Build before you protect?
April 19, 2008, 11:29am, 85 views, Leave a Comment
An indigenous youth representative at this weekend’s 2020 summit says a new national Aboriginal body should be created to avoid some of the “ad-hoc policies” surrounding the federal intervention.
“The intervention is a classic example of highlighting where the relationship just isn’t right between indigenous Australia and non-indigenous Australia,” he said.
“You need to build those foundations properly before you can build policies and programs which attack those immediate issues, such as child protection and domestic violence.”
He says a treaty should be signed between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians because the agreement would be good for our the county’s national identity.
“Not only something that recognises the history … that talks about the way this country has been built on the sacrifices of indigenous people, but also really setting the guidelines on which the relationship needs to be built, which can then contribute to how we can build practical policies and programs,” he said.
Cobblers. It’s absurd to say the foundations need to be built before you tackle issues like child protection and domestic violence.
Too bad if you’re one of the kids being sexually abused, or one of the women being bashed. Just ask them to hang in there while a new national organisation is established for more talks to be held. Yeh, right.
Ban political fibs
April 19, 2008, 11:23am, 77 views, Leave a Comment
At least one good idea has come out of the summit so far, but I don’t know how practical it is.
Julian Birnside QC says it should be illegal for politicians to tell porkies.
“If politicians are able to lie to us, mislead us about what’s going on, about what they’re planning to do, the whole system will not work,” he said.
“We can have all these elaborate ideas (about) redesigning the constitution, but if they lie to us we can’t hold them to account.”
Morons were invited
April 19, 2008, 11:12am, 82 views, Leave a Comment
I just heard an ABC Radio news report. It included a grab quoting some unnamed idiot saying “the Australian Constitution was written in 1901 by morons.”
I think the moron who said that will find it was written before 1901 by some of the most distinguished legal minds in the country. The fact that idiot got an invitation astounds me.
2020 summit: spin or vision
April 18, 2008, 9:32pm, 76 views, Leave a Comment
The Australia 2020 summit opens in Canberra on Saturday, April 19. About 1000 of the nation’s best and brightest will be there, but not me. My application was rejected.
As a 41-year-old married white male from a mining town in a Liberal electorate with no celebrity status I was never likely to be selected. Read my running commentary here.
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