Greg Combet: Climate Clark Kent

My latest Th!nk4: Climate Change post

(Photo: Wikimedia)

Greg Combet, Australia's new Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, might look like Clark Kent but politically he is a Superman. As Secretary of the ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions) before entering Federal parliament, he won some seemingly unwinnable battles.

Combet and the Gillard government have received welcome support from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) for placing a price on carbon:

THE government's push for a price on carbon has received a boost from the OECD.

Its economic survey of Australia says the setting of a price "sooner rather than later" is the "best option for cutting CO2 emissions".
Price on carbon 'is best option'

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Schools Building Program Value for Money

So sad to see Christopher Pyne getting upset. It's a big advance on his bullying but fictional rhetoric about the Federal government's Schools Building Program:

THE man overseeing the investigation into the $16 billion federal schools building program has challenged Coalition criticisms, claiming there is no evidence that value for money has not been achieved.

In evidence to a sometimes-heated Senate hearing yesterday, retired banker Brad Orgill said some state governments had achieved better value-for-money results than some private school systems.
'Excellent' results for schools program

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Greens Plot Pragmatic Political Path

My latest post for Th!nk4: Climate Change:

As my early post Australia Revisits Carbon Tax indicated, green politics have become the flavour of the year in Australia. With a State election in Victoria due on 27 November, environmental politics have taken on an engrossing importance.

Swings away from the ruling Australian Labor Party are now the order of the day. Tasmania has a minority Labor government backed by the Greens who have two Cabinet ministers. (I’m tickled by the fact that the Greens leader Nick McKim is Attorney General, making him the Minister for prisons amongst other things).

Opinion polls in Victoria show a large swing with the Greens on 16-19% this week. They received 10% at the election 4 years ago. This time they may win Assembly seats and hold the balance of power. Just as interesting is their current politicking:

Federal Greens leader Bob Brown has left open the possibility of his party entering into a power-sharing alliance with the Victorian Coalition if the election produces a hung parliament.

He said in Melbourne yesterday that the Greens had every right to negotiate with either side of politics if it meant getting a better deal for their supporters.
Greens put heat on ALP

Long gone are the days when The Greens were seen as idealistic purists.

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