We want our ALP back… It’s time!
When the ALP R&F voted 60% for Anthony Albanese at the last leadership ballot , one could be forgiven for thinking that Albo would be the next leader, but NO 😯
What we got was Mr 40%, Bill Shorten; not because that was the will of the membership, but because that was the will of the “Right” factions, and the power brokers that refuse to give up their hold on power, regardless and in spite of the R&F (not to mention the party’s wider support base! 😡
So this page is about a revolution!
A movement back to what Labor was meant to be, and must be again, if we want to rid this great country, once and for all, of the rabid right neocon agenda that is taking us to the point of no return! 👿
A movement back to the party of;
- The working classes.
- The socially and politically progressive.
- People who actually care for, and value, those that went before, and paved the way for a better future for us, our children and our children’s children.
- People who believe in support for those who are disabled, the elderly, the socially and financially disadvantaged.
- Those who believe in a fair and equitable society, where hard work and commitment is rewarded with decent wages and conditions, and not just a vehicle by which the wealthy become the mega rich, on the back of, and at the expense of, those that actually do the hard yards at the coal face!
- People/politicians of decency and integrity.
- The antithesis of the rabid right LNP philosophy of every man, woman and child for themselves!
- People who genuinely care for our country and environment.
- Gough!
To name but a few examples 😉
We want our ALP BACK… It’s time!
Truth Seekers Musings 
What Greece now faces in the Grexit is what Rudd faced when wanted Big Mining to pay it` share with the MRRT-his want to reign in News ltd`s 70% of media ownership and of course the ETS
Rudd was scuttled from within and Labor has suffered ever since with an almost entire annihilation in QLD in 2010 which led to the State annihilation of the Bligh Labor government
Tsipras`faces the troika IMF/ECB/Goldman Sachs and EU leaders along with traitors at home
At stake is I believe the worlds Democracy because we see how these globalists want to do things via FTA`s loaded with ISDS and owning all Nations assets and services,a banker lead global takeover of the entire world FFS
I would like to see Greece lead the way for Nations to cast the shackles of fiat fiscal policies which use thin air capitalization by {who the fuck do these bankers think they are-they`re criminals] bankers
I see the same fight inside Labor right now and they have to do great things soon as well
Cornie has said don`t expect too much from the Nat Con,well mate to be honest I do expect change because like the light on the hill I see the likes of Danby/Feeney using 50mm sniper rifles shooting at it trying to knock it out because they support the DNS inside TiSA and the TPP which make it illegal for countries to boycott Israel in the future and barrack Obama signed up to this DNS being allowed into the TPP fast track.
WE`re in it up to our eyeballs globally no matter how little the MSM report it
Oh please let Shorten now get sick so he has to resign and even have a bye election for Marybrynong as well as Batman and Melbourne Ports
Glad I got that off my chest
http://www.globalresearch.ca/greece-risk-of-false-flagging-greece-into-submission-and-chaos/5460323
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I posted this on The Guardian -and got some bites:-
The EU governors should apply the fundamentals of Modern Monetary Theory to the “Greece” problem.
It then becomes clear that the structure of the EU ensures that all less well off quasi-autonomous ‘states’ are destined to default on debt payments to the wealthier ‘states’.
– With no ‘state’ bankruptcy provision there is no penalty for powerful predatory lenders making bad loans.
– With no effective wealth equalisation/compensation arrangements the EU is not properly fulfilling the essential role of a currency issuing (sovereign?) ‘commonwealth’ overseer- i.e. the necessary objective of matching supply to demand in each disparate, incommensurate ‘state’.
Failing the creation/implementation of such a benign regulatory overseer of the EU finance management, Greece (and others will inevitably follow) have no choice but to revert to issuance/adoption of their own ‘state’ currency.
A ‘state’ based currency, to invest in re-building a productive viable domestic economy.
A currency, independent of the Euro, that can reflect/match the practical inequalities of Greek industry, labour costs and societal values.
Only then can Greece again become a productive nation, perhaps with potential to re-pay a portion of its current ‘foreign’ debt.
Accepting liability for more foreign debt is no solution to Greece’s (or the EU’s) problem.
‘No’ to the referendum – it is Greece and the EU’s only hope of stabilising European monetary relations. while giving the EU time to amend/reform its charter to ensure a sustainable common-wealth management objective in ‘federal’ monetary governance.
If the EU wishes to minimise damages to all parties, it should work with Greece in controlled transition to a new Drachma.
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But JB this is the failure of all fiat currency transactions
A government US gov] wants money to do xxcz because it does not have ready funds
The bank which the same gov that needs cash gave permission to run their currency then borrows the money from that bank
Where did that bank get that money?
It printed it and then loaned it to the government with interest and security
As security that government then draws up bonds redeemable in 10/20 or 30 years and the taxpayer is responsible in repaying the loan principle/interest and redemption og bonds at maturity
What a fucking massive fraud on all people JB
Arrest all the bankers now,the whole world of them and seize all their proceeds of crime because they have defrauded the world`s population for hundreds of years
Sovereign Nations [like Australia-we can still print our own money-The IPA want to sell us ]can do the same thing without bankers,only require auditors and accountants
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This set of Graphs tell the story of the growing inequality between EU ‘states’.
The only (ineffective) remedy on offer by ‘the lenders’ must compound poorer ‘less efficient’ EU state’s (like Greece) financial problems; accept more ‘foreign’ bailout debt conditional on more ‘state’ austerity – throwing petrol on the fire is the appropriate analogy. methinks.
Where is lender ‘due diligence’ and responsibility in this equation?
It is a two way street – like the unethical US banks lending practices of 2008; if they are stupid/greedy enough to lend money to entities/people they know full well have no hope of repaying then they should accept without complaint responsibility for the loss of their loaned funds.
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Again JB you prove the very failure of what is the so called reality
The media is Zionist owned,by majority
Global Banking is Zionist owned by majority
Globalization is being done by global banking
Getting the picture because it`s there for all to see and they play their corrupt game in the open now
It`s that bad that EU banks and the Bank of England {another fiat currency op owned by Rothschild] have dropped their deposit guarantees from 85,000 pounds to 75 000
The same percentage for all EU banks
When it crashes [soon] they`ll all do the Bank of Cypress and confiscate all deposits over 75 000 immediately
The Belgians have just repatriated all the gold from South Africa [some say 300 tonnes] not sure of full figures
Germany is still waiting to get it`s 600 tons from the US [9/11 Israeli`s stole that with the CIA} and the US has a year or so left to find 300 tons of the yellow stuff,
The fan is hitting the shit very very soon
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Night Biggy, John, SF and all 🙂
Sleep well 🙂 and pleasant dreams 😉
CheerZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Goodnight Truthy and JB also SF if you`re about,I`m off to ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz
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Goodnight all,
Monetary globalisation is ruthlessly stealing sovereignty /assets from all nations; insidious political corruption and Goebbelisation of media is today’s Blitzkrieg tool.
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I’m very busy but we’ll catch up — Laters.
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Received an email from Andrew Leigh yesterday -where he addressed this issue :
▪ Some have argued that the Border Force Bill stops whistleblowers from speaking out. In fact, the Public Interest Disclosure Act (passed by Labor in government) allows anyone to blow the whistle on conduct that endangers health or safety, or breaks the laws of any country. Senate testimony made clear that the Border Force Bill didn’t override this.
Wrong ….Wrong…. Wrong
The message is not getting through to the ALP that they have been conned by Abbott and let down their supporters bigtime on this bill.
The branch/conference stacking ALP right corporate fellow traveler’s have turned the ALP into a gutless LNP lite.
Checkout this article on the Guardian 9/7/2015
The law is clear – the whistle blowers act does not apply to employees of independent contractors.
This is from the Public Interest Disclosure Act he referred to:
Clause 30: Officers or employers of a contracted service provider The Bill broadly defines who is a public official for the purposes of the scheme (see clause 69). This clause clarifies the Bill’s application to conduct by individuals who are officers or employees of a contracted service provider for a Commonwealth contract. The effect of subclause 30(1) is that such an individual does not engage in conduct in connection with their position as a public official unless the conduct is in connection with entering into the Commonwealth contract or giving effect to the Commonwealth contract. Subclause 30(2) defines who is a contracted service provider for a Commonwealth contract. Subclause 30(3) defines a Commonwealth contract. A Commonwealth contract is a contract to which the Commonwealth or a prescribed authority is a party and under which goods or services are to be, or were to be, provided (i) to the Commonwealth or prescribed authority or (ii) for and on behalf of the Commonwealth or prescribed authority, and in connection with the performance of its functions or the exercise of its powers. The Bill is not intended to apply to the conduct of contracted service providers or their officers or employees where the conduct is not sufficiently connected with the Commonwealth.
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Article on the Guardian
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Very quiet today Truthy…
Have posted this on the Guardian, under and article headed:
“Coalition stands firm on Shenhua coalmine but Labor sits on fence”
Fitzgibbon is an embarrassment to traditional socially minded ALP supporters. His position on coal is driven by self interest – he has said he represents a coal industry electorate, so he must support coal to ensure electoral success. No room for higher ethics here, just survival.
The ALP right still hasn’t accepted the irrefutable science based reality – 80% of fossil fuel reserves must be left in the ground – there is no choice, the Earth will ‘cook’ if it is burnt. Alternative energy source development is paramount – the highest priority.
The damage to the ALP ‘brand’ by conservative ‘right’ politicians like Shorten, Fitzgibbon, Marles, Bullock etc. is the product of years of factional manipulation of ALP governance – The ‘right’ effectively buy controlling influence at ALP governance conferences via their union member funded ALP affiliation fees.
Conservative business enmeshed union executives of several ‘key’ large affiliated unions exercise coordinated factional control over ALP governance to block rank and file initiated democratising rule reforms. they appoint and preselect compliant right leaning politicians to influential positions in the ALP – a political career enabling role.
We have had many years of this manipulative control of ALP governance, and the ‘LNP lite’ type politicians now effectively in controlling positions of the ALP are a product of those long-term anti-democratic practices.
It is the means through which fossil fuel/mining (and other corporate) interests have infiltrated the ALP to moderate and ‘steer’ regulatory policies to their favour.
The problem has arisen though undemocratic processes – anachronous rules, left unaddressed in the party platform, conference and union rules.
Rank and files unionists and many reform proponents (like John Faulkner) have been demanding proper democratic processes be defined and implemented in the processes of nomination/appointment of union delegates to conference. These processes have all been assiduously repelled by coordinated self serving right factions.
There is hope to bring the ALP back to the people – but only if the rank and file awaken and demand (relatively minor) rule/s changes, demonstrate a desire to re-affirm and implement true and proper democracy in internal ALP governance, it can again become a ‘party of the people’.
Social responsibility and courage have gone missing from too many running the right of the ALP.
When are they going to give us some policies to be proud of?
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Hey John 🙂
Yes mate, it is a bit quiet, although we’re getting a few hits on my latest post and the poll shows some differing opinions 😯 although the majority say stick it to them 😀
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:Mod: Once more with feeling 🙂
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Have you the link to this JB ? as my eyes are not what they were
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No link at this time BH.
I produced it on an exel spreadsheet – may have to print in 2 sections to get the size up.
I will work on uploading an A3 size
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Try this copy BH
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:Mod: as requested 🙂
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Your a gentleman as always JB and it`s even more interesting reading the fine print
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Here is a larger file link of the NSW Annual Con. Diagram
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If you want to ‘tidy up’ Truthy you can delete the first two low resolution files; @ 06:47 and 06:18.
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It came up nice and big in my email JB so I thought well [copy/paste url and Bugga}
Truthy could you please remove my error Mate
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:Mod: 😛 😀
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Morning all,
Truthy -I have taken the liberty of posting here the article that I lodged with ‘The Labor Herald’ yesterday 21/7.
As they may never publish it, I have posted it here so that, at least, it is ‘out there’ for the use of any person who may find it informative or useful.
It’s a bit longish -could probably be cut down in size without too much detail loss.
If anyone is bothered, I’ll let other’s more skilled than I attend to that.
—————————–ooo————————
Failings of the current Union/ALP affiliation arrangements.
Current ‘whole of Union’/ALP affiliation arrangements have proved problematic and unproductive for the ALP.
While union affiliation fees provide a steady income for the ALP, it has failed to extend ALP reach into the unaffiliated ‘other half’ (900,000 members) of the broader union movement.
It has also inadequately encouraged or achieved inclusive democratic participation of union R&F membership in ALP affairs, or increased R&F ALP membership.
The current arrangement has fundamental design flaws, which in conjunction with greatly diminished union membership over recent decades has undesirably further distanced R&F from involvement in ALP governance – it has provided few progressive benefits to the ALP.
Regulatory inadequacies in Union and ALP rules are exploited by self serving manipulative factions to effectively acquire and retain control of ALP governance –factions who through collusion actively resist disempowerment by opposing and voting down any meaningful democratising reform.
Long term adverse outcomes for the ALP are a consequence of inherent flaws in current affiliation arrangements. Contributing deficiencies are:-
a) – it rewards Union management for misrepresentation/manipulation of union membership numbers (provides increased conference representation, assists appointment of their preferred party officers); Refer recent revelations from TURC re TWU membership audit. (Table on Page 1152)
b) – ALP financially benefits from inflated union membership claims – more union members= more affiliation fees received. This presents a conflict of interest to the ALP – both the governor and administrator of the scheme;
c) – it provides no incentive for Union execs to promote or recruit ALP membership from union rank and file;
d) – it enables, and has resulted in, union management effectively isolating/excluding union R&F from ALP governance conferences;
e) – it provides no incentive to eradicate unfair/undemocratic rules/practices from impacting ALP peak governance conferences – in fact, ineffective and ‘loose’ rules are guarded from reform by groups and factions that advantage from such rule deficiencies;
National Platform /Constitution Ch 12, Pt C Sect 10:
“Subject to rule 10(b), it shall be the right of each union to determine the criteria and procedures for selection of its delegates, subject to those delegates being financial members of that union and of the Party”
The above regulation is completely inadequate to ensure proper democratic process is practiced in the governance of either Union or ALP – Union rules vary, but generally there is no proper nomination, election process, specified term of office, right of tenure, or expulsion procedure specified;
f) – it constitutes a financial disincentive for unions to affiliate with the ALP;
g) – it provides no effective proper democratic barrier to restrict strategic collaboration/collusion of factionally aligned union execs in the appointment of state conference delegates. Factions thus effectively control the conference floor so as to thwart policy/rule reforms that may diminish their control;
h) –it has effectively created a division in the union movement;
there are two classes of union members in respect to ALP governance – affiliated unionists are allocated delegates to conference – non affiliated unionists have no access to ALP conference, and no way under the rules to achieve any representation at conference should their Union executive unilaterally choose not to affiliate with the ALP.
This group constitutes approx 900,000 unionists (statistically [2013 Fed. Election] 300,000 primary ALP voting unionists) effectively shut out of participation in ALP affairs through unilateral action of union executives– actions usually beyond those individuals control.
Affiliation has been abused by factional power-brokers and exploited by ambitious careerist union officials. It has demonstrably failed to recruit union members to the ALP, and is grossly undemocratic for the R&F of both unions and the ALP;
– it has been cleverly and shrewdly used to empower self-interested factions to effectively exclude ‘unfavoured’ R&F from participation in ALP governance;
– it has stymied party modernisation and delayed progressive reforms so urgently needed to embrace available new technologies for delivery of meaningful R&F inclusivity.
I am aware that many unions volunteer/donate support in many other forms during elections and at other times, but I’m not convinced the degree of that cooperation would change if present affiliation arrangements were replaced with the proposed arrangement (see proposal below).
The industrial and political arms of the Labor movement have much in common – they are interdependent in advancing the common cause of fairer more equitable wealth distribution.
The closer and more successfully they work together, the more powerful is the whole Labor movement.
The ALP needs deeper more inclusive and positive connections with the broad R&F membership base of all 1.8 million unionists in Australia and to utilise that connection to attract a larger political membership base.
This above critique has not been composed lightly – there is little point criticising without proposing a practical more productive alternative arrangement.
The proposed framework redefining ALP/union interaction and cooperation will not be favoured by those currently enjoying the control delivered by the current compromised (easily manipulated) affiliation arrangements. In association with other democratising reforms, it will deliver a healthier Union/ALP relationship and set the scene for substantial growth in ALP membership.
Proposed Framework and Benefits of proposed model:
( to replace the current affiliation arrangement)
Following is the framework of the proposed arrangement devised to replace the existing decaying and dysfunctional ALP/Union affiliation agreement with a broader, fairer, more robust and open ‘special’ membership system.
1) The ALP should progressively replace current ‘affiliation’ arrangements with a system based on individual ALP membership.
2) Abandon/phase out ‘whole of union’ ALP affiliation currently managed/implemented at union executive level.
