a new "wave" of Greek migration to Australia?

I notice from this article today in The Age read it here that from third hand evidence that I've been hearing about huge Visa enquiries about migration from Greece is finally making it into the mainstream press.
While migration is always a hot button issue to joe public, this push for streamlining of the migration process by the Greek-Australian community is a potential win-win for anglo Australia.
I mean think about it, the average Australian can usually be seen complaining about there being too many Asians or Indians etc in the country, so what better way to appease the racist beast than to accept more young white Christian educated Greeks who are almost always fluent in English?
While Australia's immigration policy is (theoretically) non discriminatory, I can see a great opportunity here for the Greek community to be able to sell this notion to the Government. If worded correctly, the message will get through to the Government that you've got a potential migrant pool at your disposal which already has close cultural ties to Australia, and would seamlessly integrate very quickly into Australian society.

Greek language controversy in South Australia

I thought the purported comments by the South Australian Opposition Leader see here were very curious indeed. By supposedly taking offence that an ethnic Greek SA Government Minister spoke in Greek to the visiting President of Cyprus, I don't know whether this reflects her inexperience in matters of diplomacy or just an ignorant mono cultural view of the world (which would be my guess)?
If Madam Opposition Leader cared to ever step out of her South Australian backwater, she'd see that in most countries of the world guests are often addressed in their own language when a member of the host Government is a fluent speaker - it is purely a courtesy extended to a guest.
But it would seem that the Howard era Anglo supremacy mentality remains?

Melbourne's grumpy train commuters

I couldn't help but chuckle after reading about this survey of Australian train commuters see here . It would seem that Melbourne has the grumpiest commuters in the country? But perhaps it's not that surprising, as Melbourne's train operator - Metro Trains - appears to be completely out of its depth when it comes to running this State's complex and antiquated rail system.
As I've mentioned previously, their management style has not endeared them to their workforce, and while you can push around a hapless customer service attendant, try that with the train driver's union (perhaps the last dinosaur on earth?) and you'll soon realise what you're up against.
In order to play hardball you need to have leverage, and Metro management are quickly finding out that when the system is run entirely on goodwill, perhaps the carrot is a better tactic than the stick? Metro have met their monthly performance target three times since taking over in November 2009......an appalling statistic! But what's so curious about all this is that the Government AND Opposition have had virtually nothing to say about it. The reason being that the previous Government recruited Metro, an embarrassing blight on their CV, while the new Government is stuck with them and probably just praying that everything will magically get better......one day?
But with each passing month the pressure just keeps building on the operator, and each new excuse starts to look tiresome. At some point that pressure will explode when least expected and the Government will go into panic mode and start to make rash decisions.
The State really is in a bind at the moment, while their natural conservative leanings may have them cheering on the union busting tactics of the Operator, they also well and truly know that at the end of the day, the public will always blame the Government for inaction and poor performance. Just ask John Brumby, the Frankston corridor of seats cost him Government.
But there is one ray of sunshine for the Government, their new State transport planning authority is in the works, which will (hopefully?) be modeled on its world's best practice equivalents in Zurich and Perth. And considering that Perth had the best commuter satisfaction rating in the country, this new body can't come soon enough!

stay away from the UAE

I have previously written about the Australian woman who was allegedly drugged and raped in Dubai, and was sent to prison for her troubles see here . Well as reported in the media today read here she is planning to sue the Australian Government over inadequate consular advice. But while that action is a matter for the courts, I think she's misdirecting her anger, it should all well and truly be on the God awful country of the UAE.
A nation of corrupt sheiks and fast money, where the ruling elite pretend to be Muslims, yet live debaucherous secular lifestyles, while demanding that the populous live under archaic medieval style laws.
The victim made a very good point about the UAE when she said; "the UAE is being promoted hugely here as a tourism destination. They are not complying with human rights, women's rights and migrant workers' rights".
So my advice to everyone is avoid the UAE like the plague, they may have a nice airport and pretty buildings, but like their "ski resort", they're a totally artificial country that should be avoided at all costs!

