The future of wind power capacity in Australia

In Australia, as in other nations, scientists are taking steps to improve long-term estimates of changes in wind speed.
These estimates are vital to the rapid growth that is occurring in the use of wind power, serving to reduce the risk of building wind turbines in areas that later proved to be inadequate.
Some studies have predicted a decrease in wind speed in various parts of the world, including Australia. However, recent research results driven by CSIRO show that in fact, for practical purposes for wind, average wind speed in Australia is increasing.
A team of scientists dedicated to CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research has completed a thorough analysis of observations on the wind speed, in order to predict long-term trends in wind speed in Australia.
Alberto Troccoli's team has found that the trends in wind speeds in Australia are sensitive to the height of the measuring station.The winds measured at 10 feet show a tendency to increase speed, just the opposite from that indicated by a previous study in which only measured the wind speed at 2 meters high.
Light winds measured at 10 meters, a height that best represents the free atmospheric flow, tend to increase faster than average winds, while winds tend to rise more slowly than average winds.Light and strong winds measured at a height of 2 meters tend to vary in line with the average winds.
Wind farm. 


Alberto Troccoli's team has determined that the average speed of the wind in Australia measured at a height of 10 meters has grown by 0.69 percent annually, while there has been a decline of 0.36 percent annually for wind speed measured at a height of 2 meters, in both cases during the period 1989-2006.
It is expected that wind energy production increase markedly in the coming years, and therefore the associated electrical system shall be subject to variations of hundreds of megawatts, depending on the availability of wind in each period.
The ability to accurately quantify long-term variations is essential for the wind sector from the economic point of view.

Australia sends aid to Pacific small island will be without potable water

Australia's government responded to a call for help from the small island of Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean where the authorities have indicated that drinking water could end within days.


Australia sent hydration packs for hospitals and provided money and fuel to keep running desalination plants on the island.
New Zealand already sent supplies to Tuvalu where he wasdeclared a state of emergency.
Many Pacific islands have suffered from the lack of rains caused by La Nina weather phenomenon.

Australia: Visit defining

                                                                                             President Barack Obama will speak this week at a joint session of the Parliament of Australia, during a visit to the country to mark the 60th anniversary of the bilateral alliance known by its initials as ANZUS.
The security treaty signed by U.S., Australia and New Zealand (ANZUS) was signed in San Francisco in 1951, during the Cold War.From then until now, Australia has become one of the most loyal U.S. allies In fact, no other country has contributed more troops to fight shoulder to shoulder with Americans since the First World War.Although Obama's visit to the cities of Canberra and Darwin are expected to further strengthen the old friendship between the two countries, Geoffrey Garrett, chief of the U.S. Studies CentreUniversity of Sydney, believes that in addition set a turning point in American diplomacy."I think this trip will mean a strategic shift in U.S. foreign policy toward the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and beyond the war on terrorism," he said.The expert believes that Australia is taking a bigger role in trade and regional security, in addition to cooperation with U.S. is "more open, high-level than does any other country in the world, with the possible exception of the United Kingdom."Obama is expected to announce plans for the deployment of U.S. Marines in northern Australia, a presence that raised concerns in China.Tom Switzer, University of Sydney Australia believes that diplomacy needs to balance its military and economic targets for the U.S., "China's rise is a geopolitical rival, but for Australia is its largest trading partner."According to Switzer, Australia faces the option to accommodate the U.S. security umbrella while expanding trade relations with China."That can be very difficult if there are tensions in the South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait. That can not be ruled out, "he said.Although the war in Afghanistan is deeply unpopular with many Australians, opinion polls indicate that the U.S. has broad support in the country's population, as revealed by a resident in Canberra, who in referring to President Obama said he appreciated " a lot. "She also appreciated that if you re-think "in the Second World War, without the Americans we would not have succeeded. We need some help. We are 22 million people, a small dot in the South Pacific. I really want them here to the U.S., any base who wish are welcome, "he admitted.Another citizen asked, however, said the relationship between Australia and the U.S. is "a bit overrated." "We align ourselves too closely with the United States. Do not really know if you have some benefit to Australia."Australia retains close cultural ties with Britain and its wealth depends increasingly on China, but successive Australian leaders have said that the most valuable thing that the country is its security alliance with the U.S.Barack Obama is the fifth U.S. president to visit Australia.

