My name is Mimi Zilliacus, I am a student studying history and politics at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Today I am very depressed. Yesterday my fellow citizens re-elected, [war criminal], John Howard, a man who has lied to the Australian people on numerous occasions on issues of much more importance than his sex life.
Why you might ask would the Australian people want this man back in Parliament? Well that's a very good question. The reason is the money.
He has claimed to be responsible for the growth in the economy and for lower interest rates, and on top of that he has promised to bring in tax cuts for a select few. What the general public fails to understand is that the growth in the economy and interest rates are also dependent on what is going on in the global market place. They fail to see that a "free trade" agreement with the US is going "F" us over, we will be the underdogs and America will be free to benefit at great costs to us, the Australian people.
That in the broader perspective a tax cut and lower interest rates are not going to help when we no longer have free health care. The cost of medicines triples, our pharmaceutical and agricultural industries cannot compete with America, even in our own backyard. And when only the elite can afford to go to university.
Actually the cost of mandatory detention is far greater than any other alternative. Even if every one who is currently in a detention centre were in the community and being given welfare, [social services], it would still cost less than detention.
Australia is supposed to be a democracy but democracy doesn't work without a well-informed public. With this in mind I want help to come up with a way to educate the public, and especially those people who see "left" as being a bad thing. Because I cannot live through another three years of Howard without some hope that we can change things, and because I think that this is a similar problem in many other countries.
By Mimi Zilliacus 12 October 04
Anyone who wants to help me combat the political apathy of this country please contact me via my email address: z3128807@student.unsw.edu.au.
COMMENTS:
Subversion
We need to up the frequency of graffiti, street art, billboard improvements and so on. We need messages where people will see them. that's just one idea.
Reform the Senate
There is no point to a complete over haul of government, but there is change that would make all the difference to how the government behaves. It is time we rearranged the SENATE, or upper house. The elected senators should be independent of all and any political party that inhabits the House of Representatives, or Lower house.
These Senators must plead allegiance to the people who elected them, or sign a contact of service to the people. They need to posses the relevant qualifications to assess, on its merits, each bill presented by the lower house in regard to the public benefit. People, who have been nothing but politicians all their life, are not qualified for this task, as they will vote for a bill to benefit the party, not the people. The Senate then becomes a real house of review, not the rubber stamp it currently is. It would also be able to launch truly independent inquiries into government business when the need arose, rather than the white wash institute it is now. Then the public has a real chance of being informed of the whole story, not the selective government version.
As it stands now, there is no point to these expensive, time consuming PR exercises that produce findings like "We were wrong about the intelligence, but we did the right thing". The people cannot make informed choices when this is what they get for information. The Senate must also be empowered to penalize or to demand dismissal for Ministers who act in breech of the Law, Australian Constitution, International law, the Geneva Conventions or any other Laws or treaties we are signatory to. Our Governments must be accountable to a truly INDEPENDENT Senate, with the powers I have outlined. That is how a real Democracy functions. The only people, who would object and obstruct the transition to a reformed Senate, would be the sitting government.
Pythagoras of Samos: Born: about 569 BC in Samos, Ionia Died: about 475 BC.....Pythagoras of Samos is often described as the first pure mathematician.
Pythagoras said, "we are all chained together looking forward." One day when we break free from those chains we will notice that, "what we are looking forward to was actually what was projected from behind us", all the days of our life, that is "unless we break free from our chains". Why do I tell you this?
Because it appears that only after people have been "directly affected" in other words "broken free from their chains" that the political landscape will as well. And it seems the more people who are directly affected the more it will change.
Some people have not had to change because they have not been affected.
A cause worth fighting for
If you want people to transform the world they need to know that their dreams - and not that of some politician - can shape that transformation. "Any revolutionary who is to be counted on can only be in it for himself (sic)...." Disarm Authority, Arm Your Desires!
Related:
Nervous wait for SA candidates
Democrats leader Meg Lees was not re-elected and counting is continuing to determine her replacement. Several marginal seats in South Australia remain in limbo today, as the counting of postal and pre-poll votes continues. Labor leads in Adelaide, Hindmarsh, and Kingston have been whittled away slightly, while in Makin and Wakefield, the Liberals are in front and confident of victory.
Greens hopeful of gaining more Senate seats
Greens leader Bob Brown believes that with preferences his party could win more seats in the Senate following Saturday's election.
War criminal Howard govt eyes control of Senate
War criminal Prime Minister John Howard "the rodent type" has begun his fourth term in office with a quiet day in Sydney after the Coalition's victory in the federal election.
