Owning and using an MG ZS EV electric car

We have recently purchased our first electric car - a second-hand MG ZS EV 2022 Essence model. I have been keen to drive and EV for over a decade.  

MG ZS EV Essence

MG ZS EV Essence

We plan to use the EV for mostly city trips, replacing a 10 year old diesel  Opel Astra.

A wider variety of EVs are now available in 2024 (even in Australia!). 

Reasonably priced vehicles are available and there are numerous charging locations.

What I really like about the MG EV:

• Its quiet and has good performance and handling
• Regenerative braking saves energy
• No carbon emissions pollution at tailpipe
• Self folding mirrors when locking car
• Type 2 charge connection (the most common)
• 320km range is acceptable
• Good design - speed and other information are on the dash in front of the driver like conventional cars
• SUV style - good ground clearance and seating position. Good size rear seating.
• The information display screen in the centre of the dash is well positioned and a good size (not too big!)
• 20,000km service intervals! Services cost around $200.
• Air-conditioning works well
• Camera shows rear of car when reversing and front when going forward during parking
• Its reasonably priced and some good second-hand vehicles are available.

Excellent tech features:

• 360 degree camera, and blind spot assistance (Essence model only)
• Built in GPS navigation easy to use (without Android auto)
• Android Auto support (to get wireless you need a wireless dongle such as AAWireless)
• Vehicle to Load (VTL) support can provide a connection from the car battery to 240V sockets for running 240V appliances up to 2.2 kW(separate connecter cable is required for this).

Some things I have discovered:

• The supplied 240V charger takes up to 40 hours to fully charge a flat battery
• A domestic AC wall charger can be installed for around $2500. Single phase provides 7-9kW, three phase unit provides up to 22kw. The MG allows a maximum AC charge of 11kw so we will install the single phase - either a Zappi 2.1 or a Wallbox Pulsar Max with solar integration
• To fast charge the car at an Ampol service station I installed the AmpCharge app.  In 35 minutes 18.3 kWh charged about 40% of the battery for $12.91
• Some Tesla chargers have been made available to other car brands, but not many.
• The PlugShare app and website is great for locating charging points and seeing if they are available.
• Chargers are either tethered (with lead and plug) or untethered (no lead or plug). You need to carry a Type 2 charge cable to use untethered chargers.  EVSE have reasonably priced cables.
• The 2022 MG ZS EV model has a better lithium ion battery than earlier models and better range

Problem with binding car to app/account

• The MG iSMART app can be used to access car features, including its location.
• However the vehicle can only be "bound" to one account.
• The previous owner deleted his account before unbinding the car. I cannot bind to it.
• The car has to go to an MG dealer to unbind it so I can access it via the app (quoted cost $120 but they did it for free).

MG iSMART mobile app functions 

• Remotely turn on the aircon
• Lock/unlock the car
• Check the battery and see charging status
• Set a geofence with alerts and see the car's location. 

Service intervals

Service intervals are every 20,000km!  However, when visiting the dealer to get the unbinding done they said they need the car all day for a major software update, so I have booked that in.

Features missing from Australian model

• Car voice commands (but note that Android Auto voice commends work)
• Electric tailgate
• Rear seat centre armrests and cup holders

Under the bonnet

Charging the MG ZS EV

Ampcharge app information while charging

Misinformation about EVs is rife at the moment - 

This is presumably originating from 20C car makers and some fossil fuel companies worried about losing their markets for polluting fossil fuel vehicles and fuel. Some examples include:

• "Embodied energy" - all vehicles have "embodied energy" - the energy consumed to produce them
• "Battery life"- EVs have advanced battery management with the battery designed for 10+ years use
• "Not suitable for long trips" - charging stops do need to be factored in, especially on busy routes (e.g. Melbourne to Sydney). Its recommended to stop every 2 hours on long trips.

"Hydrogen powered cars will be better"

• Rolling out hydrogen refuelling infrastructure will be very expensive and slow
• Brown hydrogen is extracted from fossil fuels including coai, the process produces large quantities of carbon emissions 
• Blue hydrogen uses steam to separate hydrogen from natural gas
• Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis, requiring significant amounts of electricity from renewable energy 
• See Green, blue, brown: the colours of hydrogen explained, CSIRO and The colours of hydrogen explained, Swinburne 

The Voice to Parliament will help Australia's First Nations People

The Voice to Parliament will help Australia's First Nations People.

I and many others attended the Voice to Parliament information night in Kooyong to learn more about why it is so important. 

Bart Willoughby, A Pitjantjatjara man of the Mirning dreaming played didgeridoo and acknowledged the Wurundjeri people to open the event . 

The speakers were: 

Dr Monique Ryan, independent MP for Kooyong

Thomas Mayo, Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man. 

Marcus Stewart, Nira illim bulluk man of the Taungurung Nation

You can watch the event here:

Some key points were made by the speakers.

Thomas Mayo:  "The Voice will provide recognition to and consultation with First Nations people. Have conversations with your family and friends about this."

Many decades of struggle, heartbreak and hard work have led up to the Voice. The Voice is logical, its strategic for closing the gap, and its key for hearing indigenous people.  The dialogues that led to the Voice considered lessons learnt. 

Voices have been established many times before. Anytime they made the parliament uncomfortable they have been silenced. Petitions and statements have been ignored. A treaty was promised by Bob Hawke, but its failed to date.

Howard destroyed ATSIC. Governments have failed. The NT Intervention then happened.

