Abbott coalition government in damage control

" It is much easier to criticise than to act" GDL

After its astounding victory on 7 September Tony Abbott, the new federal Prime Minister of Australia, said that Australians will see positive changes within the first 100 days of his government.
It is now nearly 90 days since the change of government and nothing new has occurred.  It is therefore not strange that the latest poll gave the Abbott government behind the opposition.
The poll also showed that Tony Abbott disapproval rating is much bigger than his approval one. In fact, Tony Abbott has never been a popular figure but rather a controversial one in opposition, and he continues to be the same in government. His arguments are surely not cogent.
During six years in opposition, the Abbott coalition capitalised on the weaknesses of the minority Labor government which had to rely on the Greens and the Independents to just stay in power. The then opposition promised that a coalition government would change the country for the better, they would repeal the carbon tax to reduce cost of living, they would immediately stop the boats of refugees or illegals coming to our shores in numbers, they would reduce the deficit, cut waste and manage taxpayers  more efficiently and create jobs and so on and so forth. They raised the expectation of the voters to a very high level. Every one in Australia was promised a better life and everyone was looking forward for that change to happen sooner rather than later.
The change of government, as all analysts agreed, was more a reject of the Labor party and their mistakes and idiosyncrasies. The people of Australia voted the Labor government out more than they voted the coalition in. This was probably the right thing to do as the country needed a new start and a team that would solve the existing domestic problems  and establish a plan to envisage a better economic future for Australia. The voters were expecting a strong government to deal with law and order and curb and irradicate the Islamist fundamentalist current which is rising in Australia coming from a particular group in Sydney. This was the promise made by Tony Abbott to the voters.

What have happened since the change over  has been very disappointing. It was soon found out that, even with a big majority, the new Abbott government is struggling to govern. First there was the scandal where members of the new government abused  of parliamentary expenses, for their personal use. Tony Abbott, the PM and ministers like Georges Brandis and Barnabe Joyce among others were also implicated.
Then came the surprising request of the new Treasurer, Joe Hockey, to raise the debt ceiling from $300 billion to $500 billion. This was a shocker because instead of reducing the debt and deficit, that is a sign that the new government intends to spend more without saying when they will achieve the famous surplus promised. Then came the breaking promise of school funding. The new Minister for Education, Christopher Payne, suddenly declared that the new government will not honour the agreement made with some states by the previous government. This means that the schools will not receive the expected funding over the preconised period.
On the foreign front it is obvious that diplomatic relation with Indonesia is at its worse following the stubbornness, if not arrogance, of Tony Abbott to acknowledge the problem related to spying over the President of Indonesia SYB as well as his wife and ministers. Tony Abbott thinks he is bigger that Barrak Obama who apologised to Angela Merkel. Indonesia has now suspended all collaboration with Australia and has even imposed a road map to future relations.  There is also  that another gaffe of the Foreign Minister Julia Bishop that could endanger the trade talks with China.
The biggest disillusion of Australians and particularly those who voted for the change, on which the coalition built its electoral campaign, is the stopping of the boats. It is now clear that the new government is unable to stop the boats from coming, unable to deal with people smuggling and unable to prevent people dying at sea. The new minister for Immigration, Scott Morrisson,  can only hide himself behind the veil of secrecy by not giving information neither to journalist nor to the Austrian public. Minister Scott Morrisson even refused to answer questions in parliament thus violating the Westminster tradition.
As for the debate in parliament, since it resumed, it is observed that the new ministers have still not yet mastered their portfolios, while some like Peter Dutton, Minister for Health, are merely demonstrating their limitations. Minister Greg Hunt for his part, is still incapable for explaining how his Direct Action Policy will reduce the targeted emission level of ten per cent by 2020.
Question time in parliament is a mere display of how the opposition is hammering and pushing the new government against the wall, while the new speaker is one-sided protecting the government facing humiliation.
The situation for the new government is chaotic to say the least. Controversial and extreme right-wing figures like Barnabe Joyce and the nationals are driving the agenda causing the new Treasurer to reject the bid of $3.4 billion to purchase GrainCorp by ADM. Joe Hockey was very embarrassed explaining his decision because  he said he would not be bullied by anyone over this transaction.

These are only a few problems that the new government is encountering. Their future is not bright especially  when facing a strong opposition, a revamped and rejuvenated Labor Party which had got rid of its heavy weights  like Julia Gilard and  Kevin Rudd.

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1.Conseils pratiques Comment bien manger, avec Clancy Philippe
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2.Intervention de Ignace Ducasse sur la langue Kreol
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Entretient avec Jayen Cuttaree

Interview of Jayen Cuttaree at the launching of his book BEHIND THE PURPLE CURTAIN

 

Celebration de la Journee International Kreol

Intervention de Ignavce Ducasse dans le cadre de la journee Internationale Creole

La video plus haut comprend l'intervention de Ignace Ducasse sur le Kreol

Interview de Arnaud Corporan dans le Mauricien

 

Dans quel esprit est célébrée la Journée internationale de la langue et de la culture créoles cette année ?

Il y a beaucoup d’événements qui font que la Journée internationale de la langue créole est particulière cette année. En premier lieu c’est la trentième célébration de la Journée internationale créole dans le monde. Elle a été célébrée pour la première fois dans l’île de la Dominique – à ne pas confondre avec la République dominicaine – il y a trente ans. On a commencé ensuite à la célébrer dans les autres pays dans la zone américaine et Caraïbes. Par la suite, elle a été célébrée dans l’océan Indien et dans les autres pays. Aujourd’hui tous les pays créolophones célèbrent cet anniversaire ensemble. Le même logo est utilisé dans tous les pays. Les publications mauriciennes sont partagées avec les autres pays par le biais de l’internet. C’est donc une célébration transatlantique, transocéanique qui a pris une dimension internationale.

À Maurice cela fait deux ans que la langue créole a été reconnue officiellement, avec une orthographe standardisée, et est entrée dans l’école après plus de trente ans de combat de la part de différents individus, associations, intellectuels, militants. Le combat a abouti il y a deux ans après la reconnaissance officielle. De manière personnelle, il y a un organisme qui a été mis en place et qui est connu comme la Kreol Speaking Union dont j’ai l’honneur d’être le président. Notre conseil d’administration s’est rencontré il y a un mois et c’est donc la première journée organisée par cet organisme de l’État. L’Université de Maurice a commencé à célébrer la journée créole en 2000. Nous avions à cette époque invité Fanfan, Henry Favory et plusieurs personnes que nous aurons l’occasion de récompenser treize ans après avec le soutien de la Kreol Speaking Union qui a été mandatée par l’État pour promouvoir, défendre et faire de que la langue créole puisse entrer dans tous les cercles. Tout cela fait que la journée internationale de cette année est différente et particulière.

