Today at Left Focus we debate the interaction between ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ politics in Australia; as well as the future for class politics, and the case for free speech within the ALP.  This is particularly important with the Victorian State Election coming soon.  Have your say!

see: 

http://leftfocus.blogspot.com/2010/11/debating-red-and-green-politics-have.html

…well if you did and you are about to instruct a lawyer over there be extremely cautious. And I do have some evidence in support of this statement
 Back in 1982…28 years ago I became one of 4 beneficiaries to a will in Malta. And we are still waiting!
This will had never been challenged or contested in any court. The beneficiaries are simply waiting…..already for 28 years..for the will to be probated. Numerous lawyers over there have attempted this..to no avail. No one is capable or competent in terminating it. Initially the other beneficiaries were complaining to me that the lawyers are doing this for financial gain….”the longer they hold it…the more money they make”…so the thinking went.But…why would these lawyers who are making thousands of dollars per annum be interested in procrastinating on a will which is worth a few thousand dollars. “these ain’t no oil leases for goodness sake” I responded to the others. There is another explanation however. The lawyer accepts, then he finds that he cannot cope with it. What does he do? He ain’t gonna say “Listen you people over there in Australia..I cannot cope with this..find another lawyer”His professional ego will not permit him So…he deliberately procrastinates..we get offended..and we find another lawyer…and so it went…..for 28 years! I was not involved in these machinations…my cousin/s in Melbourne (one of the beneficiaries) were changing lawyers as one  by one they went to Malta for holidays periodically over a number of years. I would not be bothered with all this moronism!
Is it possible for a situation to develop where a whole profession..en masse is dumbed down. This was a one lawyer job, and we tried several without result.
This should be of some concern to the inhabitants in Malta. Lawyers can  become judges and I guess a dumbed down lawyer then becomes a dumbed down judge! Further, lawyers are in the majority are either installed or elected in high government positions as for example..Ministers, Presidents etc.
In this context it is not insignificant that  in Malta’s political history the most famous Prime Minister…(many say that he was the best Prime Minister Malta ever had) was NOT  a lawyer by profession…..but an architect. 

The ‘tea party’ movement in the USA is having some influence, particularly in the Republican party. It purports to be a movement of ordinary people demanding that government policies change to improve their country and their lives.

But looking at some of the changes demanded by this movement, I wonder what is in them for ordinary people. I can see the benefit for billionaires cloistered in their gated communities, but for the majority living from paycheck to paycheck?

Repeal the recently enacted Health Care legislation; abolish environmental protection and regulation at the federal level; cut taxes for the rich; cut government spending and services; interfere with school curricula on the basis of extreme religious beliefs; limit or stop trade union activity; remove government regulation concerned with advertising on children’s TV programs; remove regulation associated with foods and pharmaceutical drugs.

It seems to me that the supposedly ‘grass-roots’ tea party movement is actually a clever construct of faceless people of wealth and power, who can spend money to manipulate masses of people to clamour for changes and policies that in fact will only benefit the wealthy, to the detriment of the majority, and in the longer term, of their country’s well-being.

I have heard that people in Australia are trying to start a similar movement here. We should be vigilant, expose any such movement for what it is, and cripple it before it gets a hold and starts to scare mainstream politicians.

As we are all aware here in Australia Peter, John (ex-Treasurer and ex- Prime Minister) and their ilk have always claimed that the majority of Australians quote “have never had it so better” end quote exuding the impression that Australians are really living  a lifestyle of luxury.
However does bread consumption contradict this claim?
Woolworths supermarkets manufacture their own Home Brand Multi Grain bread. It is less than half price of the well known manufactured brand breads at a $1.79 each. There is a condition however in obtaining this bread…..fresh daily. You have to be early at the supermarket. A couple of hours late….and none will be found and not only of the Multi Grain but of the other types as well. This only applies however to the Home Brand as the other more expensive brands can be found quite easily.Now if you are a “numbers cruncher” and “stat head” what does this tell you? For example does it support the claim of  Australians living in luxury in which case another question arises and this is: “Is it customary for a population living a lavish lifestyle to be so attracted to such a cheaper priced bread…and in droves too?
On the other hand they may be right but somehow one cannot envisage either Mr. Packer or Mr. Murdoch(the best examples of society which depicts lavish living) ringing up their local supermarket and when ordering their daily consignment of fresh bread they qualify it by saying” Make sure it’s the Home Brand  bread I like to save a few dollars”!

