Category: General Musings

I’m currently resident in Griffith, NSW,  the home of our home grown Mafia and my sister-in-law. I expect to be back in Brisbane on Sunday ready to entertain and/or annoy my readers on Monday morning.

Under the banner No Benefits to working Caroline Overington inadvertantly underlines one of our society’s problems.

An analysis by the Brotherhood of St Laurence found a sole parent of two school-age children who takes a 30-hour-a-week job at the minimum wage of $13 an hour would lose about 64per cent of their extra earnings. “This parent will also have to pay around $60 a week for childcare,” the Brotherhood’s executive director Tony Nicholson said.

“This leaves him or her approximately only $80 a week better off by working. They are effectively working for an hourly rate of $2.66. The Government has squibbed. People want to move from welfare to work but the budget doesn’t encourage it.”

That entire arguement justifies staying on welfare and ignores the values of work itself. The increasing self esteem and the resultant self confidencethat often leads to promotion or permanent work and the fact that receiving a wage is the entry key to superannuation

“This leaves him or her approximately only $80 a week better off by working. They are effectively working for an hourly rate of $2.66.”

Rubbish! They are working for a better life – the $2.66 figure will only frighten welfare recipients as they discuss their situation with others in the dole queue. They need to be encouragement, not sympathy.

The ACTU President, Sharan Burrow has slammed tonights budget thus confirming, in my mind at least, that it’s good for the country.

On cue GREENPEACE also slammed (there sure is a lot of slamming going on) the Budget as failing once again to make any mention of climate change.

Greenpeace Australia campaigns manager Danny Kennedy said climate change was the most important environmental issue of our times.

Climate change is obviously the most important environmental issue in Danny’s times but thankfully the government is sticking to the old rule of not pandering to every whacko group in the country. THE Australian Industry Group says this year’s budget is good for business. Group chief executive Heather Ridout welcomed changes to superannuation which aim to encourage people to stay longer in the workforce but thinks the government should have spent more on infrastructure. I agree with her; even though the government has allocated 2.3 billion for infrastructure it is never enough.

Australian Democrats leader Lyn Allison says that by handing out tax cuts to all, the Government is simply trying to win votes in the lead-up to the next election.

“There’s not much here that’s about nation-building or for future generations,” she said.

I’m not an economist but putting $18 billion into the Future fund – which has been set up to cover unfunded public servants’ superannuation – as an initial payment and planning for about 140 billion by 2020 looks a bit like building for future generations to me.

And don’t forget the old “It’s not very equitable, we’re seeing the biggest tax cuts for the highest income earners” line. I’m not a mathmetician either but somewhere in my dim dark schooldays where I learnt maths on a slate I seem to recall that percentage cuts are firstly, the smartest way to deliver some taxes back to the people and secondly, will always be bigger for the bigger income earners. It’s about maths.

Lyn goes on throwing mud;

“We’re seeing the budget for defence and security outstripping education by $2 billion and that does say it all in terms of what the Government’s priorities are,” she said.

This despite an overall funding boost of $21.7 billion for the education, science and training sector.

The Federal Opposition is supporting the federal Budget’s tax cuts, saying the changes mirror those proposed by the Opposition. Or, we thought of it first and would’ve implimented the same cuts if……..

The ABC says “We think it’s fairly describable as our best Budget outcome in over 20 years.” Well thats what the chairman of the ABC, Donald McDonald says but Kerry and Tony will be hammering slamming it tomorrow night.

With my background I welcome any additional funding for national security as much as the Greens, the Democrats and other assorted whackos hate it. C-17 Aircraft (to carry the new tanks and much, much more) more money for more troops and more money for the troops with pay rises. More ASIO operators ($800 million) and about $500 million extra for border security. That should wind up the refugee activists.

The “My particular hobby horse/religion/group/activist mob/doomsayers/ didn’t get enough” mob will be out in force tomorrow and all lined up at the ABS and SBS but otherwise I think it’s a reasonable 11th budget for Costello.

60 Minutes Richard Carlton’s last words

“On 26th October last year, not 10 metres from where these men are now entombed, you had a 400-tonne rock fall. Why is it, is it the strength of the seam, or the wealth of the seam, that you continue to send men into work in such a dangerous environment?”

