Friday 15th of November 2024
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Howard and Lightfoot

Monday, 21 March.

Today in Politics. Radio Northern Beaches castigated the Prime Minister’s spineless torpor for utterly failing to pursue the various explanations of Senator Lightfoot’s junket in Iraq. Howard has to keep this ghastly senatorial yeti on side or else lose control of the Senate on July 1st.

Then Dr Brendan Nelson’s idiotic suggestion to make student union membership a matter of choice came under withering fire. Real financial hardship exists irrespective of student fees. If the government had some decent polices for the less-than-50,000-a-year income group then the matter would not arise, e.g. minimizing poverty traps, funding universities fairly and properly, abolishing HECS.

The session ended with an attack upon the High Court for its appalling 4 to3 decision that allows the indefinite imprisonment of an unlawful non-citizen or stateless persons.

By the same token, last week in UK, the House of Lords, in a stunning 8 to 1, decision threw out the idea of indefinite detention which had been eagerly sought by the increasing Bush bootlicking Prime Minister Blair on the basis that Britain was at war.

Demand Answers!

The only real reason our politicians are un-representative, is that that is how we allow them to be. No doubt most of us are appalled to be represented in parliament by the Liberal Party.

Demand answers from them! Write to your local member and insist that he / she explain how Yeti Lightfoot's trip to the wilds of Iraq was an appropriate use of your taxpayer dollars. When they write back and give the excuse that it was within the parliamentary "rules" for him to make the trip, write back to them and say in big, black letter, NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

The idea that parliamentarians can travel overseas on the flimsiest of grounds, on taxpayer funded holidays with no oversight is a disgrace. Of course, just like parliamentary super, all the pollies have a snout in the trough.

Yetis flourish in an environment of social disengagement

I suspect that Howard is well aware of the prevailing propensity for most people to be less than concerned about such issues. After all, apart from the ALP's lack of ability to frame the issues in the debate in the last election, that is how Howard got re-elected.

So why is it that people seem not to care? Part of the answer lies in the pace of change within our society. Many things seem to be changing at the moment and those changes result in feeling a lack of control, a reduction in belonging, and a dimunition of the sense of place. The normal human response seems to be to look inward - so home and one's immediate social circle become more important. Anything happening outside these is almost too hard to think about, and certainly too hard to get up and voice a protest over. And, with some justification, forums for political opinion to address these questions are allowed to wither away. Yes, I know that this is a simplistic view. But it is also why web sites like YourDemocracy.net.au are important adjuncts to our democratic process. There are still a large number of people out there who want to be heard and opening up additional avenues for that to take place is akin to a duty for all supporters of the democractic process. And that is something the detractors of sites such as this one simply don't understand.

Looking Inward

An aquaintance said yesterday that all she cares about is her family and herself. I was appalled and said if we all felt like that since time began, just think! There would be no hospitals, no schools. There would be nothing. Then I was reminded of Thatcherism. Would someone put some of her quotes up?

I tried to explain to my friend that with out each other and support of our community we are nothing. You can think about you own family etc. as much as you want but community is what helps us care for our families and each other.

The support networks that are set up. Not government, not bureaucrats. Not government money. Governments have NO money, only our money. This is spread between us all in other words.

They are the keepers of the purse. But in most cases this money is not evenly divied.

I don't particularly want my money spent in Iraq but I have no say.

When our son was at university he benefited so much from paying his union dues: the gym, the bulk billing G.P., good cheap food. So again this goverment is making people look inwardly, only caring about themselves. By paying union dues we are actually caring about the people around us. It's the old saying: people did not want to join a union but accepted the pay rise.

Well I am getting off the track I know, but I am trying to say that we can look inward as much as we like, but if there where no one caring out there doing things, there would be no way we could care because nothing would be happening. Think of all the welfare agencies that have volunteers. Without volunteers this country would collapse, especially in the sporting area, to mention just one.

Many Australians over our short history have cared enough to help this country get on its feet. I would love you all out there to name a few. There are no role models, or so it would seem.

One that comes to mind for me is Mary Mckillop. By the time she was 21 she had been influential in having something like 17 schools built. Across australia these where no-frills schools that made no profit and no distiction on who attended them. She was afflicted with arthritis, but still carried on and at one stage was banned from the church, but her vision was for the poor and needy in this country.

Also of course there is a modern day person that comes to mind and that is Dr. Fred Hollowes who went out to seek our fellow aboriginal Australians and restore their eye sight. On both counts these works are still being carried on to this day.

I think it is up to us to show people out there that we have not always been such a closed society, only thinking of ourselves. I hate to say this, but a few interest rate rises may help a few people have a reality check.

Looking Inward

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Bring Back Civic Education.