Turnbull federal budget could wipeout Townsville property owners

Image: Cartoonist, Dave Pope

The Turnbull-Morrison federal budget could wipe out many property owners who are hanging on to their investment properties in the Townsville district by the skin of their teeth, enduring sustained cash flow and equity declines over the past 5 years.

Not to mention the property owners (investors and owner-occupiers) whose fate has already been determined, falling victim to the steepest economic and property decline in financial terms in local recorded history.

Many are local residents that have lost their jobs or businesses, foreclosing with the banks or filing for bankruptcy. The highest occurrence of bankruptcy across the entire country has been experienced in Townsville.

Significant numbers of property owners are living from hand to mouth constrained by the debt imbalance. They are incurring losses from which negative gearing and a reliance on taxation refunds are their only salvation.

Despite the Property Council of Australia's (PCA) influence on this budget, the threat at the next election of a more extreme left-wing policy of reducing or eliminating negative gearing, has become a haunting possibility as the country strives for more revenues.

Green and left-wing extremism are likely to swing ordinary voters against the rise of Trumpism and Turnbullism. More anti-business and anti-corporate campaigns like Getup's malicious campaign against Adani coal is an ideology with heavy domestic and international support.

Although a seemingly senseless policy to any economist, a change of government, could be the armageddon for property owners if the Townsville economy continues to dance so far out-of-step with national economic trends and federal fiscal policy makers.

Also, Townsville governance organisations threaten the investment pipeline of the City in the short term, as the Turnbull government has a deep thirst for the "City Deal" mega data deposits from the Internet of Things (IoT) system. Under the contract by Mayor Jenny Hill, the "no data, no deal" is setting Townsville Enterprise up for restructuring or imminent redundancy.

The federal budget announcements targeting big-ticket infrastructure and taxation concessions using superannuation and negative gearing for managed funds to address housing affordability in Sydney and other capital cities is a dumb policy. This is really irresponsible on Townsville North Queensland given the recent and ongoing pain and suffering.

Despite Townsville Enterprise foolishly appealing for more new housing development to meet projected population growth, in other words increasing supply, North Queensland and Townsville districts do not need a housing affordability policy at the forefront of the public agenda when business investment and jobs are what is needed the most.

Instead, a more prudent priority for Townsville district is to seek microeconomic solutions such as the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) scheme, as proposed by the PCA. This is backed up by the Northern Australia Development Facility, with strong and robust relationships, with leading boards and executives of large enterprise both domestically and internationally.

Apart from births, migrations, and immigration, the focus on value-add industries securing property for development in Townsville's Council district, is Townsville's only leverage under the "City Deal" contract, to attract significant federal and state government investment.

The New Residential Land Sales and Supply chart clearly shows the surplus land stocks in Townsville districts.

In his address to the media, the Treasurer Scott Morrison said, "it's not a silver bullet – nor is it intended to be", referring to his federal budget and the media anticipating a fix all budget.

Ironically, this is exactly what this budget is. A silver bullet for property owners being put out of their misery if these measures strike to achieve more housing affordability in a market plagued by asset value declines.

Unemployment rates in Townsville are at 11 percent and the broader economy of regional Australia is hurting from the downturn in mining activity and substantial increases in energy prices.

The centre-point of the budget, being that it addresses housing affordability, could move the sentiments of distressed property owners and buyers to protest and disrupt the political will of what is perceived to be a puppet's play.

This federal budget reaffirms the concerns of local representatives that the Federal and State governments are capital city-centric. They are driven by votes instead of delivering "a fair go for all Australians", which Mr. Turnbull promised in his preamble to this budget.

The Turnbull-Morrison federal budget will go down as the most politically safe budget in coalition history. In fact, many commentators are saying it is a labor policy budget with terms like "centralist budget" and "not traditional liberal".

The Liberals are fully funding social programs such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and increasing taxes on the banks.

The banks, of course, have already said they will pass on the cost increases to every mortgage holder in the country. As the big four banks have done in recent times, they are well within their rights to act independently to raise their interest rates and fees.

Once again for Townsville North Queensland, the people are being asked to pull up the smelly socks of bad government leadership. Meanwhile, a liberal government slips into their fresh uncharacteristically labor-like federal budget cotton socks to attract votes from the capital cities and the left-wing media establishment driven by ratings and polls.

Even financial and taxation professionals are labeling the budget as a "good strong budget" as there are no additional personal or small to medium size enterprise (SME) tax increases announced. Superannuation by and large has been untouched. 

Just as the people have grown to expect smoke and mirrors from a political funding announcement, the Turnbull-Morrison duo is being socially responsible and hitting the big end of town just like the Labor opposition policies were proposed to target.

By design or coincidentally, it is likely Bill Shorten has been taken out of play in this budget. Not only in policy terms. But it is effectively the "Bill Shorten execution budget".

Shorten's electability, not just as an opposition leader but Labor candidate in the seat of Maribynong, has taken a direct hit with 127 hectares of defense land in his own electorate in Victoria being made available for 6000 new affordable homes under this budget.

Is Mr. Shorten's political career finished? Mr. Turnbull would hope so, if the cold shoulder he gave him in front of the media the morning of the budget announcement is any indication.

Putting the political undertones aside, what if Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane had an unemployment rate of 11 percent with a median house price of $337,000 for houses, and $272,000 for units? Would the federal budget be focused on housing affordability? Absolutely not!

The House and Unit Prices chart below demonstrates the decline of values and stable affordability environment in Townsville districts. 

Economic stimulation with tax breaks, grants, and infrastructure investment spending in the regions would be high on the agenda. But not this politically and socially sensitive government.

Its focus is on self-preservation. Obviously seeking to secure the next election with capital city and regional Victoria and New South Wales voters, who are set to benefit from the new $20 billion rail corridor from Melbourne to Brisbane.

With a consolation prize of relatively minor funding, allocated to repairs and maintenance to the Bruce Highway and disaster relief from cyclone Debbie, nothing positive from a Townsville perspective can be said about this budget.

When we look at the median property price for rentals in Townsville, it makes the federal budget's focus on affordable housing look like a joke.

For example, a three bedroom house in Townsville is currently being rented for $290 per week. This is a decrease in the housing price of 6.5% in the last 12 months, with the housing price already starting from a low base and dropping consistently from nearly $400 per week in 2012.

Considering the massive uncertainty in the superannuation sector over recent budgets, the mobile and rental accommodation being so affordable in regional Australia, the elderly are anticipated to snap up the $300,000 per person superannuation top-up option in this budget.

Once again in a Sydney context, this policy might make sense. But in Townsville, adding more supply to an already distressed housing market is like igniting high octane fuel in a fire of despair.

Unless local governments and marketing experts in Townsville and North Queensland target the elderly in the capital city markets by offering comparable or upsize value strategies such as a clean, affordable and healthy tree-change lifestyle, this budget measure is more likely to be detrimental to Townsville's property market.

The likely result is more housing supply as our elderly residents will seek to cash in. This breeds more unhappy owners because the further downward pressure will be put on median house prices.

In addition this budget also, the federal government will establish the housing finance corporation (HFC). From July 2018, the HFC will offer long-term, low-cost finance to community affordable housing providers. Investors are assured to get rental payments from the government with direct deductions from welfare payments transacted to investors.

