The round-up The National Interest round-up begins with a tiff over a restaurant bill. A group of Liberal National Party MPs held a slap-up dinner in a Greek restaurant in Cairns. And it seemed a good night was being had by all: the happy-snap in the Feed my solar panels Fancy earning a few extra dollars while helping the environment? It may sound too good to be true, but there are plenty of Germans doing it already. A feed-in tariff pays households for pumping electricity into the grid from roof-top solar panels, and proponents of the system say it offers a real incentive to invest in renewable energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Feed-in tariffs already exist in some states and territories, but rules vary from place to place and politicians of all stripes on the Senate Environment Committee agree it would make much more sense to have a consistent, Australia-wide system. So why is a bill to implement just such a system is about to be killed in parliament? Trees: the new carbon-storing, tax-minimising gimmick If you like trees simply for their beauty, you're sooo '07. Australian trees have become nifty little devices with which to store carbon and provide investors with a handy tax-break. We all know that trees soak up carbon-dioxide, so one logical response to climate-change is to grow more trees to keep the nasty gas out of the atmosphere. It makes sense, then, to offer financial incentives to grow trees specifically as carbon sinks. The idea was originally put forward by the Howard government, and later adopted by Labor - so much so that it slipped through both houses of Parliament with barely a ripple. Yet those carbon sink laws are now starting to make waves and a surprising coalition is forming to oppose them. The Greens are on board, as are the Nationals and at least one Liberal: NSW Senator Bill Heffernan. Hug a truckie, curse his boss It's never a comfortable feeling to be hemmed in by a B-double and anyone who's driven a major stretch of interstate highway in Australia will probably have had cause to curse a truck driver. Long-haul truckies don't enjoy a great reputation, however they may deserve some public sympathy. After all, they've signed up to one of the most dangerous professions around, and if drivers speed, or pop pills, or skimp on maintenance... well, that's probably because of the way they're paid. A report prepared for the the National Transport Commission has reviewed 20 years of research and found clear evidence of a link between remuneration and safety. In other words, linking pay to truckies' ability to meet impossible schedules is a recipe for disaster. Listener feedback Feedback on last week's program was full of criticism... of me in particular. We discussed plans to expand Olympic Dam in outback South Australia to create the world's largest open cut mine. We presented two points of view: a Green critic and a mining advocate. But Michel, from Tasmania, says my approach lacked balance: "I was very disappointed with the presenter refusing to talk about uranium mining to the Green, Mr Parnell, I think, because his views on uranium mining were well-known. Whereas, the next speaker, from the business lobby in South Australia, spoke about uranium mining at length, and promoted it, with the presenter adding more to it, and asking questions about uranium mining. I think it's just so biased. I'm just so outraged." True. I said to Mr Parnell that I wasn't going to ask him about uranium mining because the Greens' in-principle opposition to it is well known and the arguments familiar. My aim was to focus on aspects of the Olympic Dam expansion that have had less public exposure - like massive increases in water use, electricity consumption and carbon emissions. Marilyn chastised me for my choice of words in the interview with Immigration Minister Chris Evans about asylum-seekers on Christmas Island: "Peter, why do you play along with the clownish nonsense of 'people smuggling' when every court in Australia has decreed `this is clearly not a people smuggling operation´? As it is perfectly legal for anyone to arrive here and apply for protection and it is NOT SMUGGLING." Marilyn, I think we are talking about two different things. The right to seek asylum may be enshrined in international law, but how do you describe someone who profits by moving people across international borders without authorisation? They're certainly not travel agents! You'll find a transcript of my interview with Senator Evans here at the website - just click on the story in last week´s program. One of the questions I put to the Minister concerned the detention-like conditions in which eight teenagers were being held in the builders´ camp on Christmas Island, in apparent contradiction of Labor's promise not to detain children and families. The news from Christmas Island is that a day after our broadcast, the locks had come off the gates of the camp and guards were no longer stationed outside. On a lighter note, in last week's round-up I drew attention to WA Premier Colin Barnett's parliamentary dress code, which requires all male MPs to don suit and tie. I suggested the rule was a bit silly - since a bag of fruit may not be comfortable in all weathers. But sartorial Stephen from NSW thinks I lack dress sense: "Most suit-wearing men appear to imagine they are subject to some rule that requires they wear the same suits year round; they must be only grey (with navy blue on rare occasions), they never wear a sweater with a suit and they only wear long-sleeved shirts. If such men find themselves uncomfortable, it's their fault. [...] Women have no qualms about dressing for the season. After having such imaginary rules dismissed by my conservative suit-wearing father many years ago, I wear primarily linen suits