Miscellaneous comments from 5 November 2011

Sat, 2011-11-05 22:38 by admin

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James Sinnamon

Sun, 2011-11-06 20:28

Originally mentioned here on 31 October

This Sunday evening (6 November) at 9.30PM will be shown as a follow-up to the excellent Virtual JFK: Vietnam If JFK Had Lived of last Sunday night. Below is the outline description from the SBS program guide:

JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America

Although the famous Zapruder film is the most complete visual recording of JFK’s assassination, it is just part of a vast record of sights and sounds captured on camera that day. This two-part documentary uses some unique and rarely seen footage to document the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath. Home movies from eyewitnesses, Dallas police dispatch radio recordings, and raw news footage provide a shocking, unflinching look at the assassination of the president and the days that followed. (From the US) (Documentary) (Part 1 of 2) (Rpt) Part 2 is to be shown on Sunday 13 November.

Doubtless, ABC local radio Melbourne 774's Jon Faine, who is well practised at baiting those who publicly question the official account of 9/11 would, if he thought he could get away with it, be no less savage towards those from a previous generation, who questioned the claim that President John F Kennedy was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone.

James Sinnamon

Sun, 2011-11-06 23:57

My apologies. Although one person I know, who watched "JFK: 3 Shots that Changed America" found it interesting, I did not. It essentially consisted of one and a half hours of selected film footage and live commentary made at the time and nothing else. Inexplicably, while it covered the time before the assassination and after the assassination it skipped over the actual assassination itself. Just possibly the assassination, including the Zapruder film. will feature in part 2, but I won't be watching it. It's hard to believe that, given the vast amount of evidence that exists which shows that Oswald, acting alone, could not have murdered Kennedy, that so little was captured on film. I suspect that more was captured on film, but that the producers chose not to include it. Certainly the title should have made me more wary. It has been conclusively shown, for example in Oliver Stone's JFK of 1991 that at least four shots were fired.

Sheila Newman

Mon, 2011-11-07 01:09

I found the various footage of Oswald's comments to cameras about not having legal representation, having been hit by a policeman, and his denial of shooting Kennedy, as he was dragged in and out of interview rooms by detectives quite chilling. He seemed to be deprived of his rights. The other footage, presented without commentary (except the commentary of the time) was most revealing, IMHO. It gave us the opportunity to make inferences independently. Zapruda was shown being interviewed in one clip, saying that he could not be sure how many shots, but leaving room for a fourth. I personally like getting raw documentation and sifting through it myself. The series has not made me think that the official explanation was the correct one. To the contrary. It gave me the impression of a corrupt system that relied on presentation to convince in the absence of accessible data.

Scott

Mon, 2011-11-07 16:50

I agree with Sheila re: the JFK doco on SBS last night. Sifting through the raw footage and commentary from the time and broadcasting it exactly as it was originally shown makes for interesting stuff. I actually saw this doco 12 months ago when SBS showed it for the first time and back then they showed both parts back to back (by memory). It is understandable that James found Part 1 frustrating just by itself but Part 2 does cover the Zapruder film, the Warren Commission etc etc. The makers are intentionally showing things in the chronological order the public would have seen them and as you know the public didn't see the Zapruder film for quite some time.

Disgusted by Fa... (not verified)

Mon, 2011-11-07 12:11

Naked all-out selling the idea that we have no right to control our borders. Normalisation of overpopulation. He is an apologist and a promoter of the Growth Lobby. No doubt that is why the ABC and Jon Faine asked him on the program. He is just so disingenuous. He has betrayed Australian human and civil rights for native and immigrant-born alike.

NIMBY (not verified)

Tue, 2011-11-08 08:30

THE City of Casey is to get a new suburb with a population the size of Wangaratta after Planning Minister Matthew Guy approved a plan for a community 5km south of Berwick. Clyde North will have a population of more than 18,000 people when its 6000 homes along Cardinia Creek are finished. Mr Guy is quite happy to "paint ourselves into a corner" by covering fertile soils with housing, concrete and lawns. Once covered, it's dead and gone forever. The soils die, and in a country with less than 8% arable land, our food security is being compromised. We can't eat houses. The farmers and scientists are warning us not to take our food security for granted in the driest continent on Earth, but "developments" are obviously more lucrative! With 1300 new residents flooding into Victoria each week, jobs for builders and developments are assured. A Bus Association study last month showed that in the past seven years about 160,000 people had moved to homes on Melbourne's fringe that are still not within walking distance of public transport. Developments always outstrip public transport and infrastructure, adding to State "shortages". Myopic policies mean that our precious and prime agricultural land is to be sacrificed for short-term economic benefits, under the smoke-screen of needing "affordable housing". Urban sprawl means the objectors, the "nimbys" are pitted against those needing homes to live in, and the developers. This diffused attention from the real source of the problem - unsustainable and unrealistic population growth.

