Alan Jones Terry McCrann on Madame Gillard and the Australian Labor Party

Madame Gillard and her Mummy Blogger's (Beggars) Banquet

Not a crumb from the PM's table for locals

Miranda Devine 
The Daily Telegraph
 March 06, 2013 12:00AM

THE insider-outsider divide in politics is rarely so starkly defined as it has been by Prime Minister Julia Gillard moving her campaign roadshow, if not her government, to Rooty Hill RSL.

It's a mere 47-minute drive from Kirribilli House, but so far removed from the sensibility of the political class that, when Gillard's luggage was delivered to the Novotel for the five-night stay, it bore the tag: "Prime Minister's overseas visit."

Bemused locals have watched as satellite dishes fill the car park, radio stations broadcast from the Fred Chubb lounge - yet sightings of the prime minister have been as rare as Elvis.On Monday night, Sky presenter Paul Murray captured a fleeting 23 seconds of footage on his mobile phone of Gillard and her entourage speed-walking through the RSL's Zest Wok n' Grill and disappearing into a private dining room.

Murray pointed out the prime minister had bypassed the opportunity to mingle with a couple of dozen locals dining in the bistro. 

Instead she chose a closed-door private dining room with a group of women he said looked just like her and were wearing the same glasses.

He wasn't far wrong. The five women handpicked by Gillard to feast on "vegetable tarte tatin" and Alaskan king crab were "mummy bloggers" who had previously dined with the PM at Kirribilli house in December, and none of whom appears to live anywhere near 
Rooty Hill.

This comment below found on the Woogsworld Blog site pretty well sums up the high esteem Labor's Madame Gillard is held in by the Australian people,the poster could have added that no matter what Madame Gillard promised these elite Mummy Bloggers in exchange for their glowing praise of her, would count for nothing as she is a well known pathological liar. 

Madame Gillard at the "Mummy Bloggers" Banquet.

The Bolt Report Premier Show for 2013 3313

Labor's Rooty Hill Jihad : "Good Luck BITCHES you will be lucky to walk out."

One guest was "Mrs Woog" of the Woogsworld blog. A former publishing executive who lives on Sydney's lower north shore, her motto is "Making the most out of the mundane". She posted a review of the dinner on her blog with photos of the PM's roasted chicken 
supreme, potato gratin and sun-dried tomato jus main course.

"We've met her a few times before," blogger Eden Riley, a dead ringer for the PM with her red bob and glasses, said after the dinner. 

"But I had my glasses before her."

They all had a lovely time, sequestered away from the great unwashed of Rooty Hill who were sitting a few metres away in the bistro or next door watching Murray's live show.

So far, so farcical. The PM's Rooty Hill sleepover is showing how out of touch and on the nose her government is with the people who were once Labor's core constituency.

Polls point to the unthinkable prospect that Labor could lose four safe seats in western Sydney, leading Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to claim this week that Sydney's west has become "Liberal heartland".

That sounds unwisely hubristic but when I spoke at random to about 30 people within a 5km radius of Rooty Hill RSL last week, not one had a good word to say about Gillard or her government.
They nominated three main complaints: jobs, the carbon tax and "boats". They see the government lacking integrity because of the broken promise on carbon tax and because of the way Gillard came to power after ousting Kevin Rudd.

They see unfairness in soaring electricity prices and job losses, and incompetence in billions squandered as a result of failed border protection.

I heard more clear-eyed political wisdom in Rooty Hill than you hear in a month of insider commentary on the ABC, which all week has been in a lather over the opposition's supposed "dog whistle" to racist western Sydney voters.

Here we go again. Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison is under fire for making the obvious point that the government has lost control of Australia's borders to such an extent that there is no room left in detention centres, and so it has been forced to release asylum seekers prematurely into the community before their bona fides are established, and with negligible oversight or support.The Immigration Department didn't even know that Sri Lankan men were being housed in student accommodation at Macquarie University next door to female students.

This chaotic circumstance is a recipe for disaster, and sure enough, what emerged was an allegation that a 21-year-old Sri Lankan man had sexually molested a young female student as she was sleeping.

The case is before the courts, but it is extraordinary how the ordeal of the alleged victim has been played down by the compassionistas. It took 2GB's Ray Hadley to uncover the squalid living conditions of asylum seekers in a disused office in Parramatta, with 20 men sharing one bathroom.

Yet he was slammed as a racist, inciting hatred, by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. She just doesn't seem to want to face the inconvenient truth that the chaos created jointly by Labor and the Greens has resulted in more suffering, not less, for everyone involved.

No amount of mock moral outrage hides the fact that when the Howard government left office there were just four people in detention centres who had arrived by boat. Since then, thousands of asylum seekers have drowned en route to Australia. Those who have made it to shore have found themselves sweltering indefinitely in overcrowded detention centres, or left to fend for themselves in slumlord conditions in the community, forbidden to work or find any meaning or purpose to their lives.

