People don't CHANGE they EVOLVE

People don't change ... they evolve. 

We have everything within us to be either the best person we can be or the worst. 

WE ALL take decisions during our life that we realise were very poor, and often hurt others very much. I've taken many of these. 

The lesson is to learn to accept the bad decisions/actions and learn from them and evolve into a better person, not punish ourselves for our historical shortcomings forever. 

It's a process, and we are all capable of evolving into the best we can be. This doesn't guarantee that will avoid taking poor decisions in the future, but it does help us to develop a healthy habit of learning from poor decisions. 

The greatest learning we will ever do is that which comes from self reflection.

PCYC pulls out of Valley after threats

Some of the online comments on this article are frightening!



PCYC pulls out of Valley after threats: PCYC pulls out of South Grafton after violent threats

North Coast Voices: Are you aware that Clarence Valley Council is reco...

North Coast Voices: Are you aware that Clarence Valley Council is reco...: Security cameras are so ubiquitous in modern public building landscapes that most people hardly give them a second thought and so rarely...

ADF CULTURAL PROBLEMS EXTEND BEYOND THEIR POOR TREATMENT OF GLBTI AND FEMALE MEMBERS ...

You know when someone says something that really pisses you off? And you know why, but there's so many reasons why, that you need to process them all?

We'll we've been having a little battle with the SASR, in case you've not noticed.

My son has had the DVD of the ROI on his YouTube channel for some time now, it's his property, and those that appear in it do so under the underpinning basis of our legal system as defined in the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia  i.e. to use the evidence in a PUBLIC court of law so that it may be subjected to public scrutiny.

For a couple of months my son has been bullied and begged to remove the ROI, on Monday he was directed by Chief of Army to remove it because it contained people with 'Protected Identities' and then I received a personal email from the Chief of Army explaining that not only did the DVD contain people with Protected Identities, but it also put those individuals at risk in Australia because of the current 'security environment' ...

Why am I so angry you may ask.

FIRSTLY

"Protected Identity status' ONLY applies to the Beret Qualified SASR members, NOT the Support members i.e. those identified in the ROI were support members of SASR NOT Beret Qualified members.

SECONDLY

The whole nature of collecting evidence as an investigator is to present it for PUBLIC examination in a court of law. Therefore from the moment it is produced IT IS a public document, the only point at which publication of that document becomes an issue is when it is 'actually' before a court and may influence a jury. Which despite their apparent best efforts to screw my son over, was NEVER going to make it that far.

THIRDLY

I pointed out that Australian Law Enforcement officers and their families live with a security threat every hour of every day of every week for the duration of their careers. The ADF only experience this when the Government takes policy decisions that increase the risk, and RARELY does that risk emanate from within Australia.

I also suggested that any ADF member who engages in bullying, harassment and what appears to be highly corrupt conduct, does not have the right to wear the uniform of OUR nations ADF, let alone the right to hide these behaviours behind that uniform.

AND THE FINAL REASON...

the culture of the ADF doesn't just extend to bullying and discriminating against GLBTI, Women and other minority groups within their ranks - BUT to others who serve our country.

FOR EXAMPLE:

A very dear friend who served alongside many other AFP friends within the UNCIVPOL in East Timor to establish and secure the environment required to facilitate the Popular Consultation on their independence from Indonesia so that they could become Timor Leste, told me what happened at a very Important Parade of all those who bravely stood alongside the East Timorese at the time of the popular consultation. the most significant number of these UNCIVPOL, were of members of the Australian Federal Police.

When the parade was being formed, the ADF members told my friend and his mates that they were too march at the very end of the parade behind the horses, because that's where PIGS belonged.

Can you imagine the distress that this comment caused these honourable men and women of the AFP?

They were the ones that were forced to go into East Timor without weapons, phones or means of contact with the outside world. They were also the ones that were fired upon by the Militia while unarmed. They were the ones that used their own bodies as human shields to stop the militia killing innocent East Timorese, literally forming physical barriers around buildings by standing in front of them, when intelligence indicated the occupants of these buildings were to be massacred by the Militia. They were the ones who were forced by the UN and the Australian Government to evacuate WITHOUT their local employed staff i.e. the East Timorese who worked for the UN to assist in establishing the environment for, and execution of , the Popular Consultation. They were the ones who were forced to stand idly by and watch footage of these East Timorese, their colleagues and in many cases good friends, being slaughtered by the Militia and Indon military.

And after all they sacrificed, all their honour, courage and compassion ... the ADF relegated them to the back of the parade behind the horses because that's where 'PIGS' belonged.

They spent the parade dodging piles of fresh, steaming, horse shit. I imagine though that this pure innocent form of shit was easier to deal with that the egotistical heartless shit that was at the head of the parade.

Yes, I remember everything.

ADF DOUBLE STANDARDS - THE SASR GRATTWICK CLUB PROMOTIONAL ITEMS evidence enough!

MAY I ASK A FAVOUR OF MY FRIENDS

My darling son,Zeek, needs support and needs to be cheered up. As most of you will know he is now in the process of a Medical Discharge from the Australian Army as a result of the injuries he sustained after an IED incident in Afghanistan. He will never work in any of the roles he was trained for again. He will never run again, and for someone who was a PT/Fitness Instructor and followed active weekly physical training schedule of up to 50 hrs of exercise a WEEK, this is a hugely challenging time for him emotionally. He is also being forced to walk away from a career he devoted the last eight years of his life to, a career that saw him deployed for 9 months to Timor Leste and 9 months to Afghanistan, he was decorated with the Soldiers Medallion for Exemplary Service in 2012.

