tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post350710950098193588..comments2023-12-06T00:23:28.790+11:00Comments on Press gallery reform: The price of powerAndrew Elderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-65242625826109079132012-08-14T11:54:11.051+10:002012-08-14T11:54:11.051+10:00Gotta love an anonymous poster who tells *me* to &...Gotta love an anonymous poster who tells *me* to "man up and own it", and who reckons my challenge is to save industrial journalism.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-26167952804060061602012-08-14T09:52:12.032+10:002012-08-14T09:52:12.032+10:00My god! Did he really say that? ominous for Timor ...My god! Did he really say that? ominous for Timor Leste.Lachlan Ridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-79056602858625172192012-08-14T09:47:20.703+10:002012-08-14T09:47:20.703+10:00The comments you attributed to Mr Elder were mine ...The comments you attributed to Mr Elder were mine actually - vis a vis the Godfather, etc - in response top an anonymous commenter defending the absence of press releases in coverage of various boring underbelly type soap operas that media seem to think are relevant or useful information for working stiffs like myself. I'll man up and admit it. You've done nothing but reinforce my belief that the mainstream media is ready to charge off down the first rabbit hole they stumble across because there must be something shiny down there, which suits the foxes just fine. Here Mr Elder is pointing out to you that your 240 volt power is threatened by bad policy, and you seem to think a few wide boys from Carlton are a greater threat to civilisation. Grow up! It beggars belief what you'd do if you had to get a real job. Lachlan Ridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-59140924576184143352012-08-14T01:54:16.297+10:002012-08-14T01:54:16.297+10:00Only the words; the condescension is all yours.Only the words; the condescension is all yours.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-19387691688274591392012-08-13T23:27:41.951+10:002012-08-13T23:27:41.951+10:00As of right now, your blog is the only place Googl...As of right now, your blog is the only place Google can find that exact phrase. In a comment by you. Man up and own it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-71260673205777322932012-08-13T22:33:27.994+10:002012-08-13T22:33:27.994+10:00No it isn't, and I'd never use it with the...No it isn't, and I'd never use it with the condescension with which you wield it. <br /><br />You recognise straw-man work as a bad thing but I don't think you understand how it invalidates the argument you tried to make. From you point of view, you've excreted a riposte and who cares whether it makes sense?<br /><br />You're in no position to rule anything in or out because plugging away as you do is wrecking your "profession" and the industrial structure that sustains it into the short term. I tried to show you the error of your ways but you just wallow in it like a pig in shit.<br /><br />I'm the customer and you're not meeting my needs. One of us will have to go and the game ends when the customer departs, not when some particularly feeble and utterly interchangeable employee gets their pink slip. Nothing good our nutritious can come from the burnt-out kitchenware that you rattle at me attempting to justify your position. <br /><br />I've noticed you, so you're valid. But at the same time I pity you.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-52598788810857998122012-08-13T21:03:04.031+10:002012-08-13T21:03:04.031+10:00Er, no, "vegie-buying public" is your ph...Er, no, "vegie-buying public" is your phrase.<br /><br />"Your insistence on setting up straw men and ignoring teal and valid criticism means you can't be part of the solution."<br /><br />Pot, kettle, black.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-61077322503472379572012-08-13T11:25:51.267+10:002012-08-13T11:25:51.267+10:00Wonks talk sonorously about 'not pickling winn...<em>Wonks talk sonorously about 'not pickling winners'</em> <br /><br />Well, you'd end up with a bunch of dills after that, wouldn't you.<br /><br />Great post, great comments.Helenhttp://castironbalcony.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-49464683134318933082012-08-13T09:28:32.853+10:002012-08-13T09:28:32.853+10:00That was a long two weeks. Welcome back.
With th...That was a long two weeks. Welcome back. <br /><br />With the NDIS trial tucked away, carbon tax furphy exposed, new policy fronts opening up for Gillard and, what appears to be from my hopeful watch, a changing tact on reporting things may well swing in Gillard's favour in the coming months. <br /><br />This article reminded me of a comment you made in reply. Good policy makes all the difference.Davidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-82465503980445370042012-08-13T09:27:00.429+10:002012-08-13T09:27:00.429+10:00The "vegie-buying public" is your phrase...The "vegie-buying public" is your phrase, and a silly one, because it reveals your contempt for those upon whom your "profession" really relies. The idea that every article must do this is wrong too, but it is a useful test of what you should focus resources on. Stories that add nothing should not be commissioned, written or published. Your insistence on setting up straw men and ignoring teal and valid criticism means you can't be part of the solution.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-28831393371343591222012-08-13T08:43:58.836+10:002012-08-13T08:43:58.836+10:00The problem is that you seem to demand every story...The problem is that you seem to demand every story cover every aspect and, as you said earlier, trace the consequences back to the "vegie-buying public".<br /><br />That's simply not how reporting has ever or can ever work. It is incremental. Facts are built up over time.<br /><br />Your failure to want to grasp this is the key problem with your press criticism.