Creolism and Mauritius today

Zordi le 28 Oktob tou Kreol dan le monde entire bizin celebre zot kiltir Kreol.
Soyez fier d'etre un Creole et de votre riche culture.
be pround on this day and everyday to be a Creole.

The resurgence of Creolism in Mauritius

The debate has always been whether Mauritius is a Creole Island, a Creole Society or just a melting pot of some cultures which has produced a particular society which some would term “a la Mauricienne”.



If we were to look at history, the “peuplement” of Mauritius has been the same like for other French and British colonies i.e. societe esclavagiste, colonisation, French oligarchy, societe de plantation, liberation des esclaves, the bringing in of indentured labour from India as well as all the others who come on their own free will, like the Arabs, the Chinese, middle and low class Europeans, and so on…

The Mauritian society is only young (200 years old) whose social and cultural development emerged from the days of colonization to the present day and it is still, to my view, a dynamic society. In a paper presented by Thomas Eriksen he argued that in view of the “brassage” of cultures and the evolution of that island society “Tu dimun pu vini Creole”.

Are all Mauritians Creole or a bit Creole or somehow Creole is debatable, depending on the definition of Creole in context and time or whether the definition is narrow or wide whether it is “exclusive” or “inclusive”. The development of a Creole culture in Mauritius has its roots from “les chocs des cultures”o of colonial and post colonial days and led mainly by those of European and Africa descents who become Creoles (born in the colony), mullatoes, free people of colour, les Métis, Ti Creole, etc…The development of the Creole culture in Mauritius is marked by the music, (the sega), the architecture (case Creole) its particular cuisine(rougaille poisson sale) and the oral traditions,(contes, sirandanes) values, joie de vivre, amusement, etc…Many aspects if the Creole culture, if not all, are local creation and easily penetrate into the other cultures in Mauritius and no resistance is met. The same can be said that interaction with other cultures, internal and external, has also led the Creole culture to enrich itself. This is mainly reflected in today’s music and cuisine.

The process of bringing forwards this culture and led other to adopt it or part of it is called Creolisation. A young indo-mauritian solicitor girl told me that “ A Maurice nous vivons tous dans notre quotidien un peu de cette creolite.” The same argument was brought forward by Mr Esoof in one of its editorial. « Un peu » is well defined whereas some the Creoles of Mauritius live it fully day by day. This is probably why some like Jimmy Harmon and Danielle Florigny-Palmyre will argue that we are Creoles and “nous l’assumons, and if others have a problem in saying they are Creoles so they should not see a problem of us saying we are Creoles, because we are. It is a fact.”

This year more than ever the debate about Creolism in Mauritius has been raging…if it started with “malaise Creole” and the “Kaya murder” some years back, in October 2006 it turned to a new dimension when the Catholic Church decided to celebrate “La zourne Internasyonal Kreol”. The celebration which lasted over two weeks was more of a “prise de conscience” with the slogan “ kreol asim to lexiatans, celebrer nou valeur”.  

 JMR always outspoken pointed out, in on of his many pieces, that it was more than legitimate for the church to celebrate the Creole culture as most of its adepts are from this group. JML and his team successfully bring an awareness of many facets and richness of the Creole Culture to the wider Mauritian public. The debate on Creole leadership, the homely of Fr J Gregoire are still music to the ears of Creoles of Mauritius and food for thought for the politicians who think they can take the Creoles for granted, larzan contant in the Creole terminology. “No more” should we all answer, and may the message be loud and clear to all of them. From this day Creoles of Mauritius know that they should not expect miracles from others but to rely on their own force, courage and perseverance.

 

The other event which will surely have a great impact of giving Creolism a boost in Mauritius is the International Creole Festival put forward, very courageously, defying all odds, by the Minister for Tourism Xavier Duval. Many of us, no matter our political conviction, agree that it was a brave endeavour because for the first time in the History of Mauritius this is organized “au niveau de l’etat”. There is no hegemonic intention behind this manifestation, no political recuperation, and no other community should see a treat of “Creolisation” coming from this event. I am also particularly happy to see that no criticism has come neither from the MMM nor the MSM against this festival, I therefore understand that it has tri-partisan support. Well done, we are growing. 

 

Coming back to Creolism, it has always been resistant to any form of deculturation and threat to exterminate it. It survived the harsh rule of ‘French colonisation” and now winning the battle against cultural globilisation coming from Uncle Sam. Some intellectuals like Raphael Confiant and Mgr Gilbert Aubry would even put it that “Nous sommes precurseurs de la mondialisation”. This is echoed by all members of the IOCP who think that the more we are threatened the more we fight back and the stronger we become. The work and vulgarization and support the IOCP is receiving each day is the blatant proof. The increasing awareness of Creolism (the local culture Made in Mauritius) will help the country to regain its soul and become stronger against the looming threat of invasion from East or West, from the Orient to the Occident.

Let the spirit live on.

Louis de Lamare

IOCP

Le mois Octobre est le mois Kreol

October is the Creole Month

 

During this month of October, creoles all over the world celebrate their culture.

