Flood levy: What's the fuss?

Why is Tony Abbott kicking up so much fuss about the proposed Flood Levy? People earning less than $55,000 per year will pay nothing and those earning between $55,000 and $90,000 will be paying less than the cost of a cup of coffee per week to assist in the rebuilding of infrastructure lost during the recent floods and cyclone in Australia. Those earning between $100,000 and $300,000 per year will be incrementally taxed, ranging from $4.81 per week up to $43.27. I really don't think that people are going to be burdened by this one-off tax levy and in the long run everyone in this country will benefit, not only those whose lives were devastated. I'm sick and tired of the media giving Abbott air time over this issue. The Government will introduce a bill for its Flood Levy today and I for one hope that it's passed. See details of yesterday's Question Time here and for those interested, our Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Julia Gillard's website may be accessed at http://www.pm.gov.au/.
And here is a useful site if you would like to research any papers, media reportage, etc. about the Australian Parliament and the Flood Levy:
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/summary/summary.w3p;page=0;query=flood%20levy;resCount=Default

Cyclone Yasi/Queensland Floods/Protests in Cairo

Recent storms, flooding, as well as Cyclone Yasi in Australia have spurned some to think that these 'unusual' weather patterns are due to climate change. The primary reason may be due to the scale of the event  and its presentation, rather than the event itself. Almost instant televised news accounts that lead up to the pending catastrophe, such as ABC24's constant coverage of the Queensland Floods, Anna Bligh's almost hourly updates of the impending disaster and then following that, the prelude to and persistent reportage of the anticipated impact of Cyclone Yasi as the worst event that individuals in Queensland would  ever experience - in other words the unfolding event(s) as they occur, gives a remote audience a sense of being there - a presence in their absence; anticipation, anxiety and feelings of sympathy for those caught within the occurrence and its destructive aftermath. In fact, the high drama inflicted on the viewing public prior to Cyclone Yasi far outweighed the actual event!

Constant media saturation depicting loss and devastation as well as  interviews with people who have endured hardship because of the happening, lead us to believe that these events are worse than those previously experienced by individuals in our country. I would argue that it is due to the fact that we are drawn so easily into the drama via ubiquitous communications technologies that we experience local as well as world events as all encompassing, frightening, life threatening and catastrophic. Note the outpouring of sympathy and solidarity from people world-wide for protesters in Egypt. Would this have occurred without media intervention and  up-to-date reportage of the unfolding event? Indeed, the heightened sense of being there (participation via  virtual means), seeing things as they unfold, engenders a relationship between the viewer, others and world events, one unprecedented in world history, however this does not necessarily mean that the events themselves are essentially different from events from the past, or that people did not experience high levels of hardship and pain, it's just that these recent occurrences are experienced and perceived in divergent ways. The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center is probably the best example here, not only because of its impact on the social and economic life, the number of deaths that occurred but on the psychology of people throughout the world. Indeed, footage of the United Airlines Flight 175 as it impacted on the south tower of the World Trade Center may possibly be the most iconic image of the 21st century, transmitted repeatedly until it infiltrated the world psyche.

Before the Internet (blogs, twitter, Facebook, etc), mobile phones, i-phones, televisual link-up to other states and countries, there was only telephone, radio and newspapers and although the radio provided regular news it certainly could not convey the immediateness that our advanced communications technologies engender. However, the reader here may find it interesting in light of the recent extreme weather  in Australia that in 1934 in Melbourne 36 deaths were attributed to a flood that occurred in November of that year. The remainder of that summer, and also autumn 1935, was noteworthy for several other unusually heavy rain events in Victoria, a departure from the otherwise generally dry decade of the 1930s.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology 'floods are a fact of life in a Queensland Summer'. The benchmark was set by one in 1870 when, legend has it, men drank in the hotel while up to their chests in water.
After a cyclone in Queensland in 1916, 61 people died. In 1963 I experienced the flooding in Melbourne and in 1974 I remember what the BOM refers to as 'The Big Wet'. The year 1973 was one of the wettest known over much of Australia, and in keeping with the strong La Niña event that prevailed, the 1973/74 northern wet season started early. By the end of 1973 large areas of the country were saturated. Then came January 1974, which featured probably the biggest continent-wide drenching since European settlement, inundating vast areas of the country.
It seems to me that Australia is a country of extreme weather patterns and that at least once per decade, perhaps more often, we experience floods, fire, tornadoes, flash flooding, hail storms and drought. 
I'm not saying that we shouldn't reduce our carbon emissions, of course we should try to reduce the amount of pollution in the air and its obvious impact upon our environment, but what I am saying is that whether or not we do this or not, it's not going to change the fact that 'weather' is a fact of life and that the media plays a big part in the way we view events and their disastrous consequences. Around about this time two years ago (actually 7 February 2009) Victoria experienced 47 degree heat and the Black Saturday bush fires were responsible for 173 deaths, 400 injuries and the destruction of thousands of homes.
Images slow-burnt into our memories somehow fade in recent media accounts of the deluge that continues to cover our land and I'm sure that unfortunately even these memories will fade, only to be usurped by media images that seize us in more compelling ways.