Australia and Bill Gates boost vaccines for poor countries

                                                                                                       


Bill Gates says he is confident that Australia and other stakeholders would ensure the 3.700 million dollars to finance the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization
LONDON, GREAT BRITAIN (12/JUN/2011) .- Australia will commit to provide 200 million Australian dollars (220 million dollars) in an international donors conference on Monday to support a global alliance whose purpose is to save the lives of 4 million children in poor countries by 2015.
The Australian Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, said the aid would be provided over three years from 2011 to 2013 and would mark the highest standards for other donors conference in London.
In an exclusive joint interview with Rudd on Sunday, the billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said he was confident that Australia and other stakeholders would ensure the 3.700 million dollars to finance the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI for short) to 2015.
"What I see in the international community is a growing commitment to (...) vaccination as one of the most effective ways to help," said Rudd.
"This is a great help," he said.
GAVI is a nonprofit organization which funds vaccination programs for poor countries who can not afford Western prices, says that if he can raise the additional $ 3.700 million needed could prevent 4 million child deaths by 2015 immunization campaigns covering more than 240 million children.
 "These are vaccines that children receive and rich irony is that rich kids are less susceptible to these diseases," Gates said.
"However, success in the future we will have, I'm sure going to give us the money to buy vaccines for all children," he said.
Gates, Microsoft founder of the company rejected the criticism that GAVI pay excessively high prices for vaccines, raising the profits of big pharmaceutical companies.
 "We worked very hard to know exactly what it costs to produce these vaccines, and the same kind of profit-centered approach that I developed at Microsoft is applied in an even more strict in this work - because every dollar affects many lives who save, "he said.

Australia congratulated for setting emission tax of one tonne of CO2

The European Commissioner for Climate Action, ConnieHedegaard, today congratulated the Government of Australiahave decided to set up from July 1, 2012 a tax on emission of one ton of carbon dioxide.

"I applaud Australia for its commitment to put a price onemissions (carbon dioxide) carbon and introduce emissionstrading scheme starting in July 2015," he said in a statement.

"Our emissions trading system (in Europe) has led the industrymore aware to establish ways of working very creative and innovative solutions that help reduce emissions and reducing costs," he said.

This creativity, he stressed, can also develop skills and experience in the industries of the future.

"We want Australia to walk in the same direction and convert thecarbon market in the center of their political response to climate challenge the carbon market," he said.

Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, today announced a taxof 17.3 euros for the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide fromJuly 1, 2012.

About 500 companies, considered the largest polluters in Australia, will face this tax proposed by the Executive, whichalready won enough votes to be approved soon by the Australian Parliament.

This measure aims to reduce 160 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

The tax will increase by 2.5 percent in real terms until July 2015when it enters into force in Australia an emissions trading scheme in the market to regulate prices.

Sydney now seventh most expensive city

SYDNEY is now the seventh most expensive place to live in the world, a report says.

Oslo, Zurich, Geneva, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Tokyo are the only cities with higher living costs, according to financial services firm UBS.

The rankings, published in the annual Prices and Earnings report update today, are calculated by comparing the cost of an average "shopping basket" of 122 goods and services.

It's not all bad news for Sydneysiders, because with high living costs come higher wages, UBS found.

Sydney finished second in a table ranking the domestic buying power of its citizens. This ranking is calculated by comparing wages in each location with living costs.

In 2010 Sydney was 12th on the list of most expensive cities and in 2009 it was 38th.

"To some extent this development can be explained by the Australian dollar's continued appreciation against both the US dollar and the euro.

"Sydney continues its storm to the top of our rankings, now holding seventh place," the latest UBS report said.

"However, Sydney is just one of many cities that have seen a jump in their rankings."

UBS found some US cities had fallen in the cost of living rankings, with New York slumping to 14th, if property rental is excluded.

In recent years New York has been ranked in the top 10 of the most expensive cities.

