Peasants' Revolt

We've heard plenty recently about the revolt of the irrigators in the Murray-Darling basin against the Authority's plan to limit access to water.

The media, particularly the Oz, have made a meal of it, and every conservative politician within yodelling distance has fronted up in an attempt to wedge the government on the issue.

A little closer to home for me, there is an issue creating just as much angst on the part of primary producers on the Downs, but it's to a large extent flying below the radar, as far as big media is concerned. We're talking, incidentally about some of the most productive (and well-managed) land in the country.

I'm referring, of course, to the mining projects centred on the Surat basin.

In the last couple of days, there's been an announcement that the largest open cut coalmine in the world will be built at Wandoan. At the moment, this is a sleepy little rural township, with the regulation school, a couple of pubs, and some newly constructed motels. Apparently the nearest mining infrastructure can't be built any closer to the township than 2 kilometres, but if this thing is as big as promised, that really won't mean a thing.

Just up the road is the Guluguba State School, which is apparently built squarely on the seam. I wonder what will become of it.

The evidence of this race to exploit the basin is everywhere - even before a sod is turned. As you drive up the Warrego, you observe the strange sight of speed limit signs lying at 30 degrees to the horizontal for kilometre after kilometre. The reason for this is the damage caused by the trucking of over size plant and equipment out to development sites with no regard to roadside infrastructure. The contractors who move this stuff (at great cost to the integrity of the road and hours of time of anyone unfortunate enough to come across them) don't give a stuff. The bizarre element of this is that the escorting police deliberately run oncoming traffic off the road, at great risk to tyres and vehicle. I've experienced this frequently in the last few years.

This totally arrogant attitude to the rights of the locals is reflected in the legislation that allows unfettered access to private land for exploration and extraction. I remember the wailing and knashing of teeth about the largely symbolic outcome of the Mabo decision - the mining legislation makes Mabo look like the Teddy Bear's picnic.

But it's OK of course, because it's done in the name of making a quick quid.

These same extractive companies also have unfettered access to the precious underground aquifer. Recent discoveries of cancer-producing elements in some of the bores created a brief hue and cry, but it doesn't take long for the miners and the government to get their stories to line up, and the media forget about it.

Some of the techniques used are known to be dangerous, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. "Abundance of caution"  is an unknown concept.

The farmers are beginning to get upset. Out here, they're a tolerant easy-going lot - but they're not about to let their lifestyles and the future of their kids get trashed by an unholy alliance of big government and big miners.

Watch this space.

Grey Porridge

This week She Who Must be Obeyed (the fleet manager) set me up in a Toyota Camry.

Again, this car needed to get kilometres up in a hurry because it was brand new, and was due its first (1000km) service. My trip was about this length - a bit more as it turned out - so I picked it up just after it had been delivered with 30km on the clock.

Typical Toyota - it smelt funny, had all the ambiance of an Electrolux, and behaved exactly as the brochures described.

It also had Bluetooth, but after driving myself nuts, I gave up on trying to get it to work. I had better and less time-consuming things to do. As a rule of thumb I never read instruction manuals. They're for dropkicks who can't work stuff out by themselves - but in the end out of exasperation I was forced to. I've set up plenty of Bluetooth programs before (in Hyundais, Volkswagens and Fords) without hassles and without handbooks..

Using the handbook just made it worse, as the instructions read as if they'd been translated badly from Japanese into Russian, and then back into English.

What I finished up with was a kind of lottery. Sometimes the audio would pick up the phone part of the iPhone, sometimes the iPod part. It was entirely unpredictable as to which was operating at any given time, so I had to take the precaution of having my Blueant set up as a back-up. I tend to get lots of calls on the road.

Funny thing is, no matter what mode it was working in, it always muted the audio when a call came through.

Driving this thing reminded me of my son's 1996 Camry. Not much has changed.

It was as dull as grey porridge. The duco was actually white - hence the refrigerator reference.

Ipadding

Finally I succumbed and bought an iPad.

I can rationaliise it by claiming that it will be a great help in making me more productive at work. I can make notes on the go in schools and classrooms, email them to myself, so that my reports are completed on the same day. This will make a real difference.

But secretly (you won't tell my bride, dear reader will you?) it should allow me to blog on the go.

The thing can be set up either to work off the Telstra 3G network, or to seek a Wi-Fi link, so I can get on-line at home using my Belkin server, or to find one of the many rapidly proliferating links in restaurants and coffee shops.

I've downloaded a neat (and free) application that finds the closest free Wi-Fi outlets as you move around, and highlights them on an on-screen map. 

The only problem I have is that I haven't yet worked out how to upload media other than print.

I'm working on it.

Any suggestions?

Update - I have to buy another piece of kit which allows me to load pics directly from my camera on to the iPad.

