Diary of our stinking Govt.

[boris1gary]

As it's more than 100 days now, it has been suggested that a new thread was needed.  The current govt has been breaking promises and telling lies at a rate so fast it's hard to keep up.

This below is worrying, "independent" pffft, as if your own doctor is somehow what? biased, it's ridiculous. So far there is talk of only including people under a certain age 30-35, for now. Remember that if your injured in a car, injured at work or get ill, you too might need to go on the DSP. They have done a similar think in the UK with devastating consequences.

and this is the 2nd time recently where the Govt has referred to work as welfare???? So when you go to work tomorrow (or tuesday), just remember that's welfare.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-20/disability-pensioners-may-be-reassessed-kevin-andrews/5400598

Independent doctors could be called in to reassess disability pensioners, Federal Government says

The Federal Government is considering using independent doctors to examine disability pensioners and assess whether they should continue to receive payments.

Currently family doctors provide reports supporting claims for the Disability Support Pension (DSP).

But Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews is considering a measure that would see independent doctors reassess eligibility.

"We are concerned that where people can work, the best form of welfare is work," Mr Andrews said at a press conference.

[cherry*135]

Abbott still standing, just

...And poll analyst and former Fairfax pollster John Stirton, observes: "They are easily the least popular new government in 40 years."

...Abbott is putting himself on poll-watch.

This will be tough. Abbott is Australia's uniquely unpopular Prime Minister. He is the first unpopular Opposition Leader to win government in the 40 years of the Fairfax polling series.

And he has never managed to build public support. Abbott, to his credit, has never sought to openly court popularity as Prime Minister, but he was hoping to win respect.

SMH

[monman12]

"for those interested in 'historical PM's' and what is happening in their world right now...."

We have a  "Independent" article from,  the oft quoted here left flag waving rag , AIMN,  quoting the Search Foundation.  "Interesting " bunch the SEARCH Foundation, amongst their aims I found this:

Education for Trade Unionists

This 10 module training program is designed to raise the level of political understanding and commitment among union and left activists, and to strengthen left coordination within unions and the community.

That I am sure would receive instantly a few of these from the welded on pink Myops here ., but education  and unionists are somewhat contrary concepts are they not?

I know C&P sans research are pink populist protocol, so let me help:

" The so-called ‘principle of complementarity’ means that any State with jurisdiction over an alleged international crime has the primary right to exercise that jurisdiction. Article 17 of the Rome Statute provides that a case will be inadmissible before the ICC if it:

(a) ... is being investigated or prosecuted by a State which has jurisdiction over it, unless the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution;
(b) ... has been investigated by a State which has jurisdiction over it and the State has decided not to prosecute the person concerned, unless the decision resulted from the unwillingness or inability of the State genuinely to prosecute"

Although supposedly a protection for the ICC’s independence, the provisions
for the “automatic jurisdiction” of the court and the prosecutor are unacceptably
broad. They constitute a clear break from the basic premise of the ICJ
that there is no jurisdiction without the consent of the state parties.31 Because
parties to the ICC may refer alleged crimes to the prosecutor, we can virtually
guarantee that some will, from the very outset, seek to use the court for political
purposes.

The red highlight is deliberate, and apt !

[cherry*135]

The current PM's incompetence is taking spotlight this week! Every week really.

[fourandsixpants]

to monman ref: .... some will, from the very outset, seek to use the court for political
purposes.

The red highlight is deliberate, and apt !

..............................................................................................................................................................

spit it out Dear!

Are you referring to myself?

Are you referring to my initial court action against a mining company in WA who started regular open pit blasting 200m from our local primary school, did shady deals with Water Authority to top up our town water supply from their various tailings dams, contaminated local and neighbouring water sources including being responsible for causing radiation levels-alpha & beta levels in town drinking water tank to be 14 times that of the allowable Australian drinking water standards....and other contaminants , paid some town residents to leave their homes during blasts, erected road blocks during blasting ops, caused damage to homes/residences, where State WA politicians were implicated in doing shady deals in WA State Parliament and legislated thru same Parliament to do land deal swaps resulting in mining co aquiring part of the actual townsite within their mining lease-so as to allow them to mine the open cut pit less than 200m from town primary school, where Commonwealth breaches of many bits of legislation ignored......where I settled out of court on the forced proviso that I had to sign a Deed Of Release agreeing to never reveal that certain govt agencies were never implicated-Dept of Mines/Dept of Environment/Dept of Lands and that I never speak out publicly about the matter or mention the mine/mining company for the life of the mine?.....yes was very 'political'

or a

are you referring to my successful court action, through 3 courts in Western Australia for unpaid wages: I worked for 13 months and did not get paid under a 'dodgy' Workplace agreement......during John Howard's WorkChoices regime?.....again, yes was very political

Don't infer, speak up or be silent

[vicr3000]

Paint

He was referring to the ICC.


