Dignity. Rights. Education.

Guest Author Uncategorized

Thanks to Jaycee for this excellent thread-starter … which I only edited a tiny bit …

(Image Credit: Kalanchoe sp, Freedom Bells)

I have put this piece up without ANY editing for syntax, grammar or clarity of structure. I accept there are some typos, there are grammatical gaffes and some weakness in layout etc. I do this not because I am proud of my grammatical failings, they will always be there, my lousy education guarantees THAT! I do this because it must be realized that there are many who would like to contribute, to post articles, but are sometimes a tad awed by the prospect of judgement not on their opinions, but on their writing. There are many who do post here with admirable skill more accomplished than myself … Ian, GD, Fiona, BB, Aguirre, Kambah Mick, Puff, Leone2, Janice, and others (and I apologise for missing any, but you and we know you!) but I feel there are others who lurk here and who post commentary that would have bloody good yarns and stories to tell. I myself left high school after the second year to go into trade and never sat for another academic exam till my forty sixth year … and then it was touch and go! And THIS TOO is the Labor story … that those who have worked their way through life, perhaps raised a family, developed a trade, profession or business or are on PAYE employment, can draw from their own experiences and pass them on to a listening audience without fear of ridicule and rest assured that what they do pass on will be woven also into the Greater Labor story.

Death by a Thousand Cuts: Living by a Simple Philosophy

Or: “Old Ideas, New Australians”

(Image Credit: Fairfax)

1983 … Business … of Survival

With the Death of Richard, I must now manage alone, on one pension.

The house seems in good condition. No large account, only the small loan I had taken out, which finishes in June 1985. Must try not to take out anymore loans, to [sic] much drain on my low income.

I must try to live on produce from garden, with eggs to help out.

Try to cut down on weekly food bills, most of all on meat.

The animals take quite a lot (money) for food, reg, etc.

As the fowls are all getting old, must breed up some new hens.

That was from an aged pensioner’s diary … sure, we know she was not going to die of hunger or homelessness – or do we? She certainly was afraid of some vague uncertainty … and therein lies the simple truth:
A lifetime of habit, creates a certainty of belief a moment of uncertainty doubts a lifetime of belief.

For that lady, her entire life was constructed around hard work … the old-age pension that Labor and the unions put in place gave her a measure of security so she could live out her final years in dignity. That is a word well worth praising: Dignity. Let’s put that up there at the top of the page of Labor principles.

DIGNITY

(Image Credit: Ex-ceed)

And damn if a person who applies their person to contribute toward the social betterment of their family, friends and neighbours for their working life, they are denied that most basic of respects: Dignity! and it only comes from others who have walked that same path. The speculator, always on the make, always on the lookout for the next “win”, the next “deal”, has neither wish nor capacity for dignity … he has traded it away with a Faustian deal with capital … no need to look to him for a “fair go”, his motto is “Opportunity” … but does he seriously believe that if HE did not exist, there would be no work to do?

(Actually, the name that lady called her late husband was not quite correct … you see, his name really was Riccardo. He was an Italian … SHE was born in Australia of Irish / Cornish stock – now, THERE’S a mix! But you know, it is not at all uncommon – of the three sisters in that lady’s family, after the war, one married an Italian, one married a German (third generation Australian) and the third a Polish man. This idea that we are just lately become a multicultural nation is not true. For many years there has been intermarriage in the community … sure, the surnames may be Anglo, but there is mixed ethnicity in the family somewhere, and we should be proud of this … love knows no boundaries, children know no race.)

I keep hearing this catch-cry: ”What does Labor stand for?” To my mind, Labor stands for what it was raised for a simple measure of dignity … in work, in leisure, in the fair go for all people. I remember when I was about ten years old, with my older brother, selling newspapers at the Royal Show. The manager would allocate you so many papers for the day, you’d sell them, putting all the coins into a leather bag at your hip and at the end of the day, you’d give the bag over to that manager. He’d count out what you owed for the papers and any over (you’d get tips, but most times didn’t have the time to separate the tip from the coinage) incl’ tips he’d give back to you along with your pay. But there was this one big bastard manager one year, who’d keep back most of your tips. My older brother, being a stroppy sort of young fellow, challenged him (my brother was canny enough to keep a careful watch on his tips) and the manager got angry, saying, ”If you don’t like the way I do things, you can get off with yourself!” … and THAT included me. So a thirteen and a ten year old couple of kids get cheated by an unscrupulous manager (News Limited, by the way!) – nothing new, neither then nor now! .McDonald’s do it all the time – it’s called cheap labour – but to cheat kids … what sort of people are these? Vermin who steal the rights of their fellows. Labor with the unions, stand up for those rights Let’s put that up on the list.

