Political Musings

Tom Petrie Memorial

2010-09-02T03:08:00.000+10:00

The unveiling of the refurbished Tom Petrie memorial was an amazing experience for many reasons.

I’ve written several articles here previously about Tom Petrie. The man was remarkable for the way he learned the ways and language of the local Turrbal Aboriginal people, and showed them a respect and honor that was more than a century ahead of his time. It was fitting to remember him on the 100th anniversary of his death.

I also had the chance to meet Maroochy Barambah, an elder, Songwoman and Law-Woman of the Turrbal Aboriginal people. This talented and dignified woman is the great grand-daughter of Kulkarawa, a young Aboriginal girl who ran off with a Sri Lankan man named Shake Brown in the 1840’s. Brown was killed in the 1840’s on the banks of what is now called Browns Creek. By some strange co-incidence I actually took some photos of this area and wrote an article about it a few months ago. So I was overwhelmed to meet someone who was actually related to Kulkarawa (Granny Kitty) and Shake Brown (Grandfather Brown).

This event was the first formal occasion that descendants of Tom Petrie and the Turrbal people had met face to face since Petrie’s death. It gives me hope that things like this happen. The mutual history of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia is something that can unite us, and strengthen our souls. It reminds us how precious is the place in which we live. It gives us continuity and reminds us that each of us is here for such a brief time, while the land is always here.

Why I think the ALP will win this election

2010-08-19T07:24:00.000+10:00

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"One Dollar, Sir!" by Trey Ratcliff

Last election I predicted the Coalition would win the election, and I was wrong

This time, although I hope I’m wrong, I think the ALP will win with a reduced majority of 5 to 10 seats.

I believe the people will not vote in a Coalition Government this election for one simple reason. Tony Abbott has failed to outline his vision for Australia.

He’s told us all how bad the ALP is, and how wrong their policies are, and why we can’t trust them. He’s probably right.

But I think voters want a prospective leader to do more. We want to know what a leader is passionate about. Where do they want to take us? What is the burning dream in their heart that drives them? What makes their face light up with enthusiasm and say “This is what it’s all about – follow me and I’ll take you there!!!!”. The prime example in recent memory was Barack Obama (“Yes we can!”) in 2008. Tony Abbott hasn’t done this.

Which makes me ask “Why hasn’t he?”. Either he doesn’t have a burning dream inside, or he (or his minders) decided to just run a negative campaign hoping we’d vote Labor out rather than vote him in.

It’s sad – the ALP has some pretty shonky policies on new taxes (Mining Tax, Carbon Tax etc), the internet filter, and borrowing to spend huge amounts of money on public projects. And the Coalition’s failure to enunciate its vision means the ALP is going to get a chance to implement these policies over the next three years.

There’s a non-political lesson in this for all of us. Find out what you love, what you’re passionate about, and go for it with all your heart. BE passionate about something. You’ll generate an energy which will attract followers, and you’ll get something worthwhile done, and have fun at the same time.

Or…. find something you don’t like, and complain about it, and tell everyone how bad it is.

I know which one I’d rather do!

Aboriginal Anthems

2010-07-08T11:24:00.000+10:00

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Red Hand Cave, Glenbrook National Park. NSW. Australia by Jeannie Fletcher

Queensland beat NSW last night in the annual State of Original rugby league series. This year was special for a number of reasons.

It was a clean sweep. Queensland won all three of the games played this year – the first time they’ve done this in fifteen years. I think State of Origin football is Rugby League in its highest form. It doesn’t get much better than this, and to see your state win a series so comprehensively feels great!

But this series was overshadowed by some ugly racist overtones when the NSW assistant coach, Andrew Johns tried to inspire his team by making some racist jibes about some of the aboriginal players on the Queensland team. Stupidly, he didn’t realize that those jibes would offend some of the aboriginal players on his own team. Some people must be slow learners when it comes to interpersonal sensitivities. The end result was that Andrew John’s racist comments galvanized the Queensland team, and tore his own team apart.

The highlight (in my opinion) came last night when the Australian National Anthem (“Advance Australia Fair”) was sung at the start of the game, first in an Aboriginal language and then in English. Although not unusual by world standards (for example the New Zealand and South African national anthems) , it was a new experience for some Aussies. In fact, some of them found it a bit hard to take.

Some of my friends made comments such as:

“Excuse me but since when was our AUSSIE national anthem in any language other than English?”

“In Australia we speak ENGLISH. Deal with it or piss off I say.”

“I have a personal issue, with the ones around here that come and steal ya shit while you are at work to pay for thier (sic) rent, drugs and booze”

It seems like a lot of people share Andrew Johns’ attitude towards Aborigines, and feel insulted that something as sacred as our national anthem should be sung in a language other than English. After all, English is the only true Australian language, isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

Admittedly, English was the native language of the boat people who arrived here in the eighteenth century. But before they arrived there were more than two hundred and fifty Aboriginal languages in use throughout this continent. Most of those languages have become extinct, while a handful remain and are still spoken. Indeed there are some Aboriginal people for whom English is only a second or third language after their own traditional languages.

For many of us who only speak, read, write and hear English everyday, we forget the importance of one’s own language. Our mother tongue is bound inextricably with our culture and self-identity. It is the language of our soul. Without it we’re just foreigners trying to express the cries of our spirit in words we don’t fully understand.

Ian Waldron’s aboriginal ancestors come from around Normanton in western Queensland. He says “I can’t speak my language properly. And that hurts. It was supposed to be mine. It unlocks the Kurtjar world and connects us to the stars and the rivers and everything. It came out of that country near Normanton. Just like we did.”

Perhaps the colonial masters of nineteenth and twentieth century Australia understood the importance of the traditional language when they tried to stamp out all use of Aboriginal languages. Patsy Fourmile is an elder of the Yirrganydji Aboriginal people. At a language revival workshop in Cairns she said, “If you were caught speaking language, you were dressed in a rations sack, had your head shaved and locked in the dormitory”.

Perhaps I should make this a bit more personal. I’m a whitefella who wasn’t even born in Australia. I don’t know much about aboriginal culture. The only language I speak is English, and a bit of high-school French. I love Australia passionately. Liz and I own a suburban block to the north of Brisbane. But the more I fall in love with where I live, the more I realize that I belong to my country – not the other way round. The words on the title deed to my home say that I own a bit of land, but the reality for me is that it owns me. No matter where I go in the world, my guts tell me that this place is home.

And as this land infects who I am, I want to know more about it. Whose feet stood in this dirt before mine did? Fifty years ago? Two hundred years ago? Two thousand years ago? What stories did they tell? What was important to them? It matters to me because it’s part of the story of my place. It’s part of me.

And that’s the bottom line.

Whitefella’s like me who love our country need Aboriginal people, their stories, and their dreams. We need the spiritual link to the land we love, and we can’t get that from a meager two hundred years of European-style land title and tenure. We are blessed when an aboriginal woman sings our national anthem in an ancient language that was spoken thousands of years before Rome was built, before the Old Testament was written, when Englishmen were still daubing themselves with blue clay. It gives Australians a sense of spiritual continuity that nothing else can.

The sooner we embrace Aboriginal culture as something that is part of us as a nation, the better.

(More info about Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Languages is available at http://www.fatsil.org.au/)

Australian Health Care – Simply The Best

2010-05-21T15:02:00.000+10:00

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"Chest X-ray" by Aidan Jones

My mother had open heart surgery recently.

It was a big deal. She’s almost 70 years old, and had one valve replaced, one valve repaired, and a hole in her heart closed up.

She was in a world-class private hospital in Brisbane for a week in a private room with the heart surgeon of her choice.

She’s only in an average health fund which costs her and Dad a total of about $350 per month.

And she recently got the bill.

Including drugs, pharmaceuticals, theatre and anesthetists fees, the total cost to her and dad was….Nothing. Not a cent.

The hospital costs were covered by the public health care system (Medicare) and the other stuff was covered the private insurer (MBF).

Mum raves about the quality of care she received. She can’t praise highly enough the dedication and attention she got from the nurses and doctors.

Neither can I. This is amazing. And it makes me realize we’re lucky to live in a country that has such fantastic health care. You measure it by the quality of care that average (not wealthy) people receive.

Some of the redneck yee-ha’s in the USA would call this socialism and throw tantrums about it. But when I look around here, I see dozens of health care insurers thriving. Hospitals – private and public are doing what they’re supposed to do most of the time, and average people are getting good care for a decent price.

All I can say is thank goodness we live in Australia. The health care system isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it works well.

And Mum…. she’s recovering well!

Protecting Our Genome

2010-03-30T15:53:00.000+10:00

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Human Genome by Dollar Bin

Mapping the Human Genome was probably one of the greatest achievements of our time.

Scientists were able to unravel our DNA and gain an understanding of how its building blocks, chromosomes, specifically affected our lives. For the first time we were able to find out if we were susceptible to various diseases, where our ancestors came from, what might happen to us physically as we aged. Companies like 23 and me, and deCode have sprung up offering a comprehensive low cost service to analyze and help you understand your own DNA for around $USD 500. This is an exciting development which is changing the lives of many people, and offering hope to others.