The Voice To Parliament can advise the Australian government to take action on black deaths in custody and closing the gap.

Consensus was reached on Uluru Statement give it great power, dialogues across Australia were heard in safe places. The outcome was Voice, Treaty, Truth.  The priority now is the Voice.

Australia is one of the very few like nations that don't have a Treaty or constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples.

Without a Voice, First Nations People go backwards.

The Voice To Parliament can provide advice to the parliament about any future attempts to suspend the Racial Discrimination Act (as Howard did during the racist NT Intervention).

The Voice to Parliament must be in the Constitution to stop future governments destroying it when they don't like what they hear and don't want to listen.

Its up to the Parliament to determine how the Voice will function and how it will be formed.  This may change over time as lessons are learned - this detail must NOT be in the Constitution as then it cannot be altered when needed. 

Marcus Stewart: "the Voice (now) is essential for getting to Treaty, which could take 20+ years."

Sovereignty has not been ceded and will never be ceded. 

We are We are a strong people, but in this nation we don't have a political agency to make decisions that affect our lives. We watch other people decide whether our rights are respected and our voices heard.

Voice, Treaty and Truth will benefit the soul of this nation.

We are all lucky to walk on Aboriginal Land.  We came to this place through different paths. 

We have a once in a generation opportunity ahead of us at referendum.

What is on offer is over 60,000 years of history and culture, wisdom and knowledge, traditions and celebrations, strength and resilience, something we can all celebrate.

We will lose nothing but stand to gain so much. We love our culture and want to share it and have it respected and everyone able to celebrate it. All we ask in return is for the freedom and power to make decisions that impact our communities, our culture and our lands.

We want the freedom to choose our own paths in life. For too long Aboriginal people have had policies made to us, for us, but never by us. 

Every aspects of our lives have been controlled by policies ... made by politicians who didn't understand us and didn't respect us.

Having a Voice is the first step in having a meaningful say in the decisions that affect our lives. Its not about assigning blame or guilt. 

The alternative is waking up to a country post referendum that told our people and our communities that we don't belong and that our voice should be silent.

I urge everyone to not let the perfect get in the way of the good. Don't let the search for detail leave us without a seat at the table.

A Yes Vote is confirmation that you want all First Nations communities to thrive again, for our unique connection to this place to be recognised, respected and celebrated. 

Opponents

The Liberal, National and One Nation parties all oppose the Voice to Parliament. Their reasons are unclear. There is no logic, evidence or  facts supporting their positions. They are telling lies about the Voice.

Their political tactic is to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt to kill the Voice. They tried this during the unnecessary marriage plebiscite but it didn't work.

It also appears there is some racism behind this, which is very disappointing.

Some answers to questions

I can't understand how we would be able to progress Treaty without a Voice.  One risk that a Treaty might be signed then torn up by government.

A good agreement never comes before you form a representative body. We have federal government. Its really important to setup a national body.

Treaty will take decades and will be an ongoing struggle, so a national body is going to be so important to ensure outcomes are achieved.

We can work towards a Treaty and have a Voice, work can proceed in tandem.

The Voice is just recognition and consultation. Have conversations with friends and colleagues about the Voice. 

The Voice will be one mechanism to improve lives of First Nations People, better policies will result.

The Voice has an advisory to it can be ignored by government, but it would a brave government to do that.  Parliament will remains responsible for making decisions.  They should listen to what we have to say.

The Voice will not have a power of veto.

The parliament and the government will seek advice from First Nations people. For example, the lifting of alcohol bans. 

Local, regional and national layers of representation will represent all groups across Australia.

The Voice will represent the community it serves. Out people will have a democratic say in who their representative are.

Why I will vote Yes

I will vote yes to the Voice To Parliament referendum. I respect the Uluru Statement and the wishes of First Nations people.

Australia's First Nation's people deserve to have a voice to parliament and government about policies and legislation that affect them.

Solicitor-general Stephen Donaghue advice on the Voice

On 21 April 2023 the government’s top lawyer stated the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament would "enhance" Australia's system of government, and does not believe it would "pose any threat" to the nation's parliamentary democracy.

• Voice to Parliament would be an 'enhancement' to constitution, according to solicitor-general - ABC News 

Links

• The Uluru Statement
• Referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice - referendum question and constitutional amendment.
• Voice to Parliament referendum question and constitutional amendment announced - ABC News
• Voice to Parliament: Debunking 10 myths and misconceptions – Monash Lens

Australian federal election 2022 - consider who you vote for

The next federal election in Australia is approaching. The date is not set - it will be called at the discretion of Scott Morrison, the incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal - National Party Coalition government. He will do this when he thinks he has the best chance of winning.

When will the election be held?

The first date for a normal house and half-Senate election was 7 August 2021 but that date has passed.

The last date for a normal house and half-Senate election is 21 May 2022. This date gives six weeks to complete the complex Senate count and allows Senators to be declared elected and start their terms on 1 July 2022. A mid-May election would be announced in early April 2022.

See: When can the Next Federal Election be Held? – Antony Green's Election Blog

Possible election dates are:

2022: February 26, March 5, 12, 19, 26 (with SA election moved), April 2, 9, May 21 as earlier dates overlap Easter and Anzac day

It is now likely the election will be in either March, April or May 2022

Morrison Government election campaign strategy

Strengths - issues they will attempt to campaign on.

• "Morrison the saviour" - leading Australia out of COVID-19 lockdowns, chastising the Labor states (VIC, QLD, WA) for "causing harm by draconian lockdowns".   See this thread from @aarondodd for more information.