It's the $1 billion National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) that is of particular concern in the hands of an inept local government being charged with developing business cases, to win funding and then administering the funds through community housing contractors.

Desperate for new home developments that attract increased revenues, council rates and economic stimulation, the NHIF program in Townsville will have Mayor Jenny Hill and Townsville Enterprise salivating at the mouth.

However, this social housing initiative will be disastrous for incumbent property owners in Townsville based on the accumulated evidence from the NRAS (National Rental Affordability Scheme). The now abolished Labor government NRAS program was a disaster back in 2013, its legacy is still being felt across the City.

Then, NRAS was the catalyst for the sustained fall in rental prices and subsequent fall in sale prices across the City. This combined with softer global commodity prices and carbon tax policies, Townsville's property economy has been impacted by catastrophic losses ever since.

Furthermore, affordable housing investors are being offered a possible 60% discount on capital gains if they build new housing projects with the condition of pricing the accommodation below market prices to low-income tenants managed by a community housing provider.

This is NRAS rebadged! All be it with a 40% less capital write-off, but with a more favourable incentive to control rental cash flow directly from welfare payments or employer direct contributions.

NRAS created a false economy and drove free market prices down just as the combined housing affordability initiatives are now likely to do.

The NHIF is based on the UK model aiming to assist local governments to develop new homes and apartment blocks. For Townsville North Queensland, the combined measures of NFIC and NFC are unfavorable with property prices already falling substantially over the past 4-5 years. NRAS Mark II is what this federal budget is delivering.

But that is not all, a separate Trust is being established by the federal government to encourage both foreign and domestic investors to invest in affordable housing in Australia. 

On one hand, foreign investors leaving properties vacant are being penalised $5,000 in capital gains in this budget, while on the other hand, the government opens up a larger pie for taxation write offs by directing their attention to public housing infrastructure.

In principle, this is a smart measure if it were applied to foreign investors directing their capital into regional manufacturing and new enterprise initiatives that create "value-add" to Townsville's enterprise infrastructure. 

Knowing the influence of Townsville's infamous property development moguls with land to burn (as shown in the New Residental Land Sales and Supply chart above), and a local council habitually grovelling for new subdivision applications, the depth and intensity of the housing affordability measures in the federal budget are bewildering.

To drive the nail in the coffin even further, property owners who claim travel expenses on their tax returns for inspecting, maintaining or collecting rent on their rental properties will no longer be allowed after July 2017.

Consider the fact that over 40% of Townsville's total housing supply are rental properties owned by investors, many travel to Townsville to check on their properties.

With current property yields declining and debt-to-equity ratios increasing, the federal budget is indirectly targeting the 3rd largest contributor to industry output in Townsville's $30 billion economy, this being the "Rental, Hiring and Real Estate" sector at 9.4% (Source: REMPLAN: Dec 2016). This is an industry contributing $2.8 billion per annum to the Townsville economy.

Under prudent management rationale, this budget would normally bring opposition kicking and screaming. But not a whisper from the incumbent Labor representatives in all local, state and federal seats across the Townsville districts.

Patricia O'Callaghan, Townsville Enterprise (TEL) CEO, confirmed in a statement to the Townsville Bulletin that the budget did not address any of the priority initiatives outlined by TEL in their pre-budget wish list. Yet she praised the Smart City Deal initiative and pledged to work with the federal government. 

The property owners and investors of Townsville North Queensland have been left with more questions than answers from this federal budget. With this fresh analysis undertaken by TREN, the property owners and stakeholders of Townsville North Queensland can forge a conclusive understanding of the impact from the federal budget on local real estate investors and owner-occupiers. 

Do you have an opinion about the federal budget? The TREN community wants to hear your story.

Australia's Reserve Bank Rate Announcement

North Queensland and Townsville home owners and buyers receive little relief from the Reserve Bank of Australia Board today with their cash rate announcement.

Australia's Reserve Bank has acted on the cash rate as predicted by most reputable economists and retained rates on hold at 1.50 percent today.

With inflation trending higher, a rate rise was unlikely with concerns about unfavourable employment figures and stable prices in global trading of oil and the federal budget soon to the released.

Capital city property prices were a major consideration of the RBA Board as values have increased almost 10 percent since May and August last year.

Despite recent housing data showing property prices in Sydney and Melbourne easing, causing increasing concerns about negative equity risks in the capital city markets.

Easing prices in the capital city markets if sustained over longer periods could be factor for the RBA to increase the cash rate later in 2017 or 2018.

But in the meantime, rates are set to remain on hold unless the economy and jobs growth do not improve economists are predicting, a quarter of whom predict a rate reduction no less than 1.0 per cent.

From a Townsville and North Queensland perspective, a rate cut would have been welcome news for property owners and buyers to stimulate property market demand and bring a glimmer of hope that a redound in sustained values are on the horizon.

Townsville's clean energy war; $400 million solar energy investment set to divide interests

Image: Thanks to Townsville Bulletin

What feels like a drop of water on ancient stone carving out the future geometry of the earth's rivers and streams, the mass sum of Townsville's solar energy projects is making less than a drop in the national energy market even with the launch of the $155 million Sun Metals Solar Farm project, 15 km south of Townsville.

The Korean-owned Sun Metals project comes on the back of the $250 million solar farm announced for construction on a disused mango farm in the Upper Ross last year, about 20 km south-west of Townsville. A facility of this capacity is expected to add 450,000 photovoltaic modules, which will deliver clean energy to 50,000 households.

Over half a dozen clean energy power stations have been built across North Queensland in the past two years. Yet these power stations add less than 1% to the national energy market.

Combined with the existing small-scale 1350 residential and commercial installations (although not supplying wholesale spot prices) across the City, solar energy is boosting Townsville's electricity capacity steadily enough that the perceptions of victory by non-fossil fuel proponents could have inspired right-wing politics to parade a fist full of raw coal through federal parliament this week.

The additional solar capacity at Sun Metals will be connected to their existing 33/132 kV substation to supply power to their refinery, offering incidental net inflow capacity to the power network. However, their reliance on wholesale power will be reduced by up to 116 MWac as the extra one million solar panels being used will cover 130 hectares. This type of project is what is slowly reducing demand for consumption on the 540 trillion watts feed into the national energy market. 

Image: Thanks to Inhabitat

The real estate investors in Townsville have to be wondering what the impact of these larger scales energy projects will have on the economics of accommodation and the cost of power supply in the broader community. After all, households and small business that are impacted by energy prices are also critical players in the recovery of the property market more broadly.

The truth is these installations will have a negligible impact on retail power capacity and minuscule effect on prices. History might suggest that where a large investment in solar power equipment occurs, the retail price of electricity increases to make up for downward pressure on supplier cash flows. But while the demand for existing infrastructure maintenance overheads and replacement costs continues, prices have continued to rise in excessive of the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The Queensland Energy Minister, the Hon. Mark Bailey has made his pitch for more renewable energy projects flying in the face of federal conservative politics and local Townsville business leaders calling for urgent action on building a coal-fired power station in the region.

Premier Hon. Annastacia Palaszczuk with Queensland Energy Minister, Hon. Mark Bailey
Image: Thanks CourierMail.com.au

Grandstanding on surpassing his election promise of supporting 40mW of renewable energy by announcing the fact that 300mW was delivered as part of his Solar150 policy, Mr Bailey is banking on competition and more solar production, the cost of which has reduced by as much as 80% since 2009 the State Minister claims.