In western Sydney, many people are first- and second- generation migrants. They are not racists and are not without compassion.

But they see the consequences of the government's bungled policies up close and personal, and they tune out insider justifications.

No wonder the prime minister prefers the company of mummy bloggers.

Australia:Labor's Green Loon nanny state can only rear socialism.

Why a nanny state can only rear socialism.

Ross Fitzgerald
19 January 2013  

Do Australians want to create wealth or simply redistribute what we already have, asks ROSS FITZGERALD

With a federal election to be held this year, Australians must give serious consideration to the impact of policies promoted by Labor and by the Coalition in terms of building greater resilience and self-reliance in our society.

Australia has largely avoided the path taken by some European nations of a massive welfare state funded through high levels of taxation.

 Madame Gillard and  US President Barack Hussein Obama

It is vital that as a nation we remain eternally vigilant against the false appeal of such systems.

This issue came to the fore in last year’s United States presidential election when Mitt Romney was secretly recorded at a fund-raising event telling supporters that “There are 47 per cent of the people who will vote for the president (Obama) no matter what … who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims. … These are people who pay no income tax. … and so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

The comments were reported as a devastating gaffe that triggered a firestorm of criticism and dogged Romney for the remainder of his campaign.

While his remarks were politically damaging, it also meant that neither presidential contender was prepared to engage in a serious debate as to how the US planned to curtail rising levels of welfare dependency – particularly within the context of its ageing population.

Economist Nicholas Eberstadt’s book published last year titled ‘A Nation of Takers: America’s Entitlement Epidemic’ observed that “The United States is now on the verge of a symbolic threshold: the point at which more than half of all American households receive, and accept, transfer benefits from the government.”

Eberstadt also pointed out that welfare spending accounted for about 33 per cent of the US federal government budget in 1960, a figure that had doubled to about 66 per cent today.

In Australia the Howard government, partly through its focus on increasing employment opportunities, had some success in reversing the trend of increasing welfare payments.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that 28.5 per cent of households were reliant on government pensions and allowances in 1995 but that had fallen to 23.2 per cent in 2007.

This year’s federal government budget of around $376 billion includes $131.7 billion on social security and welfare, or about 35 per cent of the total budget.

Moreover, that percentage is likely to increase significantly in coming years.

Initiatives such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the increasing demand for the aged pension due to population ageing will inevitably drive up this expenditure.

Minister Jenny Macklin’s recent claim that she could live on the dole sparked such a backlash that it virtually obliterated the Government’s announcement on changes to single parenting payments aimed at encouraging single parents back into work.

While there always seem to be good arguments for increasing welfare payments, relatively modest increases to the dole during times of low unemployment can balloon rapidly during the inevitable economic downturns of the future.

Senior Fellowq at the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies, Robert Carling, pointed out last year that “In democratic welfare states, the proportion of the electorate that attracts more in social benefits from government than it pays in tax has become so large that candidates who promise to curb the welfare state have a hard time winning elections.”

Carling also drew on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics that showed 60% of households in this country received more in direct social benefits than they paid in taxes. Moreover he argues cogently that, in Australia, the welfare state has gone far beyond the concept of a ‘safety net.’ There is, Carling says, “ a large constituency whose direct financial interests are best served by the preservation or enhancement of social benefits, whether or not that is in their broader self-interest or the national interest.”

The danger is that the growth in welfare spending can always seem to be justified on compassionate grounds and any reductions are often as regarded as heartless. But at some point the system becomes unsustainable as it enters a spiral of ever-higher payments funded through higher taxes.

If unchecked, this could lead to a significant economic and social crisis that would impact more severely on larger numbers of people.

To avoid this slippery slope, one of the priorities for our government must be to provide a policy framework that supports greater levels of self-sufficiency.

After all that is what most Australians strive to personally achieve over their life – working and earning enough income so that they can have a reasonable standard of living, pay off debts and save enough money for retirement.

For many Australians, one of the key milestones in that journey is when the mortgage on the family home is finally paid off. This frees up additional funds and means that there is greater certainty about future accommodation.

Individuals and couples who are mortgage free can obviously live on far lower and less reliable incomes than those encumbered by debt.

The Federal government provides a safety net for older Australians who for various reasons have not been able to save enough to support themselves.

The current maximum payment for the aged pension is $712 per fortnight for individuals or $1073.40 for couples.

For generations past this was often viewed as the only form of income available to older Australians and it was accepted that living on the pension meant a frugal existence in retirement.

Current and future generations have higher expectations for their retirement lifestyles.

For most Australians, the family home will be their largest investment, with superannuation the second largest.

