Aussies moral conscience asleep

Excellent article in The Age today by Robert Manne, a professor of politics at La Trobe University. He makes some astute observations regarding the average Ocker's lack of interest in anything unethical the Howard government does, and on Howard himself.

Manne says that "The Howard prime ministership has had a strangely mesmeric quality that has put the national moral conscience to sleep".

Regarding Howard's decision to go to Iraq and kill "rag-heads" as one ocker described Arabs yesterday:

Even if Howard continued to defend his actions strenuously, if
he at least was anxious or agitated about this state of affairs, I
would be able to feel for him some respect. What unnerves me is the
calmness of his demeanour, the apparent near-entire absence in him
of a troubled conscience or the kind of self-scrutiny that might
lead him eventually to remorse. Howard is one of the most nimble
but also one of the most morally complacent politicians I have ever
observed.

Howard rightly asks us to contemplate the pain of the families
of the 3000 innocent people who were murdered on September 11. Does
he, do we, feel nothing for the families of the tens of thousands
of Iraqis whose lives have been lost in the killings and the
murders that have occurred since the invasion of Iraq, for whose
involvement in which our Prime Minister was honoured, in Washington
last week, with a black-tie dinner and a 19-gun salute?

My answer would be that no, today's society is all about self-interest and stuff anyone else. Hence the rise in four-wheel-drive ownership, and the reluctance of anyone to help another in distress. Witness this week the murder of Juan Zhang. Eight people heard what they have described as blood-curdling screams but did not contact police or investigate. Her body was found this morning. Through non-action, her blood is on their hands. And so to the Australian public has not baulked at the atrocities being committed
by its ally in Iraq, and so the blood of the children of Iraq is on theirs.

While Howard was in Washington, centrist political think tank
the Brookings Institution published its most recent study of the
outcome of the invasion of Iraq. According to this study, since the
invasion, between 44,000 and 89,000 Iraqi civilians, perhaps 55,000
Iraqi insurgents, and 2500 members of the invading forces have been
killed.

Even though the US has spent or approved the spending of $US435
billion on Iraq (which is 15 times the entire annual Iraqi GDP) -
an even larger number of Iraqi children (9 per cent) are suffering
from acute malnutrition than was the case before the invasion of
March 2003; more than two-thirds of Iraqis still do not have clean
water; and residents of Baghdad receive on average fewer than six
hours of electricity a day.

Two-thirds of Iraqis feel less secure now than they did before
the invasion. Fewer than 1 per cent believe that the occupying
forces have improved security. Before the invasion the Baghdad
morgue processed fewer than 100 corpses a month. In the first three
months of this year, it processed 3427. Iraqis are now losing hope.
A year ago, 67 per cent of Iraqis believed that their country was
at least heading in the right direction. At present a mere 30 per
cent still believe that this is so.

Read the full Article here:

Aussie Treasurer invites Kiwis to move to Australia

This week Peter Costello said that, after his tax cuts, New Zealanders
should move to Australia. Well actually, this is what he said:

Herald Sun: Costello welcomes rugby Kiwis [19may06]

Kiwis on average wages in New Zealand would “pay a lot less tax in Australia”, Mr Costello told ABC Radio.

And high income earners would benefit by relocating, he said.

“I think in New Zealand you go on the top tax rate at $63,000 New Zealand, which would be considerably less Australian, down around $50,000,” Mr Costello said.

“In Australia you are not going to go into the top tax rate until you earn above $150,000.

“And this is now becoming a bit of an issue in New Zealand.

“And if there are Kiwis who have skills and who want to come to
Australia as skilled immigrants of course they would be welcome in Australia.

“If they can play rugby union they will be doubly welcome.”

See also http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200605192019/14490120

Australia's top rate is 45 per cent. In New Zealand it is 39 per cent. I ran some comparisons the other day, and in reality, due to different numbers of thresholds and threshold levels, there really isn't much difference, especially once you i nclude all the hidden taxes in Australia like car registration and insurance.