At the same time, multinational drug companies such as Myriad Genetics obtained their own genomic information for use with tests such as the BRCA1 and BRCA2 which can determine a woman’s susceptibility to Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer. The problem was they claimed exclusive ownership of the information, and legally threatened anyone else who tried to use this genomic information to do their own tests. They charged women in the USA $3,700 for the test.

In other words, Myriad was saying “Information about this part of your genetic material belongs to our company, you’re not allowed to use it, but we’ll do the tests for you if you pay us a lot of money. And if you try to do the testing yourself, we’ll sue you”.

Thankfully, a district court judge in the USA has ruled that Myriad’s patents are invalid. The judge said that the company didn’t invent the genetic information – they just discovered it. And you can’t patent something you discover, only something you invent.

The bigger issue in all of this is that the Human Genome belongs to all of us. In computer jargon, it should be “Open Source”. It’s abhorrent that a company can come along and try to hoodwink you into thinking that they own information about your genome. Multinational drug companies try to tell us that unless they can own and exploit that information, they won’t develop life saving tests.

Rubbish! These charlatans are building upon the freely available work of groups such as the Human Genome Project. They can’t then claim ownership of it, and bully anyone who disagrees with them. If they don’t like the situation, too bad. Some other organization will come along and quickly fill the gap.

This information belongs to the human race. It’s inappropriate for it to be traded around like MP3’s or computer games.

I have become a AGW skeptic

2009-11-23T12:43:00.000+10:00

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"Question mark" by Marco Bellucci

At first I wasn’t sure.

Were humans really heating the planet up through carbon emissions?

I thought perhaps the best thing was to play it safe. Slap a tax on CO2 emissions, and hopefully the planet would be better off.

I have now decided I am a skeptic of Anthropogenic Global Warming. I am not convinced that human activity is increasing the temperature of the planet.

Furthermore I am disgusted at the level of obfuscation and political spin that has crept into the “science” behind this issue as is evidenced by the Email Archives of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. The scientific process must be an open, peer reviewed process where political spin has nothing to do with the process, where criticism is welcomed and openly debated, and where the data is made available in its entity without editing for all to see. The email archives I allude to show that this has not been happening.

I passionately believe we must reduce pollution and other environmental damage. We must preserve wilderness and bio-diversity. We must put a check on unmitigated development and land clearing. We must develop cleaner and greener ways of producing energy.

But, I don’t think that the government’s plan to impose a new tax on Carbon Dioxide will achieve any of this.

The skeptic in me thinks:

1. The government has borrowed and spent more than was prudent as part of a knee-jerk, poorly targeted stimulus package to try and stem the affects of the Global Financial Crisis.

2. The government needs more money.

3. The tax behind the Emissions Trading Scheme is money for jam – an easy way to raise money, by scaring people into believing that if we don’t pay more tax, the planet is doomed.

4. The government would happily participate in a misinformation campaign to secure future tax revenue.

I will be happy to be proven wrong.

Mixed Bag

2009-09-02T11:42:00.000+10:00

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Global Citizens Rest Easy by mikecogh

Some ticks and crosses for recent political events:

√Julia Gillard visited India to reassure the Indian people that we want their students here, we’re serious about protecting them, and we’ll shut down any bogus educational organizations. This is a smart move. It’s a good example of Customer Service – how to turn a bad situation around by listening to concerns and doing something about it. The Indian government responded by inviting Australian universities to set up branches in India.

XNSW minister John Della Bosca resigned because he got caught having an affair. John Della Bosca’s personal life is irrelevant. The comments in the media about him missing planes because of his secret relationship are lame. The bottom line is whether or not he’s doing his job effectively or not, whether the NSW tax payers are getting value from his efforts, and whether his actions and those of his government are taking his state in the right direction. If you want to remove a government minister due to incompetence, that’s fine – it’s politics. But resigning, or getting kicked out because you had an affair is stupid. What sort of precedent does it set? If we want to get rid of a government now, do we forget about policy debates and performance indicators, and just take the easy way out and dig through their dirty laundry. This is grubby journalism, and stupid politics. And NO I don’t support NSW Labor, or their politics. But Della Bosca should still be a cabinet minister today.

√ Victorian minister Tim Holding was rescued from the Victorian Alps after two days being stranded on a mountain top. This is great news, and a good example of emergency services getting the job done when needed. Yes, he should have taken an EPIRB and probably should have taken a couple of mates with him, but despite that it’s good to see healthy active political leaders getting out and exploring the world, and surviving calamities.

XACMA refuses to ban junk food ads. The Australian Communications and Media Authority is toothless, and without gonads. They are incapable of doing anything courageous if it threatens the profitability of commercial broadcasters. Australian Commercial Media requires more regulation, not less. They intrude into every area of our lives. Most of our chubby little kids are addicted to the junk they serve up. Getting tougher with them won’t harm them at all. All commercial media has to compete in the same environment. Television advertisers still have to advertise. I just think they should have a few more boundaries so they learn to behave properly. The bottom line is that Australian Media can’t or won’t regulate itself. The Government needs to bite the bullet on this.

√XA bet each way for the Gorgon Gas project. It’s a good outcome which is a result of the efforts of both Labor and Liberal governments, past and current in WA and Federally. It injects billions of dollars into the Australian economy. BUT, environment minister Peter Garret was pretty much sidelined by the whole process. The project was announced and feted BEFORE Garret had given his approval as environment minister. Regardless of what the spin-doctors say, it shows that he’s considered irrelevant by the major players, and that the environment comes second when large amounts of money are involved.

XWayne Swan has left the spending tap on, money is splattering everywhere, and our current account deficit is blowing out. Yes, our economy has benefited from economic stimulus, but Swan forgets that the stimulus doesn’t need to be a blunt instrument. The Australian economy is growing, but Swan needs to be aware that the extra cash is boosting imports, and hurting exports. If our current account deficit continues, we’ll be staring at Paul Keating’s “Banana Republic” in the not too distant future, with a $300 billion foreign debit too boot.

Politics at its Best

2009-07-15T16:52:00.000+10:00

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Some really good things happen in the Australian Parliament at times. But sadly they receive little media coverage, because the stories aren’t as immediately exciting as some of the more tawdry events.

For example, how many column-inches, how much air-time has been wasted on the “Ute-Gate” saga about fake emails, and prime-ministerial favours to political donors?

One story worthy of far more attention than it received was the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill.

In 1992, the then Labor Government, with the support of the Liberal / National opposition, introduced a law which placed Assylum Seekers (men, women and children) in Mandatory Detention, and made them liable for the cost of that detention. This meant when a detainee was eventually deported, or released, he or she was presented with an invoice for the cost of that detention. An amount which could easily run into tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes even exceeding one hundred thousand dollars. This, in a country where we don’t charge rapists, murderers and other criminals the cost of their detention – regardless of their nationality.

These people came to our shores for help, and we were treating them worse than criminals.

The mandatory detention policy continued under Coalition Governments througout the Howard Years. It wasn’t until 2009 that the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill 2009 was introduced by the current Labor government. Sadly, the bill wasn’t supported on a bi-partisan basis, and the Liberals and Nationals did not support it.

But to their credit, four Liberal members voted against their party, and supported the bill: Petro Georgiou, Russell Broadbent, Judi Moylan and Danna Vale. Although you might not often do it, I’d recommend you read their speeches. It’s good stuff, and helps underline the fact that we do have decent human beings in the parliament, who care about justice, and doing the right thing:

Mr Petro Georgiou (Kooyong)

Mr Russel Broadbent (McMillan)

Mrs Judi Moylan (Pearce)

Mrs Danna Vale (Hughes)

We've moved!

2009-07-15T12:14:00.003+10:00

This blog has moved!

The new address is

http://pol.neilennis.com/

Please update your browser and RSS reader to the new links. All of my existing articles have moved too.

I'm now using WordPress as my blogging platform, and really like it.

If you've got any comments or suggestions, please let me know.

The Great Firewall of Australia

2009-07-09T16:19:00.003+10:00

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/09/2621354.htm

Most IT professionals agree that the Federal Government's plan to install a nationwide Internet filter is wrong, misguided, and will be ineffective.

Now "Save the Children", one of the lobby groups with a passion for protecting the interests of children, has added its voice to the growing list of opponents to the plan.

The planned Internet filter won't stop objectionable material - it will still be exchanged via file sharing sites, chat rooms, and emails.

The problem is it's not just ineffective, it's dangerous. Not only does it NOT do what it it's supposed to do, it actually gives the government an easy way to control the web browsing activity of normal law abiding citizens. Once the government adds a site to the list, most people won't be able to see it in their browsers.

We expect (and see) this sort of behaviour in places like China and Iran. Now minister Conroy wants this sort of power in Australia. Do you think these politicians would be able to resist the temptation to block a website that's critical of them?

If this plan goes ahead, the "Great Firewall of Australia" will let politicians control what we see in our browsers, while child-abusers continue to exchange their grubby wares unhindered via other methods.