These promotional items were still on sale from both The Grattwick Club and the SASSPORTS Store on the SASR Base Campbell Barracks, in October 2014 when I was in Perth to care for Zeek post his spinal surgery.

Would you all share this photograph as evidence of the entrenched cultural problems still rampant in the ADF, and if we can make it 'go viral' as they say these days, that would raise awareness of the urgent need for cultural change within the ADF and it would raise Zeek's spirits immensely. 

(NOTE: Anyone who condones this materials - PLEASE KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT - I don't want to hear your opinions and neither does my son).

PLEASE SHARE AND SUPPORT ZEEK AND ALL OUR AMAZING HONOURABLE YOUNG ADF MEMBERS by helping to achieve cultural change in the ADF so that it becomes a safe workplace free of bullying and discrimination, a workplace that all Australians regardless of gender, sexuality, race or religion can serve OUR country safely.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/national/defence-force-scandal-townsville-combat-unit-facing-claims-of-topless-waitresses-at-military-party/story-fnjbnxug-1227110961268
http://www.smh.com.au/national/topless-barmaids-no-longer-welcome-at-defence-club-after-soldiers-mother-discovered-photos-20140819-10605t.html

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/national/defence-force-scandal-townsville-combat-unit-facing-claims-of-topless-waitresses-at-military-party/story-fnjbnxug-1227110961268http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-soldier-demoted-for-hiring-topless-barmaids-20141103-11gdhl.html

HORRIFIC TREATMENT OF OUR FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE - ONE EXAMPLE OF MANY THOUSANDS OF MASSACRES

The history that needs to be told

WAS G-D ONLY EVER MEANT TO MEAN 'GOOD'

I have a theory that G-d was only ever the concept of good, and in order to own and franchise the concept of good the people over the thousands of years we've had human beings on the planet sought to build a franchise around the concept of good and to make money out of that concept by controlling it.

Worse still all the different 'good' groups that emerged over the ages put their spin on being good, and then told the human beings of the planet if you truly want to be good you need to do it our way and pay us lots of money so we can teach you our way of being good and we can control you. 

So the concept of good became it's own anathema ... and someone somewhere along the way turned good into G-d and then turned G-d into a supreme being rather than an ultimate state of being for all. 


Then some misogynistic franchise of good made G-d a male ... after that the whole concept of pure good (love) became so twisted and hurtful and generated so much money it's original intention became buried so deep under the control freak bullshit that was piled layer upon layer upon layer over the centuries that we ended up with things called religions that are so complex and contradictory that the simplicity of good was lost. 


BUT then how can anyone own good? 


How can you control others through fear if you are in fact the true definition of good? 


Answer is simple ... you can't.


 Hence my personal theory that G-d was always meant to be the word good, and my definition of good is unconditional love for every human being, animal and plant on Earth.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE = PROPERTY LAW yet ASSAULT = CRIMINAL LAW ... WHY?

I hope I live long enough to see the tag of 'Domestic' removed from the descriptors of violence.

An assault is an assault. Who and where it is committed has no bearing. Yet as a society we continue to perpetuate the reason 'Domestic' was added to the nomenclature of 'assault offence provisions'.

The history of this nomenclature is this:

Women and children were considered the property of men in days past, therefore the men were allowed to treat their property in any manner they saw fit.

Sadly this attitude has carried over to 'same sex' relationships where assaults committed by people who purport to love, care and nurture each other are still viewed through the eyes of property law and not criminal law.

The same applies to the differentiation between child sexual assault offenders i.e. incest or child sexual assault - the difference in how the courts and police treat the two is staggering, and again it is all based on this archaic assumption that if you abuse your own children/step children then it is seen as a property law matter and not a criminal law matter. The offences may traverse the criminal justice system but the attitudes that surround its journey through that system are those of a property law matter and not a criminal law matter.

You need look no further than societies reactions to child sexual assault for confirmation of this differentiation.

If a person sexually assaults a child unrelated to, or completely unknown to them, society wants them hung drawn and quartered... and put on a Child Sex Offenders list for public shaming.

If a person sexually assaults their own child/step child/relative society retreats into the mindset of 'that's a family issue and we don't air our family dirty laundry in public' ....

We will never find a just solution to violence and sexual assault in our society while there's a differentiation in nomenclature within the offence provisions of our criminal law statutes, These differences serve no other purpose than to flag to the police and the courts the relationship between offender and victim and to steer the passage of the matters before courts down either the criminal law mindset or the property law mindset.

A perfect case example

Address this key flaw in the system first, then there's hope of addressing the core of the problem - VIOLENCE - and ultimately developing sound solutions and caring, safe outcomes to violence between human beings.

R.I.P. GOUGH WHITLAM

I remember meeting Gough Whitlam and Al Grasby at the Turkish Embassy on the 29th October 1997 for their 74th Anniversary of the Republic of Turkey.

The It's Time sticker is still inside my Globite School Bag that was my school bag from Kindregarten through to primary school. In 1972 I was 9 years old and stood all day at the polling booth with my parents handing out how to vote cards for the ALP. My reward was this sticker.

