Paul Keating;"Labor Gutless, Sexuall assualt by aid workers, Cartoons
Good Morning, Paul here with today's offerings.
I think I'm going to write an essay on the destructive nature of most jobs.
And it will also tap into the question of "What is money"?
Stay tuned for a future edition!
I love this cartoon of Howie and Beastley
Under the leadership of Mark Latham, Labor steered clear of a debate on interest rates during the 2004 election, fearful the Government would raise the spectre of the 18 per cent interest rates recorded in the early 1990s.
But Mr Keating said Labor should have taken on Prime Minister John Howard directly, reminding the community of the high interest rates when he was the treasurer in the Fraser Government.
"Howard had the highest interest rates in Australian history, 21 per cent bank rates in 1982, and what did he leave? He gave us a huge recession and 11 per cent inflation," Mr Keating said.
"We had interest rates peaking at 18 per cent but we came out of it with one per cent inflation.
"The housing rates are here now because of our success in breaking the back of inflation.
"Howard couldn't do it, didn't do it.
"So why didn't we take him on on interest rates? Because we were too stupid, too gutless."
Asked if his successors had been too defensive about the Hawke-Keating years, Mr Keating said: "Absolutely." Mr Keating said Mr Latham, who quit as opposition leader in early 2005 to be replaced by Kim Beazley, should have played Mr Howard at his own game.
Mr Keating blamed Mr Latham's decision not to take on the Prime Minister on backroom party operatives who convinced him polling made such a strategy untenable.
"You must lead in this country, you can't run up the rear on poll-driven stuff," he said.
The card is scheduled for introduction from 2008 at a cost of $1 billion. Funding for the card is expected to be one of the big-ticket items in tomorrow's budget. The head of the taskforce charged with mapping out a path to implement the plan, James Kelaher, has resigned from the job and from the public service.
Mr Kelaher said on ABC TV he was worried the Government was rushing the project and his advice on privacy and security measures was being ignored. "I felt so strongly about it, I was prepared to withdraw from the project," he said. "Our early steps with this project should be measured and considered."
Mr Kelaher is reportedly unhappy the Government rejected a proposal for an independent advisory board on privacy and security issues. "Disabled people, people in rural and remote areas, doctors and pharmacists, hospitals, banks, all of these people wanted to make sure that their interests are being listened to," he said on ABC TV.
Prime Minister John Howard today would not comment on Mr Kelaher's resignation but defended the Government's smartcard plans. "I don't intend to comment on the decision taken by an individual public servant," he said. Human Services Minister Joe Hockey said on ABC TV Mr Kelaher was unable to commit to the term of the project, a claim Mr Kelaher denied.
"He was unable to commit for the next four years to the project, he could only commit for a few months," Mr Hockey said. Mr Howard said fears about people's privacy with the introduction of the card were outdated.
"It's received very wide support and I am very confident that there will be appropriate safeguards balanced against the evident advantages in protecting the revenue and ease of transactions that the card will bring," Mr Howard said. "I think this will be a real winner with the wider community and many of the fears that people have expressed are somewhat dated and misunderstand the character of what we have in mind."
Mr Howard said younger people in particular would be grateful for a single card that replaced the large number currently needed to deal with government bodies. Labor is concerned about cost blowouts and that people's privacy and security could be compromised because of the large amount of personal information to be carried in the cards.
"Mr Kelaher's resignation only serves to make the public increasingly uneasy," opposition human services spokesman Kelvin Thomson said.
"Camp officials, humanitarian workers, businessmen, peacekeepers, government employees and even teachers were frequently cited," the report said. Those interviewed said the girls, driven by chronic poverty, had sex with older men of status in exchange for food, money, clothing, cell phones, watches, perfume and to get a passing grade or a ride in a vehicle, it said.
"Some girls have had sex for a bottle of beer, or to be allowed to see a video," it said. "Parents reported feeling powerless to stop the children who were having sex in exchange for goods and services as they did not have the economic means to provide for their children." It quoted one victim as saying: "I have been asked more than 20 times by men to go with them for money. All are NGO (non-governmental organisation) workers."
According to the group, many girls aged 12 and up had regular sexual relations with men in the refugee camps and communities, but some girls as young as eight had also been involved. "This cannot continue. It must be tackled," said Save the Children UK chief executive Jasmine Whitbread.