Stephen Conroy, please listen to people like Save the Children, and spend the money more effectively via child protection authorities and police.

After all, we're getting deeper and deeper in debt. We really need to be smarter about how we spend public money.

Be a Skeptic, but "Do unto others"

2009-06-16T10:02:00.007+10:00

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/16/2599244.htm

Religious conservative, and Family First Senator Steve Fielding is skeptical about the effect of Carbon Emissions on Climate Change.

I disagree with Senator Fielding but I applaud his courage in asking questions that might make him look silly. It's tempting to disparage Fielding's questions, especially those of us with strong views on Climate Change and the reduction of Carbon Emissions, but asking "silly" questions is one part of the scientific process.

But, Senator Fielding, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Perhaps you should remember how important it is to question those things that some people take for granted. The next time someone challenges church opposition to Gay Marriage, a Bill of Rights, a Woman's right to choose etc, remember that there are no sacred cows. All sincere questions deserve to be taken seriously.

When it comes to asking and answering skeptical questions, Mr Fielding must "Do unto others" if he wants his questions to get the consideration they deserve.

Pathetic Little Man

2009-04-03T09:00:00.003+10:00

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/03/2533784.htm

On a recent flight from Port Moresby, Prime Minister Rudd didn't get the meail that he wanted, so he abused the flight attendant, who was reduced to tears.

Here's his pathetic apology:

"I had a discussion with I think one of the attendants about the provision of food," he said.

"It didn't last very long and if anyone is offended by that, including the attendant concerned, ofcourse I apologise."

How.... small, Mr Rudd. Are you over compensating for something?

You can tell a lot about someone by the way they treat the people that aren't important to them.

We can tell a lot about our self-important Napoleonic PM from this.

Kevin Rudd & Gough Whitlam. Doing the Deficit Two-Step.

2009-02-04T08:45:00.012+10:00

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/04/2481623.htm

It seems to happen with regular monotony - a Labor government gets elected, and we end up with Debt, Deficits, Unemployment and Big-Government.

No one disputes the need for governments to invest in infrastructure - especially in times of financial turmoil.

But Rudd and Swan are prooposing to put the country $100 billion in debt over 3 years. The sort of debt it took the Coalition a decade to pay off.

It's a matter of spending what you actually have rather than charging up a huge burden of foreign debt on the national credit card.

The major lesson of the financial crisis is that debt can be toxic. If you borrow too much when times are tough, you'll lose your shirt - and that is true for householders as much as governments.

Former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello slammed the competence of the Rudd Government on Lateline last night.

He pointed our the hypocricy of Julia Gillard praising the strength of Australia's financial framework at the Economic Forum in Davos at the same time that Rudd was talking it down and saying that "Capitalism needed to be saved from itself". As if there was one message that we needed to tell the world, but another message we needed to feed to the poor voters at home.

He underlined the poor quality of the $10 billion pre-christmas cash hand out, which did little more than boost the profits of Westfield, without creating any real jobs.

But most of all, he pointed out the stark contrast between the time when he was treasurer, and now, under our current incompetent, Wayne Swan. Under Costello we had budget surpluses in excess of 2% of GDP. Swan is giving us the opposite - budget deficits in excess of 2% of GDP.

As the old song goes... "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone".

At last

2009-01-21T09:25:00.005+10:00

“The New Colossus”

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset hates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lighting, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Emma Lazarus

Swan Flies in Wrong Direction

2008-11-01T15:22:00.004+10:00

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/01/2407628.htm

Treasurer Wayne Swan is either misguided or disingenuous when he claims that his clumsy bailout of Aussie banks didn't cause a run on investment funds.

I admit, it's easy for me to sit on the sidelines and criticize with the benefit of hindsight. But consider this, most other western countries, while offering guarantees on bank deposits, have an upper limit. Australia's limit was pretty lame, so I think the treasurer decided to get hairy chested about it and instituded a guarantee without limit. And then in typical Labor style, decided to introduce a tax (which he calls a "levy") on larger deposits to help pay for the insurance.

Most people accept that this is what caused most investors to try and pull their money out of investment funds. Why not? When they could get a guarantee without limit from their local bank.

But what seems even more worrying is the change of tack that the treasurer has taken in order to address the credit crunch. He's decided to give people $1,000 before Christmas. I think the correct term for this is "Trickle Up Economics". It's sort of like the antithesis of extreme capitalism where benefits to the rich "Trickle Down" to the masses, like crumbs from the table. But in Swan's scenario we give money to the masses before Xmas to buy their plasma TV's and lotto tickets.

Maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt, but this was the same pundit who before the election was bemoaning the lack of infrastructure investment. Who boasted at his first budget a $40 billion plan to invest surpluses in Nation building.

Now at the first sign of trouble, the infrastructure plans are put on the backburner so Mums and Dads can get a bit of extra pocket money before the end of the year.

Imagine how many more jobs would be created, how much demand would be created for our natural resources if, instead, he kept his word and kept his promise of nation building?

It doesn't provide instant gratification like the Plasma TV money, but it has longer term benefits for us all.

Melbourne City Council Censors Painting the Criticizes China

2008-05-23T13:33:00.003+10:00

Ronald McDonald carries the Olympic Torch past a burning Monk, by Van Thanh Rudd.

The Melbourne City Council says it rejected this painting from an art exhibition because it "does not fit the brief". The painting is by Van Thanh Rudd, nephew of PM Kevin Rudd.

I reckon the real reason is that the Melbournce Council is scared of offending China, McDonalds and the PM.

Absolutely gutless.

China's "One Child" Policy

2008-05-16T14:42:00.003+10:00

According to the Wall Street Journal The Chinese Government will keep its "One Child Policy" for at least another decade.

As a result, a generation of children is China is growing up with no brothers, sisters, aunts or uncles.

Anyone found breaking this law faces huge fines. Government workers can lose their jobs, and pregnant women may face forced abortions.

Ironically, those chinese who are rich enough, pay the fine, and are able to have more kids.

For the rest, it's a choice between hiding from the government to have a child without a permit, having an abortion, or selling your baby on the burgeoning Child Trading market.

One sad consequence of this situation is a large increase in the number of child abductions.

Labor Activists Still Facing Harsh Treatment

2008-05-13T06:00:00.001+10:00

http://www.ir2008.org/

Yao Fuxin, 57, was involved in organizing workers in Liaoning to address corruption and other issues facing the local factories. A former employee at the Liaoyang Steel Rolling Factory, he is married with one daughter. In late March 2002, Yao Fuxin was secretly detained and formally charged with "gathering a crowd to disturb social order" after leading tens of thousands of workers from Liaoyang factories in a peaceful demonstration protesting against corruption and demanding the payment of back wages and pensions. He was later charged with the far more serious charge of subversion due to alleged involvement in the banned China Democracy Party.

During his trial, Yao insisted on his innocence, saying he believed in the government and wanted to see the plight of the workers resolved. He was sentenced to seven years, which he is now serving at Lingyuan No. 2 Prison in Liaoning. His family fought for a retrial with the assistance of his defense lawyer Mo Shaoping, but it was announced at a secret hearing on June 27, 2003, that the appeal was rejected and the original sentence upheld. Since his imprisonment, Yao has been plagued by serious health problems. Family members, who visit him regularly, say he is in very poor health. Yao's family and Liaoyang workers have repeatedly appealed to authorities as high as the National People's Congress and the Supreme People's Court to release Yao on medical parole, but without success.

China is Getting Ready

2008-05-12T06:00:00.002+10:00

” In the name of ensuring stability and harmony in the country during the 2008 Olympic Games. The Chinese governement continues to detain and harass political activists, journalists, lawyers and human rights workers.”

"China is Getting Ready" by "Amnesty International"

2008-05-11T06:19:00.001+10:00

Google is complicit with the Chinese Government's censorship of it's citizens.

"China and Google" by "Oyster"

China: the world's biggest prison for journalists and cyber-dissidents

2008-05-10T06:50:00.000+10:00

"Beijing 2008" by "HerveParisFrance"

McDonald's - Beijing Olympic partners

2008-05-09T06:38:00.000+10:00

If you're wondering why most companie$ and countrie$ aren't officially prote$ting the thuggery of the Chine$e Government, here'$ a $ubtle hint:

"McDonald's - Beijing Olympic partners" by "shalvas"

Beijing Olympics 2008

2008-05-08T12:26:00.002+10:00

In the run up to the Beijing Olympics I'll be posting some photos I've found around the net by other people which express my sentiments.

The Chinese Government's treatment of dissidents is appalling.

They tolerate no disagreement.

They've erected a huge firewall to prevent their citizens from reading anything online that criticizes their government.

Chinese people are beautiful, intelligent and gracious.

But the Chinese Government... they're nothing but amoral thugs.

"Beijing Olympics 2008" by http://www.flickr.com/photos/kongharald/

A Matter of Style

2008-04-11T11:59:00.006+10:00

Q1. See if you can pick which of the following photos is of:
(a) The wife of the French President
(b) The wife of the Australian Prime Minister

Ok - no prize money for that one.