I walked through the doorway into the Turkish Embassy's formal lounge room on 27th October 1997 and there standing near the open fire place (which wasn't alight!) were Gough Whitlam and Al Grasby. My jaw dropped, he was only 15 feet away from me. I had no idea he would be attending.

The guy from DFAT that I was with asked if I would like to meet Gough as he saw my reaction to seeing him. This chap had been Gough's manager when Gough was an Ambassador in Rome.

So he led me over to Al and Gough, Al looked so much tinier standing next to Gough. I was awestruck! I only ever had two celebrity heroes in my child hood, Gough Whitlam and Sidney Poitier.

And that's when things went a little skew whiff.

Here's the poor DFAT chap introducing a 34 year old Federal Agent in her best suit, responsible for the Security Intelligence and Diplomatic Liaison function of the Middle East Desk at SIDL (I think Brett Jackson may have been by my side too ... my Sergeant at the time ... ) being introduced to two of the coolest Aussies ever, and this is what comes out of my mouth :

"Gough, you were bigger and more important that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny in our house when I was growing up"...

Gough's eyebrows went up, and he glanced in the direction of the DFAT chap as if to say 'who the f*ck is this nutter'....

Al just chuckled ... oh well one of those occasions where you dearly wish to be cool and fail magnificently!

I was so excited I kept the invitation for the celebration with the notation as the bottom 'met Gough Whitlam at this function' ... I'm pretty sure his invitation didn't note 'Met Ursula Tunks (Wilkinson) at this function" 

I'm very sorry Al Grasby (RIP) you didn't rate a mention.

Lance Barndard's (Gough's Deputy PM during the heady days of his first Government) son Nicholas was in my AFP Recruit Class in 1989, so Lance attended our Graduation Ceremony, and he spoke with Zeek Unterrheiner, who was not quite 5 years old. Zeek had started to cheer and clap when our class walked into the auditorium, someone else in the audience told Zeek to shut up. That's when Lance spoke up and told Zeek to keep cheering for his Mum and to be proud of her.

Oh to have even a tenth of this ilk in our current governments.

Thank you Gough for your courage and your compassion and your STRENGTH OF CHARACTER.

None of us are perfect, but we're still perfect at some things.

You were an inspiring leader that gave a generation of Australians that much sought after state of mind: HOPE!

RIP Gough Whitlam.

VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN AUSTRALIA APPEAR TO BE DEEMED UNFIT TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY

Well I've reached almost complete burnout stage and need to take a day or two away from the onslaught ... hanging on by my fingernails ... but still here, so I guess that's a good thing 

For those of us who know our life journey and what the AFP did to my kids and I you'll be horrified to know that one of the things that SASR did to Zeek was conducted a Record of Conversation with Zeek where he was cautioned about having been charged by the AFP as a child with Perjury for disclosing Child Sexual Assaults he'd been the victim of. Assaults committed by a serving Federal Agent at the time. He was charged and convicted after he gave evidence against the then serving Federal Agent at two committal hearings, one in NSW and the other in the ACT. The ACT committal hearing was a fully heard committal hearing, and the NSW a paper committal. The then serving Federal Agent was committed to trial on 24 charges of Child Sexual Assault on a child under the age of 10.

The case proceeded to the ACT Supreme Court for trial, all the expert witnesses were dismissed on the morning of the trial by the Trial Judge who just happen to take over the trial that morning from the judge that had been allocated the trial originally.

These expert witness had already arrived in Canberra and had been flown in from various parts of Australia to give evidence, and were suddenly told the morning of the trial that their evidence was not required. Every single witness who could provide expert advice in relation to the Federal Agent facing trial was dismissed by this late comer Judge.

Then the Judge permitted 6 character witness to give evidence of the Federal Agents good character in lieu of the Expert Witnesses who were to give evidence supporting the charges against him.

No prizes for guessing the Federal Agent was acquitted at trial. That was 1998.

The Federal Agent had been dismissed from the AFP in June 1997 after the fully heard committal hearing, by the then AFP Commissioner Mick Palmer.

In April 2001 former Commissioner Keelty was sworn in as AFP Commissioner and that very week the Federal Agent was re-employed by Commissioner Keelty. They then went after Zeek and had him charged with and convicted of Perjury for the evidence he gave in relation to the sexual assaults he suffered as a child, They did this when Zeek was 15 years old. The outcome of this was that the Federal Agent was no longer required to repay the Criminal Injuries Compensation that Zeek had been awarded in both NSW and the ACT on the basis of the Expert Evidence, the same expert evidence that the Trial Judge had dismissed minutes before the ACT trial was to begin.

When Zeek applied to join the Army his enlistment process was halted because he was required to disclose any criminal convictions, as a child or otherwise.

They sent Zeek to see the Army Recruitment Psychologist, who then sent Zeek to seek an independent Psychiatrist report to establish his suitability for enlistment. Not because of the perjury charge, but because of his experience as a victim of Child Sexual Assault. Zeek did this and paid for the report out of his own money, which cost him $500 at the time, Zeek was 21.

The SASR OC became aware of Zeek's experience of Child Sexual Assault and his conviction and then ordered he be cautioned over failing to disclose this on his enlistment. The OC never checked.

There's an official typed record of conversation where all this is in black and white. They also asked him about being a victim of child sexual assault and what counselling he'd received during his lifetime. Yup ALL IN BLACK AND WHITE and signed off on.

