I’m Out of Here

I am going on a Holiday. I’ll be back in mid-October. Ciao.

Andy Semple

Follow him on twitter @Bulmkt

Comments

[SignedIn]

1.

Enjoy the holiday :)

Try and find some facts while you're gone ;)

But sincerely,
Enjoy the holiday

[Andy]

2.

Cheers, Johnson.

I am very much looking forward to the break!

ciao

[Brett]

3.

Have a good break Andy.

[Marksouth]

4.

Enjoy!

[Pip]

5.

Andy,

Enjoy your holiday certainly. You have done a great job in building profile but who is taking over during your absence?

This is a critical time with the carbon tax legislation coming up. You know TONY ABBOTT'S no pair rule?

I'm getting very concerned that although Abbott has been playing a deft hand in building Opposition to the Gillard Government however I'm afraid he will not be able to close the deal.

Greg Sheridan questioned Abbott's tactics on Off-SHORE PROCESSING by dealing out the Malaysian solution today. I agree with Abbott that he should not be drawn into their maelstrom of spin but what if he does not have the numbers to legislate this comprehensively after the election.

The problem as I see it, is that a plateau is developing in the opposition's crowd control. After all the Convoy of No Confidence haemoraged crowd numbers to the point where it ended up eroding some of the magnificent work that has been done in this gargantuan task.

My fear is that the AGW crowd are re-grouping etc and the deal has to be clinched NOW, before Durban. Although the Gillard Carbon tax is only a fig leaf at this stage, you know how progressives can build mountains out of symbolism. This is a metaphor of course, but progressives could power whole cities on their symbolism.

Now is the time for Abbott to win on his almost insurmountable task.

I am a great supporter of ABBOTT, THUS FAR, obviously I would have problems with him in some respects in power, who knows, but he is the best by far of any alternatives on offer.

Abbott is authentic and shows a good example.

[Andy Semple]

6.

Hello from the airport in Kuala Lumpur! Waiting for my flight to Phuket!! Hope life in Gillardland is still bearable!

[Pip]

7.

As ever I am not finding a thread for the story of the moment, so your Phuket thread is helpful, seeing as how it has a touch of the "Gilligan's Island" about it.

Andy, you are in a suitable environment to consider "Pip's Nauru solution".

Here's how it goes.

The Neo-cons and the Progressives have a whole topsy turvey scheme to take Late Capitalism back to Early Capitalism via developing the Under-developed parts of the World and crashing and burning the Develpoed World so they can re-make it again on Early Capitalism's principles ie you can renew Capitalism by starting again.

Okay that's it in a nutshell. So where does Nauru come in? Well Australia can take a leaf out of both the British and American Empire experience on Nauru. As Chris Bowen says it's going to be expensive. However, not so expensive if you run the place creatively and kill two birds with one stone.

First, you take all the refugees there gradually. You put them to work repairing the existing facilities, you pay them sustainable rates. You let some of them, free will and all that, set up shops, kitchens, stalls ie a market starts.

Next, you get the refugees to build state of the art docking facilities. The Greens keep on telling us there are lots of Engineers amongst the refugees. After that the refugees can build a hospital, schools and anything else a community may need. They can build a variety of house types, that can even be purchased by the workforce if they decide to stay etc.

Now the main game.

Nauru is pretty much half way between America, China and also close enough to Japan.
On Nauru Australia sets up a state of the art electric vehicle manufacturing base. More kitchens, restaurants, houses, appear, in other words the home market grows. The cars are shipped out across the Pacific to all 4 corners-China, Japan, America, South America, Australia/NZ.

The car can be called the Nauru hyperbole---or something like that.

Number one rule, no Western type unionism is allowed. Its pretty much like China but more "humanitarian" like what the progresssives want everywhere.

So everyone who sails into Australian waters goes there. A minimal wage Utopia, just what Al Gore wants. Some people will like this opportunity to work on this famous state of the art electric car. Some people will say this community is a lot better than doing mining work in the Pilbara.

Some people won't like it. They can fly home as soon as they can aford the flight home. There is already an air base on Nauru but it can be up-graded. Those that feel they made a mistake can pay their own way out of it.

There you are, its like the early days of America, that is extolled as the hay day.
No punitive arrangements, just a return to the grass roots of Capitalism.

Al Gore and crowd will love it. They will come and study it as a mini experiment of how they want the whole World to be.

