Christmas is coming, and Connex is going…

Out with the old, in with the new!

As a girl who likes to get out and about, and doesn’t have the funds (or licence) to drive, I rely heavily on public transport. And it often lets me down.

I used to grin and bear it. But after travelling to Japan, where public transport is so timely (I swear it’s to the second), I was tempted to relocate. Plus all those train cancellations in summer (2.8% of services) meant day-after-day of being late to work. Oh, too many times have I heard “Attention, Platform #, the ### train has been delayed, and is now expected in 4 minutes.” … In 4 minutes, this is usually followed by, “Attention, Platform #, the ### train has been delayed, and is now expected in 8 minutes.”

But today, my fellow commuters, Connex, that most unreliable of public transport operators, has finally been given the big flick! Good riddance.

We can only hope that the new contractors – Hong Kong based, Metro Trains, and French-Australian company, Keolis Downer EDI for the tram network – don’t disappoint. They start in December, and have 8 years to impress Melbournians.

Could this be the best Christmas present the city has ever received? Only 6 months to go…

A dramatic week in politics…

Utegate reads like a convoluted soapie. But even more boring, and with uglier cast members. However, the consequences of the affair may be far more interesting than the plot itself.

I must confess, I’ve always loathed Malcolm Turnbull.

Sure, he’s a good politician, even great maybe. He is rarely shaken in interviews, and more-often-than-not comes across as an intelligent man.

But ever since he blocked the construction of windfarms (in his role in the Howard Govt) due to the death of Orange-bellied parrots, I cannot bring myself to like him. In case you missed, and you probably did, the whole parrot affair, let me summarise. Turnbull said he didn’t want the Howard Govt investing in wind technology due to the danger they posed to an endangered species. Even environmentalists who were responsible for protecting the parrots said that the claim was nonsense because
1/the birds weren’t that stupid
2/the area the windfarms were going to be built in wasn’t even part of the parrot’s habitat.

So you can imagine my disgust when he gained more power, as Opposition Leader. But it could be a short stint.

The Punch has revealed today that the email at the heart of the scandal, may have originated in Turnbull’s office.

If this is correct, Malcolm’s well-and-truly done his dash, and the only person disappointed will be Costello.

Who made generation sexY?

The media loves to hype up Generation Y as irresponsible and out of control. Sexting – sending pornographic pictureand text messages has been the latest in a long line of ‘problems with Gen Y’ stories. They have also included violence, refusal to work, shopaholic tendancies, and social networking abuse.

This image was taken by a freelance photographer working for advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The photographs were for a David Jones advertisement, and the brief demanded that these two girls be portrayed in an “adult and sexy” way.

The photo itself is subtle, but the message is there. Scary, considering the girls are just 10 and 12 years old. What do their parents think?

Both the agency and retail giant have tried to blame the photographer for the portrayal. I blame all three of them. 

An advertising agency should have the legal expertise to know when they are crossing the line in a way that could offend. A company the size of David Jones should have checked the brief better – why would they approve a campaign that asks that children be sexed up? Finally, the photographer, while just doing his job, should have had the moral considerations to know better. This isn’t a Bill Henson artistic portrait. It’s an ad. Trying to use sex, as a way of selling children’s clothes. The key words, ‘sex’ and ‘children’ – clearly out of place in an advertising brief –  should have triggered some sense of ethical alarm.

I do not know of the exact ages of those that approved this ad, but logic would assume that it wasn’t the creation of a member of Gen Y. The tables have turned – who’s the one with the sex problem now?

Double referendum at next election?

AEC employees are being told to prepare for a referendum, an inside source from the AEC has revealed to LK.

Hot tips for the issues are the recognition of Aboriginals as the first Australians in the constitution and the introduction of a four-year term at Federal Government level.

The former was an election promise of both the Howard and Rudd governments. Clearly, its been a long time coming. Rudd finally apologised for white invasion – a landmark day for all Australian people. If the referendum concerned recognition and inclusion of Indigenous Australians, I think there would be a resounding yes, breaking the 63 year Labor-Referendum drought.

Another election promise, Rudd wants to introduce a four-year fixed term for Federal Parliament. But if the 1988 precedent of the Hawke Government is anything to go by, this may be contested.

Laurie Oakes has a good argument for why Hawke failed:

“The argument politicians put is that a three-year term is too short to allow governments to operate in the national interest. A government, they say, implements the hard decisions in the first year, beds them down in the second, and spends the third year trying to win re-election. But what is wrong with that? … It is easy to see how that would benefit parliamentarians, especially those in the governing party, but less easy to see how it would benefit voters.”

