Councils want myki to hold private details

COUNCILS want to expand the use of myki cards for everything from library services to community gyms. 

 
A coalition of four inner-metropolitan councils is investigating a radical plan to use myki cards to store the personal information of residents held in council systems.
The idea, flagged by the Inner Melbourne Action Plan, has been slammed by privacy groups who claim it would effectively create an identity card.

The tourism working group's report signals the "possible integration of myki with existing council systems", citing as an example its possible use as a library card.
Councils have access to plenty of personal information on ratepayers, including use of library services, fitness and community programs and centres, council rates, permits and pet registrations.

Liberty Victoria yesterday said the proposal would infringe on the right to privacy.
"If the intention is to share myki information with local councils - or, to put it the other way, have other information about you shared on a myki card - what you're beginning to look at is a Victorian identity card," Liberty president Professor Spencer Zifcak said.
A spokeswoman for Melbourne City Council said the idea was in "its earliest form" and no further details about the plan could be provided.
"A discussion about the possibilities has not yet taken place," she said.
"Such a project would not be undertaken until after the myki system has been completely rolled out and is fully functioning."
Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said the troubled ticketing system's focus should just be on public transport.

Transport Ticketing Authority chief Bernie Carolan said the organisation was concentrating on completing the myki roll-out by the end of the year.
"While smart cards do have the ability to be used as a payment method for products other than public transport, myki is a stored value payment card and its use in a non-payment environment such as a library has not been explored in any great depth," he said.

heraldsun.com.au  24 May 2012

Another step in the direction to fully monitor, then control the movements of the masses.

Herald Sun did not open comments to this story, see original article:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/councils-want-to-use-myki-for-libraries-gyms/story-fn6bfkm6-1226364942038

Australian travellers face departure tax hike

TRAVELLERS will be slugged an extra $8 to leave the country under a Bill introduced into Parliament yesterday. 
 
The Federal Government wants to increase the passenger movement charge from $47 to $55 from July 1, and index the payment annually in line with CPI.
The departure charge is levied by airlines and shipping companies when tickets are sold.
The Budget measure is expected to raise $610 million over four years.

heraldsun.com.au 24 May 2012

The departure tax is an adnimatrative processing fee that tells other government institutions that you have left the country, the likes of the tax office, welfare burea, etc. 

Since there are more employees now that process your information without your knowledge, they must be paid for, by you. 

Governments are very quick to introduce 'Bills' that line the pockets of bureaucrats, but when it comes to the safety of the community, the law takes decades.

 

Drug kingpin gets life for record hauls

He was the mastermind behind the world's biggest ecstasy haul - 15 million pills worth $122 million concealed within 3000 tomato tins shipped over from Italy.

But Pasquale Barbaro is now behind bars and will be for the rest of his life.
The 50-year-old farmer from NSW was sentenced to a minimum 30 years' jail after pleading guilty to three charges relating to three separate operations, including conspiring to traffick the MDMA concealed in tomato tins in 2007.
He was also behind the trafficking in 2008 of 1.2 million ecstasy tablets and that same year, attempted to possess almost 100kg of pure cocaine, imported in a container full of coffee beans from Colombia.
His righthand man, 55-year-old Saverio Zirilli, also a farmer from NSW, pleaded guilty to the same three charges and was jailed for 26 years, with a minimum of 18 years, by Justice Betty King in the Victorian Supreme Court in February.
Details of the proceedings were suppressed from publication until now, because other men involved in the drug ring were facing a separate trial before Justice King.
"You Barbaro, were at the apex of that criminality - the very top of the tree in this country," Justice King said.
"Your purpose in attempting to possess the goods, was to ensure financial riches of a quite astronomical order.
"To conclude that this crime fell anywhere other than at the highest level of criminality, for offending of this nature, would be absurd and insulting."
In a bid to let his European suppliers know the 2007 shipment had been seized and that he wasn't ripping them off, Barbaro contacted a reporter at a Melbourne newspaper and told them details of the seizure, Justice King said.
Another four men involved - John Higgs, 65, of Point Cook, Salvatore Agresta, 44, of Kew, and two other men who cannot be named - were found guilty on Thursday of their involvement in what was, at the time, the world's biggest ecstasy seizure.
It still remains the largest amount of ecstasy ever seized in Australia.
After 13 days of deliberations following the trial that began in February, the jury found the four men guilty on one count each of conspiring to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported substance, namely MDMA.
The tablets were imported from Naples in Italy in a 6.1-metre container aboard a ship which arrived on the Melbourne docks on June 28, 2007.
The trial heard Customs officers examining the container found a wall of cans of 3kg tinned tomatoes - 15 rows high and 14 cans across - some containing rocks and gravel while others contained pills.
The net weight of the 15 million tablets was 4.4 tonnes - containing 1.4 tonnes of pure MDMA - estimated to be worth $122 million, the trial heard.
But upon its arrival, no one came forward to claim the container and listening device and telephone intercepts revealed the men became increasingly concerned about how they would obtain the drugs, knowing the drugs had been discovered by police.

