My New Year Wish

On the eve of a new year, it's a time to reflect on what we leave behind and think about what may lay ahead. At this time last year, I was brimming with optimism about the year ahead. In so many ways 2015 delivered. Best ever holidays, lovely times with our family and sharing with good friends. Good health. Just being together with the one I loved the most, delivered so much joy. But the happiness was tinged with pain. I lost two very special friends during 2015. Then I faced the biggest loss of all in December with the sudden passing of my darling Richard. 

When someone is ill and suffering their passing whilst tragic is understandable. When someone who is healthy and full of life just goes, it’s hard to rationalise and to accept, but I must. Death, unfortunately, is a reality we will all face at some time and for those left behind it is never a good time. How we deal with sudden loss depends on the strength you draw from those who left us, the support we have around us, our personal strength and our deeply held beliefs. 

So, I learnt the harshest lesson of all in 2015 and that is to never take things for granted. From that the true meaning of living each day as if it was your last has more relevance. Telling those you hold most dear, how much you love them, (at every opportunity) is really important.

So on the eve of a new year, this year, I'm full of sadness, but also full optimism for a life that will be different. A life that is full of so many happy memories which never die and from which I draw strength. I'm not the type of person that falls in a heap and I know Richard would expect me to get on with life. That is exactly what I plan to do. To live each day's as if it was my last and to have no regrets. 

I wish you and your family a wonderful 2016 and I will leave you with this blessing. I hope you like it. 

“Let this year be filled with the things that are truly meaningful; a guardian angel to keep us safe and watch over us, good health, peace, happiness and prosperity. May we have an abundance of warmth in our relationships. The humility and openness to accept help from others. The strength to help those who need our help and the courage to stand-up for those who cannot defend themselves.

As we make our resolutions for the year ahead, let us go forward with great hope that all things can be possible if we maintain belief in ourselves and most importantly, belief in others.”

Media Agendas or Reader Biased Preconceptions

Like so many I have been extremely critical of the media. I don’t shy away from that. It's often deserved. However, to label all journalists as biased and therefore lacking objectivity is drawing a long bow. 

Reading comments to various journalists columns is an enlightening experience. It is obvious given the response some people don’t even bother to read the article. They kick-off based on the headline. Given the mendacious replies of others, it is obvious what their agenda is. Then we have the ‘follow the leader' bunch. They’ll scan the comments, find one that fits and merrily keep the lie alive. 

An extremely good example of what I am referring to is graphically highlighted as a result of an article written by Ahmed Kilanith and published in the Australian last week. It was titled ‘There should be a charter for local Muslims’. Mr Kilanith spoke of what needed to be done (for the want of a better word) to modernise Islam and to start to address radicalisation. He spoke eloquently on the issue of dysfunctional leadership in the Australian Muslim community and the importance of Australian Muslim leaders and imams, not imports. He shared his very valid opinion that all organisations should implement quotas for female representation on their boards. Mr Kilanith suggested that all boards should comprise 50 percent of suitably, qualified Australian-born or raised female Muslims under the age of 45. Well out they came in force attacking him for wanting female representation on boards. Of course the idiots (sorry, but it needs to be said) completely ignored the fact or simply didn’t read what he wrote, that Mr Kilanith was referring to Muslim boards and Muslim associations NOT all boards. The agenda of the knockers ‘beat up on Muslims’ and simply ignore what they are really saying. 

Likewise, there was an article published in The Telegraph about teaching the history of the Middle East and Islam in schools as part of a program to help to combat radicalisation. The idea was tabled by security expert Peter Jennings and is being considered by theeducation board for inclusion in religious studies. Given the success that people like Sarah Khan and her organisation has achieved in the UK with education programs, I personally think the idea has merit. But, the headline caused an eruption within some of the ‘beat up Turnbull’, team. It was all the fault of Malcolm Turnbull. They completely ignored what was being proposed and by whom in their eagerness to take a stab at the Prime Minister. 

We see these types of reactions repeated ad nauseam. It simply points to the fact that for far too many, the perception of the facts is shaped and altered by their biased preconceptions. In short, people believe what they want to believe, and the facts be damned. 

Winners and Losers, Leaders and Followers

When I was a child, I was encouraged to be the very best I could be in this life. I was told from a very young age, I was born to lead. I never believed that and in fact I saw myself as a struggling artist, sacrificing the material world for my art. I held onto this romantic idea of what my life would be like for many years. I was always a curious child. Fascinated by nature, arts and the universe. A dreamer. I never believed I would be a leader. 

When the time came to enter the real world and to start to make my own way I soon realised that the life of a struggling artist was simply a pipe dream. The thought of entering the commercial art world felt like for the want of a better word prostitution of my creativity Perhaps it was simply the subconscious acknowledgement that something else awaited. My destiny was to lead and to motivate others and in doing so to develop and grow myself. 

I was fortunate in the early years of my career to be nurtured, motivated and inspired by successful role models who taught me so much about self-belief and grabbing every opportunity. I worked hard and promotions resulted. Opportunity after opportunity opened up. I grabbed almost every one of them. A couple I passed over. Something told me they weren’t part of my life's blueprint.   

I had a very successful business career and as a result, I’m in the fortunate position now, of being able to do what I love most. But the part I am most proud of and gained the most reward from was being in a position to provide opportunities for others. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing others develop and grow and knowing that you played a small part in their success. It’s far better than any title or big pay check I ever had or earned. That is what leadership is about. You see all those years ago when as a child, I was told I was born to lead that is what they meant. To help lead others to achieve greatness. I have been blessed to have been in a position to have employed some of most inspirational, talented and wonderful people. Many who have gone on to achieve success and they will continue to do so. 

I shared my story because I am fed but with the 'slurs' used to attack Malcolm Turnbull, specifically the “he thinks he was born to rule” slur. It usually comes from those who clearly aren’t. Some people are born leaders and some people will forever to followers and some will simply be dragged along by others. Malcolm Turnbull love him or despise him is self-made. Anything he has achieved in life is a result of things he has done. He worked hard, he took risks and gave opportunities to others. So he wants to be Prime Minister and he believes he should be, great. We desperately need successful people leading the country. People who are driven by ambition to succeed because if they succeed we succeed. We’ve seen what career politicians and ex Union leaders have delivered. 

There is nothing wrong with striving for success in this world. There is nothing wrong with having an ambition to be Prime Minister. In fact, we need to encourage more people to strive to be better in all walks of life. Success doesn’t mean you have to be a business leader or even a Prime Minister. Success can come in many forms. But if you are really good at what you do, be it a wonderful parent, an inspiring leader, a carer or simply a street sweeper if you are the best you can be you will inspire others and people will want to follow your lead. I want the most important person in the country to be successful. I want them to inspire others to seek to be leaders. I fail to understand why anyone would will them to fail and to attack them for having ambition and believing in themselves. Judge them on results not on wanting to achieve high office. That simply smacks of envy. 

I thought this article summed it up really well. Have you always suspected you were born to rule, but never officially been tested?

https://studentedge.com.au/article/5-signs-born-to-be-boss

At the risk of sounding perhaps a tad New Age, Malcolm Turnbull is simply fulfilling his destiny and there is nothing wrong with believing you were born to lead. The question is, will he be a good leader. An inspiring leader and one who helps to leave the country and us in better shape than we are now. A leader who helps create opportunities for the country and us as individuals. A leader that inspires the kids of today to fulfill their destiny and to believe they can lead the country one day. That’s the real challenge for him and the questions for us. Smart people will be asking those questions the losers will continue with the slurs, but we’ve come to expect that. 

“Winners and losers, leaders and followers, those who celebrate and encourage success and those who envy”.  I know what team I’m on and I make no apology for it and neither should Malcolm Turnbull. I don't particularly like him, but I certainly don't condemn him for having ambition and belief in himself. I hope for our sake he is the very best Prime Minister we have ever had. 