We are all born with different natural assets. It mostly depends on what comes up when the genetic dice are rolled, combined with what we do with ourselves once we're dragged kicking and screaming into the world, and how we present all of that in one package.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy seems to have rolled double sixes in the genetic stakes, but in addition to that (in an almost sterotypical French way) she exudes style and class.

Style is "what you do with what you have". It's a major determinant of first impressions.

Therese Rein is a self-made business success. But on the world stage it's style that drives first impressions, not professional history. And I think that's independent of gender.

It may be unfair, but that's how it is.

As Australia's first lady, I hope Ms Rein gets some good style advice. She's an intelligent women, married to a brilliant man. Considering the resources available to both of them, I don't think it's unreasonable for us to expect a bit more.

A Man of Steel after all

2008-04-09T14:52:00.002+10:00

Credit where credit is due.

I've been critical of PM Kevin Rudd before, but I admire his courageous stance in Beijing today.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/09/2212108.htm

It took guts to go to China, and in his first speech there, to say loud and clear that Australia is concerned about Human rights violations in Tibet.

Hopefully Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will recognize the value of International Friends who are unafraid to speak the truth, rather than "friends" who never say what they really think.

Dubya's Man in Australia

2008-04-04T12:34:00.005+10:00

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/04/2208065.htm

Our little mouseketeer of PM shows that he's well and truly behind big kahuna, George W Bush.

Holt may have been "All the way with LBJ", but Kevvie is definatley "At the decree of GWB".

Definately not the sort of behaviour you'd expect from a supposed "Man of Steel".

At Home At Last

2008-02-23T12:27:00.002+10:00

Full marks to new Labor Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, for granting permanent residency to Robert Jovcic

Jovcic was a victim of the previous goverments heartless immigration policy, which left him homeless and sleeping on the steps of the Australian Embassy in Belgrade.

Minister Evans says that this was "one of a number of regrettable immigration matters the new Government is rectifying".

It's great news.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/23/2170552.htm

Insipid Swan Starts to Sink

2008-01-14T14:48:00.000+10:00

Rates08

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/14/2138016.htm

New treasurer Wayne Swan doesn't have a clue when it comes to dealing with banks.

Banks around the country are getting away with raising their interest rates - even when the Reserve Bank hasn't raised official rates.

Shadow Treasurer, Malcolm Turnbull is right. They're treating Swan like a mug.

If Swan doesn't lose the training wheels soon, the millions of people who got duped by Kevin07 are going to be worrying about Rates08. And Swan's credentials on fiscal management will look about as beleivable as that woeful hairpiece of his.

The age old cycle of "Labor Mismanagement" begins again.

Get out of my face!

2007-12-17T22:07:00.001+10:00

I hate TV ads.

I have trouble at the best of times shifting my attention from one thing to the next. Just ask by dear wife how difficult it is for her when she comes into my office while I'm halfway through thinking somthing through.

When I'm relaxing in my favourite chair in the lounge room wathcing a show on TV, the last thing I want is some stupid corporation interrupting the peace, trying to sell me something I don't need - be it hamburgers, debt, pain killers, or white goods.

If I want to buy something, I'll go and get the facts by checking some web pages, talking to people who've bought similar things, or just makeing a few phone calls.

The last thing I want is some twisted manipulative message from a company that paid a fortune to butt in on my peace and quiet with some inane advertisement extolling the virtues of their snake oil, targetted at some idiot with half my IQ, a quarter my common sense, and ten times my apparent desire to base spending on the propaganda I see on the TV screen.

(Yes, that sounds elitist and it is. Advertisers target their ads at a lower than average intelligence level of about late primary school, and assume if they tell you to buy something often enough, you'll be stupid enough to buy it. Well... are you? Is that how you're going to reward someone who invades your lounge room in the middle of your favourite show?)

Guys - just get out my face!

In fact, I've bought a couple of PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) - the Beyonwiz DP-S1 and the Topfield 5000. Both of them have a wonderful product called ICE TV installed which lets me know what TV shows are on and when - up to a week in advance. All of this lets me pause the TV, and skip over ads. So now, when some imbecile tells me how cool McDonalds, or "SUPER" A-Mart is, I just tell them to *#$%# off, press the red button to skip ads, and keep watching my show. (You have no idea how satisfying it is to blast TV ads away at the press of a button).

So here's my prediction. Everyone will end up getting a PVR with ICE TV, and skip over ads. TV will become a less attractive medium for corporations to peddle their wares. TV broadcasters will lose advertising revenue, or try and devise more insidious ways to push ads in front of your face, which will devalue the medium even more.

It's at this point that the guys at Think TV will try to convince you how much you need advertising on free to air TV.

Which is a load of rubbish.

I'd rather pay a TV broadcaster to show stuff on TV, provided they didn't insult my intelligence with ads.

Or even better - watch the ABC. What a wonderful institution. Intelligent shows, no ads, no dumbed down news or current affairs.

But regardless of whether you like ABC or not, whether you're prepared to pay for your TV or not, the forces of evolution are at work in the TV world.

And it's my fervent hope that TV advertisers, those parasites who invade our living rooms, will go the way of T-Rex, Eohippus, and the Dodo.

And I for one, can't wait to dance on their graves.

Change of Government

2007-12-04T08:59:00.000+10:00

While I'm disappointed with the outcome of the Federal Election, I sincerely hope the new Labor Government has success in improving the quality of life for Australians over the next three years.

I'm so glad to live in Australia! There are not many places in the world where you can have a change of goverment and not have blood in the streets.

Liz and I took the kids into the polling booth and let them see democracy in action.

What a fantastic sight to see everyone voting, and having a say in what happens in the country.

At last look, our local member, Peter Dutton, was almost 200 votes ahead. It's a bit close for him, but it looks like he'll make it. Good on you, Peter, you're a great local member, and deserved to win!

Pearson on: Rudd: "Understand the heartless snake here"

2007-11-23T18:10:00.000+10:00

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/23/2099795.htm

Noel Pearson tells it like it is. He's a fearless advocate for his people.

I totally agree with his assessment of Kevin Dudd's duplicity.

Says Pearson: "This has obviously been a complete charade, and for those people who think that 'well, let's give Labor the move to perhaps run with this agenda in some later term', then I just say well we'll have a re-run of Bob Hawke here"

Dudd is a chameleon.

Like Pearson, I too dread the prospect of Dudd becoming Prime Minister.

Chalk and cheese

2007-11-23T08:35:00.000+10:00

Despite the "me too" garbage from Mr Dudd and his comrades, the differences between the Coalition and the ALP are like chalk and cheese.

Click on the thumbnail below for a quick summary of the major performance indicators for both parties.

The difference between our current prosperity, and what we'd lose under a one party Labor State couldn't be starker.

A Coalition win by 5 seats

2007-11-21T11:27:00.000+10:00

That's my prediction for Saturday.

There won't be a uniform swing, and while the ALP will pick up some seats, it will also lose one or two.

Call it wishful thinnking if you like, but I like to think that most Australians aren't going to get duped by "Mr Me Too", aka Kevin Dudd.

If I am right, most of the Australian media are going to look like a bunch of idiots and will have a bucketload of egg on their faces.

If I am right, someone needs to ask who paid whom to get such blatantly biased reporting from all streams of media including the ABC.

Of course, it's just my prediction, and it flies in the face of all the opinion polls, and all the "wisdom" of pundits who claim to be smarter than me.

But I hope I am right.

You need more to govern this country than a twerpy smirk and a photocopier for stealing economic policies. Mr Dudd just doesn't cut it.

Oh - one other thing, if I am right, I promise to post some priceless photos of the look on the faces of Kevin Dudd, Julia Dullard and Wayne Conn.

Beware the Chameleon

2007-11-05T13:18:00.001+10:00

FakeKevin07

Say it once, and you could be excused for thinking it was just a gaffe by an inexperienced wannabe.

Say it twice, and you remove all doubt.

Now Charles Wooley has heard Garrett saying the same thing:
"Peter Garrett agreed, he intimated that 'What we say in Opposition might not be what happens in Government.'''

Read the article for yourself here.

Rudd and his shadow ministry are fakes. They are telling you what you want to hear because they want your vote. In areas where they're clueless (such as the economy) their photocopiers have been working overtime on their "Echo-nomic", Me-Too policies.

But when you really put them under the miroscope, Garrett's comments say it all: "We're just pulling your leg now. It will all change once we get elected".

It's par for the course, isn't it? Check out what Garrett used to say on American military bases in Australia, or on the Tasmanian Pulp Mill. Now check out what he's saying now. He (like most of the Labor front bench) has more positions on this stuff than the Kama Sutra.

Their lips are moving, but I can't hear anything meaningful coming out of their mouths.

You may not agree with everything he says, but at least when John Howard say's he's going to do something, he does it. He's the real deal.

Rudd is just a fake.

Me Too!

2007-11-02T08:59:00.000+10:00

KopyKatKevin07

Kevin Rudd and the "me-too" conga-line that is the ALP haven't got a clue about economic management.

That's why when it comes to the hard stuff, like tax policy, economic management, and national develoopment, they're trying to play it safe by copying the Coalition.