Australian politics: The bad start of Tony Abbott's government

Tony Abbott missed the boat by GDL

It has now been a few weeks since the conservatives took control of the country. In these first few weeks they have been on the wrong foot and soon realised that making promises via slogans from the opposition is very different from governing Australia. They very quickly realised that they do not know the ropes of governing and stubbled through mistakes over mistakes.
The first one was their discrimination towards their own women as they considered that only one women from their ranks was good enough to be cabinet minister. They were criticised from all corners as it was a lie to say that there was no other women worth the promotion. The Guardian newspaper listed five elected female candidates who were more qualified that many of the men  selected by Tony Abbott. This discrimination revealed the true Tony Abbott who has a problem with women since his days at the university.
The second stubble was on the diplomatic front, when Julie Bishop was told upfront by the Foreign Minister of Indonesia in Washington that Indonesia will not accept violation of the territorial waters of Indonesia by turning back the boats. Julie Bishop lied when questioned about the meeting. She said everything was all right that they had a nice and cordial conversation. To prove that she lied, the content of the meeting was leaked to the press by the Indonesians. When they went to Indonesia they were careful on what to say. They were like little dogs with their tails between their legs. They had but praise for  the government of Indonesia. (Operation charme par Mikey Mouse and figure Dubois.)
They suddenly liked the Indonesians after have been anti-Asians all their lives.
The next stuff up came from the arrogant Minister of Education, Christopher Payne who took upon himself to say that he would cut services to universities and impose a cap on the number of intake. He was immediately rebuked by his leader who said that this policy was not what they took to the elections. Since then Christopher Payne has disappeared. Tony Abbott also made clear that minsters should not talk to the press without his prior knowledge. ( I am the King, he wanted to say)
The other big stubble was their inability to stop the boats and prevent people from drowning. Since the new government sworn in, some 1,000 boat people have arrived and some 100 have drowned.  Furthermore the new government embraced fully the policy of the Labor government to sent boat people to Manus Island and Nauru. What is new ? How many boats have been stopped or turned back so far ? Zero.
That's not all, after having talked down the Australian economy for 6 years and criticised the deficit, the fat man and the German after having had a closer look at the books and briefed by Treasury, suddenly found out that the budget is in a better position. They will, keep all the hard economic measures taken by Labor to bring the budget back in surplus in 2016. Big Joe and the German  could not say when they will bring the budget to surplus. What a farce !!
Its not over, Tony Abbott caused a diplomatic row in locking out the Indonesian journalists from his press conference in Jakarta, He was accused of being undemocratic and breached Indonesian laws.
Next good one, the talkative Scott Morrison Minister of Immigration, suddenly went blank and dumb. He would not reveal to the press when boats arrive to our shores and when they will turn back the boats. He was ridiculed by a people smuggler when he said that people smugglers would use these information. He was laughed at and told that boat people have mobile phones and use the internet in detention centres to communicate with people smugglers. Scott Morrison  is now hiding himself behind a veil of secrecy, running away from the press gallery as he has still cannot stop the boats and prevent people drowning.
The other big scandals are how the coalition members have been abusing of their privileges to pump from taxpayers money for private trips overseas, to weddings and others...Tony Abbott is also involved in this misuse of public money. These are they same people who criticised Peter Slipper!!!. Now they are caught red handed.  What has been discovered by journalists so far could be just the tip of the iceberg. Is it not Senator Brandis who was going to impose a code of conduct to parliamentarians ?  He should hide or hang himself in shame.As for Barnaby Joyce he is shameless about using public money and seems reluctant to give the money back. He is probably the worst among them all; but if one is rotten they are all the same.  Birds of the same feather flock together Shame on them who wanted to give lessons of high moral grounds to the Labor ministers.
As for their stuff ups and their amateurism, one can say that it is teething problems but these people have been in politics for years and eleven of them have been minsters under John Howard. They have been criticising the Labor government for 6 years and prepared to take over. So they have no excuse.
.
Sapp dan ppilon tomb dans dife.

Australian elections 2013

Vox populi vox dei by GDL

The people of Australia have spoken loud and clear. They have voted on September 7, 2013 for a change of government as they were not satisfied of the Labor government way of governing, The Australians have voted for Mr Tony Abbott to be the next Prime Minister and for his team to lead Australia for the next three years.
The victory of the Liberal/national coalition was resounding. The opposition won with a majority of some 20 seats, thus having a comfortable majority in the lower house. With such a majority, the new government will have the free hands to implement its policies of going back to a surplus, reduce spending, cut where required, scrap the carbon tax, stop the boats and build a stronger economy and review the tax system. Three yeas to realise all these promises might not be enough but at least there will be some first steps and actions towards the change.
The people of Australia have severely punished Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and the Labor party for having been a dysfunctional government with their internal divisions and changed leaders without consulting the people. Australians hate uncertainty and rightly so are scared of instability which a minority government was providing. The good policies of the Labor party like saving the country from the Global Financial Crisis, building the school revolution, the National Disability Scheme, the Gonski Education reform have been overshadowed by the budget deficit, spending too much of  public money and their inability to stop the flow of illegals coming to Australia by boats.
The results of the elections can be explained by a loss by the Labor party rather than a win for the coalition but credit should be  given to the opposition to have conducted a remarkable campaign. The opposition, since electing Tony Abbott as leader, has been very effective and pushed the government in the corners. The opposition has been consistent and has thrown everything at the government of both Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. The opposition since 2010 was always in a winning position according to the polls. Under such pressure the Labor government was accumulating mistakes over mistakes to the point of annoying the people who were not listening anymore to Julia Gillard.
The return of Kevin Rudd as leader has not proved so beneficial to Labor although it must be acknowledged that Kevin Rudd saved part of the furniture and avoided a wipe out. He left the party in a position to be  a strong opposition. The Labor party will now reflect on its defeat and revamp. The first step is to put behind all the divisions of the past and find a leader who will unite and modernise the party.
As for Mr Abbott and the coalition there is no doubt that they will try to be very united and effective and hold on to their promises as people of Australia do not caution lies, like the big one of Julia Gillard. Tony Abbott will have to unite the country and govern for all. It would be impossible for the Liberal ( a centre right party)  to govern from the right. They will have to move closer and closer to the centre and open up to the working class and the lower middle class. Paradoxically the Liberals owe their victory to these people who used to vote Labor but this time vote liberals for the first time.
"Australia is under new management and open for business," said the Prime Minister elect, Tont Abbott.
Today is a new dawn for Australia and only time will tell if the change is for the better or worse. Rendez vous dans trois ans ou peutetre avant.

Australian Politics Elections 2013

The wind of change by GDL

The election campaign is nearly over. The political advertisings are closed but the media can still cover and write about the campaign. The Murdoch media, TV and newspapers,will continue to demonise the government, and continue their disrespect for the Prime Minister as usual. The Murdoch press and its cheque book journalists will have played an important part in this elections by freely backing Tony Abbott and the opposition. Freely because a full front page advertising in a newspaper and one minute on prime time Television cost millions. The Murdoch media have thus given millions to  Tony Abbott and the opposition during the campaign. There is no doubt that by backing the opposition, Murdoch and his so-called journalists have their reasons. They represent big business and they know that the Liberal's ideology is in their favour of protecting big business and so the rational is clear. Once in power the Liberals have a debt to Mr Murdoch that they will have to pay back in one way or another. After having backed Mitt Romney in the USA and the scandalous phone hacking leading to the closing down of the News of the World in England, Rupert Murdoch is now betting on Tony Abbott in Australia to save his empire.

Election campaign in Australia is very different from the rest of the world. There is no meetings or rallies; people follow the elections and make up their minds and choice according to what they read, see and hear. Elections are manipulated by the media. Radio broadcasters like Allan Jones and Ray Adley for example, have a big influence on their listeners although their credibility and knowledge are not the best. In Australia a good broadcaster is only a good talker even if what he says is full of air, even if he makes racist comments or breaches the code of practice and even if he is often reprimanded by ACMA,  or temporarily suspended by his own radio station. There is not a day that Allan Jones and Ray Adley have not discredited the government and never said a positive word about Labor's policies like Better Schools, the NDIS, support for low income earners, effective foreign policy, but it has been  all negativity and never allowed their audience to make a balanced opinion. It has been and continues to be all spin and  propaganda always complimenting the opposition for what ever they say and do.
But this is also Australia, this is democracy and the free press. Australia is not Russia or China or Cuba or North Korea, neither is it like in Mauritius or Indonesia or other third world countries where the press is controlled, where there are censorship. In Australia freedom of opinion and expression is sacrosanct, so is a free press.

