Monthly Archives: October 2011

News and Views

Let QANTAS go to Asia – that’s what they want – plenty of airlines will fly our domestic routes

7 Comments

The QANTAS announcement of grounding and lockout yesterday was one of those watershed events – you just know things will not be the same again – I just do not believe the pieces can be put back together again. For months the unions have been twisting the QANTAS tail with their escalating disruptive tactics.

Late last week as our Prime Minister went to CHOGM she was asked about intervening in the dispute and she said “..no”. How could she tell her union mates to try and settle with the big bad capitalist QANTAS ?

Of course it is obvious now this decision must have been planned for weeks – deliberately pulled on the weekend QANTAS was flying many of the CHOGM leaders home. How excruciatingly embarassing for our Govt – plus Minister Albanese muddling around on National TV on a Saturday to answer questions that he had no answers to – mumbling about “acting like adults”.

This intensifying union action can be traced to the Rudd/Gillard Labor Fair Work laws which unwound the IR laws from the Howard years – well now the nation will pay the price.

I think it is constructive to think back a decade to the collapse of ANSETT – clearly it is not in our national interest to rely too heavily on one strike prone and problem prone carrier. A few weeks ago QANTAS announced plans to relocate to Asia – we should say bon-voyage mates – good luck with your plans for a more profitable QANTAS in Asia – nice knowing you. This weekend the Govt should be talking with a range of well known international carriers about increasing competition servicing our domestic routes – Air NZ, Singapore, Emirates, Etihad – come to mind.

Interested to hear what readers think.

Cryosphere, IPCC

Did IPCC climate models predict this need for a UK Snow Supremo ?

3 Comments

‘Snow supremo’ needed to avert winter transport chaos

 

The UK should appoint a “snow supremo” to try to avoid another winter of chaos at airports, MPs have recommended.

The Transport Select Committee examined the impact of heavy snow last December which shut Heathrow, Gatwick and major train lines, and left roads impassable.

The committee said it wanted airports to be forced to plan more effectively so people had at least basic supplies.

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The committee said failure to provide information about rail services should cost those firms responsible money.

The MPs also called for a further £10m in funding to enable the Met Office to provide better long-term forecasts.

So say UK MP’s.

I missed the article in May. I wonder where the idea is now.

Climate indicators, Water

Another bumper wheat harvest for Australia

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In 2005 I asked Are Martians growing Australian wheat ?. Then a year ago I posted – Australian wheat crop history does not shout “worst drought ever”

The point of this article is to recycle this very direct chart from “The Australian” which highlights the fact that out of the last 11 years, three have produced poor crop levels but eight have produced very good crops.

Australian wheat crop history
Australian wheat crop history

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Thousands of knee jerk main stream media articles over the years claiming, worst drought ever, worst drought in 100 years, a decade of drought, ten years of drought, you have heard them all – are shown to be dubious. There has obviously been a lot of fairly average rain over the last 11 years to grow all this wheat.

It is truly amazing that such a simple phenomena as rain is subject to so much main stream media mis-reporting and lies.

Water

Out of 2007 – Seawater desalination seriously examined by Canberra Govt water utility ACTEW

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I wonder how much money was wasted on the study – driven no doubt by Chief Minister Stanhope who was itching to play in the “big boys desalination sand pit.” They actually looked at costs involved in desalinating seawater at the coast – then pumping it ~150kms plus vertically 750m. Any half competent engineer could do a back of an envelope calculation in ten minutes and tell his superiors – “…you have to be dreaming.” On a related subject – how close did Canberra come to getting a sewage to drinking water factory – how many millions were wasted chasing that darling Greenleft rabbit down its burrow. And of course at this point in 2007 at least 5 years had been wasted in delays to getting on with the no-brainer option to enlarge the 100 year old Cotter Dam.

BoM Australia, NZ Climate Science Coalition

FOI update – The BoM has no record of contacts by NIWA before 16 August 2010

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Last May I reported on my February FOI request to the BoM to release to me all documents and data connected with their peer review of the seven station series for NIWA. See my article – “Australian FOI law keeps secret the construction of New Zealand seven station temperature series”. Note that the BoM Schedule of Documents supplied to me commences on 30 August 2010.

The Kiwis brought to my attention the following question and answer in the New Zealand Parliament 18 March 2010.
Beehive question

This indicates that NIWA had contacted – was corresponding with the BoM six-months PRIOR to the 30 August 2010 commencing date for documents they found pursuant to my February 2011 FOI request.

On 31 May I emailed the BoM and drew their attention to this six-month discrepancy. Twenty weeks later and the BoM has just sent me an addendum to their original Schedule of Documents – see link above.

This Addendum lists 14 more NIWA/BoM documents (all exempt) – but dated from 16 August 1 September 2010. So it looks to me that the BoM are saying – “…we have no record of NIWA contacting us prior to 16 August 2010.”