Message for the Star Family Circus Leave OUR Roo's alone

Circus kangaroo's boxing bout scrapped

By Daniel Piotrowski 
Daily Telegraph
February 05, 2013 12:32PM

US kangaroo boxing bout dumped
Local police: 'There will be no match'
Hope future performances will be abandoned

A CIRCUS boxing match between a kangaroo and a human has been scrapped after global outcry.

Police in the US town of Oxford, Mississippi, told local newspaper The Clarion Ledger that a plan to stage a boxing match between Rocky the kangaroo and a human at a circus had been halted.

Oxford Police Department chief Joey East said the marsupial would not be donning boxing gloves when the Star Family Circus show was held in town on February 13.

"We have spoken with the owners and the managers (of the circus)," Mr East said. "There will be no kangaroo and boxing match of any kind."

Animal rights activists in the US and Australia were outraged after it was reported the circus was planning to once again force a captive marsupial into the ring.

The activists started an online petition to stop the bout on the website Change.org. The petition referred to YouTube footage of Rocky, in boxing gloves and shorts, being forced to box a clown at a previous circus.

"The kangaroo is repeatedly punched in the face by a human," the petition said. "This is blatant animal cruelty, cruelty is NOT entertainment, and we will not allow it in our community."

"Boxing matches are extremely stressful for kangaroos... They must be harassed and bullied into defending themselves (in) boxing matches."

Two other kangaroos that were forced to box for circus entertainment died of complications while on tour, the petition stated.

Mr East said police officers will be on hand next week to enforce any violations of Mississippi’s animal cruelty laws.

RSPCA spokesman Lukas Picton said it was pleased that "humane sense has prevailed" and that the boxing match had been cancelled.

"We would hope that any of Rocky’s subsequent performances are met with the same opposition and ultimately abandoned."

Petitions have been organised to stop the kangaroo boxing show from going ahead at circus events in other US states.

Beijings former highest ranking official in Australia,former Australian Prime Minister Lu Kewen aka. Kevin (07) Rudd, starts finessing the media again, after Madame Gillard's Comrades desert her sinking Labor/ Green Loon / "Independent" Minority "Co Party Government" ship.

Beijings former highest ranking official in Australia,former Australian Prime Minister Lu Kewen aka. Kevin (07) Rudd, starts finessing the media again, after Madame Gillard's Comrades desert her sinking Labor/ Green Loon / "Independent" Minority "Co Party Government" ship.

Kevin Rudd shows his soft side on Twitter as government insists it isn't in crisis mode

KEVIN Rudd is continuing his charm offensive as senior Gillard Government ministers insist the government is not in crisis.

The former PM, who earlier this week appeared on morning show Sunrise and with a chainsaw helping flood victims in Queensland with their clean-up, today tweeted about the joys of his new granddaughter.

It was accompanied with a picture of a relaxed Mr Rudd reclining on the lounge with his daughter Jessica's new baby, a rattle, and a soft toy.

Lu Kewens (Kevin (07) Rudd) Daughter Jessica and the Father of her baby Beijing "Banker" Albert Tse

He wrote: "Heaps of fun having baby Josephine home."

"She's already delightfully wicked, just like her mum at the same age."

Labor, HSU ,Thomson,Mcardle,Hawker

ICAC : Labor's favourite Family the Obeid's

Mine fix exposed in just 14 steps

VANDA CARSON 
The Daily Telegraph
February 01, 2013 12:00AM

ICAC says 14 key dates prove that Moses Obeid used the leaked information from disgraced former NSW resources minister Ian Macdonald to earn a $75 million profit.

Moses says it's coincidence he bought the neighbouring farms. The dates relate to 2008 when Macdonald reopened a tender process for mining exploration licences.

• May 14: Email shows Macdonald making inquiries within his department about Mount Penny.

• May 15: Macdonald went on an overseas excursion with coal mining people.

• June 3: Macdonald called out of the blue on his department for a briefing on the issue of coal exploration licences.