with short-sleeve shirts in the summer and more heavy suits with sweaters and scarfs in the winter. And if these parliamentarians can't find menswear shops selling seasonal attire, the savings from having a few made at Bangkok's tailors more than pays for the airfare." And two weeks ago in the National Interest round-up I made reference to a story from Townsville about wild wallabies rampaging through a retirement village. I unleashed some alliteration about the marauding marsupials 'pooing on the patio' - an attempt at humour that failed to get a laugh from this Melbourne listener: "A whole generation has apparently grown up using the word 'poo'. You have no idea how distasteful, fatuous and infantile this sounds to older generations, within which only children used such an expression. The whole 'Round-up' segment is unrewarding for me. Otherwise good presenters, like you and Terry Lane, become a little tedious when attempting to be amusing". Perhaps you too, find the weekly National Interest round-up unrewarding. Or perhaps you think the opposite, that a little levity helps leaven the serious public policy issues we deal with elsewhere on the program. Either way, please let us know. Click on the 'have your say' button at the top of this page, or leave a message on our feedback line, 1300 936 222. Finally, you can write to the National Interest at: ABC Radio National, GPO Box 9994, Melbourne, Vic, 3001 (Australia). LESS

The round-up The National Interest round up begins in the West this week, where newish Liberal Premier Colin Barnett is instituting a dress code for MPs. The Premier appears to think that when it comes to standards of parliamentary behaviour, clothes maketh the politician. Henceforth men will be expected to sport jacket and tie - and women to adopt "suitable business attire". Australian unis face offshore campus dilemma Just over a month ago, North Queensland-based James Cook University opened a brand new campus, with room to accommodate 3,000 students and all of the latest mod-cons you would expect. But this new campus was somewhat further north than Cairns or Townsville... Since 2003, James Cook University has been offering degree programs in Singapore, to full fee-paying students who want to obtain an Australian education without leaving home. It's all part of the push into Asia by Australian universities, who are competing fiercely to get their slice of the region's thriving education market. But what responsibilities do Australian universities have when they operate offshore - particularly when it comes to free speech? Last week, James Cook University suspended an academic at its Singapore campus, who is facing contempt of court charges for wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of a kangaroo . The academic - John Tan Liang Joo - is arguing the university should have done more to defend his right to free speech. And his Australian colleagues agree. Exit Pacific Solution, enter Indian white elephant Since taking office almost a year ago, the Rudd government has significantly softened Australia's policies towards asylum seekers. Detention camps in Pacific island states have been closed, temporary protection visas have been abolished, there's a promise not to detain children and a commitment to fast-track decision-making on visa applications. Only in recent weeks, however, has Labor's approach really been put to the test by asylum seekers entering Australian waters on boats from Indonesia. There are now 26 asylum seekers being held at two facilities on the remote Australian Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island - although none of them will be in the island's brand-spanking-new, $400 million, purpose-built detention centre. The problem is: there are too few asylum seekers to make it worthwhile opening up the new facility. Besides, the government has committed to keeping women and children out of detention. So, where are the asylum seekers staying, and why bother having a remote detention centre anyway? Size matters: digging the biggest mine in the world BHP Billiton plans to expand its Olympic Dam operations at Roxby Downs to develop the world's largest open cut mine. The copper, gold and uranium project could be a massive boost to the South Australian economy; but BHP will have to move a million tonnes of earth a day - every day - for four years just to get to the ore. The profits will be large, but so will the environmental footprint. It's a project of such scale that it could shape the economic future of South Australia - with jobs and revenue for the state - but it could also affect the area's ecological future. BHP Billiton says an Environmental Impact Statement for the expansion will be lodged with the government before the end of the year, but the company won't talk about its plans until that statement is released for public comment next year. However, last week the BHP Billiton took a bunch of industry analysts on a tour including Olympic Dam - its copper, gold and uranium mine at Roxby Downs. And in the process, BHP executives revealed a bit more detail about their plans to expand their operation. Listener feedback On last week's program we discussed rail lines in the Pilbara and whether BHP and Rio should be forced to share their tracks with other mining companies. Private property versus competition - nothing like a kerfuffle over the key principles of free enterprise to fire up the National Interest audience. David, from Queensland, wrote in the guest book: "It was delightful to hear Alan Moran from the Institute of Public Affairs, while justifying the rent-seeking behaviour of WA's iron ore duopoly, endeavour to maintain the pretence that the IPA has a free-market ideology. Reference is made to socialist trojan horses. How big does a corporation