• "Sound economic management" - providing financial measures to get Australia through the finanicial impacts of lockdown.

• Coal votes - keep promoting coal for "baseload power" and the importance of jobs associated with coal mining and profits from coal exports

• Border security - keep refugees detained in offshore gulags to "deter refugees arriving by boats"

• Defence and national security - publicly criticise China about the origins of COVID, human rights, occupation of islands in South China Sea. Keep speculating about possible war with China. Strengthen alliance and "military cooperation" with the United States, Indonesia and India.

Also read Great Scott: the grand narrative of Scott Morrison

Attacks - on other parties and candidates.

• "Labor are incompetent" - Labor is held hostage by Unions and will wreck the economy
• "Independents are stooges" - for other political parties
• "Greens are dangerous radicals" - with extreme left policies that will ruin Australia

Weaknesses - they will attempt to protect against

• Climate change - The Morrison government has set no long term or short term targets for reducing carbon emissions. They claim that "technology solutions" will be effective but there is no evidence that they will. They are still spending money on implausible "carbon capture and storage" projects.

• Great Barrier Reef - in peril from climate change, but the LNP successfully lobbied to stop the reef being listed as "endangered" by UNESCO

• COVID-19 responses 
• Vaccine delays: Failure to get enough appropriate vaccines in time and severe delays in getting the population vaccinated. Orders for Pfizer vaccines delayed for 6 months
• Vaccine politics: Reallocating Pfizer from Labor states to Sydney
• Vaccination campaign: Very poor public campaigns to encourage vaccination
• No quarantines: No provision of safe quarantine facilities - a Federal government responsibility
• Aged care deaths: 700+ deaths in federally regulated aged care homes from COVID-19, and no COVID-19 management plan for them
• Stranded Aussies: Morrison's failure to get home 40,000+ Australians stranded overseas for 18+ months

• Corruption - sport rorts, car park rorts, Great Barrier Reef foundation donation, electoral donations from fossil fuel companies [link]

• Treatment of women and sexual violence
• no action taken on alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in parliament building on 22 March 2019
• Morrison says he was not informed of the alleged rape until 15 February 2021. The Gaetjens inquiry about who in the Prime Minister's Office knew what and when has not been completed and will not be releases (its a cover up).
• Morrison Govt voted against 49 of the 55 recommendations made in the landmark Respect@Work report
• Morrison Govt held  "Women's Safety Summit" in early September 2021 which was a talkfest to "hear from women" - but not enact any new legislation.

Murdoch's Newscorp

 The Murdoch press provide propaganda to support the Morrison government.

Independents are making a stand

Several independent community-based grass roots candidates are running on platform of climate action, integrity and better treatment of women. Candidates include:

• Dr Monique Ryan, Kooyong 
• Zoe Daniel, Goldstein
• Aleggra Spender, Wentworth
• Dr Sophie Scamps, Mackeller
• Kylea Tink, North Sydney
• Zali Steggall, Warringah (re-contesting, won seat from Tony Abbott)

For a video see: The Project (@theprojecttv) December 20, 2021

Some things to consider when voting

• How has your local MP voted in parliament? Find out here: They Vote For You — How does your MP vote? 
• How do candidate's policies and statements align with your values?
• For candidates in political parties - how does their party's policies and statements align with your values
• What are candidate policies and statements on climate change, social justice, peace and environment, health, education and other things that matter to you?
• How have candidates contributed to public health response measures for COVID-19?
• The honesty, integrity, accountability and competence of each candidate.

This upcoming election will have a huge impact on Australia's and the world's future. Use your vote wisely.

Links

• As Scott Morrison feels the heat, Labor and Anthony Albanese must swing into gear 
• Morrison is gearing up for an election based on "freedom". Thread by @AaronDodd 
• Too late now, but ‘let it rip’ might prove tricky for Scott Morrison come election time, Hugh Riminton, The Guardian

Coronavirus is extremely infectious - a cautionary tale

This is an example of how incredibly infections the coranavirus that causes COVID-19 disease is.

A worker in a Dandenong factory contracted the disease at work, he commuted to a medium size town in Gippsland daily.  The infection spread to his teenage children before any symptoms were visible.

The children travelled to school on a school bus shared by three secondary schools in or near the town.

Students and teachers at all schools subequently tested positive for COVID-19 - the schools were then closed and deep cleaned, along with the buses.  

Contract tracing and isolation contained this outbreak that started from one person.

The virus can spread easily in a confined space with people - such as a bus, classroom, dinner party, family meal or church service - without anybody showing symptoms.  It can spread by aerosol (tiny droplets suspended in the air) and people just breathing that air.  Coughs and sneezes are not required to spread it (unlike the flu).

Lockdowns are vitally important to drive large case numbers and resultant deaths down.

Social distance and masks are vitally important to stop it spreading.

State and federal Liberal MPs continually attacking Dan Andrews and the public health response measures in Victoria are compromising efforts to contain the pandemic and putting lives at risk.  

This is not the time for petty politics.

Politically motivated attacks on the considerable efforts by contact tracing teams and health care workers in Victoria is causing them distress and also angering the Victorian community.

If Australia had similar public health response measures to the United States, United Kingdom and Sweden we would have over 12,500 more deaths.

See also

• Has Scott Morrison forgotten that he's Victoria's Prime Minister, too? Sean Carney, The Age 

COVID-19 and novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 information and links

Some information I have collected about COVID-19 follows.