Train drivers in Western Australia have gone on strike again, to achieve a higher wage rise than that which the government is offering.

It is clear from statements made by drivers and by union officials that there is a widespread belief in the idea, that wages must be adjusted to enable the maintenance of consumption levels in the face of rising prices.

This piece of nonsense was around in the 1970’s in the shape of ‘full wage indexation’ a policy which was never fully implemented but, to the extent that it was, contributed to the high inflation levels of that era.

The reality is that wages must be based on productivity and work value, and if prices of goods and services rise faster than your wages, then you consume less.

In a world of limited resources with more and more people demanding ever higher levels of consumption, prices are going to rise faster than wages. If we try to mitigate this by jacking up wages in line with prices, then we will bring on the economic train wreck faster than will otherwise happen.

As  I explained on Oz Forums I do not believe in the existance of “evil”, nor influences by god or the devil. However I do believe in the existance of mental illness. The human being is not by nature in existance for the purpose of either doing “evil” or “good” It is there simply to act as in accordance with his/her thought processes. In aid of these thought processes s/he is endowed, I believe, with certain sensory zones in the brain. These consist of the zones of compassion and guilt. However the human is not perfect. It may have physical and psychological flaws. Today medical science recognises certain grave mental illnesses like paranoia and schizophrenia.If a patient acts within the boundaries of what is considered the norm and in  the absence of these recognised illnesses then under present medical criteria s/he is considered to be normal. As an example a bank robber, an alcoholic, a persistant law breaker, etc are people outside these boundaries as are  people who commit serious criminal acts (e.g. murder, rape, child abuse). They are under present medical criteria normal and only in certain cases where psychological profiles prove otherwise they are categorised as mentally ill.. I am claiming however that even small quirks which the human enacts is a sign of some sort of mental dysfunction. Thus a bank robber, an alcoholic and a persistant law breaker would, under this criteria, have a mental illness…..an extremely mild form of it…but nevertheless a mental illness. The question is whether I am correct because after all I am just a layman and not medically trained. But….what if in 50 years time I am proved correct. Look at the advances made on mental illness in the last 50 years and I have a comparision by way of experience
I grew up in the Rozelle/Balmain area of Sydney metro back in the 50’s and 60’s. In or around 1957 (at 12 years old) I can remember playing ( I cannot recollect how we entered these grounds) with my mates on the grounds of Callan Park (later renamed Rozelle) Hospital. This was a mental hospital with  extensive grounds which stretched from Rozelle to the next suburbs of Lilyfield, and Haberfield . On these grounds there was what looked like from the distance a circular shaped ” dugout” with a brick fence around it. It was similar to a huge water well without the bucket roller.Upon looking down in it one would discover that it was a courtyard and this courtyard was covered with what looked like ‘chicken wire’ just below the fence This, as one would immediately gather, was for the purpose of preventing debris from being thrown into that courtyard by anybody above. Many times in this courtyard we noted mental patients walking about. Some would look up at us and grimace…a facial expression which would last with us to this day. This was the facial expression of…..mental illness! However the realisation was that for it’s time this was a somewhat clever idea. Although it may be perceived as inhumane by today’s standards and the requirements of governments of that time as regards the mentally ill this idea benefitted those patients and the community by the former receiving their daily dose of fresh air and sunshine and the latter pacified by the fact that those mental patients were wholly secured. This was, at that time, the usual treatment of the mentally ill not just in Australia but all over the world (In the USA  at that time for example mental patients used to be lobotomised).However after 50 years of research it was discovered that the mentally ill require different methods of treatment and this is the reason why these mental institutions are now virtually defunct.

It doesn’t matter whether one has a genetic predisposition towards what the the old school describes as the left or the right of the political spectrum, when voters are forced to choose essentially between moral bankruptcy or incompetence one has the prospect of voting for mainstream parties that are both unspeakable in their own unique way. 

Sometimes the major parties exhibit a particularly toxic mix of both incompetence and moral bankruptcy – he said, almost skirting any mention of NSW.