3) Calculate quota of delegate positions to State Conference using similar method as to that applied to currently affiliated unions, except that only ALP members who are also financial members of that particular Union are counted towards that quota.
4) ALP and Union financial membership data records should be linked insomuch as required for each party to validate/cross-check an individual’s ALP/Union membership status.
5) Union executives would now have real incentive to encourage union R&F members of their union to join the ALP – so to provide their union with maximum delegate representation at conference.
Traditionally ‘non affiliated’ unions, who currently insist on distancing themselves from the ALP can continue as they are; except that if the union’s executive decline their right to claim delegate representation to conference, that unaffiliated unions R&F members who have joined the ALP can claim pro rata representation at State Annual Conference under a ‘generic’ trade union grouping created especially for that purpose.
6) ALP membership should be offered to unionists at a special discount rate.
Suggest $1.00 per week ($52p.a.)
7) Current affiliated Unions can choose to retain current ALP affiliation fees formally remitted to the ALP under the ‘old system’ ($500*1%=$5 p.a. per union member) as incentive/compensation to assuage administrative costs of implementing the proposed system.
ALP membership fee collection should continue to be controlled and managed by State ALP via auto payroll deductions etc.
8) Provides an est. 900,000 current unaffiliated union members potential representation at ALP conference – a reason to join the ALP; an opportunity to have a say in determining policy and priorities of the Labor movement.
9) Remediates a long standing neglected discrimination issue whereby ALP rules effectively prevent 900,000 non-affiliated R&F unionists from gaining equivalent ‘union’ representation on Annual State Conference – even though they may be ALP members. They are currently in effect a lower class of unionist in the eyes of the ALP due to the fact their union executive has unilaterally decided not to affiliate with the ALP.
10) ALP membership now drawn from all 1.8 million union R&F members – assists generational change through accessing a fresh group of 900,000 working age union members.
11) ALP/Unions should implement revised arrangements over a 12 month transition period to ensure smooth uninterrupted flow of finance and industrial/political governance operation.
12) ALP rules should be further reformed to democratise and enhance participation/inclusion of R&F membership in relevant current/real-time union/ALP governance matters and surveys.
13) To ‘road-test’ the concept (to re-assure the doubting Thomases):
Following development of a suitable tailored membership benefits package, specially designed to be attractive and inclusive to all union members, perhaps members of unaffiliated unions should be the first offered the revised more attractive ALP membership.
Keep in mind a basic marketing strategy – give them a reason to join the ALP !!!
14) The future – open to expansion into other diverse areas from which further ALP membership may be drawn – the sky’s the limit;
e.g. The proposed arrangement for ‘special’ ALP membership could be extended to individual members of other ’registered/regulated’ non profit organisations and cooperatives who seek input to ALP political policy formulation. Including groups of the population who presently have no political voice provides a broadening of the base of the ALP, and creates a new source of membership and supporters.
15) Financial projections:
Refer excel spreadsheet.
A ‘what if’ guide only, based on best estimations from publicly available relevant information.
The spreadsheet was arranged as below to calculate a ‘dollar benefit’ comparison/analysis of the current system of union affiliation vs the proposed personal ‘special’ ALP membership system.
Notes on the Spreadsheet calculations:
While conducting research to design this proposal, it became evident that Union/ALP affiliation financial arrangements are played ‘close to the chest’ by both unions and the ALP.
As no ‘actual’ account figures were available, to determine the total income the present union affiliation arrangements return to the ALP, it was necessary to apply ‘educated estimates’ as input data
Some approximate figures were extracted from published audited Union financial accounts via the web. I consider Union financial account entries provide a reasonably reliable basis for the estimation of the rate at which the ALP levies unions as affiliation fees.
When the amount of affiliation fees paid out are co-related to each Union’s declared financial membership base, it indicates that an amount of approximately 1% of collected union membership fees is remitted as an ‘affiliation fee’ to the ALP.
An average union membership fee of $520 per annum was utilised (as published in an ACTU Union information pamphlet , “How much does union membership cost?” ).
The average affiliation fee forwarded to the ALP was simply calculated as 1% x $520pa x number of affiliated members.
ABS figures indicate there are 1.8 million unionists in Australia.
It is generally accepted (though I have been unable to locate supporting data) that about 50% of Australian unions are affiliated with the ALP.
The above numbers were entered on the spreadsheet to perform basic calculations to establish the financial feasibility of replacing the current ‘whole of union’ affiliation system with this proposed individual unionist ‘special’ ALP membership arrangement.
The results to be very promising, as can be seen from the spreadsheet projections – of course these figures are based on estimates and approximations.
However it clearly illustrates the financial viability of the concept.
Those ’in the know’ with access to real data can insert properly verified numbers to perform a ‘real life’ practical comparison/evaluation.
………………………………………………………………………………
In Conclusion:
Almost everybody recognises that the present affiliation arrangement, despite its many shortcomings, provides reliable, essential and much needed income for the ALP.
Any move to change/reform the current system will not only face predictable stiff opposition from those factions empowered through it, but from many whose opposition is financially motivated – those concerned to ensure this reliable source of income for the party is not jeopardised.
I want not only for the ALP to retain this important income source, but to grow it – and also to strengthen the relationship with unions and unionists. Furthermore I consider this proposal represents a better way to achieve that income, with the added advantage of potentially significantly increasing ALP R&F membership while retaining and extending cooperative arrangements with the entire trade union movement.
It creates a broader, healthier relationship with unions in that all R&F union members are treated as equals in the eyes of the ALP, irrespective of the factional/political stance of union executives.
All Union execs under this proposed system would have a vested interest in becoming active recruiters for ALP membership – the more members they enrol, the more say they get in ALP governance.
Conference representation strength to be allotted using ALP (financial) membership data, that is cross checked with union (financial) membership data.
It would serve the interests of both the unions and the ALP to enrol as many ALP members as possible from within all Australian unions.
The integrity of membership records is enhanced by the maintenance of a cross referenced Union/ALP database – enabling the establishment of a secure web-based personal access ALP login facility.
It removes the ALP’s obvious conflict of interest, the ‘reward for deception’ that is inherent in the current system – where the ALP receive additional income resulting from union membership numbers that have been fraudulently inflated for the purpose of unfairly gaining additional delegates at conference.
Changes must be made to the existing system, as it is clearly not working in the interests of the greater Labor movement.
It has resulted in the ALP falling under the control of self serving factional groups who have contrived ways to ‘game the system’, using regulatory inadequacies to their advantage.
Union R&F numbers have been falling steeply for the last 40 years (union membership rate down from 48% to 17% of eligible employees), growth in ALP R&F membership has stagnated.
ALP Membership is not increasing – even with the worst government ever in Canberra tearing away at every aspect of our living and working conditions there has been no significant increase in membership.
ALP membership rate amongst unionists is appallingly low, especially considering unions are an integral part of Australia’s Labor movement. Even if every ALP member was also a union member, it would represent 2.2% ALP membership rate amongst unionists.
This proposal goes some way to addressing the long ignored R&F disconnection with the ALP.
I commend this proposal to all ALP members for consideration and comment.
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Morning John 🙂 No worries mate 😎
I’m just on my way out, but will get back to you later 🙂
Cheers 🙂
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WOW JB there`s half the Nat Con IMHO and I do wonder if it gets printed,because if it doesnt what will be Labor Heralds explanation
This is I see the culmination of a lot of work and I hope Union bosses answer some questions as they`re even harder to get info out of than MP`s
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How far does union membership have to drop before the ALP look seriously at their failing affiliation arrangement and the 50/50 conference voting concession they grant the unions ?
Is it 10%, or perhaps 5%? It soon becomes an almost ludicrous discussion.
The ALP must take a broad new approach to including/attracting more supporters into ALP membership – the union movement has done nothing to encourage/boost ALP membership – the union execs want all the benefits offered by the ALP for transition to lucrative political careers etc, but are doing nothing to bring R&F into the ALP.
Union membership rates may come back in the future, but times will have to get much harder before many workers realise they don’t get on by seeking preferential treatment from employers by expressing right wing views and rejecting unionism for personal gain.
Complacent selfish employees are being played as suckers by employers -when they fall on their backsides they will be back – though it may be too late.
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It`s part of the greater plan IMO JB, to finish off or cripple the unions to US levels
Here`s Labor openly tweeting Bill Shortens message of giving 50/50 R&F representation by 2030-:mad: and FFS 😡 😡
——————————————————————–
Australian Labor @AustralianLabor 10m10 minutes ago
At Labor national conference, I intend to propose that we have the ambition in 2030 to have 50% of our energy mix @billshortenmp #auspol
Bighead1883 @Biggy1883 7m7 minutes ago Chicago, IL
@AustralianLabor @billshortenmp the petition we`ve all been signing says now #auspol want a say ALP R&F sign here
https://www.change.org/p/bill-shorten-delegates-for-the-47th-alp-national-conference-bring-the-party-back-to-the-people-a-call-to-change-labor-s-rules-and-culture?recruiter=329989507&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink …
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Just signed 🙂
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Just what does Bill intend doing about reversing the decline in union membership? – on the current trend he will have gifted execs in control of ‘ghost unions’ control of the ALP.
Union membership has dropped a further 6% over the last 10 yrs (since the above graph period ends).
It is well past time for leadership to change the ALP ‘business plan’. – or become a political Kodak.
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The above graph from here
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I`m sorry that I misinterpreted Shorty`s last tweet
That one referred to Renewable energy
He want a higher R&F representation by 2020 from memory
His speech say`s it all really-we can get stuffed as far as the right faction is concerned
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No worries BH.
Bill Sh should be embarrassed by the lack of action that followed his speech to the 2014 NSW Annual Conference:
“But I am here to state a very clear direction.
Labor has to rebuild as a party of members, not factions.
A bigger, bolder, broader party – 100,000 strong.
A party where your membership card entitles you to genuine participation in our party: in the choice of our leaders, our candidates, our policies and our dreams of Australia.
A party where more people, are more involved, more often.
That’s the direction this branch has set – but we now have to complete the schematic – to make it obvious to everyone what Labor stands for and how we conduct ourselves….”
…but nothing happened – his right factions voted down every meaningful reform subsequently put up.
His reform the ALP speech “Towards a Modern Labor Party” in Melbourne should be even more embarrassing for him – fine words, plenty of clapping and cheering – but no action followed.
Why listen to him ??? – he is obviously not in control of his own factions.
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exactly JB-beautiful Labor words followed by Liberal actions-unfrackenbelieveable
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😡
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Hey John 🙂
Just sent you an email WRT your article 🙂
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Thanks TS,
will get back to you soon.
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Yes BH/TS @ 02:01
Shorten can’t shake off the tried and true tactics practiced by the leaders of most of the bosses unions.
Tell the troops what they want to hear, rant and rave, breathe fire and brimstone, seethe (mock) outrage – but then quietly do a deal with the devil and tell R&F its the best that could be done.
As I’ve said before – he’s a Neville Chamberlain type; we need a Chifley, a Whitlam – a Churchillian style figure.
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Yes mate, someone with balls to stand up to right… For what’s right! 😯
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A bit of a wrap up of day 1
“I believe (after) the first of the three days the jury would say the Labor Party is getting its act together,”
“I look forward to all the delegates and observers and participants and all the staff helping make this a great event, all the MPs, all the affiliated unions, all the rank-and-file members who are here, I believe that if we maintain our unity of purpose, of strong discussions, vigorous discussions, passionate discussions, if we maintain our unity of purpose, that the nation will conclude at the end of this conference, the Labor Party is the most interesting party in Australian politics and capable of running the country after the next election.
“Australia expects nothing less of us tonight and tomorrow and Sunday than that we demonstrate that Australians can trust us because we are the party with the vision for the future.”
3.45pm: Indigenous NT Senator Nova Peris has hit out at Tony Abbott’s record as self-described PM for indigenous Australians while speaking at the ALP conference in support of a motion in favour of constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians which is not merely symbolic.
“Australia First Nations people are so wary of the Prime Minister for indigenous Australians who has consistently and repeatedly made ignorant, ill-informed, disgraceful comments about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and our cultures,” Ms Peris said.
He has ruthlessly cut services to a massive degree in funding, as well as with his confusing and unfair indigenous advancement strategy.
“And let’s not forget the attempted closure of Aboriginal communities in Western Australia and the destruction and removal of Aboriginal protection of sacred sites.
“But the Prime Minister now has the opportunity to hit the reset button, to take a more consultative approach on constitutional recognition. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, as well as the majority of other Australians have made it clear they are not interested in the symbolic form of constitutional change that appears to be the direction in which Tony Abbott is heading.
“Meaningless and symbolic constitutional change is not the way forward and I am pleased that Labor supports the proposals put forward last week by Aboriginal leaders Pat Dodson, Noel Pearson, Kirstie Parker and Megan Davis for an independent consultation process including an national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander convention.”
3.30pm: A health debate this afternoon has included motions in support of protecting Medicare, moving towards universal dental care, strengthening laws against LGBTI conversion therapy and providing access to medicinal cannabis, reports Rachel Baxendale.
Former Queensland state secretary and rising star in the party’s right, Milton Dick, who has been preselected to contest the seat of Oxley, kicked off proceedings by attacking the Abbott government for its now abandoned plans to introduce a GP Copayment and freeze Medicare rebates.
Here’s Shorten’s speech on Whitlam:
It’s an honour to introduce this tribute to Gough Whitlam.
Delegates, we could devote a whole National Conference to Gough’s life and legacy – just quietly, I don’t think he would object.
What Whitlam did for our party, and for our country, cannot be measured in years – only in achievements.
With his brilliant mind, extraordinary charm and powerful eloquence.
Gough would have been a success in any career he chose.
He chose the Labor Party.
He chose to make Australia great.
And he did.
Delegates, the progressive, inclusive, democratic Labor party we love would not exist without Gough Whitlam.
And the positive, confident and open Australia we love is unimaginable without Gough Whitlam.
We have the privilege to serve the party Gough lived for.
We are lucky to live in the country he built.
Modern Australia is Gough’s proudest monument.
His legacy lives around us.
His light still shines.
We salute him and his memory.
Now, and always.
Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr has lent his support to Mr Shorten’s position on boat turnbacks, saying he is “perfectly entitled” to look at the evidence and bring forward an evidence-based policy.
“What Bill Shorten’s done shows leadership,”
He’s treating the party conference with respect. He’s not making a unilateral decision, which leadership sometimes does. He’s going to the party conference with what I think is simply a pragmatic policy.”
Mr Carr said it was Kevin Rudd’s policy of offshore processing and offshore settlement that had stopped the boats more than any other measure.
Mr Shorten’s “bold commitment” to renewables was also the correct approach, he said.
Labor’s national returning officer, Tony Lang, has announced the makeup of the party’s national executive. This is a key decision-making forum in the party, with wide powers to intervene in state branches, between conferences.
There was no ballot as the Right and Left factions agreed to split the positions 10-all. This means the Right has dropped one place from 11 to 10. The Left has increased their positions from 9 to 10.
Bill Shorten is a voting member, as Labor leader, giving him the casting vote at all meetings. This puts his ruling Right faction on a knife-edge. Before 1967, Labor leaders were not automatic members of the executive with voting rights.
Mr Shorten made the 10-year pledge in his address to the ALP conference this morning as part of his ongoing push to revive the republican debate.
“Let us make this the first decade where our head of state, is one of us,” he said. “We can be an Australian republic, with an Australian head of state.”
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Thanks for this narrative Cornie and though I welcome the Republican debate we are faced with an immediate threat in all things the LNP does
The next election is no lat down misere for Labor under Shorty there fore a millionside battles have to be fought simultaneously
I can`t be too hard personall on Shorty because he`s a product of the Right and if not him then it would be Bowen or heaven forbid Marles
There is truth in saying,inside everyone of us live a little Despot whom we ourselves keep in check,
But we have to also look around at those who would destroy us politically hence in lively hood and familial direction
The lunacy of the conservative side of politics flows through into everyday thinking from a born to rule mentality to mixing religion into the political chamber as if that`s the most normal thing there is [we know it`s not hence separation of church and state]
Our other Left political brethren The Greens may mean well but are nasty little pieces of work befriending us with knives to our backs [Bob Browns mantra of “we`re not here to help Labor,we`re here to replace the”] is well known to every one of the little assassins and we need to treat them like the snakes they are
Let the 47th ALP National Conference Day 2 begin — WHO WHO WHO!!
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Mark ✌ @WorldOfMarkyD 2h2 hours ago
By age
18-24yo –
ALP:
68.5
LNP:
31.5
25-34yo –
ALP:
64.5
LNP:
35.5
35-49yo –
ALP:
54.5
LNP:
45.5
50-64yo –
ALP:
51.5
LNP:
48.5
Mark ✌ @WorldOfMarkyD 2h2 hours ago
cont..