• June 6: Macdonald, contrary to department advice, created the Mount Penny tenement which includes the Obeid family farm.

• June 16: Macdonald calls for a specific briefing from the department about exploration licences in the Bylong Valley.

• June 16: Macdonald goes to Credo restaurant at Cammeray with Moses and racehorse trainer Anthony Cummings.

• June 23: Obeid brothers tell their lawyer they expect the value of their farms to increase up to four times.

• June 30: Notes taken by Obeid lawyer Chris Rumore at a meeting with Moses and two of his brothers show they knew there was a proposed mining licence and they were assuming it would be granted.

• July 2: Macdonald called for the creation of a list of the mining companies which were likely to be invited to participate in tenders.

• July 3: Moses Obeid meets with Gardner Brook at the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney to 
discuss the coal licences.
• July 4: Urgent meeting called by the Obeid family.
• July 7: Senior departmental officers met with Macdonald and gave him a list of companies to be invited to participate in the EOI.

• July 8: Moses Obeid meets Macdonald for lunch at the Courtyard Cafe Da Capo on Macquarie St - Obeid says he doesn't believe this happened.

• July 9: Macdonald phones Moses Obeid and tells him the list of mining companies in contention for the exploration licences and Obeid meets with Gardner Brook and gives it to him the list.

Australia:Labor Steve Price, Andrew Bolt, Ben Fordham,Michael Smith, Craig Thomson, Chris Mcardle, HSU

Thomson's bail ban from ex-sex partners  
EMBATTLED Craig Thomson has been bailed on condition he doesn't contact anyone he allegedly sought sexual services from.

Timeline of events involving Craig Thomson and the Health Services Union

Daily Telegraph
January 31, 2013 4:52PM

FROM political victory to arrest: a timeline of events involving the Health Services Union and suspended Labor backbencher Craig Thomson.

