Norwegian Statoil wants to drill for oil Great Australian Bight (video)

Despite both BP and Chevron pulling out of plans to drill for oil in the pristine Great Australian Bight, Norwegian company Statoil is now planning on doing just that. 

Sign the Greenpeace petition against it here. 

The beautiful Bight is home to dozens of seaside communities, majestic southern right whales, sea lions and hundreds of kilometres of towering cliffs. But all of that is at risk.


Statoil is a company willing to take risks where no other company will. They are currently pursuing dangerous drilling further north than ever before in the fragile Arctic. And their safety record is getting worse: the number of spills and incidents at Statoil wells has increased catastrophically in the last year.


 It’s up to us to keep the Bight - and the communities and incredible ocean ecosystems that depend on it - safe from Big Oil. Are you with us? Join the movement to keep Big Oil out of the Bight for good. sign here  

 

Vietnam veteran says yes to marriage equality (video)

Over the weekend there was a western Sydney marriage equality rally. Significant as western Sydney has been in the past not exactly the friendliest place for gay people. 

Here a Vietnam vet tells of his journey from being homophobic to accepting his gay son and wanting marriage equality for him. It's very moving and very well spoken.

 

John Oliver takes the piss out of the marriage survey (video)

So the recommended deadline to get the postal survey in the mail has passed and there's only a few days to go before the cut off date of Nov 7th. If posted survey's aren't received by then they won't be counted.

Needless to say LGBT's are glad to see the end of it. It's been a tough month or so for us having to deal with extremist fringe dwellers "having their say" online. The hatred and venom that this survey has stirred up won't be forgotten, as with who's fault it was. The anger we feel to the Liberal/National gov won't be fading anytime soon for putting us through this bullshit. Simply to solve problems within their own gov.

But on a lighter note, John Oliver's take on the postal survey :)

 

Kevin Spacey conflates paedophilia with being gay (video)

The story isn't "Kevin Spacey accused of paedophilia", but the lead is that he comes out as gay, with a following bit about him being accused of trying to seduce a child actor. Obviously he's hoping that finally coming out as gay will deflect attention away from the accusation that he tried to seduce 14 year old child actor Anthony Rapp. Rapp's latest venture BTW is in the new Star Trek Discovery series.

Paedophilia (allegedly) is bad enough, but to insinuate that it was because he's gay is an outrage to the entire gay community. Particularly in Australia where the LGBT had had to endure a month of "respectful" debate about our lives in which many times online we've been accused of being sick paedophiles. To have someone do what Spacey has done only gives those accusers more ammunition to spread lies about us.

Every time I have to face down the barrage of untruths from the 'no' side this is pretty much how I feel... #NeverGiveUp 💪🏻❤️🙏🏻🌈😊 pic.twitter.com/4LgqpFdyPZ

— Magda Szubanski (@MagdaSzubanski) October 30, 2017

Spacey, in smearing LGBT like he has, has done his popularity and stardom no favours. As he's now announced being a member of our community, he may do well to avoid us for a time after what he's just done to us.

In a series of tweets, Vanity Fair writer Richard Lawson said Spacey linking his coming out to the accusations of misconduct on an underage boy was “disgusting”. 


“Coming out as a gay man is not the same thing as coming out as someone who preyed on a 14-year-old. Conflating those things is disgusting,” Lawson wrote. 


“This exposes the gay community to a million tired old criticisms and conspiracies. 


“The distance we’ve had to walk to get away from the notion that we’re all paedophiles is significant. 


“For a famous person to deflect these accusations with a long-in-the-making coming out is so cruel to his supposed new community it stings.” 


 In an earlier tweet, Lawson acknowledged the struggle Spacey must have suffered through as he grappled with his sexuality while being a Hollywood star — but said it was no excuse for such behaviour. News.com.au  

To link paedophilia with being gay is vile. What a disgusting person you are https://t.co/q1PdbZhieH

— Peter Hiv (@HivPeter) October 30, 2017

PRO TIP: Save up your coming out for the day you are accused of underage sexual assault. #KevinSpacey

— Kyran 🌈 (@kyranwheatley) October 30, 2017

Adani to get free groundwater for 60yrs - QLD farmers protest (video)

The insanity of the Adani coal mine continues.