Governments in Australia have played an important role in promoting superannuation, particularly since the Keating government’s visionary decision in 1992 to implement universal compulsory superannuation. The thinking behind this policy was to ensure that more Australians were able to provide for their own retirement – thereby reducing demand on the government for the aged pension.

The ageing of Australia’s population will place increasingly higher demands on government in coming decades as the percentage of older Australians increases as a proportion of the total population.

The Hawke, Keating and Howard Governments all sought to provide a policy environment that encouraged greater levels of self-reliance.

Although the Howard government had a mixed record on superannuation, in its latter years Treasurer Peter Costello introduced a number of reforms that provided significant taxation benefits to those who made additional contributions to their superannuation fund.

This was to encourage greater levels of saving among those approaching retirement age.

It should be safe to assume that Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been briefed on the implications of population ageing. Yet it is extremely disheartening to witness her government making decisions that actively discourage higher levels of saving.

The Gillard government’s record on numerous policy areas has been rightly criticized. Indeed it is hard to identify any area where her government has shone, either in policy design or implementation. From the chaos in its border policies to its ill-fated environmental policies, including the cash-for-clunkers scheme, to its erratic military procurement policies, the current federal government has failed on many fronts.

Sadly, one of its worst efforts has been in the changes to superannuation.

The Gillard government has reduced significantly the amount of money that can be invested in superannuation at lower rates of taxation and greatly increased the taxation penalties for exceeding its new low cap of $25,000 per year.

There have also been a number of policy changes to promote the role of Industry superannuation funds to the disadvantage of private sector funds.

Unions established industry super funds and union officials dominate their boards.

While this may strengthen the power and influence of the union movement, it reduces choice and competition and may lead to a significant number of Australians having lower retirement incomes than may otherwise be the case.

These changes to superannuation should attract far more scrutiny, not least because it is also an example of the PM’s policy instincts. The more the government seeks to intervene, regulate, restrict and interfere in people’s lives the less likely they are to take responsibility their actions. This government has re-embraced the Nanny State concept of taking away personal choice and decision-making.

While there has been considerable focus on Gillard’s less than stellar legal career at Slater and Gordon, we should not overlook the fact that the Prime Minister was once a leading member of the Socialist Forum, which at the time considered the Labor party as too right wing for its liking.

While a number of student politicians mature in their views, it is telling that Gillard’s university politics took her to the far left of the political spectrum.

Theoretically, the ultimate welfare state is a supposedly classless society where individuals do not own capital and the state provides equally for all its citizens.

The choice Australians must soon make is whether to embrace the creeping socialism in the form of Labor’s Nanny State or turn to the ideals of self-reliance and individual responsibility within a government framework that provides an appropriate safety net for those in genuine need.

This year Australians can expect Gillard to continue her campaign to divide the nation along class lines, with wealthier Australians demonized for not paying more tax. She will also seek to portray the Coalition as captives of corporate Australia and protectors of privilege.

This embodies the classic agenda of a primary commitment to redistribute rather than to create wealth. But it also represents a failed theory of a Nanny State that ultimately leads to social and economic collapse.

It is well and truly time to rebalance the national agenda away from such a discredited path.

Emeritus Professor of History and Politics at Griffith University, Ross Fitzgerald is the author of 35 books, most recently the political satire ‘Fools’ Paradise’.

The Daily Telegraph, January 19, 2013, pp106-107

Madame Gillard appoints a her very own "TwoFa" Nova Peris Kneebone to NT Senate ... Election I hear you say what's that ?

Former Olympian Nova Peris to run for Labor in NT seat in the Federal Senate

Jessica Marszalek
Daily Telegraph
January 22, 201312:12PM

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard Gillard faces a fight to get former Olympian Nova Peris into the Senate, with current NT Senator Trish Crossin speaking out against the decision to replace her.

Ms Peris will stand for Labor at the upcoming election, with Julia Gillard declaring the party needs an indigenous representative in the Federal Parliament.

If successful Ms Peris will be the first Aboriginal woman to hold a seat in federal parliament.

The Prime Minister personally selected the Aboriginal athlete for preselection as a senate candidate in the NT in a decision that has upset Labor's serving senator, Trish Crossin.

Ms Gillard said she had engaged "in a captain's pick'' in endorsing the Olympic hockey gold medallist over Senator Crossin.

"There has never been an indigenous Australian who has served as a federal Labor representative,'' she said.

"I'm determined that at the 2013 election we change that.''

Asked about Senator Crossin's fate, Ms Gillard said she stood by the "tough decision''.

But Senator Crossin immediately hit out, declaring the decision had been taken without consultation or negotiation with the NT branch of the ALP "or my input as the long-serving federal Labor Senator for the NT''.

"It has been my long held belief that preselection should always be a matter for NT Labor branch members to decide,'' she said in a statement.

But Ms Gillard said it was a matter of national significance for the Labor Party to put forward an indigenous Australian in a winnable position at a federal election.

