Monday 10th February 1997
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Issues - The banking system under the spotlight. The court case centres around the charge of swearing at Ms Hanson brought against a 17 year old Aboriginal boy Paser Shefe. The Channel Nine program Sixty Minutes caught much of the unprovoked verbal attack agaist Ms Hanson by a group of Aborigines - then televised it nationally.
The case has drawn the attention of the chairperson of the local Aboriginal Legal service who said recently that her own Ipswich community had to take legal action to make the organisation hold an annual general meeting, which resulted in her being elected to the position.
Ms Thompson has organised a rent-a-crowd of Aboriginal supporters for Schefe and community representatives were expected to attend the hearing. Ms Thompson said a Brisbane based barrister had been briefed and would defend the charges.
"He (Schefe) quite vigorously claims he did not swear at her so it comes down to her word against his," Ms Thompson said.
Ms Thompson said that it would be alleged that Sixty Minutes representatives had "hyped up" a group of youths in the street by saying Pauline Hanson would be walking by.
She said that Schefe would claim that he was not originally part of the group that confronted Ms Hanson. He would say that he was at the back of the crowd.
"He says he turned to his cousin and said, 'Come on cuz, let's go,' and out of that comment Pauline Hanson claims he swore at her.
I predict that the whole thing will become a media circus with chanting, abuse and a group of mainly unemployed people (no, lets call them no hopers) who have nothing better to do in life than to be part of a rent-a-crowd on a fine Monday morning then later this week to wander off to social security to pick up their dole cheque - with this little event being the highlight of the week's excitement - especially if they see themselves on national television.
Howard revealed yesterday that 30 pilot programmes across Australia were about to be launched where young people would earn their dole.
Aimed at long term unemployed young people between the ages of 16 and 20 years the scheme would involve participants working on award wages for up to 20 hours per week. TAFE training would be included, with states and community groups asked to nominate schemes for the pilot project.
"What worries me is that people who are out of work for a long time, particularly when they're young, lose, or never have acquired, the habit of work," Howard said on Channel Nine.
Opposition leader Kim Beazley said that the plan amounted to an admission of failure by the Government which had dismantled the Labor Party's Working Nation labour market programmes aimed at solving unemployment.
Australian Council of Social Services president Robert Fitzgerald said, "If this is the best the government can deliver for the unemployed, then God help the unemployed.
"Compulsory work-for-the-dole schemes do not work, they are costly to administer and they do not provide new jobs or long-term solutions to unemployment."
The Australian Democrats are likely to join the Labor Party in the Senate in opposing the proposed legislation to bring the scheme on line.
I have been watching your column regularly for a couple of months, and I must say I agree with many of your views of current affairs.
I am an Ipswich resident, and although I think Pauline could be a little better informed than she is, I don't think she is doing so badly for someone who left school at 15, and has led the life she has. I think she will grow with experience, and she certainly is on a steep learning curve.
Personally, I hope she got what she wanted for her fish shop, and I don't care a toss what her books were like. In any case, presumably her financials would be the same as those sent to the Tax Office, so her claimable business expenses (such as wages) would be maximised, wouldn't they?
I am far more concerned about the ugly, dark side of the "political correctness" on which she is speaking out. She and her children have been threatened with death, because she has spoken the thoughts of many ordinary Australians. I find it sinister in the extreme, and yet another reason not to forget the darkness behind the smarmy platitudes of Labour's "social justice" agenda.
Pauline is talking about a breakdown in social values in our society. I saw a disturbing documentary on the next "world war" on CNN the other week, which suggested the new "enemy" is the disenfranchised and displaced refuse of our new societies. The new world war is underway, and is the result of a collapse of the world's social systems. The war is already running in places like the former Jugoslavia, Brazil, Northern Ireland, the entire Arab world, and North America.
The new enemy is within, and is the result of a wasted and idle youth. Who is to say Australia does not have a similar problem, with youth unemployment hovering around 40%? It was the Labour government with its warped values which contributed to this disgraceful state of affairs, with its political correctness.
I do some "government work" on contract now, and I can say the coalition is not running this country at the moment. It is business as usual, and Gough's/Bob's/Paul's "power lock" is still in place in Canberra. The country is still being run (into the ground) by the same tired, greying bureaucrats, with their outdated social values of the 60's and 70's. They just lie to the politicians, tuning the implementation of coalition policy to suit their own requirements for control and power, whilst maintaining their little empires.
Time for some new blood. Time for those in elected office to play the game and bring about the massive changes this country needs. Canberra is not a microcosm of Australia, it is every money-soaking, social experiment nightmare come to life. Let's face it, we have had our choice of bad, conservative, socialist government - from both sides of the fence, and it is really time for all that to change.
The socialist values in Australia are more extreme than the new China, or the new Russian Federation. In fact, the only socialist country I can think of which comes close to Australia in terms of centralised government being responsible for just about everything is Vietnam. I know this, because in the last 12 months, I have shown visitors from all these countries around south east Queensland. They came to Australia to get ideas on how to privatise government utilities in their own countries - imagine their disappointment! The fact is, Australia is nearly as socialised as the old USSR.
Our society, in the bush and in the suburbs, is crumbling. We are in the grip of a social upheaval as bad as this country has ever seen. In the bush, cockies burn their woolsheds for the insurance money, walk away from their farms, or just take the .22 to themselves. Our agricultural sector is at a low in productivity, which can only get worse as Labour's "level playing field" continues to deliver a kick in the guts. In the cities and country towns, virulent crime is perpetrated by children and teenagers - the result of no education, no prospects and nothing better to do.
Rather than using every device available to shoot the messenger (Hanson), the new government should be listening to the response from the voting public, out there in the new front line.
I hope Pauline can weather out this concerted campaign to reduce her credibility in the eyes of the public. She one of only a few with the guts to say what is really happening in our "lucky country".
Regards, and keep up the good work
Brian White.
As mentioned above, a big day in the big smoke today... them's the breaks, ah... well have a great day!!
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