Category: General news

Kirsty Patten, sister of Sex Party founder Fiona Patten,  is running for the Sex Party in the Queesland Senate. She has been a member of the Australian Sex Party since its inception (member number 14) and has always supported the common sense policies the party promotes. She is a gay woman with a partner and child who would like to have the same rights as all others in this country.

A teacher for 20 years in schools ranging from catholic primary and high schools to remote indigenous schools in the NT and Torres Strait to low socio economic schools in Northern Tasmania and finishing as a Principal on Hayman Island.

She has also worked on Japanese long-liners as an observer, played soccer for four different states and is about to try her hand at small business.

She says many Australians would have experimented with an illicit drug sometime in their lives. This shouldn’t be a crime nor should the personal possession of small amounts of drugs. Portugal has had a very successful history with a policy of decriminalisation which we should emulate.

She also wants to see the right to die with dignity as a basic human right. Over 82% of Australians agree that voluntary euthanasia should be legalised.

Caption: Kirsty and Fiona Patten enjoy a quiet ale together.

Have a look at the ASP’s outrageous TV ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxZ0yDTfnjw

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any one expecting a lightweight version of the leaders debate when Graeme Perrett and  Malcolm Cole lined up at the South West Chamber breakfast last week got more than they bargained for.

The most marginal seat in the country is being hard fought by two serious contenders, both vigorous terriers who will take the fight all the way down to the line. Both are long time members of the community and well known to the Chamber generally.

Perrett has the natural advantage of the incumbent, he is across the detail of a lot of the legislation and has direct experience solving the problems of many people in the community. That is not such a great advantage though when the government you represent is on the nose and most people are keen to see a change.

Malcolm Cole has matured throughout this campaign. Even though he has stood for the seat in 2010 his initial forays into public were somewhat intense and a little shaky against the more experienced opponent.

He has settled into the role. He is calmer now and more steady and whacks back the insults with a straight bat and a wry smile.

4BC small business and real estate guru, Kevin Turner, chaired the debate and set the ground rules firmly before passing the baton to Graeme Perrett as the incumbent.

Graeme emphasized his credentials in the community, and role that the Labor Government has played in staving off the worst impacts of the Global Financial Crisis. He painted a picture of a competent and careful government that has struggled against difficult external forces, and a hostile media.

Malcolm very politely suggested to the audience that they look at the picture a completely different way, the government has been in shambles, minority parties and independents have taken them in directions they would prefer not to have gone and there have been many failed programs. Let us make it all better for you.

Both gentlemen quoted a number of statistics which I dutifully noted but will not bore you with right now. If you want them please feel free to contact me.

The real fun and games started with Question Time, however.

A question about car manufacturing and the fringe benefits tax elicited the predictable responses:
ALP – the car industry is incredibly important and we support it, the tax is simply tidying up the paperwork
LNP – you do not support an industry by ripping the guts out of it in tough times.

Chamber regular and contrarian David Stark challenged Perret to defend the work of 99% of climate scientists and prove that global warming is caused by humans. When Perret deferred to the CSIRO on the grounds that they are the experts, Stark interjected and was roundly ticked off by other chamber members who had come to hear about government policy not conspiracy theories.

Archerfield Airport Corporation’s Corrie Metz raised the issue of veteran pensions and revealed one area where Malcolm Cole had a better grasp of the detail than Graeme Perret. The LNP has offered to index the Accumulated Benefits Scheme to the better of the CPI or the average male wage.

On the cost of inputs for small business, Malcolm had the room behind him with cutting the carbon tax, allowing the dollar to fall by borrowing less and reducing on-costs. Graeme valiantly pointed to all the good things the ALP has done but the internal tensions of the ALP and the challenges of running a minority government curtailed the conviction that a government should bring to such a debate.

The question of intergenerational wealth and bracket creep in taxation came as the room was clearly calling for the bell. Both terriers savaged the bait with the most vigour they could muster and the adrenaline of the room rose two notches.

Perret claimed credit for the economic miracles of floating the dollar and the Accord under Hawke and Keating and pointed to the significant tax rises under Howard. The ALP saved the country from the GFC and we now enjoy the best economy in the world.