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-13697268844988545952012-08-12T23:49:30.070+10:002012-08-12T23:49:30.070+10:00I derided the celebrity-following aspect of report...I derided the celebrity-following aspect of reporting, not the crime reporting. You're making a solid case for your redundancy.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-37965289927874472222012-08-12T21:28:39.297+10:002012-08-12T21:28:39.297+10:00But isn't it first necessary to establish who ...But isn't it first necessary to establish who these people are in order to establish their importance to policy? If so, how do you propose to do that without all that crime reporting you deride?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-32493974960387505942012-08-12T20:22:18.697+10:002012-08-12T20:22:18.697+10:00That was for news editors and their lack of unders...That was for news editors and their lack of understanding of what news is. This is about politics and its relationship to policy execution. It's called different perspectives: don't you wish you had some perspective rather than just jonesing for a gotcha?Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-63447568342146182772012-08-11T22:08:31.701+10:002012-08-11T22:08:31.701+10:00Much of what we view as civilisation is heavily de...Much of what we view as civilisation is heavily dependent upon the ubiquitous 240 volt three pinned wall socket, yet few Australians are aware of how their energy is generated - apart from vague idea of power stations - let alone where the electricity is actually generated. <br /><br />Much of the verbiage in the electricity privatisation "debate" in NSW from late 2007 onwards was absolute garbage peddled by discredited hucksters such as ratings agencies (Standard and Poors being a serial offender, scripting NSW Treasury and that political zygote Michael Costa) and other intellectual pygmies, such as Mar'n Ferguson.<br /><br />Electricity infrastructure was rolled out in this country largely by local government, aggregated by state governments in the latter part of the post-war boom and then corporatised through the eighties to become a ripe plum for the usual suspects in this neoliberal age.<br /><br />The assumptions of the market - and even the idea of a market as the best instrument to allocate energy resources in Australia - are seriously flawed when one grasps the inherent fallibility of base load power generation. <br /><br />An example of this is Transgrid in NSW; a State owned corporation pushing for high voltage power lines from coal-fired power stations to all parts of the state based on demand management scenarios where they got a ruler and drew a line that looked like the North Face of Everest and called it 'projected demand'. Efficiencies in consumption mean that demand is falling, or at best rising slightly, in south-east Australia.<br /><br />Another example is heating and hot water - both available from technologies far superior (and cheaper) than electricity, yet foisted on much of suburban Australia because of subsidised marketing by aggregated state owned electricity generators. Base load power needs to be justified as you can't switch an power station on and off like a torch, so they came up with off-peak hot water as a way to justify this infrastructure - providing householders with a big kettle - when gas was a far more efficient and cheaper way to heat water.<br /><br />Subsidies that taxpayers fork out to Alcoa and other aluminium smelters giver them electricity at absurdly low prices to produce little more than bottled electricity. <br /><br />The Bushfire Royal Commission in Victoria recommended a major overhaul of the 'poles and wires' network that China Light and Power has largely ignored during its stewardship in the post Kennett privatisation years. Now they are seeking permission from the Australian Energy Regulator to pass the costs through to retailers, who will do the obvious. So if you're a Victorian toddle off to www.aer.gov.au and make a submission to that little fiasco before they come to extract blood from your stone.<br /><br />Abbott's brain fart this week has measured the man as useless in this most important area. Not that the incumbents are much better, but we do need a policy something north of three word slogans if we are going to be able to afford to keep the lights on.<br /><br />Allowing electricity providers to charge households for updating transmission networks is not far removed from government underwriting the installation of horse watering facilities on every corner ten years after the arrival of the Model T Ford, and charging the cost back to households. Wonks talk sonorously about 'not pickling winners' , but what is gold plating baseload power and charging the bill back to households who have no choice but to cough up the difference?<br /><br />If we had an informed populace most energy ministers at a state and federal level would be swinging from their largely redundant lamp posts.Number One Baghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14743162493927293968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-90793583987575975962012-08-11T17:21:50.453+10:002012-08-11T17:21:50.453+10:00Julie Bishop has addressed the WA Lib conference ...Julie Bishop has addressed the WA Lib conference today telling them to spruik the feminine and caring credentials of Tony Abbott<br /><br />"Believe me he gets plenty of advice and takes plenty of advice on the way women see the world," she said.<br /> <br />"We have a responsibility to tell people who Tony Abbott is.<br /> <br /><br />"There's so much more to Tony (than politics)."<br /><br /><br />The fact that she would have to actually say this is an indication of just how big a problem Abbott is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-69618945294862579572012-08-11T16:57:43.618+10:002012-08-11T16:57:43.618+10:00Anonymous, I also read the Laura Tingle article an...Anonymous, I also read the Laura Tingle article and hoped that at last we might get to see some media analysis. Though its not the first time that Tingle has written disapprovingly of Abbott's performance.