Milly O (not verified)

Wed, 2011-11-09 22:29

The US Foreign Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act requires details of all foreign purchases of farm land to be notified and registered. China itself prohibits private foreign ownership of farm land as does the Philippines. The Federal Government should more closely scrutinise foreign purchases, such as landmark Victorian property Larundel, which was recently sold to Chinese investors. Sales are shrouded in secrecy and subject to strict confidentiality agreements. Potential investors don't have to apply for permission to invest in land sales of less than $231 million - in stark contrast to other countries. Particularly as food security becomes more of a focus, it is foolish not to establish a register of foreign purchases to track the level of ownership. A register does nothing to actually protect our land. It's just journaling the sales. Australia is not a nation any more but is being down-graded to an international land and natural resource repository for over-populated countries. Our pioneers worked hard for naught, and our Anzac fore-bearers fought, and died, in vain! All that matters now is short-term profits at the expense of long term sustainability. Our government is simply an agent for the benefit of the global community, and their survival. Australia is the sacrificial lamb to the slaughter - and political correctness ensures that we don't mention it! It's more than a conspiracy theory. It's becoming a clear reality. We are to conglomerated with China and India, and we will become another part of the Asia Pacific region - not a sovereignty. Our land, the substance of our national and natural heritage, is being sold off under our feet. What about the traditional owners of the land? Are they concerned the land of their forebearers is going overseas? It's not just about the money, jobs or profits. Land has intrinsic value, and is our "home" - along with the biodiversity it supports. Our government is guilty of betrayal of Australia's interests. Hardly anything we eat or wear or use is made here now. We are just a land of consumers, of parasites, an international resource. Our government is trying fast to globalize our resources, and Australia will then be abandoned as a generic, nondescript part of Asia's economic growth. What other reason for allowing an iconic property to be sold?

Bandicoot

Sat, 2011-11-12 13:45

Mineral phosphorous fertilisers come from mined phosphate rock found in places such as Christmas Island, Nauru and Morocco, which is the world's biggest exporter of the resource. "Quite simply, without phosphorus we cannot produce food," says Dana Cordell of the Institute of Sustainable Futures, based in Sydney. "There is no global organisation looking at global trends in phosphorus and how we're going to ensure we'll have phosphorus production into the future," she said. In fact, you can’t survive without phosphorus: it’s in our DNA and our cell membranes. Nothing can survive without phosphorus. But Australian soils are very old, and naturally deficient in many of the nutrients that are necessary for crop production. a food-secure future for Australia is by no means guaranteed. Warning of world phosphate shortage - The Australian We could lead to a world shortage of phosphate within decades. (that was written in 2008) China's Ministry of Environmental Protection estimates that about 10 per cent of the country's farmland is polluted by heavy metals, including zinc and lead residues. Meanwhile, the Beijing government's Development Research Centre predicts China could, within as little as five years, become the world's largest importer of agricultural products. Feed the dragon - growth assured - The Australian But more and more fertilisers -- based on phosphate, urea and potash -- will be needed as China consumes more protein. The Queensland Government has approved an $800 million phosphate mining lease in the state's north-west. Project manager Ed Walker says it will have an operational life of 60 years and create about 1,300 jobs. Despite our reliance on phosphate, exporting it China is cutting off any sustainable future for Australia. We either blend and become South East Asia, and accept our fates, or actually convince our governments to base policies on sustainable principles. Selling our future for short-term monetary gain seals our fates as part of China, and our dependence on them.