Have We Forgotten that Labor Is The Opposition?

When Tony Abbott lost the leadership of the LNP back in September I had mixed feelings. I don’t believe I am in any way unique in not gaining any joy out of witnessing someone's downfall. On the other hand, it was obvious to anyone other than the rusted on, that there was something badly amiss within the party room and within the electorate when it came to support of Tony Abbott. So, whilst I was saddened by Mr Abbott’s downfall, I was also relieved that something had happened and I was looking forward to the LNP gaining the upper hand once more. 

I had no idea how Tony Abbott would respond, what he would do and how he would conduct himself after the shock of being dumped had worn off. I was delighted when he came out and stated that he would not snipe or white-ant and that he would continue to work in the best interests of the party. He even encouraged people to get behind the Turnbull Government. So how disappointing that he has very quickly plummeted to the level of chief sniper attacking in particular Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop. Two people who were  loyal to him despite a working relationship that become more and more problematic after the February aborted spill. 

I’ve recently become a fan of the ABC program Kitchen Cabinet. My ABC viewing is restricted to dramas, but a friend suggested I watch the Ricky Muir appearance on Kitchen Cabinet so I did. It was enlightening. Hence, I’ve been working my way through past episodes on iView ever since. Last week, I watched the Bob Hawke episode. He made a comment that stuck in my mind because it reminded me of Tony Abbott. It was, “You have to have the capacity to hate to be a good opposition leader. You have to have the ability to bash the government.” I think that was a pretty good description of Tony Abbott and few would deny I suspect that he was an extremely good opposition leader. Bob Hawke went on to say that, that doesn’t always make you a good government leader. 

Tony Abbott was a very effective opposition leader but he was not a good Prime Minister, so perhaps Bob Hawke as right. Great opposition leaders do not make good leaders of government. Tony Abbott was warned, about his leadership. He did not heed the warning. He chose not to do what was necessary to fix some of the challenges he faced. He alone did that. He was removed. 

Now we find that Tony Abbott is the one who is sniping despite declaring he wouldn’t. He now claims he doesn’t remember discussions with people. People within his own ministry who were trying to help and indeed warn him. Given the circumstances, it’s almost beyond comprehension that Tony Abbott has no recollection. No one else is claiming they don’t recall, only him. Does Mr Abbott’s apparent loss of memory explain his reliance on Peta Credlin and his insistence that she attend all meetings and functions?  Does he suffer from a retention problem?  It might explain some of the behaviour that others struggled with. 

That aside, it is time to move on. I don’t want t see a repeat of the first nine months of 2015. The country needs the government to get on and do its job. If there are people in Canberra including Mr Abbott who can’t and who are intent on sniping and destabilising then they need to get out and to let those who are focused on fixing up the mess do it. Labor is the opposition, let's not forget that. 

I'm A Conservative

Two of the hottest topics currently are asylum seekers; in particular Muslim asylum seekers and the Paris Climate meeting. I guess for us conservatives, this debate is heightened because of the change in government leader. 

In the past, we appeared to have a clear divide between Labor, Greens and conservatives on both of those issues. But I wonder if it really was that clear cut. If you are pro you must be on the left. If you are against, you must be on the right. 

I’m a conservative. I support the Liberal Party, have done for years, but that doesn’t mean I’m devoid of compassion for other people or the environment. I can see the merits of controlling pollution. You only have to look at countries like China to see the disastrous impact of millions of cars on the road and their air quality problems. Companies pumping chemicals into waterways wreck havoc on wildlife. I am deeply concerned about deforestation and the impact on the environment; land degradation, plants and animals and air quality.  

I believe as a society we should do all we can to protect the collective environment. Doesn’t mean, however, I buy the myth of global warming or support the exploitation of developed countries as a cash cow to prop up failed governments, the UN or IMF.  I certainly don’t support closing coal fired power stations, but I do think developing technology to deliver cleaner fossil fuel production is a good idea. I detest blights on the landscape and seascape in the form of wind turbines; costly, ugly, killing fields and depending on where they are they can be grossly inefficient. Large scale solar farms are equally reviled. I do like the idea of solar panels with battery power storage, thus taking homes off grid; brilliant idea. I’m also a huge fan of hydropower. 

The question of asylum seekers is a vexing one. I am pleased the LNP had the fortitude to stop the boats and to deal effectively with the odd one or two who have attempted to land here since early 2014. But I also don’t support closing the front doors to some who are in desperate need of a safe haven. Hence, I supported ex Prime Minister Abbott when he announced we would be taking an additional 12,000 persecuted minority Syrians from refugee camps. Prime Minister Turnbull has supported that decision as expected. 

I find it fascinating that people on social media cheer on Kurds fighting ISIS and rebels in Iraq and Syria, but scream NO to relocating some of the Kurdish men, women and children here. I trust our intelligence and immigration people will do their jobs selecting who comes here. Let's face it, we don’t have to import terrorist. We only have to give lunatics access to the Internet to learn all they need to know to cause a problem here. We aren’t Europe. We are an island we control who comes here. I simply can’t support closing everything up and erecting the No Room At The Inn sign. 

So yes, I’m a conservative. It doesn’t mean I should have to say no to every initiative to improve the environment. It doesn’t mean I should have to support a closed door asylum policy. Because I do support some of those initiatives and share those opinions doesn’t mean I’m a closet Leftie. It simply means I’m a middle of the road conservative and proud of it. 

Could We Give It A Rest, Please?

Don't know about you, but I'm a bit tired of hearing about ISIS & maybe terror attacks. Page after page of media reports. Social media saturation with every armchair expert in the universe voicing an opinion, which is their right, I know but seriously can’t we give it a rest? 

Reminds me of a few months back when we were all going to die from an Ebola pandemic.  Remember that? It was going to wipe out millions of people. Days and days of  scare mongering and knee jerk. Thousands and thousands of dollars spent on screening and tightened security. Guess what, it didn't happen. We are still here. 

I’m not saying we should be blasé about what is happening in the Middle East. I'm not saying we should be completely fooled into thinking we are immune. Only an idiot would think that. But seriously, on the probability scale of what will kill me, I’m figuring being bumped off by a terrorist wouldn’t be number one on the list right now. 

I feel very comfortable that our security forces and our police are on top of this. They can never guarantee everyone will be safe, no one can. The same as a driving test assessor in granting someone a license can never guarantee that person will not kill you whilst they are behind the wheel of a car. That’s life. 

I don’t know about you, but I had safety rules drummed into me from the time I was a child. We should be cautious. Nothing new in that. But to turn on the news, switch to any media service and be faced with as I said page after page of drama, hypothesis and questioning our security only frightens people or increases their anger. 

I caught the replay of an Alan Jones interview with the odious Mr Bernard Gaynor on 2GB873 last night. My God. Talk about whipping up paranoia and hatred. I’ve mentioned Mr Gaynor previously. He is the ex Army Major who was booted out for his extreme homophobic, Islamophobic, misogynistic  and bullying tactics. Mr Gaynor is running for a senate seat next election for the Australian Liberty Alliance. Mr Gaynor also now appears to have found a champion in Mr Jones, who is also well known for possessing the same set of corrupted values as Mr Gaynor. They were having a great old time slurring our ADF and our security capability. The main thrust of their discussion was Muslims in the services and the fact that our security is compromised as a result. Disgraceful stuff in my opinion and my very low opinion of Gaynor and Alan Jones has now reached the level of utter contempt. 

Whilst ever we put up with this stuff and support people like Jones and Gaynor the more they’ll play to an already frightened electorate in their cynical campaign to garner listeners and supporters. 

