Author: jkirkby8712

From today’s Australian Financial Review, we have Laura Tingle’s opening paragraphs to her front page summary of last night’s Federal Budget.  Laura writes:-

‘Business will lose tax cuts but households will enjoy a cash bonanza as Wayne Swan’s fifth budget redirects the benefits of the mining boom to underwrite growth and gives his embattled party it’s best chance at re-election in 2013. Big spending cuts in defence, foreign affairs, welfare, pharmaceuticals and the public service, along with decisions to dump tax measures previously promised to be funded by the minerals resource rent tax, have helped the government reach it’s long-held goal of a return to surplus in 2012-13 and beyond and record the biggest cut in government spending in 24 years. The 2012-13 budget also benefits from the first clear signs that a $150 billion slump in tax collections after the global financial crisis has finally ended. Tax collections as a proportion of GDP are finally forecast  to climb in coming years, though to remain at levels below pre-GFC peaks. Mr Swan’s budget strategy – built on official forecasts of more interest rate cuts – seeks to underwrite consumer and business confidence even as a big contraction in overall government spending robs the economy of steam. It does this by focusing spending on a number of payments which – in conjunction with last week’s interest rate cut – will deliver cash into the hands of the low income households most likely to spend it, with both economic and obvious political benefits [to try and persuade all those disaffected Labor supporters back to the fold!]. It is argued that annual growth in household consumption of 3 per cent will help spread the benefits of the mining boom by supporting the non-mining business sector, while contributing to overall forecast growth in GDP of 3.25 per cent. The boost to household spending  will come from……two new payments [and] will be in addition to tax cuts and compensation already scheduled to offset the carbon tax, which is now killing the government’s political prospects. There is also a booby trap for Tony Abbott in the family tax benefits measure as it is being funded from the minerals resource rent tax. The Coalition has opposed all spending funded from the tax – which it says it would rescind in government…………………” and so Laura goes on!!!

Some of the other headlines that appeared in the Review this morning, and no doubt other similar ‘comments’ appeared throughout the nation’s media, included: –

• Higher earners face tax slug;
• Business left on the sidelines;
• Team Gillard employs some reverse psychology;
• Most families [will] face wait for sweeteners;
• No apologies for soft-shoe shuffle [of monies];Vision ceded to penny pinching;
• GDP at trend on rate cuts;
• Super slug for top earners;
• A surplus too small from a budget too tight;
• Intent on giving away money; and
• Facing up to a surplus of distractions.

 

But enough [for now] of politics and budgets  –  I noticed an interesting little piece in a recent newsletter from the National Senior’s organisation headed ‘Life purpose heads off Alzheimer’s’

Greater purpose in life may help head off Alzheimer’s disease, a US study has found. Patricia Boyle from Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center said that people who reported greater purpose in life showed better perception than those with less purpose. “This is encouraging and suggests that engaging in meaningful and purposeful activities promotes cognitive health in old age,” Dr Boyle said. Researchers studied 246 participants from the Rush Memory and Aging Project who did not have dementia and who subsequently died and underwent brain autopsy.  Participants received an annual clinical evaluation for up to 10 years, which included detailed cognitive testing and neurological exams. They also answered questions about purpose in life, the degree to which one derives meaning from life’s experiences and is focused and intentional. Brain plaques and tangles, which disrupt memory and other cognitive functions, were quantified after death. Boyle said that much of the ongoing Alzheimer’s research seeks to identify ways to prevent or limit the accumulation of plaques and tangles, a task that has proven quite difficult.  Until effective preventative therapies are discovered, strategies that minimise the impact of plaques and tangles on cognition are urgently needed she said.

Meantime, the Carlton Football Club advises that it has just broken its all-time membership record, registering 44,296 members up until today. Their aim is to reach 50,000 by the end of the home and away season. This is the second year in a row the Club has reached new ground with its membership numbers, having surpassed last year’s final figure of 44,136. Obviously, the promise of future success helps in such ambitions after  almost a decade of  the most unsuccessful years in the Club’s history. This year, Carlton was the first AFL Club to introduce personalised membership cards with members being able to select their favourite player and have the image of that player  alongside their name on their ‘I Am Carlton’ membership card.  I have Mark Murphy on my card, chosen on the spur of the moment when purchasing the membership – a worthy choice, though in retrospect, given a bit more time to think about it, might have chosen someone else [Brett Thornton]. In any case, the Club feels that the ‘I Am Carlton’ campaign has been well received by Carlton supporters and believes it has been a key factor in helping drive membership as well as promote all other areas of the Club in 2012. No doubt the various pieces of paraphernalia that came with the membership also proved an incentive [quite an expensive exercise overall, by the Club]..

For myself, as a ‘committee’ member of the local Family History Society, there was the obligation of attending a committee meeting tonight – held in a ‘new’ location, the ‘Men’s Shed’ building location at the end of the Evans Street Grasslands Reserve in Sunbury. Only problem was a lack of external lighting and properly constructed pathways to the building from the road, but I guess those things will come over time!! A committee which frustrates me at times, with the ‘slowness’ of the manner in which the meeting is conducted, nevertheless, some useful decisions made including an agreement of holding a month long display at the George Evans Museum later in the year, and the possibility of having an article about the group written up in one of the local papers. Meanwhile, not a late night, which always pleases this writer.

A bit of communication with Heather during the evening, as we finalised our lunch time ‘meeting up’ tomorrow, For me eventually, another reasonable sleep!!

 

May 8^th is also significant as V-E Day [or Victory in Europe Day] –    It commemorates 8 May 1945 (in Commonwealth countries; 7 May 1945), the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not until 9 May 1945. On 30 April Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin, and so the surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany Karl Dönitz. The administration headed by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg government. The act of military surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France, and ratified on 8 May in Berlin, Germany.

From Wikipedia, we read that  “upon the defeat of Nazi Germany, celebrations erupted throughout the western world. From Moscow to New York, people cheered. In the United Kingdom, more than one million people celebrated in the streets to mark the end of the European part of the war. In London, crowds massed in Trafalgar Square and up The Mall to Buckingham Palace, where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the Palace before the cheering crowds. Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and her sister Princess Margaret were allowed to wander anonymously among the crowds and take part in the celebrations.

In the United States, President Harry Truman, who turned 61 that day, dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died of a cerebral hemorrhage less than a month earlier, on 12 April.  Flags remained at half-mast for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period.  Truman said of dedicating the victory to Roosevelt’s memory and keeping the flags at half-staff that his only wish was “that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day.”  Massive celebrations also took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and especially in New York City’s Times Square.  Victory celebrations in Canada were marred by the Halifax Riot.”   Meanwhile in Australia, there were two significant dates – the 8^th May as above, and a few months later, the 15 August when the Japanese Government accepted the terms of surrender imposed by the Allied nations. On that date, Prime Minister Ben Chifley announced in the following terms:

Fellow citizens, the war is over.  The Japanese Government has accepted the terms of surrender imposed by the Allied Nations and hostilities will now cease. The reply by the Japanese Government to the note sent by Britain, the United States, the USSR and China, has been received and accepted by the Allied Nations.  At this moment let us offer thanks to God.  Let us remember those whose lives were given that we may enjoy this glorious moment and may look forward to a peace which they have won for us.

And indeed, both aspects of World War II were at great cost to human life, both military and civilian, and while conflicts have continued around the world since those days, we can never forget the huge sacrifice that wars create in our world.

Meanwhile, today is Federal Budget Day, with the Treasurer’s address televised at 7.30 tonight. A good friend wondered why I bother to watch such things!! Just natural curiosity and interest I guess, and of course my already much demonstrated interest in our politics!