• November 2007 - Craig Thomson, national secretary of the Health Services Union since 2002, wins the seat of Dobell in Labor's federal election victory.
• January 2008 - Kathy Jackson takes over from Mr Thomson as general secretary of the HSU and finds accounts in the Melbourne office in disarray.
• May 2008 - An audit sent to Ms Jackson raises "concerns about possible misuse of union funds by Mr Thomson".
• July 2008 - Fair Work Australia asks the HSU what is happening with its 2007 financial return.
• December 2008 - Ms Jackson writes to lawyers Slater and Gordon instructing them to engage tax specialists BDO Kendall to "conduct an investigation".
• April 2009 - FWA commences an inquiry into the union.
• April 6 - Industrial registrar Doug Williams writes to Ms Jackson asking for the 2007 and 2008 accounts audited and signed.
• April 7 - Ms Jackson tells Mr Williams of "possible financial irregularities revealed by the exit audit and ongoing BDO Kendall investigation".
• April 8 - Fairfax Media alleges Mr Thomson used his union credit cards to help fund his election campaign and pay for a number of personal expenses, including escort services.
• April 9 - HSU Victorian secretary Jeff Jackson is accused by HSU state president Pauline Fegan of using his union credit card to pay more than $1400 over four months for escort services.
• September 2009 - FWA interviews Ms Jackson.
• March 2010 - FWA notifies the union's national office that the inquiry has become an investigation.
• August 20 - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and NSW premier Barry O'Farrell call on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to explain the Thomson saga.
• August 24 - The HSU says it will fully cooperate with a NSW police investigation into Mr Thomson and calls on the Labor MP to publicly explain "financial irregularities" it has found.
• August 25 - Federal Labor denies claims the government interfered in FWA's ongoing investigation into the finances of the HSU.
• August 26 - Ms Jackson says she won't be intimidated after a shovel is placed on the doorstep of her Melbourne home. Ms Gillard denies she knew about allegations surrounding Mr Thomson and his former union before the public did.
• September 8, 2011 - NSW police drop their investigation into allegations Mr Thomson misused a union credit card, saying they had no evidence.
• September 22 - Mr Williamson is suspended on full pay as HSU national president following allegations he embezzled union funds. Chris Brown is appointed acting national president a few days later.
• November, 2011 - A motion of no confidence against Ms Jackson as HSU executive president is passed at the union's annual conference. Ms Jackson vows to stay as head of the union until end of 2014.
• March 14, 2012 - FWA's investigation into HSU Victoria No 1 branch is completed. Three former officials are said to face Federal Court action.
• April 3, 2012 - FWA says its investigations are complete. 
• April 5 - The ACTU suspends the HSU until the union can resolve its governance and financial management issues.
• April 8 - Pressure mounts for Mr Williamson to be sacked from Unions NSW.
• April 9 - Ms Jackson calls for the union's national executive to resign and let members elect a new leadership.
• April 10 - Divisions within the embattled HSU's top brass deepen, with branches of the union threatening to break away unless the leadership dispute is resolved.
• April 12 - Unions NSW votes to dump Mr Williamson as its vice-president and also moves to suspend the troubled union from its organisation.
• April 13 - Infighting within the HSU intensifies, with Ms Jackson charging Mr Williamson under the HSU's rules in a bid to have him removed.
• April 15 - The federal opposition calls on Ms Gillard to demand Mr Thomson co-operate with a NSW police investigation into the HSU.
• April 18 - Mr Brown calls for a report commissioned by the HSU's East branch into alleged financial mismanagement and credit card misuse to be released publicly.
• April 23 - Ms Jackson goes to the Federal Court claiming 17 members of the HSU East branch are not entitled to vote at union council meetings.
• April 26 - Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten applies to have the HSU East branch placed into administration. Unions NSW, ACTU and Mr Brown welcome the move, but Ms Jackson accuses Mr Shorten of "grandstanding".
• April 27 - A meeting of the HSU top brass in Sydney calls for Ms Jackson to resign but admits it cannot remove her forcibly. Former industrial relations commissioner Errol Hodder is appointed to deal with internal charges against Mr Williamson and Ms Jackson as the new union ombudsman.
• April 29 - Ms Gillard announces Mr Thomson will be quitting the Labor Party to sit on the crossbench as an independent.
• May 7 - Fair Work Australia delivers its report.
• May 9 - NSW Labor Party confirms it paid Mr Thomson's legal bill over the Fair Work Australia investigation into the misuse of union funds.
• May 21 - Craig Thomson gives 58-minute speech to parliament addressing allegations against him, claiming he was the victim of an elaborate identity theft. 
• June 6 - Former prostitute who claimed in an interview with A Current Affair to have slept with Mr Thomson recants and apologises, claiming a case of "complete mistaken identity".
• October 15 - Fair Work Australia takes Federal Court action alleging Mr Thomson misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in union funds.
• October 24 - Fraud squads from NSW and Victoria raid Craig Thomson's house, seizing computers and other items.
• December 4 - Mr Thomson formally denies spending union money on prostitutes and improperly using his position as Health Services Union national secretary in a 28-page defence lodged in the Federal Court.
• January 31 - Mr Thomson is arrested at his electorate office on the NSW Central Coast and is due to face court in Victoria on 150 counts of fraud, which his lawyer says he denies.