NZ Individual tax rates		Australian Tax rates
Taxable income	Tax rate	Taxable income	Tax rate
up to $38,000	19.5	$0 – $6,000	Nil
$38,001 to $60,000	33	$6,001 – $25,000	15
$60,001 and over	39	$25,001 – $75,000	30
		$75,001 – $150,00	40
		$150,001 and over	45

Comparison of the effect of the tax rates

	Australia		New Zealand
Salary	Net Salary	Tax	Net Salary	Tax
$5,000	$5,000	$0	$4,025	$975
$10,000	$9,400	$600	$8,050	$1,950
$15,000	$13,650	$1,350	$12,075	$2,925
$20,000	$17,900	$2,100	$16,100	$3,900
$25,000	$22,150	$2,850	$20,125	$4,875
$30,000	$25,650	$4,350	$24,150	$5,850
$35,000	$29,150	$5,850	$28,175	$6,825
$40,000	$32,650	$7,350	$31,930	$8,070
$45,000	$36,150	$8,850	$35,280	$9,720
$50,000	$39,650	$10,350	$38,630	$11,370
$55,000	$43,150	$11,850	$41,980	$13,020
$60,000	$46,650	$13,350	$45,330	$14,670
$65,000	$50,150	$14,850	$48,380	$16,620
$70,000	$53,650	$16,350	$51,430	$18,570
$75,000	$57,150	$17,850	$54,480	$20,520
$80,000	$60,150	$19,850	$57,530	$22,470
$85,000	$63,150	$21,850	$60,580	$24,420
$90,000	$66,150	$23,850	$63,630	$26,370
$95,000	$69,150	$25,850	$66,680	$28,320
$100,000	$72,150	$27,850	$69,730	$30,270
$105,000	$75,150	$29,850	$72,780	$32,220
$110,000	$78,150	$31,850	$75,830	$34,170
$115,000	$81,150	$33,850	$78,880	$36,120
$120,000	$84,150	$35,850	$81,930	$38,070

How to stop MPs lying

Race Mathews, a former federal MP, state MP and minister writes about a subject close to my heart - honest governance.

The Howard regime is the most dis-honest I have ever seen. As a New Zealander I have been shocked at the level of corruption and dishonesty in Austrakian government. If the polies in NZ did what they do here, they would be  kicked out. Here, the people accept that governments and polies  lie to them, and they are OK with that, as long as their mortgage rate and the price of petrol don't go up.

Here are some excerpts from Mathews article. You can view the full thing here.

It is unsurprising that 71 per cent of Australians believe that ministers told less than the full truth about their knowledge of the AWB scandal in testimony before the Cole inquiry. Loss of faith in the veracity and accountability of ministers and governments has been palpable for some time, as polling consistently attests.

Asked in a 1995 Morgan poll whether federal politicians usually tell the truth, 67 per cent of respondents disagreed, 24 per cent agreed and 9 per cent had no opinion. Seventy per cent of those polled agreed that politicians could not be trusted to keep election promises, 84 per cent that politicians lied at election time to win votes, and 94 per cent that politicians twisted the truth to suit their own arguments.

Public scepticism and cynicism have not been diminished by subsequent events. Think of the distinction drawn by the Howard Government between "core" and "non-core" election promises. Think of Peter Reith and the Dubai conspiracy. Think of "children overboard". Think of SIEV-X. Think of weapons of mass destruction. Think most of all of AWB. The Cole inquiry has confirmed the community's worst fears.

And:

What then are the remedies? The need to protect and strengthen the watchdogs on public probity, transparency and accountability and adopt new ones, is blindingly obvious. Let us, for a start, honour and facilitate in every possible way auditors-general, ombudsmen, electoral commissioners, anti-discrimination commissioners and other statutory custodians of public office integrity and the public interest. Let us praise and elevate in status and independence the public accounts committees of our parliaments and the wider parliamentary committee system.

