Australian National
(anotd)
Sunday 26th July 1998
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Between the One Nation lines
Two disillusioned candidates in the Queensland state election will tomorrow
face their nemesis in the Supreme Court in Brisbane. The two, accountant
Terry Sharples and disendorsed Noosa candidate David Summers (editor of
"Exposure" magazine), lodged the action to have Pauline Hanson's One
Nation deregistered in Queensland - preventing One Nation candidates from
getting nearly Au$500,000 to cover expenses to run campaigns in May/June
this year.
Mr Sharples, who is now believed to be a Liberal plant, said yesterday that
he had gained access to hundreds of documents and that One Nation is a "party
run as a company".
"One Nation, the party, is controlled by Pauline Hanson, Oldfield and Ettridge
and they also control Pauline Hanson One Nation Ltd, the company. A third
off shoot, One Nation Support Movement Inc, is also under their control.
"There are people in Queensland who believe they are One Nation members when,
in fact, they are members of a registered non-profit organisation called
One Nation Supporters Movement Inc.
"About 25% of voters in Queensland want a decent democratic One Nation to
support. They don't want a society run by three people.
"I am asking the court to state whether One Nation is a legally registered
party and also asking for the election funding money to be distributed equally
among the party's 79 Queensland election candidates," he said.
One Nation state director Peter James told me yesterday that he was "quietly
confident" that the action would be dismissed by the Supreme Court... personally
I think we will all find it interesting as to how costly this action will
become for Messrs Sharples and Summers and their allegedly Liberal Party
backers.
The art of divisiveness
Last night I watched Ray Martin interviewing Tan Li on Channel 9. The interview
was in itself quite forgettable, but the interviewer and his line of questioning
aroused a number of emotions within me.
I switched on the television set just as the interview was starting with
the much interviewed and lauded young Australian of the year being asked
a number of patronising questions about her past. A past which any regular
television viewer would have heard repeated by Tan Li dozens of times before.
This made the interview forgettable. But my first emotion when I saw Ms Li
was to think quietly to myself "Oh no, not her again."
Martin skirted around a number of topics with Li and, yes, it had to happen,
the big "R" (racism) word was raised by Martin. Ms Li refused to be drawn
in. Setting aside my prejudice against political correctness (please note,
not race) I decided to grin and bear it and see what Ms Li actually had to
say about issues.
What a surprise I got. Ms Li sounded like the sort of Australian who was
tailor made for Pauline Hanson's One Nation party. She talked about being
Australian, wanting to be part of this country, her love for Australia…
the sort of things that One Nation people talk about all the time.
Martin was obviously enjoying himself, grinning like a cream-puff, as Ms
Li made statements that I have heard Pauline Hanson repeat time and again at party meetings and rallies.
But what a difference in the way Mrs Hanson is interviewed by Martin; what
a difference in the way she is portrayed by the media. If Mrs Hanson is a
racist then surely so is Tan Li. For Ms Li wants all the things that Pauline
Hanson stands for.
Then I hear Prime Minister John Howard telling the Chinese Chamber of Commerce
in Perth that Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party are racist - a catch
cry that is caught up by Murdoch and Packer's media. A catch cry which is
drummed into those who cannot think for themselves - like the young children
who, last week, protested against "racism" around Australia.
"The way forward does not lie in narrow scapegoating or the demarcation of
Australians on the basis of their racial background, but to tell the Australian
people what we have achieved and what we plan to achieve," Howard said.
Indeed a noble goal and one that I would support - as would Pauline Hanson
and Tan Li. I can picture the three of us leading a rally against "racism"
down the main street of Sydney. After all it was Pauline Hanson who said
in 1996, long before John Howard got up the intestinal fortitude to question
political correctness, and I
quote: A racial problem is a problem which
confronts two different races who live in two separate societies, even if
those societies are side by side. We do not want a society in Australia
in which one group enjoy one set of privileges and another group enjoy another
set of privileges.
What a joke the pawns like Ray Martin, the politicians like John Howard and
Kim Beazley and the media barons like Murdoch and Packer have made of the
word. It now reflects hollowly on an issue which is of concern to all
Australians.
As John Pasquarelli said recently, now that the politicians have screwed
up the word "racism" they are working hard at doing the same to "ethics"
and "credibility". Now here lies the real tragedy of the Australian nation
after the year 2000.
