Unconstitutional referendum on Local Government.

Finally another chance to have local government legitimised under the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia and the little power broking states have hi-jacked the efforts of the ALGA to covertly attempt to legitimise their unconstitutional local government statutes. 

If the government proceeds with this as the wording:


'During a period of 10 years after the establishment of the Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides, the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any State, or to any local government body formed by a law of a State, on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit.''


Then it's big fat NO vote from me.


I hate to quote parables but the one about the two builders - one built their house on sand and the other on rock. The wording of this referendum is the sand option - short term fix which will leave us vulnerable to all sorts of risks, whereas a properly worded referendum that provides true recognition of local government and autonomy of local government will lead to stronger safer more fiscally secure communities. I would argue that this proposed wording is unconstitutional because it assumes that state governments have the authority under the constitution to create levels of government themselves, they don't. That in itself is enough to derail this referendum.

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/recognising-local-government-needs-rethink-20130521-2jyu9.html#ixzz2YDXwK6vd

Please change the leadership of the Federal Liberal Party - we need Malcolm Turnbull

Can we now have a change of leadership in the Liberal Party. I'm confident that a Liberal Party under Malcolm Turnbull would not be resorting to childish crap campaigns targetting the Labor Party. Malcolm has the intellect to create an election campaign based on policy - NOT blatant childish bullying which is all Abbott appears capable of. Grow up Libs and get Malcolm to steer the Party to victory, make the party something we can be proud of again.

Gender bias and outright discrimination is alive and well, and in Government in Queensland!

When are they are going to leave these poor women alone! Goodness me, this is the thin edge of the wedge. What'll be next? This is the wardrobe these women chose to wear. On one had there's governments spending millions on encouraging the Defence Force to change its' culture to one of inclusiveness of all people, and then there are morons like this chap who turn around and think they've the right to tell women not to wear something. Who do they think they are even contemplating taking this issue further than their own moronic brains? Frankly I feel far more comfortable having a conversation with a woman wearing a face veil or burqa than I do trying to converse with any human being wearing sunglasses, and for that matter the majority of Australian politicians! If only we could have both IQ & EQ tests for people wanting to stand for government. This MP should be stripped of his seat and sent back to school and not be allowed to graduate until he understands what an idiot he has been even mentioning this publicly, let alone thinking he has the right to take this to a private members bill.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-15/mp-wants-courts-to-get-power-to-remove-face-veils/4756232?section=qld

The Australian Media and Politicians acting like fools because a Federal Election is looming

Completely befuddled by the Australian Public and the Australian Media! Let's not focus on policy or the economy or issues of social justice and actually educate the community. Instead let us perpetuate a smoke screen of meaningless vitriol about restaurant menus and mens ties. F*ck me. The day we stop reacting to issues of gender and stop acknowledging the immaturity of people on both sides of the political divide and actually focus on what is good for us from a policy perspective, that'll be the day we achieve true equality. I am almost embarassed at times to be a women when I see other women continue to use gender as a headline grabber. Stop reacting to the bullies! Stop putting the gender card out as if it has some credibility. Just get on with the job - a job both genders are more than capable of fullfilling if they stop with the petty frigging crap that goes on in the name of politics. Just do the f*cking job you were voted in to do - represent your electorate, do it ethically, fairly and work bloody hard at it. This tit for tat friggen school yard crap (infants school at that) is beneath most Australians. This is definitely one example of where leadership should be about doing what's right and ingoring the idiots on the sideline. It's also example of where politics falls down - you might vote for a person because their policy and their individual character is most aligned to yours - but you end up having their efforts undermined by the very fools in their parties that perpetuate this bullshit! I think I have most of this off my chest. Let's get back to the policy issues, one we should be demanding is included across all parties is the banning of bullying for any reason from any campaign or political environment. I am so O V E R the football hooligan mentality that overruns the community at election time! T H I N K please!!!!!!

Shame Russia Shame

What a completely bizarre world we live in. We have people who actually believe they have the right to legislate against other people being happy. Some people wonder why I can be so passionate about issues, this is why! If we are all happy to sit back and be complacent and just look after our immediate interests this is what happens. It astounds me that we live in a world were people can legally buy guns, can get away with murder and abuse on massive scales yet some of our 'administrators' of legislation can seriously justify their right to firstly 'judge others' and secondly 'deny those they judge the right to be happy'. I can see why my G-d would be pissed off about what's happening on this planet. I hate to quote the Beatles here - but the simple truth of this planet is that 'all we need is love'. Sounds simplistic but in reality it is probably the most profound and righteous statement I have encountered.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/06/2013611155323341978.html

Australia's Shame - our Returned Service Men & Women should never be 'out of sight and out of mind' ...

We should be ashamed - do you know that we've, that is Australia, lost 17 young service men and women to suicide since the beginning of this year alone. We are running at almost one death per week. If these were the statistics in Afghanistan itself Australians would be outraged, yet it would appear we are letting this happen under our very noses in our communities without question.

John Cantwells book quotes a ridiculous figure of around 500% more US service men and women have committed suicide than the total US war death toll in Afghanistan. I'll have to check that figure - I know it just blew my mind when I saw it. I have heard that the figure in the US stands at around 22 per day, so the 500% may just be correct.

