DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know? that, once a country privatises the people's utilities and resources to foreign investors, that country has forfeited its future wealth, and has sold off its sovereignty?
Did you know? that the Gillard Government's (Govt's) Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Tony Burke, granted the Whitehaven Mining Company to mine coal seam gas (C.S.G.) in northwestern N.S.W. and sections of the New England area. The Chairman of Whitehaven is none other than former National Party heavyweight Mark Vaile, who was the Howard Govt.’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Minister Burke approved Whitehaven’s licence on Monday, February 11, 2013.
How do struggling Australian families feel about Mark Vaile receiving a life-time pension, courtesy of our nation’s taxpayers, and at the same time earns more than twelve times a middle-class worker’s wage?
Is it possible that the major political parties are in bed with each other re issuing C.S.G. mining licences?
Did you know? that Morris Iemma was the Minister for the now defunct Department of Public Works and Services (D.P.W.S.) in the N.S.W. Carr Labor Govt.? In 2002, on Tuesday, October 22, Mr. Iemma’s D.P.W.S. suffered a major tragedy when the South African Company BGA, who the N.S.W. Govt. had contracted to construct the Lake Cargellico water tower, collapsed due to faulty scaffolding, killing two builders and hospitalising another three? Many of the workers on this Labor Govt.’s development were “immigrants” being paid “slave wages.”
We find it strange that the State Secretary of the Construction Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (C.F.M.E.U.), Andrew Ferguson, failed to follow up and demand that the financial members of his union be told the truth of this tragedy. In fact, Morris Iemma refused to comment. His spokesman said, “The Minister would wait until the outcome of the two enquiries.” To this day, Morris Iemma and Union Secretary Andrew Ferguson have failed publicly to explain about the circumstances leading up to the water tower’s fatal collapse. This is more than ten years after the tragedy.
Did you know? that Foreign National Companies pay little or no income tax to Australia – Under the 1953 Bob Menzies dual reciprocation tax Bill, this allows the Foreign multi-nationals to pay their tax to their country of origin.
Did you know? that the majority of Australia’s universities are utilised as a breeding ground for student brainwashing in the subject of Communist ideology, under the umbrella of the Greens so-called trendy, global warming and climate change lies?
Did you know? that the Howard-Anderson Liberal National Coalition Govt., in a trade-off for a Free Trade Agreement (F.T.A.) with the United States, agreed to lower our quarantine standards re Food inspection procedures, which have posed barriers in the past, guaranteeing that the problem will be addressed, benefitting sectors such as pork, citrus, apples and stone fruit. In addition, the Howard Coalition Govt., under the banner of Access to Services and Investment as part of the F.T.A., promised to exempt most United States investments from screening by the Australian Foreign Investment Board.
Did you know? that every Federal Labor Senator received a copy of the U.S.-Australia F.T.A., in which was contained the aforementioned summary? This summary was made available under the
title “Trade Facts” to the American people on Sunday, February 8, 2004 – free of charge.
Although armed with this material, every Labor Senator crossed the floor, led by John Faulkner and voted with the Howard Coalition to pass this F.T.A. Bill.
Did you know? that Labor’s Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and his Shadow Attorney-General - Senator Joe Ludwig - prior to the 2007 Federal election - promised to introduce new laws on freedom of information, whistle-blower protection – open Government after 11 years. Discover how Federal Labor spun us another lie.
Federal Labor will preserve the role of Privacy Commissioner, and also complete the existing review of the operation of the Privacy Act so that protection and access to personal information across both the Privacy Act and F.O.I. Act regimes are consistent.
Federal Labor is proposing a significant restructure of information laws. A Rudd Labor Government who would:
*Bring together the functions of privacy protection and freedom of information in an Office of the Information Commissioner to streamline and fast-track information policy across government;
*Preserve the existing role of the Privacy Commissioner to protect individual privacy;
*Abolish conclusive (non-reviewable) certificates from the FOI process - which stymie genuine requests by allowing Ministers to arbitrarily deny the release of information - For example, Treasurer Peter Costello refused to release information on income tax bracket creep and date on the First Time Home Owners scheme;
*Support reasonable changes to current journalist shield laws to protect their sources and ensure that a responsible journalist is never again prosecuted for a story that is “merely embarrassing” to a government;
*Pursue national reform of suppression orders in court proceedings through the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General; and
*Provide best-practice legislation and expansion of protection for public interest disclosure whistleblowers protecting them from retribution such as the customs officer, Mr. Alan Kessing, who blew the whistle on organised crime, lax airport security and inadequate policing This is about breaking the code of silence that has developed after 11 years of the Howard Government.
Access to government information and decision-making are keys to a healthy and vibrant democracy.
It also means that members of the community can obtain reasonable access to government records and documents that affect their lives.
Indirectly, strong FOI laws means bureaucrats will provide advice to their ministers without fear or favour - knowing that they may be held to account and their decisions could be made public.
The current FOI regime allowed the Howard Government to escape real transparency and genuine accountability.
For 11 years, the Howard Government shrunk away from the light of public scrutiny and transparency by abusing the current FOI laws.
A more open system for obtaining reasonable access to government records is the mark of a strong democracy.
In addition, it is essential that we keep a strong system in place to protect the privacy of individuals.
Background FOI refusals - [ in part.]