Queensland farmers have launched an add campaign against Adani being given a licence to use groundwater for free for 60 years. Yes you read that right. A foreign company is being given free water for 60 years.

The add is below. You can contribute to get it on air here. 

You can sign the petition here. 95,000 signatures so far.

 

Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce has been booted from parliament! - Hooray! (video)

Well what do you know. I turn on the PC this afternoon to this screaming headline on my home page. Gov in Turmoil. What a satisfying feeling seeing that.

Australia's deputy Prime minister (and leader of the National party) has been booted from parliament by the High Court over his being a dual citizen of New Zealand as well as Australia, meaning he was ineligible to even stand for parliament. What's more, deputy leader of the National party Fiona Nash has also been booted for dual citizenship.

The icing on the cake was Malcolm Roberts being booted as well. Elected to the senate for One Nation in the last federal election by only 77 primary votes, he was the maniac climate denier.

Please enjoy the history of Malcolm Roberts claiming he wasn't British. https://t.co/zk0G0KNqrr

— Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) October 27, 2017

Now Barnaby has to go to a by election and try and win the seat again. Unfortunately it's come to light he's been playing around on his wife (allegedly). Mr family values against gay marriage as it threatens the sanctity of his?

Sorry @Barnaby_Joyce. It must suck to be forced into an unusual vote about your legitimacy. #Citizenship7 #auspol #VoteYes @TonyHWindsor

— James Beach (@jamesakbeach) October 27, 2017

Is this not a picture of one of the most incompetent, arrogant, mendacious clusterfck govs that Aus has ever had? Beyond words #auspol pic.twitter.com/6WDuDVib6n

— Kailani Mana (@mana_kailani) October 27, 2017

It just gets better and better :)

Forner PM Kevin Rudd blames Abbott/Turnbull gov for NBN woes (video)

Incredibly Turnbull has tried to blame Labor for his disastrous National Broadband Network. Rudd addresses this in the interview claiming that Turnbull changed the whole model when he ditched fibre to the premises.

He also points out that Murdoch didn't want fibre to the premises as streaming services would be in direct competition to Foxtel. The fibre to the node model was the one Murdoch wanted.

 

 

Gov No campaigners to fight to defeat parliament passing of marriage equality

Yes folks, you read that right. Those in the gov against marriage equality won't be heeding the results of the postal survey at all, if as expected the survey delivers an overwhelming Yes vote. After fighting tooth and nail to have the survey, they will oppose the results.

Mr Turnbull now faces the task of clearing sufficient parliamentary time in the last sitting fortnight of the year, to design, debate, and pass a private member's bill - given his oft-made prediction that the parliament would reflect the survey outcome. 

But "no" campaigners within the Coalition party room see the parliamentary debate as their last best hope of either defeating the same-sex marriage push, or limiting its reach if it does become law. Sydney Morning Herald

So why did they put us through all of this then? Either they were completely delusional and thinking that most Australians would vote no, or it's been nothing more that a sadistic exercise in hatred against LGBT people.

Watch next as the lunar right of the gov tries to turn marriage equality in to marriage apartheid, wanting exemptions for business owners who refuse to serve gay people.
Why should someone in a comercial business be able to refuse anyone service because of their sexuality?

The survey is now at around 75% return rate, a huge participation rate for something that wasn't compulsory, as voting normally is in Australia. Polling suggest 6 to 4 in favour.

Former NSW premier accuses Turnbull gov of "Tin pot dictators" - cops raid AWU (video)

You can donate here

Caught up in all of this is the GetUp organisation. The Turnbull gov really hates GetUp, although it's not politically affiliated with any political party and maintains it's independence,  it's stance is progressive and therefore deeply opposed to the gov on many many issues. It often crowd funds campaigns  in an effort to shed light and clarity on issues the gov doesn't like it doing. It's free to join BTW if you want to become a member. It has a membership currently over 1 million.