nimby

Sun, 2011-11-13 09:55

The world has pretty much passed peak phosphate. August last year, Australian researchers warned that the scarcity of a well known fertiliser will threaten world food supplies. They told a fertiliser industry conference that the demand for phosphate rock is set to outstrip production within the next 25 years. It could cause conflict between nations - as scarcity of resources and depletions tend to do. 85 per cent of the world's phosphorus is in five countries, and Western Sahara and China are two of those. Farmers must learn to use it more wisely and efficiently by applying the fertilizer at the optimum time. As more people acquire wealth and move up the food chain and eat more meat, they require more phosphorus. It means crops for animals, and more inefficient food supplies. Since meat producers need three to six pounds of grain to produce one pound of pork and seven to 13 pounds of grain to produce a pound of beef, demand for phosphate fertilizer should ramp up exponentially over the next few decades. It takes thousands of years for nature to make phosphorus. Minemakers is a company that is developing a rock phosphate project at Wonarah in the Northern Territory. There the phosphate rock comes from ancient beds of algae rather than bird poo. The Australian government is not too worried by warnings that phosphorus will be scarce in the future. We've seen improvements in the genetics of wheat crops and it's assumed other crops will also be improved. Countries using GMOs have witnessed substantial increase in crop yields over the past few years. However, the justified fear of genetically modified crop has been holding back the use of available technology which can boost yields. The use of phosphate fertilizers has increased from 9 million tonnes per year in 1960 to 40 million tonnes per year in 2000. While it plays a major role in our global food supply, there are signs that a shortage is looming, which could spell the end of cheap food. The Global Phosphorus Research Initiative says peak phosphate could occur by 2030 and that high-grade reserves could be depleted in as a few as 50 years. Meanwhile, the world’s population is growing by 75 million people a year. We can still be fairly certain that demand is going to continue to increase as the global population grows. At present, the world is witnessing a horrific even play out in the region of Somalia in Africa. Some are describing it as one of the world’s worst ever famines and hundreds of thousands of children, men and women are currently facing starvation. In the 18th century, the scholar Malthus observed that while unchecked population growth was exponential, the growth of food supply was arithmetical. So the question of how the world is going to feed its growing population is not a new found concern. The end of the era of cheap food coincides with the growing concern about the prospects of feeding the world. Agriculture can no longer rely only on intensive crop production as it has to deal with climate changes and face growing competition for land, water and energy with other industries. Urban sprawl in Australia is destroying vital farming land.

Bandicoot

Fri, 2011-11-18 14:00

India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is not committed to reducing its nuclear arsenal. In fact, the opposite is true: with uranium exports increasing, India has entered an arms race with Pakistan, the consequences of which could be disastrous. Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan and others have all argued repeatedly against sales of uranium to India on the basis that it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. As deputy prime minister Julia Gillard on 3 September, 2009 said: "Our government has had a longstanding policy .... that we supply uranium only to countries that are signatory to the NPT." But Ms Gillard says it's time for Labor to broaden its platform and "strengthen our connection with dynamic, democratic India" in the Asian Century. The Asian Century means that we are to blend in with our neighboring region and gradually melt down any diplomatic or trade barriers with with these countries. Defence Minister Stephen Smith defended the move saying the United States supplied uranium to India under a bilateral deal signed in 2008. Resources Minister Martin Ferguson told the ABC that India was a “responsible nation” needing the uranium for electricity generation that would help the poor. Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd has confirmed he was not consulted about Prime Minister Julia Gillard's decision to try to lift the ban on uranium exports to India. Peter Garrett, whose band Midnight Oil was famous for the 80's song US Forces, was one of the 226 MPs and senators crammed into the House of Representatives' chamber for the President's address. School Education Minister Peter Garrett did not criticise his government's decision to facilitate a greater US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. In a statement to the media he said: "My concern on nuclear disarmament remains and I will continue to argue for it." His silence otherwise is deafening! The uranium mine approved by then Environment Minister Peter Garrett in 2009 is owned by a subsidiary of one of the world's biggest arms dealers. Billionaire James Neal Blue helped devise the Predator unmanned aircraft being used in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Peter Garrett's pre-parliamentary activism has morphed into a silent acceptance of what he stood against in the past. India's plans for nuclear power mean that country's eventual capacity will dwarf what Germany, Switzerland, Japan and others plan to take out of operation over the coming years. Australia has close to 40% of low cost uranium and is the world’s third largest exporter, with most of its exports going to the US, Japan and South Korea.

James Sinnamon

Sun, 2011-11-20 00:38

The following was posted in response to the article Living in Paul Keating’s Australia, and loving it! of 3 November by Mark Bahnisch on larvatusprodeo.net . It is now awaiting moderation.

Brian wrote "In the Fidler interview, Keating talks about how you need related big ideas across a range of portfolios ...".

In fact, Keating's 'big' ideas are astonishingly small. Elected Governments must take a back seat to the "free market", in other words, large private corporations which cannot be held to account by the public.