The ALP will think they are back in the game of solving the World's problems, as long as they can resist the itch to unionize the refugee workforce.

No High Court, that comes somewhat later in the Capitalist cycle.

Definitely no UNHCR, this is the "new World", the "New Utopia". People are escaping to the Utopian dream, the unkown paradise of hard work and opportunity. The whole welfare state paraphanalia is out: Unionism, welfare, the UN is out.

[SignedIn]

8.

Pip .. you could always write an article and submit it for publication if you feel an issue needs to be addressed.

[Pip]

9.

Thanks signedIn,

but I'm pretty much persona non- gtata around here.

Always have been, always will be.

1) Why write an article and have it rejected.
2) I don't have the time at the moment to stick around and reply to any comments.
3) If I write anything remotely "out there" I have noticed that people cannot see the germ of possibility in a schematic. They just attack, attack, attack as if I were Geert Wilder or Rob Oakshott. Who needs that?

[Vikas Nayak]

10.

pretty sure they published CJ's article. Unless your article makes no sense...why would it be rejected?

[Pip]

11.

I have been looking into potentialities in Nauru and I'm sure they abound.

Did you know Nauru is one of the most broadband interconnected places on the planet?

The middle of the Island is almost mined out of superphosphate, yes, fertilizer. Why are they not cropping this super-abundant soil?

It is potentially an Island Paradise.

I think the idea of sending people there and releasing them into the community to work on joint Australian/Nauruan projects is a good one. After all if Gerry Hand had planned to turn Christmas Island into an off-shore casino, I think their sub-legal status could be put to some more productive use?

Put this into your search engine with Images and you will see that there is much more potential than just as a refugee processing centre:

The Pacific Island of Nauru

As I said before it can provide a role for niche Industries?

[Andy Semple]

12.

It wouldn't be rejected unless it's garbage or poorly written...

So submit,Pip.

[Pip]

13.

My post has just been swallowed, please return it.

Thahk you.

[Pip]

14.

My post, still not returned?

[pk]

15.

" Why are they not cropping this super-abundant soil?"

Cos they're too busy digging it up and selling it to Australia. You can't grown plants in pure fertiliser BTW.

[Pip]

16.

Regardless, Permaculture can make concrete slabs capable of supporting plantation.

This is an Austra;lian idea.

It is supposed to be a path way to sustainability and developed in Australia, even better.

Probably, erosion is a factor in losing top soil. I have only spent roughly half an hour researching Nauru, and I have no specialist qualifications in soil technology. However, if mountainous terrain can be cropped using terraces, I'm sure small compartments could be fashioned to support agriculture and prevent erosion.

PERMACULTURE

Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that is modeled on the relationships found in nature. It is based on the ecology of how things interrelate rather than on the strictly biological concerns that form the foundation of traditional agriculture. Permaculture aims to create stable, productive systems that provide for human needs; it's a system of design where each element supports and feeds other elements, ultimately aiming at systems that are virtually self-sustaining and into which humans fit as an integral part.

Permaculture as a systematic method was developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren during the 1970s. The word "permaculture" originally referred to "permanent agriculture", but was expanded to also stand for "permanent culture" as it was seen that social aspects were integral to a truly sustainable system. Mollison has described permaculture as "a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single project system."[1]

Permaculture draws from several other disciplines including organic farming, agroforestry,sustainable development, and applied ecology. "The primary agenda of the movement has been to assist people to become more self reliant through the design and development of productive and sustainable gardens and farms. The design principles which are the conceptual foundation of permaculture were derived from the science of systems ecology and study of pre-industrial examples of sustainable land use." [2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

[Pip]

17.

Further,

Nauru

Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, covering just 21 square kilometres (8.1 sq mi). Settled by Micronesian and Polynesian people, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops who were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific, and after the war ended, it entered into trusteeship again. Nauru was declared independent in 1968. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Nauru was a "rentier state". Nauru is a phosphate rock island, with deposits close to the surface, which allow for simple strip mining operations. This island was a major exporter of phosphate starting in 1907, when the Pacific Phosphate Company began mining there, through ... read more the formation of the British Phosphate Commission in 1919, and continuing after independence. This gave Nauru back full control of its minerals under the Nauru Phosphate Corporation, until the deposits ran out during the 1980s. For this reason, Nauru briefly boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s. When the phosphate reserves were exhausted, and the environment had been seriously harmed by mining, the trust established to manage the island's wealth became greatly reduced in value. To earn income, the government resorted to unusual measures. In the 1990s, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and illegal money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian government in exchange for housing a Nauru detention centre that held and processed those who had tried to enter Australia in an irregular manner. From December 2005 to September 2006, Nauru became partially isolated from the outside world when Air Nauru, the only airline with service to the island, ceased to operate. The only outside access to Nauru was then by ocean-going ships. The airline was able to restart operations under the name Our Airline with monetary aid from Taiwan. The island has one airport; Nauru International Airport.

http://www.reegle.info/countries/NR

[Pip]

18.