Terminology

• COVIDー19 is a disease (now pandemic), an illness caused by a coronavirus
• SARSーCoVー2 is a novel coronavirus (type of virus) that causes COVID-19
• Isolation is for sick people with symptoms
• Quarantine is for people who are at risk of infection.

Australian government advice and information

• Coronavirus COVID-19 daily update - DHHS Victoria 
• 2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) - health.vic 
• About coronavirus (COVID-19) - Department of Health and Human Services Victoria 
• Coronavirus (COVID-19) current situation and case numbers, Australian Govt. Dept of Health.
• Information for international travellers and PDF, Australian Government Department of Health
• Guidance for home/personal isolation (PDF), Australian Government Department of Health
• Modelling the current impact of COVID-19 in Australia 

COVID-19 disease

• COVIDー19 is is not the flu, it is 3-4 times more contagious and has much higher mortality rate that is likely to be between 0.5% to 6%. 
• A vaccine could be 12-18 months away 
• Among the over 3,700 passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise liner who tested positive for COVID-19, more than 46% were not showing symptoms at the time they were tested.
• Asymptomatic infection is common in children, occurring in 10-30% of cases.

Current Advice in Australia as at 4 April 2020

• If you can stay home, you must stay home.
• Non-essential travel is restricted across Australia
• All recreational activities beyond basic exercise are not allowed.  This includes fishing, hunting, boating, camping and golf.

Basic protective measures

• Wash your hands frequently - Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.
• Maintain social distancing - maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. When self isolating people should maintain social distancing from other family members within households.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth - hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick.
• Practice respiratory hygiene - make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.
• Seek medical care early if you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing - If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority.

Some questions about COVID-19

Should schools be kept open during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Does everyone who recovers from infection develop immunity?  There are reports of some people developing the disease again after recovering.

Will a vaccine for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 ) be developed?  The common cold is also a coronavirus, there is no vaccine for it.  There is no vaccine for SARS (SARS-CoV virus) or MERS ( MERS-CoV) [link]

Why is COVID-19 so infectious?

• Infected people can spread the virus while they show no symptoms
• The virus can be spread on tiny droplets from coughing.
• The virus can be spread by touching contaminated surfaces then touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

How long can COVID-19 persist on surfaces? Reports indicate that the time it survives depends on the type of surface. Under experimental conditions the virus remained viable:

• in air - for  three hours
• on copper surface for four hours
• on cardboard surface after 24 hours.
• on stainless steel and plastic surfaces - up to 72 hours

Why do up to half of people infected by COVID-19 show no symptoms? (asymptomatic)

Why is COVID-19 fatal for some people? 

• The virus has caused severe respiratory disease in about 20 per cent of patients and killed more than 3 per cent of confirmed cases [link].
• Older people, whose immune defences have declined with age are more susceptible
• People with underlying health conditions (comorbidities) including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes and cancer are much more vulnerable [link]
• Some infected healthy people have an immune overreaction, known as a 'cytokine storm', that can cause acute respiratory distress, which means less oxygen reaches the bloodstream - depriving organs of the oxygen they need.

What is the incubation period for COVID-19?

• The median incubation period for COVID-19 is just over 5 days and 97.5% of people who develop symptoms will do so within 11.5 days of infection [link]
• People may be infectious when they display no symptoms - this is under investigation.

Is COVID-19 like AIDS?

• Researchers in China and the US have found that the virus that causes Covid-19 can destroy the T cells that are supposed to protect the body from harmful invaders
• One doctor said concern is growing in medical circles that effect could be similar to HIV [link]

Links

• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for public -WHO 
• Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Australia (data)
• COVID-19 Map - Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center 
• Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) – Statistics and Research - Our World in Data 
• Coronavirus tracked: the latest figures as the pandemic spreads - Financial Times 
• BSI open letter to Government on SARS-CoV-2 outbreak response | British Society for Immunology 
• COVID-19 can last a few days on surfaces, according to new experiment findings - ABC News 
• Infected people without symptoms might be driving the spread of coronavirus more than we realized - CNN 
• What we know and don't about asymptomatic transmission and coronavirus - ABC News 
• New Zealand modelling gives insight into Australian virus numbers - The Canberra Times
• Busting the myths about COVID-19 herd immunity, children and Lives vs Jobs - NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence

Why hasn't a national emergency been declared for 2019-20 catastrophic bushfires in Australia?

As at 11:00am Thursday 2 January 2020, 13+ people have died, more are missing. 6 million+ hectares burnt, 1500+ houses destroyed. Millions of animals dead. Evacuation in progress of 4,000+ people from Mallacoota and more from the NSW south coast. Many fires have been lit by recent dry lightning strikes.

Bushfires have crossed state borders of NSW, VIC and ACT. Mega fires in eastern Victoria and south NSW could join up. National coordination is clearly required.

Federal assets - army, navy, leased firefighting aircraft and personnel have now been deployed in support roles. Why are there different levels of support between NSW and VIC?

Emergency Management Australia (now under Home Affairs) has responsibility for coordinating and supporting national response to emergencies. Peter Dutton and David Littleproud are responsible ministers.

Littleproud said on 2 Jan that "APAC is coordinating the response" - but it is a peak body for collaboration, not coordination.

If a national emergency was declared, a national coordination centre (under EMA) could be spun up and would be directly responsibility to the Morrison government (Littleproud perhaps).