RIGHTS

(Image Credit: Right Now)

And damn if a person applies their advantageous position to cheat even paper-boys … what sort of bastards are we up against? And they ask what does Labor stand for? Labor stands for what it was raised to stand for … the Rights of the everyday people to stop the vermin from ripping off the wages of ALL people and to bestow on ALL of us what Gough Whitlam called for and what Labor calls for now: “A fair go”.

Labor must think carefully before they pass these new “security laws” put up by Brandis. They are not to protect us from “terrorism”, but are deliberately being put in place to track and control our own citizens … it is as obvious as the nose on your face. There has to be a measure of restraint in how far we go to cow and threaten the populace. There has to be a measure of dignity and rights in our confrontation of any threat. Better we offer safe harbour to the majority of whom have been driven from their homelands in fear of their lives or livelihood, like those three men-folk above, than attempt to cow and oppress a minority for little more than their own particular culture.

Now read these comments and tell me they are irrelevant today:

As rivers glisten in different colours, but a common sewer everywhere looks like itself, so the all-powerful rule of capital ruined the middle class, raised trade and corporate agriculture to the highest prosperity, and ultimately led to a – hypocritically whitewashed – moral and political corruption of the nation.”

And:

“The leisure class lives by the industrial community rather than in it. Its relations to industry are of a financial rather than an industrial kind. Admission to the class is gained by exercise of the financial aptitudes—aptitudes for acquisition rather than for serviceability. There is, therefore, a continued selective sifting of the human material that makes up the leisure class, and this selection proceeds on the ground of fitness for financial pursuits.”

Both the above pieces are over one hundred years old The first by Theodor Mommsen on ancient Rome, the second by Thorsten Veblen on post-Victorian capitalism … yet they could both have been written today. Why is it that such rational observations go unheeded in our society? I read such and take them in and use them (as you see here) as moral and ethical fodder in my own life. Where do we see such civilized observations used widely? I don’t know! I don’t hear or see it in everyday life! Where is the scholarly debate among political higher learning in this nation? Education abandoned – that’s where. Let’s put that word up there too

EDUCATION

(Image Credit: Workforce Planning Tools)

And damn if the multitude of tomes of wisdom that have been written in the tears of humanity over millennium get abandoned for stupid, facile, quick-fix slogans. What sort of people are these who, flaunting their higher education, claim the high ground of public debate, yet cannot or will not learn from history and will not read from the wisdom of the ages? There are those who cannot claim education beyond the third year high school, who read and revere such books … their shelves a proud display of well-thumbed volumes. And some ask what should Labor stand for? Education … Labor stands for what it was raised for – Education for ALL peoples – not the abandonment of an age of learning but education.

The many different ethnic groups that come to these shores, from the earliest to the latest, have one goal in mind: ”Betterment” of their family fortunes, their security and their children’s education. It is that simple … sure ( and I mean no disrespect, only metaphor) they brought their metwurst and salami and tabouli and prayers with them – that is their immediate security – we all take a bit of “home” when we go on holiday. When one is driven in haste and fear from one’s house, what would YOU grab? a piece, any piece of home? That is what “culture “ is … a little piece of the past to carry with oneself into the future. In the worst case, it could be but a poem, a prayer, a song from the motherland … in the best case it is the family. How can one reject the call of assistance – not charity – assistance to a family in need and still shelter under the common name of humanity?

So there are the players, there are the situations … we know what the problems are today … what can be the solution?

Check this little piece from a short story by Eric Knight; see if it gives you ideas:

Never Come Monday

The Prime Minister thought of a lot of things all at once. Suddenly he called his secretary and said:

“Carrington-Smaithe. It is Sunday to-day, I hear, and it will be Sunday again tomorrow. Pack my things. We’re going away for the weekend.”

