Saturday 27th of April 2024
Home » Blogs » Gus Leonisky's blog

why?......

y-frontman

 

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has persisted with his strategy to censure the Government in Question Time over its proposed introduction of a carbon tax.

The combative session saw one MP expelled, several warned and Speaker Harry Jenkins forced to his feet in frustration.

For the fourth straight day the censure motion was unsuccessful, but it allowed Mr Abbott and the Opposition to maintain its attack on the Government's carbon scheme.

Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey says the Coalition will keep putting forward the motion until "the Australian people can get some answers".

"We move this motion out of a sense of frustration that the Prime Minister will not answer questions on the most basic aspects of the new tax she has announced," he said.

Mr Abbott also seized on reports of unrest within Labor's ranks over the role of the Greens in shaping the Government's agenda.

"Whether it's climate change or gay marriage, the Greens are in charge and Bob Brown is the real prime minister," he said.

"It is absolutely urgent that the Prime Minister come into the House and explain exactly why it is that her Government has been hijacked by the Greens."

And he highlighted comments made by Government ministers in their first term that are critical of a carbon tax.

"Why didn't the Prime Minister agree with her former climate change minister Senator [Penny] Wong that a carbon tax will see Australian jobs transfer overseas?" he said.

But Julia Gillard says the Opposition Leader is selectively quoting the ministers.

"I will check the quote used by the Leader of the Opposition, but my experience this week has been that when quotes are produced by the Opposition, the sentence is clipped to give a misleading impression," she said.

She says the Coalition is running a campaign of fear and misinformation on the issue.

"These are people who every day will make something up to continue their fear campaign, and every day they come into this Parliament and misquote others and every day they intend to mislead the Australian people," she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/03/3154491.htm?section=justin

thanks for your time...

http://www.abc.net.au/bestof/#s3155014

beyond the despair...

One of Tony Abbott’s redeeming qualities is that, unusually for a senior politician, he has a genuine empathy with Indigenous Australians.

He has acted as a relief teacher on Cape York at Weipa and Aurukun and is on good terms personally with Noel Pearson and many other lesser lights in Aboriginal communities.

So when he calls for a second intervention – this time specifically into Alice Springs, which has become increasingly dysfunctional under the influx of those seeking to escape the first intervention – he deserves to be listened to.

The government’s minister, Jenny Macklin, dismisses his proposal as grandstanding and there is no doubt that Abbott is using the opportunity to try and break away from a pattern of remorseless negativity and say something positive for a change. But Alice Springs is a mess, and something needs to be done about it. And while Julia Gillard is unlikely to pick up Abbott’s invitation to join him in a summit in the centre, she can hardly deny that he has drawn attention to a serious issue.

Abbott admits that the situation in Alice Springs is an unforseen consequence of intervention Mark I: the restrictions imposed by the government on the small outlying communities generally know as the outstations proved too onerous for some of those involved, so they simply voted with their feet. Unfortunately a large majority of those who did so were young men, and their motivation had less to do with a quest for freedom than with a lust for grog.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/45304.html

-----------------------

Gus: let's say here that I have known and still know quite a lot of Aborigines and of all people, they know too well their people's problem. Thus my friends know what has to be done but they know it's very difficult. I support young aboriginal people helping themselves and thus the future of their people at the same time. The problems are layered and demand specific responses to the varied level. Any bold "intervention" was going to be fraught with problems... and whether it's mark I, II or III, any more interventions will create new problems and damage the already very weak fabric. Noel Pearson is on the right track — to a point. I know that some of his friendships have been stretched because of some of his ideas... and he is facing a lot of "inertia" from his own people for several reasons.

I am not an expert... But having taught natives in Africa, I have a perception that education here is paramount. But it has to be a specialised targeted education. A curriculum of say a Sydney primary school is not going to work efficiently. Nor is a catholic or whatever religious schooling...

The elders have lost a lot of their troops so to speak... There is a relative generational void between the new youth and the elders... This of course is not an absolute statement but as a proportion it is a much greater gap in an aboriginal society than a whitey society.

For whatever reason, let's not ask what create the present problems, but let's find a solution. I have a few ideas on this but I will not commit any unless asked for these — because they need serious discussion and implementation that could be messed up if not properly done... It may just need a "catalyst"...

Tony (Abbott), a mark II intervention might solve a small portion of this general problem for a year or so... It won't develop what the Aboriginal people are truly worth, beyond the despair.