You Can't Coach That

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Whenever the issue of speed cameras on our roads is discussed the debate often centres around whether these devices are an effective way to save lives or whether speed reduction is just a by-product of the revenue raised for the government coffers. I am no expert in this area but I do find it interesting that speed cameras are often placed on what I would consider quite safe stretches of road.

Binge drinking amongst young people has everyones’ attention in Australia at the moment, especially excessive drinking by young women. As a high school teacher and father of two daughters, this is something that I find quite worrying and I applaud all efforts to deal with the problem. Of course my applause is louder for some initiatives than others. The government’s chief response at the moment appears to be an increase in taxes on pre-mixed drinks or so-called “alcopops”. Yes these drinks are marketed primarily at young women but does the government really think that an increase in the price of one type of alcohol product is going to significantly impact on the amount being consumed by these young people? There are numerous alternatives to these pre-mixed drinks and the teenagers I talk to support the argument that this measure will be ineffective in making them reconsider their drinking habits.

So what’s the common theme here? It is a win-win situation for the government. They can tell the electorate that they are getting tough on speeding and binge drinking. The evidence is there for all to see, splashed across every newspaper front page - too bad the evidence showing the effectiveness or otherwise of these programs is harder to find. At the same time, significant revenue is being raised regardless of the effectiveness of the initiatives themselves. And what happens to the revenue? It’s spent on roads and alcohol education of course - yeh right!

“You can’t coach that”

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The talk-fest that was the 2020 summit has included as one of its proposals the development of a bionic eye to enable the blind to see. The idea behind the 2020 conference was “harness the best ideas for building a modern Australia that is ready for the challenges of the 21 st century.” However, Australian opthamologists report that they are on the way to developing such as device and may in fact be ready to implant the device into the eye of a volunteer within weeks. Strike one for the 2020 summit.

Another of the key recommendations was for comprehensive tax reform. This is hardly revolutionary. Various groups have been calling for tax reform and simplification of the tax regime ever since I can remember taking an interest in such matters. Does the government really need to sponsor such an event to come up with such a fundamental idea? It worries me if this is the case. Strike two for the 2020 summit.

Then there is Ernie and his ”golden gurus”. The 76 year old suggested that Australian needs to make use of older Australians as workplace mentors - to be termed golden gurus. As a rapidly aging Australian with not enough superannuation and the prospect of retirement a long way off, this sounds like a great idea. You can now consider me Coach Guru.

“You can’t coach that”

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Now that it’s work in providing us with a world class health system and a water supply of international standard is complete, our Government has decided that we should be given the benefit of an improved electricity supply arrangement, so that our costs do not remain steady.

At the present time, the Government owns the generation, distribution and retail system through Energex in South-East Queensland and Ergon in the rest of the State. In an effort to reduce our costs, as from 1st July, 2007, they will allow up to 20 different companies to buy electricity from the Government and sell it to the consumer. So far, it would appear that 12 license holders will be “active” in the market, mainly in South-East Queensland.

To date, the advantages of 12 retailers doing the job now performed by 1 (or 2 if Ergon is included) have been amply demonstrated by the announcement that the price of electricity to the domestic consumer will increase by 10% from 1st July, 2007. To my small mind, it seems reasonable to assume that running 12 businesses, each with the same basic overheads, would be substantially more expensive than running 1 (or 2) businesses and if these new entrants to the market can run at a profit, surely the Government has been overcharging us for electricity in the past.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

To mark the end of another week of exam marking here is a short quiz for you.

Consider the following

Issue 1 - The Federal Government and Opposition cannot agree on this issue despite it having very little to do with party ideology. It is an issue that impacts everyone. It is a world wide issue. Decisions made now about this issue will have far reaching consequences.

Is this issue:

(a) Energy use and sustainability; or
(b) A pay rise for politicians of almost twice the rate of inflation

Issue 2 - There has been virtually no debate about this issue. Both major parties have given their absolute support for it. When questioned about this issue they have made dismissive, off-hand remarks.

Is this issue:

(a) Energy use and sustainability; or
(b) A pay rise for politicians of almost twice the rate of inflation

How did you go with the quiz? Do I have to give the answers?

“You can’t coach that”

Monday, May 07, 2007

It is Monday morning and I am sitting here wondering what “goodies” Mr Costello will deliver to us tomorrow night. 

My wife and I are classified as Self Funded Retirees, mainly because for all of our working lives (around 40 years) we contributed to Superannuation at the rate of 5% of income. We managed to raise 2 fairly decent kids without too much on the luxury side and thought that when we hit 65, the government would give us a little help. We did not realize that the operative word in this was “little”

Lo and behold, at age 65 (62.5 for Mrs bazza) we were granted the Age Pension . Admittedly it was only $20 per week (because of the value of our Super) but every little bit helps and the Concessions were worth having. Imagine our delight when Mr Costello announced in the 2006 Budget that the asset test was to be relaxed! An extra $200 odd per week would put us on easy street.

Unfortunately, the devil is in the detail and we are still waiting. The asset test relaxation announced in May 2006 will finally take effect on 20th September, 2007, a wait of 16 months.

Our fingers and legs are crossed, hoping that any benefits that might flow to the older population this year will be a little quicker in making an appearance.

bazza

[bazza is the first guest author here at “You Can’t Coach That”. While he tells me he his retired I think I his full time job is spending his children’s inheritance ]

Monday, April 16, 2007

Queensland Health has just discovered that four foreign “doctors” have been employed without any form of checks into their qualifications. It also appears that they may have been working unsupervised as interns. This comes after the recent “doctor death” scandal which has still not been resolved - ie he still has not faced charges despite allegedly being responsible for some 87 deaths of patients under his care.

This is just not good enough. While I am happy that overseas trained doctors come to practice here in Australia we must ensure that the appropriate checks are put in place to ensure that these people are appropriately qualified. Better still we should be training enough doctors locally so that we do not have to really on importing overseas medical staff. How this is done is beyond my limited intelligence but there are supposedly smart people in charge of things who can work this stuff out. We also need our government to be accountable for situations like this. I am getting a little tired of hearing government ministers saying on television that “this is not good enough” or “I am upset and frustrated about this”. How about a bit of “the buck stops with me and I got it wrong” followed rapidly by “don’t let the door hit you on the way out”.

So want to be a doctor? Come to Queensland before someone sorts this mess out - no questions asked.

“You can’t coach that”