Mister Ken Boundy,

Would it hurt you too much changing your address from Australian citizen to citizen of the World?

Were you to make such change, your vision would get larger.

Maybe you can talk to the Leftist faction of the political scene who see us as too rich, too developed and in need of having our economy's wing's clipped through a Carbon Tax. Singapore and Norway are democracies and progress quite well so its not democracy thats the problem.

We DO have a future fund, its just that the Labor Party raided it and wasted the money on ridiculous schemes.

Too many Left wing ideologues who hate business and progress of any sort and replace funding for basic programs such as transport infrastructure with funding for ideologically driven schemes of little importance which are ultimately rorted.

“The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, released a new report today that shows Australia experienced its biggest annual exodus on record with 76 923 people leaving the country permanently in 2007-08.

The 76 923 people that departed Australia permanently in 2007-08 represents a 6.7 per cent increase on the previous year and a 325 per cent increase on the low of 18 100 people who left permanently in 1985-86."

The Emigration 2007-2008 report reveals that almost half the Australian residents that left permanently were in skilled jobs and nearly two thirds were aged between 25 and 54.

http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/media-releases/2008/ce08098.htm

This brain drain represents a vote of no confidence in the country, and I wouldn’t say a vote of no confidence in our governments only.

It may not be worth staying in this country with its high housing costs, a loss of national identity because of multiculturalism, a loss of our natural environments, and feminism and the desecration of our families.

It may also mean that many of those with initiative go elsewhere, leaving behind a rather mundane bunch of consumers and sheeple.

For a start we should cut our ties with the culture
of the USA and develop our own.

Cut out ties with US Imperialism
Why are US troops in Northern Australia at this very moment?
Will the US reciprocate hosting Australian troops training in the USA
to a similar size? We are just being used by many countries for what we have.
Up to 22,000 US and Australian personnel will take part in Exercise Talisman Sabre in northern Australia, including the Shoalwater Bay Training Area.

Very good points Ken.

A lot of inertia originates from the stifling effect of our indistiguishable political duopoly.

We had a Labor government who had fresh ideas and momentum but couldn't implement, got lost in the polls and topped their leader.

Now we have a labourious Labor government weighed down by independents and greens which has totally lost it's way by paying too much attention to the persistent barking of the rabid right.

So. We are hamstrung between a lack of confidence and a bunch of psychotic tories.

The funny thing is there is not much difference between them. Sure Swan is full of Labor spin but can you imagine Hockey as treasurer?

We have a dysfunctional political system. Why? Because there is no real difference between the the major bland brands. The argument is over minute points of difference rather than substance. Petty, pedantic and insignificant ideology is the means, power is the ends. This is why we have a hung parliament. The swinging voters who decide elections know both sides are full of sh1t.

While I find the lack of conviction from the Labor supporters is insipid, the polls indicate that the hypocritical lunatic howling from the tory Liberals convinces me that Tony is correct that he can fool most of the people most of the time (67% apparently).

We are in inertia because we have politicians whose only aim is to be in power. And the job of the opposition is to oppose. Regardless.

Our political system produces politicians. What we need are leaders with vision and authority for action.

The only problem is the braindead rusted on tories and union hacks (88% apparently).

Good article Ken.

Global citizenry is all very well but we are hardly citizens of the world when there is no uniformity of governance and equity in pay rates etc. National sovereignty has become a dirty word, those with the most economic clout ride roughshod over the rest of the world, exploiting the cheapest labour, increasing food prices and damaging environments without accountability. The idea that cheap labour means cheaper goods for consumers has proven to be a furphy especially if one compares labour costs to end price and analyse how the wealth is distributed.

Neutral's post sums up the problems with our democracy and the failures in a dominant two party system. The fact Independents and Greens have increased their vote perhaps is a sign the worm is turning.

Reforms

1- CIR and Direct Democracy; as it is clear that politicians are more concerned with enhancing their own careers- simply because they can get away with it

2- electoral reform separating ministry (each preferably direct-elected, independently from the other) from parliament.