So far Scott Morrison, Michael McCormack, Peter Dutton and David Littleproud have NOT declared a national emergency.

Catastrophic bushfires and property losses have occurred in recently WA, SA, VIC, NSW, QLD and ACT. Many lives have been lost in SA, VIC and NSW.

This is gross dereliction of duty in the face of clear and present danger.

• NSW - 15 deaths, 1300 homes lost
• SA - 2 deaths, 90 homes lost
• VIC - 1 death, 18 missing, 81 homes lost

If there is no actual mechanism to declare a national emergency (State of Emergency can be declared only by individual states) here is a solution:

1. Convene meeting of State Emergency Coordinators & premiers

2. Agree to declare national emergency

3. Determine which federal resources are required in states/territories

4. EMA establish national emergency coordination centre

5. Legislate to provide for this in the future.

Video: Bushfire emergency has claimed 1000 homes and razed an area the size of Belgium, ABC 7.30

Links

• Incidents and Warnings - VicEmergency 
• MyFireWatch - Bushfire map information Australia 
• Fires Near Me - NSW RFS 
• What is Emergency Alert? - Emergency Alert. Be Warned. Be Informed. 

Eastern Victoria

NSW South Coast

Sydney and NSW Central Coast 

Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour

Northern NSW to Gold Coast

Kooyong ballot paper 2019 federal election

The order of candidates on the ballot for Kooyong for the 2019 federal election is:

D'ELIA Steven United Australia Party

YATES Oliver,  Independent

ZUBAC Angelina, Independent

FRYDENBERG Josh,  Liberal

STEWART Jana,  Australian Labor Party

HINKLEY Davina, Animal Justice Party

BURNSIDE Julian, The Greens (VIC)

CHANDLER Bill, Independent


Analysis of candidates

D'ELIA Steven United Australia Party - Right wing (Clive Palmer)

YATES Oliver,  Independent

• Strong policies on tacking climate change and renewable energy

ZUBAC Angelina, Independent

• Some policies on tacking climate change
• Stood in previous 2014 election

FRYDENBERG Josh,  Liberal

• Deputy Leader of Liberal Party and Treasurer
• Very weak policies on tacking climate change and renewable energy
• Liberal party policies and politics are now mostly right wing
• Very few policies released for this election

STEWART Jana,  Australian Labor Party

• Running a strong local campaign
• Labor party policies on climate change are much stronger than the Liberals but could be improved
• Significant policies including tax reform announced well in advance of and during the election campaign.

HINKLEY Davina, Animal Justice Party

• Running mainly on animal rights

BURNSIDE Julian, The Greens (VIC)

• Prominent barrister well know for advocacy on refugees

CHANDLER Bill, Independent

• Strong policies on climate change, transport
• Extensive experience in urban planning

How to Vote

You must number every square (candidate) on the ballot paper in order of your preference.

How to vote cards handed out by parties and candidates only provide their suggestions on how to allocate your preference.  The choice is yours.

I am considering supporting independent candidate(s) then putting Jana Stewart (Labor) ahead of Josh Frydenberg (Liberal Party) due to Labor's more progressive policies as per below.

If you want your preference to go to the Morrison government then put Frydenberg above Stewart, but you can still vote for independent candidates before them.

If you strongly support the Greens, Labor or the Liberals then give them your first preference.

Links

• Kooyong - Federal Election 2019 Electorate, Candidates, Results | Australia Votes - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 
• Practise voting - House of Representatives - Australian Electoral Commission 

Victorian Senate ballot for 2019 federal election - how to vote card

Here is my analysis of the Victorian Senate ballot for the 2019 federal election.

In my assessment there are considerably more right wing political parties on the ballot.

These ratings take into account climate change policies.

Note that while the Health Australia Party has reasonable climate change policies they oppose mandatory vaccination.

Voting
You can vote "above the line" by numbering at least 6 parties on the top row of the ballot paper.

You can vote "below the line" by numbering at least 12 boxes below the top row of the ballot paper.

See: Practise voting - Senate - Australian Electoral Commission 

See also: Senate Preview: VIC - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Leave any feedback in the comments below.

Fraser Anning calls for "White Australia" and "Final Solution" for refugees

Senator Fraser Anning, elected as a One Nation senator after getting 19 votes, called for "White Australia" and a "Final Solution" for refugees in Australia during his speech in the senate on 14 August 2018.

Anning is now with the Katter Party.

He also said the reasons to ban Muslim immigration were "compelling and self-evident", labelling them welfare-bludgers and criminals.

His speech is completely unacceptable in the Australian parliament, he should be expelled.

The Senators that shook his hand after his speech were:

• Mathias Cormann, Liberal, WA
• Bridget McKenzie, National, Vic
• Matt Canavan, National, QLD
• Nigel Scullion, Country Liberal, NT
• Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Liberal, NSW
• Cory Bernardi, Australian Conservatives, SA
• Derryn Hinch, Independent, VIC
• Tim Storer, Independent, SA
• Barry O'Sullivan, Liberal QLD
• David Leyonhjelm, Liberal Democrats, NSW
• Amanda Stoker, Liberal, QLD
• James McGrath, Liberal National OLD
• Jonathon Duniam, Liberal TAS
• James Paterson, Liberal, Vic
• Peter Georgiou, One Nation, WA
• John Williams, National, NSW
• Dean Smith, Liberal WA
• David Bushby, Liberal, TAS
• Anne Rushton, Liberal, SA
• Stirling Griff, Centre Alliance, SA
• Rex Patrick, Centre Alliance, SA

In doing so they have endorsed racist hate speech.  None of them are fit for office.