Independent customer satisfaction researcher and rating business, Canstar Blue, said that location is a major factor in electricity pricing. "The amount (price) energy companies charge for power is dependant on a number of factors, the location being one of them."

The independent rating company also identified that the "Queensland Productivity Commission found that deregulation would boost competition and potentially lower electricity prices - and it's easy to see why when you compare average costs in Brisbane with those in Victoria, the most mature energy market in Australia. But so far overall prices show no sign of coming down, so it's important to find the best deal of the bunch currently on offer."

Queensland has the highest concentration of electricity suppliers in Australia, and over 50% of the capacity and demand is serviced by government-owned black coal-fired power stations. What's more, Queensland has a surplus of supply making the State a net exporter of electricity to other states.

Energy prices are set by the retailers and the free market. Energy is still regulated across the board in regional and rural Queensland. However, only if use is below 100mW. This stops in June this year and the $500 million Community Service Obligation (CSO) paid by the State government to subsidise distributors like Ergon and limit energy pricing will be passed on to consumers. South-east Queensland has had deregulated pricing since July 2016.

Although a federal labour's carbon price was to blame, the Newman government realised at the LNP election loss, increased electricity prices on households are political suicide, especially aggressive increases which putting a price on carbon caused.

The sensitivity of price increases in a recession-ridden economy like Townsville, quite possible under a utopian clean energy agenda, means catastrophe at the ballot box is inevitable for pro-futurist politicians like Mr Bailey. Unless the $500 million SCO subsidy is renewed, prices are indirectly regulated for the benefit of regional Queensland in addition to the regulations that end in this June.

However, Mr Bailey would find it difficult to justify politically why the $500 million CSO subsidy is renewed come July 2017. Because you would assume the government will be serving the people to keep retail prices down so Ergon need not increase their costs in regional Queensland.

Trusting deregulation and the influx of retailers in regional Queensland would reduce prices to offset the CSO cuts and increased competition to the majority government-owned power generators, is inconsistent and unlikely with location constraints reported by the independent rating company, Canstar Blue. Townsville is hotter than Brisbane and power leakage, being great distances from base-load generators, is costing the State $130 million dollars per year in lost energy.

But a $1 billion federal Northern Australia low-interest loan to a consortium of private and Chinese investors, who are now otherwise paying 6-10% interest on borrowings, would reduce the demand on taxpayers for government subsidies, practically eliminate wastage by power leakage, reduce the spot price of wholesale power by adding healthy spot price competition in the generator market, and serve the economic interests of North Queensland.

With a combined clean coal/carbon offset revegetation program to achieve carbon reduction targets, an additional 100-200 mW capacity could put downward pressure on electricity prices with a new base-load power station. But most importantly, it would deliver North Queensland the necessary industrial muscle needed to secure its economic prosperity and lessen the need for subsidies from taxpayers.

As the Upper Ross and Sun Metals investments and future clean energy investments like them continue, the clean energy sector will inevitably seek to protect not just their ideology but their growing investor cohort seeking to secure and protect their ROI in the energy markets. Demand for energy has been steadily reducing as residential and commercial solar projects like Sun Metals come online and the Australian manufacturing sector has dwindled.

The battleground between old money and new money (green certificates) is set to evolve into all-out warfare in the boardrooms and dare it to be said, in the unemployment centres of Townsville unless a sensible decision can be made by a rebellious climate industry to pragmatically serve the wellbeing of the entire community desperate for short-term mining and industrial jobs.

"The Sun Metal project is set to commence in April 2017 and create 250 jobs in the construction phase as one of the largest solar farms in Australia", winning contractor Dr Paul Dalgleish, Managing Director and CEO of RCR Tomlinson said. Sun Metals reports that an extra 100 jobs ongoing will be employed but this is due to the investment of another $150 million increasing zinc production capacity by 20 percent. Sun Metals currently employees a total of 300 locals. To put this into perspective, Townsville is seeking to create 20,000 new jobs in the next 5 years.

So Townsville is in a serious quandary on solar investment just as it is in big data, artificial intelligence and robotics, technologies that are likely to eliminate demand for processing labour despite the political headliners of job creation during construction.

It's like the people are constantly being sold a cute puppy; cuddly and soft at first but we never stop looking for the stolen shoes in the yard. And it has been recurring like a bad nightmare or the American "groundhog day" for the past 6 years. Some would argue longer as politicians have become experts at breaking promises and pulling the wool of over voter's eyes.

Further reading:
Turnbull trio caught with smoking gun

There is a growing sense with the rise of One Nation and Trump that the extreme left has deposited so much social progress in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane post the Howard-era, that the entire green movement in Queensland backed by Mr Bailey is selling Townsville a cuddly pup and the drip of small broadly dispersed solar farms as industrial power stations.

Employment for the construction of new technologies is temporary while skills and expertise in facilities maintenance, fossil fuel processing, business administration and technology programming are recurring and more sustainable. Not to mention however new skilled jobs that will be created in the digital economy offsetting industrial job losses. But these jobs are what is driving capital city growth and tearing the heart out of regional towns, where time and time again, talented trainees or graduate students move to the capital cities.

Townsville needs industry and business that creates sustained employment for existing residents and sufficient employment for population growth, but the clean energy campaigners and smart technology campaigners by their nature are ardent in their beliefs of saving the planet and rescuing ignorant climate change-denying people from themselves.

What the jealous and emotional teenager thinks and what the parents think are by nature two very different values, at least the circumstances are perceived differently, and the argument about right and wrong can become destructive and even threaten relationships.

Instead of finding common ground, the arguments are based on who has the higher moral ground. One being to feed and secure the entire family and the other resist and fight for the freedom of ideology, which less than a decade ago, had control of the balance of power in federal parliament with the independents.

And it all comes down to power and control of everything. With such utopian and extreme mindsets playing the game, the wellbeing of the people is being defined around electoral affluence and the movement of the lobbyist elite, as Mr Bailey felt the need to deny his association with "latte sippers" and "champagne drinkers" in a recent statement. This is not the identity of solar users as he defended. But the reality of green campaigners and protesters hanging out on Brunswick Street in Fortitude Valley, or trendy boutique villages around Yeerongpilly in their cycling paints to plot their next alliance is happening.

The opposition to these movements is bearing fruit in the United States where left-wing aggression is headline news. District and federal judicial officers are blocking the highest traditional authority in the system, the President of the United States. While in Australia the right-wing One Nation Party and Pauline Hansen may become a serious contender as the third major party in Australia the way things are going.

Moreover, Townsville has been blessed with both clean energy and cleaner fossil fuel resources on our doorstep yet the ideologies and political leveraging of fail-safe governance and political extremism are crippling the opportunities of the Townsville economy and the prosperity of this region's people.

Nearly 5.70-kilowatt hours per square metre of solar irradiation exists under the skies of Townsville producing practically zero CO2 into the environment. A massive asset to the local economy and the most abundant levels anywhere in the world. The sunshine state is alive and well. Of course a smart inclusion in any energy strategy for a nation and city over the next millennium.

The Galilee Basin is blessed with the best quality coal in the world and over fifteen mining companies actively seeking to bring it to the global market, including Adani's new Carmichael mine, whom by some accounts may be in receivership any day now due to excessive company debt through its Indian operations.