Simon Overland should go immediately

It looks as if even more evidence has emerged read it here of the slimy Victoria Police Chief Simon Overland being involved in even more intrigue. As can clearly be surmised from the news article, Overland is more a professional political operative than a law enforcement officer, and to allegedly arrange to have a respected figure like Sir Ken and his family bugged (on the way out mind you) for something as trivial as suspected leaking to the media is just an appalling abuse of power (in the ethical, not legal sense).
The Baillieu Government which clearly wants the tainted Overland gone, is now trapped like a dear in the headlights, because it didn't have the guts to just sack Overland when it had the chance, instead setting up the Rush Inquiry to slowly kill off Overland via a thousand cuts. So now it looks like they'll have to wait for the Inquiry to run its course, which means political paralysis for the next few months.
But if we can look to the bright side, at least the awful Brumby creation - the OPI - is set to go the way of the dodo, to shortly be replaced by a REAL anti corruption commission. Every major expert and commentator said at the time that the cardigan cops OPI creation was a bad idea, but the previous Government just wouldn't listen, they just wanted to sell that they were doing SOMETHING about police corruption, as they very well knew that a real anti corruption body would create non stop bad publicity for the Government, as they haul in bent coppers  before the star chamber.
But it would be ironic in the extreme if the new anti corruption body's first victim was the Chief Commissioner? Ironic indeed.

playing politics with "law and order"

A good piece of writing in The Age today from Josh Gordon putting the law and order hoopla into some sort of perspective read it here .
It's good to see some sense in the broadsheet media after hearing of Baillieu's silly plans to;

• lock up minors
• anti swearing laws
• community survey on sentencing (online mind you)

Let's just hope that this newly elected Government is merely running interference to disguise its modest achievements elsewhere, and once it settles properly into power some sense and proportion will prevail? Indeed lets hope!

Michael Pascoe's views on the current state of Australian politics

I recommend anyone who's interested (or disgusted?) by the current state of Australian politik, to have a read of business commentator Michael Pascoe's latest article on the topic. I was struggling to find anything in it that I didn't agree with.
Have a read of it here .

Israel-Palestine, Obama....and The Australian newspaper

Following President Obama's speech suggesting that Israel-Palestine peace talks should be convened on the premise of a return to the 1967 borders sparked the expected horror in Israeli circles as if this was some sort of ground breaking game changer. And it even led to the remarkable spectacle of the Israeli Prime Minister giving his host (the US President) a public dressing down in the Oval Office see here .
But why should this be at all remarkable to anyone outside the deluded prism of the Israel lobby and its supporters? It's recognised by everyone that it is occupied land and Israeli settlements are clearly illegal by any one's definition.
But as I've argued elsewhere, America has always had within its power the ability to end the Israel-Palestine dispute, just not the political will to do it. Any type of staged withdrawal of their diplomatic (and financial)support will very quickly bring Israel to the table, as Israel is completely friendless without American backing (as the UK, Australia etc would very quickly follow suit). But what would be the political cost to any sitting US President? Can an American President who criticises Israel survive ?....probably not in normal circumstances, and especially not a Democrat. But this is a rare occasion where there is no credible alternative for 2012 so Obama is virtually guaranteed victory.
Despite everything that has been said about Obama, he is still very much an establishment figure who has not deviated greatly from the script of his predecessors, a little more nuanced perhaps, but I don't expect him to push Israel too far on settlements. And really, Obama has not gone that much further than Bush's proposal when he was President, but he should be congratulated nonetheless for at least stating the obvious (which Bush couldn't bring himself to actually say).
So all this now brings us to the pro Israel (and anti Muslim generally) The Australian newspaper, and today's ridiculous editorial read it here which parrots the usual tired rhetoric against the Palestinians (while ironically using the phrase "rhetoric" against them).
Netanyahu (and The Australian) demand that the Palestinians recognise a "Jewish State". Putting aside the blatant racism of endorsing a State based on religion and what that means for it's minorities within its borders, this argument has no legitimate basis when you analyse it more closely.
Does Israel "recognise" a real Palestine as a State? A State with real sovereignty, with legitimate borders, with a military, with its own air space, and the right to defend itself like every other sovereign country? The answer to those questions up to this point from Netanyahu are a resounding NO. So really his challenge to the Palestinians on recognition are nothing more than weasel words. "Recognition" on mutual borders and sovereignty are something to be negotiated between the protagonists, they're not going to the negotiating table as friends, but as mutually suspicious enemies. And it's at this table where these issues have to be decided, not BEFORE negotiations begin.