Let us defend and extend freedom of information legislation and more effectively privilege and protect whistleblowers. Let us insist that ministers respect requirements, such as for replying promptly to questions on notice and compliance with the statutory dates for tabling official reports.

Let us devise disincentives for ministerial elevation of deniability and contrived ignorance to art forms, which the Cole inquiry has so comprehensively unmasked. Let us not least revisit and reinforce the code of ministerial conduct, which Prime Minister Howard embraced as leader of the opposition, but now so brazenly refuses to uphold.

Let us by way of innovation create at both the federal and state levels a new statutory office of parliamentary adjudicator-general, with a brief to receive and investigate complaints of public falsehood, including those under protection of parliamentary privilege, and report publicly to parliament. The credibility of adjudicators-general would result directly from a robust exercise of their independence, and the capacity to name and shame offenders.

And:

Let us, having adopted the remedies immediately available to us,
think again about what additional measures may be needed to ensure
that standards of accountability, transparency and veracity in
public life are restored and upheld.

Let us above all not settle for less from governments, ministers
and other elected representatives than that they be guided at all
times by the words used by Vaclav Havel in a New Year's Day
broadcast after his election as president of Czechoslovakia in
1989. Havel reminded his listeners of the massive deceptions
perpetrated against them by the former Communist Party government
of Czechoslovakia. "I assume," he said, "that you did not propose
me for this office so that I, too, would lie to you."

Technorati Tags: politics

"Office of Special Plans" cooked intelligence to justify the Iraq war

Top US spy attacks Rumsfeld - theage.com.au:

PRESIDENT George Bush's choice to head the CIA has attacked Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for selectively using intelligence before the Iraq invasion.

General Michael Hayden told the Senate Intelligence Committee that a special intelligence unit set up by Mr Rumsfeld had disregarded intelligence that suggested there was no real connection between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

General Hayden's comment came during his confirmation hearing and was the first time a senior Bush Administration official had said that intelligence was selectively used to support the view that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and close links with al-Qaeda.

General Hayden, who was head of the National Security Agency at the time and No. 3 at the Pentagon behind Mr Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, startled committee members and observers with his implicit criticism of Mr Rumsfeld. Asked by senator Carl Levin, the Intelligence Committee's ranking Democrat, whether he felt comfortable with the approach to intelligence by Mr Rumsfeld's Office of Special Plans, General Hayden replied: "No sir, I wasn't … No sir, I wasn't comfortable."

The Bush Administration has consistently denied suggestions that it "cooked" intelligence to justify the Iraq war.

And it denied claims that the Office of Special Plans, which was overseen by Mr Wolfowitz and run by the then undersecretary of defence Gordon Feith, was set up to find intelligence that supported the case that Iraq had WMD and close ties with al-Qaeda.

General Hayden virtually confirmed that Mr Feith, who left the Administration last July, had discounted intelligence reports that cast doubt on the claims that Iraq had al-Qaeda connections and had exaggerated the strength of intelligence that suggested such ties might exist.

There was no reaction from Mr Rumsfeld.

Australian police caused Solomon Islands Riot - Part II

I have been searcing the news archive for the story last week that the Australian police caused the riot.

The first story I read is this one:
"Australian Solomons police criticised"

Disorganisation and cultural insensitivity among Australian police deployed in the Solomon Islands turned a peaceful protest into a violent confrontation on Tuesday, according to an Australian aid worker who witnessed the incident.
...

Mr Johnston, who was speaking to The Age by telephone from his home in Kukum, an Eastern suburb of Honiara, said the crowd were protesting peacefully until RAMSI officers tried to physically break the blockade.

"It appears that that's when things got out of hand, when there were some more aggressive approach to the crowd while they were still negotiating through their own local representatives," Mr Johnston said.

"When they brought a riot squad in and a lot of riot gear there was a noticeable change in tone," he said.

"In Melanesian culture, you can shout as much as you want, but once you start shoving somebody... physical confrontation is a whole new level," he said.