• November 2007 - Craig Thomson, national secretary of the Health Services Union since 2002, wins the seat of Dobell in Labor's federal election victory.
• January 2008 - Kathy Jackson takes over from Mr Thomson as general secretary of the HSU and finds accounts in the Melbourne office in disarray.
• May 2008 - An audit sent to Ms Jackson raises "concerns about possible misuse of union funds by Mr Thomson".
• July 2008 - Fair Work Australia asks the HSU what is happening with its 2007 financial return.
• December 2008 - Ms Jackson writes to lawyers Slater and Gordon instructing them to engage tax specialists BDO Kendall to "conduct an investigation".
• April 2009 - FWA commences an inquiry into the union.
• April 6 - Industrial registrar Doug Williams writes to Ms Jackson asking for the 2007 and 2008 accounts audited and signed.
• April 7 - Ms Jackson tells Mr Williams of "possible financial irregularities revealed by the exit audit and ongoing BDO Kendall investigation".
• April 8 - Fairfax Media alleges Mr Thomson used his union credit cards to help fund his election campaign and pay for a number of personal expenses, including escort services.
• April 9 - HSU Victorian secretary Jeff Jackson is accused by HSU state president Pauline Fegan of using his union credit card to pay more than $1400 over four months for escort services.
• September 2009 - FWA interviews Ms Jackson.
• March 2010 - FWA notifies the union's national office that the inquiry has become an investigation.
• August 20 - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and NSW premier Barry O'Farrell call on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to explain the Thomson saga.
• August 24 - The HSU says it will fully cooperate with a NSW police investigation into Mr Thomson and calls on the Labor MP to publicly explain "financial irregularities" it has found.
• August 25 - Federal Labor denies claims the government interfered in FWA's ongoing investigation into the finances of the HSU.
• August 26 - Ms Jackson says she won't be intimidated after a shovel is placed on the doorstep of her Melbourne home. Ms Gillard denies she knew about allegations surrounding Mr Thomson and his former union before the public did.
• September 8, 2011 - NSW police drop their investigation into allegations Mr Thomson misused a union credit card, saying they had no evidence.
• September 22 - Mr Williamson is suspended on full pay as HSU national president following allegations he embezzled union funds. Chris Brown is appointed acting national president a few days later.
• November, 2011 - A motion of no confidence against Ms Jackson as HSU executive president is passed at the union's annual conference. Ms Jackson vows to stay as head of the union until end of 2014.
• March 14, 2012 - FWA's investigation into HSU Victoria No 1 branch is completed. Three former officials are said to face Federal Court action.
• April 3, 2012 - FWA says its investigations are complete. 
• April 5 - The ACTU suspends the HSU until the union can resolve its governance and financial management issues.
• April 8 - Pressure mounts for Mr Williamson to be sacked from Unions NSW.
• April 9 - Ms Jackson calls for the union's national executive to resign and let members elect a new leadership.
• April 10 - Divisions within the embattled HSU's top brass deepen, with branches of the union threatening to break away unless the leadership dispute is resolved.
• April 12 - Unions NSW votes to dump Mr Williamson as its vice-president and also moves to suspend the troubled union from its organisation.
• April 13 - Infighting within the HSU intensifies, with Ms Jackson charging Mr Williamson under the HSU's rules in a bid to have him removed.
• April 15 - The federal opposition calls on Ms Gillard to demand Mr Thomson co-operate with a NSW police investigation into the HSU.
• April 18 - Mr Brown calls for a report commissioned by the HSU's East branch into alleged financial mismanagement and credit card misuse to be released publicly.
• April 23 - Ms Jackson goes to the Federal Court claiming 17 members of the HSU East branch are not entitled to vote at union council meetings.
• April 26 - Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten applies to have the HSU East branch placed into administration. Unions NSW, ACTU and Mr Brown welcome the move, but Ms Jackson accuses Mr Shorten of "grandstanding".
• April 27 - A meeting of the HSU top brass in Sydney calls for Ms Jackson to resign but admits it cannot remove her forcibly. Former industrial relations commissioner Errol Hodder is appointed to deal with internal charges against Mr Williamson and Ms Jackson as the new union ombudsman.
• April 29 - Ms Gillard announces Mr Thomson will be quitting the Labor Party to sit on the crossbench as an independent.
• May 7 - Fair Work Australia delivers its report.
• May 9 - NSW Labor Party confirms it paid Mr Thomson's legal bill over the Fair Work Australia investigation into the misuse of union funds.
• May 21 - Craig Thomson gives 58-minute speech to parliament addressing allegations against him, claiming he was the victim of an elaborate identity theft. 
• June 6 - Former prostitute who claimed in an interview with A Current Affair to have slept with Mr Thomson recants and apologises, claiming a case of "complete mistaken identity".
• October 15 - Fair Work Australia takes Federal Court action alleging Mr Thomson misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in union funds.
• October 24 - Fraud squads from NSW and Victoria raid Craig Thomson's house, seizing computers and other items.
• December 4 - Mr Thomson formally denies spending union money on prostitutes and improperly using his position as Health Services Union national secretary in a 28-page defence lodged in the Federal Court.
• January 31, 2013 - Mr Thomson is arrested at his electorate office on the NSW Central Coast and is due to face court in Victoria on 150 counts of fraud, which his lawyer says he denies.