The CO2 emissions of the Galilee Basin coal are the best product compared to domestic and international standards, producing 1.1 tonnes of CO2 per megawatt hour of electricity generated, some 30% fewer emissions than Indonesian coal.

Image: Thanks to ABC

The fossil fuel industry, right-wing politics and Townsville's own News Ltd press, is lobbying for the $16.5 billion Adani coal mine project to proceed urgently along with a new coal-fired power station to be built in Northern Australia.

Meanwhile, the chief executive of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Oliver Yates, says coal-fired power would be "an inappropriate investment in exposing taxpayers to". Even the rules governing the eligibility of clean coal as an investment for the CEFC makes coal an unacceptable risk to taxpayers. Yet the Australian Energy Regular confirms Queensland's fossil fuel power stations are keeping the lights and cooling systems going across the nation during peak hours and excessive heat waves.

While federal and local politicians are seeking to manage affordability and their appeal to the electorate, the increasing power of the anti-carbon emissions movement and clean energy capital raising bodies like the CEFC is overwhelmingly unfavourable to a politically dispensable economy like North Queensland.

Most credible scientists and commentators are saying the cost of building coal-fired power stations, even carbon capture plants, compared to solar and renewables far outweigh the economic benefit to the community.

But saying that to a jobs-hungry community like Townsville still getting used to being weaned off projects stimulation and a government funded economy, is nearly impossible. Just as the people of the rust belt of middle America gleefully elected the most unelectable President in Donald Trump, because they were sick and tired of becoming irrelevant to centralised control during an era of globalisation.

Lacking vision in energy policy, meaning supporting any form of coal production, is tantamount to threatening the entire nation's future. This is the rhetoric of southern splinter journalists, incensed with utopian climate protection ideology and a dogged determination to prove sympathetic scientists right.

And the reality of this point of view is that Townsville's economy, unfortunately, could reflect the experiences of the people of South Australia where "blackouts" and industrial scarcity is a way of life, while Townsville is promised jobs only to find out they are mostly casual, part-time or fixed-term contracts and perpetually being sold a cute puppy.

Further reading:
Industrial space critical to Townsville smart city future

Get used to the fact the attitude of the left and the environmental movement is here to stay. Just as the attitudes of the politically correct advocating on behalf of racism, feminism, socialism, capitalism, etc. are here to stay. Ideas and what we think is a god-given right. Anyone with a twitter account has political influence and there are plenty of authoritarian voices with scientific profiles in their resumes actively claiming an ology, ism, doctorate, ist to their name.

Perhaps a poor attempt at humour, but given a platform, conscientious people will continue to influence and disrupt politicians, courts, corporations and people seeking to derive their living from an industrial system built on fossils. For an ordinary family in Townsville seeking a good life, the fossil industry is their only prospect of income, which will continue to be the case for many decades to come despite technology advances.

A new global order is fighting for supremacy and Townsville is in the heartland of the battle for power and control over resources, even self-determination, futurist ideology and utopian safety and security, neither of which are disconnected from the immediate pain and suffering of the community.

Meanwhile, the paralysis of governments, institutions and agencies incapable of agility is likely to continue in the immediate future, impacting the certainty of jobs and economic opportunities for a bright City seeking to advance its claim as the largest economy in northern Australia.

With the prospect of further delays in all industrial fossil extraction projects - dam building ventures included, and any industry business dependent on fossil fuel energy, further protests, court action and political grandstanding will remain important tactics by highly organised and sufficiently funded clean energy campaigners.

Editorial attention by News Ltd supporting a coal-fired power station in the local Townsville Bulletin is a real measure of the frustration being experienced by a community with massive economic promise in what has become a perpetual "go and no-go" zone in the climate change and clean energy fight across the world.

With the question still open as to the future viability of all coal and fossil power energy solutions in North Queensland, Townsville's aspirations to develop industry and jobs will be plagued with further uncertainty unless the citizens rise up and get behind pragmatic political and business leadership seeking to secure the funding promise of the $5 billion Northern Australia development fund.

If recent history and events are anything to go by, it is difficult to see a strong, proud and caring regional community like Townsville lay down and let jobs and opportunities pass them over because of left-extremism has gained momentum with a green army under the stewardship of capital city elites dictating "it's the way things are around here."

Today's Reserve Bank Rate Decision

RBA Governer Philip Lowe, 2017
Image: Thanks to The New Daily

The financial markets and all economists had predicted the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would keep the cash rate on hold and that's exactly what the RBA board did today.

The cash rate remains unchanged at 1.5 percent because of the strength in the national housing market over the second half of 2016. A consistent increase in investment projects since the rate cut in May and August last year was also a major factor in the RBA board retaining the current interest rate.

For Townsville, any further increase in the cash rate would be unwelcomed. Housing market conditions have been weak in North Queensland for the past 5 years. Darwin and Perth markets have also seen dwelling values drop since 2014, which as capital cities, were material factors in an unlikely rate increase.

It is likely the momentum in the housing market is one of the primary reasons why the Board did not jump on a rate decrease in an effort to stimulate spending and risk pushing inflation higher. Inflation has been tracking lower than the RBA's target range for just shy of 3 years.

CoreLogic reported; "capital city dwelling values were 10.7% higher over the past 12 months, which is a substantially higher growth rate than the 7.4% recorded over the same period a year ago." As a measure of contrast, the Townsville housing market saw a 8% decrease in dwelling values in the past 12 months.

Housing market conditions have pulled back on par with the previous rate reductions and the repetitive rise in investor involvement due to the accelerated pace of capital gains in the major capital cities. However, housing conditions vary considerably across the country. 

Mr Philip Lowe, Reserve Bank Governor, said; "Growth in rents is the lowest it's been in eastern markets for a couple of decades." Despite slowing rent growth, lending for investors has picked up. Lenders are cautious about lending in some sectors with a stiffening of supervisory measures being applied in these higher risk markets.

Still, the cost of debt remains historically low which should see demand for housing remaining strong from owner occupiers and investors, despite the cash rate staying on hold and some lenders making subtle increases to their mortgage rates.

Improvements in the global economy have provided a boost in commodity prices resulting in better than expected trade conditions for Australia. China's investment in infrastructure and construction contributed higher spending and stronger growth over the second half of 2016.

Financial markets have performed effectively. Most global stock markets have risen. Inflation is quite low and under control at 1 1/2 percent. This is expected to continue as labour costs will remain low moving forward.

Reserve Bank of Australia rate announcement

http://www.rba.gov.au/media-releases/2017/mr-17-02.html

References:

Research Bank of Australia (RBA)

Corelogic

Rapid Realty Australia

Herron Todd White

Townsville NQ Capital Legitimacy Under Threat from North

Townsville's industrial relevance and Capital of North Queensland status is set to experience testing times over the next decade as the average vacancy rate approaches 30 percent in the City.

In contrast, the Cairns economy continues to see positive growth on the back of growing demand for agricultural products and international tourism experiences.

The City's business sector more broadly is seeing mixed activity with business confidence and job advertisements increasing while employment prospects continue to decrease.

Employment in the industrial sector of mining and construction has been impacted more than any other sector of the market.

The industrial sectors' contribution to Townsville's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has reduced as a proportion to the total economic contribution of the region.

