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Australian Constituency - by Craig Hill

General - Australian Constituency

Public Sector No Job Security

January 21st 2009 00:47
Kevin Rudd has today called on employers to refrain from sacking staff as a result of the economic downturn.

Will the Prime Minister give the same commitment to protect the job security of public servants as he is asking of private employers?

“It would be nothing short of hypocrisy if Kevin Rudd refuses to protect the jobs of Australia’s public servants, after calling on the private sector to save jobs,” Opposition spokesman for Employment Participation, Andrew Southcott said today.

“We’ve already seen the ATO make 133 non-ongoing staff redundant before their contracts were due to conclude. Other Federal agencies and departments are set to follow suit.


“Yet, the public service job cuts cannot be attributed to the global financial crisis. The entire blame for these job cuts rests solely with Labor’s razor gang.

“As the Chief Bureaucrat in charge of the Australian Public Service, the buck stops with Kevin Rudd. Once again, it’s a matter of ‘don’t look at what Kevin Rudd says, look at what he does’.”

Dr Andrew Southcott MP
Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Training and Sport
20th January 2009

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Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

November 29th 2008 03:38
The following editorial, among the most famous ever written, appeared in the New York Sun in 1897. I'm having a contemplative moment, and thought maybe it still has relevance in today's world, in many aspects of our lives.

Yes Virginia There Is A Santa Claus
"Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus"



We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor! I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, 'If you see it in The Sun it's so.'
Please tell me the truth: Is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon.
115 West Ninety-Fifth Street.

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal life with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
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Australian Labor Policies May Be Placed On Hold

November 24th 2008 00:23
The ambitious Australian financial rescue package, announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last month, has been welcomed by most Australians. However, some key policies, such as the carbon trading scheme, may have to be placed on hold to pay for the rescue.

Rudd has announced several measures designed to reduce the immediate impact on Australia of the global financial crisis.

These include additional spending of $9.7 billion in 2008-09 (equivalent to about 1 per cent of GDP), the purchase of an additional $4 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities and the provision of (temporary) government guarantees of deposits with financial institutions and of bank borrowings overseas.

Australian Carbon Trading


Some commentators are suggesting the extent of these measures is too great given the strength now of the Australian economy and the monetary easing already implemented by the Reserve Bank.

However, even before the crisis, the economy had slowed below the Budget forecast of 2.75 per cent growth and the very serious implications of the crisis overseas justifies abnormal early action to offset downwards pressure here. This is the one occasion that a resort to Keynesian stimulatory policies is warranted.

Indeed, even with the measures already announced, Australia will be fortunate to avoid a period of three to four years of much lower levels of economic activity and employment.

No one can predict confidently economic growth in the period ahead and the many comforting forecasts from institutions should be treated with scepticism. Most such forecasters are trying either to calm nerves or promote their own interests.

The reality is that there is now a high risk of a global economic recession and, if that happens, it will be difficult for us to avoid one.

We cannot escape the effects of global developments and, with the virtual collapse of the world banking system as a supplier of credit, a much more difficult environment for recovery exists here than after the 1980s share market crash.

Even assuming the government guarantee allows our banking system to continue to obtain the large funding from overseas it previously has been accessing, it will now be much more cautious in its lending policies to companies and individuals. The large increase in debt levels in recent years will be taken into account.

Although the Prime Minister still claims strong Chinese growth will continue to buoy our exports, he fails to understand the relatively small aggregate importance of that demand source for Australia. Our exports to recession-bound Japan are a much higher proportion of total exports (22 per cent compared with 15 per cent to China) and are not as dependent on one export (iron ore) as those to China.

In these circumstances, the question is whether the measures the Government has taken already are sufficient. The most important additional action the Government could take would be to avoid introducing policies that will add to the increased uncertainty companies and individuals already face.

If the Government proceeds with its intended announcements before Christmas on workplace reforms and emission reductions, they will add greatly to uncertainty through the regulation of labour markets and of carbon emissions. These policies should be deferred for further consideration in three years' time.