• Fraser Anning: White Australia Policy honoured by Queensland senator, calls for 'final solution' on immigration, Sydney Morning Herald

Open letter to Josh Frydenberg - SAVE ARENA stop the $1 billion cut

TO: Josh Frydenberg
Minister for Environment and Energy,

I’m writing to you today with a very important message about ARENA, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. That's the Agency you want to cut $1 billion in funding from.

ARENA is a critical force in driving renewable energy research and development in Australia. It has funded projects that developed the most efficient solar PV [1] and solar thermal technology in the world [2].

ARENA is crucial if Australia is to continue to lead in renewable energy research and innovation. If protected, projects funded by ARENA grants will create thousands of jobs [3], and help Australia transition to a renewable future.

Your government talks up innovation, but slashing ARENA's grants funding will cut the legs out from underneath a key industry that would otherwise be set to boom.

As your constituent, I am asking you to lead on innovation and make the right decision for Australia's energy future. Don't send Australia back to the Dark Ages. Don't cut ARENA.

Also, gas is just another fossil fuel and must not be used as a "transition to renewable energy".  The transition should be directly to renewable energy.

The same applies to coal seam gas - there should be a permanent ban on exploration and production of CSG in Victoria.

Regarding your previous comments on nuclear energy, could you please confirm that this dangerous and expensive energy source will  not be used in Australia?

[1] Milestone in solar cell efficiency by UNSW engineers, UNSW Newsroom, 17 May 2016, http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/milestone-solar-cell-efficiency-unsw-engineers

[2] ANU team cracks solar thermal efficiency of 97% -- a world record, Renew Economy, 22 August 2016, http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/anu-team-cracks-solar-thermal-efficiency-of-97-a-world-record-34199

[3] Queensland solar projects that could create 2,600 jobs at risk in federal cuts, The Guardian, 24 August 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/25/queensland-solar-projects-that-could-create-2600-jobs-at-risk-in-federal-cuts

Yours sincerely,
Peter Campbell
Surrey Hills, Victoria, 3127, Australia

External links

• SAVE ARENA: Tell the government to stop the $1 billion cut, email campaign 
• Malcolm Turnbull Just Made ‘Mr Coal’ His Environment Minister - New Matilda  

Australian Census 2016 - rank incompetence, lies and a failure of outsourcing

The conduct of the Australian Census 2016 is a worrying demonstration of government incompetence.  Here are my observations on the debacle.

Privacy concerns

In the lead up to the Australia's 2016 Census serious concerns were raised relating to a change in the retention of personal data that allows respondents to be identified and what this would be used for.

I didn't see an adequate response from the Australian Government or the Australian Bureau of Statistics about why this was being done and what the personal identification data links would be used for.

I have concerns that government departments and other authorities could access this data and use it to track down issues with individuals, which is not the purpose of census data.


Funds stripped from ABS
The Rudd and Abbott governments both cut funding for the ABS.  This set the scene for the debacle that was to follow.  The ministers previously involved in this were Kelly O'Dwyer and Joseph Ciobo.


Online data collection outsourced to IBM
In a apparent attempt to save money a decision was made - its not clear to me by which minister - to shift the majority of data collection to an online process using the Internet, and to outsource the technology solution to IBM.

With this outsourcing, it was vital that requirements for the solution be specified by government, including:

• Appropriate security for online submission of forms
• Appropriate security for data retained
• Performance - the maximum number of concurrent users supported
• Website availability - protection for Distributed Denial Of Service (DDOS) attacks

Statements were made by the ABS and the newly appointed minster Micheal McCormack that everything was in order, data would be secure and the website would handle the number of user that would use it on the night Tuesday 9 August 2016 (data collection night).


Website meltdown and failure
During the evening of Tuesday 9 August 2016 people experienced problems accessing the website.  Some people completed forms but were not able to submit them.  Others couldn't access the website at all.  Messages via Twitter from the ABS were confusing - they said to "try again later".  Millions of people gave up trying to submit their response and were left wondering what had happened.


The morning after - claims of hacking
There was intense interest on Wednesday morning on what had happened. Claims emerged on ABC morning radio that

"the website had been hacked"

"no data has been compromised"

"there was a DDOS attack" (no evidence has been provided for this)

"DDOS is not actually an attack because no data was accessed" (by Minister McCormack)

"the website was taken down by the ABS due to a false positive alert from IBM"

"a hardware router failed that prevent people accessing the website"

"the website was tested for up to 1 million concurrent users"

It is not possible to determine the veracity of any of the above claims as no information is available to validate them.

More recently, it has been claimed that:

"access to the website is geo blocked" (you must be in Australia to access the website)

"DNS servers outside Australia were blocked (preventing them routing access requests to the website)

What these claims highlight is rank incompetence by the ABS, the Government and IBM.


Solutions
I work in IT.  The following solutions were possible, but apparently neglected.

Robust security:  Encrypted sessions to secure data (appears to have been implemented)

DDOS protection:  Mechanisms are available to identify and avoid DDOS attacks, which are quite common.

8 million concurrent users:  Website performance should have been scaled to meet up to 8 million concurrent users as the majority of the population is on Eastern Standard Time and therefore was trying to access the online form at the same timee.

Drop the extended data retention:  In the absence of valid reasons for retaining identification data longer, this should be dropped.