So the Turnbull gov wants to silence GetUp, and us. They are now trying to prove that GetUp is actually affiliated with the Labor and Green parties (they're not and vehemently deny this). In doing so the gov has had the federal police raid the Australian Workers Union offices to investigate a donation made by the union to GetUp 12 years ago. This from the GetUp email this morning:

*click to enlarge

What the gov thinks it can gain by a witch hunt against GetUp is beyond me. Especially in the age of social media and GetUp's expertise at mobilising a large number of people on a particular issue. It's obviously a threat to our democracy with the union movement and GetUp roundly condemning it as such.

Not to be outdone, former premier of New South Wales Kristina Keneally has called the Turnbull gov a "tinpot dictatorship" over it.

.@KKeneally: the govt's behaviour is 'tinpot dictatorship-like' when it comes to the @AWUnion raids. #auspol MORE: https://t.co/WL5pMlgwuD pic.twitter.com/jSpjeBZrqN

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) October 25, 2017

A staffer in Cash's office has resigned after @workmanalice revealed her office had tipped off media about the raid. https://t.co/gLTRLGjb81

— Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) October 25, 2017

.@Bowenchris: There are very serious questions to answer about how the media found out about the AWU raids. MORE: https://t.co/WL5pMlgwuD pic.twitter.com/HaH2CvrP7g

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) October 24, 2017

City of Sydney offers free weddings to gay couples 1st 100 days

City of Sydney has offered free use of halls etc for gay weddings for the first 100 days of marriage equality becoming law.

I didn't even know they charged for parks being used. My late wife and I were married in Centennial Park in Randwick at the Rose Gardens and it cost absolutely nothing.

"The gay and lesbian community have been discriminated against for a long time. "


Allowing them access to fee waivers is a practical way the City of Sydney can support people to be able to get married." 


Lord Mayor Clover Moore, whose support pushed the motion through, agreed. 


 "A celebratory gesture for a hundred days for a group that has been so sidelined and discriminated against for so long," she said. 


 The Lord Mayor said the council had been approached by the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to have a mass wedding at the Town Hall if same-sex marriage were legalised following a majority Yes vote in the postal survey. ABC  

Magda Szubanski‏ fired up in Q&A marriage equality debate (video)

Magda was on the Q&A ABC show last night in the special marriage equality debate episode. It would be very hard I imagine to stay calm and collected whilst straight people around you debate your very worth as a human being, but she did the LGBT community proud.

How can contemporary Catholics view dogma in any other way? @FrFrankBrennan @AbpDavies & @MagdaSzubanski respond #QandA pic.twitter.com/0X2bJYj0Pd

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) October 23, 2017

 

Sydney's marriage equality rally for Yes (video)

Pic from Sally - GetUp

As part of nationwide rallies for a Yes vote on marriage equality, Sydney also had one. In one of the interviews below (2nd video) it was stated that we'd won the argument but had to ensure the votes reflected that. There's still about 4 million ballots not returned, but so far it looks like the response will be at around 70% participation. 

 

Discrimination harms children, not same sex parenting - study

With only days to go of the postal survey, a welcome study has dismissed the lies of the No campaign that children with same sex parents do worse than children with hetro parents. The peer reviewed study has found that rainbow children do just as well as their counterparts. No surprises there, people have known that for years.

Done by a group called Melbourne Children's, it includes a number of well respected bodies: the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the Royal Children’s hospital, the University of Melbourne, department of paediatrics and the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation. 

The main concern for those in charge of the study was to address the misinformation in the current postal survey debate, and that it's discrimination of those within rainbow LGBT families and it's communities that does the real harm to children of same sex couples.

Ironic that in recent times I've read from the No camp where they point to mental illness among LGBT young people as proof that they do worse, when it's actually the No camp's own discriminatory behaviour that is doing the harm. Talk about victim blaming! *Sheesh* 

However, the study did find that young people who expressed diversity in their sexual orientation or gender identity experienced some of the highest rates of psychological distress in Australia, said the study’s senior author, Prof Frank Oberklaid. 