And therefore it begs the question about the relevance and future prospects for the industrial real estate market in Townsville and the City's claim to the symbolic title of being the capital of North Queensland. 

As the Herron Todd White Property Update for November 2016 reports, the job advertisements and business confidence is showing positive indications. But the all important unemployment rate is still unfavourable at 12 percent.

The actual number of people employed is the most telling economic indicator. On this measure, the trend since early 2011 has continued on negative news of approximately 25,000 workers losing their jobs to November 2016. This has been six years of sustained contraction in labour force wages.

Apart from mining exploration, extraction, processing and the commodity export supply chain, and various light industrial operations, Townsville's industrial and commercial sector has struggled to grow capacity as construction, mining and manufacturing GDP has reduced.

Technology is changing the supply chain's demand for labour and bringing unprecedented transparency on uncompetitive goods and services. This is impacting global industrials like never before. And this too will impact this sector of the Townsville market heavily.

Yet it's the industrial sector and the collaboration with landlords and tenants that will be critical in the next phase of Townsville's industrial relevance because innovation will enable existing products to develop and continue to find profitable markets, while invention will bring increased capacity potential and therefore more capability that will impact employment and GDP overall.

Cairns to the North of Townsville are competing for population and profits growth. Its leaders and commentators makes no bones about that.

Its robust international tourism and goods supply chain readily accessible to Asian markets, solid growth in property values, and a willingness to talk down Townsville's appeal at every opportunity, makes for challenging times for Townsville's property market and legitimacy as the capital of North Queensland.

References:

Herron Todd White Property Market Update November 2016

National Australia Bank Online Retail Sales Index June 2016

Australian Treasury Small Business Key Statistics and Analysis Report 2012

Rapid Realty Australia

"Turnbull Trio" Caught With Smoking Gun - Townsville Smart City Deals' Catastrophic Legacy

Qld Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
and Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill, Dec 2016

The "smoking gun" of the Turnbull Trio's Townsville City Deal, Smart Cities Plan has been revealed with a plethora of experts contributing their assessments of the technology behind the network, Internet of Things (IoT), confirming with undeniable accuracy that specific security breach events are occurring with growing risk to the nation, communities and individuals in 2017.

Australia's peek science bureau, the CSIRO's Director of Digital Productivity and Services Flagship, Dr Ian Oppermann said:

"Australia's future is digital, hyper-connected and critically dependent on technology, making strong cyber security capability crucial to navigating the associated risks and opportunities ahead. Our increased dependence on technology, combined with the evolving complexity and sophistication of cyber security threats, together increase our level of vulnerability - at a national, organisational and individual level. (Enabling Australia Digital Future; cyber security trends and implications, Dr Ian Oppermann, Director, Digital Productivity and Services Flagship, CSIRO, 2014)

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Reminiscent of the colonial era experienced by the first Australians and American Indians, and other passive indigenous cultures in the 18th and 19th centuries, the race for the resource-rich continents of the Information Age is in full swing.

Instead of gold, spices, lumber, coal, oil and fertile land, the new frontier is an ultimate utopia of global power and infinite intelligence. Ironically the colonial tradition of Mr Turnbull is not only mixed in his narcissistic leadership style, he carries on a colonial tradition by naming his son's middle name "Bligh" after colonial Governor William Bligh killed during the rum rebellion.

If the reader identifies with colonial representation as a beneficiary than the veracity of the observations brought to light in this blog will feel inconsequential. But if you can relate to the people who are not equipped to defend their property like the cultures of the "new world" after Cook and Columbus, than the following information may feel alarming to say the least. It will depend on your socioeconomic place in this world of information and smart machines.

Driving the connectivity of smart technologies are corporate and political global elitism and the prophetic appetite of leaders seeking universal rule as did the ecclesiastical doctrine of Roman papacy. In a climate of growing consumer tribalism, vanity, idols and virtual reality, the global elite are collectively challenging the human rights of people's identity to faith, freedom and peace. The life of ordinary citizens in the developed world are under serious threat in a time of systematic state-sponsored murder, cyber terrorism, identity and property theft via hacking agencies the likes of which the world has never witnessed.

Just last Sunday, the Roman Catholic Pope Francis said; "Terrorism grows when there is no other option, and as long as the world economy has at its center the god of money and not the person. This is fundamental terrorism, against all humanity."

Once upon a time a simple sign on the fence " trespasses will he prosecuted" would deter criminals from entering private property.  Now government's are saying if you hack us and enter my property without permission, we will hack you back with smarter technologies, and if suitable, inflict greater loss. Where are the new boundaries and when is the trespassing, cyber terrorism and private property threat going to stop?

Well the global financial, political and technology elite, not dissimilar to the story and ideology of Mr Turnbull, are forming Union's with the corporate world to control data and "information on everything" for economic, security, political and ideological purposes. Yet instead of focusing on a rationale prosecuting the trespassers, corporate intelligence and cyber mercenaries are hired to build better hacking and cyber trespassing techniques to fight crime with more crime, and even wage war.

Yet the value of humanity, and its freedoms, are being traded and bought just like the Americans did to Mexico, and the British did to Australia. The other neo-colonial and neo-imperial policies have achieved this throughout human history where territorial boundaries are unclear and legitimate authority for law and order is immature.

Mr Turnbull is no stranger in exercising corporate and imperial muscle. His university don wrote to him at Oxford and said he is "always going to enter life's rooms without knocking". He has applied this attitude to much of his professional life including:

• On 14 September 2015, after 30 consecutive Newspolls had put the Liberals far behind Labor, Turnbull resigned from the Cabinet and announced he would challenge Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Turnbull stated that Abbott "was not capable of providing the economic leadership we need" and that the Liberal Party needs a "style of leadership that respects the people's intelligence."

• Appointed three additional woman from 2 to 5 to his 2015 cabinet and increased the cabinet ministers from 19 to 21. He also appointed the first female Defense Minister (no surprise he is working with the first female Mayor of Townsville and 2nd female Premier of Queensland).

• Turnbull's handling of the OzCar affair led to a large decline in his and the Liberal Party's approval ratings in opinion polls. On 22 June the e-mail Grech had provided to the Liberal Party to support this allegation was found to have been faked by Grech; later admitted by Grech, and an Australian National Audit Office inquiry on 4th August cleared both Rudd and Swan of any wrongdoing.

• On the eve of the dot com burst in 1999, Mr Turnbull sold his share in Ozemail for $57m escaping a massive financial loss.

• As Chairmen of Axiom Forestry Resources in the 1990s, his "clear logging operation in the Solomon Islands were threatened for closure by the then Solomon Island government for 'consistent breaches of logging practices.'

• The Royal Commission into privatisation of HIH Insurance called Mr Turnbull in for questioning. No wrongdoing was found at the time by Goldman Sach who he represented.

• Acquiring software companies Webcentral, eventually acquired by Melbourne IT, which was big data storage facility. In 2012, Melbourne IT was hacked by "Anonymous". Turnbull also acquired web company Chaos.com at the time.