“But sir,” said the secretary “What about the international crisis? We have two ultimatums that must be answered immediately.”

“Dear me”, said the Prime Minister. “That is a nuisance, but all the world knows the British weekend is inviolate, and if this be Sunday, as it seems to me it must be, then I won’t be able to answer till the weekend is over.”

“But when will it stop being Sunday, sir?”

“Well, Carrington-Smaithe, how long will it take our fastest cruiser squadron to get around to that troublesome part of the world?”

“Oh, about thirty-six more hours, sir.”

“Hmmmph! Then I think it will stop being Sunday in about thirty-six more hours.”

There is a secret desire in that little piece of the realization of reality (it is well worth a read, by the way), a desire that is really a need for time off from work. But it can be more than that … it can be the barricade between capital demand and producer compliance, a demarcation line between demand and supply. I have never liked sacrificing my weekends for overtime, ever! Damn their work! No-one should be compelled to work on the weekend, and if they must, as in the emergency services then they ought to be suitably – VERY SUITABLY – rewarded. Work will be around a long time after we are ALL dead and gone! And there can be the solution to differentiating Labour from Capital … the inviolate weekend the compulsory time off for R & R. For as long as one stays healthy, one can always earn money … but time is of the essence. You will run out of time before you run out of money. Take the time; screw the money – let capital know it has no price for your free time. And they still ask what Labor stands for … Labor stands for what it was raised for … honouring the eight hour day or its modern equivalent, honouring “family time”, personal time, resting time. Those who would try to reduce the vulnerable to a kind of 24hr. slavery would love to claim ownership of the whole of our weekend … bugger them! They can’t have it!

The solution is that WE who are the producers, the consumers, the life and breath of business, take control of our working lives. WE draw a demarcation line between being compelled to work and a time for life. WE stop the machine for a pause in production so we can enjoy our family and friendships. I say WE take back our lives and deny the vermin their pound of flesh! It has never been the speculator who physically laid the “foundations”, never the stock-broker who mixed the “mortar”, never the wealthy who carried the hod of bricks to build our house. They don’t own it, they don’t own us – they OWE us!

THAT is Labor policy: Dignity, Rights, Education – and what flows automatically from those simple entitlements. Stake your ground, claim your rights and serve your people.

“The quality of mercy is not strain’d.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”

683 thoughts on “Dignity. Rights. Education.”

  1. Fiona

    What little I’ve heard/read she is a righty, that is why I was surprised to read a tweet of hers not happy about the burqa thing, then a couple of hours later she was purring at what a strong ‘leader’ he is to step in. With that, I think I’ve calmed down enough to go to bed. I was just furious this afternoon when I read what they planned to do, I wanted to do something drastic.

  3. Gravel,

    Sleep well, all three of you.

    I have my suspicions about Ms Karvelas, but need solid facts to back them up.

  5. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/world/asia/hong-kong-china-democracy-protests-students.html

    At 17, Setting Off Protests That Roil Hong Kong
    By CHRIS BUCKLEY and ALAN WONG OCT. 1, 2014

    HONG KONG — The slight teenager with heavy rectangular glasses and a bowl cut stood above the ocean of protesters who had engulfed downtown Hong Kong. His deep voice was drowned out by cheers, but the crowd did not mind: They knew him and his message. It was Joshua Wong, a 17-year-old student activist who has been at the center of the democracy movement that has rattled the Chinese government’s hold on this city.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/world/asia/hong-kong-protests.html

    Hong Kong Government’s Strategy on Protesters: Wait Them Out
    By KEITH BRADSHER OCT. 1, 2014

    HONG KONG — Crowds of pro-democracy protesters thinned noticeably by Thursday morning after the Hong Kong government adopted a more conciliatory stance of trying to wait out the demonstrators.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/world/asia/hong-kong-protests.html

    Hong Kong Protesters Face Tough Choice as China Draws a Hard Line
    By AUSTIN RAMZY and CHRIS BUCKLEY OCT. 2, 2014

    HONG KONG — The protesters who have engulfed key parts of Hong Kong for days faced a dilemma Thursday in the face of a government strategy to wait them out, as they considered whether to escalate their confrontation with the authorities by storming a government building or to begin searching for an exit strategy. The Chinese leadership, meanwhile, issued an unambiguous endorsement of the city’s embattled chief executive and appeared to shut the door on any compromise.