“Young LGBTIQ+ people are much more likely to experience poor mental health, self-harm and suicide than other young people, “ he said. 


 “Sadly, this is largely attributed to the harassment, stigma and discrimination they and other LGBTIQ+ individuals and communities face in our society,” Oberklaid said. 


 He warned that the debate itself had been harmful. 


“The negative and discriminatory rhetoric of the current marriage equality debate is damaging the most vulnerable members of our community – children and adolescents. It’s essential that we recognise the potential for the debate about marriage equality to cause harm for our children and young people,” Oberklaid said. 


He said there was solid evidence in countries that had legalised same-sex marriage that it had a positive impact on the mental health and wellbeing of same-sex-parented families and LGBTIQ+ young people. 


“As part of the medical community we feel a duty of care to all groups in our society, particularly to those who are vulnerable. Our duty extends to making sure that accurate, objective interpretations of the best available evidence are available and inaccuracies are corrected in an effort to reduce the destructiveness of public debate,” Oberklaid said. 


He called for an end to the negative messages that could harm children in the final weeks of the voting period. The Guardian  

Thanks again Turnbull. 

Star Trek fans upset at new gay couple, addressed by Wilson Cruz

Evidently some Star Trek fans are annoyed that there's a gay couple on the new Star Trek Discovery series. Wilson Cruz, one of the couple, has addressed those fans in a Facebook post.

 

Bernardi thinks ppl are saying Yes to pollsters when they voted No :s

A No voter scared of political correctness

With strong pointers to a big win for the Yes campaign for marriage equality in Australia, Cory Bernardi isn't giving up. He's dismissing the polling being done showing a 59%/38% Yes win, saying that people are too scared to say to pollsters they voted no.

This of course goes to the persecuted No voter thing where the delicate flowers are claimed to be so scared of a few gays getting married that they can't even utter the word No in private to  pollster. Apparently the machine of the big evil LGBT political movement has got the haters spooked and cowering in corners, unable to express how they really feel for fear of being called names. Like homophobe or bigot. The poor dears can't stand being called that, just because they don't want gays to get married...

Of course anyone that's been online much at all through all of this postal survey process would know Bernardi's claim to be laughable. In fact it's quite the opposite. The haters have been emboldened to really "have their say", particularly from the privacy of their own keyboards. People in public feel it's their right to openly show their anti-gay feelings, as with the school kid saying he was assaulted on a train by an adult male No voter. Or the nephew of Kevin Rudd who was clobbered at a bus stop by a man ripping down equality signs. Hardly cowering and scared.

Cory Bernardi does not accept there will be an overwhelming “yes” vote in the same-sex marriage postal survey, with more than 70% of forms returned. 


The Australian Conservatives leader said he believed people were pressured by political correctness and were saying they voted “yes”, even if they had voted “no”. 


“I’m not even conceding defeat quite frankly,” Bernardi told Sky News on Sunday. “I think there are a great many people who are deeply concerned about the potential consequences of changing the marriage act.” The Guardian  

Lyle Shelton won't accept a Yes vote result - polling shows Yes in front

I guess in some ways you could call it a form of exit polling, asking those who'd voted in the postal survey which way they voted. The results are 59% Yes and 38% No. Pretty well where to polling was at at the beginning of the postal survey. In other words the pathetic No campaign has had zero effect in changing people's minds about marriage equality. It's not over yet so people still need to make sure they get their Yes votes in the mail, but this is certainly looking encouraging.

Shelton has been highly critical of Labor and the Greens for sticking with their party policies of marriage equality no matter what the results of the survey show. Labor still being committed to introducing marriage equality legislation into the parliament within the first 100 days of  gaining office. This surely must be a reflection of just how insecure and unscientific this postal survey actually is.

So it's ironic now that Shelton says he won't accept a Yes vote and will continue to fight on against it. Gobsmackingly hypocritical. Perhaps he's almost conceding defeat already?

And in a warning shot to the Turnbull government as the campaign nears its end, Mr Shelton added that anyone “who thinks that these fights are over if the ‘Yes’ side wins are kidding themselves”. 