Chameleons might be exciting to look at, but they do not make good leaders.

Ruddonomics

2007-10-31T14:28:00.000+10:00

By Sinclair Davidson And Alex Robson

Wall Street Journal Asia – 23 October 2007

It looks like Australia may have lost its nerve for economic liberalism. In Sunday’s nationally televised debate, Prime Minister John Howard touted his vision: a "new society" based on entrepreneurialism and individualism. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd a self-proclaimed Christian socialist, backed bigger government and expanded social spending. Yet immediately following the debate, Mr Rudd. was declared the winner by most of the popular media.

Next month’s national election result could have significant implications for Australia, the world’s 15th-largest economy and a key U.S. ally in Asia. Over the past two decades, successive Labor and Liberal governments have ripped down trade barriers, privatized industries, floated the Australian dollar and opened the country to international capital flows. The economy is in its 16th year of uninterrupted economic growth, free of public debt, and enjoying low inflation and the lowest level of unemployment in 33 years.

Mr Rudd, a 50-year-old former bureaucrat, has cleverly mimicked the government’s record, even labeling himself an "economic conservative." That tack has apparently won him support among Australia’s middle classes, who have benefited most strongly from the economic boom and don’t want to see a change in economic strategy. He’s now leading Mr. Howard by about 10 percentage points in most national polls. But a closer look at Mr Rudd’s. record reveals that he’s not a reformer, but rather an unreconstructed interventionist masquerading as a free market conservative. Call it "Ruddonomics."

Take his parliamentary record, for a start. Since coming into the Parliament in 1998, Mr.Rudd has toed the party line and opposed most efforts to further reform the economy. The Australian Labor Party opposed the privatization of Australia’s government-owned telecommunications provider, Telstra; strongly protested industrial relations reform, including Mr. Howard’s recent efforts to reduce union power and abolish unfair dismissal laws; and, most importantly, opposed all significant tax reform over Mr. Howard’s tenure, including cuts in income taxes. Mr. Rudd’s economic philosophy isn’t a secret. In a speech to the free market Center for Independent Studies in Sydney last year, he openly attacked the free market ideas of Nobel Laureate Friedrich Hayek, branding him a "market fundamentalist." In Mr Rudd’s. mind, it’s okay to accept "the economic logic of markets but . . . these must be properly regulated and that the social havoc they cause must be addressed by state intervention." He also argued that public policy should deliver long-term market-friendly reform tempered by "social responsibility."

In practice, a Labor government under Mr. Rudd would re-regulate economic life. Over the past year he has promised to set up no fewer than 68 new bureaucracies and establish 96 reviews if elected. He promises to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and commit Australia to a costly program of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 60% of 2000 levels by 2050. His proposed industry policy—constructed by Kim Carr, a declared socialist—would create an uberbureaucracy of 12 Industry Innovation Councils. The goal, it seems, is to promote manufacturing by "picking winners"—a policy with an appalling track record of failure both in Australia and elsewhere. To round things off, Mr. Rudd’s labor-market policy promises to abolish individual workplace agreements and to restore union power over policy making to its former glory.

Given the Howard government’s record of economic success, Mr Rudd’s dominant lead this far into the electoral cycle is a remarkable achievement. But it’s also not without precedent. Australia has been through this kind of economic soul-searching before, with an eerily similar Labor campaign pitch—and a disastrous outcome.

In 1972, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam led Labor out of a 23-year-long electoral hiatus by running the most comprehensive negative campaign in Australia’s history. His "It’s Time" platform emphasized the Liberal Party’s long stint in power without laying out a coherent alternate economic vision. He then embarked on a disastrous three-year premiership, during which time he socialized Australia’s health and education systems and unapologetically increased the size of government. Inflation soared, as did the levels of national debt. Today,
Australia is still living with many of Mr. Whitlam’s mistakes.

Mr Rudd’s 2007 campaign strikes a similar tone. His slogan—"New Leadership"—is aimed squarely at Mr. Howard’s political longevity, rather than any apparent policy differences. Indeed, an integral part of Mr.Rudd’s strategy is to mimic everything his opponent says on monetary and fiscal policy, including keeping a budget surplus and an independent central bank. Even Mr. Rudd’s Labor Party colleagues—many of whom are closely affiliated with left-wing labor unions—now cloak themselves in the jargon of economic conservatism, while touting big government platforms such as a federal government takeover of the nation’s hospital system.

At the same time, Mr. Rudd has judiciously employed the "It’s Time" strategy, carefully pointing out that his opponent has been around for an awfully long time, and is "old," "stale" and "out of ideas." To top it all off, he often cautions voters about the evils of negative campaigning, and reprimands Mr. Howard for directing any criticism at him, no matter how minor.

We’ll soon know if Australian voters will repeat their 1972 mistake, and go with a candidate who promises bigger government. When asked whom they want to run the economy, voters overwhelmingly favor Mr. Howard. Yet betting markets, which have a good track record of predicting voting outcomes, show that Mr. Howard only has a 40% chance of holding on to power. That most voters do not seem to know or care about any of this speaks volumes about Mr. Rudd’s campaign strategy and Mr. Howard’s inability to cut through the spin. For the most part, Australians do not seem to recognize that good economic policy does not require "new leadership" or "new ideas." The current economic boom has lasted so long that most citizens— including Mr Rudd, it seems— have forgotten the three main ingredients of policy success: minimal intervention, transparent regulation and broad economic liberalization.

Mr Rudd has done well to convince voters he represents new leadership, as the results of Sunday’s debate show. Yet it isn’t clear which aspect of his election platform is new. If Ruddonomics wins the day, Australia could find itself back in a 1970s mindset, with bigger government and a less competitive economy. In a modern, rapidly globalizing world, that’s not a vision for the future— that’s a vision for the past.

Mr. Davidson is a professor in the School of Economics, Finance and Marketing at RMIT University in Melbourne. Mr. Robson is a lecturer in the department of economics at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Not till you see the whites of their eyes

2007-10-10T12:02:00.000+10:00

I think John Howard should wait a while before calling the election.

A section of Australian voters are still infatuated with Kevin ("me-too") Rudd, who seems anxious to get this election in the bag while he still has a large lead in the polls.

The next few weeks will increase in intensity, and show up flaws in the conga-line of "wannabes" that are following Kev around. See for example Robert McLelland's gaffe on going easy on terrorists, or Peter Garret's hypocrisy about the Tasmanian Pulp Mill. In fact if you scratch more closely at any of the Labor front bench, it's easy to see the amateurish cracks in the facade that is "Kev 07".

John Howard should take a leaf out of Neville Wran's book, who espoused the idea of applying the "blowtorch to the belly" of his oponents - keeping the heat on them to really see what they're made of.

It's only when the heat is on, when the pressure is unbearable, when they wish the blowtorch would go away, that you really get to see what someone is made of.

Take your time, Mr Howard. Keep the heat on. The Rudd facade will slowly melt away, until it's pretty obvious to everyone that Emporer Kev isn't really wearing any new clothes at all.

WYSIWYG

2007-09-10T16:33:00.000+10:00

WYSIWYG or "What you see is what you get" is an important attribute in politics.

Why vote for someone who appears to support one thing, only to find that after they get elected they're totally different to what you expected? That would be a disaster.

I will be voting for John Howard at the next election because he is definately WYSIWYG. You definately know where this man stands. He is predictable. You know what he's going to do.

I don't agree with everything he's done, but I know when he says he's going to do something, he'll do it.

Kevin Rudd is the opposite. He's Mr "Me too", presenting himself as a clayton's opposition leader. Mimicking the Prime Minister on vital issues like Economy ("Echo-Nomics"), Foreign Policy, Taxation and Indiginous Affairs, he tries to present a "not too scarey" version of the Labor Party that isn't going to frighen the voters, while placating the left with platitudes about Climate Change, Iraq, and (of course) Industrial Relations.

I.e. they dont' really stand for anything (especially if it's unpopular). All they want to do is get elected.

But ask yourself this. Why would the Labor Party want to get into office if they were just going to mimick the Liberals?

There's only one answer - they're definately NOT WYSIWYG. They want your vote, and they'll dress up in sheeps clothing so you can't see the wolf.

If you're not convinced, check out the conga line behind Kevin Rudd - the ones who he wants to make ministers in his government:

Deputy prime Minister and Minister for Industrial relations: Julia Gillard, former student radical and AUS president
Treasurer: Wayne Swan, former ALP state secretary
Attorney general: Joe Ludwig, former AWU official
Minister for Trade: Simon Crean, former president, ACTU
Minister for Transport and Tourism: Martin Ferguson, former president, ACTU
Minister for Finance: Lindsay Tanner, former state secretary, Federated Clerk's Union
Minister for Environment and the Arts: Peter Garrett, lifelong anti-American activist
Minister for Infrastructure and Water: Anthony Albanese. Former assistant general secretary, NSW ALP
Minister for Human Services: Tanya Plibersek, former student union official, UTS
Minister for Immigration: Tony Burke, former official Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Union
Minister for Resources: Chris Evans, former official Miscellaneous Workers' Union
Minister for Veterans' Affairs: Alan Griffin, former official Federated Clerks Union
Minister for Primary Industry: Kerry O'Brien, former official Miscellaneous Workers' Union
Minister for Superannuation: Nick Sherry, former state secretary, Federated Liquor and Allied Trades Union
Minister for Sport: Kate Lundy, former official CFMEU.

