Australian Labor Party's Head Office Moves on QANTAS

Not a word from the Transport Workers Union (too busy pilfering passengers baggage and disabling security cameras,shifting drugs and contraband throughout Australia,Bali and other  international destinations) No demands for the beneficiaries of their members Union fees (The Australian Labor Party and the UN) to protect QANTAS from SCAB / Third World Labor rates and "Non Union"  Pay and Conditions no not a word, you see the Australian Council of Trade Unions and their Political Puppets the Australian Labor Party have received another call from Head Office... pants down bum up this time it's QANTAS... WHO'S NEXT?

But hey if you are a "Progressive" as opposed to been an Australian QANTAS is everything a "Progressive" is not.

The great haul of China as China Southern Airlines offers flights from Sydney to London

Phil Jacob 
The Daily Telegraph
March 14, 2013 12:00am

THE Kangaroo Route is about to become the Dragon Route.

And with yum cha, Chinese tea and bok choy on the menu, travelling to Europe will have a different taste after China's largest airline confirmed flights to the region up to 50 per cent cheaper than their locally owned rivals.

As national carrier Qantas seeks to shore up its Australasian routes through its recent tie-up with Emirates, China Southern Airlines has offered stand-alone flights from Sydney to London at a discount.

Once dubbed the "Kangaroo Route", the Chinese airline's cheapest economy-class return fare between Sydney and London, with a three-hour stopover in Guangzhou, for a two-week trip starting early May was $1442.

A Qantas spokesman last night confirmed a comparable return fare on Qantas to London started at $2207.

Henry He, China Southern's managing director for Australia, last night told The Daily Telegraph the region was "vitally important" going forward, particularly given the strong "visiting friends and relatives" factor.

"Our research has shown a strong Cantonese population in both Sydney and Melbourne dating back to the gold rush in the 1850s," Mr He said.

From April 1, the Guangzhou-based airline will also operate more flights to Europe than Qantas - in a bid to lure traffic from Singapore and Hong Kong.

The move is the first push in an ever-increasing aviation war, with China Southern recently signalling their intentions by recruiting more Australians as cabin crews and setting up a local school for "elite stewards".

The airline has leased one of Sydney Airport's most expensive billboards for three years.

China Southern has 42 weekly flights out of Australia, while Qantas will reduce its service to 28 a week as part of the Emirates alliance.

Chinese tourists, who spent $105 billion overseas in 2012, are forecast to make 94 million trips this year, almost double the level in 2009, statistics from the China Tourism Academy have shown.

Qantas last night acknowledged the increased competition on the route, but cited its "evolving service", which matched what its customers wanted.

"We've been flying Australians to London for more than 50 years and we've always evolved our services to match what customers have told us they want," a spokesman said.

"A comfortable seat, friendly and familiar service, plenty of in-flight entertainment options, good food and wine - these are important things that make a big difference when you're on an aircraft for 20 hours."

Aviation analyst Oliver Lamb last night said the rise of Chinese airlines would soon pose an "enormous challenge" for Virgin and Qantas.

"They're an enormous market and China Southern is the third-biggest airline in the world," Mr Lamb said.

"Their margins on transferring customers to London via Guangzhou will be lower than their rivals.

"So it's going to be very competitive going forward."

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.

Sri Lankan asylum seeker Daxchan Selvarajah in custody over Macquarie University sex assault

Sri Lankan asylum seeker Daxchan Selvarajah in custody over Macquarie University sex assault

Peter Bodkin 
The Daily Telegraph
February 27, 2013 10:54AM

A SRI Lankan asylum seeker accused of indecently assaulting a young university student will remain in custody until at least next month after his first appearance in a Sydney court this morning.

Daxchan Selvarajah, 21, didn't apply for bail in Central Local Court after his arrest at Central Station yesterday morning over the assault on a sleeping female student at Macquarie University.

He was charged with aggravated breaking and entering, and indecent assault after allegedly forcing his way into the university's student accommodation about 3.20am.

The 20-year-old woman woke during the incident and her attacker fled.
Outside the court, Selvarajah's lawyer Ken Robinson said his client was "doing well", although he was "feeling the strains a little bit" in custody.