24 May 2012

The mass media mentioned that the accused would probably get 30 years.

The drug industry in Australia is worth approximately $1,200 million per month.

This so called haul is 1/10th of what is out there.

Centrelink fraud against pensioners

The corporate media is very reluctant to report on how government organisations  operate to defraud the general populous.

Instead when reports of fraud are out in the open, stories unfold of how ‘individuals’ are the corrupt ones, and NOT the people who stand behind them.

The corporate media is quick to report that a (for example) Mr. John Citizen is falsely registered under a couple aliases to falsely claim benefits, that have cost the taxpayers (for example) $50,000, but when the government defrauds the populous of hundreds of millions, there is an eerie media silence.

The corporate media is a government propaganda machine, that is purely subservient to the current political power.

When governments choose to operate fraudulently against the general populous, the target is well chosen. Targets that cannot fight back are usually on the hit list.

Information has been obtained by corpau, that the government via Centrelink is defrauding Australian pensioners of millions of dollars.

Centrelink has put in a policy to ‘apparently’ aid pensions, by forcing them to disclose their working history abroad, in order for the pensioner to obtain an additional pension to their current Australian pension.

When all the paperwork has been completed, and the pensioner receives a pension from overseas, Centrelink deducts from the Australian pension.

Centrelink threatens pensioners, that if they do not disclose their overseas work history, the pensioners Australian pension will be terminated.

Australia’s fascist government at work.

Woman says she was fired for being 'too hot'

A US woman is suing the lingerie company she used to work at, claiming they fired her for being "too hot".

Lauren Odes, 29, claims her supervisor at Native Intimates lingerie told her she was "just too hot for this office," just days after she was hired in Manhattan, New York, on April 24, KTLA reports.
The New Jersey resident, who was hired as a data entry temp, claims management told her she should wear her boyfriend's T-shirt and sweat pants.
But Ms Odes alleges when she changed her attire it was not enough, and her supervisor then told her: "Lauren, try taping down your breasts to make them appear smaller."
Ms Odes only worked at the company for one week before she was fired.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Ms Odes said: "When I was first told that I was told I was 'too hot' and that my breasts were too large I was shocked, I thought I was dressed appropriately for my job."
Ms Odes claimed management made her wear a bright red bathrobe to hide her figure.
The 29-year-old has filed a complaint against the company to the Equal Opportunity Commission and hired celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred to represent her case.
Ms Allred, 70, is known for working on high-profile and controversial cases that involve the protection of women's rights.
She first came to prominence in 1987 after successfully suing the then all-male Friars Club in Beverly Hills.

Ms Allred has since represented high-profile clients including Nicole Brown Simpson's family during the O.J. Simpson murder trial and Debrahlee Lorenzana, who alleged she was fired for being too sexy to work at Citi bank in 2010.

heraldsun.com.au 24 May 2012

Sexual Harassment in the workplace is common place. Proving it is a difficulty, especially in the hand or the misinforming corporate media.

Drowned chef's friends 'will suffer entire lives'

Friends of a young Victorian chef who drowned after jumping off a pier say they will suffer for the rest of their lives after pressuring him to take the fatal plunge.

The body of 26-year-old Jerrem Edwards was found by police washed up on the shore near the Frankston pier, south of Melbourne, at 6am, more than four hours after he went missing during the late-night swim.
A friend of the man, who identified herself as Sheree, told Nine News the group had been singing karaoke at a local pub before deciding to go for a swim at the pier.
Mr Edwards had wanted to stay in the car but the group convinced him to go with them, even though he told them he was not able to swim.
"I said to him he should live day by day, have a bit of fun and do something spontaneous. Pretty much forced him to come down with us," she said.
"I could've been the sober one in the group to say 'no, this is a silly idea'… but instead we convinced him to do it."
A friend named Mel told reporters the group would have to live with Mr Edwards' death for the rest of their lives.
"We lost a friend because of a stupid accident and now the rest of us will suffer for the rest of our lives, our entire lives, because he's gone."
One of the chef's friends climbed down a ladder to try reach him, but he was washed away under the pier.
Frankston Police Sergeant Martin McLean told reporters the young man's death was tragic.
"I'm unsure as to how good he was at swimming, but I suppose it's a timely reminder to people that alcohol and the water don't mix,'' he said.