After five weeks of campaign, all the polls are indicating that there will be a change of government on the seven of September. The polls in Australia have always been right. The Labor  party of Kevin Rudd will surely and squarely lose the elections and the Liberal/National coalition will win with a considerable majority there is no doubt. Kevin Rudd's big return has not worked, the strategy of the change over from Julia Gillard has had limited results. With Julia Gillard as PM, the Labor party has made many mistakes and has never been in a winning position. If Julia had remained leader, the Labor party would have been wiped out. Kevin Rudd has only managed to keep some seats and can pretend to be a strong future opposition.

The opposition will win the elections on the weakness of the government. Labor  has mishandled  the government finance ( the people's money, the budget,) the continuous deficit and spending are not well regarded by the voters. The opposition has been effective in scaring  people on the deficit and debt although the overall  economy of Australia has never been in a better shape with a AAA credit rating. But it seems a strong economy is not enough to win the elections. John Howard was flatly defeated in 2007 with a strong economy and a $50 billion surplus.
The other big issue that sank the government's boat is the 50,000 asylum seekers coming by boats under the Labor government. They have never been able to stop the boats coming; the PNG solution came too late.
The other problem of the Labor party  is that during the six years in power, they have been dysfunctional and the changes of leaderships and instability within the party have not been seen with a good eye by the voters. The biggest mistake has, however, been the Julia Gillard's alliance with the Greens and the introduction of the carbon tax. This policy has been toxic and dealt the Labor party the deadly blow.
The voters also opine that Labor has been too long in power and coupled with the many mistakes and problems they faced, the people of Australia is looking for a change.

The change is necessary according to the people even though this change is uncertainty. The people have already made up their minds and want a change even though they have not studied and understood clearly and fully the policies of the opposition and even if they have no idea how the opposition will fund its promises.A change is legitimate as long as it is a change for the better, but having seen the Labor party in action for six years, most people think that it cannot be worse. It was indeed so bad, they say.

The Labor party is a centre left party which has governed mainly from the centre all while being sincere to its ideology of caring for the working class, the lower middle class and  strong on social policies. The Labor party has always been the party of the poor, migrants, pensioners, the party of the disabled, the party of education, medicare and superannuation for all ,but in Australia not many people understand the left ideology. This is well demonstrated when workers and migrants are turning their backs on Labor, when the pensioners and the middle class are voting for  the Liberals which is a centre right party.
The people do not care anymore if the Liberals favour the rich and big business at the expense of the working families and those at the bottom of the ladder.Ideology it seems, has been relegated for a change for a new government in the hope of a less dysfunctional government, looking forward to a more stable government which can mange the public finance better, make savings and one that will stop the boats and scrap the carbon tax..
The change is only two days away and according to Tony Abbott, the leader of the opposition who will be the PM on Saturday 7th September, the change will occur in the first 100 days.

Saving Australia from Asylum seekers

Saving Australia from Asylum seekers
by GDL

In a previous post I wrote that if nothing drastic is done to stop the boats and send the asylum seekers back to where they come from, and if the business of people smugglers is not broken, Australia runs the risk of becoming a country of refugees. Australia's refugee intake is around 27,000 per year and now we have around 50,000 boat people in the country. At this rate in ten years' time the number will be nearly a million. This is unacceptable.

The polls show that "the boat people" issue ranks very high in voters' concern. It is a fact that there has been a considerable increase of boats arrivals since Labor took power in 2007. It was the main issue that Kevin Rudd's popularity was at its lowest and his eventual knifing and ousted from office..
Juila Gillard made " the boat people" one of her priorities and accused Kevin of' inability to handle the issue.  She might have thought she had the magic power to stop the boats, but unfortunately she failed abysmally. To compound her problem, her propositions were turned down by the opposition and the Greens. This was a rare agreement between an extreme left party and a right wing one.

When Kevin Rudd came back to power for the second time, the problem was worse than where he left it. There are now some 50,000 illegals, i.e.  those coming by boats, in Australia. Kevin Rudd in an attempt to stop the flow of illegals and queue jumpers was given a life bouy by the Prime Minister of PNG, to save him from oblivion. The PNG solution is still at its inception, it is yet to be tested by people smugglers but apparently, the message has reached those who were paying people smugglers. There is a slight decease of boats arrivals.
Transferring the boats people to  Manus Island and Nauru, is only part of  the solution. There is still the possibility looming that they might end up in Australia, as it was under John Howard. At the moment it is Australian taxpayers who are bearing the cost directly, or indirectly though overseas aid. The real solution is to break the people smugglers business model by tackling the problem at source. This can be done through intelligence cooperation with Indonesia. It is possible to spot those who are transiting through Indonesia and where they will take the boats from. It only demands a bit of goodwill from the Indonesian police but as it is known, they are corrupt and part of the mafia.
The other way to circumvent the issue is to send Australian intelligence to Indonesia to uncover the business and in a way prevent the boats from leaving Indonesia's shores. This is within the realm of possibility and reality.
To deter people smugglers from carry on their lucrative business at the expense of people's desperation, the United Nation should get the support of the international community and set  an International Court just like the one in La Hague for war criminals, to judge people smugglers..

Coming back to Australia the two major parties are in a race to show toughness towards asylum seekers. Labor will sent all the boat people to PNG with no hope of being resettled in Australia. For their part the Coalition goes further by not granting Permanent Protection Visa (PPV) to all those 30,000 or 50,000 who arrived by boats in the past years. On top of this the coalition will deprive the asylum seekers the right to appeal if found not to be a refugee. Those found not to be refugees will be sent back to where they come from. The other way to curb the problem of refugees is for Australia to walk out of the Geneva Convention which is outdated with new circumstances and realities of regional conflicts and civil wars e.g. Syria..

If the asylum seekers/ boat people is so high on the political agenda, it is because many Australians see the refugees as  the paria of our society. Refugees have never brought any good thing to our country. Most of them are on the social security benefits or are long term unemployed as many still cannot adapt to the western democratic values and rule of law of Australia. On the other hand refugees have brought us triads and drug smugglers as well  as a mentality of fraud and corruption.. Just attend a court session in Parramatta or elsewhere and you are sure of seeing some refugees facing justice for indictable offences .

Asylum seekers arriving by plane or those coming by boats boat  should be turned back to where they come from. The refugees are costing the country too much money and are  not helping to build a better Australia. Australia need an orderly immigration policy and skilled people who will be an asset to the country. In this period  where we face economic challenges. Australia cannot afford to be generous or compassionate at the cost of billions of dollars spent on asylum seekers, mainly if they are not genuine and coming by the back door.

