the bushfires - Letter from Melbourne

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21 FEBRUARY TO 6 APRIL 2009 international money malaise of the private and public sectors. Two consortia, Bass Water (led by the French company Veolia) and Aquasure (led by the French company Degremont), are jostling for the desalination contract. Senior infrastructure finance experts agree the state or federal governments would have to step in to save the project. Media agreement An editorial in The Age suggested that due to obstacles confronting the desalination project due to the global financial crisis, the Government should look to cheaper, environmentally safer options for resolving Melbourne’s water shortage instead, such as water recycling. In the Herald Sun, Andrew Bolt wrote that wind farms and the planned desalination plant in Wonthaggi are overpriced and uncompetitive, and cannot make money without government support. Soon, the oceans will be empty A second desalination plant could be built near Melbourne to save the Werribee Irrigation District, which is estimated to supply close to half of Australia’s vegetables, but is facing a bleak future under present water arrangements. Crops at Werribee have been growing in recycled water from the nearby sewage treatment plant for almost 4 years, but the government failure to ensure the quality of the water has led to concerns the district could be destroyed for farming within a decade. Salinity levels in the recycled water have regularly been double the maximum promised by the State Government when it urged market gardeners onto the recycled water scheme in 2004, The Age reported. Move out Over 1.3 billion litres of drinking water was moved out of one of the city’s major dams, the Upper Yarra Reservoir, in a bid to avoid contamination from bushfires, The Age reported. 22 litres over Three months after the launch of the Target 155 program to encourage Melburnians to keep their daily water consumption 155 litres, figures show personal consumption of water was closer to 177 litres a day in Melbourne throughout summer, The Age reported. Murray me State rivalry over the Murray-Darling River system could be set to escalate into a high court showdown between South Australia and Victoria. In an assertion of states’ rights, South Australia Premier Mike Rann has flagged a constitutional challenge to force Victoria and other states to allow more water to flow to the Murray’s depleted lower reaches, The Age reported. The Financial Review reported that the New South Wales government and the state’s farmers are supporting the South Australian government’s threat, fearing they would bear the brunt of extensive Federal government water buybacks if Victoria continued to restrict trades. Young idea One of the foremost experts on the Murray-Darling River system, Adelaide University’s Professor Mike Young, is calling for the Murray-Darling River system to be disconnected from hundreds of lakes, wetlands and other environmental assets as part of a shrinking and reconfiguration of the waterway. The appeal to downsize the river system included the possible abandonment of some of Victoria’s prized river red gums in the Barmah forest, The Age reported. Salt interception Goulburn-Murray Water is Australia’s largest rural water corporation managing around 70 per cent of Victorian stored water resources and Australia’s largest water distribution network. Over the next decade G-MW’s asset base, workforce capabilities, technology requirements and customer services will be transformed by the state and federal governments $2b investment in modernising G-MW’s distribution network. They have a position available for a Salt Interception Co-ordinator or Officer, www.g-mwater.com.au. Poo and water assessment The Essential Services Commission is assessing the four-year water plans at the suppliers of metropolitan water and sewerage services. The current price review applies to: Melbourne Water, City West Water, South East Water and Yarra Valley Water, www.esc.vic.gov.au. A good euphemism One of Melbourne’s three metropolitan water retailers, South East Water, seeks interested parties to provide proposals to reuse biosolids from any of their eight sewage treatment plants. Biosolids are rich in nutrients and organic matter so are good slow-release fertilisers as well as being a soil additive to enhance the soil structure and stability, www.southeastwater.com.au. Good job Southern Rural Water, a State Government corporation responsible for managing rural water resources across the southern half of Victoria, seeks a managing director, byron.ellis@hays.com.au. Gaming Prepared to punt, bet, fix the race Supreme Court proceedings in which poker machine vendor Tabcorp was accused of offering a $20m inducement, has been settled out of court. The gaming venue group Clubs Victoria will be paid an undisclosed sum by the