Anachronism What I like about repeal day is that this is an exercise every new government should undertake. Getting outdated laws off the books is very sensible, even though my ex-father-in-law once successfully defended a charge of public urination on the basis of one such, wherein a specific exemption was provided for if the act was performed, as I recall the story, against the wheel of a gentleman’s carriage, and since he was pissing on a car tire, well, there you go. Still, here we are, new government well into its first year, and what have we gotten? Most of the revisions are typographical, dropping or adding punctuation. Not much substance, even if a comma here or there can indeed change the meaning and the use of or over and even more so. But the “red tape” repeals the LNP really wants are getting set aside or watered down, thank goodness. The idea that financial planners should be free from restrictions specifying that they act in the best interests of their clients, for example, which is, in reality, a means for banks to allow their staff to sell dodgy products their clients don’t need and won’t benefit from. Removing provisions in the anti-discrimination act to allow offense, intimidation, and humiliation and exempting any words or images “in public discussion of any political, social, cultural, religious, artistic, or scientific matter” is extraordinarily broad, and, as the Attorney General himself has stated, accords everyone not only the “right to be a bigot” but full protection from acting like one, too. I guess if I tell everyone your taste in ties is the worst of anyone’s that might fall afoul of the proposed change, except it’s social. Or is it fashion? Is that artistic? I give up. What is this government on about? Is it all just repealing whatever Labor did for the sake of it and “stopping the boats”? (Have the boats actually “stopped”? Seems not, although they are getting turned back, the ones they allow us to know about.) Come July, when the balance in the Senate changes, Abbott will have quite a romp, if he wants it, or can think of what to do with it, which latter I rather doubt, as he’s shown no capacity for actual ideas so far. While he was leader of the opposition, he was very good at attacking. It seems as though as leader of the government he doesn’t know how to lead but still expects everyone to follow. Unfortunately there’s no evidence of anyone among the LNP, front bench or back, with the capacity to do any better. It’s going to be a long three years. Let’s hope it doesn’t get any longer.

Rolling Clover From day one in Sydney I have witnessed the attempts by both sides of politics to rid themselves of their troublesome colleague, Clover Moore. They have forced her out of State Parliament, they have changed the City of Sydney Council to alter the voting base, they exaggerate and obfuscate. Whatever it takes. Now they are proposing to change the voting laws to require absentee business owners and landlords to vote, with the idea that they will swing the balance against her. Sure, because they'll have a two-votes-to-one advantage over residents. Yes, if you run a business or rent out commercial or residential space in Sydney you get two votes, whether you live in the city or not. This is anti-democratic. Corporations are not people, my friends, and they are not worth two of you. The problem we face is that Labor, now in opposition, hates Clover as much as the Liberals do, and the Greens would be more than happy to see her go, especially if it meant a chance for them to dominate the Council. Will all hands turned against her, the only hope for Clover, and for a progressive government in Sydney, is to fight this proposal, tooth and nail, and for even those who oppose green energy, bike lanes, and whatever lies her opposition trots out, to vote her back. We want government of the people, by the people, for the people, and this ain't that.

Royalist Pain Tony Abbott wants to name Knights and Dames as higher honors than otherwise accorded by the Order of Australia, but will they be supplementary or in replacement of any such honors conferred by his monarch, QEII? Does he get to whack them with a sword? What is it with this buffoon? A republic can't come soon enough.

Is Everybody Happy (Nowadays)? See? This is why the UN is bad: world government telling us we're happy, black helicoptors surveilling unhappy people . . . .

The Poor You Will Have with You Always (but not when you can make a buck off them) The decision by the current NSW government to sell the public housing in the Rocks and Millers Point isn't just heartless, it's corrupt. With the development of the former shipping wharves into a high-profile high-price precinct, complete with a high-rollers casino, was bad enough, bypassing normal planning reviews to largely benefit a single enormously wealthy man, but to now divest the poor of their homes to capitalize on the increased property values shows just how far the Liberal Party is willing to go to line their pockets and those of their wealthy patrons (read: masters). Community Services Minister Pru Goward says AUD$7 million has been spent on the public housing stock to be sold over the last two years and that this money could have been used to build more housing or conduct maintenance elsewhere in the State. I would suggest that the money has been badly managed in the first place, and in the second, spending $7 million on housing for the poor in the city is not "better spent" elsewhere - the poor deserve our compassion and our government's money. It's one of the things we pay our taxes for. 300 properties to be sold for upwards of 1.3 million apiece is certainly a lot of money, but it's a one-off. Less than half-a-billion dollars isn't going to get this government very far, not when it's committing itself to spending billions on unnecessary tunnels and freeways. The poor can't live in the street, but this heartless mob will have them there if they can. There just isn't time enough to get the ICAC onto this lot. (Link fixed.)

Two by Two Last year, Russell Crowe was Jor-El in Man of Steel. The Rabbitohs, of which he is part-owner, issued a limited edition commemorative jersey with the Superman 'S' on it. (No, I did not buy one. There's a limit to fan-boy gear even I will own. Besides, they only have "ladies" and kids left in stock.) This year he's in Noah. Will they do a special rain day match? Wear wet jerseys? Sell wet jerseys? Will mascot Reggie Rabbit come onto the field two-by-two? Will Russell get drunk post-game and fall asleep naked on the pitch? If they win the championship this year, will all the other teams and fans be denied access to the stadium while the climate-change floods rage outside and the South Sydney faithful huddle within, waiting for an opportune moment to send out pigeons and meanwhile subsisting on ANZ Stadium pies and hot dogs? Man, I can hardly wait.

