Saturday, March 26, 2005
Mannie De Saxe
2/12 Murphy Grove
Preston
Vic 3072
Phone:(03)9471 4878
email: josken@zipworld.com.au
web: http://www.zipworld.com.au/~josken
Branch stacking? ALP and democracy? Take the moc in democracy and think of
mock! Gerrymander comes to mind with the frantic wish to have power no
matter how. In the recent local government elections in Darebin, our ward,
Cazaly, had 15 candidates and 13 of them were either members of the ALP or
supporters. The main ALP candidate was endorsed by - you guessed - the
state ALP member for this electorate. The ALP wouldn't know democracy if
it hit them in the face. Remember what happened in the recent federal
election? The Victorian branch of the ALP ensured that the party with the
smallest number of primary votes, Family First, gained a senate seat with
ALP preferences, in order to ensure that other parties, perceived as a
threat to the ALP were eliminated. Democracy - ALP style! Bracks and his
ALP government need to do some urgent legislating to restore confidence in
the voting system in Victoria.
Mannie De Saxe
It is a long time since I last posted anything, so it's time to catch up on things and let rip!
The above letter was sent to The Age, Melbourne, in response to ongoing debates about ALP branch stacking. The Age didn't publish it, so I have now sent it to the Sunday Age, and I will see whether it will be in the paper on Sunday 27 March 2005!
Other major issues at the moment concern more of the Victorian State Government's inept handling of teacher/student issues. The State government has just sacked a teacher who, when he was 20, had sex with a girl who was 15 years and 10 months old at the time. He has been sacked under new state laws about sex with minors, and abuse of children! The school he was working in is outraged, the pupils at the school are outraged, the community at large is outraged, only the Victorian State Government under Steve Bracks and his ministers is not outraged!! Democratic (sic) processes are outraged, and the outrage continues. The community at large must not let the issue rest, and we should all protest in the strongest possible terms to the Premier and his Education minister.
The other ghastly matter concerns the Federal Government and its maltreatment of assylum seekers. Because of an outcry from afew backbench members of the Howard government, Amanda Vanstone, Immigration Minister and the Prime Minister, John Howard, have announced some slight changes to a few asylum seekers, which should allow a few to be released into the community, but with provisos which won't materially change their status. Peter Qasim, who has already been in a concentration camp for 6 years is not about to be released and the torture continues.
The federal government is looking to the next election to ensure its re-election and will use whatever strategies come to hand to do what it takes. In all of these goings on, the Alternative Liberal Party has not uttered a sound, or if they have, it is so muted that no one has been able to hear anything!
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2/12 Murphy Grove
Preston
Vic 3072
Phone:(03)9471 4878
email: josken@zipworld.com.au
web: http://www.zipworld.com.au/~josken
Branch stacking? ALP and democracy? Take the moc in democracy and think of
mock! Gerrymander comes to mind with the frantic wish to have power no
matter how. In the recent local government elections in Darebin, our ward,
Cazaly, had 15 candidates and 13 of them were either members of the ALP or
supporters. The main ALP candidate was endorsed by - you guessed - the
state ALP member for this electorate. The ALP wouldn't know democracy if
it hit them in the face. Remember what happened in the recent federal
election? The Victorian branch of the ALP ensured that the party with the
smallest number of primary votes, Family First, gained a senate seat with
ALP preferences, in order to ensure that other parties, perceived as a
threat to the ALP were eliminated. Democracy - ALP style! Bracks and his
ALP government need to do some urgent legislating to restore confidence in
the voting system in Victoria.
Mannie De Saxe
It is a long time since I last posted anything, so it's time to catch up on things and let rip!
The above letter was sent to The Age, Melbourne, in response to ongoing debates about ALP branch stacking. The Age didn't publish it, so I have now sent it to the Sunday Age, and I will see whether it will be in the paper on Sunday 27 March 2005!
Other major issues at the moment concern more of the Victorian State Government's inept handling of teacher/student issues. The State government has just sacked a teacher who, when he was 20, had sex with a girl who was 15 years and 10 months old at the time. He has been sacked under new state laws about sex with minors, and abuse of children! The school he was working in is outraged, the pupils at the school are outraged, the community at large is outraged, only the Victorian State Government under Steve Bracks and his ministers is not outraged!! Democratic (sic) processes are outraged, and the outrage continues. The community at large must not let the issue rest, and we should all protest in the strongest possible terms to the Premier and his Education minister.
The other ghastly matter concerns the Federal Government and its maltreatment of assylum seekers. Because of an outcry from afew backbench members of the Howard government, Amanda Vanstone, Immigration Minister and the Prime Minister, John Howard, have announced some slight changes to a few asylum seekers, which should allow a few to be released into the community, but with provisos which won't materially change their status. Peter Qasim, who has already been in a concentration camp for 6 years is not about to be released and the torture continues.
The federal government is looking to the next election to ensure its re-election and will use whatever strategies come to hand to do what it takes. In all of these goings on, the Alternative Liberal Party has not uttered a sound, or if they have, it is so muted that no one has been able to hear anything!
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
What have the following got in common? 104, 15, 3, Peter Qasim!
They have in common the fact that the Australian government feels threatened by their presence in this country!
One has to assume that if Australia feels it can send another 450 troops to Iraq, its internal security is not really under too much threat, otherwise these troops would not be able to be spared.
So, what is the problem?
Ah, yes! We have to show that our border protection legislation works and that we are able to keep out undesirables - which poses another leading question - who are desirables?
Can't answer? Look at people who have been given citizenship without too many questions - sportspeople? Yes! and others of similar ilk.
And so, Australians are a petrified lot - because the federal government told them to be, and they swallowed it all, hook, line and sinker!
How pathetic! But of course it is a tragedy for the people involved - and the tragedy continues -the loyal opposition, the Alternative Liberal Party states that the concentration camps are still necessary, but they would have to say that, wouldn't they? After all, they set them up in 1992, because we were about to be invaded by - who knows ???
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They have in common the fact that the Australian government feels threatened by their presence in this country!
One has to assume that if Australia feels it can send another 450 troops to Iraq, its internal security is not really under too much threat, otherwise these troops would not be able to be spared.
So, what is the problem?
Ah, yes! We have to show that our border protection legislation works and that we are able to keep out undesirables - which poses another leading question - who are desirables?
Can't answer? Look at people who have been given citizenship without too many questions - sportspeople? Yes! and others of similar ilk.
And so, Australians are a petrified lot - because the federal government told them to be, and they swallowed it all, hook, line and sinker!
How pathetic! But of course it is a tragedy for the people involved - and the tragedy continues -the loyal opposition, the Alternative Liberal Party states that the concentration camps are still necessary, but they would have to say that, wouldn't they? After all, they set them up in 1992, because we were about to be invaded by - who knows ???