Anyway, this was the Liberals view on the Budget before it came out this evening [the usual negativity, I’m afraid to say, this time even before the event!!] –  ‘Tonight, Wayne Swan will deliver a Budget that no Australian should believe or have any confidence in.  Wayne Swan has delivered the 4 biggest Budget deficits in Australian history, despite previously promising surpluses. His Budget delivered just 12 months ago has deteriorated by a further $20 billion! His Budget tonight won’t provide a strategic vision for Australia. It won’t be about protecting jobs or keeping a lid on the cost of living for Australian families. The Budget, with its tricky accounting, will be all about the survival of Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan. One guarantee is that the Budget will threaten our economy and jobs with Labor’s Carbon Tax. Labor is in chaos, racked with deep internal divisions and on-going leadership instability. It’s a government that relies on Craig Thomson for its survival. Labor is too distracted by its own scandals to govern our country in a responsible way”

So what did happen!! First day of Parliament back from recess – not much in the way of Question Time, as it was dominated by condolence motions, and then an attempt to suspend standing orders by the Coalition of the Speaker situation!!.  I think all that did, as usual, was to waste valuable parliamentary time [they really don’t sit very often] that could be utilised for more useful debates and legislation!! As tonight’s media would highlight, ‘Gillard government stews as it defeats moves in Parliament to ditch embattled Speaker, Peter Slipper, and suspended MP, Craig Thomson over union rorts’

However before having a ‘brief’ look at the budget summary, I read an interesting proposition from the GETUP Organisation, along the lines of –  ‘Imagine an Australia where refugees who seek our help, and have committed no crime, are not locked up for months or years. Imagine that instead, we give them a warm bed in a real home while they get started in a new life.   Now we can make that a reality, by opening our hearts and homes for asylum seekers as they find their feet. We’re working with Australian Homestay Network through a new, Government-approved program to provide temporary accommodation to approved asylum seekers.  Most asylum seekers are eligible for bridging visas once the Government has assessed their bona fides though health, identity and security checks. Bridging visas mean refugees can live and work in the community, but previously, they could only do so if they had family or friends in Australia. Otherwise, they must stay in detention facilities.  Sadly, many who are fleeing persecution don’t already have contacts in Australia: that’s where we come in. Could you spare a room or granny flat for six weeks through this professionally managed program?  Find out more and register your interest here: http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/refugees/host-an-asylum-seeker/register-your-interest   Here’s how it works.

1. After you register your interest, we’ll pass on your details to the Australian Homestay Network, who are working closely with the Australian Red Cross on this programme.

 

2. AHN will      ask you to complete an online      training and assessment. After this, you will be required to get a      police check. This is standard practice in the homestay industry, and      involves requesting a letter from the police to vouch that you don’t have      a criminal background that would make you unsuitable.

 

3. Then, if      there is an opportunity to host an asylum seeker in your area (they’re      interested in all areas, including rural and regional), a professional from AHN will get in touch to      organise a time to come and visit you at your home, walk you through the      program and answer your questions.

 

4. Following      that, if your application is successful, you’ll be asked if you can accept an eligible applicant      into your home for six weeks.

 

5. Before the      end of your six weeks as a host, your guest will be given options for      further long-term or short-term accommodation.

 

You needn’t be home throughout the week to be a host, nor provide anything more than a safe place to stay. You’ll receive training and support throughout the six week period, and a weekly stipend to help with costs; though, should you prefer, you can choose to donate this stipend to refugee support programs which we’ll let you know about.  Meanwhile, your guest asylum seeker will have dedicated experts to help with the practicalities of finding a job and a place of their own, and getting a translator, if needed, for important things like medical appointments. You’ll also have access to a 24 hour support hotline during the six weeks. Asylum seekers who are highly vulnerable don’t come through this program, but have other alternatives. This is an approach that has worked for many years in other countries, and has been run by the Homestay Network for many years here in Australia with foreign students. It’s far cheaper to the public purse than immigration detention. Most importantly, every asylum seeker we host won’t be inside a detention centre, where we know they could experience months or years of anguish. Instead, we’re holding out a hand of friendship and really showing the way for a new, compassionate Australian response to asylum seekers’.

Certainly an interesting proposition, and given a few different circumstances, and perhaps at a younger age, something I would like to have become involved in. There are many similar programs [generally unacknowledged] where this kind of support is provided for refugees. Interesting that in the midst of it’s problems in that area, the Government is grabbing at such an opportunity to become involved in an outwardly more humane approach to the whole refugee question!

As for the Federal Budget –  some of the headlines tomorrow would include – Tricks, cuts and handouts; Labor dumps lower company tax to woo battlers; Swan’s surplus shuffle; Super takes a hit; Families share the boom; lower rates punt; and so on!!!  I might look at Laura Tingle’s introductory paragraphs to her summary of the Budget in tomorrow’s contribution, but in the meantime, ‘my’ organisation – ‘National Seniors’ were quickly of the view that the  ‘Federal Budget has overlooked older Australians with the cost-of-living “benefits of the boom” payments given to families and welfare recipients.  While the Budget included rises in Family Tax Benefits and annual payments to eligible singles and couples on income support, it did not spread the benefits of the mining boom fairly, NSA chief executive Michael O’Neill said.  “A boom dividend would have been welcome relief for over-70s on low fixed incomes who are quietly feeling the strain of rising health and utility prices,” he said.  Another negative was a reduction from 13 to six weeks in the amount of time Age Pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders can spend overseas before losing their $30-a-week Pension and Seniors Supplements. “It’s rather mean-spirited,” O’Neill said. “More than the dent on small incomes, this measure will influence how much time people who’ve spent years in the workforce or raising children can spend on that trip of a lifetime.”’  I don’t think that latter aspect will affect me much, but is a relevant point, though often, I feel that the National Seniors organisation seems to speak more for the wealthier members of it’s realm, rather than the average senior citizen!

The first of a couple of ‘better’ sleeps tonight, after I managed to spend a but more time working on the ‘church accounts’ audit, which I really should have finished by now!!  Very difficult to get enthused about such things these days!

Well, we have quite obviously seen the last of any ‘Summer’ type weather – waking to another miserably damp looking and cool morning. I am certainly glad these days, that I do not have to travel over to Northcote each morning for a day of employment!

A morning exchange of ‘greetings’ with Heather, and I was then to be found doing a bit of ‘radio program’ work, before somewhat reluctantly heading off to the gymnasium late morning – outside it was cold, with light rain in the air. Thankfully a little less chilly in the gym, and of course by the time I’d been there for an hour, I was feeling substantially warmer! And exhausted, found it all hard work this morning! A bit of shopping afterwards, before returning home.

Interesting reports in today’s media, that Julia Gillard [Prime Minister] has been ‘unofficially’ given notice by her own Party, that she has until September to lift Labor’s poor standing in the opinion polls. An indication say some, that many on her side believe that Labor cannot go to an election with Gillard remaining as leader, if the ratings have not improved within 6 months.  It seems that the basis of that declared timeline, is to allow the effects of tomorrow’s Federal Budget to take their immediate course, the response to interest rate changes, and the revealed effects of the carbon tax [although some want a change before that tax takes affect at the end of June]. Treasurer Wayne Swan was a bit more blunt about things – saying that she ‘is as tough as nails and she ain’t going anywhere’!!  Meanwhile, the Budget is to be revealed tomorrow, although reading today’s papers, speculation would have us believe that what’s in the budget has already been revealed. Whatever it contains, the affects and outcomes are likely to be crucial factors in Labor’s [and Gillard’s] immediate short term fortunes!

I felt rather lucky this afternoon – another ‘greeting’ card [3 in 7 days] from my dear little friend in Ballarat –  and as she says, I think we are both thanking ‘someone or something’ up there in the ‘universe’ for bringing two childhood friends from the 1950s back into the other’s life, whatever that may come to mean in the future. Anyway, that deserved a return in the mail, and so a hasty trip into the Post Office despatch area in the middle of the afternoon ensured that a note of appreciation, etc, would reach it’s intended recipient tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I received another weekly greeting from the ‘Coach’s box’ in today’s electronic mail!!

Dear Bill………………`This time last year, Josh Bootsma was chasing the footy for North Albany. To think that yesterday, barely twelve months later, he’s motoring around Etihad Stadium in a Carlton guernsey . . . just goes to show how quickly it can change for these kids. Josh was of course a last-minute inclusion for Ed Curnow, who complained of soreness after the final training session at Visy Park, and as the players had already left the training facility I was forced to put the call in to Josh rather than tell him face to face. The message was pretty basic. I said to him ‘Mate, you’re in, well done’, and being a WA country boy Josh was fairly laconic about it all, but very appreciative nonetheless.  Though his mother and girlfriend were in town, Josh’s father Brad was on a bike ride somewhere in Bunbury and getting word to him was no easy task.  In the end, Brad got wind of what was happening and caught the “midnight horror” to Melbourne to see Josh take to the field in the final quarter against the Giants.  I’ve no doubt Dad would be very glad he made that trip and equally proud of the way his boy fared. Josh showed a cool headedness in adapting to the next level and we enjoyed our best quarter with him on the ground. Clearly he is a player of the future, although we must be careful not to put too much pressure on him too early.
In reflecting on Josh’s senior debut, it would be remis of me not to acknowledge Eddie Betts and Kade Simpson, who completed their 150th and 150th consecutive games for Carlton respectively. When you consider that Eddie was a pre-season draft selection, he’s been an outstanding small forward who’s continued to raise the bar and is now closing in on All-Australian selection. As for ‘Simmo’, it’s phenomenal that a bloke who weighs in at just 76 kilos should complete 150 games straight. He’s the spirit of the footy club, he plays with heart, guts, and determination, and we just love him.