But hey, I’m merely one voice, but I suspect I’m not the only one thinking they have had enough. There are more things going on in the world and in the country that we need to know about and talk about. 

I Am Angry For Allowing Myself To Be Conned

At first I was angry and now, as it appears I’ve been conned and manipulated I’m really angry? Angry with myself and angry with stupid irresponsible media. 

It’s no secret, that I have made my position on the Muslim issue perfectly clear. So when I read, that the badge worn by our Army Chaplains was to be changed after 102 years and two World Wars because it was offensive to Muslims I simply threw my hands into the air in desperation. My initial thought was why do I bother. Why do I bother saying but hey let's give them chance when they do things like this. Typical knee-jerk reaction. 

So when I actually took the time to confirm exactly what was happening, I became really angry over media and opportunistic manipulation. 

Malcolm Turnbull has come in for a heap of flack over the story that was published by  the Daily Telegraph. There was already a heap of accusing fingers pointing at him over the addition of an Imam to the Religious Advisory Committee to the Services, which in fact happened back in June. This appointment had nothing to do with Turnbull. In fact, it happened under Tony Abbott’s Prime Ministership. Not that it had anything to do with Mr Abbott either. 

It would be fair to say the appointee Sheikh Mohamadu Nawas Saleem has copped a lot of flack on social media & in MSM. Some warranted, as usual, some not. So the environment was right to pour petrol on already smoking embers. People are angry about Paris, they are angry about refugees coming here, they are angry about the Sheikh, they are angry about Turnbull, who many think has gone soft on all of this (I’m not in that camp but that is another story) so....cue stage right…

Out comes the Telegraph story of November 21. With the headline. 

Now to my shame I hadn’t actually read the Telegraph column until today. I had picked up snippets in the Oz on social media, etc. Yes, I know I whine about others doing that. I’ve learnt my lesson. 

When I actually read the story I realised I had, as they say ‘been played’. You see NO decision has been made on this despite the affirmative headline. It’s merely being considered. 

I suspect 99.9% of the population had no idea what was on the Chaplains badge anyway, until it was circulated as part of this story. I suspect even less are aware there are two badges. Jewish Chaplains have their own. So we have two cap badges. The ADF comprises people of all religions and I dare say a swag of atheists.  From where I sit, it makes sense to consider having one badge that represents all as I assume what we come out of this. 

Now, a decision would probably have just been made, implemented and no one would have been any the wiser. But the Telegraph mentioned the magic word, MUSLIM, and like a moth to a flame up pops Bernard Gaynor. You know Mr Gaynor the disgraced ex Army Major who was kicked out because of his extreme views. Mr Gaynor is entitled to his opinions, but the ADF didn’t have to tolerate them so they separated. 

Mr Gaynor came to public attention in the 2013 election campaign, when he fearlessly asserted his opposition to having his children taught by gay teachers. At the time he was found to breach even the loopy standards of his party, the Katter Party and he was subsequently dumped. That tells you a lot. He was too hot for Katter. 

But it is now 2015 and Mr Gaynor has found his Political, Spiritual Home at last. He will be running for a senate seat for, wait for it, the Australian Liberty Alliance. Let’s spend a few minutes interrogating Mr Gaynor’s beliefs.  

We have established he is vehemently anti gay and hence against same sex marriage. Fine, many people are but it probably touches on insanity when someone takes it to the level he does into wanting gays prosecuted. We can be thankful he isn’t advocating beheading them, a favourite pass time in Saudi Arabia. 

One of his tweets on same sex marriage back in 2014. 

He was relentless in his bullying of transgender Lieutenant Colonel Cate McGregor. A woman who has earned the respect of many, many Australians, including ex Prime Minister Abbott. 

He is anti-abortion. Fine, he is a Catholic.  

He is anti women in the military. Heaven help us, it is 2015 we got out of the kitchen a long time ago.

His ongoing vilification of Muslims is legendary so he must have been salivating over the opportunity to get in front of the media and beat up the Chaplain badge story. Disavowed ex Army, Muslim hater, want to be politician, the perfect mouthpiece. 

If it quacks like a religious far right extremist, it’s a fair bet that is exactly what they are. 

Back to the badge. A Defence spokeswoman has denied the motto was being changed because it was associated with the Crusades, when Christian armies fought Muslims in the Holy Land during the Middle Ages. Seriously, you would have to have a very colourful imagination to even think that was the reason. 

“The motto of the Australian Army Chaplains is being changed to better reflect the diversity of religion throughout the Australian Army,” she said. To me, that makes sense. 

“The new wording on the Australian Army Chaplaincy badge is under consideration and no decision has been made at this time.” End of. So why didn’t  the Telegraph phrase their headline to reflect that,  instead of the inflammatory mischief making headline they opted for. 

I  don’t particularly like the wording of, “In this sign we conquer”with a stylised cross in the middle, either. Chaplains do not go into battle. They are there to provide support and guidance to those who do. I simply don’t think the wording represents that, so if they can come up with something better, which is more inclusive great in my book. 

As for the Telegraph. Shame on you for stirring up division and hatred and particularly shame on you for doing it at time when volatility within the community is high. 

An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley - A Message for 2015?

I watched a TV adaption of J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls last night. I had forgotten what powerful messages it contained and given what we are facing currently it was a timely reminder. In the last scenes with the Inspector, shortly before his exit addresses the family and delivers these words; 

"We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will come soon when, if man will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish." 

This of course was a blistering commentary of Priestley's socialist message. The promise of "fire, blood and anguish" references to the First and Second World Wars, which for Priestley's audience in 1946 must have been a chilling reminder. Given what we could possibly be facing, for me it was just as chilling today. 

It might be time for us all to wake before it is too late. 

Another memorable was line was; 

"It's not where you start, it's where you finish in this life." From where I sit, the 'finish' bit isn't looking that crash hot, but at least we have an opportunity to do something about it, before it is too late. It's up to us. 

I Don't Condemn All Muslims

So much been said and written about the attacks in Paris. Less so on the attacks in Beirut just 24 hours prior to Paris. Now we have what appears to be confirmation that the Russian aircraft that crashed in Egypt was as a result of a bomb. Just a few days ago, people were murdered in Afghanistan and dumped by the side of the road. One of these people was just nine years of age, a little girl decapitated and thrown away like discarded rubbish. Over 450 plus people slaughtered in the space of a couple of weeks and they are the ones that hit news services. 

It’s difficult for me, as I suspect it is for many others to comprehend what drives men (and to a lesser degree woman) to carry out atrocities on this scale and with such levels of brutality. They claim that a book or a directive from their God made them do it, simply doesn’t cut it. It has to be more fundamental than that. There is only one God even Muslims believe that. So 'their' God is Satan. 

There is so much written about this problem by people who know much more about the issue than I do. Trying to make sense of it and to sort the fact from the fiction is really hard. My decision is based on what I read, who has written it; their experience and their motives. Then there are my life experiences and my fundamental beliefs and principles. Most importantly what I learn from people I know personally and who I trust, who are involved in the particular field of interest. Some of those people I take guidance from are very directly involved. 

So using the above as my framework in trying to understand the Muslim issue this is how I see it. We are facing the greatest challenge to our security and to world peace that I have faced in my lifetime. We are battling an enemy that I don’t understand. I doubt many apart from those on the frontline do. An enemy who wants to take us back to the brutality of the Dark Ages. It’s an enemy who doesn’t discriminate along ethnic lines. They simply kill anyone who doesn’t submit to their warped doctrine. Submit or die. It wouldn’t matter if I were from Iraq, Syria, Africa, Australia, America, England or France, they’ll still kill me. It doesn’t matter whether I am a Muslim, a Catholic, an Anglican, a Buddhist, they’d still kill me. It doesn’t matter if I am young, old, male or female they’d still kill me. Their enemy is the world that I am part of; the free world. 