"Men who use positions of power to take advantage of vulnerable children must be reported and fired. More must be done to support children and their families to make a living without turning to this kind of desperation," Ms Whitbread said. Once one of Africa's most prosperous nations with abundant timber, rubber and mineral wealth, Liberia lies in ruin after more than 14 years of civil war.
Former president Charles Taylor has been indicted by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and violations of international human rights. More than 250,000 people, mostly civilians, lost their lives and an estimated 1.3 million people were displaced in 15 years of conflict.
Twenty-five internally displaced persons camps were set up in Liberia, Save the Children said.
The report was based on testimonies from 315 people, more or less evenly split between men and women, boys and girls. Half of those questioned remain in refugee camps. "It appears that despite some initiatives to reduce sexual exploitation and abuse little change has been affected to the lives of vulnerable children since 2002," the report added.
It urged the international community to strengthen and develop effective and transparent monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
I think I'm going to write an essay on the destructive nature of most jobs.
And it will also tap into the question of "What is money"?
Stay tuned for a future edition!
I love this cartoon of Howie and Beastley
This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AAP
Labor 'too gutless' on economy
May 08, 2006
FEDERAL Labor was too stupid and too gutless to fight the Government on the economy at the 2004 election, former prime minister Paul Keating said today.
Mr Keating, speaking on the eve of the Howard Government's 11th budget, said Labor had fared so badly in the intervening years because it had refused to engage in a battle on economics.
"To win, you have to win on the main game, the economy, and you have to take the government on on the main issues," the former Labor prime minister said on ABC TV today.
Labor 'too gutless' on economy
May 08, 2006
FEDERAL Labor was too stupid and too gutless to fight the Government on the economy at the 2004 election, former prime minister Paul Keating said today.
Mr Keating, speaking on the eve of the Howard Government's 11th budget, said Labor had fared so badly in the intervening years because it had refused to engage in a battle on economics.
"To win, you have to win on the main game, the economy, and you have to take the government on on the main issues," the former Labor prime minister said on ABC TV today.
Under the leadership of Mark Latham, Labor steered clear of a debate on interest rates during the 2004 election, fearful the Government would raise the spectre of the 18 per cent interest rates recorded in the early 1990s.
But Mr Keating said Labor should have taken on Prime Minister John Howard directly, reminding the community of the high interest rates when he was the treasurer in the Fraser Government.
"Howard had the highest interest rates in Australian history, 21 per cent bank rates in 1982, and what did he leave? He gave us a huge recession and 11 per cent inflation," Mr Keating said.
"We had interest rates peaking at 18 per cent but we came out of it with one per cent inflation.
"The housing rates are here now because of our success in breaking the back of inflation.
"Howard couldn't do it, didn't do it.
"So why didn't we take him on on interest rates? Because we were too stupid, too gutless."
Asked if his successors had been too defensive about the Hawke-Keating years, Mr Keating said: "Absolutely." Mr Keating said Mr Latham, who quit as opposition leader in early 2005 to be replaced by Kim Beazley, should have played Mr Howard at his own game.
Mr Keating blamed Mr Latham's decision not to take on the Prime Minister on backroom party operatives who convinced him polling made such a strategy untenable.
"You must lead in this country, you can't run up the rear on poll-driven stuff," he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AAP
Smartcard was rushed, says chiefBy Saffron Howden and Sandra O'Malley
May 08, 2006
THE head of the taskforce charged with implementing the Federal Government's plan for a smartcard has quit over concerns the project is being rushed. The Government last month announced plans to introduce a single card armed with a computer chip to replace 17 health and welfare cards.
Smartcard was rushed, says chiefBy Saffron Howden and Sandra O'Malley
May 08, 2006
THE head of the taskforce charged with implementing the Federal Government's plan for a smartcard has quit over concerns the project is being rushed. The Government last month announced plans to introduce a single card armed with a computer chip to replace 17 health and welfare cards.
The card is scheduled for introduction from 2008 at a cost of $1 billion. Funding for the card is expected to be one of the big-ticket items in tomorrow's budget. The head of the taskforce charged with mapping out a path to implement the plan, James Kelaher, has resigned from the job and from the public service.
