xmas post-mortem

Another xmas over! The gift & food shopping, the house cleaning, the food preparation, the organising, all behind us now. It was another 'killer' marathon for the eternal procrastinator, since I never do today what can be put off forever! I'm convinced my procrastination is a genetic trait about which, it seems, I can do nothing. I promise myself every year will be different but, alas!

Nevertheless, when the day rolls around, barely able to stand with aching back and feet, I have a great time. The family arrives - bearing food & gifts - and I am reminded of why I love it. I'm not one of those people who think gifts are a waste of time and money. I love them! The giving and the getting are great. I love to see the unwrapping, the laughter and joy at receiving and I love to experience it as a recipient. I'm far from a Scrooge about xmas, despite the fact that I'm an athiest. I figure, if there has to be religion in my society, I should get something out of it :). The main thing I get is the family together and, with everyone living such busy lives, it's great to have an occasion that brings us together at least once a year. And, of course, the public holidays! I've been taking annual leave over xmas for the last few years so they're not as vital as they once were but they do maximise the number of days leave available which is great too.

The food!!! As someone with a quite small capacity at any one sitting, I excel myself at xmas. I don't know where I put it but, despite being a 'one meal a day' woman, with one course (if I have soup or dessert I can't eat the meal as a rule) on xmas day and the 3-4 following, I usually have comparatively huge meals, with multiple courses. There's xmas lunch, then nibbling during the arvo, then 'left-overs' supper about 11 or 12 that night. Then there's boxing day lunch. Then there's dinner at Kaz's parents' place the next day, then there's food exhaustion and little if anything for the following few days, LOL. All worth it!

Now I just have to figure out how to use some of my gifts and all will be perfect, LOL. I got a personal voice recorder with 5 instruction packs - all in foreign languages! Chinese I think. I kid you not. I went online, thinking to get the manual there but they don't appear to have one there. More work needed to get me up and running with this one but it will be fabulous once that's done. I got singstar for my Playstation3, which I've had about 9 months but have only used the blueray player on previously. Xmas day hilarity as a few of us mangled some truly dreadful songs. Fortunately, the kids showed me how to download others with which I might be more familiar and sympathetic, LOL. Kaz got me all linked up online, so I was able to download a game Ezz showed me once - Age of Booty - which has immediately become one of my many compulsive behaviours.

I have a new pancake maker - not fully unpacked yet - to make me my perfect food perfectly; really looking forward to that one. I got a book - "History's Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them" does sound like THE book for me, doesn't it, LOL? Pleased to see my mini-xmas-hamper, from brother & sister-in-law; with lots of little bits and pieces - in an environmentally friendly shopping bag this year (usually a little basket) - Lynne is keeping me in good tea towels, so I never have to buy them; this is so great :). Never underestimate the value of practical gifts. A wonderful set of pyrex dishes - freezer to oven to table, love that stuff - so I'm all set to cook up a storm if I ever get the energy to do so, LOL.

All in all, another stellar xmas for me :). Now, if only I can buy the 'mother-of-the-groom' outfit for Ezz & Kaz's wedding in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS, I'll be a happy little vegemite. That procastination gene is going to be the end of me!

Happy 60th Birthday Human Rights Declaration

December 10 is notable for being the anniversary of one of the major ways in which humanity demonstrated it had humanity: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948 (the year of my birth) the fledgling United Nations justified its existence by adopting the Declaration, putting people at the forefront of world concern. Then, as now, it was not universally implemented (as evidenced by Human Rights Watch) and that is shameful, however, it remains our aspiration and informs the goals and work of human rights activists everywhere.

The document is a great read and I recommend it to anyone who hasn't yet read it. In a complex world, where it's often difficult to decide which is the side of 'right', it's useful to have a guide to underpin thinking. If the rights in this document are being breached, the perpetrator is NOT right, no matter how just the cause; simple!

Australia played a crucial and leading role in the birth of the Declaration, under the Chifley government and through the passionate commitment of Doc Evatt, so we have history and responsibility in the continuing fight to see human rights for everyone a reality. The Human Rights Law Recource Centre has some ideas on how Australia can participate.

On a personal level, we can all contribute by participating in actions promoting human rights. Not everyone can get into the trenches but most can join a group, donate even a small amount to relevant work/activities and/or join email, letter or phone campaigns (see some links for action groups in the 'links' section on this page).

