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Written by Charles
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Thursday, 25 February 2010 11:55 |
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There is nothing new in this UN Special Rapporteur's Report on the Northern Territory Emergency Response (“NTER”) program in Australia though it bears repeating. This advanced edition, written in preparation for possible governmental reforms this year, states that the current program is 'incompatible with Australia’s human rights obligations'. Furthermore, it noted that other UN agencies such as The Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights 'have expressed concern that NTER measures are inconsistent with Australia’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, respectively, in particular with respect to the right to non-discrimination'. These intervention measures also 'undermine indigenous self-determination, limit control over property, inhibit cultural integrity and restrict individual autonomy'.
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Written by joni
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Thursday, 21 January 2010 16:34 |
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Reports are coming in that Turnbull is being urged to run for NSW Premier:
“Everyone is telling Malcolm to quit federal politics and they think that’s the right thing to do. Everyone is telling him to have a go in state politics,” a Liberal supporter told The Australian Online.
I reckon it would be damn good for NSW to have someone of his calibre running the state.
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Written by Charles
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Wednesday, 09 December 2009 10:43 |
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Extracted this from New Matilda, an op-ed piece by Greens MP Lee Rhiannon on her disenfrenchment with the current NSW government. While people are wary of keeping NSW labor government in power in the next coming elections, giving Liberals the vote is equally perilous. As the new federal Liberal headed by Abbott re-positions itself with more from the extreme right, it appears their NSW counterparts are headed for the same direction. In the end, she argues a hung parliament is the best bet. She wrote,
'... While the Liberal and National parties are light on policy details, their MPs are already out and about attending public events and making promises that it is hard to believe they will keep.
On the central coast, federal and state Coalition MPs have backed a strong, well-resourced local campaign to stop a Korean coal company, Kores, from opening up a coal mine. And Liberal MPs have apparently taken a stand against over-development in a number of Sydney suburbs and have singled out the notorious Part 3A of the Environmental, Planning and Assessment Act for repeal.
But these positions are out of step with the Coalition parties’ usual policies, which are traditionally geared to the interests of the big end of town.
The last Liberal premier in NSW, Nick Greiner, provided an insight into his party’s MO when commenting on how he won office in 1988:
"We ruthlessly separated the issues of getting elected from the issues of governing. I literally had a drawer for elections and a drawer for government … We had directions rather than policies that avoided the pitfalls of detail. I remember the transport one which managed to convey in positive terms the directions [in which] we were going to go rather than we are going to shed 33 per cent of the workforce … In most cases we had a directions speech, which we published, and in most cases we had a policy behind it, which we didn’t publish."
This honest assessment of how the Liberal Party operates from one of their own strengthens the argument that, despite their pre-election promises, the Coalition do not deserve to win government...' |
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Written by joni
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Thursday, 03 December 2009 13:05 |
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I look outside and it is sunny and Sydney is looking splendid in early summer. But all is not well here in NSW.
A non-directly elected premier is upset at factions within his own party who want to oust him.
Nathan Rees is refusing to go quietly as the Premier of NSW and says that any leadership spill today would be about the integrity of the politics in the state.
As premier there is something that Rees could do to help all in NSW. Make your last act as premier to call an imemdiate state election. Let the voters in NSW have their say.
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Written by Kevin Rennie
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Sunday, 22 November 2009 15:59 |
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A cross post from Labor View: Brumby the Born Again Leader
We haven't voted in a Victorian State election since 1996 when John Brumby unsuccessfully lead the ALP opposition against Jeff Kennett. Life under Jeff was probably one of the minor factors in our decision to head to the top end. Swings and landslides have brought a new political landscape.
Apart from the perennial branch stacking debate, yesterday's Labor State Conference seems to have had little heat. The real political discussion would have taken place at the lunchtime Fringe Program:
Has the ALP moved too far from its union roots?
Who is more out of touch – politicians or journalists?
Next steps in climate change policy
Couldn't get there but feedback from those who did would be appreciated.
Unlike many unelected State Premiers such as Alan Carpenter and Nathan Rees, Brumby inherited a united party. According to the last opinion poll he has built on this. It appears that he may do an Anna Bligh a get a comfortable majority of his own at next year's poll.
But as South Australian premier Mike Rann can attest, take nothing for granted. |
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