 

who's the best ever Opposition Leader?

I noticed this quirky article by Barrie Cassidy today which lamented the lack of great Opposition Leaders in recent memory see it here .
Well apart from the nature of the job which makes is hard enough to produce "great" leaders, it got me thinking that there's really only been one of note. That surely would have to be Kevin Rudd?
He came to the job in late 2006 with the next election less than a year away, and while he had a public profile as a quirky policy wonk nerd who appeared on morning television to discuss the politics of the day, this alone was surely not enough of a CV to wrestle the levers from a political animal like PM Howard?
So over the following six months he built his reputation up as a serious policy driven politician who was going to do something about climate change (an issue that Howard eventually faced up to kicking and screaming all the way), reduce cost of living pressures, get out of Iraq, yet keep the American alliance strong.....and of course rip up Workchoices.
So looking back over that time, he never really put a foot wrong, he often led the political agenda, addressed the Chinese Premier while on a State visit in Mandarin while Howard churlishly looked on, and much to Howard's frustration, offered bipartisan support every time he tried to wedge Labor.
So I would disagree with Cassidy, we HAVE had at least one great Opposition Leader in our time.

Dennis Richardson must resign

A few weeks ago a story surfaced that added further weight to the seemingly now undeniable claim that the Howard Government turned a blind eye to an Australian citizen being tortured in Egypt see the story here .
But while Mamdouh Habib has (rightfully) received plenty of air play for his ill treatment at the hands of the State since, it appears that one person has suffered no sanction for his sorry role in this sordid little affair, that person being none other Dennis Richardson.
On February 15 2005 Richardson (the then head of ASIO) told a Senate Committee that ''we have no information as of fact about that,'' in relation to whether he knew if US terrorism suspects were sent to Egypt for interrogation. However his successor Paul O'Sullivan admitted that the Americans had indeed told Richardson about the rendition to Egypt.
Richardson is now the head of DFAT, and it seems has suffered no sanction for apparently lying under oath. Not only should he be terminated from his position, but the AFP should seriously consider charging him with perjury.
A despicable and sordid period in Australian political history in my view.

why Asia?

After reading this story on mysterious tourist deaths in Thailand see here it just helps to reinforce why I NEVER holiday in Asia. People ask me all the time, "why do you go to Greece every year?" and "what have you got against Asia?". Well I guess that there's a chance that they'll feed you rat poison is a disincentive for a start!
I'm sure I don't need to highlight the attractions of Europe here, but all I can say is that Asia just offers no incentive for me. The fact that its a poor region with high corruption and unforgiving law enforcement does not endear me it at all. Or perhaps it was Paul Keating's (alleged) remark back in 1990 that "Asia is the arse end of the world" and "somewhere you fly over on your way to Europe" that struck a cord?
In the meantime, you all can continue getting drunk in Bali, or visiting sex shows in Bangkok, but if you're looking for me, I'll be on a sandy beach somewhere in the southern Peloponnese.

State funerals for pedophiles?

Back in December I commented about awarding State funerals to celebrities see here , and it appears not much has changed since? Lionel Rose was recently awarded a taxpayer funded State funeral, and included in the mourners paying public tribute were none other than Premier Ted Baillieu.....as well as notorious thugs like Mick Gatto and Jeff Fenech.
While my views on  awarding State funerals to celebrities are well known, what is not so well known is that the current recipient had a terrible cloud hanging over him. In October 2004 he was alleged to have sexually abused an 11 year old girl read it here , his conduct was allegedly so bad that even the Herald-Sun chose not to publish the details.
While this matter never went to court, it surely was a big enough cloud over Rose's reputation that a Premier of the State would want nothing to do with him? It's a question of judgement (not guilt or innocence), and the Premier failed miserably on this occasion.
So no doubt we'll continue to memorialise celebrities and sports people, completely white washing their past evils. No doubt then that when one very famous ex footballer dies, no one will remember that he (for all intents and purposes) killed a girl in his hotel room, while I didn't see anyone mentioning the late Bob Davis' criminal activities either?
And I don't expect things to change anytime soon either?

