http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/scott-buchholz-/ Federal Member for Wright en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/history-is-not-a-political-science/ On very rare occasions, having an incompetent rabble on the Treasury benches can be a blessing in disguise. Those of you with long memories will recall that in the early days of the Rudd Government, the then Education Minister Julia Gillard promised that by 2011, Australia would have a national curriculum for Maths, Science, English and History. Shortly thereafter it became obvious they weren’t going to make it and so the deadline was pushed back to 2012, then to 2013 and now it seems we’ll be lucky to see it before 2014. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Buchholz ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/history-is-not-a-political-science/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/history-is-not-a-political-science/#item6818 Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:35:00 +0000 Scott Buchholz | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/brown-bank-more-jimmy-buffett-than-warren-buffett/ In the general pandemonium surrounding the unveiling of the carbon tax package last week, it was easy to overlook the dodgy little purchase incentive that came as part of the bundle.  Shrink-wrapped to the side of the carbon tax box was something called the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). Behind the feel good name, this new bureaucracy is little more than a $10 billion, off-the-books venture capital fund, underwritten by the taxpayers and created for the sole purpose of providing generous loans and guarantees to highly speculative startups in the renewable energy sector.  This shonky “Gillard Bank” will involve an unelected board, chosen by Julia Gillard and Bob Brown, picking winners with minimal public scrutiny, no apparent requirement for cost benefit analyses and no apparent tender processes with objective criteria to ensure value for money. In all probability the CEFC will direct funds to projects that conventional financiers wouldn’t touch because they would be deemed too risky. While the actual policy documents are silent on where the $10 billion will come from, Government sources have suggested the money will come from the issue of billions of dollars in government bonds. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Scott Buchholz ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/brown-bank-more-jimmy-buffett-than-warren-buffett/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/brown-bank-more-jimmy-buffett-than-warren-buffett/#item6330 Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:35:38 +0000 Scott Buchholz | Author bios | The Punch