MD
PC World - August 1998
Page 45 of the latest PC World carries an article headed "Playing big brother
with prudence".
On the same page is a picture of the old One Nation home page with the caption,
"Concerned about your children's browsing habits? Keep a close eye on
them with Prudence".
The article by someone called Neville Clarkson starts:
"Media reports warn parents almost daily about the
dire consequences of exposing their children to the lewd terroristic content
of the Internet."
Well Mr Clarkson you obviously haven't read the recent comments of Peter Charlton another man suffering from Hansonphobia. Comments about the same One Nation page being the equivalent of a "love-in" - but
there again bigots like you are two for a penny in the world of journalism.
One Nation takes hold on Sydney's outskirts
By PAUL SHEEHAN
One Nation has rapidly broadened its support since
the Queensland election and spread to Sydney, which is now ringed by electorates
where the party is polling strongly.
Confidential party polling, focus groups and electoral
feedback for both major parties confirm that support for One Nation is around
15 per cent in the electorates of Lindsay and Macquarie in the Blue Mountains
and the Hunter Valley seat of Paterson.
A similar level of support was found in the Central
Coast seats of Robertson and Dobell and the Liberal stronghold of Mackellar
on the northern beaches.
Mistrust of a GST and a determination to stop Telstra
from being controlled by foreign investors were significant issues.
Meanwhile, up to 2,000 schoolchildren attended a protest
rally in Sydney against the policies of One Nation's leader, Ms Pauline
Hanson.
And the Victorian Premier, Mr Kennett, said Australia
had stalled because fears of Hansonism were blocking reforms such as the
privatisation of Telstra.
Ms Jackie Kelly, the Liberal MP for Lindsay, a marginal
seat, said she was seeing about 20 per cent support for One Nation in her
electorate.
"The media still aren't getting it. They think the
people have the same agenda as they do, but the electorate has a different
set of priorities. The average Australian is worried about the hip pocket.
The electorate is tired, worn out."
A senior ALP worker said: "I've been involved in elections
for 20 years and I've never seen anything like this.
"We are confronting a lot of anger against the major
parties. Our focus groups show that the biggest issue is economic rationalism.
We are seeing a resurgence of support for the old Labor policies of the
1950s."
He declined to be named because he said ALP surveys
were continuing to show distrust towards Labor as well as the
Government.
"There has been an amazing bandwagon effect since
Queensland," he said. "A lot of people just hate politicians now. Howard
has lost them. They are angrier with Howard than with us but they are still
angry with us.
"The more the major parties and the news media express
their agitation with Pauline Hanson, the more people like her. We are seeing
a lot of young people are jumping on this bandwagon as a protest.
"Our focus groups say little about race. It is not
even on the list of top issues. There are different layers to One Nation's
support.
"There are a lot of single issues. The media profile
of One Nation doesn't stack up. A lot of non-Anglos are supporting the party.
The idea that people should receive equal treatment really resonates. A lot
of it is a protest vote. A lot of them are the same people who voted for
us two elections ago."
Mr Bob Baldwin, the Liberal MP for the razor-edge Federal
seat of Paterson, says One Nation's preferences would determine the result
in his electorate and would drain both parties.
"What I find amazing is how many people in my electorate
tell me they don't agree with a lot of what Pauline says and don't necessarily
even like her, but they like her position on a particular issue," he
said.
"The gun issue is very big in the Hunter Valley. Hanson's
take on inequality also resonates with people.
"No matter what you might think, people want equal
treatment for all Australians of all races. They've had kicks in the guts
from a lot of different directions."
One Nation appears well organised for a party that
barely existed a year ago and has been riven by internal strife and endless
controversy.
Its candidate in Lindsay, Mr Rick Putra, has been
campaigning full-time in the Blue Mountains for the past two months and one
of the major elements in his campaign is an attack on multinational
corporations.
Lindsay is one of the seats with fertile demographics
for One Nation.
The anti-immigration party AAFI got 6 per cent of the
vote there in the 1996 by-election, a high number even before the Hanson
phenomena. Private polling by the Liberals before the Queensland election
found that 25 per cent of the electorate was undecided.
"One Nation's vote begins with displaced workers from
formerly tariff-protected industries," the ALP strategist said.