Vic –
ALP:
58.5
LNP:
41.5
Sa –
ALP:
60.5
LNP:
39.5
Qld –
ALP:
51
LNP:
49
Tas –
ALP:
55
LNP:
45
Wa –
ALP:
53.5
LNP:
46.5
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Morgan Poll
http://www.roymorgan.com/~/media/files/morgan%20poll/2015/july/6365-vote-2pp.jpg?la=en
However, its not all good news.
I don’t like the trend, it indicates people have had enough of neo-con ‘me too’ politics – .
…and 15% to the Greens says a lot about disillusion with ALP.
Shorten is not connecting with the public & should ‘consider his options’ for the good of the Labor movement.
As an interface to neo-cons Shorten has a certain place in a Labor government -but not as Leader.
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Morning John 🙂
The only consolation in the greens number is that most of those that desert Labor will still give them their second preference
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Not really JB the 2% rise in Greens might be all from the disgruntled LNP 😆
Those LNP who are disgruntled with LNP AGW crap would naturally migrate to the Greens IMHO
It`s universal LNP and Greens hate Labor but Greens have to continue to support Labor to stay alive because once the LNP win both houses it`ll be the end of preferential and compulsory voting -100% for sure
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Morning Truthy,
hope you are breathing a little easier today.
….as Abbott will argue it in August:
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Morning John 🙂
I will email you later mate, as I’m flat out at the moment 😀
Cheers 🙂
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JohnB,
I wouldn’t get too concerned about the Greens and Polls.
They bounce around, but when the time comes to vote, people see logic.
here are some examples , I did post on here before, figures were given to me , so the article might seen outdated but I forgot 😀 were I posted it on here previously
Actually, to be precise The Greens lost a % of the vote in 55 of the 59 seats in the WA State Election 2013
Some seats like Fremantle -8.5% Perth -6.6% Swan Hill 7.9% etc
In the most recent election in Victoria 3014 . where the voters dumped the toxic Napthine Government
The Greens gained a State wide swing of 0.3 % but managed to have a swing against the , with a loss of % in 47 {fourty seven} seats
In Queensland with the devastating defeat of the Campbell Newman LNP, with massive swings occuring,
the Greens managed to gain just a tiny 0.9% swing to them
Now the South Australia 2014 Election
The Greens managed a 0.6 % increase in their Statewide vote
HOWEVER, they managed to get a swing against them and lose of % in 18 {eighteen} seats
with swings against them like the seat of Giles -7.2%
Now the Queensland Election 2015 , Campbell Newman , Biggest swings around, 30%+
A change of Government and
The Greens managed to increase their statewide % by just 0.9%
continuing with the same trend however, they actually had a swing against them in 33 seats where their % of the vote dropped.
In some seats, like Mackay, Hinchenbrook,Warrego, Lockyer etc, the vote was so low, the ABC election site just lumped them in with “Others” for expediency
The ACT election 2012 were even worse.
Its better to let Canberra Times have the last word
“The ACT Greens slipped into deeper electoral trouble last night with updated vote counting showing for the second night running that their leader Meredith Hunter is heading for defeat.
And history is against Ms Hunter in her Ginninderra electorate, where no independent or minor party MLA has ever lasted more than one term.
Last night’s updated interim preference figures show the Greens heading for a near wipeout, losing three of the four seats they won in their historic 2008 showing.”
Also, the Tasmanian Elections 2014
Tasmania saw the Greens suffer an 8.1% swing against them, and end up not even being able to maintain “Party Status ”
Now Federally, the last result , 2013 didn’t give the Greens a warm inner glow either with its vote dropping to 8.6% a loss of 3.6% nationally
Not only did their vote drop Nationally , but in the 155 Seats they managed to lose a % of their vote with a swing against them in 135 seats Yeah correct one hundred and thirty five seats had a swing against the Greens
135 !!!!
And it wasn’t small swings, Bass-7.7% Denison -11.1 % Durack -12.2% Fairfax -9.7 %
Even in Tony Abbotts own seat the Greens managed to lose 0.8%
Then we have the current NSW one , where with counting continuing, so has the trend.
Currently, Greens 0% increase and in the Legislative Council -1.7 %
Stay tuned for updates
all the above can be verified at
http://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/
Just the conclusion of all recent elections State Federal and Territory
showing the Greens exact position in the game
NT votes 2012 Northern territory 2012
Even though Labor copped a flogging, you would have thought this was the ideal opportunity to see the Greens make some gains at Labors expense.
They even ran new candidates, in seats for the first time
But no, again, even contesting more seats, their Territory wide vote dropped by -1.0%
and in some seats, took a hammering
Greatorex -8.8% Nightcliff -17.0 % Port Darwin -9.6 %
Then we move on to the just held NSW Election
The Greens have declared their strong showing at the NSW election sends a strong signal to the major parties that voters are dissatisfied with their policies
Greens MP John Kaye said the result showed the major parties had been put on notice
This is the type of hype and spin they
get away with.
A ‘strong showing” equates to NSW Election 2015
A 0.0% increase in their statewide vote
a loss of 1.4 % in their Legislative Council vote
Currently, with almost all the vote completed the Greens have managed to have a swing against them in 56 {FIFTY SIX} of the 93 seats in the State
Yep, a loss in % of the vote in 56 seats
Now Labor picked up 20 seats and that was a “poor result”
Greens has a swing against then in 2 thirds of all seats . yet “The Greens have declared their strong showing at the NSW election sends a strong signal to the major parties that voters are dissatisfied with their policies”
Now that is the most recent of all Federal, State and Territory elections .
This Greens hype rubbish has to end !
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Morning Cornie 🙂
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I understand and appreciate what you say Cornie; when election time comes around most ALP voters won’t stray to the LNP side, so whatever their protest vote it will generally come back to the progressive vote tally.
From my experience at polling booths, the Greens political hierarchy are very different creatures to the typical green supporter out in voter land. Half a dozen or so greens I have worked HTV duties with express healthy concern for the environment/sustainable living, and have little respect for the cynical internal power politicing of their party leaders.
When it comes down to it, like all small splinter groups Greens can attract 5-10% in being strong on one political issue (the Santa Clause effect), but have great difficulty with, and avoid distasteful contentious mainstream issues that may split 50/50 or worse with the general population. As robust party processes/structures are undeveloped/deficient their minor party leaders must stay on message, exploit opportunistic posturing to the max, and have little leeway to adopt an unpopular stance.
They are essentially cherrypicking issues for the easy votes, the broader their policy spread, the steeper their hill to climb.
What worries me more is the disillusionment of many of the less committed, and more significantly, some of our long standing ALP supporters who drift away to various minor parties in protest.
Many have come to realise that ‘Labor’s enduring values’ have been put aside while more populist pragmatic policies and values are pursued to achieve greater acceptance from corporate media and to appeal to a portion of the population that has been propagandised into neo-con land.
Put bluntly, the once proudly egalitarian ALP has appeased imperious rampant corporatism by taking up a social position somewhat less right than the LNP.
While it may get them elected (which is of course vastly preferable to any LNP govt.) what then for our great party?
How do we get proper fairness and democracy back into ALP internal governance when those ruling it are the perpetrators, beneficiaries and guardians of those poor antidemocratic practices?
Our party leaders do not live up to the spirit or intent of Chapter 1 of our ALP’s National Platform – and oppose R&F demands for proper governance.
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I should have written the final sentence as: “…Some of our current party/union leaders do not live up to the spirit or…”
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MSM have a few interesting little tid bits to go along with the ALP 54 LNP 46 polls
ony Abbott refuses to defend Bronwyn Bishop over Sophie Mirabella wedding trip
Bronwyn Bishop under pressure to explain travel claim to Mirabella wedding
Date July 28, 2015 – 7:26AM 1647 reading now
Shorten emerges from ALP conference more electable (07:52)
The Opposition Leader has battled within his own party and won on boat turn-backs. Analysis with Fairfax’s Mark Kenny.
27/07/15
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Great meme BH.
It is worth watching here
Note the ‘compere’ asks the audience to ‘listen with respect’ – What respect does Boswell deserve?
Respect isn’t given – it is earned, and Boswell never earned any.
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I couldn`t believe that when Boswell was asked if he`d read the Pope`s Climate Change Enciclical after mouthing he didn`t agree with it and he answered NO-FFS JB you would have been embarrassed for us all at how I busted my guts
And one BBish deserves
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The Pope came into the convo 5 minutes earlier from memory
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This is the official bullshit the LNP is telling Australians and the MSM are helping them 😡
—————————————————————————
Investor-State Dispute Settlement
What is investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)?
ISDS is a mechanism that is included in a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or an investment treaty to provide foreign investors, including Australian investors overseas, with the right to access an international tribunal if they believe actions taken by a host government breach its investment obligations.
Why is ISDS included in FTAs and investment treaties?
Australia has negotiated ISDS provisions over the past three decades to provide protection for Australian companies investing abroad. ISDS promotes investor confidence and can protect against sovereign or political risk. An investor can have their claim determined by an independent arbitral tribunal without having to rely on domestic legal remedies. ISDS cases are usually decided by three arbitrators who are independent of both the government and the investor.
What is subject to ISDS?
ISDS provides an opportunity for foreign investors, including Australian investors, to protect their investments overseas. A foreign investor can use ISDS to seek compensation for certain breaches of a host state’s investment obligations – for example, obligations in relation to expropriation, non-discrimination and minimum standards of treatment (such as protection against denial of justice). Investment obligations may also include a commitment to ensure that foreign investors will be able to move capital relating to their investments freely, subject to appropriate safeguards.
ISDS focuses on investment obligations and does not give foreign investors the right to enforce the entire trade agreement, including, for example, the intellectual property chapter.
Does Australia already have ISDS provisions?
Yes. Australia has ISDS provisions in six FTAs: China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (not yet in force), Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement, Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement, Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement, Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement, and ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.
Australia currently also has ISDS provisions in its 21 Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (IPPAs) with Argentina, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Laos, Lithuania, Mexico, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uruguay and Vietnam.
How is ISDS different to other dispute settlement mechanisms in FTAs?
ISDS is an extra mechanism that enables an investor to bring a claim against a host state that is a party to the FTA. Dispute settlement in FTAs is otherwise a state-to-state process./p>
What is the Government’s position on ISDS in current FTA negotiations?
The Government will consider ISDS provisions in FTAs on a case-by-case basis.
The Australian Government is opposed to signing up to international agreements that would restrict Australia’s capacity to govern in the public interest — including in areas such as public health, the environment or any other area of the economy.
Is ISDS a threat to Australia’s sovereignty?
No. ISDS does not prevent the Government from changing its policies or regulating in the public interest. It does not freeze existing policy settings. It is not enough that an investor does not agree with a new policy or that a policy adversely affects its profits.
The Australian Government is opposed to signing agreements which include provisions that would restrict our capacity to govern and or regulate in the public interest in areas such health and the environment.
Can the Government still regulate the environment?
Yes. ISDS is focused on investment obligations such as treating foreigners and locals similarly. It does not prevent the Government from regulating, including in the interests of the environment.
Can the Government still manage the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in the public interest?
Yes. ISDS is focused on investment obligations. The Government will not agree to any outcome in its trade negotiations that undermines the PBS or Australia’s health system more generally.
Have Australian companies used ISDS?
Yes, Australian-based companies have used ISDS in proceedings against other countries to protect their investments. The Australian Government is not a party to these disputes.
Has Australia been subject to ISDS disputes?
Yes. Over the past 30 years there has been just one ISDS challenge brought against Australia. The dispute, brought with respect to Australia’s tobacco plain packaging laws, is ongoing and the Government is confident the laws are consistent with Australia’s trade and investment obligations. More information on this case is available at Investor-state arbitration – tobacco plain packaging.
http://dfat.gov.au/trade/topics/Pages/isds.aspx
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This ABCRN Background Briefing report on ISDS is worth a listen if you haven’t already heard it.
They replayed it again tonight.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/isds-the-devil-in-the-trade-deal/6634538
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Here’s the thing about Abbott’s complete and utter hypocrisy — Reality is that Ultra right winged governments Are simply not targeted via ISDS provisions! [Is Abbott is paying attention] — They simply roll over and play nice, Unlike Abbott’s term which cannot be aborted soon enough — These FTA’s have no expiry date!
Short term gain for LNP = long term disaster for everyone.
What the fallacious LNP/Abbott government is conveniently failing to mention, the entire purpose behind these treasonous deals is that they are cunningly designed, to hold a more people friendly government accountable to the financial elite in the unforeseen event should they become elected in a future, it all worlls out well for the aspiring aristocrats and their masters….the Neo-Cons.
Just because no new cases have been registered does not mean that this should be encouraged — LNP/ Abbott simply opened the door so that this can happen more often in the future, Yet the negotiations should have been cancelled from the beginning, yet each new government simply continues.
Basta!
Everyone should have this link — http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/webdiaepcb2015d1_en.pdf
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This is Abbott`s and the LNP`s agenda and they`re slowly getting through it
https://ipa.org.au/publications/2080/be-like-gough-75-radical-ideas-to-transform-australia
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Interesting information, when was it written?
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Prior the 2010 election
The election that Rupert had won for him but fucked up
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Hey, I just noticed at IA Rod Lever had written an article agreeing with Labors policy of turnbacks called Backing Turnback Bill, .
Donovan tacked this to the bottom of the article
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Independent Australia. Read IA’s weekly editorial on the topic of refuge boat turnbacks (26/5/15) below.
And then reproduced most of the article he wrote hours before Labor even had it as policy
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You see now Cornie that many of us would not have even bothered with IA had we known DD true colours
There`s much better available mate than his Green bias dressed as moronic
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Shadow Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese at the 2015 NatCon:
” We, as a movement, have to modernise if we are to remain relevant. These things (he says holding a mobile phone) means people have instantaneous access to information.
Their participation must be more relevant and must be more real. That requires people like myself and others in this room to give up some of the power they have traditionally held.
“The future is direct participation. The future is increasing party membership. If we do that the future will be Labor.”
I posted this comment in the Labor Herald:
I’m not the only R&F member disillusioned.
One hour of the NatCon spent considering rules changes is farcical.
The rules of the ALP have so many defects in regard to ensuring/defining proper democratic processes are followed that it would take one hour to list the defects, let alone debate/decide amendments.
There needed to be a Chapter 12 subcommittee assembled 12 months prior to Nat Con to review ALP governance rules with a view to achieving effective democratic reforms.
It is a depressing reality that I must conclude the factions in charge of the Unions/ALP have no interest or intention of ever giving R&F proper democratic governance.
The grand and noble ideals of fairness, equality and democratic governance contained in Chapter 1 of the ALP National Platform are treated with contempt – the spirit and intent completely ignored, along with R&F rights to a proper say in ALP governance.
It means that the ALP will go the way of the LNP, as officials beholden to corporate patronage and corrupt factions utilise what was once Our ALP as their own vehicle to achieve wealth and political power.
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Excellent JB and I stuck in my 2 bob`s worth as well now
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Thanks BH,
i’ve given reform another burst over at the LH.
There is little life over there – I hope it improves with time, would hate to see it become yet another ALP related ‘ghost town’ site that withers and dies back.
They need a comment notification email facility and an onsite comment activity listing similar to wordpress to get some interactivity going.
Have suggested same to them via email, hope they react to good advice.
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OK JB we know Mark Butler is a Lefty and we need for him to push the Left agenda through the executive and office bearers.
That`s how they seized power through the unions and ALP Exec,so he has to be the R&F`s main target
Target the Prez
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Ahh….you made the old crocodile smile
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An extract from a comment I posted on the Labor Herald:
….Through cynical collusion, unfairness unprincipled, application of anachronistic undemocratic rules, the gamekeepers have installed themselves as autocratic rulers/poachers of what was ‘Our’ ALP. They strenuously resist all attempts at fair reform.
What is even worse, many so called ‘high-minded’ ethical politicians are quite happy to continue to avail themselves of the power and rewards of political office bestowed upon them by the conniving factional groups without any pang of guilt or conscience.
They know full well their control/power is obtained through undemocratic practices in ‘other places’, but choose to do nothing to correct the injustice to us R&F members, and the debasement of the noble principles and ideals so explicitly and plainly laid out in the ALP National Platform.
Were they in receipt of ‘goods’ so dishonestly acquired they could be charged with ‘receiving’.
After posting above I got to thinking further about the reciprocal rights/obligations of R&F members to the ALP and perhaps more importantly, the ALP’s responsibility to R&F members.
The Platform/Constitution says: Part B, Rules,
19. (b) It is intended that the National Constitution and everything done in connection with it, all
arrangements relating to it (whether express or implied) and any agreement or business entered
into or payment made or under the National Constitution, will not bring about any legal relationship, rights, duties or outcome of any kind, or be enforceable by law, or be the subject of legal proceedings. Instead all arrangements, agreements and business are only binding in honour. Sections (c) & (d) elaborate on the application of (b).
While the ALP Platform is ‘intended ‘ not to have legally enforceable actions/liabilities, laws regulating proper governance practice of corporations/cooperatives aren’t circumvented/avoided by mutually agreed/devised platforms/arrangements.