Hardware failure: Redundancy and fail over is required, preferably via virtual devices rather than physical ones.

Increase scalability: If the application has been written properly (it may not have been) and the solution is cloud hosted, then performance can be scaled up (e.g. by instantiating more virtual servers) as required, and scaled down when not required.

Unfortunately, recent comments from Prime Minister Turnbull, Minister McCormack and the ABS only amount to misinformation, blame shifting and finger pointing.

The Australian online census meltdown is a failure of outsourcing and reveals gross incompetence of the Australian government.

Turnbull has said that "heads will roll". Perhaps Turnbull and McCormack are the ones who should be sacked for rank incompetence?

This debacle makes a complete mockery of Turnbull's "innovation agenda".

Misinformation, blame shifting and finger pointing won't fix the problems.

See also

• IBM And The ABS Census: Let The Blame Games Begin | Lifehacker Australia
• Lesson of #CensusFail: continued funding cuts mean agencies can’t do their job | The Guardian 
• Census debacle puts the Prime Minister on notice | Sydney Morning Herald 

Why we need a Royal Commission into Australian banks and financial services

Calls for a Royal Commission into Australian Banks and financial services have so far fallen on deaf ears.

The reasons why a royal commission is urgently needed include:

• Entrenched ongoing fraudulent (possibly criminal) financial advice provided by the Commonwealth bank that has resulted in the losses of tens of millions of investors money.
• Banks rigging interest rates. Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and National Australia Bank are all under official investigation by ASIC and have been served with official notices.
• The Australian Senate inquiry demanded a royal commission into Commonwealth Bank and ASIC
• The failure of "self regulated" banks and other financial services companies to deal with corrupt and illegal activities within their businesses.

Predictably, some major Australian banks oppose a Royal Commission into their conduct.  What have they got to hide?

Labor now supports a Greens move for a Royal Commission into financial services.  Some Coalition politicians such as Warren Entsch also support this.

Prime Minister Turnbull has dismissed calls for the Royal Commission, describing it as a "thought bubble".  Ministers Josh Frydenberg and Peter Dutton have also parroted the "thought bubble" dismissal.  

It is quite clear that Turnbull, Frydenberg and Dutton are putting a massive cover-up of corporate banking fraud ahead of the public interest.  Perhaps the large political donations that banks all make to the Liberal and National parties influence this curious response?

I don't think that the Commonwealth bank losing tens of millions of retirees and other investor money due to illegal and fraudulent practices is a "thought bubble".  Nor is collusion between banks to manipulate interest rates. 

I think it essential that the financial sector in Australia abides by laws and is held accountable and penalised for illegal activities if and when they occur.

External links

• Commonwealth Bank compensation scheme for victims of financial planning scandal 'a joke', Senate inquiry hears - ABC News
• Bank hearings to pry into interest rate rigging afr.com
• Senate inquiry demands royal commission into Commonwealth Bank, ASIC - ABC News
• Labor takes aim at big banks, promising royal commission if elected - ABC News
• NAB, ANZ bosses say calls for royal commission in banking a 'serious distraction' - ABC News
• Pressure on Turnbull over banks as three more Nats MPs speak out on royal commission. Sydney Morning Herald. 
• 'Captain's call': Lib MP lashes Malcolm Turnbull and ministers for opposing bank inquiry 

Australia's continued slide to fascism

Recent observations by Andrew Wilkie in parliament.  10 characteristics of a "pre-police state".

Denying some citizens the right to access the legal system is wrong.

Incremental loss of freedoms, democracy deteriorating bit by bit.

1. Metadata retention. Govt knows where you go, what you look at, who you talk to. No warrant required

2. Media - used, manipulated, bullied

3. Manipulation of judiciary - Royal Commission

4. Secrecy - operational matters "on water"

5. Law - can be arrested on suspicion of terrorism with no evidence.

6. Some people can be incarcerated indefinitely without trial - asylum seekers

7. Complete disregard for international law and agreements - Refugee convention, rights of the child.

8. Parliament forbidden to debate or decide on important matters of state - e.g. bombing of Syria.

9. Safeguard mechanisms disregarded and people bullied - Human Rights Commissioner. Autocratic regime

10. Security agencies act beyond lawful powers. Australian Border Force operation on the streets of Melbourne - unlawful, beyond their legal power.

http://insidestory.org.au/immigrations-disappearing-visa-applicants

And Border Force now prevents people reporting brutality, rape, sexual abuse in immigration detention.

Update 28 Dec 2015.  George Williams, Professor of Law at the University of NSW writes that

An extraordinary number of Australian laws now infringe basic democratic standards, but we hardly bat an eyelid. The growing assault on our democratic rights, Sydney Morning Herald: 

People who have recently bullied and threatened Australian Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs

People who have recently bullied and threatened Australian Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs include PM Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton MP, Browyn Bishop MP, Senator George Brandis, Senator Barry O'Sullivan, Scott Morrison MP. 

They are all thugs and unfit for public office.

Links

• Senate estimates turn aggressive as Coalition senators line up to take a swing at Gillian Triggs, Sydney Morning Herald
• Why we should care about the hounding of Gillian Triggs, Mamamia
• Revealed: Abbott government tried to remove Gillian Triggs as head of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Sydney Morning Herald
• Govt denies bullying Triggs, The New Daily 
• Abbott govt ‘bullying’ human rights president, The New Daily

Some ideas for taxation

Some ideas for taxation and other revenue measures in Australia.