And waiting in the wings are:

Greg Combet, candidate for Charlton and former ACTU president
Doug Cameron, NSW Senate candidate and secretary of Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union
Bill Shorten: candidate for Maribyrnong and national secretary, Australian Workers' Union
Richard Marles: candidate for Corio and former assistant secretary, Transport Workers Union.

Get the idea?

A vote for Kevvie is a vote for the ACTU - government of the People, for the Unions, by the Unions.

That's what you get - but it's not what you saw. Sort of like the opposite of WYSIWYG.

Kev07? Not bloody likely.

Grubby and heartless in the local rag

2007-08-29T17:15:00.000+10:00

I hate grubby journalism.

Here's some photos, and the text of an article in our local rag, "The Northern Times".

The full text of the article can be viewed at http://www.questnews.com.au/article/2007/08/23/19859_nt_news.html (unless they delete it).

Click on the photos for larger versions. The text of my letter to the editor follows the article.

The Northern Times 24 August 2007.
AUGUST 24: The controversy surrounding campers pitching tents in Wyllie Park looks set to continue until the future management of the reserve is finalised.Residents have called for action to be taken against people camping in the park, in defiance of signposted rules governing the use of the green space.They say people camping in tents should be moved on, while campers themselves say they are doing no harm and just want to enjoy a peaceful stay before moving on in their travels.One resident, who asked not to be named, said the rules of the park were clear and should be enforced by council officers.

``We're not saying everyone who camps down there is a troublemaker, but there are clear rules about who can and can't stay overnight at the park and we just want the rules to be enforced,'' the resident said.
``And it clearly says that camping in tents is not allowed.
''Pine Rivers Shire Council CEO Ray Burton said the land the park was located on belonged to the Queensland Department of Main Roads.

He said council did not have any power to take action in relation to camping on state-controlled land.``The legal tenure of Wyllie Park is declared as state-controlled road, however, council is currently negotiating with Main Roads to gain legal control of the park,'' Mr Burton said.

``Council will continue to maintain the facilities within Wyllie Park
which includes the collection of rubbish, cleaning of toilets and showers and
also regular mowing.``This is part of an historical agreement.''

Here's the letter I sent on 29 August 2007.

Dear Editor

Your front page story, "Our Tent Ghetto" (NT 24 Aug 2007), is an indictment on the standard of journalism of your paper, and the level of heartlessness that exists in our community.

With no by-line, your anonymous reporter claimed that tensions had "again surfaced between residents living near Petrie's Whllie Park and people erecting tents within the grounds".

"Residents"? Which residents? You only quoted one nameless resident. Was there anyone else? One anonymous undated quote does not demonstrate that the community has "called for action to be taken". If the claims are true, surely someone (even your reporter) would have the courage to pin their colours to the mast and speak without the shroud of anonymity?

You claim these residents live "near Petrie's Wyllie Park". Have a look on a map. Wyllie park is triangular, bounded on one side by the North Pine River, beyond which is yet another park. On the other side it is bounded by Gympie Road, beyond which is a cricket field and a paper recycling plant. On the third side it is bounded by a railway line, beyond which is a football field. The nearest houses are several hundred metres away in Mundin Street on the other side of the railway line and embankment.

In the middle of winter, during one of the wettest weeks of the year, your photos show large tracts of water on the ground in what is supposed to be a camping ground. Several unfortunate people found it necessary to live in the middle of this flood in tents. A nameless journalist, and an anonymous resident claiming to live nearby (in a warm dry house, no doubt) want "the rules to be enforced". The council, who claims to be powerless to do anything about it simply turned off the hot water.

That's the real story.

How unkind.

By the way - feel free to publish my name.

Neil Ennis
Lawnton

More than Mutual Media Masturbation

2007-04-15T12:24:00.000+10:00

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1896028.htm

Kevin Rudd and Channel Seven's "Sunrise" have been caught red handed telling porkie pies about their plans to stage a fake "dawn service" at Long Tan in Vietnam on Anzac Day to fit in with prime time TV slots in Australia.

While Kevvie and Kochie might be permitted a bit of mutual ego stroking on prime-time, the problem is the mess they've made while they were doing it:

Rudd tried to convince us he knew nothing of his discussions with "Sunrise" to stage the fake service. Emails then came to light which proved Rudd's claims to be false.

He then tried shift the blame to his staff for the "oversight" - grossly hypocritical in the light of the charges of "Sergeant Schultz" behavior that he leveled at the Government over AWB ("know nothing, see nothing, ask nothing").

Most Australians have to put up with wankers from time to time, but it's a bit much to expect us to tolerate hypocritical, lying little wankers.

Makes you wonder what he'll come up with next.

Queensland Health - a first-hand account

2006-10-06T11:54:00.000+10:00

Our 4 year-old, Lilly, had trouble breathing last night at about 1am.

Her lips started turning blue, she started making barking noises like a seal, and could hardly get any air into her lungs. We were very worried.

I called 000 and the ambulance arrived within 5 minutes.

They were really effective, gave her oxygen, and took her off to the Royal Children's Hospital right away.

A doctor was available to see her as soon as we arrived at the hospital, administered some drugs (Dexamethasone, for Croup), and we were able to take her home within the hour.

Everyone was very professional and helpful, and I can't praise them enough.

It didn't cost us a cent.

There's been a lot of criticism of the health system in Queensland recently, but I think that despite the problems that have been publicized, we have an excellent system. It worked for us, and probably saved our daughter's life.

To all the doctors, nurses and ambo's in Queensland - our family regards you as heroes.

Poor Pacman Poopsies put on a Pout

2006-06-17T17:33:00.000+10:00

See this story from the ABC

The rapacious whaling pac-men from the land of the rising sun are upset because they didn't get their way at the international whaling commission.

They failed by two votes to introduce secret ballots (to make it easier for wavering delegates to vote for whaling without the public shame), branded the IWC a "waste of time", and threatened to leave.

Joji Morishita spat the dummy. Bribing all those small third world countries for their votes is such hard work, and costs him and his grisly butcher "scientific whalers" a lot of money.

Those who have evolved beyond making sushi out of the largest mammal that ever lived need to be vigilant and turn up the heat. Winning a few votes at the IWC is not enough.

Beazer's Budget Blabberings

2006-05-17T14:23:00.000+10:00

Check out Kim Beazley's budget reply speech

He uses the term "Middle Australia" 35 times. I think his polsters must have told him that they're the people who are a bit worried about him.

The only problem is most "Middle Australians" wouldn't know who a "Middle Australian" was. It's a bit of doublespeak that politicians use to tag a group of amorphous voters, but its not a term that any serious person would use to describe themselves.

"G'day my name is Neil and I'm a.... Middle Australian". Not likely, mate. I'm a father, a husband, a small business operator, a daydreamer, a wannabe musician, maybe even a battler, whatever.... but "Middle Australian"? Give me a break, Kim. If you use that term and me in the same sentence, then the only meaning I derive from it is that you're after my vote and you aren't too sure how to get it.

The other bit of doublespeak Beazer used was "Triple Whammy" - as though it was some big silver hammer that Maxwell was using to bang us on the head with as per the song by the Beatles. The Opposition Leader was referring to the recent quarter of a percent interest rise, the increase in fuel prices, and the change to the Industrial Relations laws.

Regarding his first point about interest rate rises. I'd rather be hit with Costello's quarter percent interest rise than the 18 percent rates that Beazley gave us when he was in power. Especially since most commentators agree that we're not going to need another rate rise for quite a while. And anyway you can count on a closed fist the number of initiatives Kim Beazley made in his speech addressing what he'd do to reduce interest rates.... none at all because he and his party wouldn't have a clue about interest rates.

The second point about rising fuel prices is pretty lame. Oil prices are rising around the world. Does Beazer have a magic wand he's going to wave which will bring them down? If not, is it the nasty government's fault that they're high? Who are you trying to kid?

And on the third point of Industrial Relations reform threatening the jobs of "Middle Australia", blind Freddy can see that unemployment is much lower now than under Beazley's government. When he ruled the roost it was over 10 percent. Now it's 5 percent. Which number is more threatening to you?

One initiative I have mixed feelings about is his ideas about the "Double Drop-off". Building childcare centres in State Schools is fair enough - provided the State Governments let you do it. But if you already have your kids at one child care centre, you'd still have a double drop-off under Beazley unless you pulled your kids out of one childcare centre and put them into another.

And then what happens to the other childcare centres that aren't in school grounds? If they lose customers, will they close down?

Sounds to me like the cure might be worse than the disease.

Well said, Bill!

2006-04-03T10:36:00.000+10:00

Full marks to Bill Leak for his witty cartoon about Indonesia and West Papua.