Uniting Church and Islamic Council of Victoria board member Nazeem Hussain at odds with Turkey's PM Erogdan

Victoria's peak Muslim body lashes out at 'hysterical' objections to mosques

John Masanauskas
Herald Sun
January 30, 201312:00AM

VICTORIA'S peak Muslim body has lashed out at "hysterical" objections whenever plans for mosques go before local councils.

Islamic Council of Victoria board member Nazeem Hussain said there was an underlying level of Islamophobia in society and Muslims had to do more to educate people about their religion and mosque proposals.

"Multicultural relations often entail very complex histories and interpretations,

Who is lieing here ?  "Moderate" Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan or

Islamic Council of Victoria board member Nazeem Hussain ?

"People are clearly fearful of Muslims and Islam, and it's easy to create that fear and hysteria in some ways," Mr Hussain said.

Several applications are in the spotlight, including a bid by an Afghan community group to build a mosque and community centre in Doveton, on the city's south-east fringe.

The mosque, which would be built next to the future headquarters of evangelical church Catch the Fire Ministries, has been hotly debated by residents and City of Casey councillors.

In Clayton, a Uniting Church congregation has apologised to Islamic groups for suggesting to Monash Council a new mosque could become a training ground for fanatics.

Last year, Whittlesea councillors rejected plans for an Islamic school in Mernda despite council planning officers recommending it.

Mr Hussain said Islamic community applications often were met with hysteria not faced by proposals by other religious groups.

"It speaks to an underlying level of Islamophobia in society and a fear of Muslims moving into neighbourhoods and disrupting locals," he said.

Mr Hussain accused Catch the Fire Ministries pastor Danny Nalliah of creating community divisions by spreading false information about Muslims and the Koran in his opposition to the Doveton mosque.

But Mr Nalliah, who had a long-running legal battle with the Islamic Council over a racial vilification matter, said he had no issue with individual Muslims but objected to violent passages in the Koran.

"I am concerned ... because of what is going to be taught in the mosque based on what is in the Koran," he said.

State Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship Minister Nick Kotsiras said people had the right to object to building proposals on planning grounds.

"To base it on religious grounds is unfair," Mr Kotsiras said.

Last night, Monash Council was due to vote on a plan to build a Monash University-linked mosque in a Clayton residential area.

Monash Uniting Church apologises to Islamic groups over mosque claim
John Masanauskas
Herald Sun
January 29, 201312:33PM

A CHURCH has apologised to Islamic groups for suggesting that an outer-suburban mosque could become a training ground for religious fanatics.

Monash Uniting Church Congregation chairman Richard Farrell had written to Monash Council objecting to plans by an Islamic association to upgrade a house used for prayers to a mosque.

Mr Farrell, who said he was writing on behalf of his church, said the expansion would disturb residents with the call to prayer, and "in effect the mosque is a training ground for religious moderates at one end of the scale and religious fanatics at the other end''.

The site, in Beddoe Ave, Clayton, is owned by Monash University and used by the Islamic Association of Monash Mosque, which says the new building will accommodate a maximum of 185 people.

But the Monash church has apologised after the Uniting Church of Australia Victorian Synod intervened in the controversy.

Synod general secretary the Rev Dr Mark Lawrence said Mr Farrell's claim that the mosque could become a training ground for religious fanatics was outrageous and unacceptable.

"Multicultural relations often entail very complex histories and interpretations,

Who is lieing here ?  "Moderate" Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan or

Islamic Council of Victoria board member Nazeem Hussain or Synod general secretary the Rev Dr Mark Lawrence?