In the period 1997-98 to 2005-06, the Howard Government refused full access to 75,064 information requests; of those 57,975 were refused in part and 17,089 refused completely.
In the period 2005-06, the Howard Government refused full access to 8,655 information requests; of those 6,298 refused in part and 2,357 were refused completely.
Did you know? that a Galaxy-Daily Telegraph Poll (Monday, February 11, 2013) reveals 76 per cent of people support a second airport, with the most popular spot being Newcastle or the Central Coast, followed by Badgerys Creek. The exclusive Galaxy-Daily Telegraph of 400 polled over the weekend found 76 per cent of people said they supported a second airport, with only 16 per cent opposed and 8 per cent uncommitted. Galaxy pollster David Briggs said the poll highlighted just how contentious the issue was for State and Federal Govts. “There’s widespread support for a second airport …… the problem is where it is going to go,” Mr. Briggs said. “Clearly people have the message overtime we need a (second) airport.” Mr. Briggs must be joking! Out of a population of 7 million plus in N.S.W., Mr. Briggs’ poll sample was a mere 400 respondents. On such a major issue, a better balanced poll should be at least ten per cent of the State’s population.
It should be noted that a major supporter of the Daily Telegraph’s campaign for the second airport is Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC), who in reality are an unconstitutional group, as are local Councils and Shires.
Did you know? that under three N.S.W. Police Commissioners, Messrs. Peter Ryan, Ken Moroney and Andrew Scipione, in tandem with two Australian Federal Police Commissioners, Mick Kelty and Tony Negus, and the CEOs of Customs, Lionel Woodward, and Michael Carmody appear to have turned a blind eye to breaches of the Commonwealth Constitution, as well as Federal Laws, by allowing the Kings Cross Injecting Room to operate via the N.S.W. Parliament’s illegal legislation to do so (temporary from 2000 to 2010) and permanently legislated from late October 2010.
The law abiding citizens of N.S.W. are wondering whether some elected members of their State and Federal Govts. could have received kickbacks from the major drug cartels, for favourable treatment.
Did you know? that all the aforementioned has a great possibility of a “ring of truth” owing to the fact that the Governments of the day are responsible for appointing their respective Commissioners of our law enforcement agencies, as does our Federal Govt., who appoint the CEOs and Ministers to oversee the Australian Customs Service and the Australian Crimes Commission.
Did you know? that the only profiteers from the Kings Cross Injecting Centre operation are the Drug Cartels who sell the illegally imported goods.
For full story, go to– Invalid Drug Laws
Did you know? that, under the result of Question 4 of the 18th May, 1974 Referendum, the voters of Australia rejected the right of the Commonwealth Parliament powers to borrow money for, or to make financial assistance grants directly to, any local government body? The result of the Referendum: Obtained majority in one State and an overall minority of 458,053 votes. This means that consecutive Governments led by Messrs. Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating, Howard, Rudd and Gillard have been guilty of breaching the Commonwealth Constitution by giving financial grants to Local Councils and Shires.
It also proves beyond a reasonable doubt that those Councils and Shires who are protesting against a Commonwealth Grant Commission review do not understand the interpretation of the Commonwealth Constitution, as seems to be the case with the majority of our elected members to Federal Parliament. These elected members do not have the power to alter the will of the Australian people, by defying through legislation the result of a Referendum. To alter a Referendum result, the Federal Govt. must go back to the Australian people in accordance with Section 128 / 22 of the Commonwealth Constitution.
Did you know? that, through the advice of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), the Gillard Labor Government (Govt.) has ruled that we will re-open our borders to imported beef from Europe ten years after banning beef from countries with a history of mad cow disease. The FSANZ have ruled that consumers have a “negligible” risk of catching the brain-wasting disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) from eating Croatian or Dutch beef.
The FSANZ is the same organisation who advised the Howard Coalition, and every State and Territorial Government controlled by Labor, that Australian dairy farmers would be better off if their industry was deregulated. This decision has led to the devastation of the Australian dairy farmers, and at this rate they will be extinct within the next decade.
The most asked question is, has there been a conspiracy against the dairy farmers by the State and Territorial Labor Govts., in tandem with the Howard Coalition Govt.? Has there been a conspiracy against the Australian dairy farmers by the aforementioned Govts. for the financial benefit to the giant supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, who appear to have benefited by the huge drop in farm-gate prices for the farmers’ dairy products. And is it possible that FSANZ played a major part in Australia’s dairy farming catastrophy by recommending the deregulation of the dairy industry, in which the major beneficiary was New Zealand’s multi-national dairy company, “Fonterra?”
One could be forgiven in believing that our major political parties, the Greens, Labor and the Liberal-National Coalition were working in tandem with the FSANZ and Bio Security in bringing our agricultural farmers to their knees, and eventually total obliteration.
A perfect example of this sort of behaviour can be mirrored by the treatment the State and Federal Govts. are doling out to farmers, whose properties are on prime agricultural land, by allowing mining companies to extract coal seam gas from these pristine properties.
Our allegations on our website have been investigated by a large team of former law enforcement Customs Officers, and former Australian Federal Police Officers. Should you have grave concerns about any criminal activities by elected members of Parliament, either State or Federal, or local Council and Shires, you can email us at: votpp@yahoo.com.au