have to be before its interests become indistinguishable from those of governments? Please invite Mr Moran back. It's interesting to hear what they want us to believe." Ditto, Viola, in Victoria: "The financial crisis has to be fixed by 'regulation - ie, tax-payers bail-out the corporate banking crooks. And now we have yet another contradiction between venerated 'private property' and the sacred 'Free Market.' Laissez-faire hacks like Alan Moran of the IPA have a headache as reality is more complicated than his capitalist ideology. Listener Harry took umbrage at Alan Moran's throwaway line that we risk of going "back to the 1950's" if government funds infrastructure. "These people have learned nothing from history [...] He and others like him are the economic dinosaurs, they are taking us back to the 1850's. This has all been tried before and found wanting. Karl Marx should be compulsory reading at every educational institution." Andrew in Victoria says it's 'blindingly obvious' that one railway through the Pilbara is more than enough: "In much of suburban Melbourne you can see kerbside rows of plane trees sliced through the middle to make way for two sets of cable infrastructure that were installed in the 90s: one for Foxtel and one for Optus, in the name of 'competition'. They do exactly the same job - one a completely redundant clone of the other. Only in the rarefied air of corporate investment committees and boardrooms does this kind of stupidity look sensible.." But Robert, an economist from New South Wales, has a more nuanced view. He thinks it's reasonable for BHP and Rio to keep control of their railway lines and for rival firms to lay their own tracks: BHP and Rio have not offered to share their lines with third parties. Let's assume that this is because their costs - especially the higher costs of coordinating third-party access - would exceed any price those third parties would be prepared to pay. Robert says the key test is whether controlling the infrastructure enables the BHP and Rio to raise prices: "With only nine per cent of the world market for iron ore, it cannot be said that BHP and Rio are a duopoly ... Individually or collectively they cannot raise the world price for iron ore." So, there is no need for government intervention in the Pilbara, says Robert - but he says there is a case for intervention when it comes installing telecommunications infrastructure. "In Telstra's case, there is no doubt that it is the dominant supplier, with market power that it abuses, when the ACCC isn't looking. Listener Ray reckons the big boys hold over the Pilbara the rail lines should be broken - if only to reward their rival Twiggy Forrest, the community-minded CEO of Fortescue Metals, who's launched a campaign to get 50-thousand indigenous Australians into jobs: "People like Andrew Forrest, who went to the trouble of building the swimming pool at Fitzroy Crossing for the Aboriginal people, and now this employment initiative, deserve to be supported by our government." Mark from Batemans' Bay, took me to task over my promo for the Pilbara discussion. "Yeah, very good program the National Interest, always listen to it. But the next one coming up is advertised as 'who owns the railroad'. Uhm, just another bit of Americanism coming into this country. We call them 'railways' in this country, Peter." Fair enough Mike. I think I used 'railroad' for a bit of diversity - to avoid saying 'railway' six times in thirty seconds Our interview two weeks ago with Aboriginal academic Stephen Hagan on the Coon Cheese name blame-game still has the phone running hot. Listener Margaret in Perth has had enough - though she seems confused about just who might be offended by the name 'Coon': "I'm absolutely astounded at this nonsense over the Coon Cheese. It has nothing to do with `coons´, in inverted commas; it has nothing to do with having a shot at anybody. Even Chinese people generally don't eat cheese, so it can't have any significance whatsoever." If you're cheesed off by anything on today's program, call the feedback line - 1300 936 222 - or click the 'have your say' button at the top of this page. LESS

The round-up The National Interest round-up begins in the dangerous Townsville region in North Queensland where, it seems, no one is safe from native fauna. The NZ's conservatives ready to tap mood for change This is one very important election which could have profound implications for Australia - and there's not a moose-shooting hockey mom in sight. New Zealand goes to the polls on Saturday November the 8th, and with around 10 per cent of the Kiwi population in Australia at any given time, the poll is fair game for some National Interest scrutiny. The political landscape across the ditch looks familiar: a prime minister in office for many years is being challenged by an energetic new opposition leader whose image can't be dented - not even by the admission of visiting a strip club. Meanwhile, out in the electorate there's a real mood for change. But while there may be echoes of Kevin 07, there are complicating factors too: for a start, it's Labour that's gone stale in office and the conservative National Party that's making the political comeback . Add to that New Zealand's proportional voting system, which makes minority government the most likely outcome, and you have an intriguing political scenario. Infrastructure impasse: rail access a socialist Trojan horse? Imagine this: you invest millions in a private rail line to get your goods to port, then along comes the government and tells you you have to share the track with rival companies. A few days ago, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan declared that the mega-miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto must share their Pilbara rail