  6. Strong leader? A strong leader would not have allowed the announcement of the segregaton in parliament house of anyone wearing face coverings. Why did Abbott wait until everything had been officially announced before doing his backflip – hours later.

    I think Abbott is terrified of Mesma. She seems to be opposing everything he says lately. Today she said she did not find face coverings confronting, deliberately throwing Abbott’s own words back at him.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-to-kill-off-parliament-house-burqa-ban-20141002-10pjoh.html

    Then she said she would fight him on any cuts to foreign aid.
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-02/julie-bishop-vows-to-fight-cuts-to-foreign-aid/5786754

    I don’t, for one minute, think Ms bishop is leader material, she would be a disaster, but I’m beginning to think she is being used or manipulated by others who are desperate to get rid of Abbott.

  7. It’s only 25 years since Tiananmen Square – I know there are many Hong Kong international students who are seriously worried at the moment.

  8. Patricia Karvelas is the Victorian Editor and Bureau Chief at The Australian.

    I follow her on twitter, and have tweeted some of her articles on certain issues. I think she sees herself as a centrist. She takes an interest in Aboriginal issues (in that way the Australian does, picking particular sides within the community’s spectrum of views, pro Noel Pearson etc). She’s no friend of labor, at least not during the last govt, although she can also be critical of the Libs. I recall people have mentioned she used to be a leftist in her student days. I’ve no idea how true that is, although it would explain her occasional feminist slant on things, or the way she manages to find & support aspects to certain L/NP govt policies, e.g. PPL, that can be seen as progressive if you squint hard enough. The same language/ideological toolkit also allowed her to criticise the prior labor govt almost seemingly from the left on grounds of inconsistancy on welfare or whatever. But like the rest, she didn’t seem to go in hard on the old L/NP opposition no matter how outrageous they were. This is a pattern I’ve noticed in more than one journo at the Oz, the ones you’d think might be a little bit progressive if they weren’t at the Oz, but somehow manage in to fit the Oz worldview & narrative without being Chris Kenny types. Critisising Labor from the left or centre is almost as good as criticising it from the right.

  9. Geez Louise Leone,

    You could be right.

    After all, Mesma is “photogenic”, has a naice voice, comes from the right (in every sense) side of the tracks, has displayed her loyalty to all the powerbrokers in spades (and other ways …), and what better a counter to all the many things that have been said in praise of FPMJG than for the Libs to have their very own LADY pm?

    Single?

    Meh?

    Deliberately barren?

    Double Meh.

    Atheist?

    Not Our Jules. Product of an Anglican school to her backbone. Prefect? Head Girl? Who cares – she has all the accoutrements – and that’s all that matters.

  10. Leroy,

    The way my thinking was going had to do with the political alignment of perhaps (I don’t have stats, so I know I may be exaggerating) the majority of post-WW2 migrants from Europe.

    Yes, they were all getting away from the horrors of Nazism.

    A lot of them were also escaping the known or likely horrors of Stalinism.

    So maybe – perhaps – there may have been a strong centre-right leaning among many of these people, which would, as it usually does, transfer to subsequent generations.

    Look at Sophie Mirabella. Look at Kathy Jackson.

    Both good Greek girls. Both – apparently – ultimately, far more interested in money than in social justice.

    Political ideology doesn’t necessarily come into it, either.

  17. Just had a stray thought after tracking down the wording of the “burqa ban”. Apparently it is for all about religious headgear.
    This means that by declaring myself a pastafarian …

    I can just see it now, a whole potful of pastafarians sitting in a parliamentry enclosure, observing …
    *evil smirk with added sniggers*

    Have to be plastic colanders though, to get through security I’d imagine?