He would not say whether the Sri Lankan national intended to fight the charges.

Immigration officials yesterday confirmed the 21-year-old was on a bridging visa, but he was not staying in the university housing - where 55 asylum seekers are living.
Selvarajah was believed to be visiting other asylum seekers at the facility.

It has been revealed a security guard arrived within minutes of the alleged attack but failed to call police at the time, with authorities not notified until 9.56am according to official records.

Selvarajah is due to appear in Parramatta Local Court next month.

Suspect arrested despite Macquarie Uni. Sex Assault attempted cover up?..........

Macquarie University Sexual assault: Labor HIDES Illegal's throughout Australian community

Asylum Seeker Attack :The Union/ GetUp funded Federal Labor Green Loon Independent minority Co Party Government has placed 80 illegal immigrant males next door to teenage female students. WHY?

Sydney Australia, Labor's Malmo in the Pacific?

Fire Fighting Malmo Sweeden

MUSLIM IMMIGRATION = RAPE JIHAD. Coming soon, to a young white girl near you. Yes, YOU!

Sydney Australia, Labor's Malmo in the Pacific?

80 asylum seekers housed in Sydney uni

By Nathan Klein 
The Daily Telegraph
February 22, 2013 9:22AM

RADIO announcer Ray Hadley has called on the Federal Government for a detailed report and explanation after he revealed 80 asylum seekers have been living inside the grounds of a Sydney university.

On his radio show this morning, Hadley said approximately 80 Sri Lankan men were living at student accommodation inside Macquarie University.

"I don’t have too much respect for Swedish girls. I guess you can say they get f****d to pieces.”

Sydney Australia, Labor's Malmo in the Pacific?

Fire Fighting Malmo Sweeden

MUSLIM IMMIGRATION = RAPE JIHAD. Coming soon, to a young white girl near you. Yes, YOU!

"In the grounds of the university there are two dorm buildings housing young women - those dorms are surrounded by the dormitories containing the 80 Sri Lankan men,'' Hadley said.

"According to people I've spoken to at the university, the young women feel both intimdated and frightened by having the men in close proximity. Some are in fact scared and conveyed that to police officers on the scene yesterday.''

NSW Police today confirmed officers were investigating reports a man indecently assaulted a female university student while she was sleeping in her dormitory.

Detectives have been told a 20-year-old woman was asleep in her dormitory when a man broke into her room and indecently assaulted her about 3.20am yesterday.

The woman awoke during the incident and the man fled the scene.

The man is described as 20-25 years old, thin build, dark skinned, with dark short curly hair. He was wearing no t-shirt and a pair of grey coloured tracksuit pants.

Hadley has called on the Immigration Department to provide a report into why the university was doubling as "some sort of a Quasi detention centre".

POLICE have confirmed officers are investigating reports a man indecently assaulted a female university student while she was sleeping in her dormitory.

Detectives have been told a 20-year-old woman was asleep in her dormitory when a man broke into her room and indecently assaulted her about 3.20am yesterday.

The woman awoke during the incident and the man fled the scene.

The man is described as 20-25 years old, thin build, dark skinned, with dark short curly hair. He was wearing no t-shirt and a pair of grey coloured tracksuit pants.

It is believed he is one of approximately 80 Sri Lankan refugees who are being housed on the university grounds.

Have your say
Comments on this story

chris of Australia Posted at 9:51 AM Today
This Gov has a lot to answer for. How is this possible !
Comment 1 of 29

Alf Proctor of Tweed Posted at 10:00 AM Today
Give them hammocks and they could kip in Parliement.There is not much happening there
Comment 2 of 29

David Posted at 10:02 AM Today
My brother,me and my Dad and thousands of others get up at 4 am in the morning and travel down the F3 to go to work and then back in the afternoon 5 days a week.We travel 3hrs a day for work then work for 10.Through the principles of the United nations agenda 21 we Australians are now the slaves to the 3rd world.We are working to pay for asylum seekers.Absolutely disgusting...Wake up Aussies,your being used!
Comment 3 of 29