So there is a natural tendency to think well of candidates who profess no allegiance to the mainstream.  And it was with a modicum of expectation that the small clutch of independents currently holding the balance of power in the Federal lower house would exert a magic power and renovate Federal politics, turning back the desperate decline of national government characterised by the Howard government and perpetuated by the Rudd government.

Not to suggest that the Rudd government was as morally bankrupt as the Howard coalition, but with the exception of the response to the global financial crisis, not a lot happened to suggest that we had turned the corner.  Under Rudd and Gillard we walked away from asylum seekers, carbon trading, mining tax, indigenous health, water……..  Stayed in the game for wrangling marginal electorates and sucking up to rednecks.

So to the independents.  A clear message to the main parties that we, the electorate are not happy with either of you.  But what is the message we hold for the independents. ?

Should we expect more from them than extracting the most obscene papered-over pork barrelling in living memory ?  Is it OK for them to be interviewing as many bureaucrats as they wish to get a handle on whether the red team or the blue team are really on top ?

How long are we expected to watch the so called independents sifting through a million and six reasons for anointing Tony or Julia as the next PM ?  Have they had their 15 minutes of fame yet ?

Could they have just tossed a coin and come up with as good an assessment ?

I would argue that they may be independent for a day but as soon as they flip the coin, they are as dependent as the rest of us.  They depend on the anointed government to do the right thing, to not bite the hand that feeds and to at least affect some semblance of competence and civil responsibility.  If they think they can make and unmake a king on a whim, they are more dangerous than the faceless numbers men and they deserve to be discarded with the same energy.

I had big hopes for the independents – until I tired of their sickly smiles on TV and their assurances that they would make a decision soon,  soon, soon.  These are the people who hold the balance of power and they struggle with the simplest of decisions. 

For years they have seen the best and worst of both the red team and the blue team and there is no empirical evidence for making a distinction.  The rest is just putting pressure on the majors and leaving the country in limbo.

What is the aphorism – power corrupts – and absolute power corrupts absolutely ?  And apparently corruption doesn’t even require a majority of votes any more – only a balance of power.

So to the independents, I say “Just make a call, you geese”. 

Because if either major party does a spit and we have another election, you will not be judged well for your equivocation, for wandering around looking clueless, for inventing whacko terms and conditions and for flaunting naked self-interest.

The OZ at it again?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/capital-circle/gift-giving-jeweller-pays-attention-to-pms-predilection-for-pearls/story-fn59nqgy-1225911937259

I refer to the news today about attacks on the new member for Hasluck in Western Australia, Mr Ken Wyatt. He is being claimed to be the first indigenous or aboriginal member of the House of Representatives.

He has allegedly received ‘hate mail’ from people who said they would never have voted for him had they known he was indigenous.

I remember years ago hearing Dr Martin Luther King, one of the giant figures of the last century, saying we should judge a man ‘not by the colour of his skin, but by the content of his character’. I have always enthusiastically embraced this principle.

Having said that, I worry sometimes about the number of people running around  claiming to be ‘indigenous’ when they are no more indigenous than I am. I also worry about people making this claim, or having it made on their behalf, as though it were relevant to their ambition to enter parliament. It’s not relevant, or it shouldn’t be.

The correct approach would be to say, this is Ken Wyatt, he is an Australian citizen, here are his personal qualities that would make him a good member of parliament, or minister, or potentially leader of this country. His ethnic make-up has got nothing to do with it.

It seems the most likely outcome of the recent election is that we will have a minority Liberal-National government, completely dependent for its survival on the loyalty of three independents, and even then only having a 76- 74 majority.

A better idea, though one without precedent in Australia, would be a ‘grand coalition’ of Liberal, National and Labor parties. Mr Abbott and Ms Gillard could take it in turns to be Prime Minister while other ministers could be drawn from both sides of politics on a roughly equal basis.

This could mean that the government of Australia could get on with the job of governing and tackling this country’s many challenges as only a government can, instead of playing politics and point-scoring as has become the recent pattern. The electorate is bored with this and disrespect for politicians is palpable.

There is a recent precedent in other countries – Israel and Germany have both had grand coalition governments formed from the major political groupings, to avoid having a minority government at the mercy of small extreme parties and independents. In Israel a minority of religious ratbags exerts an undue influence over the country.

In Australia we need to avoid the government and its decisions being at the mercy of an uneducated eccentric bible-basher in a cowboy hat.