RAMSI officers, which includes police from Australia and other Pacific nations, fired tear gas on demonstrators who were blocking a driveway at the Parliament to prevent the departure of Prime Minister-elect Snyder Rini on Tuesday night.

The speaker of the Parliament, Sir Peter Kenilorea, had specifically ordered that tear gas not be used, as reported here on ABC:

Sir Peter Kenilorea says he asked RAMSI officers not to use tear gas against the protesters.

"I specifically spoke to the RAMSI police officers not to take hasty actions as they did," he said.

"They should allow time for us to keep talking to the protesters at the Parliament House, not to use tear gas on them because it would simply aggravate the situation and it would simply take the Parliament situation or scene to the street."

Sir Peter says he had to order the officers out of his office.

"They were trying to organise themselves in the Parliament building," he said.

"I had to tell them to get the thing out of my office. It was Parliament House it's not an army barracks, they should organise themselves outside."

Australian Police Comissioner Mick Keelty has defended the riot police saying "I think they did a fantastic job."

Australian police caused Solomons riot

From The Age
Australian police 'caused Solomons riot'

April 25, 2006 - 5:34AM

Canberra should compensate the Solomon Islands because Australian police sparked the Honiara riots, a former New Zealand government minister says.

Richard Prebble, a minister in Labour governments of the 1980s and a frequent visitor to the Solomons, said Australian Federal Police officers had erred by firing tear gas at a peaceful demonstration.

"The crowd was outraged and the riot spontaneous," said the newsletter Mr Prebble publishes for the New Zealand political party ACT, of which he is a former leader.

"Canberra should hold a proper inquiry and then pay, in the Solomon way, compensation."

There was widespread violence and looting in the Solomons' capital last week after the surprise election by MPs of Snyder Rini as prime minister, whom some accuse of buying his job with money from Chinese businessmen.

Australia and New Zealand have sent additional soldiers and police to help keep the peace.

Despite most Chinese businesses being destroyed by rioters, Mr Prebble said there was little anti-Chinese sentiment on the islands.

"Most Chinese were born in the Solomons, speak pidgin and are Solomon citizens," his newsletter said.

Mr Prebble said logging companies keen to continue unsustainable cutting of rainforests were doing the serious bribery.

The Taiwanese government "generously" funded politicians, and government also played a part, he said.

Mr Prebble said the Solomon Islands government bribed MPs to support the prime minister.

"Last election the average bribe was $40,000, eagerly accepted by MPs broke from having overspent on their campaigns."

He said the legal bribery was the country having a cabinet of 19 from just 50 MPs.

Mr Prebble, who is married to a Solomon Islander, retired as an MP last year.

Indonesian intimidation of Australia

I'm sick of hearing from those commie bastards in Indonesia. Bang Bang can go bang himself.

Michelle Grattan hits the nail on the head in this article in The Age.

"Good relations with Indonesia are extremely important. But one has to ask: how far should Australia be prepared to go for the sake of them?

First, we change asylum-seeker policy so any boat person who defies the odds to reach Australia's mainland will be processed offshore. Then Philip Ruddock, acting Immigration Minister, is by implication warning Government backbenchers with concerns about the change, especially its impact on children, that speaking out might do harm.

"It's important that our relationship is not damaged, either in Indonesia or here, by statements from people who don't speak for the Government but have particular views that they want to express," Ruddock said.

This is all a bridge too far, even for the sake of a super-important bilateral relationship.

Australia does the right thing granting protection visas to 42 West Papuan boat people, and then, when the Indonesians are outraged, quickly acts to prevent itself having to act properly towards any future arrivals.

It has gone from strongly upholding its proper processes to falling over itself to avoid upsetting the Indonesians."

Read the rest of it here: We risk too much in placating Indonesia on West Papua

US Army Generals say Rumsfeld should resign.