• A leak of millions of papers from Panama Law firm Mossack Fonseca showed how some wealthy companies and individuals have moved money around the world to avoid paying taxes. "Mr Turnbull was first named in the documents in May 2016, when it was revealed he was once a director of Starr Mining and Star Technology Service, exploring for gold in Russia, which was set up by Mossack Fonseca. Mr Turnbull dismissed any impropriety at the time, saying the company had not made any profits, and would have paid taxes in Australia if it had." (Sydney Morning Herald, June 2016)

At the heart of the Smart Cities Plan for Townsville is a concept of networking called IoT. It aims to connect everything to the internet including public infrastructure such as traffic lights, buildings, meters, etc. and personal devices such as mobile phones, FitBit wearables, the family car sensors, home appliances and everything to which a sensor and wifi, bluetooth or ethernet node is available.

Internet protocols known as ICP/IP addresses is critical to the functionality of the network architecture. IP addresses have existed since the internet was invented. Electronic sensors have existed for many years also in industrial and public use on devices such as CCTV cameras and weather monitoring machines.

However, as we transition from the "Industrial Age" to "Information Age" to the "Machine Age" in the space of the next 10-20 years, Townsville's Smart City Deal puts the citizens of North Queensland on the front line in the battle for global resources, productivity and lifestyle. Not dissimilar to a time of colonial invasion and advancement.

But for the majority of people it will be a battle for survival, where the fight for constitutional rights of freedom, peace and security is the legitimate sacrifice for economic and political glory in the eyes of public relations advisors, media advisors and the more contemporary role of "hacking advisors".

Manipulation of information and the truth is a cultural norm in politics as it was in the days of tobacco advertising, chemicals and pesticides. And as Mr Turnbull's character references have shown, "walking into a room without asking" and valuing debate over free speech and truth is a signature value of his business and academic pursuits.

States such as Russia and America are in a cyber war. Reports in the The Guardian and Australian Financial Review have confirmed Russian intelligence agencies hacked a leader's emails on the Clinton's Democratic campaign, releasing them to WikiLeaks and onto the general public, to manipulate the election of Donald Trump.

Read further:

Townsville Smart City Deal Exposed as National Security Threat

"After the data breach the DNC hired CrowdStrike, a cyber security company. It quickly established the hack had originated in Russia and identified two groups, Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear. Cozy Bear, linked to Russia’s FSB spy agency, had begun its phishing operation in summer 2015, the paper reported." (Luke Harding, The Guardian, 16th Dec 2016).

Democrat Leader Hilary Clinton and Republican Candidate Donald Trump

Companies such as Dyn, Internet service provider and an independent journalist (separate events) have been hacked just recently. Our own defense department, and CSIRO have been hacked by China in the past 2 years.

Even the Australian courts cannot control the hacking and associated "PR stunts" as seen in a recent copyright ruling in Victoria.

"But even with stronger forms of website blocking, there are ways informed internet users can beat the system and access the sites they want. As such, there has been plenty of doubt cast over the impact of the site-blocking regime. A number of experts have said in its current form in Australia, site blocking is a futile exercise. It’s why Internet Australia CEO Laurie Patton has labelled last week’s ruling and the subsequent blockades as a “PR stunt”. (Nick Wigham, news.com, Internet users bypass Pirate Bay block instantly, 21st Dec 2016).

In the last month, the IT security industry experts have cast their observations about the vulnerability of IoT networks, saying;

"There will be a large-scale IoT security breach next year, according to analyst firm Forrester, which gave its 2017 predictions for the IoT space in a report for CIOs released yesterday."

“It added that the biggest targets would be the likes of fleet management in transportation, security and surveillance applications in government, inventory and warehouse management apps in retail, and industrial asset management in primary manufacturing – all areas where IoT adoption is rife."

"If mediocre malware can power some of the largest DDoS attacks ever, and considering the sad state of security of the Internet of Things in general, we should probably brace for more cyber attacks powered by our easy-to-hack “smart” Internet of Things, as many, including ourselves, had predicted months ago."

“I am just surprised at how such a trivial attack code could be responsible for such a large DDoS. It really says a lot more about the state of IoT security than the specifics of the malware,” a security researcher that goes by the name Hacker Fantastic told Motherboard. “If people still aren’t changing default passwords and disabling telnet on Internet connected equipment in 2016 then we are heading to a future with more incidents like this happening.”

"My concern about both robot assembly and IoT is that it further and further specializes tasks in a system that needs less complexity, not more. I’m also guessing that IoT might be a little less popular once more people realize that their cars, and their homes, fridges, etc. can be hacked and their lives interfered with by agents official and freelance and they won’t know the difference till they get the bill or end up in the ditch." (Forrester, 2016)

Image thanks to Hackers News

IoT is not a patented or propriety invention of a private company. Instead it is a collaboration of a variety of technologies and companies led by multinational conglomerates like IBM, Intel, Google, Apple, Huawei, and KPMG.

Huawei’s "links to the Chinese government led to it being controversially banned for tendering for NBN work by the Australian government back in 2012. However, it has continued to maintain a high-profile presence in the country and recently announced its plans to become known outside of the smartphone and telco sector, as a cloud services provider." (Paul Wallbank, Australian Financial Review, 19th Sep 2016).

The ownership structure of Huawei is bizarre to say the least. Its’ employees, through a Union-like structure own the majority shares but they have no voting authority or management power. The company was set up by its CEO Mr Ren Zhengfei's, a Chinese army officer with 1.5% ownership and his daughter Cathy Meng as the company's Chief Finance Officer (CFO).

The business accounting and auditing firm KPMG is the principal program managers and business system consultants heading up the non-profit Smart Technology organisation, Hypercat Australia under the direction of the Prime Minister's own department.

No coincidence the Union-like configuration of the Hypercat Australia structure. A non-profit organisation Mr Turnbull says but the commercially focused members are set to profit anormously from the individual contracts being offered by local councils and the knock on business 2 business (b2b) profits.

The convoluted structure of the largest telecommunications company on the planet, the Union owned Huawei Technologies, masks an accountability and governance structure for easy "cover up", PR stunts and easy manipulation of an uneducated public. Limiting liability and prosecution of elite corporate directors also has been alleged to exist with the Indian-owned Adani corporation recently approved to establish the largest coal mine in Queensland.

But what hasn't been fully disclosed to the Townsville and Australian public is the independent expert assessment of the IoT network. Why? Because it is a significant residual risk to public infrastructure and personal identity and safety. It is the smoking gun that is being concealed by the "Turnbull Trio" and purposefully being avoided by the banking industry because of personal security risks.

The size and cost of production of this technology had made the Smart Cities Plan cost prohibitive until now. Well at least that is what the "Turnbull Trio" is leading the country to believe and Mayor Hill and Premier Palaszczuk are either his alibi or accomplice.

Mark Say, UKAuthority.com reported the following with respect to the UK Government's implementation of the IoTs network in its local City Council areas of the United Kingdom under the direction of former Prime Minister, David Cameron.

“Unless people feel confident that their data is not going to be mishandled, all these developments are at risk of being slow off the mark and missing an opportunity. We need to get data confidence right quite early and the way to do it is through an industry-led effort. Some is being made under the Digital Economy Council but it needs more companies to get involved."

“It boils down to having much more simplified terms and conditions that explain to people how their data is going to be used. The controversial element is that you shift the focus from data collection to data use, and that I think has got to be key for liberating data to do all this stuff.” (Mark Say, UKAuthority.com)

Image thanks to Business Insider,
(Forecast $ spend on cyber security 2015-2020)

The Director of Strategy at a UK City Council, Mr Snelson said;

“We have done some work on data sharing and confidentiality to work through some of those things, but one of my fears is that if you ask the question too hard you’ll just stop and not do anything. There’s a balance to be struck, and maybe just getting on and waiting until you hit the barriers is not a bad thing.”