MORAL OF THIS STORY - if you've ever been a victim of Sexual Assault as a Child or as an Adult DON'T APPLY TO SERVE YOUR COUNTRY .... according to these guys YOU ARE NOT A FIT PERSON TO DO SO.

Angry? Yes. Hurt? Yes. Heartbroken? Yes.

FORCED RELIGIOUS PRACTICE IS CHILD ABUSE

I just had a very deep and philosophical discussion with a dear friend close to the centre of the current 'terrorism' related actions. No classified information was exchanged, merely a desperate desire to find a solution.

The only real solution is that a child's religion should be a free choice, something that should not be forced upon them by a family or community.

Religion needs to be like voting, buying tobacco and alcohol, taking out bank loans, driving a car etc etc etc

You MUST be of an age where your decision to follow a particular faith or religion is a decision you make as a FULLY INFORMED adult.

Our religious/faith options should be the subject of education of all the choices available to human beings, including the option of having none at all.

How can something so powerful, so polarising, so controversial be thrust upon a child at birth? It is child abuse to condition a young child into a particular doctrine or faith without first equipping that child will the full knowledge of all the options available to them, and then allowing them to take a fully informed decision as an adult to follow a particular religion or to abstain from religious practice altogether.

We pour so much of societies resources into education and career planning and pathways for VET etc because we value earning an income over the value placed on the faith we choose as a free thinking fully informed adult. Surely our soul/heart/values are worth more consideration and education than how we ultimately chose to derive an income.

Isn't our moral compass the most important adult decision we ever take? This should be a decision a human being takes as an adult and a fully informed adult.

ENDOMETRIOSIS - IT'S A KILLER - SERIOUSLY

Petition for Women suffering Endometriosis in Australian & New Zealand to be able to access Vissane

I suffered from Endometriosis from the beginning of puberty until I was 45 years old.

When I was 45 I had my 9th and final surgery for this disease. By the time I was 45 the Edometriosis had reached a critical stage, literally a life and death stage. The endometrial tissue had spread to almost every part of my body.

The endometrial tissue continues to have the same cycle it would have had it remained as the lining of your uterus. However unlike the tissue that remains in your uterus, this tissue that finds it's way inside of your body has no exit when a women has her 'period' or for those of you who like for more formal turn of phrase, when a woman menstruates. This tissue merely releases more tissue into your body, it can't escape, it often cause infections which create horrific scar tissue, also known as adhesion's.

In my case, and many other women's cases, this scar tissue goes on to attach itself to your bowel, your bladder, other organs in your abdomen. By the time they were able to operate on me I had eight endometriomas (literally balls of endometrial tissue and scar tissue) these were each the size of Grapefruits. My left Fallopian tube was the size of a Chipolata Sausage and my bladder was literally bound by the adhesion's as were most parts of my bowel.

Even my female friends would write off Endometriosis as a 'Women's time of the month thing', only those female friends who didn't suffer from Endometriosis themselves.

Many people are unaware of the extreme risk of ovarian cancer for sufferers of Endometriosis.

Most people are aware of the fertility issues faced by Endometriosis, in fact it often renders many women completely infertile. In this regards I was damned lucky! I managed two natural pregnancies, albeit both utter suprises to me given the state of my Endometriosis was thought to be highly improbable.

The quality of life for a woman suffering Endometriosis without an effective treatment is massively decreased.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Sign this petition and share it with your friends and networks.

Also, if you don't know about Endometriosis or you don't fully understand this horrific and deadly disease, just take some time to google it, you'll quickly develop and appreciation of the dangers of this disease and the desperate need for a cure/treatment.

DO NOT BUY INTO THE ANTI-MUSLIM RHETORIC THE ABBOTT GOVERNMENT IS DELIBERATELY MANUFACTURING

I am in tears this morning for all my Muslim friends and family.

I'm terrified for them while this government feeds utter bullshit into the media and the community whipping up a fire storm of anti-Muslim sentiment. This anti-Muslim mob mentality is terrifying me.

BEFORE YOU JUMP on the Anti-Muslim bandwagon and start buying into this bullshit - STOP AND ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION - If our government can create this fear of innocent Muslim's, then what else and who else can it target in a similar manner?

PLEASE BE OBJECTIVE.

Terrorists are MERELY CRIMINALS, our Nation is filled with Organised Crime Groups, yet none of these horrific, violent, ruthless crime groups have us targetting human beings based on their religious beliefs.

And for those who keep the war cry of 'if you come to our country live the way we live' ... check your FACTS:

1. Firstly the British stole this land from the many Aboriginal nations that were the lawful owners/occupiers.

2. Go to the lists of those who arrived on the First Fleet and CHECK THEIR RELIGIONS ... you'll find lots of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and an assortment of various incarnations of the so called Christian religions, the religions responsible for for the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades and the IRA, just to name a few.

PLEASE USE RATIONAL THOUGHT AND FACTS - NOT MOB MENTALITY THAT IS BEING MANIPULATED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

DO NO START DOWN THE ANTI-MUSLIM PATH - Educate yourselves with the true facts..

The whole mob mentality they are whipping up will PREVENT THEM GETTING THE INTELLIGENCE THEY DESPERATELY NEED to stop any actions of the criminals (terrorists). In this regard the Australian Muslim community are the BEST SOURCE of Intelligence, and yet we are making them terrified to come forward with the information we desperately need to protect the whole community, Muslim, Christian, Jewish etc etc. 


