British Citizens may lose the right to vote
24 June 2009
THOUSANDS of British subjects should be stripped of their vote in Australian elections unless they take out citizenship, according to the chairman of a parliamentary committee that has reviewed the nation’s electoral system.
Expressing his own personal views, Labor MP Daryl Melham said arrangements that allowed more than 100,000 British subjects to vote in Australian elections were unfair on other non-citizens who were not granted the same rights.
Current electoral law requires British subjects — including citizens of 48 Commonwealth and former Commonwealth countries — who were on the Commonwealth electoral roll before 1984 to vote at federal elections. They are the only non-citizens allowed to enrol and vote.
The Australian Electoral Commission says that almost 163,000 voters have a “British subject” notation on the electoral roll. There are eight electorates with more than 2500 British subject notations on the electoral roll, and a further 62 with more than 1000 British subject notations. Of these 70 seats, six had final margins of less than 1000 votes at the 2007 election. “It is clear that the continued enfranchisement of British subjects has the potential to affect election outcomes,” Mr Melham said.
Mr Melham made the comments as part of a joint standing committee on electoral matters report on the 2007 federal election. The committee’s Labor majority recommended several changes to the electoral system, including the reinstatement of the rule allowing people seven days after the issue of writs for an election to enrol to vote. This undoes a 2006 Howard government amendment, which brought forward the deadline for enrolment to 8pm on the day the writs for the election are issued, which could be the same day as the election was called. Despite a $24 million advertising campaign before the 2007 election, more than 100,000 people missed the close of rolls.
The committee also recommended repealing a Howard government change requiring people casting a provisional vote provide proof of identity. About 27,000 provisional votes were rejected for this reason in 2007. In cases where a voter expresses a clear preference, but fails to correctly number all boxes, the committee proposed the vote be counted up until the point that the mistake is made. If such ballots had been admitted in the 2007 election, more than 90,000 additional votes would have been counted.
But there would be a penalty to deter people from advocating anything other than a complete ballot. In other proposals, the committee suggested schools be paid a bounty for enrolling their students to vote, that people be allowed to update their enrolment details electronically, and for information from government agencies be used to update a person’s enrolment with their consent.
But Coalition members said the proposals rewarded voter complacency and threatened the integrity of the electoral system. They said offering educational institutions financial inducements was a “corruption” of the democratic process. Greens Senator Bob Brown proposed an offence be created of publishing or authorising inaccurate or misleading material.
KEY POINTS
?Labor MP says British voters should take out citizenship.
?Committee recommends undoing Howard voting rules.
?Coalition says changes threaten electoral integrity.
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Great Ocean (E)rodes
11 June 2009
A large section of the iconic rock formation the Island Archway, on Victoria’s west coast, has succumbed to the elements and crumbled into the sea.
Parks Victoria believes the fall occurred sometime between 4pm on Tuesday and 9am yesterday.
As its name suggests, the impressive rock formation on the Great Ocean Road resembled an archway rising 25 metres from the sea.
All that remains following the collapse are the two rocks that previously supported the arch.
“We got a report on Wednesday morning from one of our helicopter pilots here that it had actually collapsed, there was a lot of dirt in the water and the arch has collapsed and now we’ve got two islands,” Port Campbell National Park acting ranger Natasha Johnson said today.
Ms Johnson said she had mixed feelings about nature’s makeover of the coastline landmark.
“It is pretty sad, but at the same time I find it pretty exciting as well. It’s a really good example of nature at work,” she said.
“This coastline is always evolving … and getting reshaped.”
And what about a name change for the monument which no longer resembles an archway?
“Island Archway will more than likely remain its name, but what we’ll probably do is provide some additional interpretation to show what it used to look like,” she said.
The last significant collapse on the southern coastline was in July 2005, when one of the large stacks that made up the Twelve Apostles collapsed.
“There was significant visitor interest when one of the Twelve Apostles fell down. We expect this event may do the same,” Ms Johnson said.
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Emigrating to Melbourne? We offer airport pickups / meet and greet services, furnished rental accommodation, suburb tours and settlement assistance.Sean Walsh Missing in Sydney – Have you seen him??
