Melanie Phillips has written this absolutely brilliant account of the Islamist takeover of Britain. All Americans and Australians should read this now.
Her web site is here.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Labor Twisting its Election Promises on Defence Spending
Yes, I told you so. Labor is heading in the direction of cutting its spending on Defence spending, just like I predicted (knew). Nick Minchin has a fair bit to say here.
The federal opposition has accused the government of breaking its election promise to maintain the coalition's minimum three per cent annual increase in defence spending.
Opposition defence spokesman Nick Minchin said Labor now appeared to believe that three per cent should be the ceiling for defence funding increases rather than the floor.
In its election defence policy, Labor pledged to maintain defence spending, including a minimum three per cent real growth until 2016, but said it would ensure defence dollars were spent more effectively and efficiently.
Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner on Sunday warned defence faced very considerable cost pressures.
"Even getting savings to ensure that we don't go beyond that three per cent real is a very important exercise. Yes defence is very much on the table," he told the Ten Network.
"We are scrutinising both the capability (equipment) aspects of defence spending but also the more mundane organisational bureaucratic aspects which are substantial as well."
Read the rest here.Inflation, Housing Affordability, Welfare and the Mining Boom
Inflation, Housing Affordability, Welfare and the Mining Boom
4th March 2008
Housing prices have tripled in Western Australia over the last 8 years and we have seen very little action taken on dealing with this issue with the Western Australian State Government. Rather, they have built a ‘wonderful’ railway line to Mandurah. In the mean time Environmentalists and Native land claims have also contributed to the acute shortage of land in this state, where, once the land is claimed, is used as a tool to make royalties from mining or agriculture for Native ‘Owners’. I have never heard of a person on this planet being entitled to land like this. Of course the Indians have their reservations, but nothing like the ridiculous amounts of land liquidation we have seen all over Australia.
If Aborigines wish to benefit from our Economy, they must do this one, plain, simple thing. If they wish to have the ‘land’, then so be it, but never shall a person who lives or partially lives on that land should receive any welfare or Government money.
Otherwise, negotiations must resume directly with the Government to return this issue to a sane balance, where only 10% of land in Australia at maximum shall be ‘titled’ to native recipients. And then we should not allow welfare to be handed out to the natives or anyone any more. Welfare was meant to tide people over, but these days it helps people buy big TVs, alcohol and helps immigrants to exploit our economy courtesy of hard working Australians.
Whoever wishes to confront this problem effectively, shall have to hit the environmentalists on the head (the EPA) and the Native Land Title Claimants, current and receivers. We should not allow minority groups to determine Government policy where the Government merely becomes puppets to set themselves in front of media to look as though something is being done.
Housing in the North West is extremely expensive and this alongside Aborigine public housing, often wrecked and Government money kept being poured on the ‘social’ problem to take responsibility for the houses. So you have an extremely unfair situation unfolding, where workers (non-indigenous-Very few are Aborigine even though Government programs are encouraging ‘equal opportunity’) are working very hard for high wages, yet are being punished with the cost of living. The Aborigines get a free ride in their Government supplied housing, and usually are on welfare. They don’t earn any money, amongst a worker shortage, and are using Government money to live. Where is the logic in this? We have become a social state where we don’t think logically. No wonder there is no common sense around.
The Railway stations in Perth should be developed so that apartment/hotel/shopping centres are built on top of all of them, thus making use of the public transport system. The Public transport system should be re-worked as well so that buses are used to ‘feed’ train stations (buses feeding from the same main road every 5-10 minutes in peak hour), and industrial/commercial areas enjoying heavy bus services so that people can get to work easily using public transport. This would mean buses making a round route service from a nearby train station often, especially in peak periods. This would also allow less cars to be used in these busy areas where the mining boom is making them busier.
The Train station mega-complexes would envelop better car parking as well, and the vast amount of permanent accommodation to be made available would lower the demand in outer suburbs, thus curbing inflation. Releasing free land in the North West would do the same for the Perth Metropolitan area, but we need to concentrate in dense residential in the Northwest cities of Port Hedland, Karratha, Broome, Kununurra and as well as Perth. Allowing developers to build triple story townhouses thus making better use of less land in the Perth Metro would also be a good solution to the demand of accomodation in Western Australia. Unfortunately, with the cost of housing all over Western Australia (which is the least populated state per square kilometre yet the largest in Australia), we are going to see some very painful financial times ahead, unless a Western Australian Government determines to make the tough decisions to go ahead and do what needs to be done. Supply demand.