What Keating, Hawke and his successors did to Australia in 1983, with no electoral mandate whatsoever, was impose his extreme "free market" dogma. Every government, federal, state and local is now required to adhere to this dogma or will have hell to pay. As a consequence, governments have sold off much of the productive resources, infrastructure, buildings and land that they used to own and have vastly reduced the services they provide to less wealthy Australians. Contrary to the implicit claims, made when Keating made Australia embark on this course, the services provided by the private sector have been nowhere near as good as what we once got from government. What has happened in Australia, since Keating's mis-rule commenced is effectivley no different to what has happened in a number of other countries since 1973 as described in Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" of 2007. It's a shame that Klein didn't have more resources before she published the "The Shock Doctrine", because it could have also used chapters on Australia and New Zealand.

One doesn't have to scrutinise Keating's words too closely to see his complete contempt for the wishes of Australian electors. As an example, recently in one of his interviews he damned the NSW union movement for taking industrial action against the previous State Labor Government's plans to privatise that state's power generating assets. Keating cares nothing for the fact that every opinion poll taken on privatistion shows overwhelming public opposition in the order of at least 70%.

Once again, Keating was skilfully able to dupe his interviewer, apparently, and many of his listening audience into believing that he is a true Labor man, indignantly against the priveleges of the rich and for world peace.

The last claim stands in contrast to his Government's participation in the illegal 1991 Gulf War against Iraq justified by the fraud of the "incubator babies" story.

I think Keating's interviewer should have stayed with the Doug Anthony All Stars.

The fact that Keating refuses to appear on Q&A as pointed out by Jacques de Molay is most revealing. It shows that he is not prepared to submit his 'big' ideas to real scrutiny and let the Australian public make up its own mind.

nimby

Wed, 2011-11-23 18:22

The Russian ambassador to Australia has revealed in an interview published Wednesday that kangaroo meat could be back on Russian dinner tables after a ban for two years. The return of the trade would be a boost for Queensland kangaroo shooters and meat processing facilities, who have suffered badly since the 2009 import ban. The beautiful red kangaroos, diminishing in Australia, is on the Russian sausage menu as a "sustainable harvest". What sort of red-neck would put a bullet through these wonderful animals? Our kangaroo "harvest" or slaughter is the biggest ongoing massacre of wildlife in the world. Our wildlife are under numerous threats to their survival, and this massive industry is disrespectful, cruel and will drive them further towards extinction. How can the way the meat is handled be improved? Kangaroos are slaughtered at night, in the dust with flies, and the handling cannot be hygienic. Our indigenous landowners killed only what they needed, not on a mass-export scale. Graceful and nimble symbols of Australia are hated and hounded within their own country.

Bandicoot

Mon, 2011-11-28 19:03

A draft plan to bring the Murray-Darling Basin back to health has been labelled a dud for not specifying where future water cuts will come from or where the extra water will end up. Irrigators insist the plan will fail communities by stripping jobs and flooding rural properties, lead to an increase in food prices and leave local economies on the brink. Victoria slams plan for Murray Darling It seems that rescue plans for our nation's food bowl can't interfere with hip pockets or the economy, so Nature must be left to do it for the farmers. Victorian Farmers' Federation president Andrew Broad said the newly-released draft was barely any different from the guide released last year. NSW Farmers have rejected the basin plan saying it falls short on protecting country towns. Surely these farmers are being short-sighted? Unless there are "environmental flows", the environmental integrity of the Basin will ultimately decline, and their businesses decline anyway. Do they accept the pain of it now, or wait until Nature takes its course? The plan released today proposed to cut water use by 2750 gigalitres a year, short of the 3000 to 4000 gigalitres originally suggested. There is far too much myopic short-sightedness, and not enough long term vision and communication between government departments. According to ACF spokesperson, this draft plan fails the river, regional communities and our national interest, because it doesn't do enough to flush the salt out through the Murray Mouth, revive dying wetlands and keep the country's lifeblood, the Murray-Darling, flowing. Decades of increase irrigation flows have taken their toll on the environment. On one hand we have struggling farmers facing the challenges of feeding more people from our food bowls, yet we are all under pressure to increase the size of our economy through population growth, and at the same time take into consideration climate change. The environment is the underlying basis for our economy, but usually taken for granted that Nature will accommodate our economic needs.

James Sinnamon

Tue, 2011-11-29 02:44

On Wednesday 7 December and Thursday 8 December the University of University of Newcastle Centre for Employment and Equity is holding a conference. Be there if you can.