What this referendum might offer is a fixed term in which the entire Senate is re-elected at once. From what LK understands, the current system sees Senators serve six-year terms, during which half the Senate goes to the polls every three years. Hawke tried to change this term to four years, but offered no fixed terms, meaning Senators essentially would have had eight-year terms. However, by introducing a fixed term Rudd has a greater chance of this one getting through.

According to the insider, the R word won’t get a look in. Strange, as Rudd’s a clear backer of a monarchy-free Australia.

But this is all speculation, until the announcement of a referendum. Looks like we’ll just have to wait and see.

RE: Letter to Rudd/Wong families

Dear Parents of Kevin & Penny,

I am writing to you to inform you of the disappointing performance of your son/daughter today.

At show and tell for the last few months, Kevin and Penny have been telling us all about their emissions trading scheme. They said we would all see  the ‘show’ part of their presentation by next year.

I’m sorry to say that both Kevin and Penny are now telling us we won’t be able to see the scheme until 2011.

We understand that good work takes time. But all talk, no action, makes Kevin and Penny a dull boy/girl.

Sincerley,

LK

Finally – ACTION!

Congrats to the SA Environment and Conservation Minister, Jay Weatherill, for actually making a move to introduce environmental policy into people’s everyday life!

No more plastic bags for SA shoppers – lets just hope ‘green’ bags don’t become the next landfill problem.

Unfortunately, can’t see the Brumby Government making this kind of decision. Maybe we should have a word with Gav…

Liberal renewal

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25424029-601,00.html

Definitely agree with the Liberal’s sugar daddies. The current Liberal party is a joke, full of hard-core traditionalists who can’t tackle the problems of today. 

They’re letting K-Rudd fly under the criticism radar by providing poor policies and weak leaders. Opposition? Hardly.

Logies wrap

Ok so as predicted, Packed to the Rafters swept the board.

Gretel tried hard to entertain, (was this the reason for the Minnelli-style cut?) but like many of her co-hosts, the humour fell flat.

I can’t believe I got through to the end.

Television’s night of nights?

It should be an interesting awards night tonight, as we all look excitedly forward to blah, blah, blah…

So the Logies are on again. But who really cares?

The poor quality sound and vision that Channel 9 always provides makes the whole thing harder to watch than the last home-made holiday dvd your Uncle Dave  made to show you. 

If you were looking forward to the red carpet, bad luck. The Bogan duo – presenters Jules Lund and Shelley Croft – both Channel 9 employees, will most likely get coverage over the more likeable Lyndsey Rodrigues (of MTV fame) and the bubbly commentary of Carson Kressley.

Perhaps Gretel Killeen will hold my interest – she’s a witty and smart tv host. But can she say anything about the Australian television industry that hasn’t been said before?

What I can predict is that the biggest winner will be 7′s Packed to the Rafters. But with 11 nominations for the show and members of the cast, that’s not a risky bet.

The Gold Logie could keep me watching until the end:

Packed to the Rafter‘s Rebbecca Gibney is the most obvious, being in the most popular tv show of 2008, not to mention her popularity and former success on our screens.
Natalie Bassingthwaighte has had huge success with So You Think You Can Dance, and despite this being a television awards ceremony, has had a hit album as well. 
I actually had no idea who Simmone Jade Mackinnon was (thanks Google), and yet I watch a lot of tv, so I’m going to say it won’t be her.
Everybody loves Rove, but he hasn’t had enough success or made enough trashy mag headlines to earn the gold.
Kate Ritchie could be the dark horse, though she had her quick-tell-her-we-like-her-now-that-she’s-leaving-H&A win last year, Underbelly put her back on the screen. 
Ian Smith could have a Ritchie-esque Logie win, now that he has left Neighbours after 20 years.
And then there’s the very talented Andrew Denton, and friend-of-the-people Adam Hills representing the ABC. But lovers of the ABC aren’t the demographics that read TV Week or are likely to spend the night texting away to secure the gold for either of these two blokes.

Telling porkies?

Although the threatening global pandemic that is Swine Flu is a serious global health problem, the Australian media should be condemned for the mass hysteria that they are creating.

For developed countries, such as Australia, who have adequate resources to cope with such health crises, the swine flu is not as serious a problem as the media pretends it to be.

Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, says we have one of the biggest stores of Tamiflu (a drug which prevents the spread of  the disease) in the world. Plus we have amazing medical research facilities and a health system to protect Australians.

We should be turning our concern to third-world nations, who face further economic downturn in the after effects of the pandemic.