The terrifying part is, I have no idea who ISIS really are apart from vicious killers who hide behind a religious  text which they have manipulated to justify their murderous, maniacal regime. If you listen to experts it does appear many who hide behind the ISIS brand (and other Muslim terrorist group for that matter) are hired mercenaries. Others are people who are seduced by the extremely good ISIS propaganda which paints a picture of their new utopia. A utopia that bears no semblance to reality. The world of; they hate you, but we love love you come help us build this brave new world. That's what they sell. Then we have the radical religious fanatics who dream of a new caliphate and world domination. It isn’t as though you can point a finger at them and say that is ISIS. They come from all lands, they don’t parade around in uniforms like the Nazis. Many in the west look like everybody else walking down the street. So, I guess like me many people are fearful and it's very easy for that fear to overwhelm to the point that we start to suspect everyone who wears the mantle of Muslim. 

In our relative safety in Australia I view what happens in Europe, the Middle East and because I’m interested in other parts like Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan etc and I shudder. I witness what happened in Parramatta and the realisation hits, it can happen here and whilst it was only one person it still happened. When I think that the murder in Parramatta was carried out by a 15 year old boy my blood runs cold. He was a child. A child that hated so much he killed and lost his life for it. He could be the kid standing at the bus stop near my home. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that. 

It’s the unknown that frightens people. It frightens me. That’s human nature. I understand that but I can't spend my life jumping at shadows. 

The question for me is, how do I deal with this. I am not going to let it stop me leading my life. I’ll still travel and go about my day as usual. I’m more wary and cautious than I used to be but I can’t let that beat me. I’m not going to label all Muslims the enemy or demand the innocent atone for the actions of radicals. That hardly seems fair. I’ll continue to support my Muslim friends. I know they are as fearful, appalled and frighten as I am. I will focus on what I can do, albeit not much to help us overcome this scourge. I will do my best to share information and to show compassion for those who are struggling. I know in making my position public, that I am going to alienate a lot of people. I’ve already had some dreadful accusations hurled at me, I expect it will get worse. 

I am a conservative but was told a couple of nights ago that I have been marginalised by moderate conservatives on Twitter for failing to join the ‘ban and kick-out all Muslims’ voice. It was also suggested that the only people who share my position are from the left. I hope that isn’t true. I’m grateful for the advice, but I have to stay true to myself, my family, my friends. I think about what my parents would expect of me if they were still here. I’m sad that a division has developed along political lines. I feel like all my bridges are being demolished. How others whom I have never met judge me is up to them. What is important to me is how I judge myself and how my friends and family judge me, as it should be. 

I was always taught to stand up for what I believed in. I’ve tried to do that despite how hard that can be at times. So I will condemn as loudly as I can all terrorists, be they Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, whatever they are but I simply won’t brand everyone who follows a specific religion because of the actions of some. 

The experts within the Muslim faith state ISIS wants to create division in the world. They want to pit Muslims against the rest of us. They want to drive more to their cause. I believe the experts because frankly, they know more about it than I do. You don’t have to be too bright to understand that ISIS is extremely good at propaganda and since Paris they have done a very good job of achieving their objective. I’m not going to be part of their strategy, hence my commitment not to put every Muslim into the same bucket as ISIS and other terrorist groups.

“The practice of selectivity appears to be the tactic of choice of those who promote propaganda.” That said, it isn’t just the domain of ISIS the anti-Muslim brigade use it as well. As an example, I’ve used quotes attributed to Barrack Obama that were doing the rounds on social media yesterday. 

Firstly the list attributed to Obama, 40 mind-blowing quotes from Barack Obama about Islam and Christianity. 

http://youngcons.com/40-mind-blowing-quotes-barack-obama-islam-christianity/

I am no fan of Barrack Obama. Anybody who reads my Twitter timeline knows that, but I do believe in fairness and truth and that list is a classic case of ‘selectivity being used for propaganda’. 

The following article headed up, Truth on the cutting room floor proves it. 

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/12/truth-on-the-cutting-room-floor/

This type of scurrilous propaganda is used for one reason and one reason alone and that is to suck in the gullible to a cause. Not un-similar to ISIS. It's not that hard to check the validity of some of this stuff.

This is how I see it: 

If Muslims don’t condemn the actions of Muslim terrorists, they are branded sympathisers and supporters. 

If non-Muslims defend the majority of Muslims who are not terrorists, they are branded secret Muslims and Islamist supporters. 

If Muslims do condemn the actions Muslim terrorists, they are branded liars. 

If non-Muslims defend the Muslims who condemn terrorist they are branded naïve. 

If Muslims condemn Muslim terrorists and the language isn’t tough enough, or they dare to plead don’t condemn all Muslims, they are accused of being against the west and not taking responsibility. 

If non-Muslims try and defend softer language they are accused of being leftie sympathisers and even socialists. 

We even have a Senator in this country advocating fitting all asylum seekers and the Grand Mufti with electronic tracking devices!!! Regular Muslims must feel a bit like the Jews did in Nazi Germany, which is exactly what ISIS wants. It appears we have leant nothing. 

Well for what is it worth that’s my view of the world and how I plan to deal with it and why. I’ve made a commitment not to make a very bad situation worse by whipping up fear and anger. I hope to heaven that the leaders of this world get off their bums and do something constructive about fixing this problem. I wouldn’t have their jobs for a billion dollars. I fear for what our world is becoming. I fear religious Muslim fanatics and the really shocking thing is, I’m starting to fear my own kind. 

A Weird Mob or Simply Bullies?

I was reminded of Nino Culotta’s book titled They’re A Weird Mob yesterday. I was trying to make sense of the some of the treatment handed out to people on social media and for some reason the title popped into my head. 

My Twitter timeline was invaded yesterday by a person unfamiliar to me. I was watching the Bolt Report and in particular Bolt’s interview with Tony Abbott. Bolt was trying unsuccessfully to wedge Mr Abbott on a number points not the least being the Islamic Terrorist issue. Bolt raised the Quran suggesting it gives terrorists license to justify acts of terror. Mr Abbott responded “The devil can quote scripture for his purpose”. I thought it was a really good response  and I tweeted it along with the comment that Mr Abbott slam dunked Bolt. In chimes the troll with this, “or a biased take on any quote”. Given it was, Mr Abbott’s quote, which I repeated word for word, I endeavoured to politely clarify the point. You be the judge. 

Up pops the little troll again with this gem, “that’s not the point you Twitter screamer, rambling on it’s a slam dunk is just rubbish”. Hmm, so firstly the quote was a biased take and when point out it wasn’t I’m a Twitter screamer.  Now, I should have just left it that, but stupidly I didn’t. But, I thought I was rather polite in saying “Well, simply ignore me and take your mindless little comments elsewhere.” But the troll didn’t take the hint and started to ramp it. Hence the following dialogue ensured. 

Now I’ll confess my closing comments were sarcastic. But seriously, I’m fed up with this rubbish and my tolerance level is at a very low ebb. I will justify it in saying sarcasm worked where all else failed and the little troll left. Big sigh of relief. Oh, silly, silly me. Entrance stage right, the exLib rear guard. 

So I am supposed to take crap from people but if I respond, I'm a Turnbull butt kisser and Islam apologist???? I thought long and hard before blocking out the name of my assailant and I’m sharing this merely to point out the hypocrisy of some exLib Twitter bullies. Next time for what it is worth I will name them. I've had enough of sanctimonious bullies like this. Those who regularly refer to others as morons and imbeciles and worst still ‘idiotic Turnbull Butt lickers’ (yes, she uses that term as well, regularly) and it’s about time they climbed down off their high horses and minded their own bloody business. They troll Liberal accounts and chime in with attacks all too frequently. I should mention my assailant only unblocked me a couple of weeks back after one of her regular blocking events. I think my latest blocking is number four. I am so pleased she feels good, she has obviously set very low personal expectations for herself lol. 