Mr Kelaher said on ABC TV he was worried the Government was rushing the project and his advice on privacy and security measures was being ignored. "I felt so strongly about it, I was prepared to withdraw from the project," he said. "Our early steps with this project should be measured and considered."
Mr Kelaher is reportedly unhappy the Government rejected a proposal for an independent advisory board on privacy and security issues. "Disabled people, people in rural and remote areas, doctors and pharmacists, hospitals, banks, all of these people wanted to make sure that their interests are being listened to," he said on ABC TV.
Prime Minister John Howard today would not comment on Mr Kelaher's resignation but defended the Government's smartcard plans. "I don't intend to comment on the decision taken by an individual public servant," he said. Human Services Minister Joe Hockey said on ABC TV Mr Kelaher was unable to commit to the term of the project, a claim Mr Kelaher denied.
"He was unable to commit for the next four years to the project, he could only commit for a few months," Mr Hockey said. Mr Howard said fears about people's privacy with the introduction of the card were outdated.
"It's received very wide support and I am very confident that there will be appropriate safeguards balanced against the evident advantages in protecting the revenue and ease of transactions that the card will bring," Mr Howard said. "I think this will be a real winner with the wider community and many of the fears that people have expressed are somewhat dated and misunderstand the character of what we have in mind."
Mr Howard said younger people in particular would be grateful for a single card that replaced the large number currently needed to deal with government bodies. Labor is concerned about cost blowouts and that people's privacy and security could be compromised because of the large amount of personal information to be carried in the cards.
"Mr Kelaher's resignation only serves to make the public increasingly uneasy," opposition human services spokesman Kelvin Thomson said.
---------------------------------------------------------------
This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AFP
Aid workers 'sexually assualt' refugeesBy Lachlan Carmichael in London
May 08, 2006
GIRLS as young as eight are being sexually exploited in Liberian refugee camps, sometimes by the humanitarian workers and peacekeeping troops tasked with protecting them, a British aid organisation charged today. Save the Children UK found that such exploitation was widespread after interviewing people in temporary camps for those displaced by the civil war and among those repatriated to their towns and villages of origin after its end.
Aid workers 'sexually assualt' refugeesBy Lachlan Carmichael in London
May 08, 2006
GIRLS as young as eight are being sexually exploited in Liberian refugee camps, sometimes by the humanitarian workers and peacekeeping troops tasked with protecting them, a British aid organisation charged today. Save the Children UK found that such exploitation was widespread after interviewing people in temporary camps for those displaced by the civil war and among those repatriated to their towns and villages of origin after its end.
"Camp officials, humanitarian workers, businessmen, peacekeepers, government employees and even teachers were frequently cited," the report said. Those interviewed said the girls, driven by chronic poverty, had sex with older men of status in exchange for food, money, clothing, cell phones, watches, perfume and to get a passing grade or a ride in a vehicle, it said.
"Some girls have had sex for a bottle of beer, or to be allowed to see a video," it said. "Parents reported feeling powerless to stop the children who were having sex in exchange for goods and services as they did not have the economic means to provide for their children." It quoted one victim as saying: "I have been asked more than 20 times by men to go with them for money. All are NGO (non-governmental organisation) workers."
According to the group, many girls aged 12 and up had regular sexual relations with men in the refugee camps and communities, but some girls as young as eight had also been involved. "This cannot continue. It must be tackled," said Save the Children UK chief executive Jasmine Whitbread.
"Men who use positions of power to take advantage of vulnerable children must be reported and fired. More must be done to support children and their families to make a living without turning to this kind of desperation," Ms Whitbread said. Once one of Africa's most prosperous nations with abundant timber, rubber and mineral wealth, Liberia lies in ruin after more than 14 years of civil war.
Former president Charles Taylor has been indicted by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and violations of international human rights. More than 250,000 people, mostly civilians, lost their lives and an estimated 1.3 million people were displaced in 15 years of conflict.
Twenty-five internally displaced persons camps were set up in Liberia, Save the Children said.
The report was based on testimonies from 315 people, more or less evenly split between men and women, boys and girls. Half of those questioned remain in refugee camps. "It appears that despite some initiatives to reduce sexual exploitation and abuse little change has been affected to the lives of vulnerable children since 2002," the report added.
It urged the international community to strengthen and develop effective and transparent monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
-------------------------------------------------------------
posted by tetmupco2 | 12:10 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home