In the mining boom, this will need to be on those terms, ‘boom’, which is massive.
The worker shortage in this state is absolutely contributing to housing demand (and supply shortages). It is the Government’s responsibility to act accordingly and manage this responsibly. This hasn’t occurred and we are going to wear the consequences.
4th March 2008
Housing prices have tripled in Western Australia over the last 8 years and we have seen very little action taken on dealing with this issue with the Western Australian State Government. Rather, they have built a ‘wonderful’ railway line to Mandurah. In the mean time Environmentalists and Native land claims have also contributed to the acute shortage of land in this state, where, once the land is claimed, is used as a tool to make royalties from mining or agriculture for Native ‘Owners’. I have never heard of a person on this planet being entitled to land like this. Of course the Indians have their reservations, but nothing like the ridiculous amounts of land liquidation we have seen all over Australia.
If Aborigines wish to benefit from our Economy, they must do this one, plain, simple thing. If they wish to have the ‘land’, then so be it, but never shall a person who lives or partially lives on that land should receive any welfare or Government money.
Otherwise, negotiations must resume directly with the Government to return this issue to a sane balance, where only 10% of land in Australia at maximum shall be ‘titled’ to native recipients. And then we should not allow welfare to be handed out to the natives or anyone any more. Welfare was meant to tide people over, but these days it helps people buy big TVs, alcohol and helps immigrants to exploit our economy courtesy of hard working Australians.
Whoever wishes to confront this problem effectively, shall have to hit the environmentalists on the head (the EPA) and the Native Land Title Claimants, current and receivers. We should not allow minority groups to determine Government policy where the Government merely becomes puppets to set themselves in front of media to look as though something is being done.
Housing in the North West is extremely expensive and this alongside Aborigine public housing, often wrecked and Government money kept being poured on the ‘social’ problem to take responsibility for the houses. So you have an extremely unfair situation unfolding, where workers (non-indigenous-Very few are Aborigine even though Government programs are encouraging ‘equal opportunity’) are working very hard for high wages, yet are being punished with the cost of living. The Aborigines get a free ride in their Government supplied housing, and usually are on welfare. They don’t earn any money, amongst a worker shortage, and are using Government money to live. Where is the logic in this? We have become a social state where we don’t think logically. No wonder there is no common sense around.
The Railway stations in Perth should be developed so that apartment/hotel/shopping centres are built on top of all of them, thus making use of the public transport system. The Public transport system should be re-worked as well so that buses are used to ‘feed’ train stations (buses feeding from the same main road every 5-10 minutes in peak hour), and industrial/commercial areas enjoying heavy bus services so that people can get to work easily using public transport. This would mean buses making a round route service from a nearby train station often, especially in peak periods. This would also allow less cars to be used in these busy areas where the mining boom is making them busier.
The Train station mega-complexes would envelop better car parking as well, and the vast amount of permanent accommodation to be made available would lower the demand in outer suburbs, thus curbing inflation. Releasing free land in the North West would do the same for the Perth Metropolitan area, but we need to concentrate in dense residential in the Northwest cities of Port Hedland, Karratha, Broome, Kununurra and as well as Perth. Allowing developers to build triple story townhouses thus making better use of less land in the Perth Metro would also be a good solution to the demand of accomodation in Western Australia. Unfortunately, with the cost of housing all over Western Australia (which is the least populated state per square kilometre yet the largest in Australia), we are going to see some very painful financial times ahead, unless a Western Australian Government determines to make the tough decisions to go ahead and do what needs to be done. Supply demand.
In the mining boom, this will need to be on those terms, ‘boom’, which is massive.
The worker shortage in this state is absolutely contributing to housing demand (and supply shortages). It is the Government’s responsibility to act accordingly and manage this responsibly. This hasn’t occurred and we are going to wear the consequences.