Kind Regards
Brett Ratten, Member #1018372

 

I do find these weekly despatches from Brett Ratten quite an interesting personal touch to the typical newspaper reports of a weekend’s matches – I suppose that it is only because I am a member that I am getting them this year, nevertheless, an interesting means of keeping in touch with the team. His comments about Bootsma quite touching, as the lad certainly did create quite a stir amongst the Carlton fans yesterday as though he was the ‘waited for Messiah’ or something,  rather than a young recruit playing for his team for the first time. Incidentally, one of the highlights for me, of Sunday’s match, was the goal kicked by back-man, Paul Bower, and I see that brilliant goal on the run, has been subsequently officially nominated for the AFL’s ‘Goal of the Year’. Great effort Paul!

Meanwhile, on the radio tonight, I had a very enjoyable three hours –usual great mix of folk, blues, jazz, country, pop, world and show music amongst other things, and included a little segment of strictly love songs and/or instrumentals including Josh Groban’s ‘When You Say You Love Me’!  I also played a couple of songs from local Melbourne girl, Marilla Homes, who was my guest in the studio, three or four years ago now. She has some concerts coming up in the near future, and I really must come good on my promise over all those years, to go to one of her performances. As usual I went a little overtime, and when I eventually did get back home, close to 12.30am, decided I was awake enough to watch tonight’s taped edition of ‘Revenge’!  That meant of course, well not enough sleep, but seems to be par for the course at present!

 

Sunday Classics as normal, on the radio this morning from 6.30am. Difficult to want to get out of bed on these cold Autumn, but nevertheless, well worth the effort once we are on air!  Must say I had a bit of a silent whinge about the way some parts of the studio had been left by the last presenters yesterday, but some things and people, one has to tolerate I guess.

Football match today at Edihad Stadium, near the Southern Cross Station – an easy trip in from Sunbury, if you can put up with a train load of football fans – at least most of them are fellow Carlton supporters, because today’s game is against the new AFL team this year, Greater Western Sydney. If the Blues can’t win this one, I think I might switch to following hockey, or something!!!  An early start this week – 1.10pm.

Meanwhile,  as for the line-up for the clash, we find that, originally listed in the squad of 25 was ruckman Rob Warnock and forward Andrew Collins, both however have been forced out with hamstring soreness. Replacing them will be Mathew Kreuzer, who will start in the ruck and Mathew Watson who has been named as an emergency. General Manager of Football Operations, Andrew McKay said Kreuzer’s inclusion was a boost to the line-up. “Kreuzer tweaked his knee at training yesterday, so we took the ultra-conservative approach in not naming him to play, however he has pulled up very well this morning and has been given the all clear by the Club’s medical team,” McKay said. “It is unfortunate that Rob pulled up sore after training yesterday, it was to be his first game back for the year after having both shoulders operated on in the pre-season. “He had a scan on it this morning as a precaution but it is only a low grade strain and we expect him to push for selection in the coming weeks.” Changes to the team from last week are – IN: Ellard and Bower OUT: Judd (General soreness) and Waite (Hip).  In the meantime, small forward Eddie Betts will celebrate his 150th match alongside teammates Kade Simpson who will be play his 150th consecutive match (163 matches overall) and Shaun Hampson will line-up for his 50th senior game.  While Carlton is not expected to lose this one, hoping for a good game of football!   At the last minute, because of a minor injury,  Ed Curnow was replaced in selected side by young Josh Bootsma

James was working today, while Jodie had other things to do, so I went to the football alone this afternoon, and chose a comfortable viewing spot up on the 3^rd level of the stadium. Had brought along various bits and pieces to eat, as I usually find there is not much of a healthy value at these venues [though should admit that I began the afternoon by indulging in a couple of hot jam donots –something I used to purchase outside Princess Park after the match, on Carlton’s home days at their original ground back in the 70s].

Today’s game, from a Carlton viewpoint was very frustrating. The Blues should have dominated the match from the beginning, but instead, what lead they had was at times threatened in that first half, and the performance they were putting on, looked second rate and outright embarrassing. Mind you that tends to take away the ferocity and effort put into the match by the inexperienced and match weaker opposition, but nevertheless, the effort by Carlton, even to the point of very poor kicking for goal, and putting themselves under a pressure which shouldn’t have been allowed. One kept expecting Carlton to turn things up a notch, but it really didn’t happen until the final quarter, at which stage  they were still only 4 goals in front!

Thankfully, that final quarter saw the team play as they were expected to have for the whole game, and a bit of excitement was added as well, when the young Josh Bootsma came on for his first game for the team, and was cheered by the Carlton faithful every time he went near the football!!  The following report from the Club sums up my feelings –    ‘Although the eventual outcome of the match  was the result everyone expected, it was achieved by means that few would have predicted.   Carlton, with a 67-point win over Greater Western Sydney at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, has moved back into the top four on the ladder.  But don’t let the 15.20 (110) to 6.7 (43) margin fool you. It was the Giants’ resolve rather than the Blues’ win that was most admirable.  However to point only to the Blues’ sloppy approach would be discrediting the fledgling club’s endeavour. First-year players took on premiership hopefuls and, in many cases, held their own.  If not for some poor decision-making out of the backline and some crucial turnovers, the Giants might have gone closer to winning their first AFL game.  The Blues’ sluggish start set the tone for the day. Their three first-quarter goals only came as a result of Giants’ mistakes, and instead of making the play, Carlton was sweating on their less experienced opponents making errors.  In fact, the Giants led Carlton in disposals, contested possessions and marks, and had six more clearances by the first change. The 10-point margin was something of a façade.  Seven minutes into the second term Tom Scully levelled the score with a set-shot goal. The high-profile recruit’s straight kick left the crowd in stunned silence, but it did sting the Blues into some form of action.  They kicked the next three goals to open a 16-point advantage. But the Giants kept coming, holding the deficit to 10 points at half-time and breaking even for the term.  With Carlton’s champion captain Chris Judd missing, the Blues lacked someone to take control of the game. Marc Murphy was solid, and finished with 27 disposals (19 were contested), but couldn’t find the space or run that has become crucial to his game.  With three goals to one in the third quarter the Blues established a 25-point lead at the final change, and a goal to Bret Thornton in the opening minute of the last quarter all but ended the contest.  They piled on six goals for the quarter and held the Giants to only one major for the half.  But the final margin was not indicative of the Giants’ efforts. Losing ruckman Dean Brogan to a wrist injury at half-time, and then Setanta O’hAilpin in the third quarter with a knee complaint severely changed their structure. They might have lost the game, and key mature players to injury, but GWS lost no respect in the defeat.  The final  quarter by quarter scores were:

CARLTON                                         3.5.23    6.8.44      9.14.68            FINAL:   15.20 (110)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY      2.1.13    5.4.34       6.7.43              Final:      6.7 (43)

Carlton Goals: Hampson 3, Thornton 3, Lucas 2, Simpson 2, Walker 2, Bower, Robinson, Garlett
Carlton Best players: Robinson, Murphy, Simpson, Scotland, Thornton, Walker [and I have added Paul Bower to that list, a player I have maligned a bit in the past].

Another packed train for the return to Sunbury – in fact this was the Bendigo train, and it was to Bendigo that I should have been going this evening. Jan {Emily Bower’s daughter] and her family were up in Bendigo this weekend and had invited me to join them for dinner tonight. I guess my trip to Daylesford yesterday to spend the time with Heather, more or less decided for me that I would not do a rushed trip to Bendigo the next day. But sitting there on the ‘Bendigo’ train, I found myself wishing that I was more appropriately, and had made arrangements for an overnight stay – this train would get into Bendigo just after 6pm, perfect timing for the dinner plan! Anyway, that was not going to happen – I’d more or less intimated to Jan that it was unlikely I would get to Bendigo, and that saw me alight from the crowded train, at Sunbury.

Got home to find Susie had been unwell through the day – heavy cold and throat infection. I didn’t feel like cooking [again], so went out later and bought some takeaways for us both from one of local ‘fish & chip’ shops, though our purchases never include any chips, and grilled fish for yours truly.

A  bit of an exchange of messages and phone calls between Ballarat and here tonight. Not sure why I bother, but I attempted another early night this evening – it did take a while to sleep, but overall, a better outcome than Saturday night.