There's no better feeling than knowing you're doing something and it's never been easier to 'stand up and be counted'.

Manufacturing fear to undermine our freedoms

I've been quietly (OK, LOUDLY) fuming for years about the increased efforts by a variety of organisations and governments to make us all feel so unsafe we would accept any level of infringement on our privacy and other human rights to feel safer. I know I'm not alone in my concern over the 'patriot' laws enacted in many countries, including our own, over the more recent past (mainly post-911). In fact, these laws and policies have succeeded in making me feel very unsafe and somewhat afraid - not of terrorist threats but of those charged with protecting me.

I also resent this trend because it forces me into common cause with many right-wingers and I'm never comfortable in that territory :(.

I've been listening to an interesting podcast series - The Suspect Society - that brings a lot of what's happened in (mainly) the USA into focus and thought others might find it thought-provoking and educative, not to mention validating, to listen to these as well. It is presented in Parts 1, 2 and 3 (which is apparently no longer accessible online unfortunately).

It's worth a wander through the CBC podcast website if you're into social issues and podcasts.

A Second Enlightenment?

Paul Keating reflects on the world outlook

"George Herbert Bush talked about a New World Order then lost to Bill Clinton. And what happened then? Well, nothing happened then! The Americans cried victory and walked off the field. The greatest challenge we face, whether for managing incidents or easing the new economic tectonic plates into place, will be to construct a truly representative structure of world governance which reflects global realities but which is also equitable and fair." http://evatt.org.au/publications/papers/202.html

I've always had a 'love/hate' relationship with Paul Keating (who, incidentally and obviously, has never heard of me - unless he personally read any of my emails when he was in office, which is doubtful in the extreme). One thing, on the 'hate' side of the ledger, was the 'legalisation' of industrial action by unions. To give him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he thought legitimising industrial action was a positive thing, although he's so smart it's hard - if not impossible - to believe he didn't see the move as a 'control' on previously uncontrolled industrial action; after all, I did and assume many others did as well.

On the 'love' side of the ledger, he has always appeared to be a person with a genuine concern for the underdog, with a desire to promote equity and fairness. For example, his attitude to our First People has always demonstrated a desire to acknowledge past atrocities, to encourage us all to recognise our responsibility in changing their experience (see the link to his 1999 Redfern speech in Links at the bottom of this page). Another example is his introduction of the most advanced superannuation system since super began. "In 1992 the Federal Labor Government Introduced the Superannuation Guarantee (SG), following a refusal by the AIRC to increase the level of contributions under awards." http://www.actu.asn.au/super/about/super_history.html

Those tidbits are just to show why I am always interested in hearing what Paul Keating has to say, even if I don't always agree with him. I actually believe that it was a dark day for this country, Rudd's election notwithstanding, when he lost the 1996 election because he had not had the full opportunity to express and implement his own vision which would have come from the mind of an innovative and principled thinker - something of which we've had too little experience for most of our short history.

His speech to the Melbourne Writers' Festival is worth a read, in my opinion. It appears on the Evatt Foundation website, and I've linked to it there (earlier in this article) so you can have a look at other interesting items as well.

Don't ya just love 'em?

"AS YOU might expect from a nation that refers to the winners of its domestic sporting competitions as "world champions", American athletes generally possess the global vision of an earthworm with cataracts." The Age

I don't think I need to comment further on this one :).

The question of complicity with torture

"Few Australians will have heard about an extraordinary meeting involving some of the nation's most powerful government figures held at the Attorney-General Departmentin Canberra on October 23, 2001. Perhaps more should know that it concerned the possible torture of this Australian citizen." quote from Age article: Turning a blind eye to torture.

The Rudd Government has an opportunity to make it very clear that this Government opposes the torture of its citizens and that it will ensure consequences for those complicit in the USA's abominable behaviour. Again, from the article: "Now the Rudd Government has the opportunity to set the record straight, to reveal what really happened at that 2001 spring meeting in Canberra. This will not be the last time Australia faces critical security issues. It's time to act to ensure that torture is never again part of the response."