Typically Carlton was trying to pin the blame for the disaster in the mining company,  but let’s face it they continue to send men into work in such dangerous environments because they are miners and the company’s business is mining. Left wing shock journalism will never be the same. I won’t miss him but I’m sure his family and fans will be devastated and I feel sorry for them……well Ok…. I feel sorry for his family.

From Defence Media

An Australian soldier serving with the Special Forces Task Group in Southern Afghanistan has returned to Australia for medical rehabilitation and recovery after being wounded in action.

The soldier was wounded during an engagement with anti-coalition militia elements.

According to the media the rescue of the two miners seems to be more about Shorten and his push for a seat and Eddie McGuire and Channel Nine’s ratings than an actual rescue. Channel Seven are in there fighting and six figure sums are being pencilled in media checque book stubs while Peter Meaking adopts the seldom held moral position (by the media at least) and suggests;

it was “tacky in the extreme” for The Age to try to measure one interview against another, he said. “To put a price on their salvation I reckon is pretty tacky.”

when The Age mentions how much Wood was paid for interviews after being released from captivity in Iraq. Woods got $400k and I can see how Meaking and McGuire would rather start the bidding at $250k. Yep, you’re right, I don’t like chequebook journalism. Me, I think it’s all about two guys who have gone through hell with a view of heaven through a small apperture. My thoughts go out to the family of the third miner, Larry Knight, who is hardly mentioned by the talking heads of commercial TV, and who only got to see as far as hell. Hang in there guys and enjoy your rebirth when your mates finally drill through.

Private Kovko has been placed under a media microscope with too many of those peering through the lens only seeing their own prejudices. I have watched with amazement as a media circus lays the blame for his death and subsequent misplacement/missidentification at the feet of their enemies without a single solitary fact being considered. I’m further amazed at the dignitary list for his funeral with Prime Minister John Howard, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson, Defence Force chief Angus Houston, Army chief Peter Leahy and officers from 3RAR. I personally think military funerals for soldiers should be restricted to family; both geneological and military with politicians best kept away least the event turns into a media circus. It’s a private and personal moment. During the Vietnam war the home battalions conducted funerals for the away battalion resulting in my being well versed in the procedure. Having acted as the Sergeant in charge of many funeral parties I can only conclude that what I saw on TV last night was a military funeral for a general….times change. My reading of the cause of his death was a single gunshot wound to the head administered while he was alone and until an inquirey is completed no amount of speculation will clarify the situation. Readers commenting throughout the blog world have gone as far as to lay out in military fashion the laid down procedures for clearing a 9mm Browning pistol with asides like ‘professional soldiers don’t have UDs’ (army talk for accidental discharge); ‘it’s impossible to accidentaly kill yourself with a 9mm pistol‘ and ‘if you do it properly you will not have an UD’ that all seem to ignore the reality of war. When on operations Infantrymen suffer from sleep deprivation working anything up to 20 hours in any one day all of it under some sort of pressure. This leads to errors of judgement and weapon handling. It also leads to over-familiarity with weapons and all of this leads to accidental death. It happens. A comment at Tim Balir’s site sums it up well.

No one can even guess what happened to this man. There are too many contradictory stories, and the people telling them may have reasons to obfuscate. No matter what the facts are, they have now been buried under everyone elses agenda. The actual man, and his actual family, are no longer any consideration. Those poor people. My condolences to them, and my condolences to those Aussies who are saddened to lose one of their protectors. No matter how he died, he died in a foreign country, doing the dangerous things that we sent him to do. Let the man rest in peace, he has earnt it and leave his family alone, they need time to heal.

A PLAN to check English fluency and Australian values as part of a citizenship test for prospective immigrants has been blasted by politicians and ethnic groups. Sounds good to me. I have no problems with the premise that aspiring immigrants should be able to communicate with us and understand a little of what we are about. It makes their transition to our culture so much easier. Senator Nettle, espousing the standards of some obscure ideology or country other than Australia doesn’t agree;

She says: “A fluent grasp of English is not a prerequisite of being Australian.

Maybe not but I can see things being a whole lot easier for immigrants if it was; and

“Has Mr Robb forgotten that many Indigenous Australians do not speak fluent English? Is he suggesting that they are less Australian?

