Not much has changed after 40 years considering the following statement was an assessment of the Australian political scene by the American diplomatic advisers during 1975 or thereabouts commenting about the Whitlan lead ALP at that time. The WIKI Leaked cables which I have not read directly does explain a great deal about local politics then and now as indeed many of the younger players then are now part of both the ALP and Liberal National Party now although some from both sides of politics have since become lobbyists for foreign owned government organisations.
The following statement was lifted from a News Ltd article by
paul.toohey@news.com.au who which I have not sought approval to publish as it refers to the actual statement below
''More broadly,'' it stated, ''there is in Australia an aura of selfishness and structural animosity, with the states against Canberra, the ALP caucus against Whitlam, the Opposition after narrow political advantage, individual unions elbowing for material gain, corporations passing the cost of excessive wage settlements on to the consumer, rural interests claiming discrimination and none of the players motivated by concern for national wellbeing.''
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/wikileaks-bob-hawke-dished-the-dirt-to-america/story-e6frfro0-1226619377992#ixzz2QQjrPVTe
However people may interpret Bob Hawke's behaviour in keeping a dialogue going with the USA it should not be seen as a bad thing imo. Bob Hawke was right...the ALP had dills in almost every Ministerial department during the Whitlam ALP years as I recall interest rates going to 26% for 4 year bank NCD's money during those silly years and the 10 year bond rate hit 8% if my recollections are correct as I was a Research & Investment Assistant of a large UK Insurance Group in their Melbourne Head Office and was dealing in money market securities at that time.
Although I never agreed with ALP policy during the Hawke years, which brought in the Assets test for all pensioners except politicians, the ALP would have been thankful they had Bob Hawke at the helm of the party as he was the only truly educated member which even his treasurer could not claim so well qualified. Many members of the ALP choose their portfolios because they belonged to the right faction of their supporter groups, not because they were highly academically qualified to become Ministers as normal employees working in corporate Australia would be required to be before being chosen. I believe even our current Treasurer could hardly have been the best qualified candidate to have deserved the role of Federal Treasurer imo. Anyone can spend other peoples money...and you dont have to be a Rhodes scholar to do that.
That is why I've decided to start up the VOTERS PARTY as an advocate for voters.
JOIN THE VOTERS PARTY FOR VOTER PROTECTION
Purpose of the VOTERS PARTY is to lift the quality of our politicians so instead of having poorly educated politicians choosing poorly educated rejects with degrees to work with them in government jobs, we might be able to force the employment of better skilled operatives and political representatives.
How many times do we hear that a law has lots of loopholes like the Crimes Commission in Qld not having the legal capacity to investigate the potential for some well known ex-politicians to be offering advice which may be tainted with a conflict of interest issue? How did such poorly framed legislation get through the parliament without a top QC having an examination of the proposed legislation to test it for loopholes such as described above. Why wont our politicians pay for the best advice at the start instead of waiting for these problems to unfold later on and still not attempt to amend and improve the legislation? I can only conclude that either we have a team of incompetent politicians or they conspire with other MP's to pass faulty or incomplete legislation so they can exploit these laws at a later date.
The recent Superannuation changes have already shown to have gaping holes in the legislation so that no money will be raised. Why do they even bother to upset retirees? Do they really believe that our education system has been so poor that young adults cant see through the nonsense? Are they really trying to insult the teachers in our excellent private and public school system?
I cant think of any other explanation as to why we get these poorly created laws especially as there already is a great level of suspicion in the community about the honesty of all politicians whose own members are questioning their Party honesty of purpose.
Why do we have politicians spending our tax money to help importers import more cheap manufactured goods into our Melbourne ports all the while telling local manufacturers that they need to become more productive while having to pay wages and increasing oncosts which are several hundred percent higher than our asian neighbours?
Both major political parties have agreed to increase employer super contributions by 33.33% from 9-12% on top of salaries they pay which while might seem terrific for employees with current jobs, does not help these same people keep their jobs.
Some of our politicians exhibit pathological illnesses or delusions of grandeur as they try to unseat their opponents even in their own parties, which by the way are unconstitutional and not recognised by our Australian Constitution.
The Voters Party is calling for all political candidates of the main unit groups to be required to undertake a complete medical & physcological health test so that we don't risk getting sick politicians getting the generous superannuation scheme entitlements for life for any existing issues and more importantantly so we don't get representatives on the world stage who have behavioural problems for all to view overseas.
As voters we all know there are big issues in political parties and with ex-politicians becoming lobbyists for large foreign firms whilst still receiving government pensions for life, but no one seems to be interested to ensure that these VERY IMPORTANT issues are dealt with or at least debated publically and not behind closed doors by other politicians or those relying on government funds for their advisory services.
Some of our politicians exhibit pathological illnesses or delusions of grandeur as they try to unseat their opponents even in their own parties, which by the way are unconstitutional and not recognised by our Australian Constitution.
The Voters Party is calling for all political candidates of the main unit groups to be required to undertake a complete medical & physcological health test so that we don't risk getting sick politicians getting the generous superannuation scheme entitlements for life for any existing issues and more importantantly so we don't get representatives on the world stage who have behavioural problems for all to view overseas.
As voters we all know there are big issues in political parties and with ex-politicians becoming lobbyists for large foreign firms whilst still receiving government pensions for life, but no one seems to be interested to ensure that these VERY IMPORTANT issues are dealt with or at least debated publically and not behind closed doors by other politicians or those relying on government funds for their advisory services.
We invite Human Resource experts to submit their opinions as to Statement of Duties and Responsibilities which politicians still do not have as do other employees.
The VOTERS PARTY is not envisaged to become involved in general policy issues between the various groups of politicians, however there are a number of misconceptions in the community as to the role of the RBA and the consequential effects which government policy statements and fiscal policies by Federal, State and to a lesser degree by Local Governments do have on RBA setting monetary policy which needs to be debated in a public forum, so we don't get to accept political lies or deception by political MP's who either know what is really going on or who are totally ignorant of the complexity of what may really be going on in the economy.
The VOTERS PARTY is not envisaged to become involved in general policy issues between the various groups of politicians, however there are a number of misconceptions in the community as to the role of the RBA and the consequential effects which government policy statements and fiscal policies by Federal, State and to a lesser degree by Local Governments do have on RBA setting monetary policy which needs to be debated in a public forum, so we don't get to accept political lies or deception by political MP's who either know what is really going on or who are totally ignorant of the complexity of what may really be going on in the economy.
Voters are consumers too who still have no protection against lying MP's who are seeking our support at election time.
Stand up & be counted and lets get the debate going..
Stand up & be counted and lets get the debate going..