There are some lovely exLibs out there, but sadly there is a small group out who are intent on making the lives of LNP supporters on Twitter a misery. Someone said to me recently after a particularly vicious attack, it’s social media you have to expect it. Another even suggested people are still angry because of the leadership change. Well, I don’t know why I should have to expect it and I certainly don’t know why someone else's anger is justification for them to call me a Turnbull Butt licker and worse in some cases. More importantly, why SHOULD I have to tolerate it!!! I don't use language like that. 

I so in closing, perhaps confusing people like that with a Weird Mob is being overly generous now that I think about it. They are not weird. They are merely sad bitter little people with nothing better to do with their sad little lives than go around attacking people from their self-appointed moral high ground. I don’t know whether I should despise them, pity them or be revolted by them. What I do know is, I am not caving into them. Not now, not ever. 

The World Does NOT Owe You Or Me A Living

There are many things I dislike about social media. However, on the plus side, I have met some unique and interesting people and occasionally I meet people, albeit anonymously, who teach and inspire me. Most importantly, give me one hell of a wake-up call and make me think. 

Politics is a particular passion of mine and it would be fair to say that it has resulted in some very emotive exchanges on social media. Not just for me, but for many people. As a result of one of those exchanges, one of my followers shared this story with me. It had such a powerful effect on me, I asked permission to share it on my Reflections blog. 

It reads: 

“Unfortunately, when you care about the direction our great country is heading in and the cost of doing or not doing something, it's hard to not get angry at the indifference, our politicians have to the people they govern. I  have to say both sides are guilty of forgetting that it's the people they govern, not business. I'm also particularly annoyed at tax avoidance by multinationals or even nationals and I don't agree with our current policy. 

I also think our welfare system is bloated from social, business and middle class welfare that needs to be cut immediately. Our politicians also need to stop the rhetoric about climate change and start the nation building projects that take 10/20 years to bring home instead of these one term projects. 

Sadly, it's all about getting reelected and staying in power. 

Abbott stuffed up, made promises he should not have made and then he had to back track. He was also  a bad salesman. I fear Turnbull is too soft and too far left leaning to take the necessary measures to stop the rot in the welfare mentality and the ‘me me’ generation of wanting it all now. I look at the Aldi workers complaining about having to de-pallet boxes in the store and their complaining it's hard work and think, ‘get over it, it's a job.’ 

Welfare  isn't a lifestyle it's supposed to be enough to buy essentials like food and to live. 

I have worked every day since I was 9 and I'm 49 now. I earned $4 a day for hard back breaking work. I also delivered milk every day from 5.30 am for $16 week. I washed cars for $3. Whatever I earned I gave  50% back to my parents. 

We had no phone, colour TV, bathroom, hot water, or even a car. 

l left school at 14 but went back and completed the HSC equivalent when I was 16. When I finished school I couldn't get a grant for college even though my dad didn't earn much, yet rich peoples kids were getting grants. Who you knew seemed more important than your right to receive. But, my mother was a fighter and finally got me  $1000 a year grant to live. It didn't even cover rent. So I worked and saved and put myself through college. 

I came here as a 20 year old by myself with just $1200 and a suitcase no family or friends. There was no one here to help me and I've worked hard every day to get ahead with no help even during periods of no work. I never asked  for or went on the dole. It was not easy and there were times I had to sleep in my car when my clients wouldn’t pay me. 

I have employed 10 designers at various stages in my career. I’ve won awards overseas and I’ve published worldwide. I've done the hard yards over the years and contributed to this country that has given me a chance. 

My political views are from my life experiences and I may take a hard line sometimes but it's never personal. I believe that those who choose to serve shouldn't forget that their job is TO serve. 

I'm over the ALP and the entitlement belief and the eternal ‘take, take, take’. This  country needs good leadership steeped in conservative values to bring us back from this PC UN values nonsense before we become a version of the U.K. 

So, forgive me if I come across as hard or arrogant, it's just that I probably care more than I should as a non participant.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was deeply moved after reading that and I sense it  echoes what a lot of people think. Perhaps we have not had to struggle like my friend has, I know I haven’t, but I firmly believe the world doesn’t owe anyone a living. I certainly agree about Tony Abbott and whilst I’m not as concerned about Malcolm Turnbull lurching too far to the left and I’ve articulated my reasons a number of times, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I still have doubts. 

I strongly agree, it is about time all politicians realised they are our servants, not the other way around. Their first allegiance is to Australia and the people who call this country home not foreign entities. I’m over the stupid political game playing. We are part of a global economy but that shouldn’t result in us losing our sovereignty, our rights or control. 

I couldn’t agree more that it’s time to end the ‘cash for votes’ mentality and that includes greedy people who vote for parties based on what they get, not what’s in the best interests for our future. As an example. No kid should be allowed to leave school and go straight onto the dole. That is simply hideous thinking and gives no incentive for kids to understand you get nothing for nothing. Someone ha to pay. 

I watched a program recently from the UK. It was a lifestyle program, but what really struck a cord was the family situation. Single mum, I would have guessed under 40. Ten kids, living in a council house. The eldest daughter was 21, a single mum with a small child of her own, living with mum and her nine siblings. The daughter was moving out shortly after the program was filmed. Yes, into her own council house.

No one should expect that the aged pension is their retirement fund. Our taxes fund services throughout our life, they are not our future savings plan. Those who plan and save for their retirement get nothing and it appears the Government is looking at raiding the superannuation funds of future self-funded retirees. What type of woolly headed thinking is that, reward the dependants by screwing the self-sufficient. That thinking makes me very, very angry because it kills incentive. 

By all means we must look after those who are totally incapable of looking after themselves. But when you consider how much it costs our country in handing out the ‘lollies’ to those who are capable, it’s not hard to realise the problems we face; economic, social and politically. 

Welfare is the career of choice for far too many.  When it’s not treated as a ‘full-time’ career, it becomes a part-time occupation = middle class welfare. We are raising kids with a cradle to grave welfare expectation and politicians promote it. It has to stop. 

Back to the exchange with my friend. It ended with him saying. 

"I've lived the dream here, gods own country so I'm thankful for it all every day." 

Hear, hear but we have a lot of work to do,  to ensure it stays that way. 

The Election & The Rising Of Right Wing Extremists

I am fearful of what may result from the next election. I'm not overly concerned that the LNP will fail to win government. I believe we are in a very good position following recent changes, although it would be foolish to take things for granted. What I am fearful of, is what we will end up with in the senate given the number of one cause parties springing up. The agendas of some are frankly frightening. 

Most of these 'chancers' are chasing senate seats because they see that is where the power lies. It’s the classic 'power of one' play. We've already witnessed the behaviour of egocentric power players within the existing senate. The likes of Jacqui Lambie, Glen Lazarus, David Leyonhjelm whose views at times are extreme relish in holding the elected government to ransom and threatening and in some cases blocking good policy because they can't get their own way.

I know many people do not read the Senate Hansard, but it gives you a fascinating insight into the thinking and the language. It often makes for alarming reading at times. Particularly when the headline chasing cause senator Lambie takes the floor.  

Some of those throwing their hats into the ring for the next election should ring the alarm bells very loudly and very, very clearly. Now, I will preface this by saying I know many people are worried about the 'Muslim issue'. In some cases with good reason. Parties who are running on that agenda border on extremists themselves. Consider the likes of the United Patriots Front (UPF) who have said they plan to run for senate seats.