We need to make it clear to our Government that we expect it to act in the interests of human rights for all people and that we will not accept 'wishy washy' opposition that implies acceptance. Our Government acts in our name, so, unless we tell our Government NOT to comply, we are responsible. Our record is not so good (e.g., the Indonesian invasion of East Timor). Short-term solutions that include compliance with human rights abuses need to have consequences. To our shame, we knew our Government was implicated in the treatment of 'prisoners' in US custody and did not send the message at the ballot box that it was unacceptable - quite the contrary.

We now need to hold those Government officials who were responsible - and ourselves - to account. This is essential if we are to clear a path to better behaviour in the future. It can't be excused, it shouldn't be covered up; human rights abuses need to be exposed to the light of day. It is up to the citizens of all countries to instruct their Governments and, while many Governments torture and kill their own people for speaking out, we are in the very fortunate position of having power to expect ours to listen - if enough of us speak out and speak loudly enough to be heard.

You can't protect your way of life by destroying the principles on which it depends. Tell the Government that we're not complicit with torture and we expect to have full disclosure, as well as compensation for victims - whether we 'like' those victims or not.

Telstra: shafting workers? What a surprise!

As long as I can remember, Telstra has treated workers badly. While there always seems to be money for obscene executive packages, there is never enough for sufficient staff. Over the years we have had the absurd explanation for getting rid of people that they're 'downsizing' in order to improve services. I mention that just to demonstrate how much contempt one CEO after another has had for the public's intelligence.

Today I'm on about their despicable push to get their remaining employees onto AWAs ahead of the deadline . It's worth taking a look at their 'training kit' to see just what they've been up to. Drop Telstra a line to let them know what you think of them. Here's the HeraldSun article.

I'm angry at Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard for providing Telstra (and others) with a window of opportunity to do this. They are taking too damn long fixing the IR situation and "Forward with Fairness" is (though better than what it amends) hardly adequate. In their desire to take control of Industrial Relations into federal hands, they're dragging their feet in protecting those who voted them in.

The Evatt Foundation

There's a lot of good 'stuff' to explore on the Evatt Foundation site: http://www.evatt.org.au/

You might find the excerpt from Inserting a New Dialectic: Governance of interest, especially as it’s written by Kevin Rudd (in his pre-leadership days).

Online info/views/actions

Here's a link to the final report from the 2020 summit.

http://www.australia2020.gov.au/final_report/index.cfm

Also, if you're interested in giving the federal government your opinion on anything they do (or don't do) you can do so from the ALP website: http://www.alp.org.au/

I always think that governments are waiting with baited breath for my views, LOL. It never hurts to let those in power know what we think of them and their decisions and it takes little time.

On that note, the Victorian Government is doing consultation on mental health issues and you can download the consultation papers here and consider making a submission: http://www.health.vic.gov.au/mentalhealth/reformstrategy/index.htm

If you'd like to become more active in online 'opinionating', you'll find links to some of the places I go to participate in campaigns (or just to keep informed) in the INFORMATION/ACTION LINKS section on this page.

Health Insurance - state mandated theft

http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20080229-What-do-you-think-were-running-here-Medicare.html

A commentator after most - if not all - of our hearts :).

As a 'refuser', I deeply resent the cost of not being a member of a private fund (i.e., my tax 'fine' for exercising free choice not to further enrich insurance companies).

The introduction of a system that has failed to deliver health equity outcomes or budget savings in the USA is not, in my view, likely to save us here. The previous government's continuous attempts to force us to buy a product that delivers higher health costs and lower health benefits, demonstrates that their purpose was to serve other than human entities - especially when you consider that no one actually 'owns' these companies.

How peculiar is it that all these benefits flow to 'virtual' entities - i.e., businesses that exist without 'base' ownership in the human world. They have 'shareholders' and their boards and executives change/rotate/stagnate over time, without anyone with a real relationship to the 'service' to keep them in line. The 'powers' within the companies just come in, 'stick their snouts in the trough', then move on to another trough, to which they have as little commitment or personal investment. Meantime, we get the unenviable job of filling those troughs and carting off the waste when the feeders are through.

If in doubt, just look at the current ABC (the child care centres, not the media outlet) scandal. A business, with control over arguably the most precious of our species, run by and for the profit-makers. They get the benefit of government rebates to those who need childcare, while pushing up their prices to well beyond government subsidy levels for enrichment of their shareholders and the top dogs get to sell their own shares 5 minutes before the bottom drops out of the share price. Never mind the question of how the price can go down on this 'gold mine' growth industry, where ABC is the dominant player (and, incidentally, where those who do the real work of caring for our children are among the lowest paid of workers, with a very high level of responsibility and risk).