Sadly I saw this happen FIRST HAND when the AFP Arrested Dr Mohamed Haneef. The Mosque Congregation from the Gold Coast had all the evidence the AFP needed to have the FULL STORY on Dr Haneef, but they were TOO FRIGHTENED OF THE AFP TO BRING THAT INFORMATION TO THEM. It was only that one of the mosque congregation actually worked for me and knew I was ex-AFP that she was nominated to ask my advice by the Elders (Men) of the Congregation. 

They didn't know who to take the intelligence to, they were terrified to speak up, literally, they thought they would be locked up by the AFP just for knowing anything at all. 

This is how I met Stephen Keim, by passing the evidence/intelligence to him on their behalf, safely. 

What is our country coming to when whipping up fear of a sector of the Australian Community is deemed a more rational approach to crime prevention than the correct approach, which is identifying the individuals ACTUALLY committing the offences then safely cultivating the very informants we need to protect our country? 

Not to mention that every ignorant Australian will now be flooding the intelligence agencies with reports of irrelevant information, that these agencies will be forced to wade through regardless of its' relevance.

This approach by the Australian Government and it's Security Intelligence and Law Enforcement agencies is not only counterproductive by directly contributes to the threat we face because they are effectively silencing those who can help us but terrifying them.

Australian Governments Failure to Fund Dept of Immigration Investigations Leads to Increased Extremist Activity

RAISING THE TERROR THREAT TO AUSTRALIA - ABBOTT GOVERNMENT DISTORTING THE FACTS TO SUIT THEIR AGENDA!

Raising of Terror Threat to Australia & full disclosure required methinks


I guess the slanting of news or at least the 'increase in threat' levels is convenient now the Federal Government is seeking to justify military actions in relation to both the Syrian and the Iraqi situations.


HOWEVER an explanation of the 'imported threat levels' that accompany many countries attending high profile major international events should also be declared as significant factors that influence threat levels in Australia, in particular the upcoming G20 meeting in Brisbane!

Let's not supply the real story that will explain in a 'terror free' manner the true causes for the likely upgraded Aussie Threat Levels ....


MAN OH MAN OH MAN ....

surely Australian citizens deserve transparency in regards to these threat assessment process, at least where the information is PUBLICLY AVAILABLE AND BROADCAST WIDELY by the very Government who supports these threat assessment processes and level allocations!!!!!


G2O EVENT SCHEDULE

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT CONTINUING TO FAIL IN ITS DUTY OF CARE TO OUR YOUNG DIGGERS

The Australian Government has much to answer for when a brave Young Digger is less afraid to sleep 'outside the wire' in the dangerous reaches of Uruzgan Province in Afghanistan, than he is in his own Nation.

Even if you view the treatment and actions of the Australian Government, and by proxy the ADF, from a completely economical rationalist view, we permit them to literally spend millions of dollars training, arming, kitting out, housing, paying and deploying each individual Young Digger.

Each one of our amazing young people, we colloquially refer to as 'Young Diggers' represents a MASSIVE FINANCIAL investment by Australian tax payers. Yet to the Australian Government, and by proxy the ADF, these assets are merely disposable inanimate objects, literally cannon fodder for the ADF bosses. Also remember these young men and women are human beings who are integral parts of their own families, who are valued and loved beyond anything that can be equated in financial terms.

Everyone of us should be DEMANDING URGENTLY that our Young Diggers are protected, cared for and honoured as the valuable human beings they are, and that this protection, care and honour MUST commence immediately.

My heart goes out to the hundreds and thousands of Young Diggers whose lives were lost in Wars over the history of the ADF, my heart also goes out to the families who suffered the tragic loss of their valued, loved and irreplaceable, sons & daughters who've taken their on lives as a result of the Australian Governments complete failure in their Duty of Care to these much loved Young Diggers.

The sad, sad state of our modern day society!

Had the most odd, yet sad, experience yesterday during Mend & Make Do Workshop.

I went outside to have a cuppa and a cigarette (yes I'm an addict again as of last October).

There was a chap waiting at the bus stop for his bus. So I struck up a conversation with him. Lovely fellow. We chatted about the weather, how lucky we were to live in such an amazing little community spirited town i.e. South Grafton.

After a while he looked quizzically at me and said 'are you a religious person?'. Not in a manner to strike a conversation down this path, but in a manner that left me in no doubt he meant ... 'why would you want to have a conversation with me?'. He was visibly startled when I responded with 'f*ck no, I'm here running a Mend & Make Do Workshop, you're welcome to join us any Thursday even if it's just for a free cuppa, and I'll even make it for you!'.

No prizes for guessing that this beautiful human being was a member of our First Nations community here in South Grafton  how sad it is to think we've become a society where friendliness and genuine interest in others is viewed as having an ulterior motive!

Australian Governments: focus on the Human Rights Abuse you inflict inside OUR country FIRST.

Hmmmm... so the privileged 'white fulla's' of Australia are preening themselves and patting themselves on the back for their intervention in human rights abuses outside our borders, and yet not attending to their own human rights abuses in our country!!! NOT GOOD ENOUGH Aussie Governments! Nowhere near good enough! What's that saying 'people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?'

http://thestringer.com.au/australias-aboriginal-children-the-worlds-highest-suicide-rate-926#.VAYyIcWSzd0

Gandhi's views on parenting ... perhaps.