"It also gets support from older Australians who want
a return to the Australia of the 1950s. This is having a big impact on the
two Central Coast electorates.
"Guns are an important single issue. People who care
about the gun issue have the only place to go. Tax is a big issue. People
don't trust the GST.
"All the attacks in the media help Pauline. Her lack
of polish, her gaffes, her nervousness, these actually add to the allure.
The more the media squeal the more people like her."
Mr Baldwin said that while the electorate had become
unforgiving towards the Government and Labor it held Ms Hanson to a different
standard because so much opposition had been ranged against one person.
Labor has moved ahead of the Coalition in developing
a strategy to counter this halo effect.
In the election campaign it will treat Ms Hanson as
a politician, not a personality. It will concentrate on her voting record,
pointing out that she voted with the Government on nursing home cuts and
voted to strip back industrial awards.
The Gosford councillor Malcolm Brooks, a member of
the NSW Liberal State executive, said indications on the Central Coast were
that One Nation had about 15 per cent of the vote, largely on the issues
of tax and Telstra.
"People are concerned about the GST," he said. "They
also don't want Telstra sold to foreign interests. They will be happy with
the Telstra decision."
The demographics of Sydney's northern beaches - a high
proportion of people with trade qualifications, high WASP population, and
a large number of small business operators - have also been fertile for One
Nation.
The electorate, held for the Liberal Party by Ms Bronwyn
Bishop, has been susceptible to Independent insurgencies.
Kerry Packer to undergo major operation
Australia's richest man is to undergo heart surgery in America after diagnosis
that he has diseased arteries.
Nothing cheap in his care either - he will occupy an entire floor of Cornell's
state of the art cardiothoracic unit overlooking Manhattan East river.
One wonders what happened to all the kids who Packer's A Current Affair
parade time and again as needing a few thousand dollars in donations
to pay for lifesaving operations - in a push for ratings.... strange world
we live in.
The issue on which Laboral is divided
A CLEAR majority of Pauline Hanson's most eminent critics believe violence
associated with the growing protest movement against her is boosting public
support for One Nation.
The critics – among them former prime ministers Bob Hawke and Malcolm
Fraser, and Victorian social justice campaigner Tim Costello – want
the protesters to abandon violence and adopt positive strategies to make
their protests politically effective.
They effectively backed John Howard, who this week lashed out at the wild
demonstrations that saw Ms Hanson cancel public meetings in Melbourne and
rural Victoria.
"I find the sight of an 85-year-old man, with his face bleeding and staggering
into a meeting, disgusting – absolutely disgusting," the Prime Minister
said in Bendigo on Tuesday. "If you think yelling abuse, throwing punches,
shouting obscenities and engaging in mindless chants is going to change people's
minds, then you don't understand the mood and temper of the Australian people."
Mr Hawke and Reverend Costello, brother of federal Treasurer Peter Costello,
suggested protests use silence as a weapon against Hansonism.
Claiming violent protests were "utterly counter-productive", Reverend Costello
said: "Hanson should be greeted with an eerie silence wherever she goes."
The Weekend Australian asked the Hanson critics two main questions:
-
DO the protests against Pauline Hanson increase public sympathy for her and
One Nation?
-
DO the protests infringe Ms Hanson right to freedom of speech?
The critics were also asked to identify other ways people could amplify their
opposition to Ms Hanson.
Apart from rejecting One Nation at the ballot box the answers included:
-
COMMUNITY discussion forums and the wearing of yellow anti-racism
ribbons (Sydney's deputy Lord Mayor Henry Tsang).
-
SEEKING out and debating One Nation supporters in bars and coffee
shops all over Australia (Jesuit lawyer Father Frank Brennan).
-
PRESSURING the media to apply rigorous scrutiny to One Nation's policies
(ATSIC deputy Ray Robinson).
Federal Opposition leader Kim Beazley distanced himself from the majority
view that protests against Ms Hanson were boosting One Nation.
A recent demonstration by schoolchildren singing "We Are Australian" had
been "one of the most moving affirmations of basic Australian decency I have
ever seen".
Mr Beazley, along with Mr Tsang, Father Brennan and Queensland Premier Peter
Beattie, did not believe Ms Hanson's right to freedom of speech was being
infringed.
Making the
news" -
an indepth exposé of media and political collusion at the highest
possible levels in Australia.