Too late to say "don't get me started", I think, LOL; but you get the point.

The nation of Australia is sorry

Wednesday, 13 February, 2008. The day Australians of conscience and compassion can mark in their personal histories, as the one where our elected leader linked us all in a gesture so important that it can hardly be overestimated. Aboriginal people had bared their souls in telling their traumatic life stories to produce the 'Stolen Generations' report, only to have their pain exacerbated by the refusal of the Howard Government to say 'sorry' in vindication of their suffering and courageous willingness to 'relive' and share it.

They were robbed of their apology by the election box, no one can doubt that Paul Keating, who commissioned the report, would have made one had he been in power when the report was tabled. Now the election box has returned it to them. All those who voted to remove a government intransigently opposed to genuine reconciliation, can feel proud that they've been instrumental in bringing about this wonderful event. We can also feel humble in the face of our First Australians' patience, understanding, forgiveness and charity towards us for being 'a bit slow' - in terms of time and ability to learn - and showing such good grace in allowing us to begin our redemption.

So many gems were uttered in Kevin Rudd's speech to and for our nation and hearing and reading the words for ourselves is the best way to experience it. The full speech can be read at the link at the bottom of the Blog page and all quotes from the apology used here are taken from that document.

"I move that... today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history." In his opening remark, Keven Rudd set the scene, no other comment need be made, I think, than 'here, here'.

"For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry."

May all Australians contemplate how their own family histories anchor them in 'time and place'. How we talk about our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, cousins, etc., in an almost unconscious way, using them to explain who we are and why we are as we are. Adoptees are the most obvious ones among white Australians who can come anywhere near understanding the 'displacement' loss of family brings but even they cannot contemplate what it would feel like to have had their life and history stolen because of their colour and to find themselves racially and culturally alone in an often hostile place.

"To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry."

May we all contemplate our own loved ones, what each of them means to us as individuals and how much poorer our life experience would be without one or more of them. Those who voluntarily relinquish their children still suffer the grief of loss. Those who have their children taken from them through illness, accident or violence, suffer agonies of loss. No one is ever replaced because no individual can be. Now, contemplate what would be our pain if the Government took away many or all of those precious people who give our lives meaning!

"And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry."

May we all contemplate the truth of our cultural heritage in providing us with confidence and belief in our value. Imagine the undermining of that confidence and belief if we are considered and treated as 'less' because of our birthright. If all the things we valued were seen as barbaric and we ourselves were disdained as unworthy of inclusion. If your people had not even been counted as people for most of the nation's history, would this not impact on your psyche?

In December, 1992 Paul Keating - speaking as our elected Prime Minister - delivered one of the seminal speeches in our history. He said, the following (and so much more):

"It begins, I think, with the act of recognition. Recognition that it was we who did the dispossessing. We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the disasters. The alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practised discrimination and exclusion.

"It was our ignorance and our prejudice. And our failure to imagine these things being done to us. With some noble exceptions, we failed to make the most basic human response and enter into their hearts and minds. We failed to ask - how would I feel if this were done to me?"

This speech is worthy of rereading again and again, to keep reminding us of our power. We can insist on our politicians doing, in our name, what is just and fair, what is humane and moral. If those are not the core values of our elected representatives, we need to elect some who do hold those values and act on them for the benefit of all people and for the good of our national 'soul'.

It is important that we don't fail again, as we have so many times in the past. The apology is made on behalf of the Nation, its Governments and Parliaments but we must never forget that it is 'the people' who put them in power and bear responsibility for their actions - carried out in our name. Our Governments can't be allowed to forget that they govern for ALL Australians and our First Australians are starting from a long way behind the rest of us.