Paraphrasing Gandhi this morning, apologies to him;

However, I believe that Gandhi might be happy with the application of his wisdom to parenting.

"Be the human being you want your children to be in our world."

i.e. be the example, walk the walk and talk the talk.

We can never control another human beings thoughts or behaviours, we can only set the boundaries of what we expect in terms of who we are as a human being. Be consistent in this. Don't ask your children to be something you are not prepared to be yourself. AND prepare yourself for the fact they will break your heart over and over by judging you and acting out. HOWEVER, never doubt that they are watching you closely in everything you do, and that the person you are is the greatest influence on the person they will become.

Political Knitter: Australian Government's i.e. ALL Governments; Fede...

Political Knitter: Australian Government's i.e. ALL Governments; Fede...: So what is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia? Does it provide the 'legal' framework for the nation now known as Au...

Australian Government's i.e. ALL Governments; Federal, State & Territory- inconsistent applications of the Australian Law.

So what is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia?

Does it provide the 'legal' framework for the nation now known as Australia?

Is it the very basis from which all other Australia, Federal, State & Territory, legislation is built?

Does it provide a corner stone for the citizens of Australia, on which they can tie their knowledge of, and belief in, our systems of Government?

Sadly our own Governments, Federal & State chose all too frequently to act in direct contravention to the statute that defines their very existence.

This post is about one of the more flagrant forms of breaching the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. This breach causes great pain and suffering to ALL Australians, and yet it's mere existence is hidden from the citizens, willfully by those who are advantaged by the 'fraud' that is inflicted on our country as a result.

In 1988 the Commonwealth Government of the Day held a referendum asking Australian Citizens (of voting age) if we wanted a third tier of government in our country, that third tier being 'local government' i.e. local councils.

*Local Government to recognise local government in the Constitution

25 July 1988

3 September 1988

Not Carried

None

33.62

Source:  http://www.aec.gov.au/elections/referendums/Referendum_Dates_and_Results.htm

Australian Citizens voted NOT to have Local Government included in the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. No further referendum has been held and yet this level of 'Government' still exists and still charges and excise in the form of Land Rates to the Citizens of Australia who are fortunate enough to own property in this country.  

How is this possible?  Sadly following the failure of the Referenda the States and Territories took the decision to act in direct contravention to the will of the citizens of Australia and each went on to promulgate statutes that legitimised (in the minds of the States & Territories) the existence of Local Governments in Australia. Firstly this is completely against the wishes of the Australian people and secondly it is in direct contravention to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, remember that corner stone of the land now known as Australia?

The various unconstitutional statutes that were promulgated include:

NSW Local Government Act 1993

WA Local Government Act 1995

SA Local Government Act 1999

Queensland Legislation

Local Government Act 1989 Victoria

Tasmanian Local Government Act 1993

NT Local Government Act

ACT 'Self Government Act' 1988

These statutes then presented a false image to the Citizens of Australia, that Local Government and the excise they collect in the form of 'land rates' was a lawful excise and was Constitutionally valid. However, it is not the case.

Section 90 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia CLEARLY states that:

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 90

Exclusive power over customs, excise, and bounties

                   On the imposition of uniform duties of customs the power of the Parliament to impose duties of customs and of excise, and to grant bounties on the production or export of goods, shall become exclusive.

                   On the imposition of uniform duties of customs all laws of the several States imposing duties of customs or of excise, or offering bounties on the production or export of goods, shall cease to have effect, but any grant of or agreement for any such bounty lawfully made by or under the authority of the Government of any State shall be taken to be good if made before the thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and ninety‑eight, and not otherwise.

Source:

Section 90 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia

In 1997 the Commonwealth Government of Australia took the NSW Government to the High Court to challenge the Constitutional validity of the NSW Liquor Excise Act of 1901, the challenge was based on the fact that this statute exceeded NSW's power under Section 90 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, in that they were collecting an excise on liquor and tobacco. 

The link below is an excellent summary of the illegal activities of the State and Territory Governments in Australia.

1. http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/CIB/CIB9798/98cib01

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia also states in Sections 51 (ii) and 99:

" that any tax imposed by the Commonwealth shall not discriminate between any States or parts of States. In this respect, the imposition of taxation by the Commonwealth must be 'uniform'.

There is absolutely NO uniformity in land rates imposed by legitimate governments (through their illegitimate arm of 'local government'), and these 'land taxes' are not based on the ability of the owner to pay, but on the value of their property. No consistency across the rate at which excise is applied, nor any recognition of the owners capacity to pay i.e. their income. Many people work their entire lives to pay for their home only to find when they retire their 'suburb' or 'town' has suddenly become a desired residential environment and the land excise skyrockets and the very home they worked hard their entire life to retire in, they can no longer afford to own. 

The Constitution of the Commonwealth also includes a provision that neither the Commonwealth nor the States may act in a manner that exceeds their power under the Constitution.

The Constitution isn't a mammoth document. It is less complex that the rules of Cricket, AFL or Rugby League in Australia. EVERYONE is able to understand the Constitution, we just need people prepared to explain it to us in a way we understand, not the current approach which is deliberately carried out to exclude citizens from understanding what is effectively the 'rules of their lives' ... kind of important I believe, that everyone understands the very document upon which there whole life as an Australian Citizen is controlled.

