Rant 1 - The Weekend That Was - 23-26 August 2012

Rant 2 - Telstra Job Losses

Rant 3 - Recycling

Rant 4 - Drug Driving

Rant 1

‘The Weekend That Was’ is a segment that makes its debut tonight. It will provide a regular summary of events, issues or incidents that I have either witnessed or been made aware of that have had an impact late at night around Lismore over the previous weekend.

If you would like to share something, you can submit it by email at info@bigrobs.com.au. Please advise if you would like to remain anonymous in your email.

I used to post summaries on my Facebook pages some time ago but stopped doing so since I became aware that police were heavily monitoring my Facebook accounts. There were concerns that the information could be used to prosecute individuals under the ‘affray charge’ tactic even when those involved may be victims. I will rant about this tactic in the future.

Thursday night was a quiet night. There were not many people around so that in itself is not unusual. Most people seemed pretty happy which is a refreshing change.

Yet again, Friday night was a bit rough. Last Friday really drove home why many of us call it ‘Friday Fight Night’. The streets were full of young people who seemed to be very intoxicated. Heavy drinking was pretty obvious but many seemed to also be on drugs.

A lot of people were scared by the large groups of young people just hanging around on the footpaths. They had to walk past these groups to get to where they were going. Some were trying to rush past while others were trying to wait them out. It can be pretty intimidating for a person to walk past large groups of loud, intoxicated teenagers especially when being hassled for money and cigarettes.

There were a few verbal arguments and small fights. One incident saw a young guy steal one of the bins in front of Big Rob’s and run off with it. He must have been fairly drunk since I have a few CCTV cameras watching and they are fairly noticeable. When I approached him to speak with him, some random guy walked up and king hit him for no apparent reason. The guy also threw a couple of quick jabs. I then stopped the fight and walked with the guy I was speaking with over to my shop.

This brought flash backs of the week earlier when a huge fight broke out with a guy I was speaking with. As much as I appreciate it, I do not like seeing anyone get hit especially by those who think they are helping me out somehow.

While continuing to speak with the young guy, a fight broke out in the shop across the road. I saw chairs lifted up and a number of people get involved. I ran over to assist the other shop keeper.

One of the guys fighting was the same guy who threw the punches earlier. We stopped the guy from using the chair. I grabbed one guy in a bear hug from behind and moved him towards the exit of the shop. The shop owner grabbed the guy who had hold of the chair. The police were fashionably late for this one and nothing came of it.

Saturday night was also pretty quiet as far as Saturday nights go but still saw an early street fight with some pretty big haymakers being thrown. The police were all over that one and the fight was quickly stopped. A couple of ladies fights also attracted some attention. There is little more to add to this night.

Big Rob’s Rant is interactive while being broadcast. You can find me on Facebook by following the links to Big Rob’s Rant on the Big Rob’s website at bigrobs.com.au.

You are listening to 92.9 River FM. I am Big Rob.

Rant 2

The Telstra job losses have been all over the media lately. There is consensus that these job losses will not only be devastating for many families and individuals working at Telstra, it will also be devastating for Lismore’s economy as a whole. The staff deserves our complete support to try and minimise the impact of this cost-cutting move from Telstra.

There are petitions circulating that will be forwarded to Telstra bosses to try and get them to change their minds. It would be fantastic to see everyone sign these petitions.

The various levels of government are also working together to try and minimise the impact. Federal Labor, State Nationals and local Country Labor are doing whatever they can. The pressure may see something more suitable presenting itself.

I am not sure if more can be done to help the Telstra workers facing the sack, however, I often wonder if more can be done to protect Australian jobs. For example, it might be possible for the Federal Government to introduce legislation to protect Australian jobs.

Legislation currently exists making it illegal for an Australian business to use foreign workers if they do not have a work visa. This legislation applies when the worker is on Australian soil and protects Australian jobs. Using a foreign worker located on foreign soil renders this legislation useless to protect jobs. Changing this legislation may be one method available to remedy this situation.

Legislation also exists to prevent money from leaving Australia in certain situations. This legislation could also be altered to prevent the payment of foreign workers. Sadly, such legislative change is very unlikely.

Technology has seen the removal of various restrictions on business. The most significant change brought about by technology is the concept of a global economy. Many businesses are no longer restricted by borders. Manufacturing has been leaving our shores for years and now services are following.

Using foreign workers is so appealing because the cost is considerably less since many countries do not offer the same protections to workers as we are accustomed to in Australia. That makes those countries far more competitive and very attractive to large corporations who have their primary obligation to shareholders. These considerably lower wage costs, together with tax deductions on employment costs, make an offshore move very appealing.