Baillieu going down a dangerous path

I was bewildered recently when I read of the Transport Accident Commission's (TAC) plan to sponsor low alcohol beer from brewers see here . Not by the scheme itself, but by Premier Baillieu's extraordinary intervention to kill it as an issue, just because (shock horror) the Herald-Sun was going to run a front page story on the plan.
The Baillieu Government has been very slow in making decisions (on anything) since coming to power, in fact verging on paralysis on occasion, but this little saga is a dangerous precedent that Baillieu is setting for himself. You have to govern by conviction, not just kill off every out of the box idea because the News Ltd tabloids are going to write a beat up on it. Instead Baillieu should've praised it as an "innovative idea" that's worth trying in the road toll battle etc etc.
You know it just never ceases to amaze me that despite all the evidence to contrary, politicians keep thinking that pleasing the tabloids will bring electoral success. Well it won't, the electorate will reward conviction every time (assuming arrogance is kept in check?).

Gillard (finally) fires up

From the reported remarks at the Victorian ALP Conference today see here it appears that PM Gillard has finally found the right way to attack her conservative opponent. Instead of bland sloganeering and focus group tested catchphrases we finally saw here a Keatingesque line of attack, which was exactly what was required to deal with a political animal like Abbott.
I think she was channeling Keating when she came out with phrases like "acting like the love child of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump", and "the fight was not between right and left, but between right and wrong", while getting stuck into the self-important "shock jocks", and devastatingly, praising up Conservative Prime Ministers Cameron and Key. This is a key point for me, she's clearly showing that climate change is not some trendy lefty cause, but a REAL issue that needs REAL answers from serious people. And the recently released Australian Election Study see here clearly highlights that Abbott is generally reviled by the electorate, in fact rating lower than Keating at the disastrous 1996 election landslide.
So the lesson in all this is that it's all in Gillard's hands; she has to sell this tax, stand firm on her beliefs (assuming she has any?), and stare down and ridicule the Opposition's obstructionism.
The Australian electorate will usually reward conviction politics; they don't like Abbott, and they're scared of the Carbon Tax, so it's up to Gillard to explain to us why we need it....and why we don't need Abbott!

Australian women politicians

While sitting around and musing about the performance of Prime Minister Julia Gillard, I got to thinking about the standard of senior women politicians in recent political history, and I've come to the conclusion that it's a pretty embarrassing state of affairs.
I won't add any new polemics about Gillard, other than to repeat that she's not up to the job. But what of the others? Unfortunately the only word that readily comes to mind is failure!
So lets have a look at who else has made a name for themselves in the not too distant past;

• Ros Kelly....of the famous whiteboard incident......enough said
• Carmen Lawrence....the former WA Premier (allegedly) perjured herself on the stand, not to mention having the death of Penny Easton on her conscience for the rest of her life Easton affair
• Bronwyn Bishop...the Minister for "kerosene baths" and other assorted embarrassments
• Julie Bishop...the current Deputy Leader of the Federal Liberal Party, who seemingly can't be sacked from that position regardless of how many times she embarrasses herself, due to her power base in WA
• Joan Kirner...the much ridiculed former Victorian Premier, who's probably better remembered for this performance on The Late Show
• Cheryl Kernot...former Leader of the Democrats, who had delusions of grandeur of becoming PM and switched to the Labor Party, where she humiliated herself on a daily basis.....but at least she had the loving arms of the married Gareth Evans to help sooth the pain
• Anna Bligh...the current QLD Premier....showed some leadership during the floods crisis, which did no more than disguise her other failings. But the polls are now back on track to show an humiliating defeat for Labor at the next election

So have I overlooked anyone? Unfortunately there is just not alot to show for 100 years of the suffrage movement in Australian politics. Other western democracies can seem to produce quality female politicians, so what's wrong with Australia?