"I am not going to make it routine for me to intervene in party processes,'' Ms Gillard said.

"I am a big respecter of party processes, but I think there is a national significance here for our political party.''

No surprise Corssin supported Le Kewen aka, Kevin 07 Rudd in the Gillard led leadership spill. She is not happy at been dumped by Gillard, cant wait to see her described as a Misogynist Racist Red Neck Hill Billy by Madame Gillard and the Sista Hood

She said it was a similar situation to when the party had undertaken affirmative action to see more women elected to federal parliament.

"If you believe as I do fundamentally that merit is distributed equitably across the population, across genders, across races then if you are looking at an outcome where you can see lots of men or not many indigenous Australians, then people of merit are missing out,'' she said.

"This is a moment when our whole political party needs to look at it too so that we are joined by an indigenous Australian in our federal Labor caucus.''

Ms Peris thanked the prime minister for the "amazing opportunity" to stand for Labor pre-selection for a Northern Territory seat in the senate.

"I stand here before you all today not only as an Australian but also as a proud Aboriginal woman, proud of my heritage and culture," Ms Peris said.

I certainly understand the significance of this opportunity, and I am very honoured and humbled by this, prime minister."

She said she was first approached to stand for parliament about seven to eight years ago.

"My two young kids babies at the time ... I didn't think I was ready. To be put into a position where you have a voice for Aboriginal Australians I thought I had to do a lot of work," she said.

Ms Peris attributed the CLP victory at last year's NT poll to hard work by the CLP and Labor taking their eye off the mark.

But she said that was now unravelling for the CLP.

"As an Aboriginal woman I have seen and I've been around the ropes long and hard enough to know that Aboriginal people have been disappointed with government for a long time, hence the intervention," she said.

"I was in the midst of that and I saw firsthand that you can have policies but if you don't have the right people implementing it, it's never going to work."

Ms Peris said she was proud, honoured and humbled to be part of Labor.

"We are working very hard to win the next election and get the right people working," she said.

Ms Gillard said Ms Peris was a household name and many remembered her sporting triumphs, winning an olympic gold medal in hockey at the 1996 games.

"What they show is grit and determination to get things done and I am very admiring of that grit and determination," she said.

"I believe Nova will make a great contribution in the federal parliament for the Labor Party for the Northern Territory and for the nation, not just because of that grit and determination but because of the work she has done since her sporting career on building opportunities for young Australians."

Was Nova Really Surprised ?

Where to now...

After turning the big 40 and whilst working in the Kimberley last year, I reflected on my past achievements and experiences. It had dawned on me and it seemed just a natural thing to do, and that was to now spend the next decade of my life using it to give back, pass on the stories that enabled me to pick myself up time and time again. There is a quote I am now consciously aware of and live my life by and that is "For as much is given, much is expected".

I have now realised that I have lived my life in decades, 0-10 dreaming as a kid, 10-20 education and realisation that i could live my dreams. 20-30yrs 60 Countries and living my sporting dreams. 30-40 two more kids, a grandchild and 110 communities around Australia, mentoring and promoting better health and education to my people. So now i am embarking on a new phase of life.....Stay Tuned...!!!

http://novaperis.blogspot.com.au/

Australia: ELECTION 2013 IS COMING

A Nation of Sheep, Breeds (has bred in Australia already)a Government of Wolves !

 

 

 

 

 

As Australia’s business leaders take their money and their  jobs overseas the Union / GetUp funded Labor Green Loon Independent Socialist Minority “Co Party” Federal Government continues with its Open Borders policy for Muslim “refugees” 85% of who will still be on social security benefits, ie: free housing, medical , dental, education, pharmaceutical,subsidesed public transport,child minding, retraining,etc etc etc 5 years after their illegal entry into Australia, most will receive these benefits for life as will their children and grand children.

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Madame Juliar Gillard,Bob Brown,Comrade Rudd,ALP,ACTU,GetUp,Antrropogenic Global Warming Hoax,Carbon Tax

 

Lu Kewen aka. Kevin 07 aka. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd scares the shit out of Madame Gillard,with threats of a new something or other.

 

Technorati Tags: Kevin Rudd,Lu Kewen,Kevin 07,Madame Gillard,ALP,ACTU

Former Australian PM John Howard stands up for the “Anglosphere”

 

Islam can only exist as a DISRUPTIVE  minority or as an OPPRESSIVE majority

English-speaking countries should hold on to identities: Howard

TodayOnline
Sep 30, 2010

WASHINGTON - Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard has attacked "multiculturalism" in English-speaking nations, while urging countries to hold on firmly to their cultural identities in the battle against

terrorism.

Mr Howard said on Tuesday on a visit to Washington that the "Anglosphere" needed to take greater pride in its values and achievements.

"I think one of the errors that some sections of the English-speaking world have made in the last few decades has been to confuse multiracialism and multiculturalism," Mr Howard said at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank.