Fleeting

One of the most entertaining aspects of my job is the unpredictable variety of the cars I get to drive.

The organisation I work for accesses a very large fleet of leased vehicles, which is in a constant state of flux. The fleet manager has to juggle usage so that at the end of the 24 month lease period, the kilometres travelled match, as closely as possible, the lease prediction.

I'm not sure what happens if this isn't managed properly, but I presume there is a financial penalty. Those of you who have salary packaged cars (as I did when I was working full time) will understand what I'm on about.

Because I cover more distance than just about anyone else in this region, I often get allocated vehicles which need to clock up lots of kilometres in a short time near the end of the lease period.

This happened last week when I was slotted into a Volkswagen Jetta Diesel to travel to St George, Roma and Injune.

This Jetta is the only one I've ever come across, and it was originally part of a salary package for a senior executive. This same head honcho became very ill, and had to relinquish the position, so the car was returned to the fleet to be put to economical use until its lease expired.

Because it was an executive's car, it was the top of the range version, with all the bells and whistles. By the time I'd covered the 1500 km which comprised the week's work, I'd just about sussed them out (the bells and whistles - I mean).

It is a very pleasant car, and being a diesel, very economical on such a journey. It used about 5 litres for every 100 kms, although cruising at 100kmh used less than that - about 4.7 lit/100km. This parsimony with the go-juice didn't come at the cost of performance. When called on to overtake the various grades of grain trucks, mining machinery and cattle crates that infest the Warrego highway, it responded with verve. It actually outperforms your average six (Holden or Falcon) in a typical overtaking manoeuvre because of the vast amount of torque available between 2000 and 3000 rpm. The super efficient DSG six-speed gearbox helps, as it masks the small amount of turbo lag that is occasionally evident.

It also cruises at 100kph with the diesel ghosting along at 2000rpm, which is the main reason for its low fuel consumption. Diesel may well be the way of the future, although it often costs a few cents per litre more than unleaded.

Strangely enough, diesel was actually cheaper than 91 RON at Roma, but this may have been an anomaly - it's always a few cents dearer in Toowoomba and Brisbane.

The fleet manager is a very grounded person (you'd have to be in her job) but she does tend to get a bit rattled when people misfuel the diesels. It happens fairly regularly.

Despite the fact that the cars are emblazoned with stickers shouting "diesel fuel only", some of the dozier members of the organisation entertain a belief that only 4WDs use diesel.

These are usually the same people who return vehicles with melted chocolate, chips and spilled coffee all over the interior. It drives me nuts.

Lipstick

I don't know if any teachers read this blog - but those who do might enjoy the following -

A certain private school in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs was recently faced with an unusual problem.

A number of the girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night the maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back. Finally the Principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses).

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.  He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet bowl, and cleaned the mirror with it

The silence was broken by a large number of gasps, a few girls vomited and apparently someone fainted . Since then there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers . . . and then there are educators.

Reflections on Independence

There are a few kids on my caseload with Spina Bifida.

This used to be a relatively common congenital malformation, but is becoming less so possibly because of the use of folate.

One of these kids attends a very remote school, and I have been supporting him there since 2005. As a consequence, I've become very familiar with the barriers to independence that his disability confers - and until recently was feeling pretty useless in terms of contributing to his quality of school life.

This was because he was not independent in terms of self-care.

Generally, Spina Bifida results in incontinence. Every case is different, but it's always a problem. With this boy, bowel continence was well-managed at home, but he needed to be catheterised at school to ensure that his bladder remained healthy. Bladder infections are common with this disorder, and if the bladder isn't completely voided, infections can develop which can make life very difficult for both child and carer.

With this lad, an elderly relative would drive to school daily and perform the catheterisation. My experience with these kids has been that by the time they reach upper primary level, they have usually learned to manage the process (called CISC*) themselves.

I therefore set up a training programme for this boy and his male teacher aide so that over time, he would learn to be independent. Trouble was, he was unwilling to be trained. Despite flying a properly certified nurse trainer out a number of times, and many discussions with both him and his relative, no progress was made.

This went on over a number of years, the aide (who was the only constant staff member) was becoming more and more frustrated, and I was feeling totally useless. This frustration was felt less by both the special needs teacher and his class teacher, as they generally changed every year, because of the rapid staff turnover typical of remote schools.

Problem was, of course, that he was completely comfortable with the arrangement.  He wasn't embarrassed by his relative coming up to school, as he's never known anything else. This relative (who never seemed to get ill) was a caring person, so prepared to help so long as it was necessary.

I was beginning to wonder how this arrangement would operate once puberty arrived or the elderly relative became infirm.

Last week an email arrived from the special needs teacher. She told me he was now totally independent with the process, and the elderly relative no longer was needed at school.