  18. Julie Bishop may be from the “right side of the tracks”, but she’s from the wrong side of the Nullarbor. Every Liberal leader not named Downer, from Menzies onwards, has been from NSW or Victoria, and the last Vic was Peacock. Not convinced a Western Australian would be considered for leadership, especially not an atheist woman.
    The story about the “slap-down” of Morrison trying to create a massive “homeland security” type agency intrigues me. Seems to be a bit of a battle for next Lib leader in line between Morrison and J.Bishop.

  19. Time to do a bit of figgerin’……you know, I’ve been figuring some things about this govt’…One has to wonder just how much policy is really debated with the cabinet under Abbott….let’s face it…Hockey’s budget is up the creek…sold down the drain by Abbott’s policy shifts…obviously Hockey was not consulted about many of those brain-farts….same with Turnbull on communications…with Pyne on education…MacFarlane on industry…Dutton on health and even J.Bishop had to repair his foreign policy fumbles…as if SHE could!!…But it tells me that here is little or no consultation with cabinet when Abbott gets on a roll….so who is giving these ministers leadership?..not Abbott, he’s cutting them adrift left right and centre…But then, why are they still staying shtumm about his undermining their ministries….why isn’t there anger expressed by leaking to the MSM. ?….or are the MSM. Being silenced?

    It tells me that Abbott is getting political advice or guidance from outside the cabinet…besides his own twisted delusions…by powerful people outside the cabinet. But with all the bloody chaos in the cabinet and the ministry, who is making the everyday decisions for running the country?…I believe it is the bureaucracy …there is a precedence for this situation…there was a period in the Roman Empire when there was no emperor for over a year, but the bureaucracy was so efficient, all civil proceedings went on as normal for the next year or so without leadership. With the chaos of our Fly-boys doing metaphorical “ arial burn-outs and 360’s” over the Saudi desert just to make Abbott feel like a warrior…ASIO. and the AFP. Now have such authority that they can become a law unto themselves, we are teetering on the edge of governmental anarchy. I believe it is only the super-stable bureaucracy that is keeping civil governance upright.

    The LNP. And those backing it must take full responsibility for the damage done to our country..for as they say..down this ( LNP. Path) lies madness.

  20. Australian women wear headscarves in solidarity with Muslim community

    Ms Leaney says it broke her heart to see her friends feeling fear in a country like Australia where she says no one should feel afraid to show their faith or go out in public.

    “And so I thought about what was something practical and visible I could do to show them that I stand with them and show them that I support their rights to feel safe in Australia,” she says.

    Ms Leaney’s actions have inspired others to follow her lead – often citing personal reasons for participating.
    …
    In a little over a week individual gestures of support have morphed into a national movement, perhaps best represented through a social media site called WISH – or Women In Solidarity with Hijabis.

    It was set up by Sydney-based campaigner Mariam Veiszadeh on the day that woman in hijab was assaulted and thrown from a moving train in Melbourne.

    “These incidents are not rare, we’re seeing a lot of reporting coming through with Australian Muslim women in particularly being verbally and physically abused and we need to take a stand. We need to unite together to say no to bigotry and Islamaphobia.”

    If support on the WISH site is any indication, at the time of writing almost 20,000 women agree with her.

    This is the twitter feed: https://twitter.com/WISHSolidarity

  21. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
    Not off to a good start today – it’s our 45th wedding anniversary and I forgot. Reparations will have to be made!

    Well Abbott made his own nest and pooped in it. The clean up may prove to be difficult.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-to-kill-off-parliament-house-burqa-ban-20141002-10pjoh.html
    And our favourite caricature of a politician George Christensen (who Michael Rowland gave a hard time to this morning on ABC24) reckons Abbott does not have the authority to overturn the Speaker’s actions.
    http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/mp-doubts-tony-abbott-would-be-attempting-to-nobble-speaker-bronwyn-bishops-independence-on-burqa-ban-20141003-10plla.html
    Bob Ellis thinks Bronny won’t back down easily either.
    http://www.ellistabletalk.com/2014/10/03/a-prediction-15/
    As usual Waleed Aly sums things up eloquently.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/burqa-ban-a-political-excuse-for-persecution-20141002-10p0mc.html
    Michelle Grattan on how Abbott made a right royal mess of the week.
    https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-row-over-facial-covering-exposes-rifts-and-red-faces-32454
    Richard Ackland – We are gripped by security madness. He’s not at all happy!
    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/australia-will-segregate-muslim-women-in-parliament-we-are-gripped-by-security-madness
    Andrew Lamming comes out criticising Abbott’s “Team Australia” and other simplistic rubbish.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/liberal-mp-andrew-laming-dismisses-tony-abbotts-team-australia-slogan-as-unsophisticated-20141002-10p18h.html
    Laura Tingle really well sums up the government’s budgetary difficulties and what it has to look forward to.
    http://www.afr.com/p/opinion/coalition_flails_against_grip_of_rmdhWkwlh76ZWC8haFB81N
    The Independent Australia heralds Abbott’s international blunders hitting a creditable 40.
    http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/tony-abbotts-foreign-affairs-faux-pas-passes-40,6960