In applying for membership one signs agreement to a statement similar to the following:
I hereby apply for membership of the Australian Labor Party, [insert State] Branch. If my application is successful, I undertake to abide by the Pledge and Party Rules.
To my understand signing the pledge above is a two way deal – the member gives an undertaking to accept/comply with provisions of the Platform; the ALP is duty bound to also implement/comply with the Platform .
Especially the provisions and intent of Chapter 1:
Labor is a democratic party. Labor believes that every person has the right to a say, directly
or indirectly, in the decisions that affect his or her life. We believe in an individual’s freedom of
conscience and their right to express beliefs without fear…
…Labor supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international treaties to which we are a signatory….
Labor is a democratic party. Labor believes that every person has the right to a say, directly
or indirectly, in the decisions that affect his or her life. We believe in an individual’s freedom of
conscience and their right to express beliefs without fear. …
Elections and voting are at the heart of a functioning democracy, and ensuring that the democratic franchise is able to be exercised by all Australians regardless of social class, race or background is an enduring Labor value.
All of the above stated democratic principles are in conflict with their refusal to eradicate blatant and willful anti-democratic actions of:
1) allowing affiliated unions 50% control of ALP governance, via union exec appointed delegates – not R&F elected, nor R&F nominated;
2) Factions direct their union delegates elect their preselected faction candidates over any other candidates to the all powerful Admin Committee;
3) the Party’s rules don’t stipulate anything about how these union delegates should be chosen, appointed or dismissed. Nor do the rules stipulate anything about where those delegates’ responsibilities and accountabilities should lie
NSW Rule B.22(g) “…is the right of each union to determine the criteria and procedures for the selection of its delegates”.
National Platform:Union delegations
10 Subject to rule 10(b), it shall be the right of each union to determine the criteria and procedures for selection of its delegates, subject to those delegates being financial members of that union and of the Party
4) allows collusive factional voting practices (show and tell) to openly occur at state conference.
In electing the State ALP’s top officials the union delegates being required to show their completed ballot papers to other union delegates to ensure that those papers have been completed strictly in accordance with the instructions of their union’s officials.
The above undemocratic practices have been brought to the attention of the ALP national and State executive many times.
That they are left unaddressed and ignored are a dereliction of proper ALP fiduciary governance, a failure to act ethically and responsibly to fulfil their duty of care, and in breach of their end of the “contract” with R&F members.
If it was not a political party, but a corporation or a cooperative they could be sued by R&F members for dereliction of fiduciary duty.
The National platform may well be classified as a ‘false prospectus’ under corporate law, as it does not deliver fairness and democratic governance it promises to R&F members.
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Ah JB there`s nothing like a bit of crunchy reading with the first coffee of the day
This is the brick wall Ben Aveling is up against as well a “false prospectus” wall hijacked by differing elements
15 members are needed to form a branch and the rules will have nothing in there about formation of “Online Branches” as much of all written is still from the horse and cart days along with the snail mail
No group-faction-affiliation within an organization will give up any power they have so a new grouping is required to instill it`s weight and logic into the mix
Like an online publication that has paid up subscribers so too have some of the smaller Progressive political parties which will as they grow actually end up with Senators through the current compulsory/preferential system
You may wonder why I would even be mentioning what I have?so I`ll explain
Not every R&F member lives in Newmarket/Brunswick/Campbelltown/Nedlands
Many are scattered in Regional Australia-I`m one of those unrepresented by branch swill.
People don`t drive 3-4 or more hundred K`s for a branch meeting[or helicopter around]
we would have currently many hundreds if not even some thousands of regional membership who quietly feel left out etc
I`m just throwing in an idea to the mix which may assist cohesion of the body corporate because Labor has an appalling track record with the larger regional seats in Australia as never any representation comes forward enough,I `ve had one call from a regional rep and as soon as they find out how far away from the larger centres on lives the silence returns
On the other hand LNP reps ring around and visit smaller centres etc-most regional towns have their local councils as the LNP hub of town [another fact Labor seems to be totally unaware of]
But hey to find out things you have to mix with the people otherwise you end up with what we have in Labor,a body that doesn`t eat it fiber and us outback entities are that fiber
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Morning Biggy 🙂
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Morning Truthy 🙂 and hey -who`s going to be the new Speaker ?
I`m stepping out for a bit
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You have made very good and valid points BH.
They must harness the power of the internet – as Albo pointed out at NatCon, most people have in their pocket a portable powerful device, a device of inclusion and information. Get with the future, others are already using it commercially to great advantage.
The ALP must move into the modern age of communications – real-time inclusion of the membership base is now possible. I have said previously, the ALP must establish a secure membership portal where R&F can access significant ALP political events and announcements – in conjunction with an essential (secure) personal login/id facility.
We manage our money, social security and taxation returns via personal a secure internet access facility. The introduction of such technology of course threatens the rort merchants, the branch stackers, the faction manipulators and therefore is strenuously opposed by those who have acquired controlling power by those means.
There is now no reason why remote branches should not organise, interact and meet online – skype is in common use by our children, but unable to be harnessed by ALP management.
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Morning John 🙂
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Morning Truthy,
Hope the b’day didn’t take too much out of you..
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Hey John 🙂
Mate it’s been good, but very tiring, and I think it’ll take a few more days to get back to normal… Whatever that is
But they will settle soon 🙂 My son, DI and Gk’s are coming up tomorrow, and my daughter will be following them home afterwards, and my sister’s here for another week, 😀
But I got a couple of bottles of scotch for my BD 😯 so I’m well stocked for the rest of the visits 😉
Barkeep
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Further to my post above
A thought to throw into the mix,
Can anyone come up with a reason why R&F members disappointed with the outcome of the of recent ALP conferences, (NSW & Vic annual conf./s & 2015 NatCon regarding implementation of democratising reform within ALP governance) should not sue the National body of the ALP through the civil courts for breach of contract?
Chapter 1 of the National Platform is quiet clear in committing to fair, proper democratic process – the many well documented instances of improper undemocratic processes are not the standard of governance we expected (or were promised) on signing up as ALP members.
See: http://www.australiancontractlaw.com/law/formation-agreement.html#certainty
It appears to fit the requirements outlined in common law.
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It would certainly make for an interesting trial JB
I believe the legal eagles of both leanings drink together often throwing just such a scenario about
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The objective of the action BH would be to bring it to a head – a very pubic head.
If the bright lights of legal process are turned on those corrupt, contrived and undemocratic processes they have in place, regardless of current provisions of unsatisfactory rules, something would have to be done.
Those in control will tough it out as long as we the R&F allow them to.
They have no intention of surrendering their chokehold on the ALP- the issues will be ignored, deferred and buried – just like we saw at NatCon.
The launch of such an action would demand action -specific democratising action to address the breach of contract.
It need not ever go before a civil court – just the threat of civil action would likely force re-assesment and re-evaluation of undefendable improper internal governance practices.
Words are cheap, Shorten has made many reform promises, Mark Butler indicated reform was high on his list of priorities – but delivered nothing at NatCon.
This report from James Button on the Open Labor blog
“A motion from former NSW Minister John della Bosca to create a members charter of rights, including recourse to the justice system when they feel the party’s National Executive has infringed these rights, was shunted off to a committee for further analysis. There it will probably stay until the next National Conference in three years time….
….Leaving the Melbourne Convention Centre it was hard not to feel disappointed. Mark Butler had called on the party to hear the “clamour for change” among Labor members and supporters. It did not. Bill Shorten said last year that “if we are to renew and rebuild the Labor party, we must rebuild as a membership-based party, not a faction-based one.” There was little sign of that – and even less sign of Bill, who was absent from the hall during the party reform debate, only entering once it was completed.”
We will get nothing if we wait for the right to concede.
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I fully aware of the necessity to bring out into the open the whole gambit concerning R&F and rules interpretation and changes to be implemented
Your point may be the simplicity needed to open this up because as you rightly say,we don`t want things to stay put for 3 or more years and the left has to be assertive
Now here`s Ben Aveling and his take on issues especially with the left.
I`m more than happy to put in time to assist R&F in any way I can and what WE really need is the register and contact of all R&F then something can be done
If we began talking to 10 or so members about things then we`d have the snowball effect we need
Just like social media can force change by simple numerical outrage we could do this is we got hold of the members register [it may also be illegal to not obtain it willingly from ALP executive]
We would have to get legal advice on what can be done but first we have to know what questions to ask
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Perhaps a place to start would be to create a Branch Secretary/member coordination site – where reform proposals can be discussed and debated in order to achieve a coherent unified voice for the R&F.
If enough branches requested reform, then
National Executive, 7, Powers and duties of the National Executive,
(iv) must convene a Special National Conference for a specified purpose when requested by a
majority of state branches [page 238 Platform]
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JohnB says:
04/08/2015 at 11:13 pm
We are in fact to a degree doing just that right here JB
The few whom we are here on TSM are Labor Left and I know there are also some quiet/quieter ones who read what we`re about
I must admit Ben Aveling`s piece has me somewhat confused and it`s as if it`s a deliberate propaganda piece planted to thoroughly bamboozle,IMHO
I`m not aware of all the intricacies of how Left are each State`s Left or even each branch so I call B/S to some of his findings and the ALP`s executive as well
I`m mean Ben`s piece is almost as long as Faulkners R&F vision transcript and he writes up Jamie Clements as on side,[is how I interpret it]
Wixxy spells out in a far more cohesive fashion the problems with the NSW ALP executive under Secretary Jamie Clements and his apartchick Noreen hays.
To be even more honest JB trying to unravel the contorted blanket which has become the right factions best tool for growing within Labor we`d be insane to believe we could and we`d be classified loonz to believe we could make good of it.
Splinter grouping is the way and an online forum to it is how it can be achieved.
Like a subscription to an online publication the same can be done for Labor Rank and File who wish ti group up to not only have a say in pre-selection of candidates but in assisting party policy creation as well
What I`m saying succinctly can be put another way JB>
Don`t argue with idiots because they`ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience every time
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Morning Biggy 🙂
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Ran across this article by Mark Latham (AFR 2013)
“….statistics released by the former NSW assistant general secretary Luke Foley. Only 16 per cent of party members belong to a trade union affiliated to the ALP.
By far the biggest category (55 per cent) is concessional membership, that is, people outside the workforce, mainly retirees……This represents, on average, just 12 trade unionists in each federal electorate…..The proportion of members of affiliated unions who belong to the ALP is fewer than 0.5 per cent. ….”
Using those statistical figures I calculate (assuming ALP membership stands at 40,000 members)
there are only 6,400 ALP members among 900,000 affiliated unionists.
The statistics referred to above were from data at 2011 Nat Pres. vote – the situation can only be worse now, as it runs contrary to the interests of the ruling right factions to increase ALP R&F membership or enfranchise R&F for many years.
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Hello Fran I have some questions if I may concerning some of Ben Aveling`s piece
Some things don`t sit right with me so can you please read it and give us you opinion,if you have the time and don`t mind of course.
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I’m still digesting Ben Aveling’s report BH.
My initial thought is that what Ben described occurring at Nat Con gives us indication of just how far out of the control are the faction supremo’s.
Party leader directions are ignored; delegates are directed how to vote (and monitored to ensure they do as directed) – individual delegates factional leanings/ or backing support base are over-ridden by deals between factional overlords.
A display of blatant contempt for proper democratic process – and disregard of R&F demands for reform to ensure continued survival of the ALP as a party of the people.
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Good morning Truthy and JB 🙂 and hey it`s a beautiful day 😉 above ground or out of the urn depending on your mode of departure for you remains 😆
Ideologically,maybe we need to look at two things here>>>>>>>>>>>
1– Forming a Union
2– Making it an R&F union
Retirees-unemployed and housewives are not members of Workforce Unions so we need to form our own representation
Don`t laugh 😆 😆 I`m deadly serious 😎
Why should we bother trying to change the rusted on nuts when we`re a whole new box of freshly greased ones
It has never been done in a political force ideology and Britain had the Pensioner`s League some years back fighting thatchers attack on them
I`m all for “Grey Power Labor” and we need to register as an association-a union and invite all Labor Rank and File into our fold who feel they are being let down by our National and State executives
Hypo ONE- If we had 1000 members in each state do you think we`s be a strong enough force for Labor to listen to our aspirations or demands?
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It needs some editing
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Sounds like a good idea to me – we (us oldies) are the largest single group in the ALP.
According to Latham’s report in 2011:
“..By far the biggest category (55 per cent) is concessional membership, that is, people outside the workforce, mainly retirees…”
Got to disappear for a few hours – (friends have arrived).
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I`d like to make two [2] nominations then
1-President of Grey Power Labor — Cornlegend
2-Secretary Of Grey Power Labor —Truthseeker
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😯
😕 
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Seconded by JB
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What only a 1000 members?
40,000 x 55% = 22,000 potential Grey Power members.
To eliminate the risk of itself being maliciously derailed/distracted to other divisive issues, initially the only objective should be democratising ALP governance process.
Perhaps we crowd fund a breach of contract claim through the civil courts.
If achieved, 10,000 members @ $20 = $200,000 – enough to put the issue front and centre?
We want “our” ALP back from collusive autocratic factions. We have played by their rules for too many years – they deny us democracy.
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Forming Grey Power Labor will give us just that JB the power to question-rectify-re engage-change charter etc
I`m not interested in crunching numbers before they come about,I`m interested in beginning the process first and getting a basis and base set up
As you will know this in itself is the first step so lets get busy and see if those here within TSM are into it,so far it`s you and I
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I`m tweeting this>>
——————————-
Retired Labor Rank and File member?
55% concessional Labor R&F are #auspol
Lets get together
https://truthseekersmusings.wordpress.com/we-want-our-alp-back-its-time/comment-page-6/#comment-49172 … pic.twitter.com/wKUn1aMexi
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using the above pic
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Hey Biggy 🙂
Mate, I think “Grey Power Labor” is a great idea 😎 and I also second Cornie as president 🙂
However, I don’t think I’m up to secretary, as my near terminal porridge brain and health issues will be a huge impediment 😦 but would certainly support John as secretary, if he was happy to take on the roll 🙂
I will also gladly give all the help and support that I can through TSM and my personal support to the cause, for what it’s worth, as I sincerely believe that something needs to be done to counteract the infiltration and corruption of the right wing of the party!
So count me in 🙂
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Ta mate and yes we have to do something different because no other method has worked,least of all common sense rhetoric with ALP executive.
It`s sad your health is creating such issues but of course I respect your wishes and I too agree in the choice of JB as his tenacious logic of Labor values make him a rallying point for information
I gave much thought as to what we could do or achieve using bargaining or polite discourse and found no way forward possible,especially after reading the total confusion of Ben Aveling`s piece
I`m sick to death of the blame game or finger pointing
If we get enough grey power Labor R&F together we can become the force needed to fulfill John Faulkners vision and deliver Rudd`s rule of 50/50 representaqtion
IMHO there is no other way that makes any sense to me and I`m taking my son to the dentist again tomorrow but will push this again on Friday and see if I can raise the interest level on Twitter
We can do much if we try and if we work together we can do the impossible
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Mate, there has already been a fair few hits from twitter, and a couple from the article you commented on with JB 🙂
Travel well, and stay safe mate and we’ll see you on Friday 🙂
My sister flies out, back to the UK on Sunday night, so I’ll be able to focus more next week, all being well 😉
But I’m off to bed now, as it’s been a big week, and I’m stuffed 😯
So I’ll say sleep well Biggy, John, SF and all 🙂 And dream of what’s possible 😉
CheerZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Thanks Truthy,
I’ve never been a secretary before – it’s not my trade or training – but I will give it a go if there are no other more suitable experienced nominees..
Like BH, I’ve thought through various alternative avenues available within ALP rules and I see no other recourse than to apply an external pressure for change.
Those in control will not willingly deliver proper democratic reform as it will necessarily erode their choke-hold on ALP governance.
I want nothing more than proper democratic governance – with that in place, ALP members can be the arbiters/overseers of ALP organisational reform, policy settings and priorities.
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Hey John 🙂
Mate IMHO, with your deep commitment to, and passion for Labor, and your knowledge and understanding of the workings of the party, you are eminently qualified to take on the role 😎
🙂
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I saw this on Twitter.
I’m Left, grey and want to help so where do I sign up
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Morning Mick 🙂 and welcome to TSM
Thanks for your interest, and I think you just did 🙂
We are in the process of setting it all up, so if you want to, you can bookmark this page, and we will be posting updates here.
We would also appreciate any suggestions and or comments from you as we move forward.
Thanks again for your interest, and we will be in touch 🙂
Cheers
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And you can most certainly count on another two old and very grey members from across ‘The Ditch’ .. Feeling older every day just lately. Good to read this great idea Biggy … 🙂 RUN WITH IT.
