WA Bans Dogs from Alfresco

WA the Nanny State strikes again.

Is there a vendetta against Dog Owners in this State??

I actually think there is. Our local newspaper broke the news on its front page.

"WA bans dogs from alfresco"

Yes, the only state in Australia where dogs are banned from accompanying their owners for a cappuccino or latte. It doesn't sound much and in the scheme of things it really isn't such a big deal, but it is just one more example of Big Brother telling us how we should live our lives.

Since living in my current suburb, my dog and his fellow canine friends have been

• banned from walking on the shore by the river
• banned from walking off lead through the local bush land
• banned from walking off the lead on a path that runs along side the river

and now

• banned from the alfresco areas in WA

It seems that there are some extremely mean-spirited people who do not understand the special relationship that forms between people and their canine pets. I have friends who will not leave their dogs behind, so in effect banning dogs, bans the people.

Often the people who rely so much on their canine companions are the lonely, the elderly and the infirm. By banning dogs from such areas they take one more simple pleasure away from such people.

I do not think dogs should be allowed inside cafes or anywhere else where food is sold or prepared, but I do not believe sitting outside with a dog by your side is going to have an effect on the hygiene of the establishment.

Another Leak

They, (whoever they are) have been rather cagey about this one. Apparently the 'Gas' leak is about 5 kilometres away from the oil leak in the Timor Sea. This one, of which details were only released yesterday, happened a few months ago, but as it was deemed not very significant and of no threat to us (Australians) we were not told about it.

Could it possibly be that they thought that having to announce two leaks in short succession, albeit of a different resource, would have caused them just too many headaches. Hm... I wonder what else the powers that be decide to keep from us. Just so we don' t worry??

A new page turns

Ron Petit is the new mayor of Fremantle. He promises changes; a go ahead council with a will to take Fremantle out of its current mode of stagnation.

Hopefully he is a lot more successful than his Perth counterpart, who has railed constantly at delays in upgrading major parts of Perth. Plan after plan, submission after submission, passed but no action.

The only winner, 'Red Tape".

Timor Sea - Oil Spill Update

Nine weeks on and the oil still pours into the Timor Sea. The company is about to make their fifth attempt to stem the flow.

The environmental damage must be enormous, but as the old adage goes, "out of sight out of mind". Even though the, "Green" groups are still giving voice the current outcry is nothing compared to what it would be if the black, gooey stuff was contaminating our shores.

I wonder how many marine species have been affected, how many animals have died as a result of greed and the continuing rape of our planet.

The company responsible for this particular disaster were recently granted further leases to explore and exploit resources off our coast.

Neighbours?

I guess we have all had experiences with Neigbours which have made us want to scream..........Ahhhh!!

Today I spoke to an old gentleman who told me he has lived in my neighbourhood for over five decades. To be honest I had not noticed him until quite recently, but for the past few months I have seen him digging on his front verge. He has been meticulously removing the roots of a couple of trees.

Today I found out why. It seems he had a beautiful flowering Morgan Wattle which had been planted a number of years ago and next to it grew a self seeded banksia ( native to WA). Unfortunately, for reasons best known to himself his neighbour had complained to the council that the wattle tree overhung his part of the council verge. Which leads me to the question, "Can trees on a council owned verge overhang the neighbour's verge??"

The City Council, had sent one of its so called, "horticulturists" to deal with the offending tree. After hacking off many branches of the wattle then attacking the inoffensive banksia, he assured the owner that they would soon regrow. They had not and the luckless owner was now spending hours digging out the roots of the tree that had been mutilated.

And the neighbour who complained....well wouldn't you know, six months later they moved.

Ahh neighbours, we all have to learn to live with them, but sometimes.............

Fremantle...what's its future?

Q Historical ?

A Yes it is full of history, but young when compared to European cities.

Q A vibrant port?

A It might have been once, but now many imports come across land from the Eastern States via trains and road transport.

Q A tourist hub?

A During the Australia Cup Fremantle came alive, but has since regressed to a sleepy hollow.

Q So what is the future of Fremantle?

A Like so many places in WA, residents of Freo and other interested spectators have any number of futuristic ideas, but equally there are those who don't want anything to change. "If it ain't broke well...." Funnily enough those who hold the latter opinion, seem oblivious to the dirty streets, the crumbling buildings, the paint peeling from facades on many of the retail outlets.

The small city has so much potential, it is obscene, but no one appears ready or able to tackle the big problems and drag it in to the 21st Century. No I don't mean they should pull it down and build a hundred new skyscrapers. Just the opposite. It is WA's premier historical site and yet so little is made of it. The port could be one of the most interesting and intimate in the country.

Turn it into a boutique port.....There are huge derelict buildings lining the road opposite. They have wonderful exteriors, just waiting for someone with foresight to grab them and turn them into upmarket apartments, with little cafes, boutiques, designer clothing stores all nestled on the ground floors.

Completely deregulate the shopping hours and make it a tourist highlight, where visitors can shop and eat till midnight or later. Make the focus Australian produce, designs and art. Let that part of the city sparkle with updated marketing and trendy shopping precincts.

Encourage the University of Notre Damm, that has upgraded and restored many of the buildings it now inhabits, to expand and take over even more of the heritage listed sites. Students always add vibrancy to any city they inhabit and bring with them intelligence, innovation and perhaps most importantly enthusiasm for living.

Fremantle could become a premier destination for thousands under the leadership of someone with pizazz.

Update Oil Leak

It's great to see that a mainstream TV program actually bought into the environmental damage the oil spill in the Timor Sea is causing.

Yes, the oil is still leaking into the ocean, and according to a WWF representative interviewed this evening on Channel Tens, "7PM Project", (a panel show which often takes a light-hearted look at today's news), it is causing untold damage to thousands of marine animals that inhabit this part of the ocean.