Prime Minister John Howard Vindicated on 'Sorry Day'
Letter to The West Australian, 20th Feb 2008-02-20
Prime Minister John Howard Vindicated
Several 'unionists' writing disdainfully in your letters pages of Prime Minister John Howard's rumoured 'Order of the Garter' have stated only specific issues with which to ridicule him with. In fact these so called writers ignored the fact that John Howard was elected because the Unions were so powerful they needed sorting out, and sort them out he did.
Not only this, but he was re-elected 3 more times and the last time with a powerful majority in both houses. It was only the successful propaganda ran by heavyweight unions (loaded with cash) that scared the life out of the voters.
PM John Howard has been fully vindicated, and even more so, since he refused to attend the 'Sorry Day' last week in Parliament. As Brendan Nelson mentioned there will be no compensation, many indigenous people turned their backs on him. If the Aboriginal people, like Noel Pearson, admitted their problems, they would then be admitting that they would have to solve them (which Noel Pearson is doing rather well). No, it is up to Mr Rudd to say Sorry and for his state counterparts to hand out the large sums of money to already welfare dependant people who due to the Socialist dogma imposed on them often live lives of destruction, with no meaning or purpose.
As soon as the apology was over, call upon call was made for compensation by individuals and special interest lobby groups, obviously intent on pocketing sums of money to keep them going and assure a culture of endless welfare dependency.
Although Mr Howard has shown strong leadership and is gutsy for standing on his principles which I deeply admire him for, it will take much more to cease welfare dependency altogether in this great nation of Australia, where Aborigine children die all too often as children, and get raped whilst in the care of their parents.
John Howard was vindicated in the most extreme sense by the reaction to Mr Nelson's comments and most importantly the calls for compensation. As we have an extremely large problem with welfare dependency by the current indigenous people, with Government too scared to 'force' them into work, or to live off the land (since much of Australia is theirs now), we are not going to do any good at all by throwing more money at the problem. They will keep drinking and having babies with foetal alcohol syndrome unless we establish the fact that before they were 'given rights' in the 1960's, they worked for their money and were responsible for themselves.
These days it is the reverse, with the Government being forced to take responsibility and working for them by handing out welfare, which is encouraging Politicians to pump up Government even more to what it shouldn't be, the nanny state.
Prime Minister John Howard Vindicated
Several 'unionists' writing disdainfully in your letters pages of Prime Minister John Howard's rumoured 'Order of the Garter' have stated only specific issues with which to ridicule him with. In fact these so called writers ignored the fact that John Howard was elected because the Unions were so powerful they needed sorting out, and sort them out he did.
Not only this, but he was re-elected 3 more times and the last time with a powerful majority in both houses. It was only the successful propaganda ran by heavyweight unions (loaded with cash) that scared the life out of the voters.
PM John Howard has been fully vindicated, and even more so, since he refused to attend the 'Sorry Day' last week in Parliament. As Brendan Nelson mentioned there will be no compensation, many indigenous people turned their backs on him. If the Aboriginal people, like Noel Pearson, admitted their problems, they would then be admitting that they would have to solve them (which Noel Pearson is doing rather well). No, it is up to Mr Rudd to say Sorry and for his state counterparts to hand out the large sums of money to already welfare dependant people who due to the Socialist dogma imposed on them often live lives of destruction, with no meaning or purpose.
As soon as the apology was over, call upon call was made for compensation by individuals and special interest lobby groups, obviously intent on pocketing sums of money to keep them going and assure a culture of endless welfare dependency.
Although Mr Howard has shown strong leadership and is gutsy for standing on his principles which I deeply admire him for, it will take much more to cease welfare dependency altogether in this great nation of Australia, where Aborigine children die all too often as children, and get raped whilst in the care of their parents.
John Howard was vindicated in the most extreme sense by the reaction to Mr Nelson's comments and most importantly the calls for compensation. As we have an extremely large problem with welfare dependency by the current indigenous people, with Government too scared to 'force' them into work, or to live off the land (since much of Australia is theirs now), we are not going to do any good at all by throwing more money at the problem. They will keep drinking and having babies with foetal alcohol syndrome unless we establish the fact that before they were 'given rights' in the 1960's, they worked for their money and were responsible for themselves.
These days it is the reverse, with the Government being forced to take responsibility and working for them by handing out welfare, which is encouraging Politicians to pump up Government even more to what it shouldn't be, the nanny state.
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