The UPF group formed as a result of a breakaway by the founders of Reclaim Australia after claiming that Reclaim had been invaded Neo Nazis. Yet, the current leader, of UPF, Blair Cottrell's a Jew hating, woman hating self-confessed Hilter devotee himself. Their main activity is protesting at anti Muslim rallies, fighting  amongst themselves for power and finding inventive ways of scamming money from gullible followers it seems. That last comment relates to the recent stunt pulled by the 'delightful' Sherman Burgess and his well publicised resignation from the UPF. This lasted all of a day and included an equally opportunistic grab for money to help with his car payments and buy a birthday present for his kid. The disciples rattled the can for Poor Shermi who took the money, went on a holiday and announced his resurrection in rapid succession. I think Mr Sherman has learnt from the equally delightful exFootball thug and convicted criminal Tommy Robinson AKA, AKA, AKA on how to scam people. 

We have the The Australian Alliance (ALA) affectionately labeled the Gert Wilders Party. This party resulted from the anti Muslim and all things Halal Q Society. If social media is any indication, this group are attracting some support from the exLibs groups. Dig deep and the motivation is very obvious. 

There are many others, but I wanted to highlight the latest single cause activist to declare their hand. Enter Kim Vuga and the Love Australia or Leave Party. Actually, it hasn't got a lot to do with loving Australia, but it does have a lot to do with hating all things Muslim. Kim is very passionate about her loathing of Muslims and she does raise some important points about ISIS sympathisers and terrorists. But if Kim has her way we will be back to the days of the treatment handed out to the Tolpuddle Martyrs. Hilter and the KKK will be cheering from the sidelines. When you look at the following, the only thing missing is forcing Muslim’s to wear the equivalent of the Jewish Star and sending them to concentration camps. 

No one has the right to demand of anyone that they declare their love for the country they live in and if they don't demand they leave. We do have the right to expect people obey our laws, live in harmony with us, do us no harm and contribute to the country. I certainly have the expectation that if people migrate here and don't do these things, then they should be helped on their way back to from whence they came. But to go down Kim’s path is supporting extremism every bit as extreme as though she protests about. 

We need to deal with the radical Muslim issue. No argument from me but branding and labelling everyone because of their religion is totally unacceptable. Most of the new parties appear to be basing their foundation on the Muslim issue. It almost borders on ethnic hatred. That worries me a lot more than a 100 or so religious radicals. I'm confident the authorities will deal with them. 

Back to what worries me about the election.  There is a core of people, albeit based on various polls and comments on social media who have simply given up on the LNP since the change of leadership. That is their right and they make those decisions based on a number of factors, not the least being their hatred (many have said it so I'm simply quoting the example) of Malcolm Turnbull. There are others, who like me are comfortable with change, but still wary about the new leader. For me, as long as policies are consistent with conservative expectations I'll stick with the party and frankly I don't see a viable alternative. 

The group that worries me the most are the 'we are going to teach the Liberals a lesson' lot. They will probably vote LNP in Reps. Many have said that, but they won't vote LNP in the senate. Many will vote for the new 'opportunists' anti-Muslim parties in the senate. Can you just image a senate full of more Lambie clones!!!!! God help us.

Malcolm has around year to prove himself and to present a set of policies that meet the expectations of the majority of Liberal Conservatives. Hopefully as a result we can also pull in some of the swinging voters. If he wins the election and then fails to meet those expectations we can vote him out in three years. But, if hardline opportunists are voted in to the senate we are stuck with them for SIX YEARS. Not three, six. All I ask is people think about that because your decisions impact on all of us, just not you. 

We have already seen what a hostile senate can do. Let's not forget the existing senate played a major role in contributing to the downfall of Tony Abbott.  I often wonder if Mr Abbott had been able to work with the cross benchers (regardless of how abhorrent a couple are) and therefore got reform policy through how different his fate might have been. 

We have already seen what a hostile senate can do. Let's not forget the existing senate played a major role in contributing to the downfall of Tony Abbott.  I often wonder if Mr Abbott had been able to work with the cross-benchers (regardless of how abhorrent a couple are) and therefore got reform policy through how different his fate might have been. All too frequently,  lack of support had nothing to do with the merit of the policy it was based on personal dislike of Tony Abbott and personal agendas. 

Suffice to say there is a lot of water to run under the bridge before the next election assuming Turnbull goes full term. Who knows what the mood of the electorate will be by then. There is certainly a lot riding on the outcomes in Paris. Many detractors are promoting the theory that Malcolm Turnbull will sell us out. I don’t know if he will or won't. I can only rely and what he has said and I pray he is telling the truth. The tax reform proposal is very important as are all their policies. Who knows, perhaps people will have finally released their anger and based on performance decide that get square is not advisable. That said, we can not rely on that happening. The only real fail safe is for Nick Xenophon to be successful in achieving support for changes to senate elections, which will hopefully stop micro parties gaining seats, and therefore we can eliminate some of the far-right radicals. If we don’t and they are successful in getting rid of all the Muslims who will they come for next. It might be us. 

Timely reminder. 

The Folly of Labelling Muslims Moderates

I originally wrote this article back in January 2014. It was as a result of reading an article about the folly of branding Islam or Muslims 'moderate'. I'm certainly guilty of that, but I do try not to use the term after reading what was written, and after giving this some thought. 

I was promoted to dig it out, brush it up and republished after reading some very ordinary posts that are circulating on Twitter today. A question was asked, “what really is  a moderate Muslim.” Someone who shall remain nameless posted this. 

 What stuns me is exactly who the people are who RT this crap.  Very disappointing. 

Back to the article I read, in 2014. It resonated with me at the time because of my loathing of being put into little boxes and labelled and the real reason why people do that; largely an attempt to control and bully.  I guess when you think about it, it's the same as putting Muslims into 'boxes'. Carving up the Muslim world into either "good Muslims" or "bad Muslims". Until the collective "we" decides they are moderate which used to mean good, but that appears to have changed now. Or they good they remain bad and in mainly cases perceived as extreme. Granted, some certainly are extreme but the vast majority are not. 

It's certainly true that people don't spend the same amount of time searching out "good" and "bad" Christians (like Westbro Baptists, the Lords Resistance Army and those other Christians slaughtering people in Central Africa) or Jews (like the Jewish Defence League and those slaughtering Palestinians) or Buddhists (like those murdering people in Burma and Sri Lanka). We can deny all we like but they certainly exist and when this is pointed out it is explained away by the deniers as they are aberrations. The usual answer is "there aren't many of them compared to Muslims". So in the heads of some it's OK because there's "not too many" and they don't threaten us.  That is not only wrong, but unbelievable thinking in justifying wicked deeds. 

Earlier in the week when I mentioned that all religions have extremists and those extremists carry out acts of aggression and terrorism, I was stunned when I received the reply, “But in the west they don’t.” That isn’t true but it also indicates that for some people cuts of terror are OK as long as they don’t happen on our doorstep. 

The Muslims 'bashers' argue that 15-25 percent of world's Muslims are extremists and that the remaining so called "moderates" are irrelevant or it seems just waiting in the shadows letting the extremists do what they won’t. That’s ‘lint for brains, bigoted thinking’ in the extreme. That aside, if the assertion was correct (note no one knows what the number is) and based on the lower end of that range, that’s 240 million of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims that are extremists. That's the equivalent of every single Muslim in Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, nearly six times the number of all Muslims on the entire continent of Europe. What utter rubbish. Where are the examples of such supposedly widespread extremism? Sure, there a trouble spots and there have been incidents reported outside of the Middle East and Central Africa, but even if a mere 1 percent of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims are committed to violence, why is it that we haven’t seen 16 million individual violent attacks? Another minor detail which is glossed over or ignored. 