The race is on...the bets are out,

Will Tony Abbott be the next PM of Australia ? by GDL

 

On Sunday 4 August, The Prime Minister of Australia announced to the nation that the general elections at federal level will be held on 7th September 2013.
It was a relief for the people as well as for businesses putting an end to a suspense and a period of uncertainty. Since the last elections in 2010, the government led by Julia Gillard government has been under pressure from inside and well as from outside. Many were asking whether her minority government would last. Her problem was complicated by her alliance with the Greens and being at the mercy of the Independents. Furthermore Julia Gillard's government made so many blunders and was not popular which favoured the rise and rise of the opposition.

Until one month or two months ago. according to the polls and according. to most analysts and journalists, Labor was facing oblivion and annihilation. Some pundits were predicting that labour will be wiped out and at most could elect 40 candidates. It would have been a walk over and Tony Abbott was sure to be our next Prime Minister/ All this would arrive  without the opposition spelling out their policies. It was a question of kicking Labor out and not voting the opposition in.

All was going well for the opposition and Tony Abbott had already written his victory speech. However only one big problem for the opposition, is that Tony Abbott, has never been popular among voters. For most of last year the unpopular Julia Gillard was the preferred PM. Tony Abbott approval ratings has never exceeded 50% even against Julia. Paul Murray and Peter Van Olsen on Fox were always highlighting Tony's big disapproval ratings. Nevertheless Australians were prepared to let him have a go a the primeministership and his party to govern Australia for the next three years.
Many people in Australia are quite sceptical about Tony Abbott. Some would say that he is not articulate, others find him too conservative while others are just sceptic about whether he can be a good Prime Minister. The misogyny speech of Julia Gillard has caused some damage to Tony Abbott as many still opine that he has a problem with women. That could be because he was first going to be a priest and then changed to politics. He is also a staunch monarchist which means that he does not like to see an Australian as head of the State. Is this also because he was born in England and still very much attached to his country of birth and his strong allegiance to the Queen? Tony Abbott is definitively a conservative and some think that he is the most right wing politician behind Pauline Hanson and Barnabe Joyce. He comes from the party of white Australia, a party that does not embrace or recognise multiculturalism and it is obvious that he is quite uncomfortable with
migrants. He also wants to destroy the unions and is the man who supported work choice, the nightmare of workers. There is no doubt that the Liberals campaign will be financed by big
business and the Murdoch press have already delivered battles against Kevin Rudd and Labor.  The scandals of phone tapping involving the Murdoch press in England are still fresh in the minds of Australians. Can they really trust the Murdoch press and in particular the Daily Telegraph ? Rupert Murdoch want to see Tony Abbott be the next prime minister so that he can have his way and his Foxtel business in Australia prosper still more. Greed has no limit.

On a personal level Tony Abbott has a big problem to make people like him even though they would accept him to some extent. On policy level he has also difficulty elaborating his economic plans for the future, his policies openly support big business. His policy is not to tax big business nor the big polluters. His paid parental leave of 26 weeks of maternity leave will also apply to women earning 200K or  1 million dollars there is no limit. Tony Abbott will reduce the company tax by 1.5% which means that big business will save some five billions dollars which would otherwise have gone in the government's coffin for the nation. Tony Abbott is also a climate change sceptic, i.e. he does not believe climate change is real. His will repeal the carbon tax which means that big polluters will continue to pollute as much as they want. He is also against any market live the Emission Trading Scheme and event the Carbon Production Reduction Scheme which will put a cap on carbon emission. His direct action plan instead will cost taxpayers some seven billions.
This is the man who, according to the polls, will be our Prime Minister in September.  In the 2010 elections, voters were prepared to roll Labor out but they stop short of voting Tony Abbott. Will it be different this time or will they give him the approval tick ? Time will tell and may God save Australia..

The Greens, the best allies of people smugglers.

The Greens, the Asylum seekers and people smugglers
by GDL.

There are, at date, some 30,000  asylum seekers in Australia: 9,234 on Christmas Island, 2,764 in the community, 18,347 on bridging visas (i.e. waiting to be accepted as refugees) 545 in Nauru and a very small number in Manus Island. Some 1,000 have died at sea on their journey to Australia.
The boat-people/ asylum seekers is on the top of the political agenda. It has been an issue for some time, continues to be an issue and will be to be the main political theme  during the campaign.
The opposition has always claimed that they can and will turn back the boats, although they have afterwards added "when it is safe to do so", Recently they said that they will use the army and the navy to prevent the boats coming into Australian waters. On Tuesday 30th July, The coalition released another policy " The Pacific Solution, Mark 2" when they will send 2,000 asylum seekers to Nauru. This solution, its seems, is the plan B, if they cannot stop the boats!!!
Labor for their part, after acknowledging they made a mistake dismantling John Howard's pacific solution, is now sending all the boat people to Papua New Guinea where they will be processed.
While the major parties, Labor and the Coalition are designing tougher and tougher policies to stop the boats, to break the people smuggling business and to stop people drowning at sea, the Greens' policy, on asylum seekers, is the complete opposite.
In the pre-election policy released on Wednesday 30 July 2013, the Greens will welcome all the asylum seekers with open arms, no matter whether they are genuine or not or whether there are criminals or terrorists among them.The Greens will strip all deterrents from refugee policy, will shut down detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. They will dramatically increase Australia's refugee intake,  give work rights to  those in the community and boost the capacity of the United Nations Refugee Agency to process claims in Indonesia. They will also lift the ban on people in refugee-producing countries coming directly by air to seek refugees.

According to the SMH, "Greens leader Christine Milne will propose a doubling of funding to the United Nations refugee agency to speed up assessment and resettlement of asylum seekers in Indonesia and Malaysia, and a 10,000 increase in Australia's refugee intake. One in three places in the 30,000 program would be set aside for refugees assessed by the UN agency in the region, including at least 3800 in Indonesia."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/caring-greens-unveil-asylum-policy-to-increase-nations-refugee-intake-20130730-2qxf0.html#ixzz2aaulG29O

It is clear that the Greens have always invited refugees to this country. They have always been on the side of refugees and use this as their main political platform instead of talking about jobs, the economy and the future of Australia. Their policies are slogans as they have never put any costing on their policies. They want everything to be given freely. Now they want to blow out the budget on asylm seekers by treating them like kings. The Greens are leftist and many, of them like Lee Reanon, come form the extreme left, Marxist-Leninist wing. This is why they are called the water melons because they hide behind their green coats while they are red (communist) inside. The Greens. are just a bunch of idealists who have no idea of national interest or the economy. Being a marginal party, they embrace the extreme left ideology and cannot move out. Because they are not a main stream party, cannot be and never will be, they stick to the leftist and communist policies to be the vote bank of leftist ideologues, blazees, good-only-for-manifestations, and dole bludgers.