Fire and rain

I understand that we all feel sorry for those affected by the recent Queensland floods and I appreciate the fact that people from all over Australia have donated time, labor, goods and money to the appeal. This effort combined with the $1 million dollars given to Queensland and the upcoming Flood levy imposed by the Federal government, which will raise $1.8 Billion dollars will ensure that houses, businesses and infrastructure will be rebuilt and people will feel settled and happy again. A similar level of generosity was expressed after the Black Saturday bush fires in which people died and property was lost, however more than $100,000 million dollars donated by Australians has yet to be spent.

What I want to know is why we as a nation can't do something similar to overcome the crisis in public housing? More than 41,000 people are currently waiting for public housing in Victoria and most spend half of their pension on private rental accommodation, leaving very little for them to 'live' on. Their trauma is a daily one, played out in constant worries about lack of funds and a place to live.

Are 'we' as a nation only concerned about people in Queensland because their produce or lack of it impacts upon 'us'. Fruit and vegetables are set to rise more than 70% and according to this Age article, the recent spike in fresh food prices will lead to more Australians replacing fresh fruit and vegetables with cheaper foods that have poor nutritional value. Excuse me, but about 2 million of our current population of 22 million people already eat 'cheaper foods' because they can't afford nutritional foods that may contribute to a healthier lifestyle and this figure doesn't take into account the numerous students who must live on the meagre funds given to them by the government to support them whilst they are studying or struggling families who depend upon the salary of a low-income worker.

Do we only have the ability to conjure up sympathy for those who are are deluged by water or fire? What of people who, generally through no fault of their own are forced to live on unemployment benefits, old age, single parent, disability support or veteran affairs pensions? Australian people are generous, I believe that they only need to be reminded from time to time that they are 'lucky' and that there are others who need their help. Overcome poverty and housing and you are part way there to overcoming crime and mental illness!

And just a final point, regardless of their income, anyone affected by the Queensland floods may apply for the $1,000 Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment and may, according to Dr Michael McGann, research fellow in the school of historical and philosophical studies at The University of Melbourne also end up diverting income from the poor to the rich.

Julia Gillard: Leadership in action

There are some who continue to focus upon our Prime Minister's style, rather than her substance. Niki Savva based her article about voters views of Julia Gillard on interviews she'd carried out over the Christmas New Year period with her inebriated friends. Are the results of this type of 'research' really worth considering. I think not! But reading further articles in The Australian, I finally found some more accurate portrayals of our eminent leader. Lanai Vasek's article focused upon Julia Gillard's very human reaction to the victims of the Queensland flood and in particular the time she spent speaking to parents of young children, the elderly and volunteers from the Red Cross and St Vincent de Paul at the Brisbane RNA Showgrounds and Stefanie Balogh reported on the substantial and timely assistance that the Federal Government will be providing to flood-ravaged victims, including emergency and income support payments, personal hardship grants, essential household contents, structural grants and many other forms of assistance. Three days ago, after meeting with Australian Defence Force personnel, Julia Gillard deployed 1,200 troops to assist with the flood clean-up, whilst other ADF personnel will assist in the evacuation of individuals involved in the recent Victorian floods. Julia Gillard will visit some of the affected areas over the next few days. Can we please direct our attention to the actions of our leader rather than her facial expressions, hand gestures and what she's wearing ~ it's so journalistic ho-hum and should be considered passé!