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Hey Judes 🙂
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We may be slow and old but at least we`re rough and expensive 😯 😉
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Mate, I’ve just replied to your reply 😉
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Marvelous Mick and you are really coming in at grass roots of Grey Power Labor
Please tweet this or similar so a we can get something happening
I was no on board today but aim to tweet it tonight and tomorrow
———————————————————————
Retired Labor Rank and File member?
55% concessional Labor R&F are #auspol
Togetherness Time
https://truthseekersmusings.wordpress.com/we-want-our-alp-back-its-time/comment-page-6/#comment-49172 pic.twitter.com/wKUn1aMexi
—————————————————————-
Copy/paste above and tweet please
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I get all antsy ready to fight the good fight and then they go and do stupid things that really do my head in .That good young thing Senator Lisa Singh who is a good young nonaligned Left Senator has been dumped in the unwinnable 4th on the Tasmanian ticket so a couple of useless Union hacks can get a safe job .
They go up two steps and back one, so grey power better show we may be old but we re damned bold
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You I can get to like real fast Mick 🙂
The right faction is going in hard not only in Tassie and I agree with you finding on Lisa Singh
We`re just beginning to put this together with a Secretary needed to begin with so by Monday we`ll know more
Meantime Truthy is keeping a folder of those wanting in with their email address which of course will find a home soon enough
The idea is less that 36 hrs old mate
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What I would like to see achieved with Grey Power Labor is that Rank and File get some representation within the Party
This can`t be given or gained from the Executive who have failed us at every Convention,this can only be done by enough R&F getting together and voting on who will represent them to the ALP executive
No other way of reform will or can happen to R&F without proper representation espousing what it is the R&F seek from their Party
This may require registration and we know unions and associations are affiliated with Labor
R&F truly are the unwashed rump of Labor,let`s change that
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G’day all
Biggy, I emailed you .
Grey power, what a bloody great idea !!! wish I was grey 😀
I will give all the help I can but due to circumstances beyond my control, not as much as I would like .
I reckon we have a born leadership team in Biggy and JohnB and would like to see the fighting spirit and determination of Judes included in the leaders group
Anyhow, I would nominate Biggy for President {look out Obama} and Judes as assistant
I will give you every support I can and you know I back you all 110%
go you good things
😀
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Thank you for your vote if confidence Cornie and actually I`d be glad to assist JB as a team and your suggestion of Judes is apt
😆
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Hey Cornie 🙂
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Hey mate, hope all is well,
Geez, I’m busy trying to get grey hair so I can get amongst them too 😀
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Corny .. You’re going to get me into trouble 🙂 I have this evening received today’s emails and I am flattered that ‘Team Truthy’ would consider me suitable for such a worthy venture. I will of course help in any capacity I can, but at this stage am thinking more of a recording of membership, or some type of behind the scenes book keeping role. I have been busy in NZ with family health issues and not ‘up with the play’ lately and will reply to emails off line.
It is indeed time for those of us who feel strongly that our voices are not being heard, to stand up and be counted. I am not an ATM for the ALP .. I am ME and they can bloody well listen !
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Hey Judes 🙂 and you may wear glasses but you see 20/20 and comprehend like Einstein knowing that doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is insanity
Welcome aboard and by the end of next week we may be up and running [may be as there could be registrations etc]
We have a terrible battle coming as the propaganda machine gets turned on full steam and no Nation had withstood Murdoch yet
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Just a thought ,
What about an introductory letter to all Labor Left MPs explaining that the concept is to get all like minded “greys’ together online , to further the aims of Labor Left and to give assistance where possible to Left Labor candidates online, come election time or whenever necessary .
Requesting the MP to provide information and contact details to all those “greys in their branches and electorates .
That way, the MP could see some gains for themselves as well as getting a supportive network to get the message out .
I think we have to accept there would be different categories of greys,
Those interested in exchanging ideas and a social contact point for like minded people
Those a big more involved and ready to push for change
The bloody militant ones 😀
I think the broad cross section would be beneficial if they could be attracted
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An excellent idea Cornie as TSM will be a Big Sister site to Grey Power Labor
As you already know this has to be a legal entity working within the rules of the ALP but a legitimate voice for Older Rank and File and any R&F who wish for GPLA to advocate
Just like the SDA is the Shop Distributers Association were are to become the Grey Power Labor Association
Just some of the aims i envision for futures Greys
LOTO elections have GPLA scrutineers
Participation in 50% Senate choices with even future GPLA Senators
Consultation in HoR pre selection with local content demanded,no parachutes
We won`t need massive amounts of members because a thousand Grey Oldies will bamboozle and take on whole divisions of young whippersnapper RWNJ`s
Why have Rank and File
Been Treated like They are invisible
BECAUSE WE WERE
GPL with the help of TSM will change that
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As just one of the disappointed older members who no longer attends our local Labor branch meetings, I decided to try and make a difference, with the suggestion of including input and discussion from ANY member present at each monthly meeting.
It fell flat, as ‘ routine party business’ and ‘house keeping’ took the whole ONE hour per month allocated to our local Labor branch meeting. There were elderly members wanting to give examples of how current Gov policy was affecting their particular situation and wanting answers as to what Labor was going to do to help. Many of these folk no longer attend meetings as they feel they have been ignored, sidelined and they have no voice. These people are not thinking of ‘factions’ but after discussions with some, they .. like me, found that they were mostly left leaning and our priorities and concerns are basically the reason why Labor was formed.
There are thousands of missing ‘Labor Grey Power’ voices, which deserve to be heard. It’s time they were included, our group may grow to such an extent that to ignore their numbers and vote would be at Labors peril …
Yes please do contact sitting members .. Of both factions, give ALL of them the chance to include Grey Power Labor … Let’s see just who cares enough to listen to a Battalion of elderly, active, highly intelligent R&F members … Which will surely attract even more members.
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Hey Judes 🙂
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Hey Truthy. 🙂 Things are slowly picking up over here. Very slowly. 😦
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Hey Judes and what you say is excellent and resonating to an old Lefty like myself
I`m glad of the people here that can assist to get this GPL up and running as in reality I`m not the sharpest tool in the kit but certainly a well used one that adjusts like a good wrench should.
I`m playing on the website today again getting the hang of some of it before I make a purchase tomorrow or Tuesday as there are apps and such which need looking into
Serious stuff for a serious job and us Grey Power types are up to it
We May Be Old
We May Be Grey
We May Even Feel Left Out
We Will Never Take A Backward Step
We Will Keep At This
We Will Sort It Out
We Owe It To Whom Comes Behind Us
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Judes,
emailing me for dobbing you in for a leaders role , 😀
Now you see why .
Gad damn you nailed it , 1000% out of the park , smack on .
Now you keep that going and we might have a different Hervey Bay MP !!!
Like you say, they want a voice, they need to be heard ,
Then the pollies can hear their united voices .
Let’s try our damndest to give them the opportunity
What you have written above is word perfect for how we should sell it
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Geeze Corny … Next you’ll be calling me ‘ The Fixer ‘ and Prissy Pyne will be livid. 🐒
I will do what I can when needed. And am sure I can add to the GPL ranks.
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The NSW Labor Annual State Conference will be held at the Sydney Town Hall on the weekend of Saturday 13 February and Sunday 14 February 2016.
If you’re not a delegate but would like to participate, you can watch the conference as an observer by registering here.
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Hey John 🙂
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I find it more than a tad interesting to see in NZ news today, that ADANI is interested in purchasing NZ largest open cut coal mine .. The one that produces 85% of NZ export coal..,which as it happens has been left to run down ..acrue HUGE debt and lay off hundreds of workers in the last couple of months, crippling the town of Westport and surrounds. Solid Energy’s Stockton mine.. Part or wholly Aussie owned I believe, and the NZ John Key National Gov, knew it was in big trouble and watched it go into voluntary admin yesterday. I smell an enormous rat 🐀.
Does anyone have further info on this ?
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No I don`t Judes,but it sounds like a scam job of all concerned,just like here 😡
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Good Morning Truthy 🙂 and all Truthseekers 😀
JB and myself are getting GPL going along swimmingly and find that the same things we want so too does Open Labor
This compliments this “We Want Our ALP Back”page as well as those who know and understand that we`ve had our Party move away from Rank&File representation to basically a bunch of political elites from Unions mainly
Those higher ranking unionists who don`t get parachuted into the ALP end up in Corporate life doing very well there {Paul Howes Rio Tinto] being the most high profile example
What! Rio Tinto you say,no wonder kevin Rudd was up against it with the MRRT
Anyway Open Labor are active and had some wins at the ALP NatCon2015
————————————————————————————————-
Open Labor’s next Melbourne event: Labor after National Conference and before the election
Speakers and Open Mike at the North Fitzroy Star, Wednesday August 26, 7.30-9pm
National Conference was mostly a depressing failure for ALP reform. But two groups — EMILY’s List and the Labor Environment Action Network — achieved stunning results, playing a key role in decisions taken at Conference that half of all Labor MPs would be female by 2025, and half of all Australia’s energy would be sourced from renewables by 2030.
Come and hear Tanja Kovac of EMILY’s List — and former member of Open Labor’s operating group — and Matt Landolfo of LEAN talk about their long campaigns and how they succeeded. Open Labor will also give a report on conference, then we’ll throw the discussion to Open Mike and invite you to have your say on conference and where the Labor Party should be heading in the lead up to the next federal election. It’s a great chance to meet other Open Labor people and to get involved.
RSVP Here
In the lead up to the ALP conference, over 1400 people signed our petition to put pressure on Bill Shorten to commit to meaningful party reform. While the ALP clearly has a long way to go, Open Labor has asserted itself as a strong and credible voice in the debate. We received positive coverage from Michelle Grattan, the Guardian and the Conversation and the Australian. This is only the beginning!
From our blog
James Button from Open Labor’s operating group provides a rundown of national conference and what did and didn’t happen and why. In The Age, Nick Reece gives a fascinating analysis of the conference and the poor state of both political parties. From the UK, Neal Lawson from the Labour Party reform group compass writes powerfully and surprisingly optimistically — and with strong resonances for Open Labor — about the state of British Labour and where the party should go now after this year’s dismal defeat.
It looks like there’s movement at the station in food services workers getting organised, both in Melbourne and overseas. 20 year old Kahlani Pyrah has been reinstated after being unfairly sacked by Grill’d for complaining about below-award wages, and this New York Times piece offers some hope for fairer pay and conditions for food workers in the US, where a number of states have chosen to legislate a $15 minimum wage.
Rebecca Huntley speaks in Melbourne on A fair go: Australian attitudes to inequality
One of Australia’s best social researchers is giving this year’s John Button Oration at the Melbourne Writers Festival, Saturday August 22, 7pm. Rebecca Huntley is a former director of the IPSOS Mackay Mind and Mood Report and now senior editor at the Mamamia Women’s Network. She is also a good friend of Open Labor and spoke at our National Conference event on school education, Gonski Plus. Rebecca will be speaking on Australian attitudes to inequality, drawing on insights from her research conducting in-depth discussions among a wide range of Australians. It will be a great lecture. Tickets available at:
http://mwf.com.au/session/john-button-oration-rebecca-huntley-a-fair-go/
Our petition to Bill Shorten and Conference Delegates
We sent the following letter to the 1360 people who signed our change.org petition before National Conference.
Dear friend,
You signed a change.org petition in recent weeks calling for reform of the Labor Party. The petition, organized by Open Labor, was signed by five former Federal Cabinet Ministers, four former Premiers, and more than 1350 Australians. It was well covered in The Guardian, The Conversation and The Australian. A copy of the petition and some of the many powerful comments that were attached to it has been sent to Labor leader Bill Shorten.
The petition’s impact on last week’s ALP National Conference was in a narrow sense limited, since little meaningful party reform emerged from the event. The party did not take significant steps to open its membership to a wider range of Australians, reform its relationship with the labour movement or adopt more democratic and transparent methods to build support and make decisions.
But despite that, we at Open Labor see the petition as a great success. It has enabled us to get our message out to a much larger group of people, and to make more people aware of our work and that of the growing number of reformers inside the ALP. We are now writing to ask whether you would consider taking the next step and becoming more involved with Open Labor.
When signing the petition you indicated that you would like more information about Open Labor. Our regular email will give you news of our meetings and other activities in Melbourne and Sydney, our campaigns, the development of our new website, and plans to set up groups in other cities and regions as they emerge. You can reach us at info@openlabor.net.au, or come to a meeting to say hello in person.
A lot of people want the ALP to reform. As former WA Premier Geoff Gallop says: “The world is waiting for the Labor Party.” But if you agree with us that reform and renewal of the ALP is an urgent priority for Australia, don’t be one of the people who wait. We need your involvement and support to help build a more democratic, open and far-sighted Labor Party.
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http://us3.campaign-archive2.com/?u=88a2c86c9f8adbb389b390d10&id=79e23060a2&e=341005e239
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Morning Biggy 🙂
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Morning Biggy & Truthy … Yep.. GPL… Over The Rainbow, 🙂 Gets me every time. 💕
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The undemocratic conference practices set out below are what we must overturn – if we can’t outlaw/ eliminate such antidemocratic actions ruthlessly and blatantly used by factional apparatchiks we have no hope of re-claiming control of “our party”.
It is fundamental to our democratic governance that corrupt actions and practices described in the article below are rejected.
Just who is condoning the following disgracefully corrupt malpractice of internal ALP governance?
Why must we continue to accept such corruption of governance? – Doesn’t the ALP Platform count for anything??.Does it have any status at all??
The following was written by Race Mathews prior to 2015NatCon.
That no significant reforms were achieved at 2015NatCon is further damning proof that despotic factions will not release their stranglehold on the ALP.
It is time for the R&F to “strike”.
I intend to incorporate selected parts to a page in GPL.
Labor’s Not-So-Secret Ballot Process – by Race Mathews
The ALP is leading in the federal polls, but internally it is a different story.
The party continues to incur significant democratisation deficit and reputational damage
from the irresponsible and damaging conduct of its factions, and the disgraced appointees on whom in some instances they have conferred advancement.
This year will be the most important in the history of ALP reform and renewal since the intervention
spearheaded by Gough Whitlam in 1970 that cleared the way for the election of the Whitlam, Hawke and Keating governments.
Many of the party’s problems and the solutions to them have been identified in the reports of successive post-election reviews, and Bill Shorten has committed to specific reforms in the course of the leadership contest and subsequent statements, but the outcome remains in doubt.
The party faces stark choices at the National Conference in July.
It may choose to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of 15 members and supporters committed to party
democratisation and social democratic reform.
Or it may acquiesce in the continued control of its affairs by tiny coteries of self-serving factional bosses, who depend for their power on a blatant and shameless disregard for the secret ballot provisions of the party rules that enables them to predetermine the results.
Rampant trashing and subversion of the secret ballot rule has become a cancer, rotting the foundations of the party’s democracy and entrenching in its place a so-called ‘democratic centralism’ reminiscent of that which rendered us unelectable from the middle 1950s until 1972 federally and until 1982 in Victoria.
A familiar sight at the party’s conferences is factional operatives requiring delegates to show one another their completed ballot papers in order to ensure that they have voted in accordance with factional instructions.
Alternatively, delegates are required to hand over their blank ballot papers to be completed by the
operatives on their behalf.
Also to be seen at the early stages of conferences is queuing up by nominal delegates who attend for the sole purpose of receiving ballot papers, which they then turn over for completion by the operatives before leaving the venue and taking no further part in the proceedings.
A common complaint by delegates is that they have been coerced by factions into voting for candidates other than those of their choice.
Behaviours of so abusive character are compounded by the use of mobile phones, which enable factional bosses absent from voting places to convey instructions to the operatives, and directly constrain members in the exercise of their secret ballot entitlement.
The surrender of ballot papers in circumstances where plainly it is not voluntary defeats the whole point and purpose of a secret ballot, which is to make sure that the person entitled to vote can do so without fear of consequences if they vote in a way which is not agreeable to another person.
Such interference would not be tolerated in the conduct of any parliamentary election.
Any parliamentary election Returning Officer shown to have failed to intervene in the face of it would be sacked.
Likewise it is a flagrant breech of both the letter and intention of the party’s Rule 4.3, which reads:
“Election’ means election by secret ballot using the optional preferential system of proportional
representation provided in Schedule D”.
No ‘ifs’. No ‘buts’. No ambiguity.
Factions are entitled to seek compliance by their members with their directives through their internal processes.
There is no right on their part to do so at the expense of the party’s integrity and adherence to the secrecy requirements to which its rules so plainly give expression.
The party would be ill-advised to sit on its hands collectively, in the hope or expectation that it will be delivered from its present predicament by a new Whitlam, as occurred in 1970.
The secret ballot is a hard-won right and crowning achievement, secured through untiring and
frequently embittered struggle by successive generations of Labour Movement activists.
Its adoption in Australia ahead of all but a handful of other countries has caused it to be known widely as ‘the Australian ballot’.