He pointed in particular to Britain, whose Muslim community came under the spotlight after the 2005 bombings on the London transport system.

He declared that he was "a passionate believer in multiracialism", in which migrants from different cultures of the world adopt the culture of their new country.

 

 

"I believe that societies are enriched if they draw ... from all parts of the world on a non-discriminatory basis," he said.

"But when a nation draws people from other parts of the world, it draws them because of the magnetism of its own culture and its own way of life.

"People want to live in the United States not because of some futuristic ideal of multiculturalism but because of what they regard as the American way of life and American values," he said.

Mr Howard also warned that Islamic radicalism posed a real threat and warned against pandering to extremist philosophies in order to win their support.

"There is a tendency to see a response to terrorism in terms of placating alternative philosophies in the hope that they will accommodate you and abandon their aggressive designs on your society," he said.

The "Anglosphere" and other countries should not apologise for their cultur al identities but instead stand up for their beliefs, Mr Howard said. Agencies

Pretty straight forward and logical comments I would have thought… but wait, Howard is like the overwhelming majority of the Earths population NOT a Muslim, so what does Australia’s Muslim Idiot in search of a village in residence say in reply to Howards wise words….

Brad Norington and Lanai Vasek

The Australian
September 30, 2010

“………………………….Islamic Friendship Association of Australia president Keysar Trad said Mr Howard's comments were racist.

"He should find relevance in the world without picking on minorities," he said. "I think it is really a guilty conscience."

Mr Trad said Mr Howard had a "phobia" about multiculturalism.

"There is no harm of having a different understanding of variety of cultures in a society," he said.

Rachel Bloul, a sociologist who specialises in Muslim migrants in the West at the Australian National University, said Mr Howard's comments were "inappropriate' and "not at all smart".

"Each time when the question of Muslim migrants is taken up by politicians it inflames debate even more than is necessary," Dr Bloul said.

"I'm sure it would create problems in Australia."

And Australia’s very own Fabian Socialist minority Labor / Green Loon / socialist independent coalition appointed federal government PM says

A spokesman for Julia Gillard declined to comment on Mr Howard's speech.

"Mr Howard's comments are a matter for him."

That’s code for I am importing into Australia as many of these cave dwellers as I can, she can hardly agree with Howard can she?

Denmark's Burning

Islam's Man of a Million Comments

 

31 7 09 Keysar Trad RACISM an Islamic Response

 

 

TradvHarbour Radio Pty Ltd 2009 NSWSC 750

Technorati Tags: Racism,Keysar Trad,Islam,Muslims,John Howard,Multiculturalism

Australia: What Madame Gillard did and said she thought BEFORE she was appointed Prime Minister of Australia by the Union Movement & NSW Labor’s Political ASSASSINS on June 24 2010

 

Less than a week after a visit to Australia by Bejing’s second most powerful member of the Chinese Communist Party,Xi Jinping, Beijing’s highest ranking official in Australia, Lu Kewen aka.Australian Prime Minister Kevin 07 Rudd, has been deposed by the Australian Council of Trade Union’s (ACTU) financed Australian Labor Party, (ALP) from the office of Prime Minister of Australia.

China’s Communist Party’s second most powerful Communist Xi Jinping.

Lu Kewen’s replacement is Julia Gillard one of two daughters of Welsh assisted immigrants (Two Pound Pom’s) and Communist Party member parents,she has been a loyal and hard working member of the Socialist Cause for many of her forty eight years, she is single but has a relationship with a hairdresser,she is Australia’s first “Wommin” appointed to the office of Australian Prime Minister,by the ALP  and their revenue raisers,financers & bankers the ACTU.

Madame Gillard is one of only two members of the infamous Lu Kewen Labor Governments “Gang of Four” to escape demotion or will not re contest their position at the up coming federal election.

Deposed Prime Minister Lu Kewen aka. Kevin 07 Rudd has been banished to the back benches, Lyndsay Tanner, former Lu Kewen Government  Finance Minister, has indicated he will be leaving the Parliament voluntarily by not re contesting his seat at the up coming Federal election,former Lu Kewen Labor Government Treasurer,apologist and supporter, Wayne Swan, has been promoted to the office of Deputy Prime Minister. 

 

“Madame Julia” Julia Gillard,Australia’s Union and Labor Party back room Thug appointed Prime Minister .

The above photo was deleted from the Australian Labor Party’s (ALP)publicly funded,publicity and propaganda arm,the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) Program web site for their successful show “Australian Story” (episode titled “She Who Waits”, broadcast 21 June 2010 ) following the appointment (on Thursday 24 June 2010)of Madame Gillard to the office of Prime Minister of Australia. by ALP back room Union and NSW ALP Political ASSASSINS.