Gillard and Bligh

Some people are always going to be happier when they see women being emotional ~ after all, isn't that what women are ~ over emotional and out of control? It appears that Shaun Carney, associate editor of The Age just can't accept the fact that our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard is measured and controlled when she presents in the media. Indeed, Carney states in his editorial 'Lessons for Gillard' this morning, that 'In news conferences and interviews she has looked and sounded robotic and rehearsed'. Susie O'Brien from The Herald Sun put it in kinder terms, she referred to Gillard's demeanor in relation to televised reportage on the floods, as 'wooden and unconvincing'. I suspect, given the cunning way Carney introduced the article by referring to his mother's memory of the 1955 flood in the Hunter Valley that he may in fact have been considering Julia Gillard's media performance in relation to Anna Bligh's emotional plea for Queenslander's to stay strong and the sight of Bligh's trembling bottom lip as she stated "We're the ones that they knock down, and we get up again." I have to admit that I like seeing the emotional humanity exhibited by Bligh, we need to see our politicians as affected, after all Bligh's own mother's house was in the flood path. However, apart from Bligh's obvious emotion and compassion towards the plight of the Queensland people, we also need a Prime Minister in control, displaying leadership qualities and self-discipline. Julia Gillard did not barge in and take front place in media presentations, she did what any true leader should do, which was to allow those who know, to be the one's who speak and the Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh certainly had on the ground experience of the flood and was the best person to talk about it at this time. Gillard's role will come later when she is asked to explain the big picture in relation to how the floods affect the majority of Australians. Gillard doesn't have to show emotion to be actually feeling it, we know that she's not a robot and no amount of underhanded vitriol by Carney about how the PM came to Labor Party leadership is going to make us doubt that Julia is the woman for the job and yes, tough decisions always have to be made.

Floods in Melbourne 1963 ~ my memory

People using rowboats in main street Seaholme. 1963 Flood.

I apologise for the quality of these images, which are digital photos of a photocopy of an original newspaper article that I found on Microfiche at the State Library of Victoria in 2008. They are from The Age, Tuesday, 29 January, 1963.

My Country ~ El Nina or HAARP?

Last night I got a text message from Brecon Walsh, presumably in response to my mention of the floods in Queensland or the fact that the media is saturated with compelling images of so many flood ravaged towns. Brecon's message simply said 'El Nina or HAARP weather war?'
El Niño (Sp ~male child)/La Niña (Sp ~female child) causes a kind of see-saw affect between dry and wet conditions. The current flooding in Australia, particularly in Queensland and NSW has been attributed to El Niño weather patterns. The Bureau of Meteorology explains that a major La Nina event continues to affect the Pacific Basin. La Niña periods are generally associated with above normal winter, spring and summer rainfall, particularly over eastern and northern Australia.
The BOM maintains the La Niña years of 1916, 1917, 1950, 1954 through 1956, and 1973 through 1975, were accompanied by some of the worst and most widespread flooding this century. Any external influences other than those produced by 'natural' causes would surely be mentioned. On that note, I looked at the HAARP research institute, which studies the properties and behavior of the ionosphere and they adamantly state that 'the HAARP facility will not affect the weather'.
Our own Australian Government, IPS Radio and Space Services are well aware of the HAARP facility, particularly their use of High Frequency radio waves into the ionosphere.

My response to Brecon, based on my limited research this morning and my memories of the many floods (and droughts) that Australia has experienced, is that there is no conspiracy to alter world temperatures by an American organization (but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't remain vigilant to the deeds of those in power); the fact is that we are a land of extremes. One of the earliest poems generations of Australian children learnt by heart was one by Dorothea Mackeller called My Country. The lines from her poem ~ the beauty and the terror, droughts and flooding rains and flood and fire and famine, perfectly describes Australia's weather patterns.

It's a sad fact that in a few weeks when the floods have subsided, many Australian's will have to deal with devastating forest fires. Let's hope there's no repeat of Ash Wednesday (1983) and Black Saturday (2009)!