“The government has bought themselves a lot more pain,” he said in an interview with The New Daily. 


 It comes as a Newspoll on Wednesday showed 59 per cent of those who have mailed their ballots have voted ‘Yes’, compared with 38 per cent for ‘No’, and after the ABS confirmed 67.5 per cent of Australians had already voted. The New Daily

The article goes on describing Shelton's views on the postal survey, revealing (as if we already didn't know) that he's completely lacking in empathy and barely looks at us as people but as a political LGBT movement. 

One hopes that after this is all over Shelton and his extremist views will be deemed irrelevant and his ACL relegated to oblivion.  A change of gov to Labor would be good too, as it's the extremists in the present gov that are so enamored to Shelton's views. Shelton won't have his mate Barnaby Joyce to run crying to anymore (he was a political advisor to Joyce at one point).  

Magda Szubanski reminds to post Yes vote

In an email from The Equality Team, Magda Szubanski reminds us to get our Yes votes in the mail. She also points out just what marriage equality means for Australia.

From the email:

I also wanted to make sure I took the time to remind you what we’re working for. This is about the kind of country we want to live in. It’s about making sure all Australians are treated equally before the law — and that’s not just an abstract issue. 


It has real effects. Like my friend who was denied the right to comfort the woman she loved most while she was going through cancer treatment. There is no world where that’s fair, and we can fix it so simply. 


My family always taught me you should do everything you can to make the world as fair a place as you can. And that’s what YES supporters have been doing in our campaign for marriage equality.

And this from the Australian Conservation Foundation:

Martin Luther King once said: 


"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." 


That's why we're speaking out today. That's why we think two people in a loving and committed relationship should be allowed to get married.  

Ombudsman says 160% increase in NBN complaints "unusual" (video)

An NBN customer's speed test

My speed test just now on ADSL2+

I'm no rocket scientist when it comes to the internet, but even blind Freddy could've seen years ago the national disaster that is now unfolding before our eyes; ie Turnbull's "multi-technology" National Broadband Network. 

What the previous Labor gov was building was fibre to the premises with the capacity at the time suggested at 1Gbps. Turnbull's fibre to the node and copper from there to the home was always going to be a lemon. Now even the technologically ignorant are finding out that the Turnbull promise of a modern Australian internet is indeed that lemon.

The NBN is already planning on upgrades after the rollout is complete. The network is that obsolete already. What Abbott and Turnbull have done is a crime which will cost billions over years to fix.

 

 

Don't leave the Yes vote to chance - Latest marriage equality add (video)

This was really well done. Folks, there's only 7 days left to get your Yes vote in the snail mail. Don't be apathetic and think your vote won't matter. That's how Brexit and Trump won. Indeed many people at protests against Trump recently after he was elected admitted they hadn't even voted. Don't leave it up to chance.

 

Trans school kid reports being assaulted on train by No voter

No campaign actively advocating homophobia

I would again like to thank Turnbull for this.

A trans youth still in school and who'd never before suffered violence because of who they are, says they were assaulted by a man on a train. They were wearing their school sports shirt at the time, making it obvious that they were a child.

Given the new lows reached in memes some of the No campaign is putting out there it doesn't surprise me. The above graphic is a good example. It openly advocates that it's OK to be a homophobe. Respectful debate? *pfffft*

“My older daughter called me and said Seb had rung, very upset, and needed to be picked up from the railway station,” she said. 


 “When I got there he was in tears.” 


She said Camberwell train station staff were “absolutely lovely” and police very supportive when Sebastian reported the incident. 


The alleged assault is the only violence Sebastian has experienced as a young trans person, with Anna describing his school as “great and so supportive” and their inner-east neighbourhood as “safe and boring”. 


Anna blames the campaign against marriage equality for recent violence against LGBTI people, especially young trans people. 


 “The no campaign has been played out over the bodies of trans children,” she said. 


“They’ve chosen a particular vulnerable population and targeted it.” 


Anna said she was particularly upset that a grown man had attacked a child, while other commuters didn’t intervene. 


“He’s someone who’s very obviously a school kid,” she said. 