Prior to Madame Gillard’s appointment to the office of Australian Prime Minister on Thursday June 24 2010, by the Union financed ALP,the Australian Story web site contained a photo of Madame Gillard wearing the Chinese Communist Party uniform,with the Great Wall of China in the background, this photo has been removed for reasons best known to the ABC. It will be interesting to see if the ABC,edits the same photo from the video Australian Story entitled She Who Waits.

Andrew Bolt: More than just red hair

Andrew Bolt
Herald Sun
October 19, 2007 12:00AM

WHAT you were matters less than what you are, so it can't hurt Julia Gillard to admit her past -- and reject it. Then why won't she?

Fact: for at least eight years the deputy Labor leader was an official of the hard-Left Socialist Forum.

Here's how Melbourne University's archives describe her group:

"The Socialist Forum was established in 1984, initially by disaffected members of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA). Its membership included Australian Labor Party (ALP) members and political activists . . .

(Its) stated aim was to contribute to the development of democratic socialism in Australia . . ."

And one of its unstated aims was to help former communists join Labor.

Back then Gillard had no trouble admitting to that communist influence, writing in an SF pamphlet: "Around 45 of the forum's members left the Communist Party of Australia in the division of a year ago . . ."

She'd know. She not only wrote such pamphlets for the SF's 200 or more members, but worked until 1993 -- when she'd already become a lawyer -- as its organiser and then on its management committee.

The policies she pushed were the usual sandwich-board stuff: scrapping our US alliance, super-taxing the rich, introducing death duties, blah blah. But here's a novel one: twinning Melbourne with Leningrad -- renamed now, post-communism, St Petersburg.

Of course, most of us grow wiser with experience and -- note well, young radicals -- leave such heady but ruinous Leftism behind.

But has Gillard? It's a fair question to ask someone who wants to be our deputy prime minister, in charge of workplace "reform", especially when she's part of a Labor team of which some 70 per cent are ex-union officials.

But here's the troubling thing about her replies. Far from repudiating her past radicalism, she refuses to even admit to it. Here, for instance, is part of her interview on the ABC's Lateline program on Wednesday:

Video extract from interview between Lateline’s Tony Jones and Madame Gillard, October 17 2007 full interview here

Fabian Society

Gillard: I was a full-time university student and I had a part-time job for an organisation called Socialist Forum, which was a sort of debating society . . .

Interviewer: It wasn't a front organisation for communists?

Gillard: Certainly not. It was an organisation where people who identified themselves as progressives, some in the Labor Party, some outside the Labor Party, would come together and would talk about ideas. I did clerical and administrative work . . .

Good skills with that airbrush, Julia.

Gillard -- a long-time official and a leader of a group created by communists -- is transformed. In her new version, she becomes just a part-time typist in her "student days" for "progressives", who merely debated stuff. Her communists become simply people "outside the Labor Party".

That's neither frank nor, I suggest, quite honest. And when asked a direct question . . .

Interviewer: Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?

Gillard: Tony, I think that question shows how silly all of this is getting, though I suspect in this interview, probably the Howard Government would think you're the dangerous radical. After all, I'm only from the Labor Party, you're from the ABC.

A "no" would have been shorter. But more importantly, can Gillard now own up to her past radicalism, and explain how she came to reject it?

After all, she's still of the Socialist Left and as Labor's health spokesman at the last election offered us the Whitlamesque Medicare Gold disaster, after choosing as her leader the anti-American Mark Latham. She has some reassuring to do.

Will Julia Gillard's past cause red faces?

Lincoln Wright
 Herald Sun
October 07, 2007 12:00AM

SCRAPPING the ANZUS treaty, twinning Melbourne with Leningrad and introducing a super-tax on the rich were among radical policies devised or backed by Julia Gillard as a student activist.

Labor's deputy leader was a key figure in a socialist group that pushed radical policies and social agendas in the 1980s and early '90s.

Comrade Julia: From activist to Deputy PM? Radical policies from a student Julia Gillard threaten to embarrass the opposition.  Source: Sunday Herald Sun 

Founded in 1984 as a pressure group within the ALP, the Socialist Forum also wanted to sever Australia's alliance with the US, remove the spy base at Pine Gap, introduce death duties and redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor.

The Sunday Herald Sun has gained access to the forum's archive - held in the Baillieu Library at the University of Melbourne.

The archive contains material revealing the radical past of Ms Gillard, including her links to former members of the Communist Party of Australia.

Ms Gillard, who could be Australia's next deputy prime minister, was on the management committee of the forum for many years. She acted as its public officer, secretary, and legal adviser on the drafting of its constitution.

Her signature is on liquor licence applications for the forum's social events, such as theatre nights.

In a pamphlet from the mid-1980s, Ms Gillard describes herself as a "socialist and a feminist" and someone who joined the ALP at 16.