Save $10b per year scrapping fossil fuel subsidies - including $4b per year scrapping diesel fuel excise subsidy for big mining

Save $5b per year scrapping negative gearing subsidies for investors buying houses

We saved $5b per year when Abbott scrapped his Paid  Parental Leave Scheme

Save $31b per year scrapping subsidies for religions.

Tax the proceeds of houses sold for over $2m

Reintroduce a carbon tax. This will raise revenue and provide an incentive for high carbon polluters to reduce their emissions - as happened under the previous carbon tax. Since your government removed it, emissions are again rising. A carbon tax on big companies could generate $5b+ per year and be used to develop clean energy alternatives.

Increase resource taxes on mining so that the companies who extract and sell Australia's non-renewable mineral resources make a fair contribution to Australia.  This could generate $10b+ per year.

Simplify the taxation system for ordinary people.  The current system requires most people to become book keepers and hire accountants to do their tax returns every year.

Remove all direct and indirect government subsidies for the logging of native forests.

Tony Abbott, the Game of Thrones and why party politics is failing

Its interesting to watch the decline of Tony Abbott as Prime Minister.  I was concerned when he became Prime Minister that he would not be a good leader.  My worst fears have since been realised.

Tony Abbott: Source

The list of broken promises and bad policies gets longer almost every day, here are just a few:

• Funding cuts to ABC and SBS (a broken promise and appalling "efficiency levy lie)
• "Loggers are the ultimate conservationists" and "no more national parks" (appalling lie)
• "Coal is good for humanity" (appalling lie)
• Deregulation of university fees - that could result in $100,000 degrees (no policy for this during the 2013 election campaign)
• Continued incarceration of asylum seekers (including children) in concentration camps and offshore processing centres - a clears breach of human rights and the UN Convention for Refugees. (Note this is also supported by the Labor opposition)
• Encouraging Islamaphobia is making Australia less safe, rather than considering the causes of radicalisation of the minority who join the likes of ISIS, and how we can prevent this happening.
• Lifters and Leaners: vilification of low income earners and protection of corporate tax evaders
• A budget emergency that actually did not exist, but is now being created by the failed LNP budget and policies.
• Ongoing denial of climate change accompanied by policies that are crippling our transition to renewable energy and a zero carbon future.
• The proposed GP Copayment - research indicated that this will have a negative effect on health care outcomes and greatly disadvantage low income earners.

All these policies have a common thread - they are based on ideology rather than evidence.

However, for all this I don't just blame Tony Abbott.  

We have serious systemic problems with political parties, where their policies come from, how their leaders are elected, and the basic failure of representational democracy.

Political parties actually only represent their own traditional support bases:

• Liberal - medium to high income earners, "the big end of town" corporates, media barons etc. Notional "conservatives".
• Labor - "working families", unions (some but not all), Notional "progressives" etc
• Greens - conservationists, some unions, progressives disillusioned with Labor and the Coalition
• Nationals - the notional "rural vote"

The average citizen has next to zero input into party policies.  Many actual party members (a small fraction of voters) also have little or no input to party policies.

Party policies come from secretive processes that are largely controlled by internal and vested interests.

The basic failure of representational democracy is twofold:

1. Yet we vote for our local Members of Parliament, who are supposed to represent us. In reality, they vote the way their party instructs them most of the time.
2. Parties have policy platforms during an election that are not binding - promises are routinely broken once government and policies that were not part of their election platform are forced onto society.

Our Prime Ministers are selected by internal party processes such as Party Room votes.  There is never any public participation with this - MPs decided when to sack a sitting Prime Minister and appoint a new one.

Recently, this has been chaotic.

The Labor Party sacked Kevin Rudd due to internal problems they had with his autocratic leadership style.

The Labor Party then sacked Julia Gillard and reappointed Kevin Rudd because nervous Labor MPs thought she couldn't win the 2013 election - which Rudd went on to lose.

Malcolm Turnbull was deposed as Coalition Opposition Leader in 2009 by the Liberal Party room, many of whom were concerned by his bipartisan support for an emissions trading scheme.  Tony Abbott won by one vote and went to become Prime Minister.

Now in 2015, it is evident to the wider electorate that Tony Abbott is manifestly unsuitable for the role of Prime Minister, so nervous back benchers (scared of losing their seats) bring on a "vote of no confidence" in him, which is defeated (61 votes for him, 39 against) with no alternative candidate. 

Since then, Abbott has continued to prove himself incapable of governing the country, he is locked into "attack mode" where he insists he well "beat Bill Shorten" and he continues to bully and threaten anyone who doesn't agree with him such as Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs.

It now seems likely that the Coalition Party Room will vote again on who will be Prime Minister (if someone challenges) and that Tony Abbott is considered likely to now lose.

So these are some big problems.  

Here are some possible structural solutions:

Constitutional change: Form governments based on the skills of elected MPs rather than party allegiances and membership

Constitutional change: Ban binding party votes - make every vote a conscience vote

Constitutional change: Provide voters with the opportunity to directly elect political leaders (e.g Prime Minister, Head of State) and move to some form of Republic

Legislative change: Ban large political donations - these fundamentally corrupt politics as they buy influence and large media driven election campaigns.

Constitutional change: Citizen initiated referendums and issue/policy referendums - give voters the opportunity to vote on binding policy matters that governments must then implement.

If we don't reinvigorate our democracy will continue to be subjected to the whims and vagaries of a largely autocratic political elite that don't act in the best interests of the nation and all citizens.