newly formed Community Clubs Association of Victoria, which Tabcorp helped fund last year after the abolition of its pokies duopoly with Tattersall’s. The CCAV is headed by former Olympian and Fitzroy Football Club president Leon Wiegard, who defected from Clubs Victoria. Clubs Victoria represents about 200 pokies venues and wants greater entitlements after the distribution of new licences beyond 2012. Tabcorp was not a party to the Supreme Court dispute, but the allegations triggered a separate investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over alleged breaches of the Trade Practices Act. The investigation is continuing, exposing Tabcorp to possible fines of up to $10m. Meanwhile, a high-stakes tender will begin later this year for Tabcorp’s lucrative $750m a year wagering and sports betting licence, with Tabcorp set to be challenge by UniTab and overseas raiders Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Intralot and the Hong Kong Jockey club, the Herald Sun reported. Harvesting their supporters The Age reported that Victorian AFL clubs earned $245m from poker machines in the past three financial years and are increasingly targeting Melbourne’s most vulnerable communities. Five suburban venues owned by the Collingwood Football Club made $62m, with about $20m going directly into the Magpies’ coffers. Reigning premiers Hawthorn got about $35m from pokie players at its Waverley Gardens venue, Vegas, which was the third most lucrative pokie club in 10
LETTER FROM MELBOURNE the state. Each machine generated it $157,000 last year. Richmond’s balance sheet was boosted by most $10m after pokie players lost about $30m at its clubs in Wantirna and Richmond. The Western Bulldogs, Essendon, Carlton and Melbourne each made more than $2m a year from gaming. The figures come after the Brumby Government released details of pokies spending at all Victorian gaming venues as part of its plan to strip Tatts and Tabcorp of their duopoly power and allow hotels and clubs to own and operate machines. Charles Livingstone, Monash University’s Department of Health Science, accused AFL clubs of deliberately establishing gaming venues in economically disadvantaged areas. ‘This is an obvious strategy to maximise the returns from each machine and it seems to have the blessing of the AFL’s administration,’ Dr Livingstone said. A thought The Herald Sun reported industry insiders fear new legislation under the Brumby Government’s overhaul of gaming licences will give AFL clubs, and businesses with more financial clout, the ability to ride over community-based clubs. Poked up The Age reported that a hotel in Melbourne’s northwest has earned $60m from poker machines in just three years. Details of poker machine spending for all of Victoria’s venues were released for the first time by the State Government in early March. While spending for local government areas has been released in the past, this was the first statewide snapshot of which hotels and clubs were profiting most from poker machines. Victorians lost $2.6b on pokies in pubs and clubs last financial year. The Government plans to collect $4.3b in poker machine taxes in the next four years, while the total gambling tax take is almost $7b. Chairman of Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce Mark Zirntack said the figures showed some venues only increased their take per machine as the Government reduced the number of machines. Branching out from root vegetables Monash University research shows that Woolworths has collected an estimated $1.89b from Victorian poker machines since 2004, as part of a joint venture with gaming entrepreneur Bruce Mathieson, The Age reported. The retail giant now has a 75 per cent stake in 4176 machines – almost one third of Victoria’s hotel entitlements – with a substantial interest in another 1551 hotel pokies and management rights of 550 nightclub machines. Woolworths spokesman David Curry said all its venues complied with responsible gambling legislation. It also started an education program, headed by former AFL footballer and reformed gambling addict David Schwarz, to raise awareness of problem gambling issues. Sneaky with its open and accountable style The Herald Sun reported that Opposition gaming spokesman Michael O’Brien said the Government was being sneaky with its open and accountable style, and released detailed information only when it suited its purposes. ‘This brings home exactly how much the Brumby Government’s failure to implement responsible gaming has cost local communities,’ he said of data released as the Government prepares to break up the Tatts/Tabcorp duopoly from 2012 to allow pubs and clubs to apply for individual 10-year pokies licences from early next year. Gaming Minister Tony Robinson’s spokeswoman said pubs and clubs would get the chance to own and operate gaming machines, and have greater control over