A similar cartoon in an Indonesian newspaper portrayed John Howard and Alexander Downer as amorous dingoes. Most people either smirked about it or wrote it off as a pretty lame joke.

But Bill's cartoon has got a lot of people running for cover, with Downer "disassociating" himself from it, opposition counterpart Rudd calling for a stop to the "cartoon wars", and numerous Indonesian commentators getting very worked up.

There's no need to get so upset.

The Indonesian media opposed Australia's actions over West Papua and criticized that decision.

Similarly, many Australians are skeptical of Indonesia's actions in West Papua, and are openly critical about it.

Debate between international neighbors about issues of mutual interest is a healthy thing. It would be a much less desirable situation if this sort of debate was stifled to try and appease those sensitive souls who are offended by criticism.

The debate serves a vital role - governments at home and abroad are held accountable for their actions.

If Bill Leak can have a bit of a laugh about it while contributing to the debate, then good for him!

We know what you're upto in Papua

2006-03-24T14:46:00.000+10:00

The Indonesian Government "is surprised, disappointed and deeply deplores" the decision by the Australian goverment to grant temporary protection visas to 42 asylum seekers from Papua.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1600102.htm

As Dr Phil would say, past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

So taking into account the thuggery that the Indonesian army committed in East Timor and Aceh, it seems perfectly reasonable to assume that the Papuans were telling the truth when they complained of brutality at the hand of the indonesians.

If I had to chose who to believe between a Papuan who braved the ocean in dugout canoe, and an Indoneisan military thug with a past history of brutality, it's a no brainer.

It's good news for lovers of freedom that politicians in Indonesia are upset about this.

They know that we know what they're up to. And they don't like it. Nice of them to let us know that we're getting under their skin.

It's good to see the plight of Papua in the mainstream media too.

Getting smarter about Capital Punishment

2005-12-06T11:47:00.000+10:00

Full marks to Robert Richter, QC, and Brian Walters, QC.

They have come up with a plan to extradite the Bali Nine to Australia to face conspiracy charges. The goal is to get them out of Indonesia before they're charged, tried, convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad.

I hope the Department of Public Prosecutions in Victoria co-operates, as should other state / territory governments and the Federal Government.

Our government may not have the political will to lobby Asian governments to forsake Capital Punishment, but with some smart legal manoevering we may be ale to use international law to make it more difficult for them - even if it is only when dealing with our own citizens.

More info

For Van Nguyen

2005-12-02T07:56:00.000+10:00

Singing The Spirit Home

(Eric Bogle)
They came for him in the morning, an hour before dawning
The pale white moon was waning in the African sky
The cell door flew wide open, they stood looking at him
He saw no mercy in their hearts, no pity in their eyes
As they took him and they bound him, tied his trembling hands
behind him
He felt his courage leave him, his manhood disappear
His legs would not support him, so from the cell they dragged him
He sobbed and screamed and cursed them in his loneliness and fear
Chains, chains, chains
How many souls have died in freedom's name
To some it is a way of life, to others just a word
To some it is a snow-white dove, to some a bloody sword
But until the last chains fall, freedom will make slaves of us all
With faces closed and hidden the white guards walked beside him
Indifferent to his pleading - they'd been down this path before
But other eyes were watching, other ears were listening
Other hearts beat with him in his final desperate hour
From the darkness of that prison came the sound of his brothers
singing
Courage, their voices told him, you do not walk alone
From their cells beyond the shadow he heard their voices echo
As in love and pride and sorrow they sang his spirit home
Chains, chains, chains
How many souls have died in freedom's name
To some it is a way of life, to others just a word
To some it is a snow-white dove, to some a bloody sword
But until the last chains fall, freedom will make slaves of us all
And their song of hope and freedom, it rang inside that prison
It beat against the iron bars and crashed against the stone
As in their fear and hate they hung him, the last sound that filled
his being
Was his brothers singing, singing his spirit home
Courage, brother, you do not walk alone
We shall walk with you and sing your spirit home

Bring Jovicic Home

2005-11-25T10:55:00.000+10:00

Opposition Immigration Spokesman, Tony Burke, and his leader, Kim Beazley are totally correct. The immigration department was wrong to deport Robert Jovicic, and they should bring him home.

Until he was forcibly repatriated, Jovicic had never been to Serbia in his life, didn't speak the language, and had lived in Australia for 35 years.

He's as Australian as I am.

If he's guilty of crimes, then we should be dealing with the problem here - not exporting our woes to Serbia.

Why does the immigration department get it so wrong so often? Consider the cases of Vivienne Solon, Cornelia Rau, and now Fatih Tuncok who is facing deportation to Turkey after spending the last 33 years of his life in Australia.

I don't think its enough to say that the Immigration Department (DIMEA) "got it wrong" or "made a mistake". These are malicious actions by a dictatorial department that is drunk on its own power.

Someone with guts has got to take drastic action and sort DIMEA out once and for all - starting with the Minister and working right down to the gratuitous gnomes who perpetrate these mean and nasty policies.

Enough is enough.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1516426.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1516691.htm

Save a man's life

2005-11-21T12:50:00.000+10:00

Please read this article in my main blog.

John Doyle - Comedian and Genius

2005-10-11T11:36:00.000+10:00

The Andrew Ollie 2005 Media Lecture was presented by John Doyle.

For those of you who haven't seen him, Doyle is "Roy Slaven" - part of the comical duo, Roy and HG.

Although John Doyle's lecture was very funny in parts, he delivered an incisive appraisal of the state of our world, with some intelligent suggestions on what could be done about it.

The text and mp3 download are available at:
http://www.abc.net.au/sydney/stories/s1476723.htm

If you ever find yourself questioning things like the "Dumbing Down" of commercial media, the future of the ABC, the facile nature of Talkback Radio, and the decline of the skeptical thought process, then you'll appreciate what Doyle has to say.

The Virus of Ideas

2005-08-04T13:05:00.000+10:00

Ideas are like viruses.

They spread from person to person. If a person is infected they can pass the idea on to someone else.

Some people are immune to some ideas. Others are susceptible to them.

Ideas change the people they infect. They can turn someone into a political activist, a religious zealot, or a suicide bomber.

Some ideas (like some viruses) can cause much damage. Consider the AIDS virus, or SARS.

Epidemeology is the study of the distribution of diseases. It is an advanced science and is vital for containing the spread of infectious diseases. It teaches us how to prevent infection, and how to treat those who are infected.

I think that we need an "Epidemeology of Ideas".

It is moot whether a particular idea is "dangerous" or not. I don't want to be drawn on which ideas are "good", "bad", "dangerous" or "helpful" because each person will have a different opinion depending on their point of view.

But a society may feel threatened by the spread of a certain philosophy. For example, western societies feel threatened by terrorism.

The usual response to this perceived threat is to increase surviellence, military presence, etc - trying to prevent terrorist acts.

I think this is akin to doctors trying to stop a runny nose, or reduce a temperature. It's dealing with the symptom rather than the cause.

We need to ask more probing questions such as:

How is the destructuve idea communicated from person to person?
What makes someone susceptible to such an idea?
How do we prevent people from being infected by such ideas?
Once infected, how do we remove the infection?
Can someone not infected with such an idea still spread it? For example, someone who doesn't beleive in a certain philosphy might promote it for their own personal gain.

These questions raise more alarming questions about human rights, freedoms, democracy, freedom of the press, etc.

I'll try and explore some of these questions in my future postings.

Senator Ian Campbell - hero for the whales

2005-06-26T11:51:00.000+10:00

Well done, Senator Ian Campbell.

The Australian Environment Minister worked tirelessly to convince some wavering delegates to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to oppose Japan's lust for whale meat.

The cetacean slaughterers have dug in for a long fight, and have indicated they will ignore the IWC and continue their hunting anyway.

The IWC motion is a start, but ultimately, someone is going to have to start playing hardball with the whalers.

Last year the Navy hunted half way round the world to catch poachers of the Patagonian Toothfish. In the same way, I hope they go hunting for whalers soon.

Lock out the whalers

2005-05-29T09:49:00.000+10:00

Greens Senator Bob Brown is right to call on Australian to close its ports to Japanese whaling vessels if they start hunting Humpbacks or increase their take of Minke Whales.

"Scientific Whaling" is bullshit. What's scientific about going out on a whaling ship, harpooning heaps of whales, slicing them up, and selling them. The sooner someone stands up to the Japanese and tells them to cut the crap, the better.

To make it worse, they're now bribing smaller nations in the whaling council to get them to either reintroduce commercial whaling, or increase the quota allowed under the terms of "Scientific Whaling".

If we let these butchers into our ports, and make it easier for them to do their grisly job, then we are complicit in their deeds.

I'd probably go one step further and suggest the Australian Navy use the whaling ships for target practice.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1379232.htm

Roll on Tsunamis

2005-05-27T13:43:00.000+10:00

(9 June 1005. Note. I wrote this article on the afternoon of the Schapelle Corby verdict. I was angry, and I admit that what I wrote was "over the top" and excessive. I want to stress that I do not want another tsunami to happen to Indonesia. Australia should continue to supply aid to people who need it - including Indonesia. But I do not resile from the main thrust of what I wrote - that the Indonesian justice system is NOT just. Their human rights record is abysimal, and they deserve to be criticized fearlessly for these things. How else are things going to change?)