It remains for the current generation of ALP members to secure its reinstatement within the party and ensure that it is passed on unimpaired to those who come after us.
Meanwhile, rules changes seeking to target on a case-by-case basis the infringements through which the secrecy of party ballots is rorted and subverted were submitted for debate at the Victorian ALP’s Special Rules Conference on 28 March.
That the item was not reached is a sad commentary on the cynical and self-serving factional ploy of limiting of the conference proceedings to a single day, when at least two and ideally three days were necessary to properly complete the agenda.
Factions have a legitimate role to play in the Party – so long as they remain ‘on tap but not on top’.
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John, speaking as a life-long supporter (still) and currently an ex-member of the party, I am on record both within and outside the Party, as stating the exact same thing as Race Mathews, but nowhere near as concise and as eloquently as he has.
I think we all know what political parties are called if they are made up of members solely from one faction or another. Differing views and ideas from as many as possible, debated and considered sensibly, resulting in good policy, is how all political parties should operate, in my opinion. It`s how democracy works. No country is made up of people who think the same on every issue. ORGANISED factions, as outlined by Race Mathews above is trying to do just that. I.E. ( We don`t care what you think or believe is right, YOU will vote how the (insert faction) tells you to vote ).
Having spoken against that system in all my time in the Party I eventually realised that it is amazing how good it feels when one stops hitting ones head against a brick wall when you stop doing it.
I sincerely wish you all well in trying to sort this mess out.
The last line of Race Mathews` comments says it so well ‘ Factions have a legitimate role to play in the Party — so long as they remain ‘on tap but not on top’
Cheers and good luck.
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Hello Consider you old SAGE 🙂
You don`t often come out but when you do we know you`ve been here
Join our lumping on all Tories because from what I see you fit in “Who We Are”
http://www.photoonica.com/image/Li4vbWVkaWEtdGVtcC9oSW1rYlRHLTAuZ2lm
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Morning Biggy 🙂
The site’s looking good mate 😀
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Thanks mate,
I`m now delving into the blog page and all it`s functions and what other apps need adding etc,Sheesh it really is that close to being dumped a box full of jigsaw puzzle pieces and no picture to go with 😆
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I know what you mean 🙄
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Biggy, you are welcome to use my comments if you think they will help the cause.
Cheers.
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Please have a look at the Who We Are page as I`m after a heartfelt contribution from a lifelong supporter and ex member,just like you 😆
You can use your “Consider” Avatar mate because we don`t want any right faction goonz dropping by for a visit 😯
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Keep playing nice Biggy 🐒 The site is looking REALLY good and very inviting.
That heartfelt and very special addition to page three from Fran is the icing on our GPL cake. You have been on a huge learning curve, your scrambled brain and many hours of work will be ALL worth it … the light at the end of the tunnel is NOT a train! 🙂
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Good morning Judes 🙂 and just when don`t I play nice 😆
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Judes.
That page 3 item was from someone called Francesca
Don’t know if I know her 😉
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😦
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Consider, as one of the Labor elders your comments are always to the point and direct .
I would love to hear your story because what I learn from those who have fought the good fight for Labor are the ones I gain my inspiration from, and a historical perspective of the party from the point of view of every day members .
Would it be possible you for you to put the wisdom of your years of experience into a short essay for the GPL site ?
I don’t even qualify for membership, but do want GPL to be a success, not just for the good it can do, but to record in some manner, the direct experiences and history of members .
It could be a great educative tool for younger members, gaining first hand knowledge from those that have been there and done that .
Your story would be a perfect addition to GPLs “who we are”
Again, to all my GPL friends, sorry for butting in but I do see some real good eminating from an effective and forceful site that can be an all inclusive gathering point for all ALP seniors, able to impart the wisdom of their years, and first hand experiences
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Morning Fran 🙂
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Good morning Truthseeker .
Another study day, but I must tell you of a little conference call I was involved in this morning that makes me wonder if all my study and the huge debt hanging over my head was worth it .
Corny is away till tomorrow , so He, I , A bunch from HO , and some from a Union were involved in the call.
A SDA stooge kept having a go at a mature aged female who was also involved in the call.
Now Corny must have got up on the wrong side of the bed , because he had had enough of the SDA idiot .
To use his words as best I can remember “Listen you frigging idiot, if you keep up attacking Ms XXXXXX I will jam my foot so far up your arse that when you smile you’ll have toes instead of teeth ”
After we all stopped laughing, and SDA went silent , I realised I would now need to go back and do the revision of the human anatomy.
Still I guess it beats studying the life cycle of Mexican trotting ducks :-{
{thanks Corny and Biggy}
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Thanks for that Fran 🙂 I needed a good chuckle 😆 and I can just see Cornie saying it too 😀
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Trotting ducks and from Mexico,sheeze never knew they had em 😆
They tell me eating Mexican food can have some strange effects though 😯
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Hello Fran, thanks for your interest and comment.
I don`t know whether I could do as you suggest and put my experiences in the Union movement and the ALP on a public site. To give any credence to my story, I would have to name names otherwise it what appear in the eyes of some to be just a vindictive rant by a disillusioned Union and Party hack.
Suffice to say that the “organised” factional system operates just as well !!!!! in the Unions as in the ALP, and not ever having joined a faction in either group, the penalty was severe. When I desperately needed the support of my Union in the court system during a compensation claim it was not forthcoming. It took me 6 years to win my case in the AAT and the Federal Court, and surprise, surprise the Union then offered to pay my costs. On principle, I refused.
I must admit though, when that offer was made the main instigators of the Union refusing to assist me, had departed as office bearers
I don`t want anyone to take what I have said as a criticism of my Union, but an example of how the organised factions can have a devastating effect on people. During that period I never publicly talked down the Union movement, but I certainly talked down the thugs who controlled the various factions. Later on, I had the pleasure of going face to face at an Executive meeting of my Union where I addressed the main faction leaders personally.
Believe me, by allowing me that privilege, that saved a lot of people a lot of grief.
Fran ,since retiring I have been involved in various organisations, Presidents of a few, and I can say that, yes, factions exist in them too, and it used to give me great pleasure in practicing what I preached by preventing any faction becoming organised to the extent of them causing damage to the organisation as a whole.
One doesn`t have to be a dictator to do this. Just let people put there case and if the idea is good for the majority, so be it.
My good wife has been at me for years to write my memoirs and I resisted, but you know what they say “happy wife, happy life” so I`ve started and what I can`t say here Fran will be in my memoir.
Cheers 🙂
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Consider,
Thank you for your reply .
I do appreciate your comment and agree with you about the factional issues .
I do consider myself of the Left and support almost all Left initiatives , and do have some good mentors from the Left, however at times I do vote with and support the Right factions. .I don’t see myself s some starry eyed follower.
I am for an all inclusive, strong Party with good policy and direction.
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Fran/Consider
By chance, I read your exchange immediately after reading the judgement in the Jackson matter.
Justice Tracey includes a significant part of Jackson’s evidence relative to faction within the union movement and it seemed fortuitously timed.
The case citation is “Health Services Union v Jackson (No 4) [2015] FCA 865 (19 August 2015)”. I find the easiest access to be google austlii -> Commonwealth, -> Federal Court.
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Hey Frank 🙂 Hope you’re travelling ok mate 🙂
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Thanks Fran, those few words of yours encapsulates the points I`ve been making for years.
Cheers. 🙂
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Oop consider I had the mouse pre loaded with a different url meant for Truthy`s eyes only [until he was ready]
Here`s the one mate
http://www.greypowerlabor.com/
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Morning Consider 🙂 I hope you and the lovely Considerette are doing well 😀
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I replied to you mate, but it disappeared into the ether. I`ll try again.
All is well with us, but I`ve got another bout of the dreaded bronchitis again. Off to the quack again today.
You are still doing a good job bashing the tories, but I don`t think you will have to worry for too much longer. If ever a Government was in a terminal deadly tail-spin, it`s this one. Good to see.
Cheers 🙂
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Sorry to hear you’re battling the dreaded Bronchitis again mate 😦
Hope you can get on top of it soon 🙂
Yes mate, it certainly looks terminal for idiot boy and his cohorts, we’ve just got to wait for Gina to hit hi C 😯 for the grand finalé 😉
Take care mate 🙂
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Just wondering if there is any chance of a Truthseeker poem on GPL Who We Are .
I’m sure he has a story to tell with all his online experience and knowledge of all things political
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Hey Fran 🙂 I’ve been thinking about that for the last couple of days, 😯 and already have a few ideas 😀
I’m not sure about a story to tell 😦 , but I was certainly thinking along the lines of the stories we collectively have to tell, and the experiences we have to share 😉 along the lines of “Francesca’s” fine post 🙂
I’ve certainly got enough grey in my beard to qualify 😯 and as I’ve already told Biggy, will be happy to help where I can 🙂 , although my health is slowing me down a lot of late 😡
But I’m sure I’ll come up with something over the next week or so, all being well 😉
Will keep you posted 😉
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Thanks for that link Frank, I`ll check it out.
Cheers.
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I think this need to be here, in full
“The National mood is shifting. Australians deserve better than a Prime Minister who wants to make them afraid of the future”
– Bill Shorten
Dear Fran,
Lets make Tony Abbott ‘One Term Tony’.
We’re officially putting the call out for volunteers and campaign activists to join Labor, and Advance Australia into the future.
Are you in ?
We can’t afford Mr Abbott’s attacks on Medicare and his cuts to pensions, schools, hospitals and universities. We can’t allow Australia to have a Prime Minister who thinks climate change is “absolute crap”, who welcomes the return of WorkChoices, and who refuses to act on the social issues that will shape a generation.
This is a call out to people like you, who care about the future of Australia. We need your help, and we need it now.
Never has the contrast been more stark, between a Labor Party focused on the future and a Liberal Party stuck in the past.
Labor’s vision for the future is a positive one:
50% renewable energy by 2030
an emissions trading scheme (ETS) to tackle carbon pollution
jobs of the future for a workforce that doesn’t have to fear the reintroduction of WorkChoices
50:50 gender representation in our parliaments by 2025
marriage equality
no $100,00 uni degrees and yes to a TAFE funding guarantee
doubling Australia’s refugee intake
protecting Medicare and our public hospitals
recognising Indigenous Australians in our constitution
There is a way that you can help Labor deliver all these things, plus more. It’s simple just say, “I’m In!”
Together, we can change Australia. But we need people like you, who are willing to fight for the change they want to see.
Register here, become a campaign supporter, and join the fight to help us Advance Australia.
Thanks
Tanya Plibersek M.P.
AND , register on Grey Power Labor to assist the fight from there
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Hi Bighead you said “I’m In!” we have you down as a volunteer. 😆
http://act.nswlabor.org.au/volunteer?utm_campaign=imin2016intro_2&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nswlabor
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Bloody hell Fran must be getting to my conscience because I loved Stephen Conroy`s Senate speech on Tuesday[the friggin right faction rat he is]
I even loved when he omitted Kevin Rudd as a target by TURC and Abbott
But still it is attacking JG and BS {geeze the BS bit brings a 😆 ] but how I wish he would have laid on the Kathy Jackson bit as well
Still all in all a commendable performance 6.75 out of 10,over to you Margaret
Thank you David,
Look he coughed a little too much for my liking and that broke my train of thought
Also you could see he skipped his elocution class by dragging his vowels,a crisper pronunciation would have been far more enlightening
But David he did easily show that Dyson Heyson is totally unfit for his role as Royal Commissioner
I give Stephen an 8 and if his elocution and less coughing had of been better he would have gotten a 9.5
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I have to grab you while you have that feeling,
try this
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And this
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I actually don`t half mind Tony Burke
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Oh my Gourdfarmer I understand that not all right faction require slow roasting over an open fire Fran but you have to throw me a few as my pack of baying gums want to gnaw
Surely we can keep chewing on Joe Bullock can`t we?
Mark Deryfus is an elder Statesman and more than a conscience of the right because he`s fair minded,must work on him 😆
I do know they are listening more than in the past and really the NatCon was good except for R&F reform which they know will usurp the right`s dominance
You want to see some of the little old ladies subscribing emails as one today thought I`m too old but hey there`s plenty of fight left in this old dog 😯
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Just one to dream on, and from a damned SDA factioner as well 😀
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That went terribly wrong, this is the correct Youtube clip
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Yes I don`t know how the SDA got her but hey,Kate should do the decent thing and help repair some of the great mess her and Conroy were part of creating
But I do notice with every right faction speaker how they don`t mention Rudd except for in conjunction with Swan over the GFC
Also I understand todays politics is an “at the moment” in the polls reality
I feel much better now thank you Fran 🙂
Also Rudd`s rule may yet be the great settling factor in that 60% of the Caucus are needed for a spill vote`
But Fran Labor does itself no favours in trying to make Rudd invisible or his deeds unspoken because history already shows his changes to Australian society and public infrastructure second only to Gough
That speech where Ellis mentions Gonski is good but it`s development came from Rudd`s Education Revolution and Ellis was part of that and carried the work forward with Shorten to Gillard
End of rant
Crumlin could do stand up,no probs 😆
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@ Biggie. The new site is looking great. Made me think that if every one of those who marched in the Vietnam moratorium still has their moral compass intact, you could be onto a good thing here. We had the dream and we still have the dream. I never felt such solidarity with others as in that time and I hope we can recreate it in our times. Keep up the good work!
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Hey Dee 🙂
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Thanks Dee and I`ve also got some excellent comrades assisting in many ways
If enough folk give their testimonials it may be enough to really force the issue and we win at the next NatCon
Statewise we doing a bit better because here in WA us R&F get a say in pre-selections
I don`t agree with the 12 month waiting period for members because it`s not reciprocal with union membership [this is one of the biggest branch stacking methods]
But that is in our sights and GPL couldn`t have a better person looking after that line of inquiry then JohnB
If you feel like sharing a testimonial or an example of Labor in your life-use an Avatar if you wish because we don`t want the right faction nabbing any of ours mate 😆 >
http://www.greypowerlabor.com/#!lets_talk/con8
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Thanks Biggie. I joined your mailing list but as I’m not a current ALP member, it wouldn’t feel right. Maybe when I retire, I’ll join but presently unable to pull my weight due to work commitments. I was a member in the Whitlam years, of a branch called South Canning River, which supported the election of John (Joe) Dawkins. (Tangney) Those were heady days, esp on election nights. Makes me wonder how many others of us are just basically surviving til retirement as they expect more and more productivity and sacrifice of personal time. If the Labor boomers seem apathetic, they’re probably just exhausted.
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Anthony Albanese’s waiting game
Date
August 29, 2015 – 12:15AM
248 reading nowRead later
Jane Cadzow
Anthony Albanese was – and still is – the people’s choice for Labor leader. Could the knockabout MP with a boutique beer named after him.
Anthony Albanese wearing his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league jersey in Marrickville, part of his inner-west Sydney electorate of Grayndler.
Anthony Albanese wearing his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league jersey in Marrickville, part of his inner-west Sydney electorate of Grayndler. Photo: Nic Walker
Five days after Labor’s thumping defeat in the 2013 federal election, Anthony Albanese went to Canberra for a meeting with his demoralised parliamentary colleagues. The man seen by some as the conscience of the party had decided to stand for its leadership, but when he got off the plane in the national capital, he found himself having second thoughts. He felt flat and tired. Was he really the right person to restore Labor’s fortunes? “There was self-doubt,” he says.
Which, to Albanese, seemed problematic in itself. Self-doubt was not a quality he associated with leaders. Having been a cabinet minister in the governments of both Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, Labor’s last two prime ministers, he knew that if they had one thing in common, it was an unswerving belief that they were tailor-made for the top job. Bill Shorten, who had already declared himself a leadership candidate, evidently had that same sense of destiny. Friends of Shorten’s reported that his sights had been fixed firmly on The Lodge since he was at university.
He understands what it’s like to be poor. There aren’t many in the modern Labor Party who’ve ever experienced it.
But Albanese? “You won’t find anyone who says that I said to them, ‘I might be leader one day.’ Let alone, ‘I will be leader one day,’ ” he says. “When I was at uni, I thought if I could have been on Sydney City Council, that would be high political office.” As he agonised over whether to run against Shorten, he wondered whether his personality type ruled him out of contention – “because I don’t have the ‘destiny’ thing”.
Albanese with his mother, Maryanne, and wife, Carmel Tebbutt, in Sydney at Labor’s 2001 federal election campaign launch.