You say:
Subject: Mailing List
Hi,
My name is David J Gillatt, I live in Alice Springs
Northern Territory. Please help me. Daily I am confronted with the media
and others constantly telling me what you are saying, but they won't let
me hear you. Their democracy seems to have different rules for different
parties for different people and I don't like it, let's have true freedom
of speech and a nation that is truly one nation no ghettos no enclave no
social scientists grand experiment.
Cheers
Dave
Subject:
Laws,
Wran Documents
Scott:
This is not for "You Say" but for your info. I've copied
all the documents as you requested and will await further info from you.
Just wanted you to know that in the ASC report on ALLCORP it states John
Laws date of birth as 5 Jan. 1946. Are you sure you got the right John
Laws?
Best regards,
Name Withheld
G'day
There are several John Laws in Sydney - the one referred to in the documents
is not a radio personality...
Editor
Subject:
Howard's
Tax Reform: A BIG worry
Liberal Party of WA State Conference - 25th July ‘98
Federal Ministers Question & Answer Session
Question: to the Prime Minister, John
Howard
By Steve Blizard, President – Welshpool Branch
& Vice-President, Swan Division of the Liberal Party.
"In today’s Sydney Morning Herald, Paul Cleary
has a feature article on Treasury official Dr Ken Henry, who was appointed
by Minister Peter Costello to head up the Coalition Government’s Tax
Task Force.
The article informs us that Dr Henry:
1.. Established a team in Treasury in 1993 to tear
apart the Liberal "Fightback" package on behalf of Mr Keating.
2.. Helped drive through
1.. Capital Gains Tax
2.. Fringe Benefits Tax
3.. Superannuation Contribution Tax
As a matter of warning, may I ask the Prime Minister WHO is Dr Henry working
for? Is he working for the benefit of the States & the Coalition Government,
or is he really working for the Labor Party who are trying to derail election
effective tax reform?"
Answer:
Mr Howard mumbled some blurb about Joe Kennedy during the last depression
with regards to stockbroking, & proceeded to assure the conference delegates
that Mr Henry was an outstanding fellow…..
Subject: Two ways to get rid of Pauline
Hanson
I am a little suspicious of these "$3 to join Resistance"
schoolkids demonstrations against Hanson. A lot of energy goes into these
demos when there are two easy ways to get rid of both Pauline Hanson and
One nation.
1) If, as claimed, One Nation is a party with racists
policies, this is illegal in Australia. Simply take the appropriate action
to de-register them.
2) Pauline Hanson has promised to resign if ATSIC was
cleared of corruption. Phone your local member of Parliament and ask for
an inquiry.
What are we waiting for?
JG
Subject:
Alan....Swinburne
Student Union
Dear Alan:
Once you get out of the educational facility you are
in you'll feel a lot better.
I think you may be depriving a village somewhere of
an idiot.
Hope you are well soon,
Bob Thompson
Subject: Chinese Chamber of Commerce
Well hang on a second...
Doesn't John Howard's speech at the "Chinese Chamber
of Commerce" in Perth, on his stand against "divisive elements" in the Australian
political landscape constitute hipocracy?
Maybe I'm just a "misinformed minority" and "can see
things only from my angle" (so to speak), but this is just ridiculous.
On a further note, congrats to David on his superb
performance on TV last night, and Pauline on the "Today" show thismorning.
Well done all.
Oh, one more thing. I find it strange indeed to hear
that the education department is "considering" disiplinary measures against
students that protested yesterday - considering that they had a weeks notice
and not a peep from them beforehand? I bet the "disiplinary" measures are
something that we will hear no more of.
Regards,
Anthony Mare
Subject: my vote
I am a Liberal voter and have been for some time, however
I will use my vote to protest if you continue to claim you will put Pauline
Hanson and the One Nation Party at bottom of preferences. I will not stand
by and see the Party I support allow preferential votes to go the Labor Party
(or the Democrats who seem to only be an offshoot of Labor) and their socialist,
unethical and financially irresponsible policies. I believe the One Nation
Party has liberal democratic policies that are mostly acceptable to the fair
minded majority of Australians that have our great country at heart, as opposed
to those many self interested minority groups that the last decade of Labor
policies has benefited while destroying the basis of our society in
Australia.
I wish to reiterate, I will vote for One Nation if
the Liberal Party chooses to put the One Nation Party behind the other political
parties I have no desire to see benefit.
