Dan Hocking's Space
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Letter to Tony Abbott.
Hi,
I would like to start by saying I am not a Labor Voter, but nor am I Liberal. I vote for which Govt brings out the best policies. I voted for Labor in the Federal Election, and more recently Liberal in Vic State Election. I am writing to you to ask you to stop the scare mongering and vicious campaigning against the carbon tax. I’ve noticed a lot of people I know, and others that I’ve talked to on Social Networking sites are thinking that this is a tax on them. They believe this because you’ve led them to believe it. The fact of the matter is, we need to tackle Climate Change now. I am in Gen Y, and to be perfectly honest, my generation seems to be some of the only ones that can see past your lies. We know that you just want the top job, but I sincerely doubt you’ll ever get there, if there was a different leader of Liberal, I might vote for them. But I refuse to vote for a ‘leader’ (if you can call what you are doing leading) that stands for nothing except the total annihilation of the current government.
Did you ever think that the Government’s Carbon Pricing might be a good idea because majority of Australia’s economists, along with 200 large companies in Australia support it whole-heartedly. I’ve yet to hear one economist that thinks your solution is a good idea.
I really believe you, and your cabinet should rethink your position on the Government’s Carbon Price, because when the economy doesn’t collapse, and the people of Australia don’t go bankrupt, you will look very foolish indeed.
Dan Hocking. -
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Good evening.
I want to talk to you tonight about why the Government is putting a price on carbon and what this means for you.
The decisions I announced today mean:
*Around five hundred big polluters will pay for every tonne of carbon pollution they put into our atmosphere.
By 2020 this will cut carbon pollution by 160 million tonnes a year.
And because some businesses will put prices up, there will be tax cuts, increased pensions and increased family payments.
We have had a long debate about climate change in this country.
Most Australians now agree our climate is changing, this is caused by carbon pollution, this has harmful effects on our environment and on the economy - and the Government should act.
Economists and experts agree that the best way is to make polluters pay by putting a price on carbon.
The first Australian Government to announce a plan for a carbon price was John Howard’s back in 2007.
A lot has happened since then; the debate has been difficult and divisive.
And no government - no political party or leader - can claim to have got everything right during this time.
But we have now had the debate, 2011 is the year we decide that as a nation we want a clean energy future.
Now is the time to move from words to deeds.
That’s why I announced today how Australia’s carbon price will work.
From 1 July next year, big polluters will pay $23 for every tonne of carbon they put into our atmosphere.
They now know how much they will pay unless they cut their pollution. And they can start planning to cut pollution now. By 2020 our carbon price will take 160 million tonnes of pollution out of the atmosphere every year.
That’s the equivalent of taking forty five million cars off the road.
Some of the cost paid by big polluters will be passed through to the prices of the goods you buy.
The price impact will be modest but I know family budgets are always tight.
So I have decided most of the money raised from the carbon price will be used to fund tax cuts, pension increases and higher family payments.
These will be permanent, matching the carbon price over time.
Not everyone will be financially better off - there is no money tree. The budget has to add up. But I want people who need help most to get the help they need.
That’s why 9 in 10 households will get a combination of tax cuts and payment increases.
For almost 6 million households this will fully meet your average extra costs.
And of these, 4 million Australian households - including every older Australian who relies solely on the pension - will get a “buffer” for your budget, with the extra payments being 20 per cent higher than your average extra costs.
When you have some time, you should have a look at the cleanenergyfuture.gov.au website.
It’ll help you find out what you’re entitled to.
And it will link you to ideas for how to cut power bills and cut pollution without cutting back on life’s essentials.
I also understand that there is nothing more important to families than having a job.
So I have decided we will take special measures to support jobs and keep Australia competitive internationally. And some of the money paid by polluters will also fund billions of dollars of investments in clean technologies like solar, wind and geothermal.
All up, the carbon price will support $100bn worth of investment in renewables in the next forty years.
Putting a price on carbon is a big change for our country.
I know we can do it together.
Our economy is the envy of the world.
We have world-leading renewable technology, a coal industry determined to cut pollution among the world’s richest reserves of natural gas.
And we are a confident, creative people.
I see a great clean energy future for our great country.
I know we can get there together.
Julia Gillard
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Skyrim!
Wow, I could not be any more excited about this game!!! I remember Jesse telling me and Steve about this new game “Oblivion” and showing it at his house, then me and Steve went down to EB and bought it, definitely my favourite game of all time (yes, even better then The Sims 3)
So 5 years on and they finally have brought out the 5th game in the series. Well I went down to EB games and pre-ordered it quick sticks. Comes with a cloth map. (Yay!)
So if you didn’t know, I love games! Steve even laughed at me once because I have bought 2 books that were ‘prequels’ to the game Dragon Age.. yes very geeky.
But I love them. :D
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Grubby Chatterboxes
Well ya know, I’m pretty famous. I was once in a band that had two concerts and then broke up after creative differences, all the best bands do.
I don’t even really remember how the actual band was made, but every night after tea at the Loddon River we’d got for a walk, pretty much the whole family. One night me and Erin started singing the Grubby Chatterboxes song. I think it was because our parents were saying we talk too much and were grubby, and so we sang a song about it, to the tune of Captain Planet.
Now, Jamus decided she wanted a piece of the attention so I think it was her idea to form a band (even though she was already in one with Steve and erin; Cool Cuz)
SO we got together in the Bylsma’s Caravan and started writing some more songs, as well as adding some dance moves. Kaye Young decided that we should perform at the Garnham’s Caravan/cabin, so we did. We performed Grubby Chatterboxes and We Love to have Mud Baths.
The next year Kaye had us set up in the middle of the day, along side the Caravan Park road in a tent. She gave everyone party poppers and even grabbed some strangers walking by and got them to listen too. We played We Never Stop talking, and GCS (I think.)
Now after that I remember writing more songs back in the caravan and Jamus and Erin arguing about the ending of a song, they fought and stormed out. I was left alone.
That was it.
We did do a performance years later (once again, Kaye organised it.) We re-enacted The Three Bears and sang There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly… extremely badly.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun and definitely a great memory to have. :D