This is 92.9 River FM and I am Big Rob.

Find me on Facebook by following the Big Rob’s Rant links on the Big Rob’s website at bigrobs.com.au.

Rant 3

After reading a story in yesterday’s Northern Star about the success of the Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens, located metres away from Lismore’s Wyrallah Road Waste Facility, I was reminded of my views on recycling. I was reminded because of a comment in the article from Ms Offord. In relation to not being sure the gardens would grow at first, she was quoted as saying:

"We're surprised anything thrived where the useful plants garden is because you could tell something had been dumped there.”

A link to this story will be provided on the Big Rob’s website.

Recycling certainly makes people feel good about themselves and is a huge reason why it is so popular. I do not dispute the personal benefits, however, I have some issue when looking at the economic and environmental benefits.

What started with recycling cans, which is a more profitable process than mining the materials needed to create the cans, has now expanded into recycling so much more. A good example is plastic. It is very clear that better quality and less expensive items can be made from scratch as opposed to using recycled plastic but we still recycle.

When considering paper, a lot of environmentalists get very vocal about saving the trees. There are considerably more trees today than there were one hundred years ago. This is due to the increasing awareness directly attributed to the strong work of environmentalists. However, pushing the recycling angle is pushing an unnecessary manufacturing process that creates considerable pollution.

Trees are a renewable resource and most of the pulp used to make paper these days is sourced from tree farms. With the reducing reliance on paper as a result of digital technology, it makes a person question whether paper recycling is still even necessary at all.

Recycling costs considerably more than throwing rubbish into landfill. Landfill is a topic that always results in heated debate amongst environmentalists. Like anything, landfill has many advantages and disadvantages.

Some advantages of a well managed landfill facility include:

 Some disadvantages of a poorly managed landfill facility include:

A modern day landfill site includes environmental protections and recycling processes that render individual recycling all but obsolete. The many plastic bins needed, the heavy trucks and the fossil fuel intensive manufacturing processes to continue recycling the way we do is not sustainable.

Excluding all the swearing and silliness, a show that summarises my view fairly well is one done as part of the ‘Penn & Teller – Bullshit!’ series called ‘Recycling’. A link to this film on YouTube will also be provided on the Big Rob’s website.

I do not support recycling as we do it today. I believe the way we recycle creates considerably more pollution and uses more fossil fuels than the initial processes used to create those items we are recycling in the first place. I believe alternative items should be identified for use that will not require recycling.

I am still going on Facebook. Follow the Big Rob’s Rant links on the Big Rob’s website at bigrobs.com.au to post your comments.

This is 92.9 River FM and I am Big Rob.

Rant 4

An article appeared in the Northern Star last week titled ‘Low number of Lismore drug drivers’. This article reported ‘the number of drug drivers on our roads being comparatively low compared to the State average’ according to police. This is despite our ‘reputation as the pot smoking capital of Australia’.

A link to this article will be made available on the Big Rob’s website.

The figures provided by police refer to only nine drug driving operations over five years in the Richmond Local Area Command. 1,734 people were tested with 64 returning positive results. That correlates to 3.69% of those tested.

Even though the police operations targeted festivals such as MardiGrass and Splendour in the Grass, this figure may be low in number but is very high as a percentage of those tested regardless of the State average.

When comparing these figures with those for drink driving, millions of people are tested every year with results usually coming back at a percentage of less than 1% positive test results. Of this percentage, we still see many serious accidents and deaths on our roads. I was unable to find reliable figures relating to accidents attributed to drug driving.

Since the percentage of drug drivers that we have has come back as being very high, it would make sense that police immediately commence targeting drug driving as an area of great concern in our region. Not doing so could continue to unnecessarily place the lives of our family and friends at risk. Such operations should continue until reliable statistics become available supporting reducing the targeting of drug drivers if this percentage reduces when not targeting festivals.

I understand that there are a lot of problems with transport in this area. including the cost associated with affording a taxi to get home when living a fair distance from a venue, but it is important that if people plan to drink or take drugs, then they should make prior transport arrangements or stay with a friend until they are no longer under the influence. The possible alternative is just not worth the risk.

Let’s all get home in one piece.

I am still on Facebook. Follow the Big Rob’s Rant links on the Big Rob’s website at bigrobs.com.au if you want to share some thoughts.

You are listening to 92.9 River FM and I am Big Rob.