Campaign to establish a national free range egg production standard

To help encourage all State Ministers for Fair Trading to approve an effective national standards to define free range egg production Consumer Group Choice has launched a campaign designed to raise awareness see here

Australian back-down on Syria

The Australian Government has come to its senses and recognised that our absurd policy on the Middle East had to change. There is no way that our military action can be sustained - or justified. Comments by Julie Bishop suggest that rather than bomb the crap out of Syria, Australia may now work with the Syrian Government to address the problem of ISIL That's what we should have been doing all along, especially as ISIL is a creation of the military action of the US, Australia and the UK in Afghanistan and Iraq.Russian support for the Syrian regime forced our Government's hand and will also change US policy. Once Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow to talk about ways to ensure that Russian and Israeli fighters avoided conflict, the US and Australia had to follow suit or face up to the prospect of having jets shot out of the air. Our politicians have a lot to answer for.The Assad regime is the legitimate government in Syria, It makes no difference what thugs think in the US, Australia or the UK. In many views, the biggest war criminals in the Middle East have been George W Bush, John Howard and Tony Blair.

Australia's new Treasurer looking for spending cuts rather than tax increases

It's great that Australia's new Treasurer has a realistic approach to the country's financiaol position. Scott Morrison's recognition that the Government has an expenditure problem rather than a revenue problem is refreshing. For far too long, Governments have simply looked at raising taxes to fund their excesses. At Budget time it has been easier to work from the status quo and increase the dollars to be spent – simply to satisfy departmental bureacrats who always want their empires to expand. A better approach is to start with a blank canvass and work out the goals required before determining the actions needed and the related costs. The annual defence budget for example is around $30 billion but there seems to have been little examination surrounding the actual direct threats to Australia. Expenditure appears to have been allocated on the basis of hysteria, the self-interest of our military hierachy and the bizarre notion that we have to fight a costly and unwinnable war in the Middle East at the behest of the US. A rational look at each major expenditure item in Australia's budget is long overdue and will almost certainly result in significant savings which will reduce the need for tax increases.

Eggs could soon be imported from China

The free trade agreement with China could soon see restrictions lifted on the importation of shell eggs. and as China is about to become the biggest egg producer in the world, it could decimate some of the big producers here in Australia. China egg production gets into full swing The establishment of large scale battery farms has pushed egg production in China to 40 per cent of the world total. In turn increased interest in egg-based foods, such as dairy products, pre-packaged foods and bakery have all boosted per capita consumption to amongst the highest in the world, says the latest report from Access Asia.