A SAMPLE DOCUMENT: 

Ref: EKRVCC-1CF

9 February 2012

NOTICE TO AGENT IS NOTICE TO PRINCIPAL. NOTICE TO PRINCIPAL IS NOTICE TO AGENT

To: Neil Charge

 Revenue Team Leader

Camden Council

RE: Assessment number xxxxxx

I am in receipt of your letter dated 25 January 2013 being a letter forwarded in response to my notice to council dated 16 January 2013. 

I have noted you write “reference is made to your 2 letters dated 16 January”. Please note the correspondence forwarded to Camden Council were not letters but a “Notice” requiring your attention”.

For your Information: Legal definitions of:

Notice: 

1. A state of awareness of fact or thing, as required by law or contract.

2. A communication seeking to make its recipient aware of a fact or thing, as required by law or contract.

Letter: 1. A written or printed symbol employed to represent a speech sound or sounds; character in an alphabet: in some languages, as English, some words contain letters that are no longer sounded

2. A written or printed message to a person or group, usually sent by mail in an envelope

Thank you for the abundant information included in your letter. However, no response has been provided to the amount of offer to contract and the information requested in the notice dated 16 January 2013 has not been addressed. It was requested Camden Council forward evidence of the existence of a contract between E & K Rafailidis and Camden Council with a signature clearly marked by both E Rafailidis and K Rafailidis. As Camden Council has failed to 

provide evidence such a contract(s) exists, it is fair to conclude NO CONTRACT EXISTS.

Your letter dated 25 January 2013 does not lawfully reject or accept the offer by E & K Rafailidis to contract with Camden Council for the provision of services, however, in consideration of the content of your letter and the material attached, it is concluded the offer was rejected. Therefore, no legal contract exists between the parties.

I will now take the opportunity to provide you, Camden Council, and Neil Charge, an agent for Camden Council, some further information on valid legislation:

Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 

An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia. [9th July 1900] 

5. This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of the Commonwealth under the Constitution, shall be binding on the courts, judges, and people of every State and of every part of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the laws of any State; and the laws of the Commonwealth shall be in force on all British ships, the Queens ships of war excepted, whose first port of clearance and whose port of destination are in the Commonwealth.The Constitution is the “the first law of the land” and supersedes all other Acts, Laws, and by laws. 2

Sections 106, 107 and 108 of the Constitution allows for the continuance of government of each State in accordance with the provisions of The Constitution. 

Nowhere in The Constitution is there provision for the continuance of Local Government. 

Section 128 of The Constitution provides the mode in which The Constitution can be altered, being by way of Referendum and there is no provision other than referendum that lawfully permits any alteration to The Constitution.

FACT: A referendum was held in 1974 to alter The Constitution to provide for the continuance of local government and the majority vote was NO.

A referendum was again held in 1988 to alter the Constitution to provide for the establishment and continuance of local government and again the majority vote was NO.

NOTE: This factual information is available on the Australian Electoral Commission Website should you need 

to verify.

http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/referendums/Referendum_Dates_and_Results.htm

Section 109 of The Constitution provides: Where there is inconsistency of laws, Federal Law will prevail over State Law. 

To put it simply, the Constitution is the source of all laws and the States are the stream. Justice Gleeson CJ in a unanimous decision of the High Court of Australia states “What the Constitution does not say may be as significant as what it says. On any view, it is a legal instrument written in the past that controls the exercise of power in the present and (subject to the possibility of amendment in accordance with its own terms) in the future”.

Singh v Commonwealth of Australia [2004] HCA43 (9 September 2004) Unless Camden Council or its agents can provide evidence in rebuttal of the above facts and demonstrate that there was a referendum of the people, Australia wide, approving a third tier of government being local government, at a date subsequent to 1988, the fact remains there is no lawful existence of local government and the references Camden Council make to the Local Government Act 1993 are NULL and VOID and of NO VALUE.Constitution Act 1902

5 General legislative powers

The Legislature shall, subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, have power to make laws for the peace, welfare, and good government of New South Wales in all cases whatsoever:

Note: The Constitution of New South Wales must be subject to the Federal Constitution

Note: The Local Government Act 1993 is an Act of the State

Note: Section 109 of The Constitution: Inconsistency of laws.

Note: Twice the people of Australia said “NO” to the existence and continuance of local government, and  NO MEANS NO 

Unless Camden Council or its agents can provide evidence in rebuttal of the above facts, it is fair and reasonable to consider the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 to be NULL and VOID and of NO VALUE unless consented to.

3The High Court of Australia has referred to laws created in excess of power as “pretend laws”.

South Australia v Commonwealth [1942] HCA14; (1942) 65CLR 373 (23 July 1942)

Chief Justice Latham 

“ A pretended law made in excess of power is not and never has been a law at all. Anybody in the country is entitled to disregard it. If it is beyond power it is invalid ab initio.

TAKE NOTE:

Efrem and Koula Rafailidis do not consent to being subjected to statutes that have been created in “excess of power” and against the “will of the people”. 

Camden Council ABN 31 117 341 764 is a corporation. This was agreed in the letter from Neil Charge, an agent for Camden Council, in the copies of the listing of Camden Municipal Council/The Council of Camden on the ABN Lookup website, forwarded with the letter dated 25 January 2013. The entity type description lists Camden Council as a Local Government Entity. The points Efrem and Koula Rafailidis would like to make in regards to the above are:

PLEASE NOTE:

There is a disclaimer attached to ABN Lookup listing which reads:

“This extract is based on information supplied by businesses to the Registrar of the Australian Business Registry. 

