Buy Now Pay Much More Later

29/04 Sydney Morning Herald | A family that has done well out of the Labor Government's new spending will receive $2900. But its share of the Government's future interest bill will be $2000 a year. The critical question is how many years of interest payments are we in for?

When the federal budget is announced in the next fortnight it will show a massive deficit for this year, next year and the one after. It will detail how much the Government needs to borrow to fund it. One of the questions I hope journalists will ask on budget night is, on what date does the Government expect to repay this $200 billion? Until then the interest bill is running every year.

It took 10 years to pay off Labor's debt of the 1990s. Today's one-off payments of $2900 will look like feeble compensation against an interest bill that could last for 10 or 20 years. And that's why I factor in the children for a share of the interest payments. They'll still be coming by the time they get into the workforce.

... The Government is borrowing money, dividing it up and distributing it to families. A typical family of mum, dad and two children would by now have received two $1000 bonuses - one for each of the children - and $900 if dad's income was less than $80,000. That's $2900 since last October - enough to get a pretty nice home entertainment system.

And there's no repayment?

Actually, the Government borrowed this money, so it will have to pay interest to the lenders. And since it gets all its money from taxpayers, it's the taxpayers who will foot the interest bill.

During the next two years the Government will increase net debt from zero (the position it inherited in 2007) to about $200 billion. In round figures that's about $10,000 for each of our citizens and $40,000 for our family of four. At today's low interest rates that's a bill of about $2000 for our typical family. .

Queensland: Bligh's latest record - 7262 kids in State care

29/04 Jack Dempsey MP, LNP | The Bligh Labor Government has a new record - more then 7000 children taken from their families and put into State care. LNP child safety spokesman Jack Dempsey said at September 30, 2008, the number of children taken into care had climbed to 7262*

NATIONAL: Size of child abuse problem 'horrific'

29/04 The Age | AUSTRALIA'S child protection systems have been described as failing the children they are meant to help, with Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin saying the number of confirmed cases of child abuse was "horrific". Ms Macklin said more than 55,000 substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect were recorded last year. "We have to confront the reality that these numbers tell us that we are letting down far, far too many children in this country," she said.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, there were 24,732 substantiated cases of child abuse or neglect in 1999-2000. By 2007-08 the numbers had more than doubled to 55,120.... Calling for fundamental change in the way child protection was delivered, the report said state-run child protection authorities were overwhelmed with investigating record numbers of alleged incidences of child abuse and were often unable to focus their efforts on prevention.

Single parents, jobless call on charities

29/04 The Australian, Patricia Karvelas | SINGLE parents and the unemployed are the biggest groups seeking urgent financial help from charities to cover essential items such as medical expenses, power bills, groceries, transport and rent, but may miss out on a payment boost in the budget.

Emergency relief providers and the Australian Council of Social Service are urging the Government to use the budget to address the inadequacy of the payments received by these groups. The economic crisis has caused massive job losses, with projections there could be a million unemployed by the end of next year.

The Rudd Government is considering an increase in unemployment benefits but faces intense pressure to lift the age pension by $30 a week, amid speculation it might redirect some of the anticipated rise to people on the dole. The powerful National Seniors lobby group and the federal Opposition have vowed to fight any move by the Government to give single pensioners less than a $30-a-week rise.

National register to track domestic violence orders

29/04 The Australian, Patricia Karvelas | A NATIONAL register of domestic and family violence orders is the centrepiece of the Rudd Government's plan to reduce violence against women, to be unveiled today. The national register will allow orders to be enforced across state and territory borders.

It comes as research by KPMG, commissioned by the Government, reveals that each year violence against women costs the nation $13.6billion, and the figure is expected to rise to $15.6 billion by 2021. Kevin Rudd will invest $12.5 million on a new national telephone and online crisis service. The service will be run by professional staff and make referrals to follow-up services, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A further $26 million will go towards prevention, including $9 million to improve the quality and uptake of "respectful relationships" programs for teenagers, $17 million for a public information campaign focused on changing attitudes. And a further $3million will support research on perpetrator treatment and nationally consistent laws.