Abbott's (quiet) embarrassment

A funny thing happened today when I opened up the News Ltd tabloid - The Herald-Sun - I flicked through pages of waffle before hitting page 10, where I saw what I would've thought was a hugely embarrassing headline of Malcolm Turnbull rubbishing and (essentially) ridiculing his leader's "direct action" climate change plan read the follow up here .
Make no mistake, to have a senior front bencher of substance come out and make those remarks is devastating for Abbott....or at least it should be? And what page of the newspaper do you think a similar contradiction by Labor would've ended up on?
Unfortunately this incompetent Prime Minister doesn't have the ability to take full advantage of the opportunity presented, and once again it's been left to Greg Combet to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the Government.
And perhaps Combet's star will really get a chance to shine when Gillard (eventually) gets around to actually releasing the Carbox Tax detail? Combet may even in fact be in the position to almost single handedly save the Government from defeat, getting the detail (and sales pitch) right are THAT important.

more public transport shambles

I was interested to read about the rail chaos caused last Friday when an "unprecedented" amount of train drivers allegedly went off sick read it here .
My sources in the rail industry tell me however that while there were "sickies" on the Friday night, it was nothing far different from any other miserable cold winter's night. The issue is one of competent management (sadly lacking apparently?), like I've stated previously this antiquated rail system relies on the goodwill of it's staff to operate at a respectable level. For example, if train drivers choose to not work on their rostered day off, then that immediately increases the chances of a driver shortage on any given day.
And as has been explained to me, the way the rosters and pay structure works, if drivers have already had an additional shift during the pay fortnight, then many consider it not worth their while to work on the last Friday of the pay fortnight.
So it should be highlighted once again that it's not the drivers that create the roster scenarios, but management, which as I've stated, does not appear to be the greatest?

more Combet, less Gillard?

After reading this defence of the Carbon Tax see here by Climate Change Minister Greg Combet, it left me wondering, what the hell is PM Gillard doing? Granted every time she opens her mouth you just want to cringe, but as the PM she should be articulating the arguments that Combet is making. Why isn't she out there saying things like;

•  Australia risked long-term economic damage if the proposed reform was abandoned
• If we let this chance pass us by, climate change policy will become the poisoned chalice of Australian politics for the next decade
• The consequences of this would be profound for all Australians, especially for those businesses that are now so reluctant to take responsibility for their actions and refuse to see beyond next year's prospectus
• The eventual cost of economic transformation would also become more expensive as Australia struggled to catch up with the rest of the world
• We would not learn how to live in, let alone how to prosper in a carbon-constrained world, while our trading partners would increasingly see us as industrial dinosaurs

But instead of this type of reasoned argument, all we get out of Gillard are comments about her favourite football team, and speculation about marrying the First Bum....what's his name?
We do live in barbaric times I think.

promoting torture

As I predicted see here following the death of bin Laden, the sadistic neo-con torture supporters have been out in force sickeningly trying to claim credit for bin Laden's entrapment. However The Nation magazine has written an excellent debunking of this sick notion of promoting torture, you can read the article here .

Murdoch's anti Aborigine bashing

I came across this opinion piece today read it here by one of my favourite rabble rousers, John Pilger, which pretty much negates the need for me to take another shot at News Ltd this week, Pilger has written a beautiful little polemic.
He makes some interesting claims, including that;

• Murdoch controls 70 per cent of the capital city press
• the first Australians have the shortest life expectancy of any of the world’s 90 indigenous peoples
• Australia imprisons Aborigines at five times the rate South Africa during the apartheid years
• Murdoch’s London tabloid, the Sun, once described Aborigines as “treacherous and brutal”
• Out of 7,433 Aboriginal children examined by doctors, four possible cases of child abuse were identified, about the same rate of child abuse in white Australia

I don't know how accurate Pilger's figures are, but if true, they're a damning condemnation of Rupert Murdoch and his war on Aborigines.