"This can be attributed to the general depreciation of the US dollar versus the world's other currencies," the UBS report added.

London slumped to 15th place on the list, compared with 10th in 2010.

Sydney is the only Australian city included in the latest UBS rankings.

Bad call: Telstra accused of bullying over non-payments

TELSTRA has been accused of harassing and bullying customers over unpaid bills, with relentless barrages of automatic calls every two hours.

One man too sick to pay his bill said the telecommunications giant called him about seven times a day from 7am, with an automated message demanding he organise payment of his account.

Former Telstra customer Gary Duffy said he was harassed non-stop after medical complications from a heart operation left him struggling to afford basics like rent and food.

"They were just constantly, constantly ringing and it's just an absolute nightmare," he said.

Mr Duffy, who has suffered repeated strokes and seizures since his operation, said the deluge of calls and letters every two or three days pushed him to the verge of a breakdown.

"It's almost like someone knocking on your door every hour saying, 'Hey, you've got to pay this bill'," Mr Duffy said. "If it was an ex-partner ringing you all the time, you could take them to court and have them stopped but apparently with Telstra they think they're above everything."

Mr Duffy said he had relied on his phone in case of a medical emergency but had been afraid to turn it on because of the calls.

He had abandoned using a phone at all until a friend bought him a pre-paid phone as a gift on Friday.

Internet users have also expressed outrage over the automated calling tactics, with some worried that scammers could replicate the calls to obtain personal details from unsuspecting customers.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission guidelines recommend companies do not contact a debtor more than three times a week.

Consumer group Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just said the frequency of Telstra's automated calling seemed "excessive".

"The telco obviously needs to recoup their debt (but) should be using all channels, not just one," Ms Just said.

She said customers who felt harassed as a result of such calls should tell the company involved.

A Telstra spokeswoman confirmed the telco used automated calling for debt recovery but said the system allowed customers to opt to organise payment of their bill or speak to a consultant in order to stop the calls.

She said many customers had given positive feedback on the system.

YOUR RIGHTS

* A debt collector should only contact you when it is necessary and reasonable.

* Contact should be limited to a maximum of three phone calls or letters a week.

* Debt collectors must not frighten, intimidate or embarrass debtors.

* They must not talk about your situation to other people, including family. ACCC, ASIC

Global financial crisis fears after US rating downgrade

• • *Analysts start talking GFC mark 2
  • *US credit rating cut to AA
  • *Black Friday: How does it affect you
  • *Gallery: Blood on the trading floor

WORLD markets are preparing for a shocking week after Washington lost its AAA rating and Europe's debt continues to grow.

Standard & Poor's cut the US's rating to AA+ with a negative outlook, saying US politicians were increasingly unable to come to grips with the country's huge fiscal deficit and debt load.

"The news that S&P finally pulled the trigger... will surely rock the financial markets when they open on Monday," said Capital Economics analyst Paul Dales.

And he warned: "If the market mayhem continues, the risks of a recession will rise further."

Saxo Bank economist Steen Jakobsen described recent turmoil as evidence of a second financial crisis, as many western nations buckle under vast debts that were incurred in the 2008 banking crisis and subsequent global recession.

"Welcome to the official Crisis 2.0 which is now in progress," Mr Jakobsen said.

"Crisis 1.0 was the failure of the banking system to sustain the losses from the (US) subprime loans.

"This created a run on the banks, which the policymakers solved by moving the debt burden from the private sector into the government sector, under the presumption that governments would be able to finance these debt obligations cheaper and guaranteed by tax issuance.

"This was followed up with massive fiscal and monetary policy in a size not seen before in economic history. The policymakers used all the tools in the toolbox in order to buy some more time.

"This worked short-term - but, as seen in Europe, the market is now questioning government ability to repay their debts."

World reaction to US downgrade

The United States and the world struggled to come to grips with the first-ever US credit rating downgrade, as Washington is held to account for months of political acrimony and years of swelling US debt.

S&P said the "political brinksmanship" of recent months shows that governance in the country is becoming "less stable, less effective, and less predictable," raising the risks that one day it might not honor its debt.