Neither the Registry nor the Australian Government guarantee this information is accurate, up to date or complete. 

You should consider verifying this information from other sources”.

Efrem and Koula Rafailidis have suffered financially and psychologically in the past as a result of deceptive conduct from agents of Camden Council. Efrem and Koula Rafailidis have taken note of the disclaimer and are justified in considering the information provided by Camden Council to the ABN Registrar may be false.

Despite the above, in consideration of the following;

ABN = Australian Business Number

Definition: business n. any activity or enterprise entered into for profit. 

Efrem and Koula Rafailidis do not accept Camden Council to be a legitimate government entity. The position of a legitimate government is to govern, not to trade for profit.

In your letter dated 25 January 2013, Camden Council provided “pretend laws” which suggest Camden Council “may” “sell any land (including vacant land) on which any rate or charge has remained unpaid for more than 5 years from the date on which it became payable”.

BE INFORMED:

Efrem Rafailidis and Koula Rafailidis hold the property in Fee simple. An estate held in fee simple is “for all practical purposes, the equivalent of full ownership of the land” and confers “the lawful right to exercise over, upon, and in respect to, the land, every act of ownership which can enter into the imagination”. Justice Gleeson CJ

New South Wales Consolidated Acts

IMPERIAL ACTS APPLICATION ACT 1969 - SECT 364

36 Alienation of fee simple

Land held of the Crown in fee simple may be assured in fee simple without licence and without fine and the person taking under the assurance shall hold the land of the Crown in the same manner as the land was held before the assurance took effect

.

12 Charles II c 24-The Tenures Abolition Act 1660 -s 4.

37. All tenures created by the Crown upon any grant in fee simple made after the commencement of this Act shall be taken to be in free and common Socage without any incident of tenure for the benefit of the Crown.

Free and common Socage – No debts attached to the land, regardless of any law, statute or reservation to the contrary

The High Court of Australia (full bench) rulings in The Commonwealth of Australia v The State of New South Wales and Another [1923] HCA 34; 33 CLR1 (9 August 1923) and Fejo v The Northern Territory of Australia [1988] HCA 58 (10 September 1988), holds a property held in fee simple title is a contractual arrangement between the current owner and the previous owner of that property, and no fees, charges, rates (taxes), or permits can be levied or imposed by 

any third party and this includes councils. 

The High Court of Australia is the most supreme court of the land. Therefore, having Camden Council imply the property may be sold due to unpaid rates and charges can only be interpreted as an intimidation method, to extract monies from Efrem Rafailidis and Koula Rafailidis unlawfully.

Camden Council made an offer to contract with E & K Rafailidis for services (undisclosed). The offer was not lawfully accepted by either E Rafailidis or K Rafailidis. It was requested however that Camden Council provide evidence of the existence of a lawful contract between the parties so further consideration could be given to the matter of the “missed instalment” notice.

Camden Council failed to provide any evidence such a contract exists. As there is no lawful binding contract between the parties, if Camden Council tries to claim any so called “unpaid” rates, it will be an act of fraud, leading to the common law offence of abuse of a public office. 

IMPERIAL LAWS OF ENGLAND

As Australia is still a nation of the Commonwealth, many imperial laws of England are still valid and in force and are binding on all nations of the Commonwealth. Many of these imperial laws have been enshrined in the Constitution of Australia. One of the most important Charters being The Magna Carta 1297. The Magna Carta has been described as “the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary 

authority of the despot”. Lord Denning.

Magna Carta 1297 Clause 29 NO free man shall be taken or imprisoned, or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go or send against him except by the 

lawful judgement of his peers by the law of the land.

TAKE NOTICE:

Efrem Rafailidis and Koula Rafailidis being man and woman of flesh and blood do not consent to any judgement other than a judgement under common law jurisdiction and invoke their common law rights to due process.

E & K Rafailidis acknowledge Camden Council does provide essential services to the community, primarily waste collection, and we are willing to contract with Camden Council for the provision of those services to the said property.

5

NOTICE OF OFFER TO CONTRACT:

E & K Rafailidis are in a position to offer Camden Council $ xxxxxx for services which have and may be provided to the property located at. …………..

The amount of $ xxxxxx has been calculated as follows:

$ xxxxxx

$ xxxxxx

$ xxxxxx

E & K Rafailidis have given much consideration to the amount of offer and make this offer in good faith and without prejudice. 

The calculations are based on information received from Sue Staks, Senior Revenue Officer employed by Camden Council, in an email dated 13 July 2012. A copy of the said email is attached. The said property is and has always operated as farmland.

The amount of $400.00 offered to Camden Council for the provision of services to the said property will be payment in total for period 1 July 2012 – 30 June 2013.

NOTE: This offer will be valid for 14 days from the date of this notice.

If no lawful notice of rejection is received (in accordance with law), within the specified time, the offer will be deemed to have been accepted and payment will be forwarded to Camden Council at the expiry of the 14 days. If the offer is rejected, then E & K Rafailidis claim that Camden Council (a corporation) has NO legal standing to harass or to intimidate E & K Rafailidis for either “unpaid rates” of for “interest on unpaid rates” in the future as there is no contract 

between the parties.

A copy of this notice will be forwarded to all councillors as they are the ones responsible for all operations of the council as if they are “directors”. 

SIGNED SIGNED

Efrem Rafailidis Koula Ra