BTW, how come they could get a licence to blast 200 metres from people ?
It can be done, explosives are quite safe but I wouldn't want to use too much
As it can stuff a houses foundations and walls.

[fourandsixpants]

I'd be happy to speak about either or both in an open public forum.....even on radio or to TV or radio.....will do wonders for the LNP as both issues esp the mine issue has plenty of WA State LNP pollie 'skeletons' in the cupboard!!

not fussed about being accused of 'breaching' the Deed of Release in mine issue.....as I was forced/under duress at the time imo. I had fought the morons for about 6 years and was 6 months pregnant with my 3rd child when made to sign the Deed of Release.

[vicr3000]

You should look at some of your side as well.

[fourandsixpants]

Citizens versus mining in Greenbushes, Western Australiaby Jane CargillMarch 1997

Mining operations near the town of Greenbushes are having serious impacts on health and environment. Citizen opposition has been met by intimidation and government inaction.

Greenbushes is 257km south of Perth, in the southwest of Western Australia, directly inland and east of the Margaret River. The nearest major town is Bridgetown. The current population is 400.

The first mining lease in WA was pegged in Greenbushes. Tin was first mined. Now tantalum, spodumene and lithium are the major profit-making minerals. In the "olden days" prospectors fossicked, panned and dug shafts. Nowadays the miners drill, blast and excavate in order to extract the minerals for processing. Contractors work in huge, crater-like pits several hundred feet deep.

In May 1991, Gwalia Consolidated Limited was granted approval to extend a tantalum pit adjacent to the southern boundary of Greenbushes townsite -- hence named "the northern pit extension." A small (900 square metre) plot of land inside the townsite boundary was excised for this purpose. Approval was granted by both the WA Department of Minerals and Energy and the WA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

A formal assessment by the DEP was not considered necessary despite the fact that blasting, drilling and mining operations would be conducted in a pit whose edge was 450 metres from the centre of town and less than 50 metres from Greenbushes Primary School and residences. Mining leases 01/6 and 01/9 were placed over Greenbushes in 1983/84, allowing mining underneath the town. The Mines Act was not followed and owners were not notified.

The Bridgetown-Greenbushes Shire was aware of this northern pit extension plan, but ratepayers and residents were not. About 10 letters were delivered by Gwalia to those residents who were 200m or less from the edge of the tantalum pit in late September 1993, informing them of the northern pit extension and ordering some to "remain indoors" and informing the others that Gwalia would assist them to "evacuate your home" whilst blasting was being conducted and "road guards" would be positioned in streets to block them.

Townspeople "flipped out." Concerned Residents of Greenbushes was formed and several town meetings were held. Fifty to sixty people voted to investigate the possibility of applying for a court injunction on Gwalia to sort out issues before commencement of the northern pit extension.

The next meeting, in November 1993, was stacked by dozens of "out of town" mine workers. A town resident -- a former local shire clerk and Gwalia shareholder -- voted to allow the company access to town land (the 900 square metre plot). Intimidation tactics were adopted to put a stop to further meetings. One man rang me to say that his and others' car tyres had been slashed whilst he was at the November meeting. His wife had since lost her part-time job at Gwalia because, he believed, he was seen speaking with me after the meeting. He said he would be unable to attend any more meetings.

Business owners in town who were seen to be supportive of a court injunction lost custom. Threats of mine closure and loss of jobs are still used today by mine management if anyone protests.

In the years since 1993, numerous houses have been damaged. Windows have been "blown out," ceilings have fallen in, flyrock has been seen and heard to land on roofs and in backyards. Insurance companies do not cover this sort of damage. Thick dust clouds have contaminated rain water tanks. Fume emissions containing nitrous gases and carbon monoxide (from explosives) often shroud Greenbushes in a pungent, blue-white haze. Children and pets are frightened by the vibrations and noise of blasts. Blasting is now six days per week, with one to three blasts each day.

Numerous government officials have visited, inspected and occasionally monitored the blasts in parallel with Gwalia's "self-monitoring." All have said that Gwalia is operating within its licence conditions -- in spite of many breaches -- and that there is not much that can be done.