The move - which came late Friday after US markets closed, allowing the world to digest the news over the weekend - was the first time the US was downgraded since it received an AAA rating from Moody's in 1917.

It has held the AAA S&P rating since 1941.

Other G7 nations such as Britain, Canada, France and Germany have a triple-A rating.

A bruising and embarrassing partisan fight between the White House and Republicans over the US debt ceiling had sent jitters across the global economy ahead of the downgrade.

China - the largest foreign holder of US Treasuries - hit out at the United States, saying via state media that the world's largest economy needed to cure its addiction to debt.

Beijing said in a stinging English-language commentary carried by the official Xinhua news agency that it had "every right" to demand Washington address its structural debt problems and safeguard Chinese dollar assets.

"To cure its addiction to debts, the United States has to re-establish the common sense principle that one should live within its means," it said.

Other Asian nations such as Japan and South Korea reacted cautiously and, along with Australia, warned against over-reaction.

An unnamed Japanese government official told Dow Jones Newswires Saturday that Tokyo continued to trust US Treasuries "and their attractiveness as an investment will not change because of this action."

India described the downgrade as "grave," while Russia and France said they were untroubled by the rating slip, and Britain's Business Secretary Vince Cable called it "entirely predictable."

The United States versus S&P

The rating downgrade came after a strong pushback from the White House, which called S&P's analysis of the economy deeply flawed and politically-based.

A Treasury spokesperson alleged that there was a "two trillion dollar error", arguing that S&P admittedly used the wrong baseline and erred on spending plans and debt projections.

But John Chambers, chairman of the S&P sovereign ratings committee, defended the decision.

"It's a matter of the medium and long-term budget position of the United States that needs to be brought under control," he said on CNN.

"This is a problem a long time in the making."

He pointed to the White House, Democratic and Republican lawmakers battling for months until the country was on the precipice of default Tuesday before they finally agreed to a deal to raise borrowing limits and slash the deficit.

Tuesday's fiscal consolidation plan "falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics," S&P said in its ratings statement.

"More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned" back in April, it said.

"Our opinion is that elected officials remain wary of tackling the structural issues required to effectively address the rising US public debt burden in a manner consistent with a 'AAA' rating."

A debt downgrade is a symbolic embarrassment for President Barack Obama, his administration and the United States, and could raise the cost of US government borrowing - a move that would likely trickle down to most Americans in the form of higher interest rates.

But S&P, which based its case in part on the assumption that Bush-era tax cuts would remain in place, also pointed the finger of blame at Republicans who had insisted that no new tax revenue be a part of the debt deal.

"We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act," S&P said.

There are worries that the downgrade will wreak unpredictable havoc in global financial markets where the US dollar has long been the most important currency, but some analysts believe the cut will not have much impact.

Indeed, despite a downgrade hanging overhead, the Treasury easily auctioned off tens of billions of dollars in new debt this week, and Treasury yields fell to the year's low.

S&P is considered the most influential of the three major rating agencies ahead of Moody's and Fitch - both of which said this week that they continue to review the country's deficit reduction plan for possible downgrades.

S&P first warned Washington of a possible downgrade in April.

Then in July, during the protracted political standoff over raising the government's debt ceiling, S&P placed the United States on credit watch and warned of a possible cut within 90 days.

The plan finally agreed on Tuesday calls for $917 billion in cuts over 10 years, but also mandates an as-yet unnamed congressional panel to come up with another $1.5 trillion in cuts by the end of the year.

That fell short of what S&P has been saying would merit retaining the AAA rating: $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years that includes both cuts and revenue increases, which Republicans have refused to accept.

Tasmania to make Kronic a controlled drug

TASMANIA will toughen its restrictions on the sale and manufacture of synthetic cannabis, but has stopped short of completely outlawing the drug.

The State Government has put the synthetic cannabinoid Kronic on the state's poisons schedule, which restricts where the drug can be sold.

The Government has also moved to prohibit the use of precursor chemicals in the manufacture of drugs, which takes into account illicit drugs with altered chemical compositions.