Meanwhile, after 5 rounds of the 2012 season, here are the leading 8 teams in the AFL competition:-

1. West Coast Eagles……………………24                    [161.5]
2. Carlton Blues………………………….20                   [157.8]
3. Sydney Swans………………………..20                    [137.2]
4. Essendon Bombers……………………20                    [128.2]
5. Adelaide Crows………………………20                   [119.9]
6. Geelong Cats…………………………16                    [114.2]
7. Fremantle Dockers……………………16                   [106.9]
8. Collingwood Magpies……………… 16                     [97.3]

 

 

An earlier start than usual of a Saturday – have planned a few hours with Heather up in Daylesford today [where we were 3 weeks ago], and as I also don’t want to forego another session at the gymnasium, decided to head over there an hour earlier than usual, hopefully that won’t be a problem with the trainer, and if it is, well bad luck!!  I’ll give the session a miss. As it turned out, I didn’t go –  developed a bit of a muscle pain below the right ribs during, and decided it might be wiser to try and rest it, rather than aggravate with lifting and pulling weights, etc, and hope in the meantime that the ‘occasional twinges’ dissipates over the next few hours

In the meantime, my little piece of poetry/verse/ whatever for Face Book this morning – well, in fact it’s the words from a song recorded  by that wonderful singer who was performing here in Melbourne a few years ago, Josh Groban, and taken from his album ‘Closer’  – the lyrics below are an extract only, and this correspondent  hopes they resonate a special significance for some of my readers for whatever reason. Beautiful words indeed, a description which could be applied to many of the lyrics from songs that Josh Groban has recorded.

“When You Say You Love Me”

Like the sound of silence calling,
I hear your voice and suddenly
I’m falling, lost in a dream.
Like the echoes of our souls are meeting,
You say those words and my heart stops beating.
I wonder what it means.
What could it be that comes over me?
At times I can’t move.
At times I can hardly breathe.

When you say you love me
The world goes still, so still inside and
When you say you love me
For a moment, there’s no one else alive

You’re the one I’ve always thought of.
I don’t know how, but I feel sheltered in your love.
You’re where I belong.
And when you’re with me if I close my eyes,
There are times I swear I feel like I can fly
For a moment in time.
Somewhere between the Heavens and  Earth ,
And frozen in time, Oh when you say those words.

When you say you love me
The world goes still, so still inside and
When you say you love me
For a moment, there’s no one else alive

On my last two visits to bookshops, I have brought home for Susie, a novel, though not really sure they were what she wanted to read. Well, today in Daylesford, I intend to visit a couple of bookshops again, and this time, I have a choice of three novels to pick from, that I know she would be happy to receive – I asked her!! So we are looking for Catcher in the Rye [J D Salinger], Catch 22 [Joseph Heller] or Slaughter House Five [Kurt Vonnegut]. The first two I am well familiar with, but had honestly never heard of the 3^rd suggestion previously. Meanwhile, I am hoping that the book I ‘didn’t buy’ last visit, will be still on the shelves of the 2^nd hand bookshop on the shore of the Daylesford Lake!  It was the story of gold discoveries etc, in the Donald district, written and the copy signed] by Lilian Kirk of Donald. She was one of our family members who came to the Charlton Cemetery dedication on the 3^rd September, last.

Retrospect – yes, Lil Kirk’s book was still available, and I purchased the Salinger novel for Susie!  As for the trip to Daylesford – drove via Woodend, then across towards Trentham, though I actually bypassed that little town – last time I was on this road, I think I had young baby Jodie in the car, with Shirley, and Rick Murrihy, the then Administration Manager at the Shire of Gisborne, It must have been around 1989/1990, and we traveling to Council planning weekend in Daylesford.\ – it was extremely cold, in fact the roads were covered in snow, and at one stage, we slid off the road, thanking coming to rest into a bush, and it took a bit of muscle power to get the car back onto the road. A very quiet drive from that point onwards!!  Today was also cold, although the drive from Sunbury to not far from Daylesford was in bright sunshine, so it was quite warm in the car!! It only became much cooler and overcast once I reached the township area.

I parked in a street, a block or so from the main shopping strip, and wandered down to that area – toilet visit, and the purchase of the Ballarat Courier from the local newsagency. Decided to take that back to the car, and not long afterwards, thought I saw Heather get out of her car down the road. Wasn’t sure if it was her from a distance, was looking for the tell-tale right limp, but by the time I caught up with her around the corner, I knew I had the right lady – was able to surprise her as she was not expecting me for another 30 minutes or so.  We would spend the best part of the afternoon together – began  in Vincent Street, a very nice ‘lunch’ from the breakfast menu of  the ‘Himalaya Bakery and Café’ [an establishment which prides itself on the quality of their bread and the large range of the vegetarian and vegan food, spreads, dips, cakes and cookies – we gave some of the latter a miss today, with Bill enjoying another great omelette, and Heather, a specialist mushroom dish on toast. The Café produces organic artisan  sourdough bread in the traditional way, made with three ingredients – flour, water and unrefined sea salt. Can’t say it sounds particularly special, but the two pieces of bread [toast] I had with my omelette, tasted rather nice!

We would  spend the next few hours re-exploring book shops, art galleries, nurseries – and of course various guises of coffee lounges. That included the Paradise Bookshop in Vincent Street run by a guy named John Trefor – as well as finding one of Susie’s books there, I shouted Heather a little CD of mystic music, and on a second look through, bought myself a classic – Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, a novel I don’t recall ever reading, and certainly don’t possess [or didn’t before today].  Overnight, I’d prepared a copy of the Josh Groban recording, referred to at the beginning of this contribution, for Heather, but I discovered in the car coming over, that the copied CD would apparently only play on my computer, and would later discover as anticipated, that Heather was unable to play it either, bit of a wasted exercise that one had been!!   Meanwhile I did find the Lil Kirk book over at the Lakeside Bookshop and café, one of our stops for a coffee!!  This time we decided it was not quite warm enough to sit out on the balcony overlooking the lake, but chose a table near the internal heating system!!   It was also  a little chilly to walk around too much down at the Daylesford Lake, but much warmer just sitting in the car and talking. Heather had her knee operation coming up next week, and I think she was beginning to get somewhat apprehensive about it, and also worried about getting an infection of any sort – it was something like that which led to a last minute cancellation [she was prepped up on the trolley ready to go] of an earlier attempt almost a year ago – 12 months of pain suffered since, so there was a real urgency to get this operation over and done with. My friend was still under a bit of  stress following the 12 months of her mother’s fatal illness, and medical and health concerns for both her daughter and son over recent months [in fact her daughter was in hospital now after a minor operation], so a bit of confidence boosting was needed. Hopefully, today’s little outing was of some assistance in that respect.,

We finished up at another coffee place back in the town which also included an interesting collection of antiques, pictures and a range of knick knacks, relatively expensive in most cases but generally good to look at and dream about. An inviting open fireplace in this venue, the name of which I seem to have forgotten! Unfortunately, with the afternoon getting on, and with neither of us really wanting to be driving back to our respective homes in darkness, we wandered back to the cars at around 4 pm, and duly parted company. I learnt later that Heather returned to Ballarat, via Creswick where she had friends, while I travelled a little further than I had come, and for a longer period of time – somewhere found the wrong road out of town, and instead of returning via Trentham and Woodend, ended up on the Ballan Road to the Western Highway [between Ballarat and Melbourne] – was quite a good road, but once the forested areas ended, I soon realised I was heading in a slightly different direction to that intended. It did enable me to listen to the local Melton radio station’s descriptions and results of the local football games in the Ballarat League, including a second win in 2 matches for the Sunbury Lions team!

I must admit that upon my return home, I was not in the mood for cooking meals, and was therefore pleased to be reminded by Susie that she was going out again, so didn’t need to concern myself about meals. In fact, I ended up attempting to have an early night – which was a bit of a usual joke for a Saturday night!! Hours before I got to sleep, and then rather restless from that point onwards leading up to an early Sunday morning. AS I would learn next morning, tonight I missed sitting up and watching, for the first time in over 40 years, the telecast from England of the FA Cup Final which I would discover in retrospect was on today – apparently Chelsea defeated Liverpool, and thereby win their 4^th FA Cup in 6 years.  Quite an effort!

 

 

 

 

Susan to work unusually early this morning, while this writer found it hard to get motivated, and  very slow in getting on the move, after beginning his day, as it ended last night,  with a brief exchange of messages and phone chats with my old ‘school mate’. So much I’d like to get done today, but the levels of energy and/or enthusiasm are not high. The sun is shining however, a good sign despite the initial coolness of the morning. And a clear invitation to get out into the garden later!!