Albanese with his mother, Maryanne, and wife, Carmel Tebbutt, in Sydney at Labor’s 2001 federal election campaign launch. Photo: Courtesy of Anthony Albanese
At Canberra airport, Albanese climbed into a Commonwealth car for the final leg of his journey to Parliament House. On the way, he took a call from Tom Uren, former federal minister and revered elder statesman of the Labor movement. Uren was not just a mentor but a father figure to Albanese, who vividly remembers their conversation. “Tom said, ‘So, are you running?’ I said, ‘Oh, look.’ He said, ‘What’s the problem?’ I said, ‘I’m not sure I want to do this. I’m not sure I want to be the leader of the Labor Party, basically.’ ”
Uren made clear to Albanese that it was not the time for soul-searching. “He said, ‘You have a responsibility, comrade. You’re ready. You’re the best candidate. It’s the right thing to do. And they’re crazy if they don’t vote for you.’ ”
The ensuing contest between Albanese and Shorten was the first in Labor’s history in which ordinary party members had a say in the choice of federal leader. Albanese comfortably won the popular ballot, attracting 60 per cent of the more than 30,000 votes cast. But equal weight was given to the ballot of the 86 members of Caucus – that is, Labor’s federal parliamentarians – and Shorten won 64 per cent of those votes, thereby becoming Opposition leader. “I think my concession speech was really bloody good,” Albanese says. “I was positive towards Bill. I gave him absolutely clear air.”
Albanese with (from left) Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard in 2008.
Albanese with (from left) Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard in 2008. Photo: Andrew Meares
I ask how Uren, who died aged 93 earlier this year, had reacted to the result. “Oh, he was angry,” Albanese replies with a laugh. “He was angry.”
The national affairs editor of The Age, Tony Wright, once observed that Albanese wore his clothes with “all the panache of a union organiser from the 1950s”. When I meet the 52-year-old federal member for Grayndler at his electorate office in inner-western Sydney, I see what Wright meant. There is nothing wrong with the navy suit. It’s just that, even after all these years on the national stage – he entered federal parliament in 1996 – Albanese is one of those men who seem slightly ill at ease in a collar and tie. To look at him is to know that he has played a lot of pool in tile-walled pubs and that his natural attire is a rugby league supporter’s jersey. His face is round, his hair is thinning, his manner is cheery and direct. “Journalist,” he says, alerting his staff to my arrival. “So no f…ing swearing.”
Labor has been in an election-winning position in opinion polls since almost immediately after Tony Abbott’s Liberal-National coalition government took office. But that seems to be due more to the Coalition’s unpopularity than to anything Bill Shorten has done. A Fairfax-Ipsos poll two weeks ago indicated that only four in 10 voters approved of the way Shorten was handling his job. Earlier this month, when respondents in a ReachTEL poll were asked who they would most like to see as Labor leader, just 25 per cent nominated Shorten. The winner was Albanese, with 40 per cent of the vote. (Deputy leader Tanya Plibersek came second, with 35 per cent.)
Albanese with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in Parliament House in May.
Albanese with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in Parliament House in May. Photo: Andrew Meares
To his friend Paul Murphy, chief executive of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the esteem in which Albanese is held seems, if anything, to be on the rise. “I’ve noticed lately that when you go anywhere with Anthony, there are people wanting to take pictures with him all the time,” says Murphy. The other thing that happens?
“People yell out, ‘Albo!’, ” admits Albanese, who has had the nickname since boyhood but is still growing accustomed to hearing it hollered in the street. The whole world calls him Albo these days, he says, sounding half-bemused, half-chuffed. “I introduce myself to people as Anthony and they go, ‘Yes, Albo.’ ” (When I mention to acquaintances that I am writing about Albanese, this is how they respond: “Albo!”)
Former Labor MP Maxine McKew isn’t surprised that Albanese won the rank-and-file vote in the leadership contest. “I think the Labor membership sees Albo as a very authentic figure,” she says. “Authentically Labor. They like the grit; the rough-diamond stuff.” That lack of polish appeals to people right across the political spectrum, contends Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie. At a time when politicians are widely perceived as being all spin and self-interest, “it’s refreshing to see someone like Albo who still stands for something,” Wilkie says. “He’s a good, old-fashioned leftie. He speaks from the heart. And he fights for what he believes.”
Albanese with Labor elder statesman and mentor Tom Uren in 2010.
Albanese with Labor elder statesman and mentor Tom Uren in 2010. Photo: Simon Alekna
Albanese tells me his single mother brought him up to have three great faiths – “the Catholic church, the South Sydney football club and Labor”. He no longer goes to mass, but has remained fiercely loyal to the Rabbitohs (he played a significant role in the campaign to rescue the club after it was dropped from the NRL premiership competition in 1999). And his political allegiance has never wavered. “I don’t have just an intellectual attachment to the Labor Party,” he says. “It’s part of who I am.”
The first person in his immediate family to finish school to year 12, Albanese is regarded as one of Labor’s smartest tacticians and most rousing debaters. “Our best parliamentary performer,” says former Labor defence minister, Stephen Smith, who has become aware since returning to civilian life of the breadth of Albanese’s appeal: “People say to me, ‘I saw you with Albo. He’s a good bloke.’ Everyone likes Albo.”
On the floor of the House of Representatives, Albanese uses humour to withering effect. Prime Minister Abbott is a favourite target (“In your guts, you know he’s nuts”) but no one on the conservative benches is safe. Says McKew: “He is a hardened political warrior. He plays the game as tough as anybody.”
With Tebbutt in June this year, attending the Midwinter Ball at Parliament House.
With Tebbutt in June this year, attending the Midwinter Ball at Parliament House. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
So people took notice when Albanese fought back tears at a media conference in early 2012. It was 20 months after factional leaders including Bill Shorten had ambushed Kevin Rudd, replacing the first-term Labor prime minister with his deputy, Julia Gillard. Rudd was mounting a challenge against his former deputy, trying to get his job back, and Albanese – who had opposed Rudd’s ousting – announced that he would support him. Rudd had been treated unfairly, he told the assembled reporters. And the subsequent sniping between the Rudd and Gillard camps was tearing Labor apart. Struggling to express his despair and frustration, Albanese said: “I like fighting Tories. That’s what I do.”
So simple and heartfelt was the message, and so strongly did it resonate with Labor voters, that T-shirts soon appeared with the words emblazoned across the front. These are still manufactured, and quickly sold out at a Labor fundraiser in Melbourne in May. (Also moving briskly were T-shirts printed with a flattering picture of a much younger Albanese – the so-called “Hot Albo” photo, above right – which went viral on social media a couple of years ago.) Albanese, who was DJ for the evening, played tracks by a selection of his favourite bands, from the Pixies and the Killers to the Celibate Rifles. That event was such a hit that he pulled on his black bomber jacket again last month, reprising his DJ role at the Newtown Social Club in Sydney. This time, the queue for entry stretched down the street. “We don’t know how many people tried to get in,” Albanese says, “but somewhere between 600 and 800.” He pauses. “To listen to me play stuff I like on a Friday night. It’s an odd world.”
In mid-July, Albanese attended the launch of “Albo” beer, produced by a microbrewery in his electorate. “The people’s choice!” said brewer Pat McInerney, raising his glass. A few weeks later, McInerney tells me that he is struggling to make enough of the pale corn ale to keep up with demand. “We thought it would stay local,” he says, “but no, it’s gone berserk actually. We’ve had inquiries from all over Australia.” Call it the Albo effect. “He’s quite the cult figure.”
The “hot” Albanese in 1989.
The “hot” Albanese in 1989.
For Albanese, the political is always personal. As infrastructure and transport minister under Rudd and Gillard, he committed a huge sum – $7.6 billion – to upgrading the Pacific Highway, which links Sydney and Brisbane. “To me, it was the most important road safety project in Australia,” he says. And to his family, the death toll on the notoriously dangerous route was more than a statistic: before he was born, his cousin, Anthony Howett, had been killed in an accident on the highway.
“I was named after him,” says Albanese, who grew up in public housing in Camperdown, in Sydney’s inner west. His mother, Maryanne, had met his Italian father, Carlo Albanese, while travelling in Europe in her mid-20s. Anthony never knew Carlo, but in an era when births outside marriage were referred to as “illegitimate”, Maryanne adopted his surname for herself and her son. The modest townhouse in which she raised Anthony, first occupied by her own parents, was Maryanne’s home for her entire life.
Albanese’s long-time partner is the recently retired Labor NSW state parliamentarian and former deputy premier, Carmel Tebbutt. They married in 2000, and have a 14-year-old son, Nathan. “I’ve got a wonderful wife, who’s much too good for me,” Albanese says. But Maryanne is the woman he credits with having done most to shape him. “She just loved him so much,” says Paul Murphy. “And he loved her so much. They were a really, really tight unit.”
Anthony Albanese at the Henson Park Hotel in Marrickville.
Anthony Albanese at the Henson Park Hotel in Marrickville. Photo: Nic Walker
Maryanne suffered from crippling rheumatoid arthritis, which hospitalised her for long stretches. From the age of 12, Albanese, her only child, spent weeks at a time living on his own. When his mother was home, he acted as her carer. By the time he started studying economics at Sydney University, Maryanne’s joints were so swollen and her fingers so misshapen that he had to cut up her food for her.
A university friend who came to dinner described the situation to his own mother, who worked for an orthopaedic surgeon. The specialist agreed to see Maryanne. “And that changed my mum’s life,” Albanese says. “He operated. Reconstructed her feet, so she could walk properly, and her hands, so that she could use them. It took a few years, the whole exercise. But it made an enormous difference to her.”
Former Labor senator Graham Richardson says of Albanese: “He understands what it’s like to be poor. There aren’t many in the modern Labor Party who’ve ever experienced it.” Albanese insists that at no stage during his childhood did he think of himself as deprived. Maryanne managed her pension so carefully that she paid bills before they were due and never fell behind with her rent. He worked as a paper-boy for extra income. “We didn’t have anything, but we didn’t want for anything, either,” he says.
Still, Albanese has always seen himself as an advocate for the disadvantaged. A leader of Labor’s Left faction, he was furious to learn just before the 2012 federal budget that prime minister Gillard had decided to move single mothers and fathers off parenting payments when their children turned eight, and onto the lower Newstart allowance for job seekers.
At a fiery Cabinet meeting, he said he could not support such a measure. Last month, at Labor’s national conference, Albanese fought unsuccessfully against Bill Shorten’s push to give future Labor governments permission to turn back asylum seekers’ boats. Albanese said he personally couldn’t send a vessel full of desperate people back to sea, so could not endorse a policy that asked others to do it.
“He will always have a solid countervailing opinion when one’s needed,” says Bruce Hawker, a political strategist and the chairman of Campaigns and Communications Group. “If the party looks like it’s steering off course, you can be sure that Albo will be tying himself to the wheel, trying to bring it back on course.”
The Right faction usually has the numbers but Albanese is skilled at back-room bargaining. Also, he is prepared to make compromises. “I think he walks that line between idealist and pragmatic politician,” Hawker says. “Which is exactly what Tom Uren did.”
Graham Richardson’s former role as a power-broker for the party’s Right faction often put him on the opposite side of the negotiating table from Albanese. “In all my dealings with him, never once did he rat on a deal,” Richardson says. “You know when you shake hands with Anthony that the deal will stick, even if it’s uncomfortable for him to keep it.”
Apart from that, Richardson has always enjoyed his company: “I grew up in the Labor party with a Left completely devoid of humour. Then along comes a bloke with warmth and a heart and a very keen wit.”
Meredith Burgmann, former Labor president of the NSW Legislative Council, puts it this way: “You’re glad when he arrives at a party: ‘It’ll be fun now.’ ” But it is the principled, plain-speaking aspect of Albanese’s character that Burgmann appreciates most. “He never gives you the feeling that he’s ‘managing’ his persona,” she says. “He’s a politician of conviction, which is what people are crying out for.” Well, not all people. “He’s made terrible enemies along the way.”
Of the 86 Labor MPs and senators who voted in the leadership contest, 47 were members of Shorten’s Right faction, 36 were members of Albanese’s Left faction, and three were non-aligned. If all 36 from the Left had voted for Albanese, he would have won 41 per cent of the Caucus ballot – which would have been enough, when combined with his 60 per cent of the general membership’s vote, to see him elected opposition leader. But he got only 31 votes.
“If I was one of those left-wingers who hadn’t voted for him in the leadership ballot in the Caucus, I would be watching my back,” says federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne, who appears weekly with Albanese on Nine’s Today show. “Actually, I wouldn’t have to watch my back, because Anthony would come from the front. But I’d be protecting my weak spots.”
Within Labor, crossing Albanese has long been regarded as risky. For all his humanity, there is something steely underneath (“I’d never want to fall foul of him,” says Maxine McKew), and as a faction leader, he has influence over the allocation of such prizes as jobs on Labor’s front bench.
He tells me he has no hard feelings about the ballot: “There are probably people who think I’m upset with them. I’m not.” Yet two members of the Left reported to have voted against him – former ministers Warren Snowdon and Kate Lundy – were subsequently left out of the opposition shadow ministry.
My attempts to speak to those on the Left who supported Shorten are unsuccessful: they don’t return my calls. Albanese helpfully suggests that if I’m looking for negative comment about him, I should contact his old adversary Martin Ferguson, the former Labor resources minister who now works as a lobbyist for the oil and gas industries: “He’ll tell you what a f…ing arsehole I am.” I leave a message for Ferguson, but he doesn’t call back, either.
Albanese doubts he had met a Liberal voter until he got to university. In his neighbourhood, he says, attending meetings of the Camperdown branch of the Labor Party was “just one of the things you did: church on Sunday, bingo on Monday, branch on Tuesday.” He joined the party at 15, and by 22 was Young Labor’s NSW president. “He was a very effective and capable activist – a standout,” says Labor luminary John Faulkner.
After working as a research officer for Uren, who later wrote of developing “a kind of fatherly love for him”, Albanese was elected assistant secretary of Labor’s NSW branch in 1989, at the age of 26. It was a time of open warfare between the party’s Left and the Right, he says, “and I was the only left-winger in an office of 20 people”. He returned from a study tour to the US to find his office had been shifted to a glass-walled enclosure in the middle of the floor, where his colleagues could keep an eye on him. He and a team of friends dismantled the renovations. “I wasn’t going to be pushed around by anyone.”
Elected to federal parliament on his 33rd birthday, Albanese said in his maiden speech that his mother had instilled in him a strong commitment to social justice. “I would like to see all of Australia’s wealthiest individuals and companies pay their fair share of taxation,” he said. At Maryanne’s funeral six years later, in 2002, he remembered how proudly she had watched from the gallery: “The glow from her smile lit up the House of Representatives.”
If only Maryanne had been around to see Albanese call the shots in the chamber during Labor’s two terms in office from 2007. As leader of the house, essentially the government’s chief parliamentary strategist, he played a particularly critical role during the three years of the Gillard-led minority government.
Many had predicted its early collapse, says independent MP Andrew Wilkie, “but it proved to be very stable and very reformist. And that stability was due to Albo more than anyone else. He was masterful at holding the hung parliament together. From day one, he established a good working relationship with every cross-bencher.”
One of those cross-benchers, former NSW independent Tony Windsor, says he admired Albanese’s willingness to put aside his personal feelings in the interests of getting things done: “He was clearly a Rudd man, but no one worked harder for Gillard.”
When Rudd finally got back the prime ministership in June 2013, three months before the election everyone knew Labor would lose, he asked Albanese to be his deputy. For the three-time winner of the Australian Parliament Snooker Championship, it was a thrilling addition to the CV. “I was deputy prime minister!” Albanese says, still incredulous. And more excitement was to come. Last October, Souths won the rugby league grand final for the first time in 43 years. Albanese and his mother had been in the crowd to see the 1971 victory. He and his son were at the 2014 match. Nathan barracked wildly. “I cried a lot,” Albanese says.
His present title is opposition spokesman for infrastructure, transport, cities and tourism. One thing Albanese likes about not being in government is that he gets to spend more time in his electorate: he has always adored grassroots politics.
One evening, I go along to a community meeting he has called to discuss the Coalition’s proposed changes to higher education. Fewer than 40 people turn up – it is one of the coldest nights of the year – but Albanese radiates interest and enthusiasm, listening intently to everything that is said. Before vacating the freezing hall, he and his staff stack a couple of hundred plastic chairs. “That was terrific!” he says, as he heads to his car.
A former NSW Labor parliamentarian tells me she understands why the younger Albanese didn’t see himself as having the makings of a party leader. “He would have said he wasn’t good-looking enough, or tall enough, didn’t have the gravitas,” she says. In her opinion, this has been an advantage to him. “In many ways, he’s been freer to be himself. Freer to be honest. Freer not to worry too much about whether his tie is straight or his suit is beautiful. That’s a very big plus, both in terms of public image and also, probably, in terms of living with yourself.”
In fact, Albanese admits to having embarked on a little self-improvement: braces and dental implants have fixed his “terrible working-class teeth”. Discussing the Labor leadership, I say in passing that I know he has declared himself unavailable. “I haven’t said that,” he corrects me. “What I’ve said is, Bill Shorten will lead us to the election.” He adds: “I think the Labor Party has learned a lesson about destabilisation of leaders, and where that leads. So everyone is working with a common interest.”