Equally, a continuation of the proposed large immigration program could only exacerbate what will be a higher rate of unemployment. This policy must be amended.
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Australian Soil Studies Question Effect Of Climate Change

November 19th 2008 12:04
Climate change may not be as severe as predicted, suggests an international study that shows current modelling of carbon dioxide emissions from soils are overestimated by as much as 20%. The view, reported in the latest Nature Geoscience journal, is based on a study of Australian soils that finds the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released by Australian soils is much lower than previously believed. The finding has major implications for climate change predictions as annual carbon emissions from soils are estimated to be more than all human-made CO2 emissions combined.

Australian Bushfires Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions
'Black Carbon' in Soil, Created by Bushfires, Reduces the Level of Carbon Dioxide Emissions


The Australian and US researchers say emissions from soils are lower because they contain a much higher proportion of charcoal, or black carbon, than estimated by previous models. "Current models of global climate change .. are inaccurate if a larger fraction of soil organic carbon than postulated has a very slow decomposition rate," they write. Co-author Dr Evelyn Krull, of CSIRO Land and Water, says charcoal, which is formed in the aftermath of bushfires, is a very stable form of carbon that can last for millennia. "In effect it's a carbon sink," Krull says.

Under the commonly used RothC model, the proportion of black carbon is calculated to be about 6.6%, she says. Krull says in their study of 452 soil samples from the Australian National Soil Archive and two landscape transects of about 3000km in Queensland and the Northern Territory, charcoal content ranged from zero to 82%. She says the average proportion of charcoal present for all 452 soil samples was 20.4%.

The team found by including realistic estimates of charcoal in their climate prediction models, the amount of CO2 predicted to be released from two Australian savannah regions under a 3ºC warming scenario was 18.3% and 24.4% lower than previously calculated. For Australia, a proportion of 20% charcoal in soils would lead to a 135 teragram (135 billion kilograms) overestimation on a continental scale. "On an annual basis, an inflated prediction from topsoils alone equates to ... 84% of CO2 emissions associated with aviation for Australia using values obtained for 2006," the paper says.

Krull, who has analysed soil samples from across the globe since the paper was prepared, says she has found soils from countries around the same latitude as Australia have similar charcoal content. She says this means that current scenarios predicted by climate change modeling "are making it look worse than it actually would be". This highlights the need for a global initiative to analyse soils worldwide for charcoal content so that modeling can be more accurate, she says.
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Child Obesity Checks Should Start From Birth, Say Experts

November 17th 2008 11:58
CHILDREN should be weighed and monitored for obesity from birth to stop them becoming unhealthy, fat adults, according to researchers. The experts argue the Federal Government's Healthy Kids Check plan to weigh all children from the age of four from next year is leaving it too late, given one in five children are already overweight by the age of three.

Their advice comes as a senior Adelaide heart specialist predicted the nation would fail to cut obesity levels over the next 20 years unless it developed new strategies to tackle the "complex" epidemic. Dr Anthea Magarey, a dietician with the Childhood Obesity Research Group at Flinders University, and colleague Rebecca Perry, want the Federal Government to consider an ongoing monitoring system - starting from birth - of children's weight, diet and activity.

Australia Childhood Obesity Cartoon


While sometimes early weight gain may be "puppy fat" which disappears with a growth spurt, they say it can often instead be the start of an ongoing weight problem linked to poor eating habits. "If you're monitoring a child you can identify where their weight is increasing disproportionate to their height," Dr Magarey said.

"They may not be overweight or obese yet, but it can ring a few bells and then we can say ok, maybe we should be looking at what this child is eating and what their activity levels are."

Parents whose children were putting on excessive weight for their age and height could then receive advice about how to properly feed them.

The plan comes as advertising companies have rejected a proposal to ban junk food advertising to children, arguing the term "junk food" is "derogatory" and that all food is healthy. The Australian Association of National Advertisers has also tried to downplay the obesity epidemic, citing a Commonwealth study this year that showed "no appreciable change in childhood obesity levels since 1995".

"The claimed 'epidemic' has been exposed as a deliberate attempt at misinformation of the Australian public and its politicians," it says in comments made to the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The association argued that it would be "unreasonable and unjust" to place impositions on television advertising.