3- Remove the 'winner-takes-all' system- as some might notice that the european countries that get things done have much broader number of parties leading the country

4- abolish compulsory voting; it is clear that it only raises the apathy of the vote politicians need to aim for, and it is mostly likely the reason they can continue getting away with doing nothing.

How many of the prople of Australia KNOW or UNDERSTAND the TRUE MEANING of DEMOCRACY and what it stands for?
My understanding of DEMOCRACY is that the PEOPLE RULE. The people are Sovereign.
The levels of Sovereignty are;
1/ GOD or THEOCRACY where GOD rules
2/ MAN or DEMOCRACY where People rule
3/ PARLIAMENT or BUREAUCRACY where Officials rule
4/ CORPORATIONS where these entities rule nothing.
100 years ago teenagers were managing farms, inventing new machines, starting families, building businesses, learning trades.
Average people today are trapped in a desperate cycle of performing jobs, that zap their energy, they watch tv shows that dull their minds and they buy stuff they don't need with money they don't have.
The thing is it's not our fault, look at schooling for example. Most prpbaly spent 9 years upwards of their life being isolated from the real world, cloisted together with other immature children and forced to read and recite facts and figures, in schools with their long term, cell block style forced confinement of both teachers and students.
Our society is producing people who are afraid to step out of line and live life on their own empowered terms as is guaranteed in our the peoples Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia Acts, 1900, It has been hidden from most of the people, so many are not aware of its existance. Does this happen by accident? I dout it.
The politicians, the Parliaments and the Governments of Austrlia don't want the people to know as it would remove their power and the rorts and benifits they claim for themselves. They do not want the people to know or understand TRUE DEMOCRACY.

We the PEOPLE RULE, and we elect the members of Parliament and the Government to serve us, this means that we the people are the boss and we pay their wages, so they must do what the people want. In any proposals they want to introduce which will undoubtably impact on the lives and living standards, customs and freedoms of the people they MUST put it to the peope in a REFERENDUM of the people who will either endorse the proposal or reject the proposal. That is how a DEMOCRATIC society functions. Do do otherwise is oppressing the people and replacing a DEMOCRACY with Tiranny enslavery of the people.

Singapore and Norway are democracies and progress quite well so its not democracy thats the problem.
Atman,
you got that right, these countries actually practice democracy, here it's just being talked about.

Yep, agree with that. I'd like to add that the EPA is also one of the major causes to accelerate inertia.
The EPA has misinterpreted its sole function of protecting the environment in favour of protecting itself. Every village idiot will tell that the environment needs respect. What no greenie academic will tell is the fact that the environment can actually be enhanced by man's ingenuity. Not every move of soil or redirection of flow of water is bad for the environment. Nature itself does that quite frequently. We need to educate the educated about common sense for a start. The effect will snowball no doubt. This in turn will help us turn the inertia.
We can stop this inertia but not if we keep listening to experts rather than people who know.

Gypsy,
The whole point of the education system is to keep people in a state of immaturity so that they are incapable of taking responsibility for themselves, their families and their nation until they are well into middle age.
My generation, the 40 somethings are next to useless and the politicians know it,the elite know that they can do whatever they want because the "Gen Xers" won't lift a finger to stop them.
We're literally a failed generation, taught not to think or ask questions, just to obey. For example it's frightening to think that we have a good chunk of that generation who were convinced to delay or reject reproduction, that's unprecedented in human history.
Men my age are, in the main totally disinterested in politics simply because they know next to nothing about how the system works, or how they can influence it at an individual and community level.
I heard a speech from a senator the other day (I forget who) and he said that the Country Liberal organisation to which he belonged in the 1950's and 60's had 62,000 members in South Australia alone.
The State education system in the 70's and 80's taught us not to think and not to become engaged, that politics was for the WW2 generation to worry about, all we had to do was find jobs and do as our bosses told us.