Unlike the civilized world, Indonesia has no comprehension of the doctrine of "Reasonable Doubt". "Guilty until proven innocent" is the way of their judicial system.

A young Australian girl can be sentenced to 20 years in an Indonesian hell-hole because someone shoved some drugs in her bag.

There's no reason to rehash the reasons she's innocent. There is enough information on the public record to show that the incompetent cops in that unhappy country didn't fingerprint the bag or weigh it. The myopic excuse for a judicial panel set aside crucial evidence from Australian baggage handlers, police and criminologists. Neanderthals in such a position of authority in that place would not even consider the ludicrous nature of a suggestion that someone would want to import pot into a place like Bali - more likely an exporter of narcotics rather than an importer.

The Antediluvian Archipelago has no respect for human life. Witness its brutality in East Timor and Aceh.

Even the most skeptical of us must wonder why it has suffered more earthquakes, bombings, and a massive Tsunami then ever before during the time they have imprisoned Schapelle Corby.

If there is some supreme being, all I can suggest is that she (or he) get on with it and send some bigger waves to wash this pitiful excuse of a legal system into the Indian Ocean.

And more mundanely, whoever doles out the foreign aid in Canberra - strike the Indo's off the list. These troglodites don't appreciate human life and don't deserve it.

Oh, and while we're at it, perhaps the crooks who REALLY committed this crime could make themselves useful and plant some more dope in bags going into Indonesia - preferably in the bags of Indo diplomats, judges, and government officials. Frame enough of them and perhaps someone will bang two rocks together and realize that this is one huge travesty of justice.

Sour grapes on Interest Rates

2005-04-09T17:25:00.000+10:00

The ALP is crying foul over the campaign run by the Coalition at the last election.

The basis of their argument is threefold:

1. The government claimed that rates would be higher under labor, but then the RBA lifted rates by a quarter of 1 percent.

2. The goverment quoted RBA figures during the election, and the RBA complained to the AEC that the government shouldn't be quoting the RBA during an election campaign.

3. The RBA complained to a coaltion staffer who authorized the ads who should have passed on the complaint to the coalition's campaign director.

Since the interest rate campaign torpedoed the ALP's chances of winning the election, they're not very happy.

Beazer's been telling anyone who'd listen that it's not fair, and his sidekick, Swannie has been repeating the message for us, just to make sure we didn't miss it.

Come on guys. Get over it. You lost. Voters decided that it wasn't smart to let you loose on the treasury benches just yet. Especially after what happened with interest rates in the late 80's.

In a footy game both teams go on the field, play hard, try a few clever tactics, and at the end of a tough battle, the stronger team prevails. If the losing side started behaving like Beazer and Swannie, the crowd would laugh at them and call them a bunch of wusses or pansies.

So we if had swallowed the ALP's bunch of porkie pies instead of the coalition, would that have been alright, Kim? Give Aussies a bit more credit than that. We're not dopes. We know the game that they play in Canberra, and we're pretty adept at sorting out truth from bullshit.

There's nothing inspiring or exciting about a potential leader crying in his beer.

It's just plain wussy.

Deport McGauran, not the Vaingolos Family

2005-03-03T20:15:00.000+10:00

Peter McGauran must have rocks in his head to deport the Vaingolos family for visa infringements that occurred almost 2 decades ago.

Mafi and Hiki Vaingolos came to Australia just under 20 years ago on tourist visas. Since then they overstayed, married and have had 4 children. The eldest, Keliti, is a 14 year old boy who has shown outstanding sporting and acedemic achievments at Sydney's prestigious Newington College.

Their last chance to stay in Australia was an appeal to junior citizenship minister, Peter McGauran, who said "The Government is not going to reward people who knowingly and deliberately flout Australia's immigration laws and avoid detection for many years.

My guess is that unlike his relatively articulate predecessor, Philip Ruddock, Pete is finding the job a bit challenging. Rather than use scarce brain cells thinking about the issue, it's much easier just to say "no". Almost all the time. In fact of the 740 cases that have come to is short little span of attention since the election, he's only intervened 27 times.

And so, the junior minister who prides himself on the "Pro Family" policies of his party is breaking up the Vaingolos family. Mafi, Hiki and their two youngest children have to leave the country by the end of March, while the older children Keliti and Na'a are now Australian citizens and are allowed to stay.

Good on ya Pete. It's a literal "no-brainer". No need to think about it. Say "no" and send those illegals back to where they came from. Split the family up even though they paid their taxes, supported their local church, and (in Keliti's case) were chosen to play sport for Australia.

Brilliant! Especially considering the government is raising its skilled migrant intake because of a local skills shortage. (See ABC news article http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200503/s1315485.htm)

Obviously there's a skills shortage in competent citizenship ministers. Perhaps we should deport the current plodder and get a real one.

Beazer's interest rate beat-up

2005-02-20T20:59:00.000+10:00

Labor Leader Kim Beazley's attacks over the possibiity of interest rates rising in the next few months are a beat-up.

The U.S. federal reserve is considering a hike of maybe a quarter of one percent sometime soon, which may cause rates to rise by a similar amount in Australia.

Beazley seems to think this somehow means that John Howard was being economical with the truth when he campaigned on interest rates at the last election. Howard claimed that Coalition policies would be more likely than Labor policies to keep the lid on rate rises. Now that there is upward pressure on interest rates, Beazley is claiming that Howard has been "caught out".

So rates might rise to 6.25 percent as a result of external pressues, and Howard is to blame?

Give it a break Kim. It just doesn't make sense to anyone with at least half a brain.

All I can say is thank heavens we're not now suffering interest rates of 17 percent like when Beazley and Keating ran the country.

If you're going to try to be effective against the government, ask questions that are relevant. You don't do yourself or your party any favours making false claims based on questionable economics.

Phillip Adams Dreamtime

2005-02-20T20:48:00.000+10:00

"Dreamtime" by Phillip Adams in the Weekend Australian is a classic.

I don't agree with Adams on some issues. I agree with him on much more, even though I come from a much more conservative viewpoint than he does.

More than most journalists in Australia today, I think he has earned the right to be heard and respected.

Phillip Adams has a heart as big as Uluru. He writes with a compassion and wit that can't be denied, but without any soppy sentimentalism. Like a loyal friend, he never tells you what you want to hear - he tells you the truth as he sees it.

Give us more people with this sort of integrity. I don't care if you disagree with me about something - just tell me the bloody truth. I'll respect you for it, and always will listen to what you have to say.

Spin doctors, and propagandists deserve the skepticism they receive. If you want that sort of tripe, watch Fox, listen to Laws or Jones, or some of the other cold leftovers they serve up on talk back radio. Like candy for the mind, it will rot your brain.

But if you want to work a bit harder, read Phillip Adams. He won't dish up policies from thinktanks. He'll just talk to you straight from his heart.

Phillip, thanks for sharing your dream this weekend. We'd be lucky if even half of it came true. I'm sure we could negotiate which half :)

Grieg shows guts over Habib reply issue

2005-02-20T20:08:00.000+10:00

Democrats Senator Brian Grieg has shown courage in supporting Clerk of the Senate Harry Evans' decision to allow Mamdouh Habib the right of reply to a senate committee investigating allegations made against him.

Evans said that Habib would be given the right of reply in writing to a Senate committe which had heard evidence of involvement in terrorism that had been been given against him.

Both the Goverment and the ALP don't want to be perceived as supporting someone who has been accused of supporting terrorism. Beazley said that he didn't think Habib should have a right of reply, and that "we shouldn't waste a minute on him in the Senate".

On the other hand, Senator Greig showed good sense in stating that Parliament needed to play the issue with "a straight bat", and that Habib was entitled to "natural justice" on the issue.

At least one parliamentarian was prepared to actually stand up for justice.

Is is a sad state of affairs when politicians make allegations about any citizen, but then don't want to "waste time" listening to what he might have to say for himself in reply. Perhaps it could be one of us in a few years time at the centre of public allegations made under parliamentary privilege. Goverments must always be held accountable. That means giving people a right to speak out, even when you don't like what they say. It's the sort of duty you expect a credible opposition to perform.

Unfortunately, in this situation, it was a bit too difficult for the opposition. Especially with such a hot issue as terrorism allegations.

Good on you, Grieg, for having the guts to say what most of your colleagues were too afraid to say.

Big Google is watching

2005-02-19T18:30:00.000+10:00

Let google be a snoop for you.

Imagine that you want to track what a particular organization, political party or competitor is doing.

Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) will do it for you. It will send you an email every day of any new news articles, or web sites that refer to the topic that you're interested in.

Just to be on the safe side, why not set up a google alert for yourself to make sure you're aware of what everyone else can find out about you!

The Soapbox has Landed

2005-02-19T16:52:00.000+10:00

The thoughts and sayings of Chairman Neil