The Greens started as a lobby group of environmentalists have gradually move to embrace policies like gay rights legalising drugs and now welcoming the refugees. Lucky their percentage of voters is stuck between nine to eleven per cent. However the danger is, like we saw with Julia Gillard, they can have the balance of power. This is exactly their strategy. They can also be a nuisance  value and side one way or the other, just to block legislation as we have seen wit the Malaysian solution when the extreme left joined forces with the right-wing liberals-national. Where is your ideology gone ?

While the big majority of Australians are sick and tired of seeing boats arrivals, sick and tired of paying for resettlement of the asylum seekers, the Greens are shouting " Let them in" without any accountability. They do not care if asylum seekers are costing taxpayers billions and that they are destroying and upsetting Australia's  rational immigration policy be if for Labour or the coalition. The Greens do not care how many people come in and how they come in as their arguments rest on the fact that according to the Geneva refugee Convention anyone has a right to seek asylum.  
If Australia  would allow anyone, under the convention, to seek asylum in Australia, we will soon be a nation of asylum seekers and our social fabric will be built on refugee-culture. If this was to happen, and if Australia does not limit its refugee intake and put forward policies to deter asylums seekers from entering Australia, soon there will be no room for legal migration especially skilled migrants which we need so badly. This is probably what the Greens want and in so doing helping the people smuggles to continue their horrible business and lucrative human trafficking . Disgusting!

May God saves us from the Greens and let us pray that there will not be another hug parliament where the Greens will hold the balance of power because once again they will hold this country in ransom. If they have been able to impose a carbon tax on Julia Gillard, their next targets may well be close down the mines, legalise drugs and allow Australia to be swamped by boat people.
People smugglers would find in the Greens a close ally.

 

 

Turning back the boats to PNG

Turning back the boats to PNG
by GDL

Last Friday 19th July 2013, the Prime Minister announced that he has signed a deal with the PM of Papua New Guinea, that all boat people coming to Australia will be sent to PNG. All of them whether they have passports or not  or whether they are women or unaccompanied minors (with some reservations for the latter).
The nation as well as the opposition was taken aback by this policy. It  is much tougher than
the tuning back the boats of the opposition. However it has the potential to stop the boats without force or turning them back when it is safe to do so (sic).
By sending the "soit-disant" asylum seekers  to PNG, it is assumed that these illegals and queue jumpers , will no longer pay the people smugglers if they will end up in PNG. The idea of being detained in PNG in itself is frightening and depressing, let alone permanent detention or being resettled in PNG and not Australia.
The boat people will still pay the people smugglers and risk their lives if they are genuinely trying to flee persecution. Beggars cannot be choosers! Otherwise, there should be a slow down of the boats in a near future. The news have already been spread all across Asia, where according to the UNHCR, there are 100,000 people waiting to jump on the boats to Australia. The message is strong enough, " If you come by boat, you will not be settled in Australia."
This policy decision is tough but it was needed. It will satisfy many Australians who were sick of seeing boats invading our shores in the north. Australians were sick of seeing their money (some billions of dollars) being spent on illegals who, because they can afford it, jumped the queue and pretend that they are fleeing persecution. Australians were sick of the lack of firm stance by our government and sick of hearing the Greens defending these boats people among which there are many pretenders and people of dubious character.

The Greens, the refugee advocates and some idiots who were seen manifesting in Balmain on Monday, want to let all boats people in. They wrote this on their placards, "Let them in." However these  psychopaths, blazees and extremists are good at yelling but they are not ready to pay for the cost incurred with these boat peoples. It is certain that most of those manifesting are dole bluddgers.
Rational and intelligent people  are sick of the Greens' hypocrisy,  their unaccountability and  their extreme left communist agenda and propaganda. Sarah Henson Young and her colleagues, by defending the boat people, are at the same time flourishing and enriching the people smuggling trade and encouraging people to embark on dangerous journey and risk dying at sea. She would then shed her crocodile tears. It makes one wonder whether she understands what is public interest.

 As for Tony Abbott and the opposition, they were so surprised by that decision, At  first they approved and said they will adopt it in government, but discovering  that it can be political gain for Labor, start attacking the details. They could not see any other policy than tuning the boats, when it is safe to do so, although they have not told us how and what will they do when it is not safe to do so !! Furthermore, they attack the costing of the PNG policy but has not given a figure on how much their policy will cost. Typical of Tony Abbott like the 70 billion budget black hole.!!
There is also the hypocrisy that they will keep the policy once in government because Labor has done the dirty work for them.

Australians will find in the decision of Kevin Rudd the right and appropriate one to tackle this difficult issue. Australia is a  generous country which has been lucky for many refugees who now have a decent life. The immigration policy should continue to  done in an orderly manner and  not be dictated by people smugglers and their friends, the Greens. Australia is one of the biggest intake of refugees behind the USA and Canada. Australia has no lesson to learn for left wing extremist as far as morality and generosity are concerned.
Australians want to welcome genuine refugees but not queue jumpers who are taking the places of genuine refugees waiting in camps. Australians no longer want to see boat people coming illegally to our country.
Australians are grateful to Kevin Rudd to have, at last, found a solution to this problem.

Simply Extraordinary...

Simply Extraordinary of Kevin Rudd
by GDL

Those who have followed Australian politics would know and agree that never in the history of federation has so much been accomplished by so few in such a short period of time.
I am referring to what the new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his new cabinet have achieved in just a few weeks after taking office.
Kevin Rudd has distinguished himself as a real leader with real policies and not just playing politics of empty slogans (used by the opposition). Kevin since coming back to the top job has tackled the pressing problems facing the country heads on.
He first redefined the economic agenda in the wake of the decline of the mining boom.There will be no carbon tax as from July next year while the compensation will stay.
Kevin used his diplomatic skills while visiting Indonesia and obtained the cooperation of the Indonesian government to deter Iranians using Indonesia as a transit to Australia. The Indonesian government will not only organise a meeting of leaders of the region, but has already changed the visa rules for Iranians. From now on they will need a visa before boarding planes to Indonesia. The Indonesian government is already tracking down illegal Iranians in Jakarta.
Through his visit to Papua New Guinea, Kevin negotiated with the Prime Minister; there is now an accord where PNG will host the asylum seekers coming by boats to  Australia. The rules are in force since Friday 19th July. This is real problem solving and not using confrontation and turn the boats using force. This is diplomacy at its best and Kevin is just a master of it. This excellent decision has been hailed by Tony Abbott himself who never though outside the square but, as always, is just narrowly focused and not seeing further than the tip of his nose,
This new policy will deter people from jumping the queue and pay people smugglers to come to Australia. Now is the time to see whether Iranians and others were real refugees fleeing     persecution or were merely entering Australia by the backdoor.
If, as they say, they are fleeing real persecution, which is not always true,  then PNG is  surely  good because beggars cannot be choosers. If one is in real trouble, one just catches any hand that is handed to one. Now people smugglers will be out of business as they were selling Australia as a compassionate country. They were saying you take the boats and people like Sarah Hanson-Young and the Greens, as well as some idiots calling themselves refugees advocates, will defend you.
People of Australia were sick of seeing boat people coming to our shores every day. Some of them are economic migrants and others could be criminals who are being accommodated, fed and nourished at the expense of  taxpayers' moneys, sweat and blood.
Enough is Enough! Now let's see if the boats keep coming and if they come they will end up in PNG. Let's see if the are real refugees fleeing persecution or they are just economic migrants or queue jumpers and illegals as many in the community think they are.
Now that Kevin Rudd has cut the grass under the opposition's feet they have nothing to say but to make personal attacks on Kevin Rudd, resurrecting his past. They are failing miserably.
The Opposition who wanted the elections to be a referendum on Carbon Tax is not even mentioning the word.
The opposition who wanted the elections to be a referendum on boat people and claimed they could stop the boats, has been taken aback. The boats will stop coming under Kevin  not under Mickey Mouse.
Conclusion, the Opposition is dead. They have no strategy and policies. They are now on the defencive. They have nothing credible to say. There is no need for a new government and still less an incompetent and controversial person like Tony Abbott in politics.