Quiet, Loud, Both So, Yo la tengo at the Opera House last night. Don't think B. liked it much, but then again, I think I like them better as recording artists than performers. Yes, I'll listen to their records, but going to see them highlights some points recorded music disguises. Their singing voices seem to be quite weak. This may be deliberate. Their reliance on feedback effects is something I blame on Jimi Hendrix and Adrian Belew but don't get the impression they have the same . . . purpose. It seems more introspective and less playful. They have some good lyrics, when you can hear them, so maybe even when you can't, but who could tell? Finally, the Opera House is probably not the ideal venue. A smaller theatre or other venue would be more suitable. This, however, is a problem with Sydney. There aren't enough places for an international act to draw an adequate crowd, perhaps only from a promoter's perspective, though, as the New Pornographers, for example, played the Manning Bar and the Annandale Hotel, and even the Enmore would do better. I wonder about the "politics" of music promotion sometimes. Enjoyed the music, but it might have been a better night, somehow.

Every Road a Toll Road User-pays is not a good model for funding roadworks. Really big new highways and bridges or significant renovation works on such may require a toll for a period, but there’s a lot more to public infrastructure works than that. Claims that the fuel excise is user-pays ignores the plain fact that all tax goes into a single pool which is then allocated according to the government of day’s budgeting priorities. Which means building concentration camps in other people’s countries to house refugees Australia doesn’t want, buying fighter jets that are unproven and not even in production yet, giving tax breaks to the wealthy to have more children than the poor – not roads and bridges and airports. It’s just a draft report. The productivity commission hasn’t finished yet, although they were supposed to have the report out at the end of last month.

Advancing Australia’s Flag I’ve written about this before, but look: New Zealand is proposing to change their flag, and we’re not. Well, they are a more progressive country a lot of the time, even, apparently, when they have a Liberal government. I quite like the Aboriginal flag, but it will never be Australia’s. Too much politics. (There’s a science fiction movie with that crazy New Zealand actor, Sam Neill, in which he’s an Australian space explorer in the future, and he wears a flag patch on his uniform, with the union jack replaced by the Aboriginal flag; that was pretty good; still never gonna happen.) NZ has been prompted to make the change after being a bit fed up with having their flag and ours mixed up too often. Nobody mistakes ours for the UK’s, but if Canada can do it, I think we should be capable of achieving a unique design without reliance on mother England. If NZ does go to a fern or whatever, I say we just drop the crosses in the corner and have a nice Southern Cross on a field of blue (that isn’t the Eureka flag).

Keep Movin’ Movin’ Movin’ There has been years of talk of adding a second airport to Sydney and rarely any discussion of why it’s necessary. We’re not London or New York, after all, with millions upon millions of our own moving in and out; we’re mainly talking about international arrivals. So it’s good when someone raises the issue and asks: what will we do until then? Unfortunately the answer appears to be increase the number of planes coming through. While I agree that if capacity is the issue, it will be years before a second airport can serve it. But the experience I’ve had shows the problem not to be the carrying capacity of the airport in regard to takeoffs and landings but in moving people to and from the planes. Taxi queues are a trial at the domestic terminal, evidence it was designed with a different throughput methodology in mind, but one that no longer serves, if it ever did. People don’t want to park at the airport. It’s expensive, it can mean the family car is taken out of use, and the traffic getting in and out doesn’t help. People don’t want to do private drop-offs and pick-up, although they do, because of the traffic and the limitations on the design, which privileges long-term parking. Taxis are feral. The international terminal is not bad for taxis, although you’ll spend half the fare into the city just exiting the airport. There is a train, and it’s quick and relatively cheap, so long as you’re travelling alone and with minimal baggage. Once you add another passenger travelling with you, the fare has now gone up to be equivalent to a taxi, which latter has the obvious benefit of not having to lug your bags around. If you drive you are probably not going to miss your flight, but you will have to leave earlier and wait longer, especially along the various bottlenecks on the roads serving the airport, not least being within the last kilometre of the trip. You’ll eventually get into town for your meeting, too, but you’ll face the same bottlenecks, and more, in reverse, especially if you need to cross the CBD to get to your destination. Frankly, the roads that disgorge the daily commuters into the city aren’t up to it as it is, let alone with the addition of airport traffic. Adding additional flights to the mix is going to increase the numbers coming and going and exacerbate an already frustrating situation. And I haven’t even mentioned the curfew. Add changes here and the numbers are that much more and increase local community frustration. So let’s do something about the mass transit. Let’s make it easier to get to the airport from the scattered suburbs and give passengers a way to arrive in Sydney that doesn’t leave them queued up for hundreds of meters and as many minutes. Terminal infrastructure will have to be improved, too. If we’re going to screen people as extensively as America’s War on Terror ™ requires, we’re going to have to admit to it and have the capacity. It will be painful, but that can be mitigated. Possibly the Richmond RAAF base or other regional airport facilities could be brought into play, at least for some portion of domestic services. A new airport is inevitable, and I accept the need. We need to prove we can execute the supporting infrastructure before we start building it.