As was pointed out in the article on the folly of labelling Muslims, moderate, and to quote, "Proving one’s “moderation” is a trap, anyway. The only way to do it is to meet the criteria set forth by the person making the demand." That is an almost impossible task because the only way any Muslim can do that is to give up their faith. That’s like asking all Catholics to give up their religion because of pedophiles within the priesthood. No one would ask a Catholic to do that, but many demand Muslims do. 

So back to the problem of the  “moderate Muslim”. The writer went on to say, "It empowers anti-Muslim activists by implying that the degree to which a Muslim digests their religious faith is indicative of their status as a potential terrorist. Thus, “moderately” subscribing to the teachings of the Quran is OK, but should they cross over into the world of daily prayers, Friday afternoons at the mosque, and, God forbid, Ramadan, they’re suddenly flirting with extremism. That way of thinking is predicated on the unfounded notion that pious religious orthodoxy necessarily entails Muslims behaving badly. It also implies that religious “moderation” involves swallowing up one particular political narrative." Hear, hear. 

"Moderate Muslims” are continually berated for not condemning violence, or other abhorrent acts (when in fact many are including religious leaders if people bothered to look). Because most people don't look (preferring to rely on social media and right-wing media reports) those doing the attacking presume that every Muslim who doesn’t is a terrorist lying in wait. Those of us who do point out that Muslims speak up are equally berated. I can not tell you the number of times I've had "it's taqiyya" thrown back at me. I've been called naive and an apologist, I've been accused of being easily fooled and they are the soft accusations.  It appears, therefore, that only those Muslims who jump to the beck and call of Islam’s so called 'experts' police are the peaceful ones. What an absurd position is that.

In order to create a more equitable and peaceful place in our world we have to stop pretending we are the authorities on the faith traditions of others and as such entitled to dictate how they must interpret their faith in order for them to be welcomed and accepted. This certainly applies to those whose only point of reference is internet Q & A's, or who are part of the massive get-rich-quick industry riding on the back of islamophobia. Make no mistake this industry is almost as profitable as the climate scam industry, it just has fewer players. But people like the Pamela Geller’s, Tommy Robinson’s (many aliases) do very nicely thank you. Putting Muslims (and other faith believers for that matter, into 'boxes') to fit with our idea of what they should be doing, how they should be acting (even what they should be wearing) is not going to solve anything. If anything, it only serves to create a bigger divide and provides those who do with the opportunity to harass and bully. 

We really have to stop trying to put people into little boxes and stop dictating how others should react and respond.

“Judge me on what I do and how I treat you and not, on what I am or what I believe in” is a lesson a few people would do well to learn. 

If This Is The Best We Have Time To Get Rid of The Senate NOW

If ever we had reason to demand the removal of the senate from our parliamentary system we have it in spades over the last week. That said, there are some very good people in the senate, but sadly the latest bunch of independents ruins what could and should be a sensible review unit. 

It’s obvious this bunch of highly paid free loaders don’t have enough to occupy their time. They are not majority elected representatives. They are merely there as a result of back room deals and fortuitous voting card placement. 

We have a senate inquiry into Government cuts to the Arts currently underway. This is chaired by no less than the doyen of the arts, Senator Lazarus. He, along with Nova Peris, another well known connoisseur of the arts are flitting around Australia conducting an inquiry to the arts funding cuts. What this lot know about the arts completely escapes and if this is the best use of highly paid senators time I’m yet to see. Value? I don’t think so. Joke? Most certainly. 

We have common sense (tongue in cheek) luminary David Leyonhjelm and his equally well respected (hic) sidekick Sam Dastyari conducting an inquiry into the Nanny State. Mr Leyonhjelm has spent the best part of the day attacking the police and sympathising with the feral grubs who cause trouble at Western Sydney Wanderers games. It’s a sad day when a politician attacks police who are trying to protect football supporters who love their team and simply wants to watch the game free from the ‘grubs’ who light flares, uses foul language in front of children and ruin the day for the majority. Mr Leyonhjelm has taken to Twitter today and an example of his tweets follows. What a fantastic role model he is; not and this proves what I am saying.

 

 

Charming coming from a servant of the people. 

Then we had the Senate joke,  Ms Lambie. What more can I say. 

Ms Lambie is sounding like a fully paid up a member of the CFMEU by the day. 

I object to my hard earned taxes being spent on keeping people like this in a job. Worse still they decide on the laws that apply to the rest of us.  Remember Lazarus, Lambie and Dastyari all voted down the very laws that would see Union officials jailed for the types of dishonest bordering on criminal behaviour that is surfacing at #TURC. Now we have Leyonhjelm attacking people trying to protect football fans from hooligans. If  the senate can’t attract better than this lot and spend their time on more worthwhile enquires then it’s time to pull the plug and get rid of the senate. 

UNITED NATIONS: We Are Not Going To Leave So What Do We Do?

I read far more than I am posting on social media of late. Locally, we are consumed by either attacking or defending the government depending of what side you are on; Conservative, Labor, Greens, exLiberals or pushing a new start-up. Attacking Muslims. Even climate change has lost some focus, albeit people are concerned about the upcoming Paris meeting. Anything associated with Malcolm Turnbull does generate a lot of chatter. The Middle East conflict and ISIS have, to some degree been pushed to the ‘back burner’. It’s all rather mundane and more venting than anything else. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve pulled back on posting. I’m not that interested in small talk. However, I read to gauge what interests and occasionally a gem of information pop up.

However, one of the topics that does get a lot of air play is the belief the #UN is a highly questionable and largely ineffective organisation. Their inability to deal with conflicts, reports of widespread abuse within peacekeeping forces in Central Africa (which was covered up) and the inclusion of countries like Saudi Arabia in positions of power within human rights groups alarms people. Add to that, UN criticism of Australia whilst turning blind eyes to endemic abuse elsewhere, their insidious Agenda 21 & Agenda 2030 and their stance on climate change adds to the concern. I think it would be fair to say that the  is a widespread opinion that the organisation borders on corruption (in some areas) and that it is far too politically motivated is not without good reason. But it seems to me that whining about it gets us nowhere apart from stoking the egos of a few people who like to hear the sound of their own voice on social media. The repetitive chants of the UN must be closed down, we should tell them where to go etc are futile.

Australia was one of the 51 founding members of the UN when it was formed in 1945.  We have been associated with the organisation for the 70-yrs since foundation and we have contributed both money (lots of it) and manpower to UN activities. We are in fact the 12th largest financial contributor. Not all of that investment has been wasted. Millions of lives have improved as a result of our efforts and the efforts of the organisation in general.

We have nominated and been elected a member of the UN Security Council on 5 occasions the latest being 2013 – 2014. That isn't a huge reward for the service we have given; both contribution and manpower. We have also fulfilled the role of President of the UN General Assembly back in 1948. In addition 7 Australians have commanded or led multinational peacekeeping operations.

Approximately 65,000 Australian personnel have been engaged in more than fifty peacekeeping operations, in approximately 25 different conflicts. That engagement has included the such operations as the very important task of clearing landmines, humanitarian aid and repatriation and monitoring cease-fires.

Not everything the UN does is without merit. They help feed well in excess of a 100 million people a year in 80 countries. They feed people in war zones, natural disaster situations, health emergencies, and just plain poor countries. The scale of this is enormous. Today they provide protection and assistance to nearly 55 million refugees, returnees, internally displaced and stateless people. A further 5.1 million registered refugees are being looked after in the Middle East by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The UN was and still is the leader when it comes to the global battle against HIV/AIDS.