The table has turned on Tony Abbott

The opposition losing grounds by GDL

The political landscape has changed since the comeback of Kevin Rudd
as the new Prime Minister and leader of the Labor Party.
It is hardly two weeks that Kevin has been in the job that all the polls are
showing that the Labor Party is gaining grounds and that Kevin is by far the
preferred Prime Minister.
For the past year, i.e. since the last general elections, the opposition has been
pushing the government on the defence and was constantly leading in the polls.
Even if the opposition was not presenting any concrete policy, even though the
voters never knew what is in their  manifesto, even if they were nothing but being
negative and never proposed anything valid, they were leading in the polls!!!
Tony Abbott and the opposition were just sitting back and watching how Julia Gillard
and her team were making mistakes. You could see them on the opposition bench
laughing and joking like school kids mocking their vis-à-vis. Their tactics were to
let the boat people continuous arrivals sink the boat of Julia Gillard. They only
pretend that they care for the asylym seekers when if fact they were praying that
more boats arrive and more people drown. How pathetic !!

Anyway it is clear that Tony Abbott was put in a straight jacket and given the
instructions not to give long interviews, all what he says to the press is scripted.
This is one of the reasons why he is not accepting Kevin's challenge for a debate.

The news of the increasing popularity of Kevin Rudd is sending shockwaves in the
opposition. They are in panic mode and trying everything to discredit Kevin Rudd. But
the more they attack him, the more popular Kevin becomes and more is he talking to
the people and the more they are listening.

While Kevin Rudd is on the attack and enouncing policies, the opposition
is on the defensive  trying desperately to get some attention. The opposition is now
in a very awkward position; their role has changed and they were not prepared for such
a situation. Now they have to rethink and adjust rightly or wrongly. But it all seems
they have already emptied their reservoirs of slogans and cannot find anything credible
to talk about to convince the voters. Apart from the carbon tax and turn back the boats
no one in the public knows more what the opposition stands for. They can only talk
about the past, the days of John Howatd and has not realised that the people of Australia
has sent him to retirement (dans koro kann !!!).
Trying to resuscitate  John Howard means that Tony Abbott is not the real leader and
that he has no credentials. He is not articulate and very weak in economics
and does not  know much about technology and broadband.

Since a few days, the table has turned on Tony Abbott. the pressure is now on him and
as he is fit physically, but morally down, he can start climbing Mount Everest as he has
always said. But it does not look like he will reach the top.
Malcolm Turnbull is surely laughing heaps at Tony's expense.

.

Multicultural Australia by GDL

Globalisation, culture, values and multiculturalism

By GDL

The advent of Globalisation, economic, cultural and military, has no doubt been instrumental to the world becoming a global village and this is even more exemplified by the instant and rapid digital communication. 

News and other information are now available instantly and most of the time “freely” thanks to global and online media. Radio and Television also receive and diffuse the latest news as soon as they are received and edited.
However the quickest way of obtaining information today is via the 3G mobile phone. The news of Steve Jobs death was first announced on iPhone, then ipad and then the other electronic media before it hit the traditional media.
The social media are another aspects which make people from different part of the planet feel closer and this is a good thing. Today people do not feel lonely although they are” alone” in the computer room. With the help of the computer they feel that they belong to a global communication network and feel closer to the most distant relative or friend. Via Facebook, one can have many virtual friends without having a real one and still not knowing the name of the next door neighbour.  But who cares?
Today there is that notion of a global individual, the global citizen or what Virginia Nightingale calls “network individualism”. However she said that social network is a powerful option available to marginal and individual audiences. (V N, 2007). For his part, Jim McGuigan referred this to the mobile privatisation as “ a new pattern of life associated with unban-industrial society in general as much as with the  specific use of communication technologies.( J M, 2007).
The global communication, the advance of technology, the new media and the rest, reinforce the notion of cultural globalisation and the push towards a mass culture. The new global or mass culture is a strategic agenda setting by global media, media barons using marketing and advertising for more consumption to the liking of business and wealth concentrators.  The consequence of which we have a new  society embedded in consumerism and subject to  aggressive marketing.
The advent of modernism and post modernism bring also the notion of a new set of values: economic independence, career focus, labour mobility, online shopping, online dating, less time for the family, less time for real face to face communication and less time for parent-children interaction, less time to care about the elders. Values and cultures take a new dimensions.
With the advent of a “new” cultural globalisation comes the disintegration of traditional cultures and subsequently community or societal values. Religious philosophy is a thing of the past which is no longer a priority. Religion as an organisation is failing to cope with change towards post modernism.    In western society particularly where globalisation is at its best, people today do not need religion to tell them how to live their life. The notion of marriage as well as divorce for example, has a similar or different meaning. They are not regarded only as a sequence of the life cycle. Child bearing and having a family is today a choice, according to circumstances. Family breakdown has become a current event.
This new culture has turned everyone into an individual, a free person, an independent one. The individual does not longer feel part neither of a family nor of the local community nor member of a village, town or country. He is a global citizen with a free mind and can move and travel easily; the only preoccupation is to be economically independent and free.
The influence of new media and global culture has had a free ride with the collapse of communism. It was a system which placed too many restrictions on the individual to be part of a society or country and abide to rules. It restricted freedom of speech and association and was doomed to fail.  With post- communism came a benign hegemony with the ideology of liberalism, individualism, free-market and consumerism: the modern capitalism dogma.

The Islamists fundamentalist in the wake of the collapse of communism feared a   western cultural culture invasion. They had recourse to terrorism and suicide bombers to stop the decline of Islam. Unfortunately their methods were not acceptable by most of us and particularly by many moderate Muslims. They also antagonised the other nations and religions and bred “Islamophoby” to some extent. This was surely not the way to go. But for them this is a jihad that they will pursue.