Kym Drew
Subject: ATTENTION: ONE NATION: copy of email to
principle of Wesley College
Sir:
Let me councel and advise you not to feel alone in
your decision to keep One Nation from darkening the door of your college
and polluting the minds of your students. It may be that you have God on
your side, as one might expect at a college run by the United Church; but
of this, I have no idea. Certainly you are joined, in spirit if not in person,
by hundreds and perhaps thousands of totalitarian dictators who were so sure
of being "right", that they too, would not allow their ideas to be
challenged.
They too, were very certain. We all are. That's why
we must all allow debate, not just those of us who are more certain than
everyone else of our goodness, and of the evil intent of those who do not
see things our way.
Of course, if God makes the call, I would go along
with any ban.
Sincerely
Donald Carr
Canada
Subject: Mao
So school children are protesting about Hanson. It
sounds horribly familiar. It might be profitably recalled that Chairman Mao
himself was ultimately savaged by the children he had encouraged to dissent
in that mad Red Guards movement.
Antonia Feitz
Subject: hi there
im not sure if you heard about this, but just recently
in western australia the gov announced plans to build an aboriginal only
school. This sort of crap really ticks me off, i mean what if we built a
school only for white australians? There would be public outcry and all hell
would break loose.
umm another gripe i have is with what the gov has done
with the austudy system just recently, particularly the making it harder
(if not impossible) for me to get benifits i would normally recieve under
the old system. I wont go into details but i am around $60 less a fortnight
than before and when you only get 200 a fortnight , that cut really hits
home hard. Yet if i was to leave my studies and sit around on the dole, i
would recieve over 100 more than i get now and wouldnt have to pay for book,
fees, etc. Funny that. We students are the future, dont forget us
you guys may not have all the answers, but you are
definately asking the right questions
joshua stewart (aka ordos)
Tafe IT Student, Perth Australia
Subject: Aboriginal youth
longer does our court system intend to apply light
sentences to young Aboriginals. The recent district court held in Kingaroy
highlighted the need for some constructive thinking about sentencing, you
cannot send these young people to gaol, that only serves to make real criminals
out of them. The main problem as I see it is that the State government is
heeding advice from half baked academics who do not know what they are talking
about.
It has been suggested to me that a possible solution
would be to sentence these offenders, not to community service or to gaol
but to a period on one of the Aboriginal owned Cattle stations scattered
across northern Australia. They could be placed in the care of tribal elders
and be required to work at whatever the elders instructed them to do.
It is very dificult for the youth of today. With little
chance of getting a job, the idle hands lead to mischief and I for one do
not blame these young people. I blame the system that the government has
allowed, even encouraged to develop in this country. I would not blame the
police for being wary of arresting Aboriginals because of repercussions that
invariably flow from such actions, not only from Aboriginals but from their
superiors.
In my young days, if we were caught doing something
wrong by the local (copper) we recieved a good kick in the backside and told
in no uncertain terms to get home and 9 times out of 10, he went and informed
our parents who proceeded to administer the required punishment. I know that
there will be loud screams from the Civil Libertarians, the Rights of the
Child advocates, the anti discrimination lobby and various other useless
people . But their way IS NOT WORKING, Their way is the cause of this
trouble.
Alan Esson
Subject: Aboriginal school
The establishment of an aboriginal school might be
a good thing if it succeeds in improving the educational standards of Aborigines.
However if it functions as a black pride centre rather than as a proper school
it will be worthless. Rightly deriding professional indigenes, the Maori
author Duff Cooper ('Once were Warriors') has said that he wants his children
to be teachers and lawyers not colourful basket weavers and dancers for
tourists.
But isn't it hypocritical that Aborigines can be racists
when it suits them. If a white had suggested that such segregation would
be educationally beneficial there would have been screams of outrage from
Aborigines and PC whites. The silence from the latter is deafening. It clearly
demonstrates that the charge of 'racism' is hollow and even deceitful.
I read recently that some blacks in the US are calling
for such re-segregation in schooling. Perhaps our good friend John Hamiltion
of kypd fame might know something about it.
Antonia Feitz
Subject: Gun Laws
Hi,
Holland is a country that has tough gun laws and yet
in Febuary last year a man shot his children and himself. As tough gun laws
were already in place the media and government could not target sporting
shooters any further. At last, rational and informed thinking was the only
option left to them to do something to prevent such violence again.