Liberals are never sorry - or responsible

"Dr Nelson said he personally had a "bit of concern about the idea of one generation being responsible" for the past." http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/opposition-slams-planned-apology/2008/01/28/1201369037426.html

This pretty much says it all about Dr Nelson! Funny that the Liberal Party has had no trouble taking credit for our ancestors 'good' deeds. John Howard waxed lyrical about the 'diggers' spirit, for example, intimating that it formed the Australian character, along with the 'fair go', which has been largely mythical but, nonetheless, grew out of the past. There are many examples of the Liberals playing these games, so Dr Nelson is continuing the 'tradition' of all credit and no blame that was so much a feature of John Howard's tenure (see previous article "Is John Howard actually God?", 12 November 07).

Tony Abbott (a truly 'painful' man) has run true to form with his comment, reported in the same Age article, that an apology would reinforce the 'victim mentality'. Please! What reinforces the sense of being victimised is being victimised. Can the Liberal Party find no portfolio where this man doesn't get the chance to demonstrate his lack of humanity?

Dr Nelson also reportedly said: "You have to ask yourself … whether that is the most important issue that's facing Australia when we've seen a decline in the share market, home interest rates go up, petrol get more expensive and a basket full of groceries harder to fill".

Many things come to mind about this comment but I confine myself to two. First, are we capable of paying attention to only one thing at a time? How does a government run if that's the case because our world is obviously more complex than that. Secondly, Dr Nelson demonstrates Liberal priorities yet again (and a lamentable habit of assuming we all think the same way he does and of pushing people's 'fear/selfish' buttons) with all the important issues being about money and none about the quality of our society.

Did being thrown out of government teach them nothing about the values Australians want their leaders to foster?

Australia/Invasion Day

Today I find myself in the 'place of mind' that I come to every year on 26 January. There are always mixed feelings in 'celebrating' our nation's 'feast day'. We celebrate with every imaginable party trick too, so it's no small thing, this day we stop to ponder what it is to be Australian.

First, I always feel an overwhelming sadness and regret that we, of European heritage, ever came here at all. The displacement - holocaust - of the indigenous people weighs heavily on the mind and conscience to the present time and will do so with increasing intensity until we start to reverse the damage. Increasing intensity because we should know better now. The original invaders had the excuse - if one could call it that - of some ignorance due to an arrogant 'world view' about the value of the 'western' culture they were bringing to the lands they colonised. The other major element of invasion/colonisation, greed, remains a motivation for our failure to take full responsibility and genuinely address the harm done - from which we all benefit to this day - in that original act.

I am strangely relieved at the revision of Cook's history in a recently shown ABC program. He was depicted as a much more humane man than I had heard of before, who actually respected the aboriginal people and was not responsible for the abomination of 'terra nullis' (empty land). Also, it was good to see that his later behaviours were interpreted as aberrant in context with his earlier attitudes and practices, viewed as indicative, possibly, of some mental health problem. For the first time I can see our 'discoverer' as someone of 'character'. This doesn't change the horror of what followed but does, in some strange way, get him 'onside' with the protests against them. In my view, he can now be cited as an opponent to atrocity, rather than just an harbinger of oppression.

Secondly, I am overwhelmed by a sense of wonder and tearful love for this country. Not its government, or its wealth, or its suburbs or any of the other meaningless elements. Rather for itself. This amazing island continent, still expressing itself so grandly, so spectacularly, in the life of our planet. Its geography is stunning (although not always 'liveable'). My emotion, as I muse on what it is to be Australian, almost overwhelms me in contemplation of the grandeur and wonder of the landscape. I'm a city girl, how can this 'country' be so embedded in my psyche that it moves me to tears? I don't really care! I'm just overjoyed that it does. Now if we could only stop digging it up and chopping it down!

Thirdly, I feel a fantastic sense of opportunity each year, as this day rolls around, so close to the beginning of a New Year. It is placed in a 'calendar' time of renewal, of potential for change, of thoughtful assessment of the past and contemplation of the future as we'd like it to be. As a nation, we can take this opportunity to change direction, to 'swear off' behaviours that have not served us well and replace them with ones that make us better. We are, at this point in time, where we are! We can't change what has happened before but we can stop the effects from continuing under our 'watch'.

Australia's history is actually very short in terms of nationhood. We can still get on to a path of genuine reconciliation. We can still mould ourselves into a country with the values we've 'spouted' almost since inception. A fair go, an example of a just society for the rest of the world, a safe haven for those from other places, seeking to rebuild their shattered lives in a new land, an advocate for change in the wider world. All these values - and so much more - are our possible future. Why would we not choose such a future?