The new laws will take effect from tomorrow, but will not completely outlaw the substances.

Western Australia and New South Wales have recently banned synthetic cannabis, while other states and territories are considering outlawing the substance.

Thousands of prank callers clog up the National Security hotline

THOUSANDS of prank callers are impeding the nation's prime anti-crime hotline with fake reports.

Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information application by The Advertiser show this year already 1385 of the 5684 calls to the 1800 123 400 National Security hotline number have been hoax or nuisance callers wasting the time of national police and anti-terror agencies.

Since the hotline was set up in 2002, operators have been trained to take every call seriously but documents show they have reported that 31,495 calls of the total 156,694 are hoaxes, The Advertiser reported.

Victims of Crime Commissioner Michael O'Connell attacked those who were knowingly wasting the time of police and other crime-fighting authorities.

But he has urged those who genuinely believed they had information, even if it was later proven false, to continue using the service, which was a valuable preventative tool for crime-fighters.

"The line was set up for the purpose of preventing people becoming the victims of terror and it is shameful that people are using it to perpetrate hoaxes," Mr O'Connell said.

"The consequence of the police and other authorities being distracted by such hoaxes puts all of us at risk should there be a genuine terror threat."

Australian Federal Police have credited the hotline since its inception for providing information for every major Australian terror investigation.

The hotline was controversial when first established by the former Howard government with the slogan "be alert but not alarmed" as overkill, possibly leading to the high level of hoax and nuisance calls.

Mr O'Connell said since its original purpose as purely an anti-terror tool, the hotline had transformed into an effective anti-crime device for a broad range of illegal activity as well as terror threats.

"The public at large over the years have become less fearful of terrorism and more concerned with more conventional types of crime, which is leading to more use of the hotline to prevent mainstream crimes," he said.

The information released by the Attorney-General's Department because of the FoI application also shows many people contact the hotline to be comforted about their fear of crime or terrorism, or to seek information about attending a major event or travelling.

These calls accounted for 16,109 of the 156,694 total, while people providing information were numbered at 69,923, emergency callers 26 and people responding to advertising campaigns asking for information numbered 70,638.

Brisbane flood victims eye class action after Queensland inquiry's interim report

A GROUP of 120 flood-hit Brisbane property owners are weighing a class action after a report into January's floods opened a potential legal avenue.

Ken Madsen, of Flood Affected Businesses and Householders, says he's yet to study the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry's interim report.

But he hopes the finding that Wivenhoe Dam operators breached the manual might help a class action.

The report, released yesterday, found engineers in charge of the dam during the floods did not use the best available forecast information when deciding how much water to release.

Mr Madsen said he hoped this was something flood victims could launch legal action on.

"The flood inquiry has allowed the data to be made available which is something we've been struggling to get a straight answer on ever since the floods," the industrial real estate agent from flood-hit Rocklea told AAP.

"We will review the data and seek legal advice."

As well as compensating flood victims, a successful class action would hold bureaucrats accountable, and help insurance claims, Mr Madsen said.

"It seems that the only time bureaucrats take any notice of any changes is when they've been forced to legally," he said.

"The class action will be one way of making them wake up to their responsibilities and accountabilities.

"The class action will also highlight to insurance companies and others that whilst we were affected and damaged, it wasn't our fault and it wasn't necessarily where we were that was the problem."

He said any successful action would also give flood victims some closure.

"The buildings can be repaired and fixed relatively easily," he said.

"But the loss of confidence and the psychological damage to people, the sleepless nights ... that's immeasurable."

Maurice Blackburn lawyers is representing 78 individuals or families at the flood commission as part of the Fernvale and Surrounding Communities Action Group.

The firm's Queensland principal Rod Hodgson said he was still examining the findings.

"We will then be in a position to consider a range of legal options for our clients who have suffered property loss and damage, and loss of business revenue and profits," he said.

Premier Anna Bligh today said she was uncertain whether the technical breach opened the possibility of people suing the state, saying it would have to be tested in the courts.

Queensland flood actions would be different in hindsight - Water Minister Stephen Robertson

"I have instructed my department to make this issue their top priority," he said in a statement.

