what kind of poll that might be. The Greens have called for a local referendum – let the community decide on deamalgamation not some appointed Commissioner fiddling with boundaries, “advised” by the community.
This “advisory poll” is something quite different from Mr Newman’s and Mr Gibson’s undertaking that “residents living within the proposed new council area will, by a simple majority, vote whether or not they wish to establish a new Noosa Shire Council”.
In designating a role for a Commissioner to make the decision on whether Noosa is to get the Council it wants, the LNP has developed a process that pushes the community to the side. LNP policy also will load the cost of a new Noosa Council on the residents: “ratepayers of any proposed new local authority would bear the full costs of any de-amalgamation.”
The Greens position is that if the community decides on separation the cost should be borne by the Government since it was the Queensland Government that forced amalgamation on us in the first place.
The Commissioner’s process of decision-making looks very like a “Yes Minister” scenario. I say that because the LNP policy includes the critical statement of principle: “The LNP has made it clear that its preference is for Queensland’s Councils to remain as currently constituted to avoid any further disruption and cost for local communities.” With that statement goes any confidence that accommodating the electorate’s interests is anything more than a sop to the community’s wishes.
As a Noosa resident who favours de-amalgamation, I’m rather disappointed that Friends of Noosa and the Alliance find the LNP position so attractive since any close examination of the LNP policy shows that Campbell Newman and David Gibson have made an offer that is designed to fail the wishes of the Noosa community, and the LNP cannot be trusted to carry out their wishes.
Jim McDonald
Greens Candidate
Noosa
13 January 2012
Posted by Jim McDonald on
The Greens candidate for Noosa, Dr Jim McDonald, said that the most important issue in the de-amalgamation debate was that the State Government should give Noosa residents the Council they really want.
He said, “No-one should assume that the Noosa community as a whole still has the views that were evident in 2007 – 8. There is significant churn in this electorate as residents come and go. “At the moment, the activists and the other candidates hitching a ride on the de-amalgamation campaign only think they know. People I talk to are not of a single voice on the issue.
“We need to get away from the hysteria evident in the public debate. The State Government owes it to the people of Noosa and those communities willing to join in a new Noosa Council to conduct a referendum in the Noosa region when the State election is held.”
Dr McDonald said that a referendum in Noosa and communities wishing to join in on the establishment of a new Council would be a smart move for the Queensland Government. It would establish once and for all what Noosa people really want for their area.
He said that although the Independent Alliance had taken some of the party political spin out of the issue, the old party politics had hobbled the Noosa Council issue. “I’ve been listening for years now to Bob Ansett rail against Anna Bligh. When Friends of Noosa threw their lot behind Glen Elmes and the LNP, and claimed to speak for the residents, they cut off any opportunity for the Noosa community to negotiate separation with the Queensland Government before the Coast councils were amalgamated. They made it an Opposition campaign
issue.
“The Greens campaigned for de-amalgamation during the last State election. It is still Greens policy for Noosa. However, establishing the actual wishes of Noosa residents today is the fundamental priority in considering Noosa’s future.
“The Greens believe in strong Local Government,” he said, “but the most important point is that a separate council should not be imposed on Noosa any more than amalgamation was. If the majority want the Regional Council to work better, then the new Government should respond to that.
“Earlier this year, Greens Leader, Bob Brown, sought to strengthen local government by calling for a federal referendum to include provisions in the Constitution to protect Councils in areas like Noosa. “Meanwhile the local branches of the Labor Party remain silent. I am sure that Glen Elmes himself is sincere about de-amalgamation but the LNP makes promises that have so many back-out provisions their commitment cannot be believed.
“Considering the affordability question is critical, but the debate is off the rails. On the one side the Alliance costings would support the argument for a new council. On the other side, Cr Brennan has aligned himself with the technocrats in the Regional Council and some opposition is based almost solely on the costs.
“The Noosa Greens believe the State Government, which inflicted amalgamation on Noosa, should cover the costs of separation if the residents of Noosa and surrounding communities wishing to join with Noosa are given an opportunity to vote on it and they actually support the creation of a new Noosa Council.”
Jim McDonald
Noosa Greens Candidate
13 December 2011
Posted by Steve on January 4, 2012
Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has welcomed the release of the report by the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government.
“The Gillard government and the Opposition should get behind this important and needed constitutional reform,” Senator Brown said.
“The panel’s outcome is the result of the process that stemmed from the agreement the Greens signed with Labor on 1 September 2010.”
The agreement stated that the parties would work together and with other parliamentarians to:
Hold referenda during the 43rd Parliament or at the next election on Indigenous constitutional recognition and recognition of local government in the Constitution.
Posted by Jim McDonald on August 22, 2011
Good luck on Thursday, Drew.
There is no doubt about the immorality of CSG extraction and coalmining on productive land and in people’s homes, but the laws are not geared towards what is best for Australia’s food security, nor what is best for the aquifers and the Great Artesian Basin, nor for the atmosphere as methane leaks, nor for the destruction of family lives and the peace of communities. On these grounds alone you have an absolute reasonable excuse.
The work you have done for the farmers and communities of the Darling Downs is sowing seeds across the country sustained by your’s and the farmers courage to stand up against multi-nationals and Australian companies out for a fast buck whatever the damage they do.
Drew, you should be proud of what you have achieved for all of us in bringing the pernicious industrialisation of our land and its resources to the public consciousness. I am!