The state ombudsman's office has had a file open on the Greenbushes issue for years but refuses to investigate. I was told "We can't do anything because the issue is more than six months old." The Mines Department denies that the mining lease and the Mines Act are being breached and refuses to consider any compensation for residents and ratepayers as applicable within the Mines Act.

The DEP has the power to immediately review Gwalia's licence conditions to reduce blast limits but refuses to modify any of them. The air blast overpressure limit is currently set at 120dB, never to exceed a ceiling of 125dB. This has been breached several times and caused serious structural damage. The vibration limit is set at 5mm/second, never to exceed a ceiling of 10mm/second. Neither of these limits is appropriate for blasting operations in close proximity to residences. Atmospheric and geological conditions should be taken into account within licence conditions. The "10%" provision which allows the company the privilege of exceeding limits when conducting consecutive blasts should be deleted.

The Water Corporation and the Rivers and Waters Commission refuse to supply water analyses showing radionuclide levels in the Greenbushes town water supply. (Two years ago, I was refused access through Freedom of Information (FOI) to WA Water Authority documents on radiation levels.)

Recent WA Health Department documents obtained through FOI show National Health & Medical Research Council standards have for several years been breached for gross alpha and beta radiation levels in several groundwater monitoring bores adjacent to dams that have been used to top up Greenbushes and Balingup town water supplies. Lithium, aluminium and manganese levels are also of concern. An alternative town water supply is warranted immediately. The WA Department of Conservation and Land Management has been responsible for attempting to initiate "land swap deals" with Gwalia, for example state government land adjacent to the northern townsite boundary of Greenbushes in exchange for Gwalia's virtually barren, partly revegetated blocks in the middle of state forest. (This move was contested in state parliament. I believe the company acquired freehold title to this land adjacent to the northern boundary.)

I was refused access to the Gwalia share registry for two and a half months. The ASC eventually granted me access in January 1997. I have yet to sight the shareholders listing.

I have done hundreds of hours of research and years of work on all aspects of the problems. Hundreds of documents have been obtained under FOI. Reams of correspondence with scientists and other specialists have been collated. Continual lobbying of politicians in successive governments has produced mountains of paper also!

I have made repeated protests on behalf of residents who are reluctant to be identified because of direct or indirect association with the mine. It is general knowledge that there have been secret contract agreements with several residents, whose names are known, including special structural assessments and guaranteed insurance cover and monthly payments to those inside various "zones." Radiation dust levels are on an "upward trend" according to the Radiological Council. According to the Council, Gwalia has acknowledged that it is aware of the health effects on its workers. The DEP has attributed all these problems to both increased mining activities and "hard rock" mining.

The happenings in Greenbushes raise important issues of private and public accountability as well as health and environmental impacts. A number of journalists have received material and prepared stories but, for some reason, only a few have been actually published or broadcast.

---

This document is located on the

Suppression of dissent website

in the section on Documents

---

 http://www.bmartin.cc/dissent/documents/Cargill.html

[fourandsixpants]

Agee on this point. At that time, over a period of 5 - 6 years I contacted over 120 politicians, State and Federal.......3 turned out to be genuine! 1 was a Green....Jim Scott, 2 were Labor. I met with all 3.

[fourandsixpants]

ref monman 'Paint he was referring to the ICC.'

There are a few people like me in this world who will not take this carp!!

Just saying.

Now for those interested in political Court Cases.....WAD115 of 2009.....started in Perth Magistrate's Court where I won but other party (and their henchmen/women) appealed the finding so went to The Federal Court of Australia where they won, so not to be fazed (!) I then proceeded onto The Full Federal Court of Australia where I finally won and findings were directed back to the Perth Magistrate's Court/findings.

I would have gone to the High Court of Australia if necessary.

I wanted my pay.

I wanted to show my kids, by example, that if any person in Australia works then they should be paid.

Through my actions I did get my pay....took nearly 3 years though and cost me some $'s that I did not have but worth it to :

SET A PRECEDENT FOR UNPAID WORKERS OF AUSTRALIA.

GOT A WA FED SENATOR TO CHANGE THE LIMITS so that anyone owed up to $20,000 wages does not have to go thru an industrial court of law to fight for their pay.....in industrial matters both parties have to pay their own legal costs and the winner does not get reimbursed (sucks hey?!.....not fair for workers and unfair that bosses were getting away with this under govt legislation).

SET A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR MY CHILDREN and showed them that their Mother was worthy of her pay.