Now the following email was a bit of advice that radio station members had been pushing for over a long period – easier access to the radio station premises. Hopefully once this gets going properly, it will remove some of many complaints received over the years! It came through from Station Manager, Mike, and the main premise was as follows:-

‘Hi there members,   Early next week we will complete the long sought after studio access system which will see each presenter have access to a Photo ID membership card doubling as an electronic key to both the door to the studio complex and the broadcast studio. A traditional key will be housed in the studio which will give access to the members drop in room and studio 2.  Please note that for the most part only principal presenters will have access to electronic key cards –   if regular guests ( in the case of organisational membership), or other family members (in the case of a family membership ) want access cards this will be reviewed on a case by case basis by application……….After June 30th these key cards will be the only access to the studio complex. Until that date, the current system of access………….. will remain in place to give all those who will need a key card, time to purchase one.  If you require any further information please do not hesitate to give me a call, it is important to note though that the existing system will be in place until the end of June’.

Probably seems a rather simple and obvious change, but something that because of cost and the technical issues involved has taken a little time. Meanwhile some community groups [including the radio station] have had a bit of ‘wind’ put up them this week, as a result of an article in the local paper regarding the land upon which we are situated [the former university campus site of Victoria University].  The article began with the words ‘Community groups at Victoria University’s former Sunbury campus face an uncertain future with the university confirming the campus will be sold’ or at least ‘calling for expressions of interest’. Our understanding is that the university cannot in fact sell the site, with the original government agreement with the university when it first moved here that it must be retained for educational purposes. Like other community groups, the radio station is hopeful that the cluster of buildings on the fringe of the former university buildings [most of which have heritage listings attached to them as most formed the original lunatic asylum and training centre buildings of past decades] will be retained for community regardless of any sale or other alternative outcome.  Meanwhile, from the educational side of things, the article noted that ‘The decision comes as the Interface Councils group called for more tertiary facilities in outer urban areas. It follows a Melbourne niversity report which found students from outer urban areas were increasingly deferring university study because of living costs. Macedon State Labor MP, Joanne Duncan said ‘This is a growing area, we need more education facilities, not less’…..apparently one reason for the Victoria University leaving Sunbury, after only being here from the early 1990’s was that the campus had not attracted enough ‘local demand’. Perhaps the small range of courses might have had something to do with that as well – my eldest son, James,  was lucky enough to find an under graduate course that suited his needs, but there were many areas of tertiary education that Victoria University simply didn’t provide for.

In the meantime, following my resignation from the Accounting Association after my employment retirement last October, the CPA Finally seemed to have got the message that I no longer wish to be a part of the organisation [although I’m still receiving copies of the monthly magazine ‘In The Black’], they are now requesting that I return my original Membership Certificate!! I rather object to that request. The certificate was framed many years ago, as a qualification I earned in those years, and I believe that I should be entitled to retain it as my possession. I think I can see the point behind CPA’s requirement – the fear that ‘resigned’ CPAs will continue to use the certificate to promote themselves for ‘business’ in their retirement. I personally feel that is a petty reason to introduce such a requirement [which exists under  an ‘article’ in the constitution of CPA apparently] as the consider that the percentage of former members who would take advantage of such a situation so low as to render the stipulation an insult to the majority. Anyway I notice that ‘Non-compliance with this Article may affect your readmission to CPA Australia should you seek to rejoin in the future’.  I have no such intention, nor intend to change that view!  I’m not actually sure if I know where to find it these days, and I’m not aware of any universities demanding that former graduates return their Certificates upon retirement!!

Whilst reading in today’s paper  about the death by incineration of three unknown men, in a  freak car smash nearby to where I worked last year [in Westgarth Street, Northcote], I was relieved to find something of a more pleasant nature on the same page.

During my visit to the Bellarine Peninsula last week, and in particular ‘the Bookshop’ in Queenscliff, I purchased a copy of Miles Franklin’s ‘My Brilliant Career’ for Susie. Don’t know when and if she will get to read it, but the Miles Franklin Literary 2012 Award is due to be announced at the end of June, and I see there are five nominees. Interestingly, the trustee of the Award, which is described as the most significant prize for literature in Australia, has ‘loosened’ the criteria by which judges make here decision. Up to now [since 1957], that criteria has been the prize is awarded to ‘the novel for the year which is of the highest literary merit and which must present Australian life in any of its phases’ However, over the years there has been increasing concern at the geographical narrowness of that criteria which has led to the exclusion of some notable books that were considered worthy of consideration under the terms of the Award.  The trustees of the Award said that it would not have been possible to change the terms of the [Miles Franklin] will without taking legal action. But after consultation with an advisory committee it was decided to try to remove the existing ambiguity and allow judges to modernise the interpretation of Australian life to include mindset, language, history and values. The nominees for this year’s Award, to be announced on June 20, are Anna Funder [All That I Am]; Favel Parrett [Past The Shallows]; Tony Birch [Blood]; Gillian Mears [Foal’s Bread]; and, Frank Moorhouse [Cold Light]. The latter nominee is the third part of a trilogy by Moorhouse – ironically, the first part was eliminated as a potential winner under the original terms of the Award.

Well, it was my plan to finish the audit of the church accounts today/tonight – haven’t got onto that task as yet, and by 8pm, there was some football on the TV, difficulty to get ‘accounting mode’ motivated these days!! Shouldn’t really be watching anyway, it’s not Carlton, but…….just had a couple of slices of toast with a range of cheese dips on them, the kind of thing Heather and I would have been nibbling on at this time of night last week in Barwon Heads, maybe with a bit of cold meat and a tomato along the way! And a glass of wine! But not tonight, not good  practice to drink on one’s own. Susie is out socialising, enjoying her ‘single 20s’ [in fact according to a Face Book entry, she and Jodie & others are at the ‘Go Set Album Launch Tour, Melbourne’, whatever that is, at Soul Mama, or maybe even the Boatbuilders Yard – whatever, I’m none the wiser!!]. And I’m simply not in the mood for working on a voluntary audit. Think it’s finalisation might get put off until early next week, if not Sunday night! Incidentally, it’s the Western Bulldogs vs Collingwood playing tonight, not sure if I really care who wins, or loses, not fond of either team! Bulldogs threatened for a while, but with a few minutes to go, think the Magpies will end up in front!   Earlier, a little ‘good night’ chat with Heather, who had also been out for the evening, dinner with a girlfriend. Seems I’m the only one home tonight!!

 

A cold but clear morning today – my alarm went off just before my friend texted me, knowing I had to be away early this morning, and afraid I might have overslept!  Quite possible, because another night of restless sleeping, waking, etc had preceded this moment!!

A 7am drive over to Goonawarra to pick up Shirley – while there, a brief opportunity to say hi to James and Jodie who were getting ready to go off to the university and work respectively. Also, an over enthusiastic greeting from the house dog!  Meanwhile, Shirley had a medical procedure at the Sunbury Day Hospital this morning – had asked for my assistance in getting her there, with all of the ‘kids’ busy. I didn’t enquire about details of the procedure she was having today, but not a good start, as she seem to be suffering from the flu and was feeling quite unwell. Presumably things would go ahead s planned. Anyway, my first visit to Sunbury’s new medical setup, which was less than a year old, built on the site, and incorporated into the existing heritage rated large home that had occupied the site for over a century or more.  Waited until Shirley was signed in, contact details confirmed, and left her in the care of the medical staff. While I felt a little guilty walking out and leaving her there, that was all that was expected or asked of me these days.

Drove around to Brook Street, and purchased a paper and, from cross the road, a cappucinio, and sat in the warmth of the car for a few minutes ‘enjoying’ that drink – still not an over enthusiastic drinker of coffee but something warm was needed this time, so went for it!  While there, gave Heather a quick ring – she knew what I had to do this morning, and I think was glad to hear from me. Back home – a bite of breakfast, a change of clothes, then back out into the chilly morning air, for my visit to the gymnasium. That hour was hard work this morning [think I actually say that every day!!], and I was rather pleased to have 10 am roll around again!  At that point, up to the radio station to get some finance reports photocopied, and a bit of a chat with John, Maureen, Rosie and Mike.  There was a Radio Committee meeting time tonight, so I would catch up with three of those people again later on.

