Crikey

Insulation repair costs blow out. The latest budget figures provided to the Department of Finance and Deregulation from the Department of Climate Change suggest the cost of home inspections requiring roof lifts (that is, removing the roof tiles, Colorbond or galvanised-iron roof to access the ceiling space) could be as high as $400 million. This is just a one-line item in a range of costs for the inspection and repair of houses arising from the failed household insulation program.

Partisanship on the base. Yesterday at an army base north of Toowoomba, a mandatory attendance morning tea was called so the soldiers could listen to the local LNP candidate — Ian Macfarlane. I don’t believe an offer has been made to the Labor candidate, as there is no “mandatory morning tea” scheduled for the next few days. It’s appalling and very one-sided, that an Australian government organisation does not have to be or be seen to be open handed and providing fairness. If it’s happening at Cabarlah base, then is it happening around all other bases in Australia?

The Libs infiltrating UQ politics. Student politics at the University of Queensland is in pretty dire straits. The student union group is meant to be apolitical, however the union party is (ironically) comprised of Young Liberals. Photos from semester-two market day at UQ have been uploaded to the UQ Union website, including at least six of the 101 photos being of the Liberal Party stall and precisely zero photos of the Labor and Greens stalls. The description of the album is: “Check out all the actions, stalls and photos from Market Day Semester 2”. It seems “all” means only the Liberal presence when it comes to politics on campus.

Free coffee for Climate Change workers. The Department of Climate Change provides tea, coffee and milk to all 1000 staff. Coffee machines can be found in every kitchen area on every floor for staff to make cappuccinos, lattes, espressos and long blacks. Where is the razor gang when it comes to this blatant misuse of public monies? Is this where our tax dollars should be spent?

First in, best dressed for Comm Games. Apparently there’s no set setting for any events at the Commonwealth Games, outside of the opening and closing ceremonies, according to my travel agent. Crowd control — infamously lax in India — could get out of control…

 —  —  —  —  — Forwarded message —  —  —  —  — 
From: Delhi2010 <XXXXXXX@sportsworld.co.uk>
Date: 10 August 2010 02:14
Subject: Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games
To: Delhi2010 <XXXXXXX@sportsworld.co.uk>

Dear Commonwealth Games Enthusiast

We have just been notified by Delhi 2010 Organising Committee that only the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will have reserved seating. All tickets to sports sessions are designated as “General Admission” tickets.  Shown below is the official description of what “Reserved” and “General Admission” means:

What does reserved seating mean?

Reserved seating means a specific seat number is assigned to every ticket.

What does general admission mean?

General admission means there is no specific seat assigned to a ticket. However, the zone as per price category will be pre-assigned.

We realise that this may cause you some inconvenience, Sportsworld did protest to D2010 that this was not the best way to manage ticketing at a major sporting event, unfortunately, we were not able to make them alter how they will manage the seating configuration within the venues.

When planning your travel to sessions designated as “General Admission” events, we suggest you allow additional time to arrive at the venues early so that you can select which seats you wish to sit in. Should you require further clarification or have any other query relating to you booking, please don’t hesitate to contact us at XXXXX@sportsworld.co.uk

Kind regards
Sportsworld Delhi 2010 Team