Nauru as a location has a lot going for it, as an example of a small sustainable utopia built on early capitalist principles ie like America before it was brought under the control of Central banking.

>>>Power and water

Nauru relies entirely on diesel-powered generators and desalination plants to produce electricity and clean drinking water for the community. With Australian assistance, Nauru now has a more reliable electricity supply system capable of 24 hour per day production. Drinking water production has increased from 30 to 80 per cent of Nauru's requirements. A new cost-recovery program using pre-paid metering has been introduced, bringing modest revenue back into the Government's accounts and helping manage excessive electricity demand. This has resulted in reduced diesel import costs for government

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/country/country.cfm?CountryId=21

It is ideal to test solar power, windmills etc as it has back up Generators. It is proposed as a suitable location for Ocean Thermal Energy Conservation, OTEC.
It has a renewed Airport, built with the help of Taiwan.

It can grow its own food with the implementation of a Permaculture system. It can develop viticulture. It can breed its own livestock etc etc.

>>>Building a skilled workforce
Australian aid is helping build skills through technical and vocational training. For example, almost 200 people learned basic construction skills and gained valuable experience through participation in the reconstruction of the Nauru Secondary School complex.
http://www.ausaid.gov.au/country/country.cfm?CountryId=21

Thus Nauru could be built into an Island paradise once more with the help of Australia and immigration, largely based on Asylum seeker intake.

Of course a lot of the Australian population that would normally head for Tasmania may come here instead?

[Pip]

19.

I just wasted my time copying a whole lot of photo's of Nauru. Unfortunately as I got to the last one they all disappeared!

Carl N. McDaniel.

Please check it out for yourself.

http://homepages.rpi.edu/~mcdanc/nauruPics.html

Tomano tree (Callophyllum inophyllum) ecosystem, the predominate ecosystem on Topside before mining.
There is vegetation remaining around Buada Lagoon, which used to be the water supply. This remnant vegetation could be used ti revegitate the Island with help from boat people to Australia's shores plus Australian volunteers. No doubt all those people who are so concerned about the fate of these people who struggle to our shores would love to go to Nauru and help show them the ropes.

http://homepages.rpi.edu/~mcdanc/nauruPics.html

[Pip]

20.

INTERESTINGLY,

On Nauru they are currently trying to revive their aquaculture.

They have in most recent times been importing their fish from Taiwan and Kiribati.

I think this is a fabulous project to help the Nauruans revive their economy and culture since the decline of their phosphate exports to Australia.

This is a project most notably for the Greens and the ALP. So let's forget all this talk of Asylum centres, now Nauru can become Multi-cultural, like everywhere else.

[Pip]

21.

I appear to be a little out of date with the state of Phosphate mining on Nauru. Since 2007, Incitec Pivot has bought rights to a certain number of shipments of secondary phosphate mining which is even purer than the original open cut mines that were affected with cadmium. Also Incitec Pivot is performing concommitent rehabilitation of landscape that has been rendered useless for other activities by the initial phosphate mining.

I have not been able to find out what they are doing exactly but as there are relatively frequent ship voyages to and from Nauru, Australia could facilitate this enterprise by returning bio-char, top soil etc in the ships on their return from Australia.

There is another company, depicted as a shark, hanging around and luring the Nauruans into corruption. The company is called Gemtex and is based in Asia it would appear.

I think the case for Australia to engage more closely with Nauru is paramount as we are apparently the biggest AID donor.

If refugees go there can't they be issued with TPV's as they are in Australia? I think allowing refugees to work on Nauru is a productive use of their time, less inclining them to self harm etc. It could provide them with good training and is likely to discourage those who are merely economic migrants or self selecters.

So I think Nauru could provide a deterrent to those who need deterring but provide gainful employment to genuine refugees.