<br /><br />Maybe part of the reason is tied up with Abbott's reported lack of appeal to female voters - proving females at least are smart enough to see through the high-vis circus acts.<br /><br />This lack of appeal must still be an issue, as Julie Bishop has gone out of her way to raise it at their WA Conference this weekend. http://www.smh.com.au/national/julie-bishop-spruiks-feminine-and-caring-tony-abbott-20120811-240yk.html<br /><br />Whatever the case, we need to start demanding analysis of "what Abbott is going to do from Day 2 - we all know what he is going to do on Day 1". I'm not sure who wrote this line recently, but it is very valid and necessary for the better future of the country.<br /><br />David PerthAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-9049008592607222472012-08-11T16:16:26.226+10:002012-08-11T16:16:26.226+10:00It's so hard to judge since he has been thorou...It's so hard to judge since he has been thoroughly awful throughout but i think this is pretty clearly the worst few weeks he has had for awhile. Even our desperately apologetic media noted a few of the sillier things he said this week. Meanwhile Gillard is to my mind starting to really bed down an image as a real fighter who is actually trying to find solutions to serious problems. <br /><br />Somehow our beloved press managed to miss this gem though<br /><br /> "The decision to ban the live export trade in panic after a television programme was probably the most disastrous single incident in the history of Australia’s relationship with Indonesia"KnifeySpoonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03269119030919065233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-56608960199224494952012-08-11T16:15:16.771+10:002012-08-11T16:15:16.771+10:00They are all as bad on refugee law, they all pratt...They are all as bad on refugee law, they all prattle and babble about policy and dismiss the law as a trifle.<br /><br />Even Michael Gordon is at it.<br /><br />I want a leader who will uphold the human rights of everyone who ever gets to this country and stops pandering to the racists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-54734234779919073932012-08-11T12:36:57.395+10:002012-08-11T12:36:57.395+10:00Thanks for the links, especially to evcricket, wha...Thanks for the links, especially to evcricket, what an interesting journey into the world of smart cities and virtual power. That journey then leads back to Gillard who in October 2010 signed the "Smart Grid, Smart City project funding agreement". I wonder if the journalists can play catch up to Gillard? And I wonder if the penny will drop with Abbott that for all his carbon tax doom and gloom, Gillard from the time of the minority government deal had a policy and future plan for Australia in a Carbon reduction world?suenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-41869258403905763022012-08-11T12:09:13.481+10:002012-08-11T12:09:13.481+10:00The right-wing politicos have historically viewed ...The right-wing politicos have historically viewed as a given that they will be backed in their electioneering by either a willing military or/and a willing media. The oversight by the current conservatives is that both have changed beyond recognition of historical norms! The military is no longer the public darling it used to be and the MSM. has been "junked" by the bloggers fifth estate!<br />They;the conservatives, are now on their own with their policies displayed in the naked light of day...and my!..they indeed look naked!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-63400942243921332332012-08-11T11:05:13.398+10:002012-08-11T11:05:13.398+10:00"as for law-and-order, for much of this perio..."as for law-and-order, for much of this period a drug-dealer considered himself "The Premier" because all the rhetoric about cracking down on drugs and crime made no difference to him either"<br /><br />Hang on, didn't you say a little while ago you didn't care about Victorian crime stories because they lacked "significance outside of a narrow coterie of numb-nuts that think The Godfather was a documentary"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-58109191448301179712012-08-11T11:00:11.076+10:002012-08-11T11:00:11.076+10:00The shift in policy reform to a series of policies...The shift in policy reform to a series of policies which directly affect households have the ALP finally addressing WIIFM.<br /><br />"What's In It For Me" in their big reforms in the first half of their term was largely missing. Whilst I agree with those reforms, it was difficult for voters to see how it impacted them (muddied messages from both the LNP and media didn't help) but now with NDIS, Electricity, Schoolkids Bonus and Gonski, the policies are more direct, more noticed and too date, largely unanswered by the LNP, apart from 'No' or 'aspiriational'.<br /><br />All of a sudden the ALP are connecting to voters with policies that matter to them.Space Kidettenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-5880060572291680522012-08-11T10:01:14.664+10:002012-08-11T10:01:14.664+10:00I simply don't understand how the LNP can'...I simply don't understand how the LNP can't see that Turnbull is their only hope.Judehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15835007888988507288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-64851842455520909582012-08-11T08:48:48.950+10:002012-08-11T08:48:48.950+10:00And isn't the Liberal party machine going to b...And isn't the Liberal party machine going to be very angry when they finally work out that the government is going to run for 3 years (I too have noticed even the ruddstoration camp is finally giving up) and that Abbott isn't going to win.<br /><br />I said when Howard lost, the Liberals had a future if the mad right exited stage left, they didn't.<br /><br />When Abbott (lets be honest who is there to replace him) loses there is going to be a lot of pain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com