24 MAy 2012

Another example of morons mixing alcohol with water, this time effecting the life of another. Pure and absolute trailer park trash.

Govt scraps northwest Qld solar farm

The Queensland government has pulled funding for a solar farm in the state's northwest to save money.

Minister for Energy Mark McArdle on Thursday said the government had withdrawn its financial support for the Cloncurry Solar Farm to save Queenslanders about $5.6 million.
Solar company Ingenero Pty Ltd won the tender to build the Cloncurry Solar Farm last December.
The Bligh government had promised it $5.7 million in support for the project but Mr McArdle said the contract had always allowed the government to withdraw at any time.
He said the decision to pull funding was about getting the state's finances back on track.
"These are savings which will benefit all Queenslanders rather than localised climate initiatives," Mr McArdle said in a statement on Thursday.
It was up to the private sector to decide whether to invest in such projects, he added.
Last week the government offered payouts to 30 public servants in its Office of Climate Change amid plans to wind back the state's climate change initiatives.
Ingenero chief executive Steve McRae declined to comment, saying the company had only just learned of the state government's decision.
A statement on Ingenero's website estimates the Cloncurry Solar Farm would cost $6.76 million and would be able to power about 500 households per year.
Electricity generated would feed into the Mount Isa/Cloncurry electricity network and offset about 76,770 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in its lifetime.

heraldsun.com.au 24 May 2012

The masses are told that the installation of photovoltaic (solar) cells, not only reduces the 'carbon (dioxide) footprint, but also SAVES money.

The government now has "pulled funding for a solar farm in the state's northwest to save money."

This statement alone proves the fraudulent claims made that solar IS better.

Again no one will be held responsible, for fraud, false advertising or misrepresentation, which are all illegal under Australian law.

These so called 'laws ' only apply to consumers and NOT governments or their corporate 'buddies'.

Federal MPs wait for Thomson statement

Federal MP Craig Thomson is likely to proclaim his innocence and ask his peers to leave judgment of the allegations against him to the courts when he addresses parliament.

Mr Thomson is expected around noon (AEST) on Monday to make a statement about the findings of a Fair Work Australia (FWA) investigation report into his time as national secretary of the Health Services Union.
Watch Nine News tonight for a report from political editor Laurie Oakes
The member for the NSW seat of Dobell, who is suspended from the Labor party, believes some of the more scandalous findings in the report are the result of a conspiracy by enemies determined to end his political career.
These include the finding that he used a union credit card to pay for $5000 in escort services.
Mr Thomson has said the investigation denied him natural justice, failed to interview key witnesses and relied on flawed information when it found he contravened workplace law and union rules 156 times.
Government whip Joel Fitzgibbon expects Mr Thomson to make a comprehensive statement.
"[He'll say] he's been a good Labor member doing good work in his constituency and that he should be left alone to continue to carry out his responsibilities as a parliamentarian," he told ABC Radio.
"He'll no doubt continue to proclaim his innocence [and argue] that his innocence or otherwise should be determined by normal legal processes, and not the politically charged House of Representatives-cum-kangaroo court."
Opposition frontbencher Christopher Pyne says Mr Thomson's statement has to pass the truth test.
"He needs to be entirely honest to the parliament about the findings of the Fair Work Australia report," Mr Pyne told reporters in Canberra.
If not, there were actions the parliament could take.
"The greatest sanction the parliament can levy is to suspend a member of parliament," Mr Pyne said, noting it had happened on three previous occasions.
When Mr Thomson gets to his feet in the House of Representatives, Prime Minister Julia Gillard will be 15,000km away at a NATO summit in Chicago.
Ms Gillard has already told reporters covering the event she won't comment while abroad.
"I'm not engaging with these matters half a world away," she said.
Independent MP Tony Windsor doesn't expect Mr Thomson's statement will undermine the agreement he made with Labor to support the minority government after the 2010 election.
"I won't be making judgments one way or the other on what he says, unless he admits to everything that's in the report and admits to a whole range of offences," he told ABC Radio, adding that this was highly unlikely.
ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said his main concern was to ensure HSU members received justice.
"I am very concerned about the events that are happening both inside parliament and outside parliament, the way that this has been treated," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"That, you know, it may impinge or taint the judicial process which should allow HSU members to ... see justice."
Mr Thomson is expected to name HSU official he believes mounted a conspiracy against him.

heraldsun.com.au  21 May 2012

Another fraudulent and corrupt Member of Parliament that has made the spotlight, but a mere drop in the ocean.


There are many more corrupt personnel that are payed for by public funds that are NOT exposed.


Thomson will make false statements, and will NOT be charged, nor prosecuted for fraud.


Just another slap in the face for the general populous that the untouchables are TRULY untouchable.