“It all amounts to a bunch of identifiable problems and a few unknowns that create risks that many councils are reluctant to take. But Snelson made clear that more have to overcome that reluctance if smart cities are going to become much more than a nice idea: One of the things that will be critical to the UK’s success is having cities that are ready to take risks.”(Mr Snelson, Director of Strategy)

Donald Trump personal tweet 22 Dec 2016

The Australian and United States government's proposed solution is to spend billions of tax payer dollars over the next 10 years on corporations to build cyber security walls and proliferate nuclear armaments as a deterrent to states and entities from taking lethal military force.

Despite Mr Cameron's recent resignation as Great Britain's Prime Minister after a failed BREXIT campaign, the UK Government's approach has obviously been adopted here in Australia by Mr Turnbull and the local government.

At the heart of these events are the political elite toiling with their conscience and the will of the British people who voted against losing their identity and sovereignty to Wall Street, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU).

With a background in arts and civil law, journalism, merchant banking, venture capitalism and ironically the leader of the Australian Republican Movement, which campaigns for an Australian head of state, his willingness to embrace "corporatocracy" and risking the sovereign powers of Australia are alarming to the majority who are conservative right of the Liberal Party.

Already Mr Turnbull's cunning approach and disregard for Townsville people has come to light. He promised Townsville to be the first "City Deal" to be launched, but going ahead instead to establish an implementation Memorandum of Understanding with Western Sydney. With an estimated personal net worth of $200 million, Mr Turnbull could be described as the most experienced serving politician in Australian neo-imperialism strategy and history.

In the mid 1980s Mr Turnbull won a legal case against the UK Government who wanted to suppress the publication in Australia of the book, "Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer". The author was Peter Wright a former MI5 agent in the UK. In Mr Turnbull's own book on the trial was this statement about free speech and changing the course of history.

"The fact of the matter is that nothing is achieved in this world, particularly politically, other than with persistence, and persistence involves repetition and it involves argument and re-argument... The public interest in free speech is not just in truthful speech, in correct speech, in fair speech...The interest is in the debate. You see, every person who has ultimately changed the course of history has started off being unpopular." Turnbull's closing submission, 18 Dec 1986)

The further irony of these events in Mr Turnull's history is the fact Mr Wright exposes their ethics, notably their "eleventh commandment", "Thou shalt not get caught" and explains many of MI5's technologies. Mr Wrights' principal motivation for writing the book was to recoup pension income lost when the British government rules his pension un-transferable, which severely reduced his pension. Not dissimilar to the treatment of Australia's ex service personnel and pensioners today by the Turnbull government.

Furthermore, given the recent incursions by State-sponsored hackers from China targeting the CSIRO and the Defence Department's loss of building blueprints at its new facility in Canberra, which still sits vacant today for national security reasons, is a clear threat to civil infrastructure and personal identity.

Moreover, experts say the Internet of Things (IoT) architecture is susceptible to malicious attack and presents a challenging risk in 2016 and 2017 as occurred this year to domain service provider, Dyn.

Global leaders in computer engineering and science, the Barr Group reported;

"IoT devices such as webcams and DVRs were used to launch an attack on domain service provider Dyn. The enormity of this event brings to light the importance of securing all devices capable of connecting to the Internet. Developers cannot control what viruses or malware may try to attack their systems."

Reported also in the Barr Group's 2016 Embedded System Safety and Security Survey, they found that;

"62% of current embedded systems designs are to be connected to the Internet, and 61% of current designs had at least one security-related requirement. As is true with all of today's electronic designs, there is no "One-Size-Fits-All" solution for designing a safe and secure embedded system." (Andrew Gibson, Principal Engineer, Barr Group, 25th Oct 2016)

The treatments for the enormous security and safety risks to embedded devices on an IoT network are very expensive and reliant on human development, intervention and monitoring.

In a regional City the size of Townsville with less than 200,000 people, the resources needed to secure every device embedded on the network to prevent a malicious attack is nearly impossible.

Barr Group's Principal Engineer, Mr Girson made observations about the barriers to a more secure IoT and he said;

"While growth has been outstanding for businesses and innovation, the lack of established guidelines and infrastructure needed to regulate the security of these devices and software has created a globally insecure environment that can be easily abused by those with malicious intent."

And with respect to actually treating the technology developments and costs, he continued his assessment and was none too encouraging of IoT networks because he said;

"Well-designed secure embedded systems within the IoT device increase the likelihood of withstanding aggressive cyber-attacks and tampering. Unfortunately, to develop more secure applications, a significantly greater amount of effort and resources are required. Larger design teams and longer, more aggressive testing requirements are needed, which adds to R&D (research and development) costs and slows time-to-market. Because of the additional resources needed, if a device is not believed to be safety-critical, developers often choose to sacrifice best practises for device security to keep development costs down and speed up time-to-market. As the Dyn attack proves, the choice to not address security in every device impacts not just an individual product, but all products to which it is directly and indirectly connected."

Following is a further assessment of IoT networks being considered in the UK by an independent expert on this technology. Again, why have all leaders not disclosed these risks as part of the Smart Cities Plan and glossy Townsville "City Deal" document?

"Unfortunately, at the moment we are still in the 'Wild West' when attempting to define an IoT architecture. Natural selection (e.g. Betamax vs VHS) will hopefully lead us towards an acceptable solution, but one concern is that, with technology such as Apple's HomeKit, we may end up with a number of competing siloed solutions. Finally, the rush to apply IoT to existing markets is well ahead of our knowledge and understanding of building secure, reliable Things. This could, ultimately, be IoT's Achilles heel. (Niall Cooling, CEO Feabhas)

Make no mistake about it! The purpose of the Turnbull Government's Smart Cities Plan is to implement smart technology to monitor and analyse everything. This includes personal devices, that require conscious or unconscious volunteers to authorise the collection of data properties, stored on the devices.

The data and information is then used and disseminated, in many cases farmed, as a commodity on inadequately secured global communication networks and machines. The likes of which even a professional domain service provider such as Dyn cannot even secure from malicious attack, nor can the most powerful political movement in the world, the Democratic Party of the United States.

Mr Turnbull said he would respect the intelligence of the Australian people, but few could have believed his aim was to exploit identity information for a modern form of commercial and corporate imperialism.

"Smart Cities are the cities of the future. We look forward to working strategically with Townsville City Council to design and integrate connectivity, data and analytics, sensor networks and smartphone applications to transform Townsville." (John Paitaridis, Managing Director, Optus Business, 16th Dec 2016)

Image of Step by Step

As controversial and incomprehensible as this information might be to the people of Townsville, Launceston and Western Sydney, which are the three chosen "City Deal" sites of the Turnbull Government's Smart Cities Plan, ordinary people are being placed on the front line of modern global neo-imperialism policy. This allows Mr Turnbull and his "hacking advisors" to misinform the public about project funding while neutralising the perceptions of the safety and security threats of the Internet of Things on ordinary people.

At least as far as Mayor Hill and Premier Palaszczuk is concerned, the citizens to whom they have sworn to serve and protect, are being exploited while the poverty levels of the city continues to worsen.