"There is overwhelming evidence that food and beverages advertising to children is neither the primary nor a significant contributor to childhood obesity."
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We've gone too far

February 14th 2007 05:08
Is it any surprise that radical Muslims are going from strength to strength and that the West is seen as ineffectual, weak and pandering when we read stories such as this one? A Muslim convicted of child sex offences has been awarded $2000 compensation because he was not provided with Halal meat while serving his time in a Queensland jail.

To me that just seems plain wriong. How would the parents of the childen he molested feel? The guy is a convicted child sex offender which on the scale of offence is the lowest of the low. I reckon part of your punishment should be to forfeit any claim to special dietary requirements (except possibly in extreme medical cases) while you serve your term. He wasn't forced to eat any foods he objected to, he just didn't get the foods he wanted. I'm sorry, but we've gone too far in pandering to prisoners' sensitivities when it comes to this.
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Lil' Kim gets a rap

September 14th 2006 02:08
Poor old Kim Beasley is getting a beating over his proposal that people who want to come to Australia should sign a form saying they subscribe to Australian Values. Now that the Labor caucus has finished with him it's Miranda Divine's turn to have a go.

To those who argue that signing a piece of paper means nothing (see comments below) I would say that there is a way to really make the declaration bite.

As I suggested previously, immigrant should not be asked to sign up for some vague values but to state that they recognise the laws of Australia as paramount within this country. They would need to explicitly state that if the laws of the land and the laws of their religion come into conflict that the law of the land is superior and that they agree to follow it.

This would be a challenge for religious fundamentalists who believe that the religious law is superior. If they owe allegiance to Islam or Judaism or Christianity first and allegiance to their country second they would not be able to sign without betraying their religion.

The Prime Minister calls on moderate Muslims to speak out against terrorism. This is one way they could do so - by openly stating that they regard the laws of the land to be superior to religious law. It would be interesting to see how many would agree to make this statement in public.
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Integration - it's a no brainer

September 12th 2006 00:39
The debate on whether or not people immigrating to Australia should integrate is an interesting one, but we need to ask ourselves what we mean by integration.

There's no doubt that Australia benefs from the millions of immigrants who have come from countries around the world. A person's world view is heavily influenced by the country in which he or she is born and raised and when people from other countries come to Australia they contribute to the depth of culture and maturity in this country.

Certain thing about Australia are open to change and ought to grow and develop as new influences come to our country. In a liberal democracy people are free to practise or not practise their religion of choice. They are free to debate, protest, learn, study and express themselves. What they are not free to do is obey a law other then the law of the land.

People come to Western countries such as Australia for a very good reason. They seek the stability and prosperity associated with a liberal democracy in which the rule of law is paramount, in which men and women are treated equally and contracts between strangers are honoured.

Kim Beasley suggests that Australian visas should contain a statement of values which people should agree to abide by when entering the country.

Better than that I suggest that people wishing to immigrate sign a declaration that they regard the laws of Australia as paramount and that they agree to obey those laws before that obey any other body of law. It is this undertaking which lies at the heart of a stable society and it is not too much to ask that all members of society agree to it.

If these aspects of our culture are open to change and compromise not only will Australians lose the way of life they value, potential immigrants looking for a better way of life will have one less country in which they can find refuge.

If integration means knowing and agreeing to obey the laws of Australia before all other laws, I'm all for it.
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Knack Promotes Sending them to the Knackers

September 1st 2006 02:29
SA Democrat MP Sandra Knack decided on Wednesday that it would be a good use of parliamentary privilege to describe to the house in great detail various methods by which people can kill themselves. She took this ludicrous course of action because she doesn't agree with the Suicide Material Related Offences Act, which prohibits the electronic dissemination of methods of suicide. Mike Rann responded to her stunt by excluding her speech from the electronic version of Hansard which is available on the internet.

The story raises a number of issues. Parliamentary privilege is essential so that parliament can make laws and raise taxes free from the interference of government and the courts. That is the purpose of Parliamentary privilege. It's not there to push an ideological belief held by an individual member. Abusing it will result in it's curtailment - a very risky business.

On the euthanasia question, most arguments in favour of it revolve the need to avoid unnecessary suffering. The answer to this is of course access to high quality palliative care not killing the patient.
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Post End Text

January 1st 2006 12:48
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