"Contrary to what may have been suggested, Socialist Forum is not a secret organisation nor is it a sub-caucus with the Socialist Left," Ms Gillard says in the pamphlet.

"The members of the forum are drawn from varied backgrounds. Around 45 of the forum's members left the Communist Party of Australia in the division of a year ago and about 80 are members of the ALP. The largest group are not members of any political party."

The 200-plus member forum sought to influence Bob Hawke's Labor government, especially on foreign and economic policy, through the free discussion of ideas.

One key document is the 1985 "Pine Gap - Planning a Strategy", drafted by Philip Hind, who recommends a long-term policy of abrogating the ANZUS Treaty, removing Pine Gap and eventually closing all US bases.

Mr Hind visited the former Soviet Union and came back praising the reforms of president Mikhail Gorbachev. He recommended stronger ties with the USSR, including making Melbourne a sister city of Leningrad (now St Petersburg).

The archive also reveals the forum's debate over tax policy was based on a Communist Party tax pamphlet titled "A Case for Radical Tax Reform".

"We argue that there is only one effective way to reform the tax system, by a sweeping redistribution of the tax burden which now hits hardest at low and middle-income earners," the pamphlet says.

Health Minister Tony Abbott has accused Ms Gillard of erasing her radical past and her links to the forum.

Yesterday, Ms Gillard said she could not remember the forum discussing radical policies. "It did not adopt policy positions and I don't remember any of the papers being referred to," she said.

Archive shows radical Gillard

• Lincoln Wright
• The Sunday Mail (Qld)
• October 07, 2007 12:00AM

Labor's deputy leader was a key figure in a socialist group that pushed radical policies and social agendas in the 1980s and early '90s.

The Socialist Forum, founded in 1984 as a pressure group within the Labor Party, also wanted to sever Australia's alliance with the US, remove the spy base at Pine Gap, introduce death duties and redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor.

The Sunday Mail has gained access to the forum's archive containing material which reveals Ms Gillard's radical past, including her links to former members of the Communist Party of Australia.

She was on the management committee of the forum for many years and acted as its secretary and legal adviser on the drafting of its constitution.

Health Minister Tony Abbott has accused Ms Gillard of erasing her radical past and her links to the forum.

Her Who's Who entry for 2006 contained no mention of her role in the Socialist Forum.

Yesterday Ms Gillard said she could not remember it discussing radical policies.

"The aim of Socialist Forum was to foster debate amongst progressive Australians and consequently it distributed, for the purpose of discussion, the writings of many authors," she said.

"From the summary of the papers provided I do not endorse their content now and would not have endorsed their content in 1985 as a 24-year-old."

 

Julia Gillard has denied being a communist

• Daily Telegraph
• October 21, 2007 12:00AM

DEPUTY Opposition leader Julia Gillard said today she was not a communist and never had been.

But she said at the same time as she was a member of the group Socialist Forum, Treasurer Peter Costello was flirting with the Social Democrats, a group that also included socialists.

Ms Gillard accused the Government and Mr Costello in particular of running a pretty silly scare campaign.

Ms Gillard agreed her membership of Socialist Forum had continued while seeking Labor preselection. She entered federal politics in 1998.

“My membership of Socialist Forum did continue for a period but let's be very clear about what Socialist Forum was. It was a debating society that ultimately amalgamated with the Fabian Society,” she told Channel 10 today.

“The Fabian Society of course has been around, well, forever. It has been in British politics before it was in Australian politics.”

The Government has persistently attacked Labor for the number of unionists within its ranks, accusing it of being anti-business.

Treasurer Peter Costello said Ms Gillard was a union lawyer and organiser for Socialist Forum, an extreme left wing group which included remnants of the communist party.

Ms Gillard said, interestingly, it had now been revealed Mr Costello was himself hanging out in a group called the Social Democrats when he was at university.

She said that organisation brought together various people including those who described themselves as socialist.

“So if we all want to go back to people's university days and talk about when Peter Costello was flirting with joining the Labor Party, when Brendan Nelson was in the Labor Party, it's going to be a pretty silly debate,” she said.

Ms Gillard said Socialist Forum was never part of the Labor Party.

“We would bring people together for discussions. It would periodically publish papers that would be there for people to consider, the kind of stuff that the Fabian Society does today,” she said.

Asked outright if she was a communist, she replied, laughing:

“No of course not and guess what I never was, despite Peter Costello's obsessive and silly fantasy,” she said.

“Let's be real about this. We are talking about an election in 2007, an election where we are presenting policies and plans for this nation's future.”

Ms Gillard said Prime Minister John Howard and his Government were obsessed by the past.

She said Mr Costello actually thought it appropriate to spend days talking about events nearly 20 years ago at a time when he was in a group called the Social Democrats.

“That silliness is irrelevant,” she said. “I reckon it has got a scare campaign and a pretty dumb one.”

