budget matters

RE: what we expect from your first budget [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]   Inbox

	Pre Budget Submissions 2008/09 Received	to me	More options	10:27 (5 hours ago)

2008-09 PRE-BUDGET SUBMISSION

Thank you for your submission of 17 January 2008 regarding priorities
for the 2008-09 Budget.



Community views are a critical consideration for the Government when
forming its budget policies, and your submission will be taken into
account during the decision-making process.



Yours sincerely

Penny Sirault
Budget Priorities & Reporting Unit
Budget Policy Division


-----Original Message-----
From: Alex .... [mailto:delphi3@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, 17 January 2008 1:39 PM
To: Pre Budget Submissions 2008/09 Received
Subject: what we expect from your first budget


We want you to restore Medicare.

Today it is almost impossible to arrange a visit by a community home
nurse. They can\'t even acknowledge phone messages.

We want strong action for climate change like spending on transport
infrastructure, and making public transport free. This should not be a
state issue, it\'s a national  priority.

We want you to review military spending.

We want you to restore compulsory student unionism, and either
contribute towards union fees, or add them onto HECS debt.

We want more funding for the arts.

We want you to cancel  any funding the previous government has made to
nuclear power advisory groups or other projects related to nuclear
power.

We want you to respect the rights of returned soldiers and acknowledge
the damages caused by agent orange and gulf war syndrome.

We would like you to publish the full budget details in a full page ad
in newspapers.  Often minor details are ignored by the media.

We would like you to provide funding to establish a Bill Of Rights and
call for submissions from the judiciary and the public.

Although we don\'t believe our \'safeguards\'\' are effective in the
sale of uranium, we would suggest that treasury sets funds aside to
draft a further   condition for sale of uranium, stating that the the
buyer must have in plans a detailed programme for the containment of
radioactive waste. This is of paramount importance for countries like
China, Russia and Indonesia. It is irresponsible to sell uranium without
such an agreement. This waste is also a  terrorist risk, as you know. We
would also need funds to inspect these operations where waste must be
kept for hundreds of years. Maybe this should be referred to the UN to
set minimum guidelines.

We need funding to overhaul our disgraceful treatment of refugees, most
of whom become our legal immigrants.

Thank you for reading this submission.

This will be an interesting budget.  We have much expectation of it.

regards,

..........

our right choice: the VW Polo TDI

It was the perfect car for our honeymoon; the perfect car for going anywhere, really. Well, OK for now. In the not too distant future, cars like this will be converted to becoming full electric cars. Judging by recent advances in battery storage by CSIRO, (where batteries an be charged in minutes), electric cars will be the way to go.

The  obvious next step would be to use hydrogen power -but don't hold your breath for that to happen.  The technology is already available, but so far silence from our Rudd juggernaut. 

The Volkswagen Polo TDI proves once again that power, features and fuel economy are the key ingredients to a successful small car.

Despite the emergence of a serious new competitor in the revitalised Mazda2, the Volkswagen's diesel Polo picked up a second consecutive Best Small Car gong in 2007.

Although its considerable price premium (at $22,990, some $6000 over the other finalists) lost points in the pricing and depreciation criteria, the smallest VW scored well in the other critical scoring areas (running and repair costs, fuel consumption and environment) to snare a comfortable victory.

Not surprisingly, frugal fuel use is a strong point thanks to relatively light weight and an impressive 1.9-litre, turbo-charged, diesel, four cylinder engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission.

We criticised the lack of an automatic transmission last year and it's still not available. Once, turbo-diesels weren't anything to get excited about in any vehicle, let alone a small car. But the new breed of Euro diesels are beauties, offering minimal emissions, no smoke, good power and oodles of useable torque.

The Polo's powerplant delivers a modest 74kW but, as with most diesels, it's the meaty 240Nm of torque, spread between 1800rpm and 2400rpm, that impressed the most and helped the Polo match the performance score of the excellent Mazda2 engine.

And it's one of the quietest oil-burners around too, both inside and outside the car. Being a modern engine using the latest computerised engine-management technology, there is little evidence of the dreaded turbo lag. In fact, the little VW can wheel-spin away from the lights or out of tight corners if you're not careful with the right foot.

In design and function criteria, the Polo scored well for its practicality and was unmatched for its ergonomics. Four doors are very practical, helping entry and egress for the comparatively spacious interior. The wide opening rear hatch gives easy access to the luggage area.

And while not getting the highest score for handling, the Polo was not disgraced on the scoreboard or on the road. It is zippy, nimble and easy to manoeuvre, whether in the shopping centre or on a bit of twisty road. And it does this without compromising ride quality - the Polo outscored all finalists in this criteria.

Speaking of quality, the Polo has it in spades. It's evident from the moment you jump inside and the doors close with a reassuring 'clunk'. The safety and luxury equipment are impressive for a car in this class, and features like the reach and height adjustment for the steering column help to justify the price premium.

While the Polo's diesel variant triumphed in 2007, its petrol-engined sibling also performed strongly, scoring a top-seven finish and even out pointing the diesel in a couple of areas. It would take a long while to even get close to recouping the extra outlay over its competitors, or even the petrol Polo - but the diesel Polo is a better drive and a class act. And what price do you put on that?

Finalists 
Mazda2 Neo 1.5
Toyota Yaris YRS 1.5

Vegans leave the smallest footsteps

Vegans are people who eat no animal food of any kind, i.e. meat eggs, dairy, even honey.  They also wear no animal products, or use products which involves use of animals.  So they don't wear leather coats or shoes, wool, and ensure that their cosmetics/toiletries/drugs aren't tested with animals.

There was and is still some controversiality about the missing vitamin B12 in such a diet. The fact is that we need only minimal amounts of B12, and we can easily get that from miso, tempeh, nori, spirilina. etc.  Many people dispute this on scientific grounds, but I have met many extremely healthy people who are long term vegans. That's proof.

Other ground for veganism are moral, environmental, and spiritual.

We all eat vegan meals from time to time - think about it.

I ran a vegan restaurant for two years, (Sydney's first) and was a vegan for that time, and always had boundless energy. That was proof too. A lot of macrobiotic meals are vegan.  People who came to my cafe didn't know what vegan meant, but still rated my cafe as the best vegetarian restaurant in Sydney.

Cooking vegan meals every night (never using a recipe book)  was challenging, but proved a great opportunity to create original meals using food combinations which had never been used before (to my knowledge). In the two years I ran Alexx Slow-Foods, I never used the same main meal twice.

  Anyway, I'm going to let you into a few secrets, some borrowed from others but adapted to become my originals. All vegan of course.  These days everyone occasionally eats  a vegetarian  meal, and sometimes it happens to be vegan.  Now you can be the first one on the block to  show off these original ideas.  I'll be doing a series of posts called "Secrets of a Vegan Kitchen", read on.