That gave Cole just the head of steam he needed to quip that it is amusing to hear constantly that the ALP loses money because they get into government just as the external world goes bad just as they reach office. First he cited 9/11 the Asian economic doldrums and a couple of wars as being externalities managed by Howard and then he delivered the line of the morning as far as this scribbler is concerned.

“Let’s say I’m wrong. Let’s say that it is just luck and every time we get into power the economy improves by coincidence. Well I ask you, wouldn’t you back the team that has all the good luck?”

After that it was really time for everyone to pack up gracefully, wipe the scrambled eggs and bacon juice off their faces and get to work.

Another ripper of a morning at the Chamber and a great opportunity to see these two candidates as they near the end of a long and toughly fought campaign. Full marks to both of them and to the chamber  for putting it on.

Help bridge the gender gap and empower women and girls today.

The Australian National Committee for UN Women is calling on Australian men to donate $266 to mark Equal Pay Day today.

Women make up 70% of the world’s poor. The reasons for this are complex, but it starts with an undervaluing of women’s contributions. One of the most ‘tell-tale’ examples of this undervaluing is the persistent pay gap between men and women’s wages. According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, in May 2013, the gender pay gap in Australia stood at 17.5 per cent.

The average weekly ordinary time earnings of women working full-time were $1,252.20 per week, compared to men who earned an average weekly wage of $1,518.40 per week, making women’s average earnings $266.20 per week less than men.

The reasons for the gap include: women working in different industries to men, women being over represented in low paying occupations, the undervaluing of women’s skills and women taking career breaks more often than men.

The gap varied by sector with the health care and social assistance sector demonstrating the highest gender pay gap (32.3%), followed by the financial and insurances services sector (31.4%) and the professional, scientific and technical services sector (30.1%).

Donating the equivalent of 17% of your salary for a day, week or even a month will demonstrate that you acknowledge that women deserve equality and that you are committed to closing the gender pay gap.

The Australian National Committee for UN Women is calling attention to the pay gap between men and women in Australia as part of a broader campaign on the impacts of economic inequality on women and girls in the lead up to the International Day of a Girl Child on October 11, 2013.

The United Nations has declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.

“We’ve launched our campaign on Equal Pay Day because it serves to highlight the systemic inequality girls face from birth,” Executive Director of the Australian National Committee, Julie McKay said.

“Every day, girls across the world, including in Australia, experience gender discrimination and this continues into their adult lives. A gender pay gap reflects not only a lack of access to economic security, but broader issues around women’s role in society.

“Many girls never have the opportunity to participate in the workforce and those that do often experience inequality in pay, conditions and opportunities because of their gender.

“We are encouraging everyone, particularly men, to commit to donating 17 per cent of their earnings for the day, week or month before October 11 and help us reach our $20,000 target before October 11.”

To make a contribution visit www.unwomen.org.au and donate today. Follow the conversation on Twitter @unwomenaust using #equalpayday and #dayofgirlchild.

Where will your money go?

$1040 can support girls who have been rescued from sex trafficking, giving them shelter, counselling, education and hope for the future.
$520 can fund a community-wide education program to end the practice of female genital mutilation cutting.
$125 can support school teachers to educate students about forced marriage and early pregnancies.
$99 can provide a pregnant girl with medical care to ensure that she and her child are healthy and safe.

Background Notes:

· Over 60 million girls worldwide are forced into marriage before the age of 18
· 125 million girls and women worldwide have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C)
· 1.2 million children are being trafficked each year – many of these children are girls forced into sex trafficking
· Pregnancy is the leading cause of death worldwide for women aged 15 to 19
· Literacy rates for girls in many countries remain low – just 12% of Afghan women aged 15 and over are literate

Kerrod Trott, founding Editor and Publisher of the Westender.

I’ve been a Labour supporter man and boy for forty years. I’ve been a financial member of the local branch, and have manned the polling booths for the ALP on many occasions.

Now I just can’t bring myself to vote for them anymore. The ALP have moved so far away from the egalitarian, social democratic values in which I believe, I’ve come to the conclusion that they don’t deserve my vote any more.

The latest ‘race to the bottom’ on the issue of refugees was, for me, the straw that broke the camel’s back. While I certainly don’t believe in an open door policy, and feel that the refugees should be considered as part of our overall migration policy, the spectacle of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbot trying to outdo each other in being tough on asylum seekers left me with a sour taste in my mouth.