VICTORIA: Burning off 'could have prevented Black Saturday'

21/04 ABC News | As the Royal Commission into Victoria's deadly bushfires gets underway, there are calls for the Brumby Government to renew its efforts at controlled burning.

Figures have emerged that show government targets on controlled burning were not met in many cases around the state, and some Opposition politicians say that was part of the cause for the scale of the fires. The Black Saturday bushfires ripped across the state in February, claiming 173 lives, devastating 78 communities and destroying 2,029 homes.

QUEENSLAND: New Queensland Government Sworn in

21/04 ABC News | Queensland's 89 State Government, Opposition and independent politicians have been sworn in to herald the new session of Parliament.

Sandra Kanck calls for one child policy in Australia

22/04 Adelaide Now | AUSTRALIANS would risk invasion and be unable to defend our resources if we adopted Sandra Kanck's one-child policy, a population expert says. Demographer Bernard Salt says that while a radical cut to population would reduce the country's carbon footprint, as the former Democrats MP has suggested, it would throw up other extremely difficult national problems.

The first of these would be a massive cut in taxation revenue a generation from now in 2030-2050.

"Every body you pull (out of the total population) reduces your carbon footprint, but you are also lessening the tax-paying capacity of this nation in the future," Mr Salt said.

NATIONAL: Opposition demands 'real' recession figures

21/04 | The Federal Opposition says the Government must immediately release economic figures to explain why a recession in Australia is inevitable. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has used the word recession for the first time, to describe the economic conditions in Australia.

... finance spokeswoman, Helen Coonan, says Mr Rudd must justify his comments with updated economic forecasts. She says it is not acceptable for the Government to wait until next month's federal Budget. "It's not sufficient to simply say that a recession is inevitable and to leave it hanging out there," she said...

ACT: ACT Govt to take over Calvary Hospital

21/04 ABC News | The ACT Government has confirmed it wants to buy Calvary Public Hospital and says it is in discussions with the owners about a possible deal. Health Minister Katy Gallagher says the Government is investing a lot of money in the facility and it makes sense for it to take it over. ... The hospital's policies on matter like abortion and in-vitro fertilisation would probably be overturned if the sale goes ahead. The owner of Calvary, the Little Company of Mary, says it would use money from the sale to build a new private hospital.

QUEENSLAND: Unions step up campaign for Qld teachers' wages

21/04 ABC News | Teacher unions in Queensland have taken out a large press ad coinciding with today's first sitting of the State Parliament, campaigning for better wages.

The Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) and the Queensland Independent Education Union (QIEU) say their teachers are the lowest paid on the Australian mainland and unless that is addressed, the state will face a chronic shortage.

NORTHERN TERRITORY: AMA hopeful NT's 'unworkable' underage sex laws can be amended

21/04 ABC News | The Australian Medical Association is hopeful it can persuade the Northern Territory Government to amend proposed legislation which would require doctors to report all child sexual activity. The AMA's Territory president described the Care and Protection of Children Act as unworkable as it makes it illegal not to report teenagers under 16 years of age who are sexually active.

NATIONAL: Recession is inevitable: Rudd

20/4 | Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has acknowledged a recession in Australia is inevitable. He has told a group of business leaders in Adelaide that Australia would not be spared from the worst economic downturn in 75 years.... "The severity of the global recession has made it impossible for Australia to avoid a further period of negative economic growth.

Mr Rudd said seven of Australia's 10 largest trading partners were in recession. "The challenge for government is to cushion the impact of recession on business and jobs, through the actions we take, through economic stimulus strategy," he said.

NATIONAL: States consider stronger arson penalties

Arsonists who kill in Victoria face a maximum of 25 years in jail, and Mr McClelland wants other states to introduce the same severe penalty.

Mr McClelland says the consequences of fire are far more than just vandalism. "They're equivalent to any act of terrorism," he said. "They're just as devastating both in terms of physical damage to property, but even more distressing, obviously, death and injury."

He believes many Australians think arsonists have been let off too lightly in the past.