Jimbo of bacchus marsh Posted at 10:04 AM Today
And here in this country we have women and children sleeping in Cars This must stop...
Comment 4 of 29

lennie sparks of parramatta Posted at 10:04 AM Today
How many students were denied accommodation to cater for these people?????????? Were security checks done on these people??????????
Comment 5 of 29

Johnno Posted at 10:04 AM Today
Disgraceful if this is true. This Government has no idea, they are deceitful and dishonest and their lies just go on and on. Will somebody stand up for us?
Comment 6 of 29

alan of sydney Posted at 10:07 AM Today
Thanks Labor, thanks green's we will remember you very very soon
Comment 7 of 29

M Evans of Sydney Posted at 10:07 AM Today
Maybe their is room for them at the Lodge .The boats can drop the aslyum seekers right at the door........No worries mate.Julia will be pleased.
Comment 8 of 29

OMG of Australia Posted at 10:07 AM Today
This is horrible!!! What is this government doing to us all!! What will be next I wonder?
Comment 9 of 29

Had enough of Sydney Posted at 10:10 AM Today
Oh my god what next. Its about time this Gov got off their ar..... to stop the boat people arriving. The only way this will stop is to put them on a plane and send them back. If they can pay big bucks to come here then they are not refugees. Why should we suffer. The money the gov has spent on the boat people could be spent on improving our roads and hospitals. Wake up Aust we are being ripped off.
Comment 10 of 29

Sandy Posted at 10:11 AM Today
This is disgusting why are they being housed there.....this is a joke. Don't expect an explanation from the Government they are now hiding the problem.......they are flooding in and we have to house and feed them while we have people living on the streets with nothing......WAY TO GO LABOR the party for the people but only if you come in on a boat......
Comment 11 of 29

Barry Thomas of Maitland Posted at 10:11 AM Today
This is disgraceful
Comment 12 of 29

Jo Gee Posted at 10:12 AM Today
Gillard and co have brought this situation about, they're responsible for encouraging illegal entry to Australia, pandering to the wannabe asylum-seekers and wasting huge amounts of our money on them. It's now just going to get worse and Labor don't care as they'll pass on the problem to Abbott and then criticise him when he can't fix up the mess they made. It's always the same. Labor gets us in dire straits and leaves the Liberals to try and clean up. One thing's for sure, it won't be Gillard's daughter who gets attacked nor her kids sent overseas to risk their lives and to fight unwinnable wars.
Comment 13 of 29

Hans of NSW Posted at 10:13 AM Today
Pathetic, weak Labor government and its failed policies! Hope all you do gooders, lefties, hippies, neo socialists, tree huggers, dole bludgers who had voted for this government are happy now...
Comment 14 of 29

dennis de generes of darwin Posted at 10:13 AM Today
Australia is too lax. it's a soft immigration target. wake up or sow what you reap.
Comment 15 of 29

horsegirly of southern highlands Posted at 10:14 AM Today
not surprised.... september 14th.. are we there yet?
Comment 16 of 29

Flight of Vic Posted at 10:16 AM Today
Who the hell thought that this was a good idea? 80 unknown males in a dorm on a uni campus! How many more uni's have this setup? What about boarding schools? Nothing would surprise me.
Comment 17 of 29

Enough Posted at 10:17 AM Today
Full explanation now please. No lies no spin just the truth now Opps, this is the government ...no hope of an honest answer from them. OK then , how about one from macquarie University
Comment 18 of 29

Les of Silverdale Posted at 10:17 AM Today
14th of September is too far away, too much damage can be done by then, give us an election ASAP
Comment 19 of 29

Foss of Sydney Posted at 10:19 AM Today
With illegals allowed to flood our borders in record numbers, it's inevitable such incidents will take place. Looking forward to the election to rid ourselves of this incompetent Government and a more efficient method of vetting and controlling who comes to our country and the numbers
Comment 20 of 29