Mr Robertson also said the Government would legislate to "ensure there is greater clarity and understanding about whose role it is to undertake certain actions in relation to our dams in times of heavy rainfall."

It comes after the report found there was confusion in the lead up to the flood about whose responsibility it was to provide advice on releasing water from the Dam.

It found Mr Robertson had failed to resolve that confusion.

"We wanted frank and fearless advice and we will not back away from these findings," his statement said.

"The State Government will be in a much stronger position going into the next wet season."

The Courier-Mail revealed on Saturday an email trail which highlighted the state of ill-preparedness in the government in the months before the floods and after extraordinary warnings were given to State Cabinet about the looming wet season.

For parents with preference, more want boys than girls, but 60 per cent say they don't care

PARENTS are overjoyed to just have a healthy bub, but new figures show a leaning towards bouncing baby boys.

A major snapshot of Australian families shows a third of men want a boy as their first child, compared to 19 per cent of mums-to-be. Only 6 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women wanted a girl first.

But 60 per cent of men and women have no preference in the gender of their child.

The report, by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, says 35 per cent of men and 27 per cent of women in 2008 wanted a gender balance - one boy and one girl.

Psychologist Sally-Anne McCormack said she believed that for most couples any desire for a particular gender was subconscious.

"For males, although this is something that is changing, it may have something to do with keeping of the family name," she said.

Kealba's Renata Furst, who is 27 weeks pregnant, said she had no real preference.

"As long as they are healthy, I really don't mind," the 27-year-old said.

Diggers hurt in Afghan base accident

• -Diggers wounded on training range
• -Serious injuries from shrapnel
• -Investigation to find out how it happened

TWO Australian soldiers have been seriously injured in an accident at the heavy weapons range at the Tarin Kot base in Afghanistan.

The soldiers, serving with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Oruzgan province, suffered shrapnel wounds and will be flown to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany for specialist care in the next few days.

Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Ash Power, has said the incident on Saturday was the result of an accident rather than an insurgent attack.

"The two soldiers received fragmentation injuries in an accident at the Multi National Base - Tarin Kot heavy weapons range," Lt Gen Power said.

He says an investigation will be launched into how the accident happened but said the health and wellbeing of the soldiers was his foremost concern.

"Fortunately, their location in Tarin Kot meant that both soldiers were able to receive emergency medical treatment at Tarin Kot's ISAF Medical Facility immediately after the accident occurred," he said.

One soldier remains in a very serious condition following initial treatment and the other is in a serious but stable condition.

The families of the two soldiers have been notified and are receiving support from Defence.

Thousands face disruption from looming Qantas strikes

A STRIKE planned by Qantas engineers for Monday could leave passengers stranded over the school holidays.

The airline was at loggerheads with its engineers union yesterday with Qantas demanding the strike be called off and the union warning they were ready to make a stand "until the cows come home".

Lyell Strambi, from Qantas' Group Executive Operations, declared the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association's decision a "reckless" and deliberate disruption of holiday makers plans.

"If the union is serious about not disrupting the travel plans of Australians then they should call off the strikes immediately," he said.

He yesterday rejected an offer from the ALAEA to provide strike breakers for their own work stoppages, claiming they were seeking to be paid four times their normal wage to do so.

The ALAEA said it was trying to protect the future of the company from Qantas staff who were part of the management team when Ansett collapsed.

Steven Purvinas, ALAEA federal secretary, denied the claim engineers would be paid four times their normal rate, insisting they would only receive double-time wages.

He said any strike-breakers that Qantas may be considering would cost the airline more than accepting the union's offer.

"The last time they used strike breakers they forgot to take the chocks out from behind the wheels of the aircraft," he said.

As air travellers prepare for the possibility of further disruptions, Mr Purvinas warned the union would not back down.

"We are concerned about the long-term future of the airline, and if we have to make a stand for this we will until the cows come home," he said.

Negotiations between Qantas and the ALAEA have been going for about nine months, but yesterday hit an impasse over the retention of existing aircraft safety checks by licensed engineers and maintenance work being done overseas.