Saturday 27 December 2008

Stampede at first light maybe a false dawn, Weekend Australian, 27 December, 2008.

Stampede at first light may be a false dawn

Stapleton, JohnWeekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 27 Dec 2008: 2.
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"We've seen some very aggressive pre-Christmas sales, so shoppers can expect that retailers will up the ante from Boxing Day onwards to keep the momentum going," she said.
"It seemed to be a good thing to do," he said. "We are here just for the fun of it."
Tayla Propst, 18, a student from western Sydney, described the atmosphere as "crazy, very crazy". "It has definitely lived up to expectations. I love it."

Friday 26 December 2008

Escape to the country - Tambar Springs SUMMER LIVING By: John Stapleton, Australian, The, 26 December, 2008

Section: Features Edition: 1 - All-round Country
Emotional salvation is there for the taking, far from the city's madding crowd, says John Stapleton

ALL my life I've wanted somewhere to escape: somewhere I could be secure. Finally I've found it: Tambar Springs, a village in the middle of nowhere between Gunnedah and Coonabarabran in northern NSW.
How corny to have become a tree-changer; to fit into a recognisable demographic, baby boomers searching for sanctuary a half century after they were young. Its claimed population of 103 is probably an exaggeration. ``This could be the beginning of a very happy life,'' said the real estate blurb. Clever.
My teenage children shriek in horror at the mere thought I might take them there, into a primitive place without computers, parties, movies or mobile phones. I usually go alone.
The last time there was any real money in Tambar was last century during the wool boom. Now, everything is in flux; much of it is decaying, paint peeling off the walls. A few of the worker's cottages have been renovated. The bowling club, with views across the Liverpool Plains, one of Australia's richest agricultural areas, is long abandoned along with the crumbling tennis court next to myhouse.
My children are used to the consumer luxuries of the age. They argue over which is the best of the half dozen Thai restaurants in walking distance of home and pester for chocolate gelato from Bar Italia in Leichhardt, which they maintain is the best in Sydney.
To them the idea that their grandparents may not have worn shoes to school is nothing but a rustic fantasy. But in Tambar Springs, echoes of tougher times are everywhere, in humble houses and sensible vegetable gardens; in simple tastes and low expectations.
Sometimes, in the sparse few streets that constitute the village, people just stand in their front yards, beers planted in stubbie holders, staring at the distant hills, listening as if there were a message in the wind. If you ask what they're looking at, they reply truthfully enough: ``Nothing.''
With a certain reputation in the area for being a bit feral, the centre of all life in Tambar is its legendary pub. Certainly the town has its share of heavy drinkers.
It is something of a ritual to gather on the veranda and watch the sunset; the ribbons of pastel orange, pink and mauve across the plains and the distant hills. I love it there.
In Sydney, 10,000 people walk past my inner-city home every day and the street outside is packed with cars. I have begun to wonder if it's worthwhile. The population is preyed upon by parasites, politicians and parking cops, their daily working lives an unending grind.
Sometimes I fantasise that one day the whole city will stop; that the government will impose one more toll or tax and everyone, sitting in those endless traffic jams, will step out of their cars, throw up their hands and yell: ``It's not worth it any more.''
Then the exodus begins, and they all go to find their own Tambar Springs, their own piece of the world, without deranged street alcoholics driven mad on ice shouting as you walk past. Where you can leave your front door open and think nothing of it.
As I have grown older I have become disgusted with blithering incompetence and over-regulation. My taxes are spent on numerous things I simply don't agree with: the war in Iraq, bumbling state governments, dysfunctional and ineffective bureaucracies, farcical courts and lazy politicians.
The country has gone to the dogs, as my peers are apt to say, escape is the only solution. Find a place of your own far away, and stay there.
And so it was, in this curmudgeonly state of mind, that I came to Tambar Springs, a place on the planet where my efforts are rewarded, my achievements my own. In Tambar Springs, I climb up on the roof, painting, and looked at the humble 1 1/2 hectares around me. It's all mine.
For years I surfed the net, setting the parameters for under $100,000. Even now you can buy a slice of Australia in that price range. I don't know why everyone doesn't do it. There are always little houses in the middle of nowhere, shacks on lonely stretches near Ivanhoe, timbered hectares in the Snowy Mountains, ideal for that getaway you have always desired.
And thus began my slow efforts to fix the house, to make a place where people would be happy to come. When I first arrived, it was in the middle of the drought. The ground was parched and bare, and I looked across the desolate scene and thought: ``What have I done now?''
But as time has passed, there's been no buyer regret. The rains have come; the grass is thick and green. I've finished painting the interior; and am now working on the outside. Next comes floor sanding.
I sometimes think there's a ghost in the place. Her name's Marge. She's a little like my grandmother, who was never happier than when she was cooking, pulling scones and cakes out of the oven, loading up the dray to visit relatives on outlying farms. Marge, I imagine, was a product of her times, decent, hardworking, proud of her garden and her independence. She is pleased I've started work on the place. She wants to get back her status of having the best house in the village. I've just planted 15 climbing roses around the place. She particularly likes roses.
Sometimes I write about her:
``There had been no children, after Frank had left for the Great War and never come home. She longed for children all her life, but instead she became the village's most popular aunt, her house a place where children were always clambering around looking for a biscuit. What made her most proud was the way some of the young men would visit after moving into town, the way they would sit on her veranda, drink cold cordial and talk about their hopes and dreams.
``They reminded her of Frank, although they mustn't know that. She made a natural grandmotherly figure, and she didn't disillusion them. It would never occur to any of these young men to think of her in any other way, as they poured out their stories.''
The dreams of today's locals are not grand. They just want to be settling far away from trouble, enjoy the smell of lavender, roses in bloom, chokos growing in profusion over the water tank.
Each time I go back to the city I shudder at the pressure of it all, our stressful lives, the snail trails we make through the urban jungle. Once again, near work, I spot the dismal ice addicts skulking around the doctor's surgery.
Once again I watch the chained office workers, those modern slaves, heading for the overcrowded trains.
Why do people do it to themselves? No wonder so many are leaving Sydney, going bush and staying there; living out their days amid the sleepy drone of bees and insects adrift on the summer air, in their own secret bolt-hole, their own piece of heaven.