This Thursday afternoon was quite a miserable one from a weather point of view –  constant spells of rain and wind, not much rising in the temperature, and after two attempts to pick Shirley up and take her home, it would be late afternoon before she was well enough to leave the care of the day hospital people and return home, and even then, she was far from fully recovered from the day’s medical procedures and the dose of the flu she had been carrying.  By this time, Susan was at work, and I decided to buy her a takeaway meal for this evening, couldn’t be bothered cooking anything.

News from the Carlton Football Club –  unfortunate report that new young recruit, Sam Rowe,  today informed the Club  that he has been diagnosed with stage one testicular cancer. Rowe, 24, has had the tumour removed and will now undergo chemotherapy treatment for between six and nine weeks.  Tragic situation for a young man to be in.  Meanwhile, after having already eclipsed the late Jim Francis’ record run of 142 successive Carlton senior matches and now bracing for his 150th game on the trot, Kade Simpson will doubtless prevail as the club’s consecutive games record holder for at least the foreseeable future. And yet, had it not been for two quirks in the then VFL’s draw, “Simmo” would still be playing catch-up, given the “Clayton’s” games sequence held by the great Bruce Doull.  Largely forgotten is the fact that Doull, the four-time premiership player, four-time best and fairest and Norm Smith Medallist [who I enjoyed watching play over many years], would have strung together 160 Carlton matches between Round 16, 1971 and Round 12, 1978 had he not been called upon for state duties.  In twice donning the Big V through this sequence, Doull was unavailable for Carlton’s Round 4 match against Melbourne in 1976 and the Round 13 match against Fitzroy in 1977 [both games of which, I was no doubt present].. In Doull’s absence against the Redlegs in ’76, Carlton prevailed to win by 43 points in what was the club’s 1500th League contest.  But in the Fitzroy encounter at the Junction Oval the following year, Doull’s absence cost Carlton the chocolates, as the team went down to the bottom-placed Lions by just seven points… and present day star rover Marc Murphy’s father John was a solid contributor to the home team’s meritorious victory that day.  Interesting set of statistics here for us Blues’ fans – the current list of most consecutive games played for the senior team shows [from which Jim Francis is the only player I didn’t see of course!
149* – Kade Simpson (Round 15, 2005 – Round 5, 2012)
142 – Jim Francis (Round 6, 1935 – Round 16, 1942)
133 – Simon Beaumont (Round 8, 1998 – Round 22, 2003)
107 – Bruce Doull (Round 16, 1971 – Round 3, 1976)
105 – David McKay (Round 1, 1970 – Round 7, 1974)
104 – Andrew McKay (Round 13, 1998 – Round 19, 2002)
103 – Anthony Koutoufides (Round 12, 1994 – Round 18, 1998)
* still playing

The radio committee meeting tonight – and in view of the weather conditions and cold night, a meeting that none of us really felt like being in attendance at – yet we had a full complement!!  Followed by a useful and prosperous meeting and per normal. Not sure if I was that keen on given up a Saturday for a Business planning  meeting of the committee, but the compromise of the 2^nd  June at least didn’t interfere with any other commitments that day [especially a football match!].  Meantime, as a ‘healthy’ change to the packets of sweets that our President usually brings long to these meetings, I decided that a couple of bowls of fresh green grapes might be a better alternative for a change  –  yes, they actually proved quite popular although the sweets also retained their popularity!!

Another relatively early night to bed – my friend in Ballarat is having some influence in that respect it seems, although it is yet to prove that I’m gaining a great deal more actual hours of sleep. Perhaps habit and time will eventually overcome that deficiency!

I didn’t actually look out the window this morning, when I briefly rose early to phone in my local sports results service to Ron on 3NRG, so while I had the feeling that I had heard some rain overnight [and also while Heather mentioned, in a brief early morning phone chat that it was raining in Ballarat], it was a bit of a shock when I went out to the car at 8am –  to find it overcast, cold and drizzling rain, and judging by the amount of water around the driveway area, had been raining consistently for a while!! Didn’t have to go out, in fact was feeling a little unwell, but had decided to make an early visit to the newsagent in town, and the coffee shop across the road. Copies of today’s Australian Financial Review [FR], and the Weekly Times, while cross the road, I made do with a small cappuccino.  I thought briefly of calling in at Baker’s Delight to say hello to son Adam, whose car was out the front of the  shopping centre, but decided he would probably be at the peak of business at present, better not disturb him!

I don’t apologise for the major emphasise of today’s blog on subjects of a financial and national interest – each of the items referred to below, were newsworthy items of importance yesterday, and having read some of the relevant articles, like to record and/or share one or two of the principal media approaches to reporting upon them. Despite studying economics and finance at university during the early 1970s, I don’t claim any expertise in those areas, but accept that there are many different viewpoints quite strongly expressed from time to time by a range of ‘experts’ and others on such matters.  The following are just a small sample aimed at giving some idea of the matter at hand.

Not surprisingly, the feature articles, Editorial, etc in the FR were concentrating on yesterday’s decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to lower the official interest rates – by .05 of a percentage point [to 3.75%] – the biggest cut in official interest rates since the height of the global financial crisis! The question being asked, by borrowers in particular, was whether the major banks would follow that lead and pass on the full reduction to customers. Unlikely it seems!  Meanwhile, in the Weekly Times, concern there was back onto to one of my pet topics of interest – foreign invasion of investors, with reports that a huge chunk of Victorian farmland [about 11 times the size of Melbourne’s CBD] had controversially fallen into foreign hands. The gist of this kind of report is that such sales are angering ‘locals and politicians, with many calling on the Foreign Investment Review Board to more closely scrutinise the purchase of farmland to foreigners’. I personally have to wonder, whether these levels of foreign investment, not just in farmland but in other resources as well, are really in the national interest?  The problem it seems, is that often, Australians have the opportunity to make these purchases, but fail to do so, and the reasons for this needs to be considered. Certainly, the issue received much attention in the ‘Letters’ page of the Times today, and is obviously concerning many Australians.

Meanwhile, the other issue of significance yesterday was the State Budget – the editorial in the Weekly Times [which is obviously slanted towards the rural side of things] felt that the Budget was ‘good on surface’! This is what the Weekly Times Editorial had to say.

‘At a quick glance it appears country Victoria has fared reasonably well in what looms as one of the toughest state Budgets in years. While the Baillieu Government announces its big spends and tries to convince a sceptical electorate his team has true leadership and vision, the Budget’s real impact will be felt for years to come.

What isn’t clear yet is what has missed out on funding, or where the gradual public sector cuts, already announced, will be most felt. While it has achieved the promised surplus, the Coalition has played true to its conservative roots, pulling in the purse strings to keep the ship afloat. And it appears it has still managed to allocate some decent spending – $5.8 billion for infrastructure projects and upgrades to the rail network and major roads, mostly around Melbourne.

The agricultural sector has had both a major win and a major loss in the Budget. It secured $61 million over four years for a new farming research and development strategy. Compared with manufacturing’s package of $58 million to boost that sector, it looks pretty decent. But if you look at the former Brumby government’s Future Farming Strategy the new plan replaces, the picture is not as rosy. That strategy was $205 million over four years.  Many country people will agree with the Government’s frugal approach, but time will tell how reduced spending will affect services and Department of Primary Industries jobs. Some country schools appear to have missed out on much-needed funding to upgrade buildings. Rural councils have welcomed the ongoing $160 million roads and bridges spend. Yet, it means each council can only access $1 million a year. Considering the condition of many country roads, you don’t have to be too cynical to think the money won’t go far. Despite heavy lobbying from the Victorian Farmers Federation for an expansion of the young farmer stamp duty exemption scheme, there won’t be any additional help provided in this Budget.  So while it appears Premier Ted Baillieu and his deputy Peter Ryan have done a fair job for country Victoria in difficult times, country people will be right to reserve their right to see how the next year of the Government’s term plays out’.

Certainly in that latter respect, the confidence in the Victorian Government is not very high at the moment, and the Financial Review’s impression of the State budget uses terms like ‘Baillieu’s tough task: to hold spending’; Not enough for industry, say lobbyists;  with an introduction which tells us that ‘Ted Baillieu might not be very popular, but he has taken on a difficult task.  Victoria is caught in the same revenue undertow that is affecting most of the other states. But along with South Australia, it also is the epicentre of Australia’s highly assisted manufacturing – a part of the economy particularly affected by the resources boom and the strong Australian dollar. Yet while the economy slows, Victoria’s Premier is trying to strengthen the government’s medium-term financial position, which was allowed to deteriorate behind the veil of federal government fiscal stimulus money’ [before the State Liberals came to power].  Certainly, some of my Face Book friends are not happy about many of the aspects in the budget, particularly those affecting cuts to education funding, and public service job cuts, although I’d expect that response from a group who are essentially Labor supporters, with their attitude being that ‘anything’ the Baillieu Government does is ‘wrong’!!