14 May 2009Friends and family of an Irishman who went missing in the Randwick area over the weekend have turned to social networking sites such as Twitter in a bid to locate him.
Sean Walsh, a traveller from Dungarvan in County Waterford arrived in Sydney last November on a year-long world trip, and was last seen at his home address in Howard Street, Randwick on Sunday, and friends are hoping someone may have seen him in a pub or a party over the weekend.
Family friend Gill Mahony has posted a missing person notice on Lonely Planet website’s Thorn Tree travel forum in the hope that fellow backpackers may have seen the missing 26-year-old.
“Sean is my friend Brid Walsh’s brother and he went missing in the Randwick area of Sydney last weekend,” Ms Mahony’s post says.
“They have had no contact with him since before the weekend and they are now extremely anxious as it is totally out of character for him. He is 26-years-old and is extremely good natured and a fun loving person.
“Brid and her sister Mairead are currently in Sydney searching but they are only two people and any information would be greatly appreciated.
“We all know someone over there and you would never know who could have seen him in Sydney over the weekend.”
Another friend has posted a missing persons notice for Mr Walsh on Twitter and others have suggested setting up a page on social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Bebo to keep friends and family up to date on developments in the search.
A special website has been set up by family and friends to aid the search and Irish media have picked up the story.
Police have also joined the search for Mr Walsh with the assistance of the police air wing Polair, which has conducted a search of the area surrounding Randwick without success.
“We have escalated our response based on the concerns of the family,” Det Insp Paul Pisanos said.
“We are not treating it as a suspicious death, but as a high risk missing person. It is definitely out of character.”
Mr Walsh is described as being of white/European appearance, 175cm tall with a thin build, shaved brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. He was last seen wearing khaki boardshorts, khaki hooded jumper and thongs.
If you have seen Mr Walsh since Sunday morning, please contact Brian Flanagan on +353879509895 or Maroubra Police on 9349 9299.
For more details of Mr Walsh, visit http://www.seanwalshmissing.com/.
Emigrating to Melbourne? We offer airport pickups / meet and greet services, furnished rental accommodation, suburb tours and settlement assistance.More funding for new schools in Berwick
14 May 2009
Following the state budget last week, further funding was announced for 2 school projects in Berwick.
$4.2 million was allocated in the budget to fund the Timbarra Secondary 7-9 School.
Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan said the master plan for the area had been completed and that the funding was the final stage towards the construction of the school on the existing Timbarra Primary School site.
The new campus will also include two new learning spaces, an upgrade of the existing administration area of the existing primary school, the construction of a new library and resource centre, the construction of two new purpose designed flexible learning spaces and a multi disciplinary creative and IT studio.
“This education precinct will be complemented with a three court indoor basketball stadium funded through Federal and State grants so all in all, this will be a fantastic hub for the Timbarra community,” Mr Donnellan said.
A further $4 million was also allocated for the second phase of construction works at the Berwick Select Entry School.
Narre Warren South MP Judith Graley said she was thrilled at the funding news.
The Berwick Select Entry School, which will have its first student intake in 2010, will be located at the Berwick campus of Monash University.
The school will not only cater to highly able students but will also provide a locally based option for select entry public education and complement the existing select entry schools of MacRobertson Girls’ High School and Melbourne High School.
“The partnership between the school and the university will allow Berwick Select Entry School students to work on joint research projects, attend special classes and lectures, and share the facilities of the tertiary institution,” Ms Graley said.
“This school will provide a tremendous opportunity for students to develop their learning potential and undertake an exciting and stimulating range of studies.”
The initial enrolment of the school is expected to be around 200 students who will commence at Year 9 level. By 2013, the school will cater for Years 9 to 12 students as those in the initial enrolment complete high school.
Ms Graley said new works at Berwick TAFE as part of a $38.7 million program were also included in the budget.
Courtenay Gardens Primary School, Hallam Valley Primary School and Kilberry Valley Primary School will receive $3 million each for new halls, gyms and multipurpose buildings as part of a State and Federal Government partnership.
“This funding boost for schools in our community will ensure that children in Narre Warren South are given the best start in life,” Ms Graley said. “These projects not only improve facilities and services – they also create jobs.”
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