Jim McDonald
Posted by Steve on June 21, 2011
Greens Leader Bob Brown has welcomed the announcement of an expert panel to guide Australia to a referendum to recognise and protect local government in the Constitution, delivering on the Greens’ initiative in the agreement signed with the Government.
The Agreement signed on 1 September 2010 included the following goal:
f) Hold referenda during the 43rd Parliament or at the next election on Indigenous constitutional recognition and recognition of local government in the Constitution.
“The Greens will have a representative on the panel,” Senator Brown said.
“Local governments deliver for communities and need to be able to call on federal government support, as we saw during the financial crisis.”
“Without recognition in the Constitution direct grants from the Commonwealth to local government face massive legal uncertainty.”
“Previous attempts, in 1974 and 1988, to have the status of local government recognised through a referendum failed because of the confusing nature of the questions put to the Australian voters. This time, the process will be supported by an expert panel,” Senator Brown said.
Posted by Steve on May 26, 2011
The Australian Greens will move to amend electoral laws to ban donations to political parties by tobacco companies, Greens Leader Bob Brown said.
“We hope the Government’s proposed plain-packaging legislation, which the Greens support, gets through soon. The Greens will also move to ban donations to political parties from tobacco companies,” Senator Brown said.
“The few brave Liberals, who are about to cross the floor if necessary to stop the end of glossy advertising on cigarettes, should be applauded. But it doesn’t need to stop there. All parties should also stop taking donations from Big Tobacco.”
“The Australian Greens don’t accept donations from tobacco companies and Mark Latham should be applauded for putting a stop to the ALP’s acceptance of donations from tobacco companies back in 2004.”
Posted by Steve on May 14, 2011
The Australian Greens are concerned by reports a ministry in Victoria may have breached federal guidelines covering the chaplaincy programme in public schools.
Access Ministries has been accused of trying to convert students into “disciples”, contrary to federal regulations.
“We await the review of Access Ministries by the Federal Education Department, something Peter Garrett has indicated will happen because the federal guidelines as ‘crystal clear’ on proselytising in schools,” stated the Greens’ education spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young.
The government announced in the budget this week that the National Schools Chaplaincy programme will cost $222m over the forward estimates and be extended to cover as many as 1,000 more schools.
“We argue it should be up to schools to decide how they want to use that money, not the department,” Sen. Hanson-Young said.
“Schools should be getting qualified counsellors to properly assess the various needs of students. What are chaplains qualified in? “Different schools have different needs. There should be two main criteria for counsellors – an ability to service the needs of a particular student community, and that their qualifications are relevant to the position.
“$74 million a year has already been allocated in the budget for the chaplaincy programme. The government could replace the chaplains with a student support programme to give students the services they need, and that counsellors are qualified for.
“A school may decide they want to retain their chaplain or instead hire a qualified counsellor or youth coordinator or someone who has experience liaising with different service groups. Ultimately, it should be a school’s decision.”
Posted by Jim McDonald on March 23, 2011
Noosa Greens are on an election footing following the leadership coup in the LNP and Premier Bligh’s refusal to rule out an early election. The Greens candidate has already been pre-selected and approved by the Queensland Greens State Council. The Noosa and Hinterland Branch has a campaign team in place.
The Noosa Greens candidate is Dr Jim McDonald who stood for the Greens in Wide Bay during last year’s Federal election.
Jim McDonald, Noosa Greens candidate, addressing a Greens function during the Federal election campaign 2010
Dr McDonald said that the Greens have a good chance of knocking off Labor in Noosa whenever the State election is held.
“Labor continues to disappoint Queenslanders despite the Premier doing a good job during the flood crises and Cyclone Yasi. But no-one has forgotten that Labor sold off some of our most important assets and infrastructure for short term profit.
“The Labor Government has allowed mining and gas interests to run amok in the State at the expense of farmers and productive land. The Sunshine Coast and the Mary Valley face a real threat of coalmining and coal seam gas destroying the region’s environment.
“Labor is encouraging coalmining throughout the Mary Valley and drilling for coal and gas is occurring just outside the Noosa electorate borders at Wolvi. What hope has Noosa got in stopping environmental vandalism if this is the mindset of both Labor and the LNP?
“The Greens are the only Party to stand against the expansion of the coal and gas industry into our region. The LNP has been silent and ineffectual because they support, and are supported by, the mining industry. They have failed rural communities and farmers.”
He said that there were a number of other issues for the election whenever it is called. “The so-called health revolution will pass by our region when the age demographic in the Noosa electorate suggests that pressures will only increase on health services.
“Where is the evidence of planning for a rapid transport system in our region when fuel prices are frequently hitting $1.50 a litre and will certainly increase towards $2.00 a litre?
“I have been pushing for some time for a strategic approach to food production in the region. There is no evidence that the State has any strategy for dealing with food security as the climate changes. Nor is there any evidence of local or state-wide planning for the inevitable transformation into a global post-carbon economy.
“If I am elected as The Greens MP for Noosa, I will work to improve the contribution of the Queensland Government towards making the Noosa electorate a better place to live, to work, to visit, for recreation and the arts, and in which to invest sustainably.”
Jim McDonald is a widower and has lived in Sunshine Beach for 15 years. He was formerly an academic, a union official and high school teacher. His PhD is on management in small and medium sized businesses.
Media release, Tuesday, 22 March 2011
We acknowledge and respect the traditional owners of this country and the land on which we stand