Anna of Sydney Posted at 10:20 AM Today
Round them all up, send them all back. It's that bloody simple! Who cares what the United Nations says or what the leftie activists say. This is not on. At the rate all these people arrive by boat and flock to large cities - that cannot handle the influx - the fact that they won't have enough money or skills or resources will mean rises in petty crime as well. Australia should look to the disasters of illegal immigration and the outcome in Europe. Greece being a prime example, with the influx of illegals exceeding the hundreds of thousands and the crime rate, which incidentally has given rise to extreme groups or anti illegal immigration groups like Golden Dawn.
Comment 21 of 29

Denis Posted at 10:22 AM Today
Remember this and all the other stuff ups for later this year! Goodbye Labor and the Greens for at least 2 decades.
Comment 22 of 29

Sydney Posted at 10:22 AM Today
First they are housing asylum seekers in retirement / nursing homes when there are so many homeless Australians living on the streets. Now they are housing them at our Uni's, instead of letting our kids use the rooms (which they would be paying for). What is it going to take before the Government fixes this.... Reduce the processing time of asylum seekers, house them in appropriate (secure) housing and don't house them together in large groups. If the Government considers them save enough to be release into the public, then they can be housed in small groups or with families from their own country. Stop putting the Australian public at risk..............
Comment 23 of 29

Ross of Qld Posted at 10:25 AM Today
This is just another example of the abject failure the present federal governmenst policy that Australians have been saddled with. The legacy of this failure will be with us for ever and the economic cost will be crushing. The current prime minister and her party will lose the upcoming election in a landslide backlash....she will retire from politics on her indexed pension for life of $495,000 pa, plus perks and we, the mugs, will be left with the social and economic disaster.
Comment 24 of 29

Adam of Sydney Posted at 10:26 AM Today
Imagine if we treated our homeless and underprivileged and elderly as well as we treat asylum seekers. The government should impose a cap on how many they take in each year, once the caps met all others are turned away back to where they came from.
Comment 25 of 29

bindi Posted at 10:28 AM Today
Political correctness or laziness gone crazy. Protect Austrralians. It's time these people making these decisions were sued for negligence.
Comment 26 of 29

Jill Boothman Posted at 10:29 AM Today
How can the Universities allow this to happen let alone the gov't. How do they do there security checks??? How may students have missed out on the chance of accommodation at the Uni. Come on Australia and I'm with ay Hadley on this one.
Comment 27 of 29

Snidery Mark of North Korea Posted at 10:30 AM Today
Are they being charged HECS/HELP?
Comment 28 of 29

darryn of The Gold Coast Posted at 10:35 AM Today
And Labor continue to wonder why they are polling at 30% Labor are destined to be wiped out come election time.
Comment 29 of 29

More Comments at http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/asylum-seekers-housed-in-sydney-uni/comments-e6freuy9-1226583268614

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

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/

John Howards Anti Muslim Terror Hotline Praised in "Pigs Might Fly moment" by it's former opponents

The present Australian Attorney General, (yes its true, she is the Madame Gillard Green Loon Independent appointed Australian Governments affirmative action Attorney General) Nicola Roxon in a stunning about face is praising the Anti (Muslim) Terrorism Hotline established by the Liberal * Government of John Howard ten years ago.

Nicola Roxon's Labor Party / Green Loon Coalition / Independents and their financiers, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and GetUp, along with their Multicultural Industry Peace Partners ran a concerted Parliamentery and media campaign via their ABC, SBS and Fairfax  media public relations / media divisions, ridiculing the Hotline and demanding it be dismantled and indeed sabotaged by Australians at every opportunity to ensure that it had no chance of been an effective weapon against Islamic Insurgents on Australian soil.

Easy to see that Madame Nicola's minority "Co Party" Government is facing an election in 2013, time to praise Anti Terrorism not ridicule or mock or sabotage Anti Terrorism, at least not until after the election in 2013 no matter the result.

Less than half the Australians that vote in the upcoming Federal Election would have any idea of what I am talking about, they would not remember that this woman oops sorry person, and her Party had nothing but contempt and ridicule for John Howard when he introduced his Liberal Governments Anti (Muslim) Terrorism Hotline.

To those who remember do not forget this and so many other deceptions of the Progressives and their Islamic Harmony Day Multicultural Peace Partners and B /VOTE PEOPLE.