the industry and security. ‘Currently, Tatts and Tabcorp determine where machines are located. They can move from venue to venue in search of the most profitable location,’ she said. Re-branded ‘Good-luck Friday’ Punters will be able to bet with a TAB on Good Friday for the first time, the Herald Sun reported. There are no races in Victoria on Good Friday, but punters will be able to get on races in Singapore and South Africa, two NRL games and international sports that fall into the timeframe. The TAB move will increase pressure for AFL games and Victorian racing to be allowed on Good Friday. Tabcorp managing director of wagering Robert Nason said the betting giant would encourage race clubs around Australia to push the Good Friday meetings. God bless him. Nasty insiders The Opposition has accused the State Government of spying on its gaming spokesman, Michael O’Brien, and his conversations with a Parliamentary inquiry witness. A public servant from the Department of Justice noted a conversation he had with someone in an official report. O’Brien believes the incident is concerning because it shows bureaucrats are increasingly performing partisan acts for the Government. Health Clerical manipulation The Royal Women’s Hospital’s admission to the Department of Human Services that it had reported incorrect waiting lists came days after Health Minister Daniel Andrews said he was not aware of any evidence to suggest hospitals had been manipulating lists. The department said that what the Royal Women’s had tried to pass off as ‘clerical data errors’ in February was in fact ‘manipulation of data’. The opposition accused Andrews of engaging in a long-running cover-up of the widespread manipulation of public hospital waiting lists, The Age reported. The Government has ordered an audit of all hospital emergency department data. An opinion piece in The Age by Stephen Rodgers Wilson, a Melbourne surgeon, observed that management strategies encourage hospitals to doctor their figures. Brain strain Mental health services are launching a recruitment drive and asking volunteers to work extra shifts as they struggle with increasing demand from the terrors of the Black Saturday bushfires and the worsening global financial crisis. The number of callers to Lifeline seeking disaster help rose more than fivefold to 75 in the week after the February bushfires. Kids Helpline recorded a 60 per cent rise in calls, The Age reported. What’s on the tele? The Federal Government endorsed a telemedicine trial by Victorian health authorities, using video conferencing technology that has already being used successfully in New South Wales. The 12 month trial, which began last December was unveiled by Communications Minister Senator Conroy at Victoria’s Alfred Hospital in mid-March. It allow Melbourne medical specialists to use videoconferencing systems to assess patients in regional trauma and critical care units up to 600 kilometres away. Participants hope the trial will prove Victoria can save millions of dollars lost needlessly moving patients to specialist doctors using costly ground and air ambulance services, The Australian reported. Quiet tragedy The Age reported that according to Monash University analysis, January’s heatwave may have killed 100 Melburnians – and more than 200 people in total across south-eastern Australia. Their deaths are the subject of investigations by the Department of Human Services and the Coroner’s Office. Most of the victims were heat stricken elderly and chronically sick people who died prematurely, often alone in their homes or suddenly of heart failure. Wednesday, January 28, to Friday, January 30, were the worst days. Obese with humanity The Herald Sun reported that the obesity epidemic has forced Ambulance Victoria to buy new heavyduty vehicles, as schools and airlines are ordering wider seats. Even funeral parlours are increasing crematorium sizes. Victoria has spent $1.4m on four new ambulances for patients who weigh more than 159 kilograms. Party of five Pressure is growing on the Government to end the practice of housing together four or five teenagers, in the states care, due to concerns they are in some cases exposing each other to harmful behaviour. The Age reported that 11,780 incidents relating to young people living in these share houses, in what is known as ‘residential care’, were reported to the Department of Human Services last financial year. Good jobs Ambulance Victoria seeks a chief executive officer, career@bookerconsulting.com.au. The Women’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service seeks a chief executive officer, resume@ sacsconsult.com.au. Golbourn Valley health seeks a chief executive officer, carreer@brookerconsulting.com.au. 11
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the bushfires - Letter from Melbourne

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