“He had his school sports shirt on. There’s no way this person did not know that this was a child.” Star Observer  

pic.twitter.com/6gbgvS2dB1

— 🚹 + 🚺 = ❤️ (@NO_SSM_) October 20, 2017

Labour wins gov in New Zealand election :)

Jacinta Ardern (centre) is New Zealand's next prime minister

The winds of change are blowing down under folks. In a major shift to the left the NZ Labour party has won gov in a coalition with the NZ First party. Winston Peters of the NZ First party who was left with the decision of who to back to form gov gave the following reasons why he backed Labour:

New Zealand kingmaker Winston Peters has decided the country's next prime minister will be Labour's Jacinda Ardern. 


After more than three weeks of waiting, the New Zealand First leader announced his decision on Thursday. 


Mr Winston said what swayed his decision was hearing from voters that the current leadership was "simply out of touch" with New Zealanders. 


 "We believe that capitalism must regain its human face. That perception has deeply influenced New Zealand First's negotiations," the New Zealand First leader said. 


"We had a choice to make with either National or Labour for a modified status quo or for change. 


"In our negotiations, both National and Labour were presented with that opportunity, working together, corroborating together for New Zealand. 


 "That's why in the end we chose a coalition government of New Zealand First and New Zealand Labour Party." SBS

I really liked the bit about capitalism needing to have a "human face" and that the conservative National party was just out of touch with people. I would estimate this result will be very worrying for the Abbott/Turnbull gov here in Australia.
 

Only 5% more renewables by 2030 under Turnbull's new energy plan (video)

The Abbott gov celebrates repealing the Gillard gov carbon tax

The capitulation to the fossil fuel industry that is the gov's new energy policy has no hope of reaching the Paris accord targets and no hope of anything like a fast transition to renewable energy. Projections in fact show that the amount of renewables bought in by 2030 will be only 5%; a pathetic number from a pathetic gov full of climate denier skeptics who still think coal is a good thing.

Here Adam Bant of the Greens rips in to the Turnbull energy policy. 

 

Famous British neo-Nazi comes out as gay & renownces Nazi's (video)

Ironic that the one's he hated so much he was one of. Virulently anti-gay for decades, Kevin Wilshaw (organiser for the National Front in the '80's) has come out as gay in an interview and renounced all that he's stood for over most of his life.

It was enlightening to hear him talk about Nazi's in the way they depersonalised people and looked at them as a group rather than people with personal lives and stories. In fact his own mother was part Jewish, but he still remained a neo-Nazi with the view that it was a big Jewish conspiracy happening and not bringing it down to a personal level.

Sound familiar Lyle Shelton? As in this debate with Australian marriage equality, the No side views the LGBT as a movement with an agenda. They don't view us as personal people with personal lives, who's only wish is to live our lives as equals in a society that has so long shunned us. Marriage equality is about David and I marrying, nothing else.

 

Another openly gay Nazi mentioned in the interview

 

Australian's see double as Turnbull ditches the Clean Energy Target (video)

Do not adjust your glasses. The image above is real. Malcolm Turnbull has once again caved to Tony Abbott and his coal cohorts and ditched Australia's Clean Energy Target (CET) in the gov's new energy policy. Credit to the Australian Youth Climate Coalition for the graphic above which came in an email about Adani.

The gov has made it worse for renewables in Australia now if they had of done nothing at all, as the new energy policy makes it mandatory to get a certain amount of electricity out of burning coal (so much for the free market).

The decision is completely at odds with Australians and will do nothing to help the gov's abysmal poll performance. Now 8 points behind Labor and behind 21 Newspolls in a row. 

Not only that, but it will make it impossible for Australia to meet it's climate change commitments to the Paris agreement. As Greens Di Natale said, you can't change the laws of physics.

.@RichardDiNatale: @TurnbullMalcolm has pulled out of the Paris agreement. We can’t meet the targets. MORE: https://t.co/6szw4MMJQV pic.twitter.com/cFNzVakshL

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) October 16, 2017

 

The Shovel

Watch video immediately above :)