Cultural and economic globalisation have definitely led to decline of religion, the anthropological form of culture. This in turn has diminished the concept of values as they are very much part of religion and culture. In the western world today, we see the emergence of a  value-free society. The notion of morality is weak if not inexistent. While the society is still law abiding, it will not take long to have a debate on what is also legal, who are the lawmakers and their mandates.
However the picture is different in multicultural society like Australia. In the wake of western culture propaganda and marketing, it is noted that many ethnic communities approach and accept cultural globalisation from a completely different angle.  The culture at home is strong even if it tends to be loose outside the family circle. E.g. eating McDonald for lunch and pasta at home. wearing jeans outside and watching bollywood movies at home, children are taught moral and religious values at home even if they accept secularism outside.
In Australia, the ethnic communities are becoming more and more visible through the media; they have their own radio programs, their own newspapers, their own magazines and having more and more social and cultural gatherings and parties. These factors demonstrate that they are not moving towards a mono culture in a western society but rather towards a more hybrid and multicultural society. 
Multiculturalism has been beneficial to Australia by enriching the social and  cultural landscape and all the signs are there that it will keep flourishing like a garden with many colourful flowers. This is the new Australia of today and tomorrow.

GDL.

The new Australian Labor Party

The new Labor Party of Australia
by GDL

On the 10th of June (see below), I wrote that there was political instability in Australia.
This period of uncertainty was becoming unhealthy and could not last as it was bad for
the country both socially and economically. The government was in a sort of stalemate
and business was losing confidence and well as consumers. There was a need to break the deadlock.

Then on Wednesday 26th June, some brave members of the Labour took the bull by the horns
and requested a leadership spill. The once deposed leader Kevin Rudd stood as a challenger to
sitting prime minister Julia Gillard and eventually won the contest.
So on Thursday 27th June Australians had a new prime minister, Honourable Kevin Rudd.
Three years later Kevin Rudd had his revenge on Julia Gillard and she was deposed the same way.
She cannot be too angry as she now bears the consequence of her own action. She paid the price
of deposing a first time sitting prime minister to fulfil her ambition of being the first female
prime minister of Australia. In retrospect she must be saying that she went to fast or burned
the red light.

Julia Gillard did not win the  elections in 2010 but managed to stay in power by negotiating with the Greens and the independents. Her alliance with the Greens was a mistake and was toxic; they forced her to introduce a carbon tax and prevented her to contain the asylym seekers, who came en masse during her term of office. This was another of her many failed policies.

During the prime minister ship of Julia Gillard, the opposition led by Tony Abbott was surfing on a wave of popularity. All the polls were favourable to the opposition from every corners. The polls indicated that voters were sick of this government and its prime minister. But whether they really
wanted a change of government and did they really trust the opposition and wanted Tony Abbott to be the next prime minster, was the real debate.
The question was answered by a snap poll which taken the night that Kevin Rudd replaced Julia Gillard as leader of the labor party. It showed that the primary vote of the labor party had increased by seven points, that on the two party preferred the result  was 50-50 and  that Kevin Rudd was the preferred prime minister. The polls also showed that it will not be a landslide victory of the opposition but a rather close election.

Now the opposition has a real battle on their hands. They cannot be complacent and can no longer
practice the politics of negativity, can no longer use slogans and has to put forward their policies
and plans for the country. Tony Abbott which was up to now sleeping quietly, has to wake up and
show his party's credentials. No excuse will be accepted by the voters, it is only three months to the
general elections and the people need to know the social and economic policies of the opposition.
The media which have up to now focused on the government troubles, will now shift their
attention to the opposition by scrutinising their policies. The pressure is now squarely on the opposition.

The real contest starts now, it is not a personality contest but one of ideas and policies. The party
who can convince the voters that they can best govern for the good and welfare of all the citizens
will be the winner.
Kevin Rudd has already taken the lead. It is up to Tony Abbott to follow.

Thursday 20 th June : World refugee day.

World refugee day : reflection par GDL.

Following the first and second world wars, many people in Europe were displaced
i.e. had to flee their own countries because of the remnants of the wars.
The Jews, most particularly, paid the price after the atrocities by the Germans under
Hitler and had to hide or flee from their counties of origin. It was a prelude to the
refugees (or displaced people) as we know them today. The refugees came from
Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Checkoslovakia looking for protection. They were
hosted by countries like France, Israel and as far as Australia  and the USA.
The advent of repressive and dictatorial regimes in Latin America also caused refugees
from Chile, El Salvador, Argentina  to flee persecutions.
Civil wars in Lebanon, Vietnam and Korea also added to the phenomenon of refugee.
In the new century, civil wars in Africa have added to the lot of refugees. Today the
war in Syria has caused 1.5 million Syrians to flee their country.

After World War II, in 1951,  leaders of many countries met in Geneva and signed the
Convention on Refugees. The 1967 protocol amended the Convention to include
universal coverage as it only applied to Europe. Among the many countries,
Australia also signed the convention, which means that it will accommodate refugees.
The convention also establishes the role and duties of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees.

The definition of a refugee according to the UNHCR  is :
"Any person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reason of
race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion,
is outside his/her country, is unable to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country."
The Convention also states that -
-Refugees should not be penalised for their illegal entry and stay in the host country
-The principles of non-refoulement is fundamental
-The refugees should have access to Courts, primary education, to work and even
  given a passport called the "Nansen passport"
- The state has to cooperate with the UNHCR in the function of its duties
- While protection is not permanent, once assessed the host country will grant refugee status.

The influx of boat people seeking asylum has become a political issue in Australia.
 It has become  a topic of fierce debates inside and outside parliament to the extent
 that some are advocating that Australia should walk out of the Geneva Convention.
According to the UNHCR, there are at date 45 million refugees wandering around the
world and Australia is accommodating only 0.3% of the refugees.
The same report writes that  Australia remains the preferred country of refugees.

The refugee issue and the non-stop arrival of boat people is a big problem for the Labor
 government who has tried everything to reduce the influx but seems to have failed lamentably.
The opposition accuses the actual government as responsible for this situation because
they dismantles the Howard solution when Kevin Rudd came to power. The opposition
says they have the solution to the problem i.e. they will reintroduce the pacific solution
and temporary protection visa (TPV) and turn back the boats. The Greens, for their part,
welcome all asylum seekers and keep reminding the government of its obligations under
the Geneva convention.

As all indications pointing to a change of government in the September general elections,
all eyes will be on Tony Abbott to stop the boats and turn them back. Failure to stop the
boats and deter asylum seekers to come to Australia, even during its first term
in office, will be regarded as a failure and lie from Tony Abbott.

GDL.