The public record demonstrates that the two local leaders, nor their departments, have provided a formal submission to the consultation process of Smart Cities. The public record is absent of their input. Why? Is this another cover up strategy?

Further reading:

Townsville sold out by Turnbull Smart City Deal

For a city crying out for jobs in the midst of an opportunity like the “City Deal”, which on the face of it promised massive project funding, and then to not even submit a response to the consultation phase of the Smart Cities Plan, smells of a purposeful "cover up", "PR stunt" and manipulation of public trust. Certainly an insurance plan when the inevitable hack, breach or scandal occurs around the Smart Cities plan, a plea of ignorance is the best defence. Further evidence of the smoking gun in the hands of the Turnbull Trio.

This tactic and communication strategy has continued in the announcement in the Townsville Bulletin pertaining to the new stadium designs, while also announcing that funding is withdrawn for the hall and art gallery in the same breath. A purposeful diversion and cover up.

It is highly probable the "Turnbull Trio" of Mayor Hill, Premier Palaszczuk and PM Turnbull have acquiesced to their sworn duty of protecting the people under the current weight of systematic hacking of personal, corporate and even sovereign property.

It seems the manipulation of the truth and the "dumbing down" of people's rights is a favourable cost analysis in the pursuit of a global ideology and economic utopia controlled by corporatocracies such as IBM, Google, Facebook, Intel and Singapore Telecommunications and Optus, under the stewardship of PM Turnbull and Mr Trump. In the opinion of former PM Mr Keating, PM Turnbull is "brilliant, utterly fearless, but he had no judgement".

Image by The Liberty Beacon

As we move very rapidly from the current "Information Age" to the "Machine Age" of artificial intelligence and robotics, the value of ordinary people and their democratic rights are being "hacked" and their intelligence disrespected.

What's even more frightening is the corporations or states with infinite intelligence and ultimate power, can initiate a cyber security hack of democratic systems to further erode the relevance and freedoms of the people to change governments.

This is manifesting in the political "cover ups" and "PR stunts" witnessed this week in the Townsville City Council projects media launches, and in the cyber hacking of machines and devices at a government and corporate level, that are now all being connected under the Turnbull Trio’s Smart Cities Plan network.

In light of the economic activity in Townsville and the short term structural risks under the Smart City Plan, including poor political decisions to direct infrastructure funding, real estate investors are encouraged to do diligent research on a street by street basis.

As the city's core economy functions mostly on defence, education, government administration and real estate and property, additional caution should be observed by investors. What's more is that experts anticipate that the machine economy will reduce costs of real estate, agriculture, all repetative tasks, to the point profit opportunities for investors will be eliminated. Manufacturing, transporting, building and selling of houses, and the entire supply chain, will be outsourced by machines, substantially reducing the value of housing investment while directing value add into the capitalists owners of the network.

Especially as the release of economic analysis by nations world-wide is showing that up to 50 percent of current jobs will be abolished due to the implementation of smart technologies. These losses will be partly off set by new jobs being created in the technology and cyber-demographic industries.

But the poor internet speeds in the majority of Townsville suburbs due to PM Turnbull's decision to maintain copper to the node instead of fibre as Communications Minister under the Abbott government. Online enterprise and job creation in regional cities without the speed capacity will be limited to low end business to consumer (B2C) activities not business to business (B2B) or machine 2 machine (M2M) enterprises.

This is likely to cause the majority of Townsville's economy to become dependent on "machine welfare". The concept has already been trialed in Canada, Denmark, France and Sweden. In these economies, displaced workers who are subjected to long term unemployment are offered ongoing welfare payments as a proportion of the productivity generated by robots and artificial intelligence.

Where the "machine" is at the centre of commercial and political interests (hacking communications), and the leadership already has license to manipulate public opinion, proper disclosure of the opportunities and risks of a modern economic platform requires meaningful and honest communication. This is specific to a regional economy the size and industrial mix of Townsville as the most responsible and ethical approach.

Instead such behaviour presents a niche for political parties such as One Nation and extreme right wing military and terrorist interests to flourish and even threaten the peace and freedom of Australia and the entire world.

Unfortunately, the unemployment trend for regional Australia is set to increase substantially and local business leaders will continue to lose confidence due to the fact they have redundant capabilities to treat or solve "new-world" problems. Just like a junk yard of industrial equipment like steam powered engines rusting and rotting to nothingness.

The "wild west" frontier is a new power duopoly of global neo-imperialism and cyber-demography thirsting on infinite intelligence and the component parts of consumer and institutional information and data, the value of which includes manipulating access to power and control of money, resources and the network that carries the pay loads.

The Roman Catholic Pope Francis, commented last Sunday that the gods of money are responsible for the rise of ISIS and religious extremism across the world because it has marginalised people to take disparate measures to survive. This includes Christian and Muslim followers.

It is a world where a new indigenous culture is emerging, valued for profitable exploitation while the real danger of personal and sovereign security is being masked and covered up by self-righteous leaders.

Masters of the banking system have toiled over the exploitation of ordinary people since the end of World War One, and the same philosophies and ideologies are being applied to the information age today.

Victoria Grant, a 12 year old Canadian girl, explains so eloquently the system of debt. She has inspired a small community, like Townsville, to take charge of their own future instead of relying on elite billionaires and imperialistic politicians.

Further reading (video):
Corrupt Banking System Explained

The legacy of the Smart Cities Plan is likely to be catastrophic to regional Australia, just as the people of the world have been enslaved to the banks because of people's dependence on money. Then the people knew no better. Has anything changed? The Turnbull Trio intend, short term ignorance for a favourable personal political legacy.

We are on the verge of history repeating itself, the political leadership of Australia have a golden opportunity to involve ordinary people at the beginning of the next technology boom. Structuring share ownership of local entities, establishing cultural events around new technologies, and integrating education and skills training would be a more responsible approach. 

Establishing licensing and royalty rights on personal and property data, this practically puts the intelligence of people at the centre of the smart cities model as the owners of the network and therefore the rightful beneficiaries, unlike the current Turnbull approach. As the "machine age" will have a life cycle over a millennium, a neo-imperial solution of old is simply catastrophic.

Instead our leaders are exploiting personal data and devices, playing straight into the hands of Google, IBM, Intel and Facebook being the most powerful imperial players in the free market world. What about the people power, people's intelligence, and personal information being at the centre of PM Turnbull's ousting of Mr Abbott for the liberal leadership, "respecting the intelligence of the people"?

We have seen again this week further out flow of economic activity being: the tier 1 contract on the stadium project going to outside corporations; the large coal project of $1 billion funding deal struck with the Indian Adarni corporation; and Optus winning $20 million deal with Townsville City Council.

The Turnbull Trio smart cities model is sucking the life blood out of regional Australia, and the best way to appease the people is to manipulate funding programs, apply the imperial corporatocracy approach of PR stunts and cover ups. When will the mainstream media, our own journalists, stand up and help the people protect their God given right to peace, security and freedom for the Millennia to come? 

Perhaps this article will prompt the people to seek more accountability and explanations from its leaders about smart economic policy decisions. The behavioural nuances of desperate politicians manipulating the truth is evident, and money, profits and digital resources and technology is driving the viability, prosperity, freedom and even peace of the world.

Further Reading:

North Queensland Stadium Vision Impaired

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