Finally, looking at the FR’s Editorial on the Reserve Bank’s cut in interest rates, which is headed ‘Rate cut won’t cure all our ills’, their view is as follows.

print‘The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to deliver a super-sized cut in official interest rates has been driven by the impact of a “persistently” high exchange rate on non-mining sectors of the domestic economy, the dark clouds that hover over Europe, and the prospect of tighter fiscal policy delivered through state and federal budgets.  But cheaper money shouldn’t be viewed by government and business as some sort of quick fix to avoid the major structural adjustments the economy is undergoing due to high commodity export prices and the resulting strong dollar.   Lower interest rates aren’t going to prevent these difficult adjustments from taking place, nor are government handouts to rent-seeking sectors of the economy and uncompetitive ­industries. Households still need to “deleverage” their balance sheets by paying off their debts. Australians will still take more of their holidays abroad because of the high dollar. By cutting the RBA’s overnight cash rate by half a percentage point instead of the quarter of a point expected by financial markets, governor Glenn Stevens and the central bank’s more dovish board have moved to get ahead of the curve, recognise that the cash rate lever has to work harder to deliver a given change in so-called financial conditions, and defuse some of the wackier policies being pushed to protect the slow lane of Australia’s two-speed economy.

The high exchange rate, which has helped contain inflation well within the RBA’s target band by lowering import prices, even if domestically generated inflation remains ­worrisome, is still likely to stay stronger for longer. The aggressive cut takes into consideration the fact that ­Australia’s commercial banks are unlikely to pass on the full reduction to mortgage holders due to their higher funding costs, much of it reflecting the higher premium needed to attract more stable deposits, despite the jaw-boning of federal Treasurer Wayne Swan. As Mr Stevens made clear in his statement on Tuesday, the cash rate cut, from 4.25 per cent to 3.75 per cent, is designed to achieve an “appropriate’” level of interest rates charged by banks to their business and household customers. Mr Stevens has toughened up his language on the strong Australian dollar, pointing out that the exchange rate “remains high” even though the terms of trade have come off their peak, and that the economy is going through considerable structural change. The governor is now talking more about “financial conditions”, recognising that the transmission of monetary policy to the economy through the interest rate that banks charge for ­overnight money – the cash rate – is influenced more than ­previously by the floating dollar and by bank funding costs.

Perhaps strangely, the RBA has steered clear of any commentary on how fiscal policy fits in with its monetary policy stance, perhaps to avoid being seen to pass political judgment on the ­federal budget on Tuesday. But there is little doubt that the rate cut is, in part, a dividend from the federation-wide tightening of fiscal policy highlighted by the Victorian budget on Tuesday and, hopefully, by the federal budget. As The Australian Financial Review  suggested when helping to put this idea on the policy agenda in November last year, such a change in the mix of macro-economic policy would help rebalance it towards the demands of the mining boom economy. Budget policy has been structurally too loose for most of the mining boom, throwing too much weight on monetary policy through higher interest rates and a stronger dollar that, in turn, has disproportionately fallen on sectors such as manufacturing. The central bank has begun to rebalance this mix. Now the federal budget will play its part by delivering a confidence-boosting surplus through cuts to wasteful government spending rather than by simply slugging more productive higher-income earners who already pay the bulk of the nation’s tax.

[from the Australian Financial Review, 2^nd May 2012 Editorial]

With all this conversation about budgets, interest rates, and so on, it was a sharp contrast and a return to the real world of personal friendships [that can never be destroyed by macro financial and economic woes] to open a piece of mail this afternoon and to be almost reduced to tears, by the kindness, love and respect which came through the words written therein. Maybe, older age is leading to a more emotional response to things beautiful in one’s life, or perhaps it’s simply a part of one’s nature that doesn’t surface very often.  The writer will leave it  at that!  Anyway, a bit of TV tonight [another episode of ‘Revenge’] followed by attempts to have a reasonably early night, which as usual was not successful – well, I think I did wake again when Susie returned home from a late volleyball game with Jodie, and that set the pattern for the rest of the night – wake, dose, sleep, wake, and so on >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

A heart- warming start to our mornings for both Heather and myself with early greetings via text and a quick phone call. Pleased to hear that she had a planned lunch with her daughter, with whom relations had been a little strained of recent times. Speaking as an outsider, I think a mother/daughter relationship is a very important connection to be nurtured – and I note that Sunday 13^th  is Mother’s Day here in Victoria.

A relatively quiet day for this writer this Tuesday – catching up on some paper and computer work, a bit of a shopping visit to the town, and the welcome arrival in today’s mail of a letter posted on the 19^th April – as my friend suggested, ‘snail mail’ at it’s worse, considering the letter only had to come 100 kilometres!!  The contents made the wait worthwhile, however!  In the meantime, the weather, while remaining fine throughout the day, retained the ‘hint’ of a change for the worst particularly late afternoon, and while I would not particularly notice it,  the night would bring the rain again.

Meanwhile, during unsuccessful attempts today, to try and organise some tickets for the family for the ‘Class of 59’ Rock n Roll national tour [featuring my Brisbane nephew Duncan McConnell performing the role of Eddie Cochran] which begins this weekend with two performances in Melbourne, I discovered from youngest daughter Jodie, that she and boyfriend Ash, were planning to move into an inner city apartment. Good news in itself, as they both work over in that part of the city, and Jodie’s daily commuting by car had been a bit of a worry to me recently. I guess my discomfort about that was the fact that it perhaps signalled the beginning of the move of the family [my ‘kids’] way from Sunbury. James & Adam had already left and returned at various stages, but I imagined that James at least of the two boys, and perhaps eventually Susan, would move away to new lives as the years went by, and that thought saddened me a little, despite it’s inevitability. Any thoughts I might have had in recent years to leave Sunbury, had always being tempered by the knowledge that all of my ‘kids’ were still in the area – despite the obvious realisation, that it would be highly likely they would all eventually move away through circumstances and life choices. The thought that I would also see less of Jodie than I currently do, played on my feelings a little too, I must admit!  Oh well, such is life!

A couple of major events occurring in two capital cities today  – the Reserve Bank of Australia announced a 0.5% reduction in official interest rates, while in Melbourne, the Victorian State Budget was brought down. I include various media comments on those matters in tomorrow’s entry.

Referring back to the ‘Class of 59’ concerts, the two performances in Melbourne this weekend are apart of a number of performances in Victorian regional centres over the next few weeks. The ‘tour’ is described as enabling the audience to go back to the era when rock and roll influenced and created a social movement for the teenagers of it’s day……………..an era which fired up a musical movement  that would only be lived for a short while, but would last in the hearts and souls of billions for eternity. It features a number of modern day artists/singers [including my own nephew] performing the roles of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran and The Big Bopper. When my arrangements to get tickets for this weekend failed [everyone was already busy!] I fell back to my original plan of going up to the Bendigo performance at the end of June. Looking forward to it!

 

It was friend Heather in Ballarat, who reminded/advised me via text this morning,  that today was the inaugural International Jazz Day. April 30 was recently proclaimed by UNESCO as ‘International Jazz Day’ with plans of it becoming an annual event each year. In conjunction with that, Herbie Hancock was recently named as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of inter-cultural dialogue, and his first act in this position was to instigate the UNESCO International Jazz Day, today!!  Many countries were already involved in the celebration of that occasion, and I noticed there was a 2 hour program concert at Melbourne’s City Square at lunch time today of jazz performers.

Well of course, with that news, I immediately decided it was necessary to make a small addition to tonight’s ‘Smorgasbord’ program, and to include early in the show, acknowledgement of the Day [and of my Ballarat friend’s advice thereof] – I included a track from Herbie Hancock himself – ‘Canteloupe Island’. I always play jazz tracks during the final 30 minutes of the show, after 11.30pm, but am always keen to find an excuse to add a little extra of that ‘genre’ throughout the program. Must admit, I was a little distracted at one point in tonight’s program –  the exchange of text messages with said friend, I guess a preferable alternative to those on-air presenters who find themselves caught up in phone conversations during their programs. Meanwhile one of my other Monday night segments ‘of world music’ included a track from the Royal Scottish Fusilliers, bagpipes and all, called Bonnie Galloway – played that one especially for Jayne out there at Glenhuntly, who continues to be a loyal listener of the station despite now having being through over 12 months of illness and pain, a problem which the medical people she goes to can’t seem to fix!!