So if you know any returned service men and women - who've served in ANY theatre of war PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep a caring eye on them. Keep your ears open and be ready to listen when they need to talk. Find out about the services that the Defence Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs offer. Approach your RSL Sub Branches, find out what support they offer. There are many Non-Government Organisations out there providing excellent support services to our returned service people. You'll often hear these organisations described as ESO's - Ex-Service Organisations. 

I don't care if you don't agree with our participation in a particular theatre of war, these young people are OUR young people. Young Australians, our friends and family. For goodness sake make an effort to care for them, they do it every single day for us.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-06/veterans-speak-out-against-department-of-veterans-affairs/4738088

A Royal Commission into Australian Political Parties

Had a radical idea this morning ....

We've had Royal Commissions into the various Police Forces around the country, we've had a Royal Commission into the Building Industry and over the years Royal Commissions into various facets of the infrastructure that makes up modern day Australia....

What I would dearly love to see is a Royal Commission into all Political Parties!

I am so sick of the bullsh*t that goes on behind the viel of entities called Political Parties. I've been a member of nearly all of them and left because of the corruption and bullying I've witnessed within them. Note that this wasn't behaviour directed at me but behaviour I've observed. These incidences are not small or one off yet we continue to misconstrue the role of political parties. They are NOT to bully and make back room deals that mislead the public, they are simply a group of people that advocate for certain policy approaches to the delivery of government management services. The Australian Public sits back and watches and does nothing to demand more ethical representation by these parties.

I can see the merit in the independent approach to seeking election. I can understand the difficulty of an independent attempting this though. The Political Parties have become the bullies that dominate the governing of our resources and our people yet only a very small percentage of our country men and women actually belong to these parties.

What are the chances of getting these Party dominated governments to actually turn the cries for accountability and ethical behaviour on themselves? Frustratingly the odds are very very very poor.

When will Aussies stand up for themselves, stop being bullied by the Parties that dominate our political landscape?

Ironically the Political Party behaviour is yet another source of bullying we subject our kids to during prime time news reports and still many wonder where there kids learn the horrid traits of a bully.

Taxes and the voting age in Australia

I can fully understand why someone with resident status only should pay taxes and not be able to vote.

BUT why is it that we tax our own citizens before they are old enough to vote?

Why should a young person, who is an Australian Citizen, be denied the right to influence how their taxation money is spent?

To some extent the raising of the tax free threshold to $16k by the current Federal Government has alieviated the situation, but it still does not ameliorate the situation entirely.

Why don't we just have a carte blanch policy that states if you don't pay PAYG or other income related taxation until you are able to vote? Seems fair and equitable to me.

It's simply wrong to take taxation money from an Australian Citizen and then deny them the right to vote on how that money is going to be used.

Where's a real politcal party when you need one?

So the choices are pretty grim in terms of political parties in Australia. Where can a girl find a party that encapsulates the following:

1. Integrity, transparency and impeccable work ethic
2. A realistic view of self employment as a serious employment option from sole traders through to corporate ownership and mandatory inclusion of the self employment option in all careers planning/guidence during secondary school and mandatory business planning subject in secondary schools.
3. Mandatory civics education for all primary and secondary students and for all new citizens.
4. Nationalisation of Education, Health & Law Enforcement (including court systems)
5. A truly streamlined taxation system
6. Marriage equality
7. A genuine and proactive commitment to supporting and facilitating the production of green energy
8. A fully functional and appropriately funded Defence Force and National Security capacity
9. A strategic plan that extends past the election cycle 

this is just a wish list ... there are probably more issues I could add, but for the time being these are the ones which are of most importance to me.

Political Misbehaviour & Misunderstanding

When will political debate in this country (Australia) resemble an intelligent interaction between people of differing policy viewpoints and not the explosive and pointless behaviour akin to the meeting of rival football supporters?  

We wonder why our kids behave like bullies when we subject them to political news reports during so called 'kid friendly' broadcasting hours? 

I'm so sick of the scare tactics and the irrational debate based on either the fear of the 'rich' or the fear of the 'unions'. 

For goodness sake! Politics in this country needs to mature past the point of not trusting someone just because of they way they chose to derive their income on this planet. The left of Australian politics will have you believe that the employers are the nasty control freaks who will exploit you until you have no more to give them. The Unions have their place but to use their position to incite fear and mistrust of employers generally is merely their tactic for maintaining their membership in a victim mindset. Not healthy for the membership and totally misrepresents employers. I dare to wonder if the creation of a victim mentality by some Union officials is done to further their own power base and political ambitions.

Likewise there are those who are more fortunate that fail to stop and consider the myriad of reasons why others are less fortunate. Often the ignorance and intolerance of some of the more fortunate among our community creates resentment. 

Too much of our political debate is based in mistrust and fear, not facts and intelligent conversation. I hear the argument at times that not everyone understands politics, policy and the economy and that this collective misunderstanding is representative of the weakness of those who don't understand. 

My argument is that the weakness is in those that do understand and have failed to achieve an effective mechanism to ensure that understanding is shared by everyone.

The importance of providing all Australians with effective 'Civics Education'

I despair at the number of adults that I meet who have no knowledge of how each level of government in Australia operates. Even more desperately over represented are the numbers of Australians who've never read the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. Shockingly there are even those who do not know what the Constitution is!

How can you be part of the Australian Community and not have been taught the very fundamentals of the infrastructure that supports it? And worse still how can anyone choose to be ignorant of their role in the maintenance of that infrastructure i.e. through their vote and participation in political parties or lobbying?

Is it in the best interests of the power brokers to keep people ignorant? And, what's the solution?