What had changed?

The turning point was his decision that he would manage it himself. He learned the process in about a week once he'd made that decision.

How had he come to that decision? The breakthrough was his going on a camp on the coast with a group of boys with Spina Bifida his own age. At this camp he saw others with the same problem managing it independently. The penny dropped.

Thinking about it, this was fairly easy to understand. Because of his isolation, he'd simply never met anyone his age with Spina Bifida before, so he had no reference point. I guess peer pressure may have had something to do with it.

His attendance at the camp was organised by the local disability services coordinator - a wise Murri bloke with a very easy going manner, and a valuable talent for cutting through bureaucracy. I've known him since 2005, and he's one of the quiet achievers in the game.

I phoned him yesterday to thank him for helping to change this lad's life for the better. He sounded a bit embarrassed - I don't think anyone's ever done that before.

He mumbled something about being a member of a team, and then said  - "Nothing I did, brother - just connected all the bits together".

He told me he now has another problem - the elderly relative is feeling a bit unnecessary, and he's talking to her a lot. I know the feeling - it happened to me when the youngest of our four left home….

*Clean Intermittent Self Catheterisation

Afghanistan

Our military commitment to Afghanistan bothers me.

It doesn't seem to bother many Australians. You don't hear it discussed at barbeques. It's rarely on the front page, with the consistent exception of blanket reporting of the repatriation and funerals of the diggers killed there.

There have been 21 so far.

And this is at the heart of the issue. If our young men in uniform are dying there, they need to have the will and the commitment of the nation behind them. Put crudely, I don't see that.

Apart from what the polls tell us - I don't see anyone marching on the streets supporting them. I also don't see anyone demonstrating against the notion that we should be there.

This is a major difference from Vietnam. The year I was there (1970) saw the biggest marches in Australian history at the Moratoriums.

 

Obviously, Vietnam veterans don't look back on this with any fondness, but I sometimes wonder whether indifference is any better than outright opposition. At least those opposing the war had thought about it.

What is happening now looks very much like blind indifference. Put simply, most Australians really don't give a stuff.

I guess back in 1970, there was always the chance that you'd be "called up" or someone you knew, or your brother or son could be involved for no better reason than his birthday fell on a particular date. I remember sitting and freezing behind an M60 at 3am during an exercise back of Cambelltown in winter 1969, looking at the lights of the city and seething about all the 20 year-olds tucked up warmly in their beds.

That situation did not brook indifference in the Nasho concerned, or the family involved.

Perhaps we need something to happen that won't brook indifference about Afghanistan.

How about increasing the pay of every soldier on operational duty in Afghanistan to the level of a federal backbencher? After all, we keep hearing from both sides of politics how vital their involvement is to national security. Let's put a price on our security. The extra costs incurred could be recovered by an Afghanistan levy paid as a surcharge on income tax. That would get some kind of reaction fairly swiftly.

Alternatively, the banks could also be levied by imposing a super profits tax. They've done very well in this country as a result of being protected by the government during the global financial crisis. Sounds like fair dues to me.

Another option would be to offer free housing to families of deployed soldiers and free education vouchers to their children.

None of this will ever happen, of course. As soon as there is any move to share the financial burden across the community, the various lobby groups will be up in arms, and the politicians will turn to water. We are happy to endure causalities providing there are enough photo ops for the PM and the leader of the opposition, but the hip pocket is sacred.

Sorry to sound cynical but am I right or am I right?

Our diggers deserve better than this.

In terms of the reasons behind the current deployment - I agree with Andrew Wilkie in that these reasons have passed their use by date. Al Qaeda is quiescent in Afghanistan. The problem has moved across the border into Pakistan. In fact, there is a very strong argument that our continuing presence increases the risk of home-grown terrorism.

Sure, women are badly treated in Afghanistan. The same is the case in some parts of Somalia, and in all of Saudi Arabia. I don't hear any talk of deployments in these countries.

The other reason given for our continued deployment is to maintain faith in our alliances. This means, of course, that when the Americans move - we follow. That worked a treat in Vietnam - didn't it?

The Kiwis had the courage to stand up to the Americans over the nuclear ships issue, and after all the posturing was over (on both sides) nothing really changed. The Americans will support us if it's in their interest, not because of history. The alliance has more to do with geography than history.

Unless Australia is towed thousands of kilometres away from its current location, geography is a constant.

The wash-up, for me, at least, is we should stay until it's over, but only if the whole nation is behind it. In the past I've personally seen too much anguish and sorrow caused both here and in the country concerned (in the case of Vietnam) for any overseas deployment to be half-hearted.

The ultimate commitment of the diggers has to be matched at home; otherwise they are betrayed by their country each and every day they are deployed. Vietnam taught us that - if it taught us nothing else.