  22. Section 2 . . .

    The RBA is making noises about keeping the lid on the housing market but will it make it even harder for first home buyers?
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/rba-may-consider-more-forwardlooking-housingloan-conditions-20141002-10pe27.html
    Greg Jericho posits that reserving gas for domestic use would hurt renewable energy
    http://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2014/oct/02/reserving-gas-for-domestic-users-would-hurt-renewable-energy
    And watch out for an energy policy battle in 2015.
    http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/10/3/resources-and-energy/watch-out-energy-policy-battle
    Centerlink and Medicare are being casualised at a furious rate.
    http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/centrelink-medicare-call-centres-casualised-at-a-furious-rate-says-public-service-union-20141002-10omse.html
    Ben Eltham – The coalition has itself to blame for Palmer’s Senate inquiry into Queensland/Newman.
    https://newmatilda.com/2014/10/02/coalition-has-itself-blame-clives-queensland-inquiry
    The three worst things the Liberals did yesterday.
    http://www.ellistabletalk.com/2014/10/02/the-three-worst-things-the-liberals-did-yesterday-75/
    Peter Wicks – the extent of Kathy Jackson’s profligate spending becomes even more apparent. But I thought Abbott’s poster girl go do no wrong!
    http://wixxyleaks.com/permanent-vacation-the-extent-of-kathy-jacksons-spending-becoming-even-clearer/
    Talk is cheap but tax avoidance is tough to beat. But we shouldn’t give up on it!
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/talk-is-cheap-but-tax-avoidance-is-tough-to-beat-20141002-10pbud.html
    And this Senate inquiry will produce many very interesting appearances. Not to be missed one would think.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/business-leaders-to-face-parliamentary-inquiry-on-tax-avoidance-20141002-10ph7r.html
    Mark Kenny has something to say about it too.
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/multinational-tax-dodgers-to-face-new-pressure-20141002-10pgjd.html

  23. Section 3 . . .

    It’s an insidious, cynical march isn’t it.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abc-efficiency-reviewer-peter-lewis-appointed-to-broadcasters-board-20141002-10p65y.html
    Kristina Keneally with a candid look at the Catholic doctrine on families.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/catholics-looking-to-global-thinktank-for-touch-of-reality-20141002-10p2n6.html
    More from Adele Ferguson on the FoFA disgrace.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/consumers-are-forgotten-in-the-rush-to-wind-back-future-of-financial-advice-legislation-20141002-10pfop.html
    Mark Kenny is uneasy about our Middle East excursion.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/us-military-action-against-islamic-state-risks-disrupting-iraq-and-its-neighbours-20141002-10oz34.html
    This Fairfax editorial calls for the establishment of a federal ICAC.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/clive-palmer-inquiry-shows-need-for-independent-federal-icac-to-root-out-corruption-20141002-10p0c8.html
    Angela Merkel’s advisor excoriates Abbott’s stance on climate change.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/clive-palmer-inquiry-shows-need-for-independent-federal-icac-to-root-out-corruption-20141002-10p0c8.html
    And the James Hird/Essendon saga continues . . .
    http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/james-hird-will-be-removed-as-essendon-coach-in-coming-days-20141002-10p3bn.html
    Hird – from untouchable to unmentionable.
    http://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/2014/10/02/james-hird-went-untouchable-unmentionable/

  24. Section 4 . . .

    Cathy Wilcox gives us some confronting attire.
    http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/cathy-wilcox-20090909-fhd6.html
    Nice work from Michael Leunig. Think about it.
    http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/michael-leunig-20090711-dgl6.html
    Pat Campbell thinks Abbott’s work in the desert is really cut out.
    http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/pat-campbell-20120213-1t21q.html
    Ron Tandberg and Abbott’s mission creep.