"It goes against the Uniting Church's strong desire to interact with all faiths in a respectful manner,'' he said.

"Multicultural relations often entail very complex histories and interpretations, and there are those in Monash Uniting Church who have experienced oppression and persecution in their countries of birth.

"While these people have understandably brought their concerns to Australia, this does not justify the position taken by the chairperson's statement.''

A synod spokeswoman said the Monash church had withdrawn its objection to the mosque and sent written apologies to the university's Islamic association and to the Islamic Council of Victoria.

"I don't think they really thought through what they were saying,'' she said.

A planning report before Monash Council has recommended approving the proposal, with councillors due to vote on the issue tonight.

There were nine other objections.

Plans for a new mosque in the nearby City of Casey have also generated community debate.

About 1600 people have signed a petition against the mosque, which would be built next to the  headquarters of  evangelical Christian church Catch the Fire Ministries.

Casey Council is expected to consider the application next month.

VCAT's and their Muslim staff,supporters and apologists most INFAMOUS and appallingly vindictive Star Chamber prosecution against Christians in Australia. 

Complaint against Catch the Fire Ministries and Pastors Daniel Scot and Danny Nalliah by the Islamic Council of Victoria.

Full History of what is possibly Australia's first Star Chamber prosecution of two Australians for thought crime, instigated by Muslims and their apologists available at Salt Shakers

Labor Inc. ICAC Obeid Family

Closing on the truth as Obeids take the stand

AMY DALE and VANDA CARSON 

The Daily Telegraph 

January 31, 2013 12:00AM

D-DAY has finally arrived for the Obeid family.

As the state's most explosive ICAC inquiry nears the finish line, today it zeroes in on its targets- with Eddie Obeid and his son Moses due to take the stand.

The hearing has been told of corruption at a level allegedly unseen since the days of the Rum Corps. This morning will see the start of the Obeid corps, with seven relatives to give evidence in coming days.

The former MP's wife Judith was announced as a last-minute addition to today's witness list but it is Moses, her eldest son, who is expected to step into the box first for a grilling over the family's involvement in a multi-million dollar mining venture.

Mr Obeid's four other sons- referred to at the inquiry as "the boys" - will give evidence tomorrow

WEALTHY businessman John McGuigan dropped his head in his hands. He faced up to one of the most embarrassing moments.
Former minister Ian Macdonald allegedly gave the Obeids inside information potentially worth $100 million and rigged the tender process for a coal mining exploration licence in the Bylong Valley.

Mr Macdonald will give evidence next month.

Yesterday, secretly taped phone calls between the major players in the successful bidder Cascade Coal revealed a belief "the shortest distance to a pot of money" was a proposed $500 million takeover to be made after the Obeid family were bought out of the venture. ICAC was played a colourful late night call between Greg Jones, a close friend of Mr Macdonald, and businessman John McGuigan.

The March 2011 call was peppered with expletives and insults directed at Graham Cubbin, a non-executive director at White Energy, the company on the verge of the takeover. Mr McGuigan is heard describing his "discussion with the [Obeid] boys" where he reassured them "this is not some ... Machiavellian play to ... f ... you guys around."

The inquiry heard Cascade Coal wanted the Obeids out of their 25 per cent venture because of the poor association the family's name carried in business, with Mr McGuigan describing their reputation as "an aroma".

Mr Cubbin was considered a thorn in their side by Cascade Coal because of his persistent questions about the Obeid role in the deal, ICAC heard.

"This prick Cubbin who is going ... to have his nuts on the f ..... quartermast," Mr McGuigan is heard to say.

"What I've been thinking is ... how do we get control, how do we manage reputation and what's the shortest distance to a pot of money."

Watching Mr McGuigan give evidence yesterday was a surprise court watcher - former Kings Cross underworld figure and convicted drug dealer Bill Bayeh.

Bayeh, still on parole for dealing in cocaine and heroin from a Double Bay cafe, would not tell The Daily Telegraph who he was there to support.

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

Australia, Portland Victoria,Great White Shark attacks fisihg boat.