As flood waters recede in the eastern states, and the full extent of the devastation is revealed, serious questions regarding Government, corporate/personal responsibility and liability in regard to natural disasters need to be raised.

In the interim we need to ensure that those affected by the trauma of losing loved ones, property, possessions and income are given maximum support to recover their lives and get back on their feet.

The response of the community has been magnificent as battalions of strangers with mops, buckets and shovels volunteer to do whatever they can to help and donations roll in to the relief appeal.  Unfortunately thousands of families and small businesses will never recover because they were not adequately covered by insurance. (more…)

Last week’s political assassination of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd epitomises the new Labor way. They are now governing for themselves, their factional warlords and their union mates. Rudd may well have been a public nerd and a private tyrant but he deserved a more dignified departure from the Prime Ministership.

Labor would not be in government today if it was not for Kevin Rudd. Kevin 07 was a marketing master-stroke. He would do everything John Howard was doing. He would be an economic conservative, he would tow the boats back out to sea and he would keep our troops in Afghanistan. He appealed to the inner-city chattering class by promising to say sorry and avowing to be a world leader in climate change. Younger voters and the guilt ridden middle class simply swooned and he went on to become the most popular Prime Minister of all time.

While Kev continued to surf the tidal wave of political popularity his Labor colleagues locked in behind him. Those who dared challenge his authority were met with the full forces of his dark side. (more…)

State Treasurer, Eric Roozendall, lives and socialises with the rich and famous in Sydney’s wealthy Eastern Suburbs.  Rose Bay is a plush harbourside jewel with ready access to world-class health, transport and education facilities.

Roozendall’s zeal towards the maintenance of a AAA credit rating for NSW is more an application for a post-political job at the big end of town than a platform for the economic reform needed to get NSW moving again.  It certainly has little to do with increasing the quality of life for working families in Western Sydney and beyond.  They can eat cake as far as Roozendall is concerned. (more…)

Imagine the impact on our quality of life if the Rudd Government had directed the economic stimulus package towards improving public transport as an alternative to our reliance on cars.  A light rail link connecting the growth areas of the Macarthur region with the Macarthur Railway Station, improved rail capacity between Macarthur and the city with modern comfortable carriages, the completion of the South-West Rail link, and provision for heavy freight to be moved to rail would now be underway.
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