A week prior to this killing the children of another
family were killed by their parents. This first multiple murder had been
heavily publicized by the typically irresponsible media, after all selling
news is their business. The second multiple murder was undeniably a copycat
act prompted by the saturation news coverage of the first multiple murder.
The obvious, at long last, became obvious to both the media and the government.
They admitted that the news media can encourage violence in society.
Surprisingly even the United Nations concluded earlier
this year that violence in movies etc did in fact influence children to become
violent ( perhaps somebody should tell them that it also influences unstable
and/or immature minded adults too). A Dr Centrewall ( past president of the
American Psychiatric Assoc.) did a cross cultural evaluation of media as
a causal factor in homicide and other aggression, pre and post television.
His conclusion was that 50% of all crime and violence in society today can
be blamed on T.V and film violence. Add to this the research of a Prof. Phillips
which has demonstrated that immediately following a front page suicide story
the suicide rate increases dramatically in those areas where the media has
highly publicized the story. Perhaps this can explain why Australia's news
media ran such a campaign of extreme bias and mis-information against gun
owners. The media were protecting their own industry by pointing their collective
finger at sporting shooters and farmers etc.
I raised this issue with my local Federal member and
they denied that the media influenced violence in society. AND, would you
believe they said, in regards to censoring violence in the media, that "By
banning citizens activities and free speech, you simply encourage disaffection
and revolt". Hmm.....the excessive and irresponsible gun edicts wouldn't
happen to have encouraged disaffection and revolt would it?
The fact of media influence in violence and the facts
about guns in Col
Easton"s letter
in Friday's ANOTD indicates that the Laboral leaders and a self-seeking
media have no interest in reducing murders and suicide, they only want to
appear concerned so as to win votes or ratings from the un-informed in
society.
Regards,
Peter W
Subject: Welfare Cheats
I don't normally post twice an issue but this one is
worth Pauline asking in question time..
I just heard an advert on the radio about welfare cheats,
and how many they have caught. Perhaps it would be pertinent to ask of the
Minister if that "crackdown" extends / will extend to ATSIC and the "pension",
as well as "Abstudy".
It would be very interesting to hear the answer to
that one.
Cheers,
Anthony Mare
Subject:
Spelling
Mistake
Dear Sir,
For goodness sake, you spelled Hawthorn wrong. So much
for your credibility. The Editor is never to be trusted again. Any man who
would place an "e" on the end of Hawthorn has absolutely no political credibility
as far as I'm concerned. It's quite obvious that he has never been to University
to gain a degree in Suburb Spelling.
So what does Alan Anonymous (Swinburne Student Union)
want....a "Sorry Book" for offended Hawthornians (or perhaps they are
Hawthornites).
Marvellous isn't it, the country is about to be totally
engulfed by multinational monsters, we are in debt up to our eyeballs, we
have massive unemployment, a treacherous Government and Opposition and this
pompous small minded, self appointed ruling elitist has the incorrect the
spelling of Hawthorn at the top of his priority list. The left has really
got it all together.
Imagine if you can, a World Government run by the likes
of Alan Anonymous (Swinburne Student Union) and his lefty mates........No
forget it.......Nobody has that much imagination.
Allan W. Doak
Subject: One Nation
I am an Australian currently living in Europe and I
would like to express my support for somebody who is finally cutting through
all the bullshit and saying what the average Australian has said for
years.
Please add me to the mailing list
Christian Blunschi
Subject: where the jobs will be
Well we can't say we wern't warned.
According to Ann Harding, chief of the National Centre
for Social and Economic Modelling, there will be good jobs growth in the
provision of 'services' in the next century. Sounds good? It's not. Apparantly
there will be a demand for "chauffeurs, cooks, maids, maintenance and security
staff". She forgot to mention nannies, gardeners, governesses and scullery
maids, but I suppose there will be job opportunities there too.
All the trendy language under the sun cannot disguise
the fact that the 'contracting out' of domestic and personal 'services' means
'domestic service' - i.e. the resurgence of the servant. There is no status
or money or future in being a servant.
So instead of our children being educated to be skilled
workers with reasonably good incomes, they will be the low-paid domestic
servants of those who prosper under globalisation. No wonder our elites hate
Hanson. She's delaying the day when they will be able to live in real
style.