Technorati Tags: Julia Gillard,International Socialism,Socialist Forum,ACTU,ALP,Xi Jinping,China

Rudd's Internet censorship, and now Rudd's Body Image "Code" to be introduced.

New body image code for media outlets

By Malcolm Farr
The Daily Telegraph
November 20, 2008 12:00am

A NATIONAL "body image" code will require media outlets to portray women of all shapes and sizes.

And magazines would have to tell readers if photos of women have been digitally altered to make them fit a particular physical type.

Glamorising extremely underweight models and celebrities would also be opposed under the Federal Government code.

Yesterday Youth Minister Kate Ellis announced the conduct protocols to help fight what she called "the devastating effects of eating disorders and body image issues".

The code would also put a 16-year age limit on models used in adult fashion shows, magazine shoots and TV programs.

It would be voluntary, but most media groups were expected to sign on after deliberations of a national advisory group of industry representatives and health advisers finished next year.

"The advisory group will consider matters such as the disclosure of altered and enhanced images, the representation of a diversity of body shapes, fair placement or diet, exercise and cosmetic surgery advertising," Ms Ellis said.

It would also be aimed at "avoiding the glamorisation of severely underweight models or celebrities".

Ms Ellis criticised her older male parliamentary colleagues for not giving Australia's body image issue the attention it deserved.

"As a rule, Parliaments reflect the upbringing and world outlook of its members," she said. "With the make-up of our Parliaments, should we then be surprised that issues important to youth have been under-represented?"

Ms Ellis said issues such as equal pay, childcare and work-and-family balance once were considered extreme issues but are now mainstream.

She said that in the same way body image problems had been a "silent epidemic" which had to be acknowledged. Young women lost self-esteem and confidence, felt ashamed of their bodies and some descended into dangerous eating disorders.

"The consequences of poor body image affect real people in powerful ways, leaving families, mates, schools and our community to feel the pain and pick up the pieces," Ms Ellis said.

Yesterday a parliamentary committee considered another aspect of care for young Australian bodies - advertising of junk food.

At issue is a bid by the Greens to legislate to limit advertising for fast foods on TV, while the industry wants self-regulation.

The Australian Beverages Council told the committee in Canberra "there is no proof there is a cause and effect" between ads and obesity in the young.

The food industry wants to introduce a voluntary code banning commercials for unhealthy snacks which are directed at children aged under 12 during children's programs.

However, the Australian Psychological Society said children under eight couldn't distinguish between advertisements and programs.

Dr Kate Russell (featured in video above)
Faculty of Education & Social Work

Dr Kate Russell is a recent appointment in the Human Movement and Health Education program and researches in the area of gender identity and body satisfaction as a consequence of sport and physical activity participation. Her research highlights the impact the school context can have on perceptions of femininity and masculinity and body image concerns of young people. Her publications include three articles and a book on a research project completed for the Football Association in the UK, in the area of evaluating child protection strategies in a sporting context.

Kate has a background as a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist and an interest in the socio cultural aspects of physicality. She was awarded the NZ-UK Link Foundation in association with the Academy of Learned Societies for Social Sciences travel award in 2003 to spend six weeks in New Zealand researching female rugby player's body satisfaction.

The Rudd government is to introduce a "Body image code" Australians are to be protected from incorrect body images and when this is not possible we will be made aware the image we are viewing is indeed deemed to be incorrect?

So what do we do when God / Dear Leader forbid, we have viewed an incorrect body image? will we be required to call an emergency hot line to report the offending body image ? will it be an offence to be in possession of such images ? will it be an offence to have an incorrect BODY or to know or to associate with someone who is deemed to have an incorrect body ?

This is yet another imposition upon Australians by the dead hand of the Rudd socialist, Union financed, Labor government.

(Madame) Kate Ellis,Minister for "Youth" has been hyped up by the main stream media as Australia's "most glamorous politician", closely followed by deputy Labor leader (Madame)Julia Gillard,I believe no further evidence is needed to substantiate the claim that Australia is fast becoming the land of the lowest common denominator

Madame Ellis and Madame Gillard, perfect examples of the new Australian "Womin" clearly not exhibiting any traits of "incorrect body image" Australia's pure,just and correct Mothers, please write to these Dear Ministers to seek guidance on how your daughters can best emulate the preferred and correct body image as shown by these two Dear Ministers, Madame Ellis and Madame Gillard, lest you and your daughters are to be accused of exhibiting incorrect body image to the Australian people and as such invoke unfavourable reaction from, correct thinking Australians, that would cause such discomfort that would make for unhappy times and discourse amongst the Australian community.

If this was to happen Dear Leader Lu Kewan (Kevin 07) and Dear family,would have an unhappy heart and would cry many nights resulting in un neccessarilly diverting Dear Leader and Dear Family away from their efforts of ensuring all of mankind was full of happy and just life.