Category: politics (Page 41 of 42)

Politics: Indigenous Land in the Northern Territory

August 6, 2006 / Catherine / 0 Comments

Getup just notified me that the Government is trying to pass a Bill to pressure Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory into giving up their land for the next century, in exchange for securing basic services (such as housing and schools). I gather the current land rights act expires this year, and the government does not want to renew it. They are trying to rush this through on Tuesday, and have done a fine job of avoiding consulting anyone, particularly, of course, indigenous populations.

I admit that I know virtually nothing about the issues involved with this, and do not have time this week to research them, so I am not going to try to write anything especially eloquent here. But if you are Australian, I’d appreciate it if you would go here and read more: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign.asp?campaign_id=36

And if you are more knowledgeable than me, please call your senator, or write in your blog and let others know about this. I can’t imagine any way in which this would benefit the Aboriginal community in Australia, which has quite enough problems without losing one of the few assets it has.

Politics: Racism and Moreland

March 22, 2006 / Catherine / 0 Comments

Just thought I’d re-post this email that was just sent to me:

Moreland Community – Rally and March
Stand Up for Multicultural Communities
Racism will not divide us: Muslims are welcome

12pm SAT April 1st
Cnr Glenlyon and Sydney Rd (Outside Brunswick Town Hall)

supported by Moreland Council, Socialist Alliance, Carlo Carli MLA, Moreland Peace Group, Moreland Greens, Stop the War, Civil Rights Defense

After ten years of playing the race card, Howard and Costello have made recent comments singling out Muslims as antagonistic to
“Australian culture”. Tony Abbott, recently inteviewed on Lateline said that,” the purpose of multiculturalism is not to say that all cultures are equal”. These comments represents new heights in promoting community division.

This new wave of divisive politics deserves a community response. The Moreland area typifies multicultural Australia. Let set an example and send a message that Muslims and migrants are welcome in our community.

Just to add my two cents – I overheard a conversation on a tram yesterday about how the area is ‘no longer a good place to raise children’ and ‘not nice, like it was 15 years ago’ apparently in response to some local (admittedly annoying, but no more so than usual) teens of arabic descent making a lot of noise on the tram. I was fairly horrified, but as an eavesdropper, didn’t feel that I could respond. I’m wishing I had now. I am disturbed at the way racism seems to be becoming endemic in our culture…

Politics: RU-486 – Quotable Quotes

February 19, 2006 / Catherine / 0 Comments

Just to give you a feel for the debate, I’ve collected quotes from those Senators who spoke in favour of the bill. I think it’s interesting to hear what was said and how this bill was defended and passed (and it means you can be a bit more personal in your letters of thanks and appreciation!).

Continue reading

Politics: RU-486 – Time to thank your Senators

February 19, 2006 / Catherine / 0 Comments

Here’s the first part of my potted summary of the Senate debate on the TGA reform. This post is very long, but not as long as the three Senate Hansards (transcripts of parliamentary debates) that I waded through in order to collect this information. I’ll work on one for the House of Representatives during the next week, if I have the energy… I make no promises though – I’ve spent nearly 8 hours on this so far.

Politcs: RU-486 bill – passed!

February 17, 2006 / Catherine / 0 Comments

So approval of RU-486 is now in the hands of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, not the Health Minister. Which I think is a marvellous thing.

Perhaps even more wonderful to me is the way that the majority of women front and backbenchers, including women from all five marjor political parties, united regardless of party lines to present and pass this bill. And I hear they intend to continue to work together on other issues relevant to women, although I am yet to track down a source for this pleasing story.

Anyway. Having bombarded my politicians on occasion with many, many emails and letters, I would now like to write and thank the women and men who voted to make RU-486 a medical, not a political, issue.

If necessary, I will read all of Hansard for the last week and make a list – but if anyone already has a list, please let me know.

In the meantime, Sharman Stone (Liberal), Lyn Allison (Democrat), Fiona Nash (National), Claire Moore (Labour) and Judith Troeth (Liberal) – thank you for your co-sponsorship of the bill.

And Kerry Nettle (Greens) and Julia Gillard (Labour) thank you for speaking in its favour.

I know there are lots more, but these were the people I found most easily – I’ll add to this list once I’ve had a good look through Hansard.

Politics: RU-486 – who should decide?

February 2, 2006 / Catherine / 0 Comments

You may be aware that RU-486 is not currently legally available in Australia. What you may not be aware of is that this is because the Health Minister, Tony Abbott, currently has the ability to prevent the drug even being assessed by our Therapeutic Goods Administration.

I am, as you know, very pro-choice. But this isn’t actually about choice. To me, this is about whether we want our access to particular medicines controlled by scientists (including pharmacists and medical doctors), or by politicians.