lines with Fortescue Metals and other mining firms. This should allow new companies to open up deposits in the iron rich region. But does a victory for the market ideal of competition mark a defeat for an equally important capitalist principle - that private property is sacrosanct? Mining magnate sets ambitious indigenous employment goal Fortescue Metals has made Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest one of Australia's richest men and Mr Forrest is throwing some of his millions at a problem that has little to do with infrastructure and exports: Aboriginal employment. The Australian Employment Covenant is an industry initiative which aims to get 50,000 indigenous Australians into permanent jobs. Fifteen major Australian companies have promised to offer positions under the scheme and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd this week committed the federal government to the Covenant. 50,000 jobs is an ambitious target - particularly now, as we brace for an economic downturn. And no-one is more aware of size of the challenge than Danny Lester, former CEO of the Aboriginal Employment Strategy, an organisation that has spent the past ten years working on this very challenge: getting indigenous Australians into jobs. Australian Employment Covenant hotline: 1300 346325 Listener feedback To listener feedback, now. And last week we discussed Aboriginal employment - particularly how planned changes to the Commonwealth's CDEP scheme might have an impact on remote communities. This prompted a good deal of listener feedback. Inge from Canberra has extensive experience in remote communities and she says our guest Jon Altman... "... shed light on the historical origins of CDEP and why it was created specifically for the remote context and why it is seen as employment by the many Aboriginal people who work in arts programs, community childcare, youth programs, community libraries, Caring for Country programs etc. Losing CDEP will mean unemployment and more welfare dependency for the many people who are engaging in meaningful part-time employment on CDEP." Dave takes the opposite view. He's just finished a stint teaching in a remote community: "For our last three weeks on the community our cleaner and assistant teacher took off with her family for an initiation ceremony. This is not uncommon: funerals and a variety of ceremonies take up an inordinate amount of time and always take precedence over other commitments. Despite the money on offer being quite handy and there being plenty of available labour, no one would else take up the offer of employment. In my experience CDEP is a soft option and an excuse for not getting a proper job." We also discussed the policy of compulsory income management for indigenous Territorians who receive government benefits. Mitchell, from Melbourne, has a suggestion for any Aborigines who want to get around the system: "When you fill in the dole form and it asks if you're an Aborigine, you just tick the box that says `no´ and who can challenge whether you are an Aborigine or not, you know? That would be a Supreme Court trial to work that out, wouldn't it?" Mick is furious that compulsory income management even applies to Indigenous veterans: "Does this mean that they can go and put their lives at risk and when they come home they are just `niggers´ again?" And speaking of the N-word, it was my interview with Toowoomba-based academic Stephen Hagan that dominated feedback this week. After his successful campaign to remove the name 'Nigger' from a local grandstand, Mr Hagan now has Coon Cheese in his sights. A significant majority of listeners who contacted us on this issue supported the push for a name change: Here's a taste of the Coon feedback: "When I migrated here from the USA in 1969, I was amazed to see a product called Coon Cheese. And then I heard my mother-in-law refer to a colour as "nigger brown". `Coon´ and `nigger´ are offensive; there are no ifs and/or buts about it. What other country uses these terms? Can you imagine seeing `Coon´ cheese on the supermarket shelves in the US? I've never bought that product. It's time to show a bit more sensitivity to those who find these names demeaning, racist and offensive." < i> "I came to Australia, I emigrated here in 2000, and was absolutely shocked to find Coon Cheese on the shelf. And whenever I speak to my Australian friends, they kind of give me a blank look - which shocked me even more. All of my English and European and Kiwi friend that I talk to are also shocked by this product being on the shelves. And I find it really offensive." Other listeners think the family origins of the brand, make 'Coon' an acceptable name for cheese: "Hi, my name's Pete. I'm an advertising copywriter, and recently had to do a bit of writing on the Kraft site, and Coon Cheese in particular, and did a bit of research of my own. And it's very clear that the Coon name was the name of people involved with producing cheese. It wasn't to ridicule black people or anybody else. There's just no way of confusing that." And listener Michael fears we're heading way too far down the road of linguistic correctness: "As sensitive as we must all be to any form of racist or pejorative expression, I suggest that we need to extract ourselves from our self-made PC cocoon (pun intended). If not, the English language, which is suffering badly, will be the poorer. As far as I know the makers of the cheese have no racist intent. What's next? Since the etymology may come from 'barracoon', the place where slaves or convicts were held, that word will need to be eliminated from the dictionary..." To add to this debate, or to comment in any way on today's program, call the feedback line - 1300 936 222 or click the `have your say´ button at the top of this page. LESS