    David Rowe gives us a most unappetising budget mess smorgasbord.
    http://www.afr.com/p/national/cartoon_gallery_david_rowe_1g8WHy9urgOIQrWQ0IrkdO

  27. BK. congrats on the “long-distance running”…..yes!…you’ll have to get down and do some serious crawling for forgetting THAT one!…..may I humbly suggest..: Flattery will get you everywhere!

  28. A bit of info’ please..When one signs on to a twitter account, and one is asked to put “full mane” in the box there, does one put in one’s real name or one’s posting name?…ie; “jaycee”.

  34. Suddenly Joe’s all positive about the economy… he’s so proud of himself, he sent me an email this morning.

    Joe’s so happy he’s overused the letter “A” in a few words just to emphasize how great he’s been as Treasurer. I suppose two “A’s” in a row is like an “A+”? He also threw in an extra “g” (for “great”, I guess) just to reinforce how wonderful a Treasurer he really is.

    Dear Bushfire,

    Yesterday evening, I released a report on the first year of the Government’s Economic Action Strategy.

    The Economic Action Strategy is providing the right conditions to drive growth and create jobs.

    Since coming to Government, growth has strengthened and nearly a quarter of a million jobs have been created.

    We are restoring confidence in public finances. And we are promoting business confidence by creating the right environment to innovate, invest and thrive.

    This is good news for families and for Australia’s small businesses.

    Already the Government has:

    * Scrapped the carbon tax reducingg(sic) costs for families;

    * Scrapped the mining tax making AAustralia(sic) a more attractive investment destination;

    * Strengthened the Budget and detaailed(sic) how we will reduce projected debt by almost $300 billion in a decade;

    * Cut $700 million in red tape so far– with another Red Tape Repeal Day to be held later this month;

    * Launched the largest infrastructure programme in Australia’s history with major road investments aacross(sic) Australia; and

    * Signed free trade agreements with Korea and Japan making it easier to for exporters and for job creation.<

    These achievements are just the first steps as we build a strong, prosperous economy and a safe, secure Australia.

    There is much more to do.

    In coming months, the Government will continue to make decisions that strengthen the economy; repair the Budget; help small business create jobs and ensure families can plan for their futures with confidence.

    Regards,

    JOE HOCKEY

    Poor bastard. We all knew he wasn’t up to the job. He’s made a mash of every senior portfolio he’s ever had. Now he’s trying to spin that the record deficit and turning Australia into the only civilized country on Earth that *doesn’t* have an anti-Global Warming policy as some kind of ggggood thing.

    One gets the vague feeling that bad news is on the way, and that this epistle is a pre-emptive announcement of glad tidings in an effort to mask the coming gloom.

    One one thing Joe is right: “There is so much more to do,” – yes, and so little time to do it in, JJJoe.

  36. Don’t say I didn’t warn youse…

    Yes, one of the numpties on a Reality TV show called The Bachelor seems to be in the family way. It’s a “bombshell set to rock Australia”

    The eponymous dashing young real estate agent, with the square-jawed name, Blake Garvey, has broken up with someone called “Sam Frost” (a girl, don’t worry) and that after giving Sam an engagement ring in South Africa, it’s all over between them.

    There’s a third person (female) mixed up in it all somewhere along the line, the mysterious “Lisa Hyde”. I’ll have to get back to youse on just where Lisa fits into the picture, but here’s a picture anyway… of Blake and… er… someone….

    Could it be that a trashy show designed to reduce relationships into the lowest common denominator possible – tits, bums, hot-air balloons, vaseline smeared lenses and come-hither looks – has actually produced a real relationship? And that this relationship has ended, only to be replaced with another real relationship, with a real dribbling baby in the offing?

    Who’s responsible for reality intruding upon Reality TV? The SMH is evasive on this question…

    The reality show’s host Osher Gunsberg was … coy during an interview promoting the finale on The Project .