Antonia Feitz
DISASTER FOR THE AGED
This letter appeared in the "NATIONAL FOCUS" Nov.
1997 and was addressed to a certain federal Minister who shall remain anonymous.
But you are quite entitled to have a guess as to her identity.
Dear Madam,
I am not prone to anger and likewise gave up years
ago with correspondence to politicians who treated their constituents with
contempt with regards to any form of consultation when formulating legislation
which ignored the will of the people. We, the people are the ones who do
the electing , pay the taxes, suffer the strikes, shortages, inflation
and
all the rest which includes the piratisation of all
the nations assets of whom all Australians are shareholders. The latest scam
is the public offer of shares in utilities that we already owned. What deceit
and deception and criminality.
The Aged Care Act, 1977 is the most insidious piece
of legislation enacted in our Federal Parliament which seems to be aimed
wholly at a minority group of elderly and not so elderly, ill and vulnerable
population who no longer defend themselves and speak out against unjust practices
and political lawlessness. These people have earned peace and security in
their twilight years as was it not these senior citizens that through hard
work and sacrifice enabled Australia to prosper and attain one of the highest
standards of living in the World in past decades.
We as senior citizens remember well the labour party
for their immoral Deeming Legislation and now the Liberal-Coalition has added
further salt to the wound with this latest legislation aimed at those in
need of nursing care. At the next Federal election one prays that the vast
majority of Australians veto all politicians who have passed legislation’s
that totally ignored the will of the people and caused injustices to reign
over us all. My anger is aimed at political lawlessness that seems to prevail
with past and present members of parliament and I will give the reasons why,
as you may like to check them out for yourself.
The enactment of Federal legislation of The Old Age
Pension Bill of 1908 which came into force in 1909 and is included in the
powers under Section 51 (xxiii) of the Commonwealth Constitution, was originally
non-contributory but subject to certain qualifications. The old age pension
was to be paid out of Consolidated Revenue. There were a number of amendments
over the years, but the most important change occurred in 1945. In 1945 new
legislation (Act No’s 39 and 40 of 1945) were introduced. This provided
for a contribution that was to be collected on all incomes on a certain scale.
In 1945 the ‘pay as you earn’ (PAYE) was introduced which coincided
with the introduction of the Social Services Levy. From that time on, there
existed two levies, one was for taxation and the other was the social services
levy which meant it was self-funded by taxpayers. The procedure for collection
was made easy by incorporating both on the Income Tax Return and this was
indicated on the return. It was indicated until 1965. From that year on,
the printing of Social Services Contribution was dropped from the return.
The levy was not!
Money incomes were rising during the period up to 1950
and minor changes were made which allowed the decrease in the rate of progression
on several occasions whilst the maximum rate of contribution was raised in
July 1949. Enter Mr. Menzies with his package of tax reform that saw the
contribution and tax collection merged which meant that the social services
levy lost its identity. This was brought about by Act No. 52 of 1950. "The
Menzies Government was thus able to impose taxation which reached as far
down the income scale as did the social services contribution" (Social Security
in Australia – T.H. Kewley 1965).
Was there accounting fiddles in the use of what was
known as The National Welfare Fund Act No 65 of 1954 which came into force
on July 1, 1954 and appropriation would be made out of consolidated revenue
(where all collections were now going)which would be equal to the amount
paid out of The National Welfare Fund. Thus it put to rest the idea that
people were contributing to their age pension which was to be p[aid as a
RIGHT without any means test. It was THEIR money, saved as it were, for the
future. This final amendment to the legislation meant the end of any ability
to relate payments for pensions to amounts collected.
CRIMINAL FIDDLE
The criminal fiddle was complete. How dare the people
expect to pay into a fund and then demand increased benefits from their increased
contributions?!
From 1910 pensions were paid out of taxation collected
from the people. >>From 1946 pensions were paid out of taxation PLUS
a further tax. The age pension was self-funded by contributions and continues
to this day. Actuaries have worked out what the pension entitlement was worth
from governmental statistics. Today it is worth over $800.00 per fortnight
for the elderly from a certain age and above. Where is that pension amount
that was self-funded????