Minor party could decide two NSW seats
The preferences of the minor party, Liberals For Forests, could play a part in the Federal Government losing two seats in New South Wales that remain in doubt.
Lennon says policy to blame for Tasmanian losses
Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon says Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham knew all along that the ALP's forestry package was a "high risk strategy" when it came to its potential effect on five Tasmanian seats.
Neo Liberal Coalition holds off on Family First talks
Federal Treasurer, [war criminal], Peter Costello says the Coalition will not hold talks with the Family First party until counting is completed in the federal election.
Nothing will save us from gullibility and greedy self-interest
A small book turned up last week entitled How to Kill a Country. It was written by three Sydney academics about our "free trade" deal with the United States.
Prospect of Family First senator
1) The ABC's Antony Green is not taking for granted a three (3) Liberal Senators outcome for SA.
REPORT: AUSTRALIAN PRISONERS' ELECTION NEWSPAPER
There was high drama as the only state prisons department in Australia to refuse The Australian Prisoners' Election Newspaper, was challenged in an emergency hearing before the NSW Supreme Court.
Australia Must Change Nation: Community
Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham is entitled to raise comments about what Prime Minister John Howard the "rodent type" made in relation to Asian migrants 14 years ago because the Coalition has been campaigned on his past.
Union tells workers not to abandon Labor
TOGETHER UNITED, WE'LL NEVER BE DEFEATED!!! Tasmania's main union body has implored the state's blue-collar workers not to abandon Labor in tomorrow's federal election. Unions Tasmania's secretary Lynne Fitzgerald says workers should not be seduced by the Coalition's forestry policy, which she describes as a "con".
ALP ahead thanks to the Greens
Liberals chances of victory tomorrow slipped away as a desperate John Howard continued to play the rat card after weeks of what Mark Latham describes as false advertising and lies about the history of his political career.
Howard's Tasmanian Chainsaw Massacre
JOHN Howard yesterday promised to lock up an extra 170,000ha of old growth forest in Tasmania, a pledge he claimed would not result in one job being lost. Releasing his long-awaited policy to a timber worker rally in Launceston, the nervous Howard was soon bowled over when he received a rousing applause from more than a 1000 chainsaws.
Villawood detainees go on hunger strike
A refugee advocacy group says up to 200 detainees at the Villawood Detention Centre, in Sydney, have begun a hunger strike to draw attention to their situation ahead of the federal election.
Afghan children lose High Court battle against detention
Lawyers have lost their constitutional challenge to the detention of four children at a South Australian immigration centre. Four siblings from Afghanistan, aged between seven and 15, have been in detention since they arrived in Australia in 2001.
HOWARD NO REMORSE!
Australian caretaker Prime Minister, [war criminal], John Howard 'a rodent type' does not need to apologise for the illegal and degrading war in Iraq despite a new report that has found Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction at the time of the US-led invasion.
Nothing fair about more lies, fear, terror and war!
Who's going to be sacrificed? for HoWARd's illegal and degrading war in Iraq and Australia's current foreign policies that are morally bankrupt?
Allies 'planned' Iraq war despite denials
The United States, Australia and Britain started to plan the invasion of Iraq months before the conflict, according to a report Wednesday quoting a leaked Pentagon document.
Critics attack Howard's forests policy
Caretaker Prime Minister John Howard's "the rodent type" announcement that a re-elected Coalition government would protect an additional 170,000 hectares of Tasmania's old growth forests has been criticised by unions, environmentalists, the Greens and a pro-logging member of the Labor Party.
GREEN REVOLUTION, REVOLUTION THINK!
Federal ALP''s Leader Mark Latham's forest policy with a promise to protect Tasmania's old growth forests and rainforest is a revolution. REVOLUTION THINK?
If crime don't pay, why is John Howard still in Canberra?
When Labor and the Liberals took away many prisoner's right to vote. The Greens stood up for your rights.
'Medicare Gold' policy needs examination: Democrats
But leader Andrew Bartlett says his party would look closely at the detail if the plan reaches the Senate to make sure it delivers benefits to the public rather than the private health insurance industry.
Medicare Gold is fully funded: Latham
The federal Labor leader has hit the airwaves this morning to sell his plan to provide free hospital care for every Australian over the age of 75.
Allies 'planned' Iraq war despite denials
The United States, Australia and Britain started to plan the invasion of Iraq months before the conflict, according to a report Wednesday quoting a leaked Pentagon document.
Potent strike into Howard's heartland before it's too late!