Labor’s New Overseas Aid policy – DEAD babies and more condoms

Excerpted from Saltshakers Newsletter | ...Yesterday the Rudd Labor Government gave in to the radical feminists and pro-abortion lobby and reversed a policy made many years ago that Australia would not provide overseas aid to promote and facilitate more abortions. Now we will – with your money!

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said of the decision: “The Government has now completed its review and I have decided to change the Family Planning Guidelines for Australia’s overseas development assistance program to support the same range of family planning services for women in developing countries as are supported for women in Australia, subject to the national laws of the relevant nation concerned”.

He decided? Officially he might have the power to make the decision, however, it was decided at a Labor Party meeting – driven, no doubt, by too many Labor women who belong to pro-abortion group Emily’s List.

Queensland: Serial offender walks free as sentencing laws fail victims

07/04 Lawrence Springborg MP, LNP | Deputy Leader of the LNP and justice spokesman Lawrence Springborg said like many Queenslanders, he could not understand how a serial offender such as Dwane Daniel Morgan from the Sunshine Coast could walk free from court despite being found guilty of more than 50 offences, including stealing.

"Sentencing laws are supposed to act as a deterrent, serve a punishment and protect the community," Mr Springborg said. "When someone can commit 54 offences and get nothing more then a slap on the wrist it is clear the laws are failing. This person and other criminals just laugh at the courts when this happens.

NSW: Roxon urged to see hospitals first-hand

06/04 ABC News | A group of the region's doctors and specialists has invited federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon to tour western New South Wales hospitals.

Seven doctors from Broken Hill, Dubbo, Orange and Parkes travelled to Canberra on Friday to meet the Minister's advisers to discuss what they claim is 'underfunding' of western medical service providers. Dr Ruth Arnold from the Orange Medical Staff Council says the group fought for the Federal Government to assume full responsibility for aged care funding.

Christian Character and Political Leaders

06/04 Bill Muehlenberg | It appears our Prime Minister is at it again, this time driving a female flight attendant to tears. Our PM, who pushed his Christian credentials quite hard prior to the election, seems to talk one way and walk another way. In this case, Kevin Rudd did not get the food he wanted on an RAAF plane, so he threw a hissy fit and proceeded to blast the female food server.

Reducing a lass to tears is not the only unkind and unchristian activity our PM is guilty of. Two articles in today’s press highlight a regular pattern of him treating people very poorly indeed. It seems our PM is a serial offender when it comes to condescending, disrespectful and bullying behavior

Reaction to Kevin Rudd's 'rude' comments over the top, says Wayne Swan

06/04 News.com.au | CRITICISM of Kevin Rudd's outburst on a flight from Papua New Guinea is completely over the top, Treasurer Wayne Swan has said. The Prime Minister was forced to apologise for yelling at a 23-year-old Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) female flight attendant because he was not served the meal he wanted during the flight to Australia in January.

Opposition frontbencher Julie Bishop said yesterday that Mr Rudd was a bully and his behaviour would be unacceptable in any Australian workplace. But Mr Swan, who was also on the flight, said the Opposition should drop the matter.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's short fuse trigger exodus of personal staff

04/04 Daily Telegraph | PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd's short fuse and unreasonable demands have triggered an exodus of personal staff and a backlash from public servants.

His staff turnover is about to reach 16, or one a month since winning office, with the latest casualty being $78,000-a-year ex-butler John Fisher, dubbed "Jeeves" by the Opposition, The Daily Telegraph reports."Jeeves" will join a range of advisers, secretaries and assistants to leave the turbulent PM's office.

NATIONAL: Christian lobby calls for compensation for charities put out of a job

03/04 Australian Christian Lobby | The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) today called for compensation for church-based and not-for-profit job agencies which have lost their government contracts and will now be hit with increased costs and loss of income which is likely to impact their assistance for the most needy.

ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said that Federal Government changes to employments services were likely to have significant flow-on effects to other social welfare services provided by those charities – something the community could ill-afford during the current economic downturn. “The loss of contracts for these vital charities – seemingly despite their past success – will obviously mean that they will be faced with restructuring their organisations, as well as being forced to pay out redundancies and suffering a loss of some income,” Mr Wallace said.