Personally, I can quite see why some people are uncomfortable with the idea of RU-486. There may indeed be safety risks that are particular to Australia, where some of our country areas are really very remote. And there are, no doubt, ethical issues involved in any decision to terminate a pregnancy.

But safety and medical issues are best assessed by medical practitioners and research scientists.

And ethical issues associated with terminations of pregnancy are best decided by the people who will be most affected by them – women or couples, in association with anyone – doctor, clergyman, counsellor or friend – they wish to consult.

Not by a politician.

If you feel similarly, or want to make your feelings known to your Member of Parliament, go here to send an email to him or her.

Politics: Industrial Relations Reform Laws

November 4, 2005 / Catherine / 0 Comments

Australians, if you’d like to let the Senate know what you think of the proposed laws, go here. We have just over five days in which to make our voices heard.

To me, these laws look suspiciously like a ticket back to the early days of the industrial revolution.

I note, for example, that while the 38-day week is ‘protected’, penalty payments for overtime are not – which means that you can still work more hours than that and not get penalty rates.

I also note that there appears to be no provision for sick leave.

And minimum wages will no longer be linked to inflation.

Also, if I understand correctly, attempting to bargain collectively in any way, or to assure that your wage is equivalent to others doing the same work in the same field, appears to carry huge penalties.

Frankly, these laws are terrifying, even for someone in a stable job (because, as it happens, while I can’t be unfairly dismissed from my current, larger-than-100-staff-members workplace, I can be dismissed for ‘operational reasons’ and then rehired on an individual contract). It completely baffles me that the government could think this is good for the economy – doesn’t a healthy economy rely on people having enough money to spend?

Politics: Anti-Terror Laws

September 23, 2005 / Catherine / 0 Comments

I’ll tell you what worries me most about these proposed ‘preventative’ anti-terror laws.

It isn’t that they are unconstitutional.

It isn’t that they are open to abuse.

It is that we are now open to penalisation not for our actions, which we can control, or our beliefs, which are to some extent our choice (although I would argue that beliefs should never be legislated anyway), but for what other people think our actions or beliefs may be now or on some future occasion.

This kind of legislation means that it is not enough simply to obey the law. One must also be seen to have the appearance of someone who would not consider disobeying the law.

I, for one, am terrified.

Politics: Headscarves at Public Schools

August 29, 2005 / Catherine / 0 Comments

Bronwyn Bishop thinks it would be a good idea to ban head scarves at public schools. She thinks they are an ‘iconic item of defiance’.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/lib-backbencher-resurrects-headscarf-debate/2005/08/28/1125167542791.html

Personally, I think this is appalling, counterproductive and stupid. We don’t even have the french excuse of banning all religious icons/symbols from schools – instead, we are singling out a single group from a single religion. And nobody should have to choose between an education and their religious beliefs. Wearing a headscarf harms no-one.

Can you think of a better way to transform headscarves from a personal, religious issue into a political statement?

Of course, these girls would still be able go to Muslim schools. They just couldn’t go into the (free) public school system. I would think this would make them more likely, in the long term, to be less integrated into mainstream society. Assuming there is even an Muslim school in their area that they can go to. There aren’t that many in Australia, and we seem to be cracking down on them, too, at present. They might be unAustralian, you know…

I also find this business particularly repellant because there is probably a cultural/social element to wearing headscarves; while for some it is undoubtedly a religious issue, for others it may simply be a matter of what is expected by their family/social network, and neither particularly oppressive or something they particularly feel strongly about. A rule like this would tend to polarise these people who might otherwise exist happily in the middle, and will serve to keep the two cultures separate (and potentially at odds) for longer than they need to be.

Now all I have to find out is who to write to…

Politics: Reproductive Choice Australia

August 25, 2005 / Catherine / 0 Comments

Just posting a link to this site, which may be of interest to some people on my reading this: http://www.reproductivechoiceaustralia.org.au/take-action.htm

There is a call for the 81% of Australians who support a woman’s right to choose* to make their views known by contacting appropriate MPs. This is in response to Senator Ron Boswell, who has more or less called for those who are anti-abortion to show their support so that he can introduce a Private Member’s Bill that would restrict access to abortion.

Among other things it asks readers to send a ‘short and respectful’ email to the Prime Minister. I’ve just done so – I managed respectful, but didn’t quite hit ‘short’, particularly once I found myself listing all the very useful things he could do to really reduce the abortion rate in this country (more family-friendly work policies, better social and financial supports for parents, particularly parents of children with a disability, funding medical research into the prevention and therapy – and earlier prenatal diagnosis – of genetic disorders…).

Anyway, there it is. Read it, if you are interested, and act if your conscience dictates it.

*Has anyone else noticed that when you say ‘a woman’s right to choose’ everyone knows exactly which choice is being referred to, as though we had no other things we might choose to do or not to do with our lives?