Guardian Unlimited Special reports Army report on al-Qaida accuses Rumsfeld:

"The US defence secretary has faced many calls to resign over Guantánamo, the invasion of Iraq and abuses at Abu Ghraib prison - but the pressure he faces now comes from a weighty new quarter: six generals recently retired from the military he runs.

Retired general Paul Eaton, who was in charge of training Iraqi security forces, sparked the current round of condemnation in a New York Times article on March 19.

On April 2, Anthony Zinni told a TV interviewer the US was 'paying the price for the lack of credible planning' in Iraq.

Seven days later, Lt Gen Gregory Newbold, a former member of the joint chiefs of staff, tore into the administration's 'casualness and swagger... the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions'.

On Wednesday, John Batiste, a former infantry commander, added his voice, and on Thursday his colleague John Riggs concurred.

Charles Swannack, who commanded the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, brought the total to six yesterday, telling the New York Times Mr Rumsfeld had demonstrated 'absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam'.

Mr Rumsfeld is understood to have offered to resign at least twice while in charge at the Pentagon, but both times President George Bush turned him down."

-- Update: Bush in reaction to all the press has said that Rummie is staying.

Murdoch Press in Oz poo-poos Global Warming

From Crikey.com.au:

When six leading Australian CEOs went public last Thursday with their concerns about climate change – "there is broad consensus that climate change is real, the impacts may be significant and we need to act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions" said the bosses of BP, IAG, Origin Energy, Swiss Re, Visy and Westpac – they didn't get very far. Their calls for Australia to reduce its greenhouse emissions over coming decades were largely ignored by policy-makers, poo-pooed by the Business Council and ridiculed by Australia's climate guardians at the Murdoch press, who made these insightful comments.

"It is what happens to such emissions in the US, Europe, China and India that is going to determine the climate outcome. What we do is completely irrelevant. It's not like we can achieve a nice climate outcome just for Australia, somehow isolating our emissions and our, reduced, greenhouse gases above our land-space ... It's not based in either science, logic or even good – sorry, would you accept 'not completely dodgy'? – economics." - Terry McCrann

"Even if climate change is man-made, there is nothing Australia can do to change it in any way we could measure. Our emissions will be dwarfed by India's and China's for a start. So we're being sold snake oil that won't solve a problem that might well not be our fault ... It might not even be a problem. The House of Lords report even suggested we might not be worse off with warming, on the whole, given how much better plants will grow." – Andrew Bolt

Just why Rupert Murdoch allows or directs his attack-dogs to ridicule the idea that climate change is an unfolding global calamity – his flagship The Australian usually leads the charge, followed by several columnists – isn't hard to understand. It's about money and you get to kick the liberals in the process. But if he ever becomes convinced that the climate problem is real, or that it is crazy not to take precautions in case it's real, there will be some very sour attack-dogs wandering around without red meat.

Ockers more interested in tabloid news than real issues

From the News Interactive website (Murdoch's lot) an amusing tale of what Aussies are really interested in.

"it has not gone unnoticed among colleagues in the newspapers that the stories on the front pages of the newspapers - the hard news, the issues of the day - are not the ones that are popular on the news websites.

The quick ratings systems that provide instant information on what people are clicking on are a useful guide to what is raising the pulse of the Australian public at any one moment.

Here's a piece of stats trivia from the week: not one story on industrial relations or the Cole inquiry was among our top 10 stories. The Cole inquiry rattles along exposing, at the very least, a troubling reality that matters crucial to national security and the integrity of Australian business didn't worry the Prime Minister's officials enough to bring them to his attention."

Week in review - NEWS.com.au

The top stories that interested the average ocker?

1. Man 'sleep-divorces' wife

2. Alba, Playboy Settle

3. Does Jessica Rowe Giggle Too Much?

4. Property market tipped to boom

5. Former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins eyes Logie award


Noticed this Headline today:

"Ex-AWB chief fingers Downer"

With a line like that, bound to get everyone looking.
-ÜK