The irony that it is simply the location of the spill that prevents it from being front page news every day was not lost on the panel. The uproar had the spill happened on the Barrier Reef or the Kimberley coast cannot be underestimated.

One wonders if it will only be a similar disaster occurring on our shores that will actually cause our Government to take action to create laws to fully protect the environment.

Money from oil and other such mining products will not buy back extinct species.

Cost of Living

For some years now, in fact whenever my sister pays a visit to Australia she has made derogatory comments about the increasing cost of groceries in the land down-under.

Coming from the notoriously expensive UK, it has been a bit of a contentious issue. However a few days ago her claims were verified by a survey, reported on by a local TV station, which had compared the cost of a trolley load of similar groceries from two of Aussies largest supermarket chains, i.e. Coles and Woolworths (no connection with the defunct UK company) against a similar chain in the UK.

The findings were certainly eye opening. The Australian supermarkets were significantly more expensive for everyday goods. Even worse was the fact that some products actually made in Australia retailed for less overseas than here. ' Vegemite', an Aussie icon and a favourite morning spread, was among those outed along with a number of other well-known products.

Shame on the Australian supermarket monopolies that take us all for an expensive ride whenever they have a mind to.

Update Oil Spill

The powers that be have been congratulating themselves at speed they responded to the oil spewing into the Timor Sea. The chemical sprayed onto the surface has apparently been successful in breaking up the oil slick which was last reported to be 14 kms long and 30 mtrs wide.

Hm....but what about the oil that is still leaking. It will be 7 to 8 weeks before the damaged well is plugged. How much oil will the ocean have been asked to absorb by then?

Oil Spill off the North West Coast of Australia

Yes, it is a long way off the WA coast, but that does not mean it is any less destructive than spills that make landfall. Initial reports from PTTEP Australasia, owners of the offshore rig, indicated a small spill, this has been negated by later reports of an oil slick some 8kms long.

No doubt the truth lies somewhere in between. What it does do is raise the question about the protection of fragile environments that surround other such ventures. Barrow Island, the site chosen to house the infrastructure for the new Gorgon Project, being one that is currently in the spotlight.

Peter Garrett , the Federal Environment Minister, is expected to give that project the go ahead sometime next week.

It reminds me of the line in the old song......
"when will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?"

Gorgon Project

Once again I tread where Angels fear to and tackle a topic I really know very little about.

However even I know that a 50 billion dollar injection into the Australian economy is certainly welcome, though as usual I wonder at the eventual long term cost.

I would not be Peter Garrett, the Federal Minister for the Environment, (an ex Greenie Activist as well as the ex lead singer of, "Midnight Oil") for quids. Even if he knew the project was going to wipe out a number of marine species, he would be a very brave man to go against his own leader and refuse to give the green light to this major project.

Mind you I have to agree with comments I heard earlier today on a local radio station, which commented on the Yes/No condition of WA. NO to extended shopping hours and an immediate Yes, Yes to a huge project that has some areas still clouded in doubt, such as the successful containment of the carbon residue.

No doubt time will reveal all, but if this, 'Boom' is anything like the mining booms of recent years, I and many like me will not directly benefit from the wealth generated. In fact it will probably cost those of us living in WA more money in the long run as higher priced local gas prices might well eventuate.

COLD FEET

Mr Barnett, W A's illustrious Premier, has developed cold feet and rather than have his proposal to extend WA'S shopping hours defeated he has decided to postpone its introduction.

Perhaps a wise move, because once defeated it would be difficult to resurrect.

No Extended Shopping Hours

WA caught in a timewarp.
Once again WA has elected to remain in the 1950s and rejected extended weekday trading hours for shops in the metropolitan area.

Personally, now I am working closer to home, it isn't really an issue, but when I worked over 30 kms away and my travelling time was anywhere between 35 and 50 minutes, I really did notice the lack of flexible shopping hours. There were many evenings when I was simply too late to make the locals shops and would have to make do with whatever was at home.

So having been there I feel very sorry for those who work later than 6pm because for them there are limited options when it comes to shopping. It's either buy Thursday evening (designated late night shopping) or Saturday.

Lead through Fremantle

Yes before too long the West Australian Government, in its wisdom, has agreed to allow lead to be exported out of Fremantle.

Why Fremantle? Well early in 2007 there was an outbreak of lead poisoning in Esperance traced back to the lead shipments that went from that Port.

Perhaps I am a bit slow, but I would have thought that after ensuring there was absolutely no risk of such a thing happening again, that taking it to a purpose built port away from large populated areas would be the ultimate solution.

No doubt the economic bottom line has once again been the winner. I mean how important is human and animal life compared to that of a large mining company's viability.

Oh and by the way this is the same Government that recently gave the nod to uranium mining in WA. I wonder how long before that volatile mineral will be trundling its way through populated areas to the WA Coast.

Coal!!

"Dig it up and ship it out."

What an attitude, but listening to an ABC National program this week, I couldn't help but think what a total hypocrite the Australian government is.

According to the report I heard, Australia is the largest exporter of coal in the world. Therefore it follows that we are, albeit in disguise, one of its greatest polluters. A number of current workers in the industry were critical of past and present practices, stating that they worried about their own children's future in this over polluted world. I noted that one worker preferred not to be named because he feared employer retribution.

It seems to me, that huge devastation will have to occur before the people who can change things will actually take action and DO SOMETHING.

I think the large mining companies should take responsibility for cleaning up the mess they have and are continuing to make.

It would have been great if Australia had taken advantage of the amazing opportunity that presented itself thirty years ago and had become a world leader in Renewal Resources instead of taking the easy way out and simply digging its way to economic wealth.