I posted the following comment to the Australia Talks web-site:

What we really need is to re-establish the old Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) which was axed by the Howard Government as I seem to recall. It is idiocy to have a large number of small private employment agencies each only able to deal with a pool of employers far smaller than what the old single national CES was able to deal with. This makes it so much harder to match up employees with suitable jobs near to where they lived. As a result I had to drive long to very long distances in my own car to go to where casual work was givn to me by the agency. I would have stood no chance if I did not have my own car and had to rely on public transport. This is one of many cases in recent decades where efficient outcomes where prevented by adherence to the anti-"Big Government" ideology started by Paul Keating.

I think a simple solution to the scam of casualise employment is the CofFEE (Univerity of Newcastle Centre for Full Employment and Equity) proposal (see http://e1.newcastle.edu.au/coffee/)

If their fully costed proposal were implemented than we could get rid of unmployment tomorrow and have everyone in the country, who is able to work, employed doing socially useful, meaningful, stimulatng work and fully utilising their skills and being adequately paid.

CSI (not verified)

Tue, 2011-11-29 07:37

The old CES system was far more efficient. I remember looking for work after they implemented the Centrelink system and having to register with a new employment agency everytime I applied for a job, which got tedious. There are so many different agencies I never seemed to encounter the same one twice. I think they've improved it a bit since then, but the old CES system was still better. And I don't think Centrelink system actually saves money or is more efficient at finding people work. The various agencies are often don't communicate and they are all out to fleece the government for as much as they can.

quark

Tue, 2011-11-29 11:58

I place my fingers on the keys My head completely voided Then I think of golfing tees And "zam-buc" blister ointment This is how we make these rhymes On devices near to hand We don’t go deeply in our souls But try to keep it bland Please don’t complain it is not art In many ways, it’s smart To write of naught but in a trice Is spontaneous and nice.

quark

Tue, 2011-11-29 14:55

Alas, alack my verse is shallow It has no deeper meaning It came to me in careless mode In meditation I did wallow. Forgive my self indulgence here, I do not do it often My mind's now full to overflow I cannot see the bottom

Sheila Newman

Tue, 2011-11-29 15:39

I salute the new Jabberwock and urge it to produce more and more to sooth our careworn brows which seek logic where there is none and also find so little humour.

Gloria OPossum

Tue, 2011-11-29 18:15

Ongoing was ongoing is
all problems in the land of oz

Political surmise ever deep
now penetrates my fastest sleep

no nodding off whilst chained to keys
I counts the sheep
but ill-at-ease
knee-jerking to the murdochese
the sheep go dancing with the wolves
the wolves go running with the reeves
and ewes roll numbly off the eaves,

and down the valley
where the thieves
their minds cantiqued by congoleese
lie waiting with their beavers pitched
to fell the trees and fill the ditch

Lambkins lost in growthist myths
fall prey to ersatz socialists
benumbind with their reefer-mix
a-running with their cleevers fixed
to be first to reach the lych

Sloganfisted, I beheld
that well-fed politician-kind
all gathered in a social forum
praying to a golden hindum
to field an ever grosser fetch

Even horses can't outrun
the bullet fiery from the gun
Man's a foe to everyone:
the burning brand the broken keep
the sullied verge
the stolen sheep

All fabuloso on their day
do fade away upon the next
and go on to apopoplex

their mamas fervent anarchists
lay-by their meagre summer wool
in hopes forestall the social-ill
and dodge the mighty reever
with his brutal slogan-cleever
that lies waiting in the mill

His hept and woof
and bark and paw
his noble antique jaw
beholds aloft the little lamb
grows wide and frabjous
on the lam
and leaps onto the claw

Oh, little lamb
What is your plee
As he reaches out for thee?

"I'll not bow down to any claw
at my throat or at my door,
I'll be my shepherd
You be yours
And we will keep this land of ours!"

quark

Wed, 2011-11-30 17:57

Do I read meaning in these lines Are there feelings or some signs? If this is so then twice the task Falls to we who can but ask.. What haunts the poet's restless sleep And sends her off to counting sheep Who then take on an awesome mantle Absorbing myths around the candle? The fight is long, alas arcane It's clear to see who is to blame But courage wins from fright and fear The lamb holds fast to what is dear.