What’s wrong with being ‘soft’ on refugees? As Queensland celebrates ‘Multiculturalism Week’, have you ever asked yourself how many of the new Australians who have contributed so much to our society actually arrived here as refugees? The Greeks were fleeing the tyranny of the military junta in the 50’s. Over 100,000 Vietnamese fled here in small boats to escape Communist oppression in the 70’s. Balts, Yugoslavs, Somalians …. the list goes on.

Another major concern is the growing emphasis on American style Presidential politics in some sections of the ALP. Executive power is too important – and potentially dangerous – to be concentrated in one person’s hands, as in the US model. To me, it reeks of an attempt by the global oligarchs to install a candidate of their choosing at the pinnacle of power in Australia.

The concept of a democratically elected Prime Minister is a nonsense. Australia inherited a Parliamentary Democracy from the UK, and it has served us well. The Prime Minister should be answerable to the Parliament, and to the caucus of elected representatives from his party that put him in the job. That’s the way our system works

I’m a secular humanist with a deep commitment to social justice. I support the Trade Union movement, and cherish Unionism’s long history of looking after the rights and conditions of workers. I’ve never been able to bring myself to vote for the Tories.

Sadly, however, there doesn’t seem to be a place for people like me in the ALP of today, which is why you’ll see me handing out How To Vote cards for the Greens on polling day.

 

A long-term resident of the electorate, Jan McNicol from the Stable Population Party has a wide range of interests in cultural and environmental issues. She said she participated in ‘the noble but failed attempt to protect the Highgate Hill Gully from destruction for high rise in 2002’.  She  watches ‘with horror the spreading densification of this area, as high rises proliferate, local residents lose the right to be consulted about over-development in their streets and neighbourhoods and gardens with trees become concrete boxes’, saying ‘this electorate is an epicentre of growth in a south east Queensland, a high growth area in its own right’.

According to Ms McNicol, population is ‘the everything issue’. She says, ‘A Stable Population will help relieve overstretched infrastructure including hospitals, schools, roads and public transport, ease cost of living pressures including housing, energy, water and transport , and protect our environment including food, water & energy resources, native bushland and animal habitats.’

Ms McNicol considers that ‘Neither Mr Rudd or Mr Newman will tackle population, and therefore neither will help improve our quality of life’. “From a population of 23 million today, under Liberal/Labor policies we are on target for 40 million by 2050 – and rising! We say let’s slow down and stabilise at around 26 million by 2050”.

As to preferences, Ms McNicol says, ‘we have an ‘open ticket’, where we suggest people vote 1 SPP then complete the ballot paper in their preferred order’.

Ms McNicol did not want an image of herself attached to this story because she says;’ I have safety concerns about publishing a photo of myself on the web’.

Many of the minor parties seem to be using the election as a platform for their policies and a way to raise their profile in this division. The rise of single-issue parties may also be a symptom of voter disillusionment with the major parties. It will be interesting to see if this translates into votes for some of them on Election Day.

Sherrilyn Church from Rise Up Australia is not a local – she lives 150 kilometres from Brisbane at Crow’s Nest, where she grows citrus. She is actively involved in a charity in Kenya employing local health workers to provide free health care to the needy.

She says she threw her lot in with the RUA because, ‘we are not politicians, we are ordinary everyday Australians who have left our fireplaces and comfortable retirements like Generals, because the country is at war. The enemy is coming through the back door’.

The war, she says, is ‘with the Islamisation of the planet,’ adding that, ‘It is not the Muslim people themselves I have a problem with, but Sharia law.’

A former member of the Katter Australia Party, Sherrilyn wants to see a good living for dairy farmers, no more live animal trade, and no coal seam gas mining, which she says is destroying underground water and aquifers.

Marriage equality she describes as ‘an attack on the very foundations of Australia. Every child should have a mother and a father’.

Climate Change, according to Sherrilyn, ‘is a big scam’.

‘It was hotter in Middle Ages than it is today. I am totally in agreement with Lord Monckton, who is a brilliant scientist: the planet can handle everything we throw at it if we don’t pull down trees and pollute our rivers’.

‘I’m no scientist,’ she said, ‘but a lot of companies will go out of business if we impose the carbon tax on them.’

Church is pleased to have the number one position on the ballot paper and thinks this will bode well for her. She said the party deliberated carefully and gave their first preference to Family First and second to the LNP.