Earlier today, had a rather ‘tough’ session at the gymnasium [first visit since this time last week], followed by an hour of ‘banking’ etc in the town before I could finally get home. Was pleased to hear later in the afternoon, that the letter note & card I’d sent to Heather, just yesterday, arrived in Ballarat today. A bit of a contrast to the now obviously ‘lost in the mail’ item she had sent me ten days ago!

Meanwhile, my weekly email from the coach of the Carlton Football team arrived today – well, I can’t claim it was sent personally to me, more a generic correspondence to members etc, however it is constructed to be of a personal nature almost!

Certainly, an efficient means of keeping in touch with the club   membership and internet based supporters, while enabling a close watch on the   coach’s thinking on games past and future.

‘Dear Bill
Friday night’s eight-point victory over Fremantle was a huge result for us given the disappointing loss of six days before. The win was the first for any visiting team to Patersons Stadium in the 2012 home-and-away season, and to be truthful we really thought we were up to the task. We’re generally pretty confident whenever we go on the road because the whole experience seems to bring us closer together.
Undoubtedly, the key focus for “Freo” was our approach. That was the one thing we could control. We couldn’t control the crowd numbers or who was supporting who over there, but we could control what we were doing and it was more about effort than anything else.
Another message related to responsibility when in possession of the ball and composure when dealing with the numbers up the ground. It was also about knowing that when one-on-one or two-on-two scenarios were “on” in the forward 50 this was the right time to go in.
Though a few unnecessary risks were taken once a reasonable lead was established late, the boys were for the most part tremendous in the way they played on what was a 24-degree night with a six-day turnaround.
On a personal level, I managed to get the “red-eye” safely home, arriving in Melbourne at five o’clock on Saturday morning – just in time to be with my wife Jo for the birth of our little daughter Tilly at 8.16am. Before I’d departed for Perth, Jo and I had spoken at length to the doctor and thankfully the birth went according to the “gameplan”.
At the time of writing I’d had about an hour’s kip on the return flight with a 40-minute powernap on Saturday afternoon and a spasmodic sleep through Saturday evening. But I can rest easy knowing that mum and baby are fine.   The game of football and of course the four points are pretty important. But there are moments in life that are very special, you can’t get them back and sometimes you do have to stop to smell the roses because it all passes so very quickly.
Nobody wants to be in a place where they one day reflect with some regret . . . and I’m just so rapt that the events of the weekend worked out so perfectly.

Kind Regards

Brett Ratten
Member #1018372’

From football, to politics, and as referred to over the weekend, things are heating up ‘again’ in Federal politics for the Labor Party, and I thought the following Editorial from today’s edition of the Australian Financial Review provided an interesting perspective and one view of the current situation. Headed ‘Too long to fix Labor’s festering mess’ it went on to say:

‘Julia Gillard moved to clean up a huge political mess ­yesterday, but once again belatedly, and a mess that is largely the result of her own missteps. She should have forced the suspension of Craig Thomson from the Labor Party some time ago and it is increasingly clear that Peter Slipper should never have been elevated to the Speakership of the Parliament.

Ms Gillard says she took action yesterday because of her view of what’s best for the Australian people. “I understand the matters concerning Mr Thomson and Mr Slipper have caused Australians to become concerned about standards in public life today,” she said. But this is very hard to reconcile with her protection of Mr Slipper and Mr Thomson thus far. She was much closer to the mark when she suggested, in contradiction, she acted because the Australian people had been disgusted by the stinking mess that props up her government.

The fact is that her protection of both men in order to retain enough support to hold government has made matters worse for the Labor Party. Mr Thomson offered to stand aside 12 months ago. And Ms Gillard should not have been blind to Mr Slipper’s self-confessed colourful background before appointing him as Speaker, and not pushed for his return in time for the budget once the travel abuse claims were decided.

Rather than taking the honourable course and cleaning up the mess of Mr Thomson at the start – he has been accused of misuse of Health Services Union funds and has been the subject of an investigation by Fair Work Australia – Ms ­Gillard let it fester because it suited her own purposes, as Mr Thomson’s continued presence on the government benches secured enough votes for Labor to retain government. And instead of asking Mr Slipper to stand aside while the sexual harassment and travel entitlements abuse allegations are ­settled, she originally wanted his return to the Speakership in time for next week’s budget session even if the harassment claims were still ongoing. It is hard to believe she only recognised after returning from overseas that the Australian people are becoming increasingly revolted by this situation.

Until now Ms Gillard has given her unwavering support to Mr Thomson, ostensibly to back the principle of the presumption of innocence. However, she showed no apparent concern in the face of credible evidence that Mr Thomson and his fellow ­cronies had plundered the union that helps prop up Labor, to the cost of low paid and mostly female workers.

After ditching her promise to Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie to enact poker machine reforms in return for his support for minority government, she then had to find another vote and did what this newspaper then described as “the dirty deal” of installing Mr Slipper, the former Liberal, in the Speaker’s chair. Yesterday Ms Gillard talked about the importance of respect for the Parliament, but she in fact showed contempt for the people by installing such a dubious figure into what should be one of the most unimpeachable positions in Australian parliamentary democracy. The line she says has been crossed is the public disgust over her ­handling of parliamentary matters.

When asked yesterday whether Australia would be better served by an election, she suggested that it would be better to allow the government to pass legislation such as the budget and then dwelt on meetings with leaders in Singapore and Turkey and the renewed weakness in the British economy. But after the bitter divisions over Kevin Rudd, the latest imbroglio is ­turning Australia into an international laughing stock and confirms that a vulnerable minority government is not best placed to insulate us from the shock waves of budget austerity in the northern hemisphere.

This minority government has been a mess. One of the key independents, Rob Oakeshott, who originally proclaimed the new political paradigm could be “beautiful”, last week said these have been its darkest days.

Labor has rebutted Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s demand that Mr Thomson shouldn’t have a vote by arguing that he has not been proven guilty of anything and to withdraw his vote would invite more charges against others. There is strength to this argument, but there are larger matters to consider. The Thomson affair should have been dealt with years ago, and Mr Slipper should not have been installed as Speaker in the first place.

We are left with a government of enormous precariousness. With Mr Thomson on the crossbench, Mr Slipper not voting and Labor MP Anna Burke in the Speaker’s chair, the Coalition, with 71 votes, has more numbers in Parliament than Labor, with 70.

Labor’s continued need to secure enough votes to hold government and pass legislation has left it more ­distracted and vulnerable than ever.’

The same newspaper had an even more balanced article, which from my point of view provided a good summary of the whole range of sagas referred to in the above editorial. Titled ‘Storm began brewing nearly 10 years ago’ and beginning with the paragraph that ‘Craig Thomsom was not yet an MP and Peter Slipper was still firmly in the Coalition camp when the saga started….The saga surrounding [them] has all the drama, intrigue and lurid detail of one of Gore Vidal’s epic novels about politics, sex and power. As Prime Minister Julia Gillard attempted to rescue her troubled government by distancing itself from both men yesterday, the two MPs maintained their innocence and each said they hoped they would soon return – one to the ALP and the other to the Speaker’s chair. If, as Gillard observed, the Australian public looks at Parliament and sees a ‘dark cloud’ over it, then it is a storm that started brewing a long time ago’  –  for my own interest and record I would have liked to have copied that article to these pages also, but it seems I need to be a formal online subscriber of the Financial Review. I find many of their articles extremely interesting but I’m not quite ready or in the position to pay for a daily subscription, only buying the paper on the occasional basis.

Anyway, back to mundane matters – as indicated earlier, another enjoyable on air program tonight, and home soon after midnight, where I then sat down for an hour watching a taped version of a show called ‘Revenge’ which I seemed to trapped myself into following – I think it’s getting close to a climax and ending, I notice there is an extra screening this week, on Wednesday night! Earlier in the day, Bill’s ‘good nature’ was called upon again, with Shirley asking me if I could drive her to the local Day Hospital early on Thursday morning next. No problem of course, she has done the same thing for me over recent years irrespective of our ‘separation’, although I did indicate that a gym session between 9-10 am might coincide with her return home – we would sort that out at the time.  In the meantime, I reminded myself that nephew Duncan’s ‘Class of ‘59’ rock n roll touring show is on at the Crown Casino in Melbourne this Friday and Saturday nights, and while my original intention was to go and see it in Bendigo in a few weeks, I did give some thought to going this weekend.  I actually promoted the show on the radio tonight.