Monday 22 December 2008

Rudd's homeless vow ambitious The Australian 22 December 2008




http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/rudds-homeless-vow-ambitious/story-e6frg6nf-1111118383030

Rudd's homeless vow 'ambitious'

THE Salvation Army has labelled the Rudd Government's promise to halve the number of homeless people by 2020 as "overly ambitious", comparing it to Bob Hawke's promise that no Australian child would live in poverty by 1990.
The Salvos also attacked Labor for failing to consult widely on its plans to spend more than $1.2 billion to build new housing and increase services to prevent homelessness. A spokesman said the announcement had been rushed and key agencies, including itself, were left out of the loop.
He described the aim to halve homelessness by 2020 as "akin to Bob Hawke's much-ridiculed claim he would eliminate child poverty in Australia".
The spokesman said many of the state-based issues contributing to homelessness - including the poor quality of mental health services - had not been addressed.
The funding is the first stage in a plan to halve homelessness and boost accommodation by 2020, and comes on top of the Government's $6.1 billion affordable housing program.
Kevin Rudd, with Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek, yesterday launched a white paper on homelessness, The Road Home.
Labor will spend more than $1.2billion over the next four years - $800 million for support services for the homeless and $400 million on accommodation.
About 105,000 people are homeless each night in Australia, with 16,000 of them sleeping rough on the streets. Some of the new funding will help 9000 children at risk of homelessness to stay with their families and provide early intervention services for 2250 families. About 2700 additional homes will be built for people at risk of homelessness, and 4200 more will be built in remote indigenous communities.
Many groups however, including Mission Australia, St Vincent de Paul and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, applauded the Government's emphasis on early prevention and better services.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister mingled with homeless people at the Mission Australia Centre in Sydney before launching the white paper.
The centre is regarded as a state-of-the-art facility for homeless people because of its multi-disciplinary approach, helping people with their mental, medical, dental, drug and alcohol problems at the same time as encouraging them back into the workforce and into settled accommodation.
Mr Rudd then announced his Government's commitment to increase funding by 55 per cent, including churning $800 million into homelessness services. "I would hate to count the number of reports on homelessness there have been over the years," he said. "A country like this should not have this problem. It's time we had a decent solution."
Many groups dealing with the homeless backed the Government's plans. John Falzon, chief executive of the St Vincent de Paul Society, said the fact that homelessness had not been tackled seriously in the past was a national scandal: "This announcement is an extremely welcome change of direction."
The chief executive of Homelessness NSW, Sue Cripps, said the scheme was bold and aspirational: "It is not going to be easy, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a difference."
Mission Australia called yesterday's announcement the most significant development in homeless policy in almost 25 years.

One week of the year when prawns are king, The Australian, 22 December, 2008.




One week of the year when prawns are king

Wahlquist, Asa. John Stapleton, The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 22 Dec 2008: 5.
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Last Christmas, bad weather kept the Australian prawn fishing fleet dockside. This year the weather has been more favourable. "We had 150 tonne (of fresh, wild-caught prawns) last year. We are estimating about a 20-tonne increase," Ms [Louise Nock] said.
Paul Higginbottom, from Mooloolaba on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, has been fishing for 30 years and said there were more regulations now, but stocks were up. "It has been one of the better seasons. The catch has been good, fuel and our input costs are down a little bit."
"Seafood was the biggest thing years ago, now people have come back," he said. "We have been here since 1985 and we have been increasing every year, both volume of product and turnover."

Saturday 6 December 2008

Communities 'sacrificed' to carbon sinks, The Weekend Australian, 6 December, 2008.

Communities `sacrificed' to carbon sinks

Stapleton, JohnWeekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 06 Dec 2008: 2.
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By altering land use patterns and locking up millions of hectares in carbon sinks, rural Australia is being made the "sacrificial lamb" for Kevin Rudd's emissions trading system, said Mick Keogh, head of the Australian Farm Institute.
"The resulting reduction in farm output would have a significant impact on food prices, as well as major socio-economic impacts," he said. "This is the dark underside of the glossy and optimistic conclusions about the potential costs of an ETS."
Greens senator Christine Milne applauded Senator [Nash]. Senator Milne said the Prime Minister must explain to the people of regional Australia "why he is determined to drive them off the land and further undermine the viability of their communities with another tax rort for plantations dressed up as climate change policy".