I remind him that during the leadership contest, he said he believed he was best-placed to beat the Coalition. “I ran because I thought I was the best candidate for the Labor Party,” he agrees. And yes, he knows some still hold that view. “Someone put something up the other day saying, ‘I support Albo MP being leader because he’s the one they fear.’ ”
Christopher Pyne says of Albanese: “I think he’s still campaigning for the leadership. He’s busily softening his image with all this DJing and that kind of caper.” Rules introduced by Rudd make it difficult for a federal Labor leader to be challenged between elections, but as Meredith Burgmann points out, it’s anyone guess what the future holds. Will Albo MP ever be Albo PM? “I’ve still got my fingers crossed,” Burgmann says.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/anthony-albaneses-waiting-game
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That link gives me a re-direct to SMH “Wireless charging for Dell’s Latitude Z”.
This one works better: http://www.theage.com.au/good-weekend/anthony-albaneses-waiting-game-20150817-gj0i66.html
Albo’s our next PM I think – he will give the ALP fresh life on so many fronts, not least of which is internal democratic reform.
His word means something.
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Great to spend time with David H Petraeus in #Canberra talking US-Australia relations & shared challenges #ausdef
Now Petraeus is a crim and Feeney is a protected information source for the US State department whilst Michael Danby would have Bibi Nethanyahu writhing Australia`s policies if he could
And these are two Labor MP`s
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Report from Open Labor’s August meeting:
“Here is the audio for our last meeting. In line with our desire to keep debate open and democratic, we are planing to make recordings of all our meetings. In August we heard from Tanya Kovac of Emily’s List and Matt Landolfo of the Labor Environment Action Newtwork (LEAN) about their successful strategies in achieving reform at national conference. These are fascinating and instructive speeches.”
It is a rather long recording (1H:22M) with sometimes low level audio, but worth hearing.
For those short on time I recommend:
James Button gives OpenLabors report on 2015 NatCon – from 08m:20s to 16m:00s,
Discussion on factions and democratic reform in last 22mins.
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Hello Truthy (and all),
hope you are coping ok with life’s recent harsh realities.
May time heal the pain.
I have posted this here because it is the course I believe the courage Bernie Sanders is demonstrating in this address is the course the ALP must follow if it is to remain relevant to the Australian people.
It is unacceptable for the ALP to continue down the road accommodating neocon conservatism.
It is time for a real leader to take over – to forcefully state a renewed direction towards democratic socialism for Australia. Socialism is NOT a dirty word – as much as the neocons present it in that way.
The set of youtube videos embedded in this article are worth listening to – the message is universal I believe.
Neocon radicals have diverted our objectives of governance onto a track that leads to catastrophe – both social and economic.
Albo…where are you? Duty calls !!!!
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/11/19/democratic-socialism-let-us-finish-what-fdr-and-mlk-started
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Morning John 🙂
Mate, slowly getting on top of things 🙂 although the night time oxygen is still giving me crap, with not much sleep 😡
Hope all’s well with you and yours 🙂
Cheers mate 😀
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I’m doing OK here Truthy – just over a bout of flu, first day I’ve felt decent for a week or so.
My teen kids have finished school exams -homework/study has relented at last.
Results so far put them near top of their class, so am satisfied with their efforts too.
Life’s good here at the moment.
Now… ….if we could only get the ALP to address the reality of the slowmotion trainsmash inflicted on the ALP by corrupt cabals of rightwing neocon groupthinkers.
It is now a “them” vs “us” battle – and they’re winning, so Australia loses.
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Glad to hear all’s well, especially after a bout of the flu
Yes mate, it’s always good when the kids are doing well 🙂
And like you, I wish the ALP would up their game 😡 but then Turdball doesn’t have a lot going for him other than a change in rhetoric and the MSM 🙄 and if the latest episode of Ashbygate goes the way it should, he will have a few problems of his own to deal with 😀 but I won’t hold my breath for the AFP to do a proper job of investigating anything LNP 😡
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The bottom line is that Bernie Sanders has voted with the Democrats 98 percent of the time, that’s not very independent at all.
And why bother supporting 1/2 of the proverbial Duo Poly that has just fast tracked the TPP, and continued the farcical global war on terror not to mention bailing out the banks.
Why should we work within the Democratic Party if we don’t agree with anything the Democratic Party says? Bernie Sanders, New York City, Socialist Scholars Conference, April 1990.
The problem with Bernie Sanders, http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/30/the-problem-with-bernie/
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Hello Truthy and JB
I hope all is well in respective households
I contributed a comment to the Labor Herald today and thought it needed to be here
Bighead 1883 1 min ago
It`s hard because as a “white fulluh” living on Wongatha Wongarra country we have always been part of the problem and not the or any solution
My long term association with first Australians began in October 1996 and my darling and I decided we`d try our luck opal mining at Mintabie SA
Travelling down from Darwin about 200 klms sth of Katherine a water pump crapped itself in our car and SiL worked in the Toyota dealership in Katherine and was sending one to us
I`d stripped the old one out and was waiting for the cavalry when coming up from the South a vehicle pulled over as to ask how we were
This person had her very young daughter with her and as soon as I saw her clearly I recognised Nova Peris
She stayed and talked for some time and was genuinely concerned for a couple of older folks welfare who were broken down in the middle of nowhere
Anyway I convinced Nova we were fine and thank you for her concern and we waved her and her daughter off.
The point of that intro was I knew from being associated in outback Australia that First Australians have a genuine concern for people and country and I also knew of something that is less known but it was quite global if caring people cared to look and learn.
It`s called “Conquered People`s Syndrome” and can be seen similarly in all colonial Nations in the Aborigines there.
It`s never spoken of here because we are hypocrites and liars to not only ourselves but to all and sundry until we`re pulled up.
My heritage is Polish and even though I was born here I was told of this sickness by my father who knew of it from his ancestors
Poland was partitioned and ruled by German/Austro-Hungary-Russian for over 200 years and they even have songs to keep their spirits up saying they will one day be free of oppression and tyranny,do you know what and Nova will tell you,so do Australian Aborigines.
We moved from Anangu lands to Warangu/Nawu country and not far from us was Ceduna where [a very racist town]
I started becoming involved with volunteer ambulance work then and saw things from a much different perspective,much different
I saw the local hotel with it`s POKIE machines welcome all and then kick them out not long after when their welfare money was gone
I saw local charities pick up the pieces of this as they fed clothed and housed those to ill to make their own way
Not all were/are like this but very many are and it`s the children and elderly who cop it the hardest
Try keeping your blanket when the temp is near zero and a young buck is cold and you are old
Now in Wongatha Wongarra country there is the best medical facility bar none
The Hospital is well run and up to date with a 5 day a week doctor and an bitumen airport for Dash 8`s or the RFDS
The reality here is that it`s better because there are NO POKIE machines and the pub doesn`t open until midday
So people eat and look after themselves better but alcoholism is rife and keeps all first responders quite busy at times
Closing the GAP is a nice thought and I hope it can be achieved but in order to do that we need to go back to Gough Whitlam and to sincerely do what he said
“Vincent Lingiari, I solemnly hand to you these deeds as proof, in Australian law, that these lands belong to the Gurindji people and I put into your hands part of the earth itself as a sign that this land will be the possession of you and your children forever.”
Then we have to go to Kevin Rudd and this brilliance
“But I was waiting for the one thing from the leader of the Opposition and that was ‘The Opposition supports this motion’.
“That’s all I was looking for [so] I grabbed [Federal Opposition leader Dr] Brendan [Nelson] by the hand and led him around the chamber to meet all of the Aboriginal Elders and all of those sort of folk.
“I picked up the coolamon from Stolen Generations member Aunty Elaine Peeters and, it wasn’t scripted, but I said to Brendan, ‘Oi, Sunshine, you’re coming with me and we’re presenting this together to the Speaker’. I deliberately hijacked him.”
Mr Rudd said he “played by instinct” all the way through the occasion and chose not to react to “all of the negative things” Dr Nelson said in his reply speech, but resisted.
“I did that because I wanted to entrench it in the heart and soul of the Parliament so that these things were not changeable, fundamentally, in the future,” Mr Rudd said.”
Yet here we are yet again picking up pieces of broken promises and shattered dreams.
When will we ever learn?
Why can`t we get it right?
When a First Nation with over 700 dialects has been conquered by an alien race that doesn`t understand or even acknowledge them how are they to rise like the Phoenix and once again live the dreamtime which is theirs immortal.
We can only do it by giving it back properly to the best of our ability and to work together to build upon what we have because in the end we are all out of Africa and we all live/love/laugh/cry and die
Are you our next great man Bill Shorten?
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Hey Biggy 🙂 nicely put 😎
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I`m afraid we hurtle into an abyss again Truthy and mo matter what counter is done to expose the terrifying lies brought forward to further create war and oppression,more terror is made by those who we break bread with.
I felt like a large stone hit the bottom of my heart when Plibersek came out with her US absurdity
Only two PM`s in the modern era have brought troops home and ended the nonsense which is bipartisanship with US Imperialism.
It`s not the US any more it`s another demonic entity offshored on some atoll counting digital 1`s and 0`s believing this is what it`s about.
We all know who created and feeds ISIS and it`s nothing to do with religion only US/Israeli hegemony
Turkey and Saudi Arabia are next IMHO
They have achieved what they`re looking for and awoken the Bear yet again only this time it`s 2 Bears Russia and China and if the US Republicans win the election the likelihood of nuclear will be 2 seconds to midnight
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Mate, I agree that there’s little religion involved in what they’re doing, and I was saying a couple of days ago that they’re not doing themselves any favours picking fights with some of the biggest military powers in the world
There’s certainly a lot of pessimism out there ATM, and with good reason 😦
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The banks are ruling the globe. I have a different order and take on things than Biggy but along the same lines. Beware of falling for good cop bad cop with the Bear and the East. Though wars are profitable and all sides have some humans for fodder.
Gough brought the troops home when they were coming already.
And six countries come under the auspice of one ruling Bar association Corporation. Which covers spy regime and politics. I think people misrepresent the US as director in many cases. It’s early venture into institutions as monarchs has left it a tool.
We have “US ” system mostly installed for compatability but we are still just as much Pom influenced by agenda traceable back some years. It’s a fraud that evolves around keeping the people ill informed and dumb as possible. A President here will not change the power structure or the quality of the trickle down and manufacturing prey for the heights markets and institutions.
Bernie and Corbyn appear to be political distractions that nothing will come of but more time for the behind the scenes brickwork..
A trade deal could be worked out for all but the corpirate extents we’ve been dealt are total overempowerment. The ISD clauses make us even more foreign owned . Our hopes and futures turned into every one elses at their leisure and complaint going out into empty space.
I still have not recieved an answer from the GG or DVA on how to proceed or get justice over my father but i did get a fresh petition for a call for a royal commision into Veteran Affairs. 35 suicides last year of veterans and it has been growing over years and sharply over last 5 or so.
The MSM is all connected to the regime. And war threat this, war threat that has sufficed with the rest of the hype over years for heights gouging the country, just like the New Guinea grab planned during the Vietnam matter and dismissal. Gough grandstanded when they were coming home anyway.
If you follow US internals, that hidden as best as possible by msm, you will see old go in hard CIA tactics and overempowerment on their own as started to seep in here with policing. The spy regime exposure slowed matters but they’ve got their second wind.
We are corporations. We are not persons, we ” have ” a person. At heights whim and will.
The second the populace is quiet or tamed to the idea, it’s an endgame. No matter how much or is made out to be taken back via msm and perhaps lollies, unless the foundation is addressed, we are stuffed. The lower is excess and the threat hanging over all.
The system is far to efficient for its own misbalanced ends largely centreing around wealths elitism and overempowerment for the peoples capability to address.
A massive scam has been run for decades. Peoples futures and billions, pumped to the heights. Politicians and power in wealth will look after itself.
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” the bear, east AND west ” the line above should be.
Many Americans are miles ahead in knowing whats going on in power matters than us mushrooms. Pays to browse.
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Hi biggie, nice to soak myself again in some original biggisms.
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It`s all morphing into a racist bigoted boganism Frank
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Hey Biigy 🙂
Now that’s terrorism 😯
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Hey Frank 🙂 Hope all’s well mate 🙂
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it now speaks Truthy 🙂
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😆 😆
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Hi Truthy,
I saw the wind man on Thursday and I am reasonable stable although my Osats were down on this occasion. He wants to keep an eye on that. I was about six points below normal.
He again offered me the surgical option, to have valves inserted into the worst affected areas, but I stated, as I had previously, that the bolshie in me refuses to accept medical procedures, by way of private health insurance, that are not equally available to those who are without medical insurance, for whatever reason.
I’m not sure that he understands my objection, but at least he accepts it.
I hope you are improving to the extent that improvement is possible.
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Well it`s taken 5 years and the truth comes out from not “öur” side but Kelly of The Australian
Like Albo said when it went down-You are destroying two PM`s but Labor UnityJulia Gillard and AWU head Paul Howes did their corporate masters bidding
So many were suckered in by MSM propaganda and the filth of Bitar Arbib and Shorten that they believed Julia the Saviour
Kevin Rudd a true giant of Labor
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As for his stance on First Australians
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Hey Biggy 🙂 Hope you’re recovering well mate ❓
Good meme mate 😎
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Yeah M8 recovery still happening 🙂
I`m hitting em up on Twitter over the debt and the RWNJ`s can`t stand it 😆
Hey ScoMo what did LNP spend $253 billion on in 28 Months? #auspol
#LNLliarsCheatsThievesRorters
@LiberalAus
pic.twitter.com/XHw89rbKOF
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Glad you’re still on the mend mate 🙂
Good question 😀 but I’d suggest the answer is probably at least half on LNP expenses, kickbacks and subsidies to their corporate mates and donors 😯
Keep up the good work mate 😀 and give em heaps 😛
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Yes mate, that’s what they’re saying 🙂
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I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Exceptionally well written!
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Jimmy, welcome to TSM, and thanks for your comment 🙂
Cheers 🙂
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Hi Truthy,
Just can’t get enthused by this election campaign – the debate the other night was nothing more than a charade of well rehearsed polyspeak orchestrated by neoliberal groupthink media.
Here is a real leader – giving the speech on climate change that I would like to hear from the ALP – but are unlikely to hear while ever the ALP is ruled by corporate sympathising (corrupt?) undemocratic factions.
While I appreciate the treasonous LNP must be banished for a generation at least, I fear in its place we will elect a corporate appeasing gutless LNP lite.
The situation with AGW is now so serious that we must commit to radical countering action – it constitutes an existential threat to all life on Earth.
The last seven months have all broken world avg. heat records:
Top Seven NASA Global Month Temperature Departure From Average (Degrees Celsius) Since 1880
February 2016……..+1.33˚ Celsius
March 2016………….+1.29˚ Celsius
January 2016……….+1.11˚ Celsius
April 2016……………+1.11˚ Celsius
December 2015……+1.10˚ Celsius
October 2015………+1.07˚ Celsius
November 2015……+1.01˚ Celsius
The trend is suggesting that a long feared positive feedback tipping point has been crossed – Earth temps are on a one way trip upwards.
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says the most important issue facing the world is climate change:-
Hawking was asked if he could explain the rise of Trump, to which the man replied,
“I can’t. He is a demagogue, who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator.”
“A more immediate danger is runaway climate change,”
“A rise in ocean temperature would melt the ice-caps and cause a release of large amounts of carbon dioxide from the ocean floor. Both effects could make our climate like that of Venus, with a temperature of 250 degrees.
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Hey John 🙂
Mate, Labor’s still the only chance we have, but having said that, I know what you mean about the whole damned campaign 🙄
It’s just pathetic, and doesn’t look like getting any better 😡
But winning has to be the main focus, and once that’s done, then we can work on the reforms that are needed 😉
Cheers mate 🙂
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EXACTLY Truthy … Why let THEM divide so THEY can conquer ?
Come on guys, let’s work with what we have. I’m STILL fighting this devious TCT ( Turnbull/Nats/Greens/IPA) ..and I’m no longer even living in their target zone. 🙂
The Nat John Key govt in NZ are really no better, but he has more opposition parties to call him out on the important issues…his ‘merchant banker’s gloss’ is wearing off quite quickly now as well. 🙂
Happy to see the devious little ferret Wyatt Twerp is probably going to go down the slide..
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Morning Judes 🙂
They’re the same world wide 👿
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Even Sanders is an agent for US empire, when it comes down to which candidates have the right policies than you have give credit to the US Greens who oppose US empire building.
Chris Hedges Interviews Cornel West On Black Prophetic Tradition Popular Resistance.
Silencing America as It Prepares for War By John Pilger, Counterpunch.
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Hey SF 🙂
Thanks for your comment 😎 Good to hear from you 🙂
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Nothing else matters
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Sock it to ’em Biggy,
…treasonous lying slime-balls.
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Hey Biggy 🙂
Good one mate 😀
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