He isn’t suggesting any such thing you silly woman but I suggest not having english is a part of the problem of the many indigenous Australians you refer to and besides,the fact that someone in Australia isn’t fluent in english is not an arguement to not try and get everyone up to standard.

If Australia was gaining any ascendency in the Great Cartoon debate we lost it with Bill Leaks answering Rakyat Merdeka’s grubby effort depicting Howard and Downer in sexual union with a equally grubby cartoon depicting SBY doing something similar to the West Papuans. Bill , in a satirical piece in todays Australian asks;WHY is it that us cartoonists are copping so much flak lately? Because some of your cartoons offend people, that’s why, but then you already know that Bill, it’s how you sell copy. Satire, all to often an excuse for stating ones opinion under the guise of poor taste, doesn’t answer the critics and all the cartoon has done is made it more difficult for Howard and Downer to placate the Indonesians over the Papuan refugees. It’s difficult enough as it is without undergrad humour. Trying to bring some sense into the debate PM Howard tries to defuses the debate saying;

(He was)  optimistic yesterday that Australian-Indonesian relations would survive the rift over Papua, as Australians rallied in four cities to support the Papuan cause for independence from Jakarta. 

I’m not sure supporting the Free West Papua movement is the way to go at the moment.  Better to keep encouraging the Indonesians to  be reasonable in their handling of the area.   I’m further convinced it’s a  no-win situation when I read Senator Bob Brown addressed the rally.  If he’s involved whatever he suggests won’t be in anyones interest.  I note in other sources that the Indonesians have refused to give Greens Senator Kerry Nettle a visa to visit.   Good move. Bob Brown is quotes as saying;

“If the Howard Government’s repeated calls for liberty and democracy around the world are not hollow, then it must act to ensure one million West Papuans get liberty and democracy,” Senator Brown said. 

Long on Howard bashing yet decidedly short on suggestions as to just how Australia might force Indonesia to give West Papuans liberty and democracy.  What does Bob mean by liberty and democracy…Independance? ….another East Timor? No wonder the Indonesians are cranky with loose cannons like Brown suggesting in a public arena that Australia should ensure anything relating to what are after all, peoples of a sovereign government.  Let the diplomats encourage the Indons to lift their game without making public statements that could be construed as interefering threats.

A lot of Labor supporters and assorted Howard haters are depending on the Cole Commission to bring about the decline of the Howard Government. I’m sure Caroline Overington fantasizes about basking under the warm glow of public ovation as she steps up to centre stage to receive a Walkley Award while ‘Tricky” Rudd, in his dreams, struts the world stage as Foreign Minister of the new government. Caroline Overington’s latest expose crashes from a leader of “Cole orders Downer to reveal all” to senior counsel, John Agius SC quoted as “We have written to them and asked them for statements,” he said. “If I need to call them, I will” in three short paragraphs. The Australian editorial asks alot of questions but the public are wearying and are starting to ask whether Canberra can get on with governing the country rather than spend a lot of energy looking for someone to hang over the AWB doing what it was charged with doing – selling wheat. I’ve seldom witnessed such a storm over an inquiry before the findings are published. The bizarre episode this week where it was revealed that Howard and Cole shared the same Alma Mater and had both been present at a reunion is just an indication of how desparate the anti-conservative groups are. They can’t get within cooee of the government on things that matter like fiscal management, interest rates,unemployment or defence and yet they pontificate about “fees” when the whole counry knows, or should know, that corporations and businesses have done the same thing under Labor governments. As a general bench mark, if the ABC and the SBS are heavily into a subject then the general public aren’t; likewise, if the readership and comments on Lavartus Prodeo are going beserk over a subject then you can bet all the dollars paid in “fees” that the public’s attention is elsewhere. I’ll pass soon. The inquiry will finish, Cole will make a submission and if there are steps to be taken then that will happen. In the meantime, it’s all wishfull thinking. The hardest aspect to call is listing every player’s agenda. Some, like the ALP, simply want the keys to the treasury, I presume the Australian wants Downer out of the picture; The US Wheat farmers want more trade and the local wheat farmers are split between wanting a single desk sales mechanism or their own personal interest sales mechanism in place. Interesting theatre but I’m waiting for the final act. I think several players and organizations are going to be dissapointed – at least I hope they are.