Anonymous (not verified)

Tue, 2011-11-29 17:14

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) today called on Minister Tony Burke to require the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to assess higher water reductions consistent with the latest scientific advice. According to the CSIRO report, returning 2800 gigalitres only “meet 55 per cent of the ‘achievable’ [environmental] targets”. “Minister Burke can direct the Authority to return more water than the 2750 gigalitres announced yesterday. Minister Burke must deliver on his promise and assess the benefits of returning higher volumes of water to the Murray-Darling,” he said. Download the report: Water for a healthy country (pdf 688K) Water is a scarce resource in many parts of Australia. To secure water supplies, water is stored above ground (for example, in dams) and below ground in aquifers. This is important in Australia because of variable rainfall, both across the continent and from year-to-year. In recent years, low rainfall in many parts of Australia has led to low water storage levels, causing concern about the adequacy of water supplies. Population increase, especially in coastal urban areas, is placing further pressure on water supplies. (ABS) Minister Tony Burke as Minister for Population and Environment should be able to join the dots between our boosted population growth and the rising need for water, and how urban sprawl and population demands are compromising the long-term welfare of our precious water supplies.

nimby

Wed, 2011-11-30 09:51

We all know the Tarkine is an environmental jewel - but when mining companies look at this special place, they see the glint of valuable metals instead. Gold, iron, tin, zinc, lead, copper - you name it and chances are it can be found in the mineral-rich bedrock beneath the Tarkine. The Wilderness Society - threats to the Tarkine Dear Mr Burke, Right now, mining companies like Venture Minerals are desperate to exploit the minerals beneath the Tarkine. This will mean logging, pollution, roads, and huge scars criss-crossing the landscape. Do we destroy sacred and holy places to plunder the riches? This is what is being suggested. A am asking you to put the Tarkine on the Heritage List before December 2, and not ignore its world class heritage values when assessing Venture Minerals’ proposal. Otherwise, Venture Minerals’ huge mine could go ahead without the government being able to consider its impact on plants and animals, indigenous heritage or landscapes. Money is the root of all evil, and it is ethically wrong and evil to destroy this heritage landscape. Thank you Please contact Minister Tony Burke with your message: Tony Burke contact

Hans (not verified)

Wed, 2011-11-30 15:56

Last night I attended the "Greening out Future Seminar at the Frankston Arts Centre and went home very frustrated. The one sided panel of experts was just trying to tell us how well we can cope with business as usual and easily cope with a growing population. Why wasn't Dick Smith or someone representing other views invited to the panel? A question I submitted in advance about 7 billion people and its expected doubling to 42 millions by 2056 in Australia was omitted.

NIMBY (not verified)

Fri, 2011-12-02 19:29

The Government must find a mere $11.5 billion in savings in a bid to return the budget to surplus. The baby bonus will be cut from $5400 to $5000 from September 2012, but not altogether. Why not limit the baby bonus for two children and no more? The Government is tightening its belt - and yours as well. Treasurer Wayne Swan today confirmed that Government tax revenue had fallen by $20 billion over the four years beginning this financial year, ramping up the deficit. Global economic conditions have exacerbated existing stresses in the Australian economy. However, Federal politicians have their snouts in the trough and have given themselves a hefty pay rise - through the Renumeration Tribunal. Labor MPs are facing anger from within their party's ranks over their decision to take a generous 20 per cent pay rise. Unions leaders yesterday were outraged by the move, which will see Prime Minister Julia Gillard's pay soar about $90,000 to $470,000. Tony Abbott, whose pay will rise $74,000 to $333,000, said he could not comment on the figures as they had not been released by the tribunal. Strange that everyone else knows about it? Greens leader Bob Brown was one of a few MPs to slam the pay rise, accusing both major parties of double standards for debating the Budget but not their pay rise.

James Sinnamon

Sat, 2011-12-03 10:58

The one dimensional obsession that 'free market' ideologues ('economists') have with budget deficits and surpluses ignores the fact that as a society we have suffered far more harm from other deficits, which, if anything are more real than financial deficits.

One of a number is Australia's skills deficit, which our governments and business elites have used as an excuse to ramp up immigration to its record levels of recent years (whilst, of course, being careful not to refer to it using the term 'deficit'). If the Hawke, Keating and Howard governments and businesses had been prepared to go into financial budgetary deficit for a while in order to maintain the skills of Australia's workforce instead of cutting back on spending on Universities, colleges and on-the-job training, the far more damaging skills deficit would not have occurred.

Two other deficits never mentioned by economic ideologues are the ecological deficit and the social deficit which have also been incurred in order to avoid financial deficit.

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