In a world as troubled as ours, I believe there is a need for an organisation like the UN, however changes are needed. This organisation needs to be run by people of the utmost integrity, to help address the many global issues that we face and to work toward the lofty objective of global peace among other things. Despite the social media chorus that we should bail out, it won't happen. Even Tony Abbott didn't go that far and he supported us participating as a member of the security council during his tenure as Prime Minister. Mr Abbott was right to tell the UN we would not be lectured to by them. Like many Australians I am angry about their constant sniping at us over the treatment of refugees when countries like China (a permanent member) and Saudi Arabia the UN’s new ‘best friend’ blithely carry on killing people in their own countries. Furthermore, in the case of Saudi Arabia slaughtering people in the Yemen. I won’t start on western support of terrorist organisations or this would turn into war and peace.

There is a lot of angst being voiced over our declaration that we will nominate for a seat on the Human Rights Council 2018 - 2020. I personally think we should. I can not see us surrendering our membership and despite our last two Conservative Prime Ministers; Howard and Abbott having a tense relationship with the UN they never walked away or surrendered membership. So if as I believe we will continue to be a member of the organisation and we agree it needs to be cleaned up and less politically motivated (and I'll add interfering) then we need a 'louder' voice; a council voice. We need more voices like ours to drive the necessary change.

So rather than complaining, perhaps we should be lobbying as hard as we can to push the government to demand more of a share of voice and perhaps to even push that as far as a permanent member seat along with China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. When you look at the world map there is no permanent member of the Security Council from the Southern Hemisphere, despite the fact that we make up approximately 12% of the world's population. Given our record and our contributions we are in my view the best placed representative below the equator.

As stated, I can't see us walking away despite our desire that we do. So the next best thing is demanding a more permanent role where we can hopefully exert more influence to clean this organisation up and to help control the interference in activities such as ours and to redirect the focus back on the countries with appalling human rights records like so many Middle Eastern and third world countries.

THE BATTLE FOR THE MORAL HIGHGROUND

I watched Bolt (again) this morning, despite my personal commitment never to do so a couple of weeks back. But hey, I’m a female, we are allowed to be fickle. Seriously, if  it wasn't for his guests I wouldn't bother, I find Bolt insufferable but he does have entertaining knowledge guests (usually).

The guest list  today wasn't up to the usual standard. It rarely is when Nicholas Reece is on the panel. We received the usual serving of Labor propaganda from him. Gems like:

"Bill Shorten is announcing 'brave' new initiatives." Fantastic, but even if he could deliver on them, we would be paying for them for the next 100-years. 

"The behaviour of TURC has been outrageous and it's 'politically' inspired mantra."  Not a word about the evidence of endemic Union corruption. 

As usual Mr Reece was left with egg on face over his claims that TURC had been raiding offices. He clearly wasn’t up to speed that a request was made and subsequently withdrawn. His face said it all. 

Of course Bolt was ever keen to push the Malcolm Turnbull is a 'lefty' mantra. I fail to see how showing a willingness to agree to minor compromises to get policy moving is 'tipping to the left'. When this was pointed out to Bolt his rebuttal was hysterical,”But wait until he wins the election, then he is free to do what he likes.” What utter rubbish. If Turnbull wins the election, then it will be on the policies heard the party  tables that the voting public agrees with. Turnbull will not be free to then turf all the policies out and bring in his own. Turnbull has committed to a cabinet government not the power of one government, a point that appears to completely escape Bolt. 

Of course Bolt made not one mention of the following: 

The Governments announcement of it's responses to the Financial Systems Inquiry (the Murray review) which was received positively by the public and with a notable lack of serious criticism of from either Opposition or business groups. Big tick and hardly tipping the dark side. 

After months and months of stand offs agreement was reached with Labor on the China Free Trade Agreement and although very, very minor concessions were made the essence of the agreement is untouched. This agreement will now swiftly pass through parliament and will be in effect by December. Big tick to Trade Minister Andrew Robb and the Government and once again hardly tipping to the dark side.

After a minor revamp treasurer Morrison, and social services minister, Christian Porter, have presented a revamped family benefits package forsakes many controversial measures first proposed in the 2014 budget, but still cuts around $3.5bn in government benefits (mostly from single-income and single-parent families) in order to pay for the $3.5bn childcare package promised in the 2015 budget. Despite what Bolt thinks & the posturing by Labor there is a strong held view the senate will pass the package in return for various sweeteners. Treasurer Morrison isn't one to walk away from change. Certainly not tipping to the dark side merely playing smart politics.

We had the usual firm stance on the asylum seeker issue with Peter Dutton's stance on the so called asylum seeker rape claim and subsequent pregnancy and abortion farce. Same on climate. 

We can only judge on what happens not what we think will happen based on the attitudes of the past as Bolt does and whether Bolt likes it or not Malcolm Turnbull has not lurched to the left and I doubt that will he. He isn't that stupid. 

One point struck me today about Bolt when he was discussing left leaning media and their attacks on Christians in the media segment with Gerard Henderson. Gerald mentioned that most of the left leaning Christian attackers were people raised and educated as Christians who are now atheists. As we see time and again, those who express the most intolerance are very often converts. Ex Christians now Atheists attack other Christians. Ex Christians now Muslim jihadists attack Christians. Bolt who spends the majority of his time attacking the left and middle of the road small L Liberals like Malcolm Turnbull is the same man who campaigned twice for the Labor Party. Perhaps just another case of the converted attacking what he once supported? I wonder.

Gerard Henderson summed it beautifully with this comment during the media segment. I will preface this in stating Gerard was referring to the left; media and supporters. But I think it applies equally to those who tilt a bit further to the right as well; the ultra conservatives. He said, "When you believe your morality is higher than everyone else's, when people disagree with you they are liars and lack morality."  We’ve witnessed ample evidence of that over recent weeks. If you disagree with the likes of Bolt and his supporters you are immediately accused of lacking morals, selling out your principles, you are deluded or simply dumb. The moral high ground is very crowded and it certainly isn’t the sole domain of the left. 

ENOUGH POLITICAL BULLYING

It has been a while since I put pen to paper, but I feel compelled to raise the issue of political bullying and intimidation. What has prompted this, is the number of people who have contacted me privately to voice their concern over the level of intimidation and the hate speech they are being subjected to on social media. To the point that an alarming number of people are at the point of considering closing their accounts. I sympathise with them, because I’ve felt the same over recent weeks, but my resolve never to bow to intimidation kicks in and the kind words from others gives me heart. 

The responses to the recent change in Liberal leadership has shaken a few of us to the core. The level of vitriol and accusations levelled at (for the want of a better term) Liberal loyalists has been challenging and deeply distressing to say the least. It’s been vicious and nasty and frankly there is absolutely no excuse for it. 

A few weeks prior to the leadership change, I was contacted by a number of followers on social media, who like me were frustrated with the Government and Liberal leadership. Whilst we all acknowledge the Abbott led government chalked up a number of successes, we were being roundly flogged by the media, by polls and by the constant leaks coming from the PMO. The call for a spill back in February was a stark warning that all was not well and that something needed to change. Those of us who had the temerity to say it were attacked for doing so. More than one person told me in private they were too scared to even speak up because they had seen the treatment handed out to others like me who had. So I guess the alarm bells should have rung at that point because it was an indicator of how some people would respond if in fact the inevitable did happen.

I sincerely hope Liberal loyalists don’t bail out and leave social media because it’s a very important part of the political landscape today.  I sincerely hope the many who are out there will have the courage to speak up and to band together and to support each other. We don’t have to accept the criticism being hurled our way for merely saying we are prepared to give the change a chance. That doesn’t mean we hate (the favourite word of the anti/brigade) the previous leader. In fact, to the contrary, he did a good job, but he simply wasn’t able to marshall the necessary support to be a great leader. To his credit and to Joe Hockey’s credit they have both publicly asked supporters to do exactly what I and many others are doing; giving the government a chance. So far, things are going OK, that gives me hope. Furthermore, it’s a refreshing change not to wake to another day of gaffes, infighting and senate standoffs.