HOPE, urgency and Medicare Gold constitute Mark Latham's now formidable assault on The Lodge. In his first campaign launch Latham has unveiled a mega-initiative -- free hospital treatment, public or private, for all Australians aged 75 and over.
Pension claims valid: Opposition
The Federal Governments secret agenda to cut pensions, including the disability and single parent payments while 'spending billions on military hardware' is just too much for most disabled people to accept.
Poverty cycle must be addressed: Ridgeway
The Democrats' Aden Ridgeway says Prime Minister John Howard should stop beating up on people who are on welfare, and focus on solving the national Indigenous unemployment rate.
Democrats to keep up pressure over asylum seekers
The Australian Democrats will maintain their pressure on the next federal government over Australia's treatment of asylum seekers, if the party can retain its strength in the Senate.
AUSTRALIA: VOTING PREFERENCES
Greens Senator Kerry Nettel's reasoning: A vote for Labor or the Democrats in the Senate is now potentially a vote for right-wing Christian candidates is beyond rhetoric.
Glenn Million: Why Neo-liberals are set to implode (again)
AS if the Neo-Liberal Coalition didn't have enough trouble. A quick re-cap: under John Howard they embrace a GST - a move that eventually forces the Democrats and Greens against him. That's followed by a collective act of dictatorship they jail Pauline Hanson. They dump One Nation leaders in jail - as racist, unworthy and flawed - but above all criminal, right at the time when the Liberal party is running to the last election, and desperate to stay in power.
TIME TO GO JOHN SYDNEY PREMIERE...
I hope fully that some of you can make it to the Sydney premiere of TIME TO GO JOHN, 15 X 5min films by filmmakers from around the country Fabio & I produced A MOMENT OF SHAME, one of the segments. Hope to see you Wed night Sept 29th at 7.30pm.
THE HILLSONG'S ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF 'NEO-LIBERALISM'
The Hill-Songs Church are alive with the sound of neo-liberalism. With songs they have sung for for the Federal Election....
Community demands Ruddock voted out!
Caretaker Attorney General, war criminal, Phillip Ruddock should have his portfolio seized by the community who have declared he has links to terror group the Neo-Liberal Coalition.
Hill primed for war!
Australian Caretaker Defence Minister Robert Hill has announced a multi-million dollar upgrade of the Pearce Air Force base in Western Australia. Hill says $87 million would be spent on a major upgrade of the base, which is Australia's main flying training facility.
Annan tells world leaders to respect law
United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan has made an impassioned plea to bring about the rule of law across the globe today. Mr Annan told world leaders to respect international law at home and abroad.
CO-OFFENDERS DO NOT REBUFF UN ON 'ILLEGAL WAR'
The 'coalition of the killing's' complicities - the US, Britain and Australia - have insisted that their countries' military action in Iraq was legal after they have committed war crimes against humanity.
Iraq war illegal, says Annan
United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan says the United States decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 was "illegal". Australia was a key supporter of the war on Iraq and sent troops to join the United States-led invasion last year.
Opp calls for Cooperation: Rudd
Imron Cotan says 10 ambassadors and High Commissioners from South East Asian nations were told comments by Prime Minister John Howard about pre-emptive strikes were part of an internal debate and the idea was still being developed?
Defence people need to vote for the Greens
Caretaker Prime Minister John Howard will today unveil a plan to step up the fight against terrorism in the region, using specialist teams of Australian Federal Police (AFP) that could be sent to work in neighbouring countries.
Australia will not Save Your Soul
The Federal Government will not Save Australian Soul's? Even if you're an innocent bystander caught up in it. Despite a group claiming to have kidnapped two Australian security guards? The alleged group, which allegedly calls itself the Horror Brigades of the Islamic Secret Army, allegedly has given the Prime Minister John Howard 24 hours to end Australia's involvement in Iraq.
Trust John Howard like you can trust George Bush...
Once again Prime Minister John Howard unleashed his "politics of fear" to win his election campaign trying to scare ratepayers.
Apologise to children abused in care: report
A Senate report on children placed in institutional care has called for the Federal Government to apologise to those who were harmed by their experience.
Costello, Howard's Disciple
JOHN HOWARD AND PETER Costello lost their vision for Australia from the time they were elected and embarked on a vision for the neo-Liberals.
Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel?
Well praise the Lord the light is Hell bent here on Peter Costello, treasurer of the Howard Government who now has his own "flock" of onward Christian Soldiers.
