Queensland pushes for new laws that would force homeowners to allow tenants to keep animals
So who is going to pay for the carpet you have to throw out when tenants have ruined it by their pets pissing and shitting on it? The government? As a former landlord I can vouch that it is not uncommonwith for pet owners to leave their accommodation in a stinking and unfixable state. And tenants are generally poor so you can't sue them. There are of course good and bad tenants but a big lot of them are low lifes. Landlords should be given medals for accommodating them
Every homeowner in one Australian state could be forced to allow tenants to have pets in an overhaul of renting laws.
Landlords in Queensland would still need to give consent to their tenants owning a pet under a state review called Open Doors to Renting Reform, but could only refuse in certain circumstances.
The review, which was announced by the state government on Sunday, would come after legislation in Victoria passed in September giving renters the same right.
to have pets in an overhaul of renting laws (stock image)
Housing minister Mick de Brenni said the new laws, which will also allow tenants in the state to hang photos on the wall freely, could 'make renting fairer for everybody'.
'Pets are part of our families,' the minister said according to ABC News. 'In other jurisdictions across the country, they have established a regime where we can make easier arrangements on having a pet.'
RSPCA Queensland announced last year that people moving home was one of the top three reasons why pets were turned into them. Over the past two years, the RSPCA said 15 per cent of the dogs and cats surrendered nationally were given to them because owners could not take their pets to their new home.
A consultation of renters, estate agents and homeowners will launch this week to begin the review process - described as long overdue by Deputy Premier Jackie Trad.
Tenants will receive an e-mail on Sunday asking how they think renting could be improved in the state, with submissions open until November 30.
She told reporters South Brisbane alone had seen a 123 per cent rise in the number of rental properties on the market and the appropriate laws in the state needed to be modernised.
State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the proposed tenancy law review would replace legislation which had not been changed in 40 years.
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Australia refuses to be the fall guy for the "crisis" at the global climate fund
Australia will freeze its level of funding for a Green Climate Fund that stalled after giving millions of dollars to replace cooking stoves in Bangladesh and sponsoring “gender responsive” drinking water projects in Ethiopia.
The GCF was a critical part of the Paris Agreement but was suffering a “crisis of confidence” and unable to function.
The US has already pulled $US2 billion ($2.7bn) of its promised $US3bn contribution but Australia is under pressure to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars more. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Australia had given the fund $200 million between 2015 and 2018. And it would “consider possible further contributions” through the course of “replenishment negotiations”.
But Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said yesterday: “Australia will not be increasing our commitment.”
A paper issued by the World Resources Institute this week said Australia should be the sixth biggest contributor to the fund based on its economy, past greenhouse gas emissions and current emissions per capita. This would amount to about $400m in second-round funding.
Environment groups have said “replenishment” funding would be “a critical indicator to developing countries about whether developed countries are serious about holding up their part of the Paris Agreement bargain”. But former GCF board member Jacob Waslander has written a scathing critique of the fund’s operation. “Rather than a dynamic global centre for climate finance, the GCF board has been mired by ineffective decision-making in an atmosphere of distrust,” Mr Waslander said. “After five years of operation, the GCF — the world’s biggest multilateral climate fund — faces a crisis of confidence … Representative from developed and developing countries, the private sector and non-governmental organisations are deeply concerned about the effectiveness and efficiency of the fund’s governance, and particularly about how its board functions.”
The last board meeting ended in stalemate with the resignation of Australian chief executive Howard Bamsley. Mr Waslander said a key problem was the board worked on the basis of unanimity, so any board member could block any decision for any reason. As a result, funding for new projects had effectively stopped.
The GCF had so far approved 76 projects worth $US3.7bn ($5bn) to help developing countries in their low-emission development. About half of the money was in loans and half in grants, much of it dedicated to promoting renewable energy. Most projects were in Africa and Asia Pacific.
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The controversial traffic law that doesn't even work: Road rule that forces drivers to slam on the brakes while passing emergency vehicles is causing MORE crashes
Drivers across the country are reporting more near misses than ever before, with motorists pointing the finger at one controversial road rule.
South Australian drivers are forced to slam on the brakes and get their cars below 25 kilometres per hour any time they pass an emergency vehicle with its lights on.
Motorists also need to give way to any person on foot near a parked emergency vehicle flashing its lights, according to the rule.
Failure to do so could result in a fine of $448 and three demerit points.
In theory, the rule reduces the risk of a driver hitting a paramedic or police officer, whose attention would be on a scene at the side of the road.
But drivers say that screeching to a halt is increasing the likelihood of a rear-end collision.
Latest South Australian police figures show 42 reports of near misses or collisions when motorists are forced to brake hard since the laws were introduced in late-2014. One-third of the complaints actually resulted in a collision, or the driver being forced to jerk out of the way. In some instances, they say they completely lost control of their vehicle.
Before the law was implemented, only one complaint was ever made.
South Australia's Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard is calling for reform in the state's law, resulting in consistency across the country.
Similar laws have been put in place in every other state, though their speed limits drop to 40km/h instead of 25km/h when passing an active emergency services vehicle.
'Potentially, going to 40km/h across the board could be a smoother understanding for the public and community, so we'll have a look at whether that's do-able,' Mr Wingard says. He says he hopes to raise the issue in Cabinet, before pursuing possible legal changes to State Parliament
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Brother of Muslim accused of Christmas Day terror plot to blow up Melbourne 'believed Australians who refuse to comply with Sharia law should be executed or deported’
I know who should be executed or deported. With their hate-filled religion, Muslims are just bad news
A man whose home was raided over an alleged terror plot in Melbourne two years ago believes people who don't sign a contract to live peacefully with Muslims should leave Australia or be executed.
Ibrahim Abbas is giving evidence against his younger brother Hamza Abbas, 23, cousin Abdullah Chaarani, 27, and friend Ahmed Mohamed, 25, who are on trial in the Supreme Court, accused of conspiring to prepare an attack in Melbourne's CBD on Christmas Day 2016.
Mr Abbas was arrested on December 22 that year over the plot, which prosecutors allege targeted Federation Square, St Paul's Cathedral and Flinders Street Station.
In a police interview played to jurors on Monday, Mr Abbas said 20 police came to his home and arrested him. He was quizzed about his support for Islamic State, the caliphate and Sharia Law, which he believed should be implemented in Australia for all Muslims and non-Muslims.
'They would have to sign a contract to live with, amongst Muslims in peace,' he said. 'Whoever does not sign the contract either leaves the country or is executed.'
Mr Abbas developed his views listening to scholars like Anwar al-Awlaki, an alleged IS recruiter.
He also watched 'major release' Islamic State videos designed to update watchers on recent events, attacks and show beheadings.
But he gave up social media and watching political videos around the time his home was previously raided.
'After I got raided I just felt like me being on social media is of no benefit to myself and my views,' he said, noting he had been banned from Facebook five times for posting pictures of Islamic State.
He did continue to use encrypted messaging app Telegram under username ShiaSlayer, but stopped about six months before his 2016 arrest.
Mr Abbas told police he was aware of instructional bomb making videos, and Mohamed had directed him to one about a month earlier.
'He knows that I'm, ah, a fan or I follow IS and - or I agree with their ideology, so he thought that it'd be nice to tell me,' he said.
The video gave instruction on using hydrogen peroxide to make explosives, a product Mr Abbas previously testified he had gone with some of the accused to buy at a chemist.
Mr Abbas also told police a visit to Federation Square with his brother, Chaarani and Mohamed was to get ice cream and walk around.
Last week, he told the court it was then that he suggested the men 'just picture a terrorist attack over here.' The trial is continuing.
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Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me here