It is the greatest insult when politicians sprout forth
in a repetitive manner that today’s taxpayers are funding the aged
pensioners. It is a blatant lie. They need to go back and study the facts
and then question "Where did the monies go?" "Did those contributions disappear
into thin air?" That question was partially answered back in the early
1980’s when a Sydney national daily newspaper printed a report of the
disappearance of $billions of dollars from Consolidated Revenue. The report
was from official government documents. That could not possibly have been
pensioner’s contributions, could it?…. That would have been grand
theft on a grand scale!
Strange, but was that not in the Fraser era? Did the
now Prime Minister, John Howard hold the position of treasurer? Maybe it
was a combination of both the Whitlam and Fraser era. Politicians have that
uncanny knack of forgetting important dates. Australians must have been well
and truly asleep in those days as not many protested and no one marched on
Canberra demanding answers to the missing billions of taxpayers’ funded
pensions. I put all of these facts to a financial expert from the Social
Security Department at a Deeming meeting to con the pensioners into acceptance
of this immoral legislation (they were not conned). I asked this person if
it was possible that our superannuation funds could also disappear in like
fashion. He said I was correct in my assumption. At least he was honest.
The DFRB back in the mid-sixties was also exposed as
a racket. I should know as I have a copy of the original papers of exposure
and our lengthy fight with the DFRB when my husband served Australia for
12 years in the Defence Forces. A faceless trio in Canberra controlled millions
of pounds of servicemen’s contributions. There were many bitter servicemen
from that era who denied their legitimate pension on retirement from their
terms of service in Her Majesty’s Armed Services.
My husband and I have paid combined taxes totaling
67 years. For 45 years we subscribed to top cover in a private health fund.
My husband contributed to superannuation all his working life. We paid the
Medicare levy. We also contributed to the pension fund levy since the early
1950’s. We worked hard and raised our family and helped this nation
to prosper and were of the opinion that our retirement was financially secure,
as we were personally contributing to that security in our senior years.
Our world fell apart when my husband was diagnosed with an incurable disease
at under fifty years of age. We managed for a few years without any other
support until my husband had to be admitted to nursing home care. As a returned
serviceman he received a concessional pension which helped to cover the costs
of nursing home fees and the addition of medicines and clothing. Private
health cover became too expensive for the budget and had to be lowered to
a base rate. Any further rises will eventuate in cancellation of any form
of private cover. Why are we being penalised after lifetime membership? We
never abused private health cover in our lifetime.
Under the Aged Care Act, 1997, we lose rental assistance
and today I spent half the day on the telephone trying to find out some of
the facts regarding nursing home charges to e implemented on November 1,
1997. You try ringing Centrelink and talking to someone other than a taped
voice. The glossy advertising campaign telling us what a wonderful, efficient
customer service we can now avail ourselves of is bunkum. If you get cut
off, which I did, you have to start all over again and wait and wait and
wait and then are told that you have to contact another government department
for pertinent information on nursing home charges. I received differing amounts
from differing departments. I can understand the stress and worry over new
charges for those who are receiving a superannuation annum with the addition
of higher nursing home charges. I have a house to maintain and an aging car
plus the full responsibility for my own life. Where are our pensions, funded
out of our taxes, which we have every right to draw on as pensioners, as
does every aged pensioner????
The Income Test for nursing home charges is assessed
on gross income. WE pay taxes (thrice over as superannuants) so actual income
in hand should be assessed from net income of Group Certificates for financial
year ended. Another rip-off. What guarantees do we have that these extra
charges will benefit our partners in nursing home care? Many nursing homes
are now understaffed. Over the years we have been informed that Government
interference and the rating of care has added to this situation. Will this
situation be rectified? WHO are the persons that are responsible for this
legislation in dictating on behalf of patients entering nursing home care
as of October 1, 1997, the formulation of cash assets a person may retain
after paying their assessed bond amount??? Will political party policies
decide what standard of living we will be allowed to live as a result of
monies earned and saved from our labours? Isn’t that government by
dictatorship and unconstitutional in regards to citizens governed by this
unjust act?
IS IT RETROSPECTIVE? I would like a copy of the Aged
Care Act, 1997. I would also like confirmation by you if the Act is retrospective
and if so, to when and why? I await answers to my questions that others who
are just as angry over this act may also be enlightened by your reply. May
God have mercy on all politician’s souls.
Another perfect day in paradise.
Have a good one.
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