Gillard stirs Liberal leadership pot
The federal Labor Party claims Peter Costello has relaunched his leadership bid, after the Treasurer gave a wide-ranging interview outlining his support for an Australian republic.
Australian Govt human rights record 'worsening'
Community groups have given the Federal Government five out of ten for its record on human rights this year. Mr Purcell said the Government was also marked down because of the policy of holding children in immigration detention centres.
Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes
Complaint to Australian law officers about Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes.
Don't rock the Boat Howard!
PRIME Minister John Howard today denied the children overboard affair had swayed the 2001 election? Mr Howard has spent the week defending himself against claims he had been informed that nobody in Defence believed children had been thrown overboard by asylum seekers.
Australia an unfair nation, say young and all!
Young people and older people think Australia is undemocratic and unfair. Young people cite their teachers as having the greatest influence on their political thinking, according to a provocative new national survey funded by the Government. Older people cite "injustice" amongst other things as a "bent legal system" favouring hi profiled superstars, corporations and politicians.
HOWARD'S LIE DETECTOR TEST
But most voters have already decided that former ministerial adviser Mike Scrafton has contradicted Mr Howard's recollection of conversations just days before the 2001 election and says he has been vindicated by a lie detector test.
Not happy, John
Valder's alarm whistle effort 'let love be thy weapon' indeed Prime Minister John Howard is also the subject of a stinging attack in a Sunday feature this week, from the man who first engineered his ascent to the Liberal leadership in the mid-1980s former party president John Valder.
Howard 'unfit to lead'
The Federal Opposition says John Howard is not fit to be Prime Minister after new revelations about the children overboard affair.
Howard's war crimes, Turnbull, at least he's honest
HIGH-profile Liberal candidate Malcolm Turnbull has told voters the Iraq invasion was "an unadulterated error".
Alexanda Downer guilty of war crimes!
The agreement for going to war on Iraq carried with it and incentive and that was free trade with the US. The Howard Government knew about it and went along with it with the US under the guise of Iraq's WMDs. In criminal law this is commonly know as collusion to commit a crime.
John Howard's war crimes blameworthy
General Peter Gration is the spokesman for a group of 43 ex-military leaders, diplomats and departmental heads who have criticised the Government, saying involvement in Iraq has put Australia at greater risk of a terrorist attack.
Auditor Generals damning defence report
The Defence Department computer system upgrade has cost Australia tens of millions of dollars in a gigantic bungle, according to the Federal Opposition. The Commonwealth auditor-general has issued a damning report into the project.
Court reserves decision on 'no war' protest appeal
Two men have asked the Court of Criminal Appeal to accept that they painted "NO WAR" on the Sydney Opera House, to defend people in Iraq and Australia from war.
PM's Fox Defence? Less the evidence?
The Fox went out on a chilly night. He prayed for the moon to give him light. For he had many a mile to go that night....
Australians to be sacrificed: Howard
Howard vowed hostages wouldn't sway policy? The Federal Government say they would not negotiate with terrorists if an Australian were taken hostage in Iraq.
PM Howard Morally Bankrupt
Prime Minister John Howard insists the war in Iraq was justified despite his British counterpart Tony Blair's concession that weapons of mass destruction might never be found.
Howard 'should be tried for war crimes'
Former Liberal Party federal president John Valder says Prime Minister John Howard should be tried and punished for war crimes over Australia's involvement in the Iraq conflict.
Troop deployment not a deepening of effort: Hill
Deploying an extra 30 troops to Iraq was not a deepening of Australia's involvement because they were being sent to protect those already there, Defence Minister Robert Hill said yesterday.
War on terrorism' could take a generation: Downer?
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has launched the Government's terrorism white paper, saying the "war" could take a generation.
JUDGEMENT: HOWARD'S WAR CRIMES
Howard Vs Regina in Canberra the Capital Territory of Australia- Friday January 30 2004.
'FACTOPHOBIA' HOWARD, BLAIR AND BUSH
Well think about this! Australia's intelligence agencies look set to receive a substantial funding boost in this year's Federal Budget, with the Prime Minister saying it is an obvious step to take.
Howard, where's your head at?
Australians living on the edge! Seems each time the bombs go off overseas Australians are living on the edge.
Should John Howard be locked up indefinitely?
Australian convicted mock terrorist John Howard is seriously considering appealing the precise time limit on detaining terrorist suspects.
Daily Terror rolled-over for Howard's war games
The DAILY TERROR is suspected of being the source of the news this morning that Willie Brigitte is a terrorist and that Sydney faces a bomb attack.