    “There’s a major lockdown going on because of the magnitude of what happens,” he said.

    The Project host, Carrie Bickmore, then jokingly asked if viewers could expect to learn that “a Bachelor baby is on its way”. Gunsberg refused to be drawn on the topic after an extended silence.

    A woman who only wanted to be known as “Andrea” and claiming to have “inside information” also called Southern Cross Austereo’s Dan and Maz radio show before the program went to air and suggested a contestant was expecting a child.

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/pregnancy-breakup-rumours-rife-after-the-bachelor-finale-20141003-10plqt.html#ixzz3F26uIWpW

    What does “Andrea” know that Australia needs to know? I demand to know!

    Talking of bombshells, Peter Ford, described by a breathless SMH as an “entertainment reporter”, had better be careful discussing them. ASIO has a monopoly on turning reality into Reality TV, what with 800 police raids, Jailhouse Jihadis, attacks on Lucas Heights by bearded Wooftahs “intercepted” at the last possible moment, riots, knifings, burqua bans, Team Australia, elevated terror alerts and fuelled-up F-18s sitting on simmering desert tarmacs waiting for the “Go” command from Our Prime Minister, Winston Tony Abbott. And ASIO doesn’t take too kindly to turf wars. Could it be 10 years in the slammer coming up for Peter?

    I mean, maybe The Bachelor is just another deep cover ASIO exercise designed to draw out Death Cult Zombies into the open, raging against the cleavage and other immodesties demonstrated weekly on our screens, as the grasping go-getters strip, scratch and claw at each other for a chow-down the Garvey saveloy.

    The mind boggles. Australia will be rocked. This is sure to be tagged as “unmissable” and “must see”. A *real* baby and a *real* breakup. There are so many questions needing to be asked, like: “What will happen to the ring?” and “Whose ring is it, anyway?” and “Will they call the baby ‘Niikolas’?”

    I challenge anyone to argue that this “Reality TV Meets Reality” bombshell should NOT be on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald, which is, after all, our nation’s No. 1 “serious” newspaper, employing the likes of Mark Kenny and Peter Hartcher (and lets not forget Paul “Kirribilli” Sheehan, political mentor to Our Glorious War Leader).

    And if you needed yet another reason to watch The Bachelor, just look at those tits!

  37. That is the third lot of cuttings I have given to people looking to start their gardens off on a low income. A young bloke in his early twenties scored a good boxful of geranium, succulent and one plant of my Mum;s plants from her strawberry patch. With three strawberries on it,. The couple are renting and are doing it all in pots. I also told him where he could get a tralier load of potting mix for about $40 and how to turn $1 plastic buckets into cheap pots.

  45. More government bastardry, particularly nasty when so many businesses are failing due to Abbott’s idiotic lack of support.

    New Senate battle over worker entitlements

    The government has moved to change the FEG following a recommendation from the National Commission of Audit in May. The government has also been influenced by business groups, who have claimed the level of redundancy protection under the FEG is excessive.
    …………………………………………………..
    Under reforms by the previous Labor Government, the scheme was improved to provide full redundancy pay for workers up to a maximum of $2451 per week of pay and four weeks of pay per year of service.

    The government changes would take the scheme back to what existed before the start of 2011, with redundancy payments capped at a maximum of 16 weeks, regardless of how long a worker was employed by a business.

    Unions told a short inquiry by the Senate Employment and Education Committee that winding back redundancy protections at a time when manufacturing jobs were under severe pressure was “mean spirited in the extreme.”

    http://workinglife.org.au/2014/09/29/new-senate-battle-looms-over-entitlements/

  46. More undoing of Labor’s work, this time aimed at restricting access to FOI information.

    The federal government has introduced a bill to abolish Australia’s freedom of information watchdog, meaning people would have to pay $800 if they wished to seek tribunal review of government information decisions.

    In a move that will wind back significant reforms in Australia’s federal freedom of information framework introduced in 2010, the government has pushed ahead with its plans to abolish the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)

    http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/02/freedom-of-information-may-cost-800-as-coalition-seeks-to-abolish-regulator?CMP=soc_567

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