Jay at least you appear to be awake to what is happening in our country. The problem which confronts those of us that are aware is the multitudes of people who are not. In this day and age with computers it is easy to research to find the answers and understand what a DEMOCRACY is compaired to TIRRANY.
Last night I was at a party and spoke to a couple of freinds who are bordering on 50. I raised the subject of DEMOCRACY I had their attention for a short while and although at first they appeared to be interested, their comment almost knocked me of my feet when they said, "Who would listen to the minority against the majority", When I attempted to explain what could be acheived by the minority uniting and talking to people they know in the hope of educating more people so as to increase the minority of numbers until the minority becomes a mojority, they said we are not interested. I find it disturbing that so many of our Australian people have a defeatist attitude.

people have a defeatist attitude.
gypsy,
whilst I agree with you I can, on the other hand, also identify with the defeatist attitude. On reaching 50 many people have bashed their head against the wall a lot & some youngster comes along with some idealistic speech, that's where this attitude comes into play.
The main cause being an over-sized & incompetent bureaucracy. Hangers-on in plain english.

> In many areas, we seem to lag, even behind the developing world. Why?

I've been making and listening to exactly the same comment and question now for more than forty years. I've often proposed reasons that are not only obvious, but shared by intelligent observers in other countries. Australians always reject them. Is there any use at all in presenting them again?

> Without masterful negotiations or bipartisan support for reform, we have a melting pot for inertia.

If you believe that the present crop of pollies is there to provide practical solutions, then you're terminally deluded. Their sole purpose is to fill roles that might otherwise be taken by thoughtful, energetic people whose actions would pose a real threat to the status quo.

> a sub optimal mix of candidates.

That's an exceptionally polite description of the white trash filling almost every parliamentary seat in the country.

> we have fewer issues focused debates and more fixed partisan positions, with vested interests buried in ideology and inaction.

Of course. As is, and has long been intended.

> where is the next Opera House, Harbour Bridge or renewed public transport system?

They aren't. These are projects in the public interest. Today's world is completely focussed on corporate (TNC) interests. What planet are you calling from?

> In many of Australia's media markets, only one single company dominates.

Naturally. Anything more might confuse the punters. "Follow the company line" is the rule.

> There are greater demands on our time and more attention to the short term than the longer term.

Keep the silly sods busy with trivia and they won't have time for important issues, even if they were smart enough to understand them, which they're not.

> Achieve electoral reform at candidate selection level through absolute transparency

"Absolute transparency" - what a wonderful delusion. How would you ensure this, or haven't you actually thought this through?

> a knowledge economy

Ah yes, a "knowledge economy". Just what is this marvellous creature that is the solution to all our woes? A data terminal at every bus stop? A Facebook page for every citizen? A guaranteed university degree for every imbecile?

> Overhaul media laws to achieve diversity, debate and responsible reporting

Exactly the same goal as every "overhaul of media laws" has trumpeted for the past century. Do you actually READ the newspapers, or are you writing from somewhere out past Betelgeuse?

> Look at what GetUp is achieving, for example.

Well, I looked. A whole heap of people are sitting in front of computers typing mindless trivia on their keyboards in the belief that this will actually achieve something. It won't, as innumerable events of the past two decades would prove to anyone living on the planet. Meanwhile, TNC CEOs and their minions are holding meeting after meeting in pursuit of their agendas, secure in the "knowledge" (note the word) that the plebs are busy with their "social media".

> We must achieve major reform and progress in these relatively strong economic times

Yes, of course. If it's not an impolite question: How?

> a democracy that's tested but not broken.

The ultimate delusion. Transmission received. Earth out.

@ Beelzebub.
Under normal circumstances I'd be having a go at you for using the racial epithet "White Trash" but for once it's in it's proper context.
These people look like me and mine but they have no loyalty to me and mine, Trash is an apt description.
Lord only knows what non White Australians must make of them.