“Unless the Government compensates these charities for these funds there can be little doubt that it will cause considerable disruption to the services they provide for the most needy. This is something that should always be a cause for community concern – but particularly in the current economic climate.”

Mr Wallace said that a number of the church-based and not-for-profit agencies that had lost contracts have had an important role which went well past just skills training to also work with those with more significant needs. The restructuring they will be required to do will invariably impact on these services.

“These perhaps unintended consequences of the tender process and its concentration on skills training are likely to be costly for the vulnerable unemployed who don’t easily fit into the usual skills training programs.” Mr Wallace said that, as well as calling for compensation, ACL also supported calls for an independent review of the process for allocating the employment services contracts.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: SA passes unethical and unnecessary embryonic cloning laws

02/04 Australian Christian Lobby | In an unnecessary and unethical development South Australia has become the latest Australian jurisdiction to pass laws which permit embryonic cloning for research purposes. Please click here for details.

The human embryonic cloning bill passed through the SA Upper House by a conscience vote of 12-9 last Thursday.

The legislation brings South Australia into line with federal laws, but ignores the example last year set by the West Australian parliament which knocked back embryonic cloning laws. The majority of WA Upper House politicians realised that the boat had sailed on any arguable case for embryonic cloning, with the latest scientific research making cloning unnecessary.

SA Family First MP Robert Brokenshire was highly critical of the legislation, citing a lack of public debate on the issue and there no longer being the need for such research.

In a scientific breakthrough in November 2007, Japanese and American scientists discovered a way to transform the ordinary skin cell of a human into the equivalent of an embryonic stem cell without ever creating or destroying an embryo.

In a more recent breakthrough British and Canadian scientists last month announced that they had discovered a way to reprogram adult skin cells in this way without using viruses, which could cause cancer – thus overcoming a stumbling block for this ethical research.

Sexualisation of Children Harms

02/04 Rev. Fred Nile | The Rev Fred Nile MLC, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, has stated that the sexualisation of young girls harms them both physically and psychologically. Rev Nile made the comments whilst giving a speech in support of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment (Children's Employment) Bill 2009, in the NSW Parliament.

“The Christian Democratic Party supports the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment (Children's Employment) Bill 2009. The bill will amend section 221 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 to extend the applicability of the children's employment chapter to children between the ages of 15 and 16 years who take part in modelling. It will also amend section 223 of the Act to increase the maximum penalty for employment of a child in contravention of the Act from 10 penalty units to 100 penalty units.

UK: There's only one way to stop British boozers

How does a government deal with an alcohol problem? Legislation? Price? Education? Have a look around Europe for a solution

Archives: March 18, 2009, Times Online | "... It is now generally accepted, if not obvious to anyone trying to avoid the pools of vomit in the average British town centre, that liberalised licensing laws have failed to have any civilising effect on our drinking habits whatsoever. If we really wanted to emulate the French, we would be tightening alcohol laws. France has had no qualms about banning alcohol advertising: most has been banned since the Loi Évin of 1991.

French television producers now face stiff fines for breaching the rules, for example by showing close-ups of people drinking. President Sarkozy, himself a teetotaller, now wants to go farther. The selling of spirits in nightclubs is to be banned between 10pm and 6am, and sales of alcohol at petrol stations is to be outlawed. In Britain licensing laws were recently liberalised to allow sales at petrol stations - 24 hours a day.

There is no other country in Europe that has liberalised drinking laws over the past decade like Britain has. And there is none with quite the same drinking problem. True, Britain's overall alcohol consumption is not quite the highest in Europe - the Czechs currently hold that distinction - but in our attraction to binge drinking we lead the way. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 58.5 per cent of British males and 34 per cent of females engage in “heavy periodic drinking” - defined as knocking back the equivalent of at least a bottle of wine in a single sitting once a month in the past year. The next highest is Finland, where 49 per cent of males and 14.1 per cent of females admit to binge drinking by this definition. In France - where overall alcohol consumption is similar to Britain - the corresponding figures are 27.9 per cent for men and 9.7 per cent for women..."