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trevor
Paragraph after paragraph of unsubstantiated points of view, the majority of which could easily be used to justify either side. 
I am an atheist, I have never felt the need to justify this position and I certainly don't attempt any proselytizing.
You seem very comfortable with the "its not the how, its the why" hypotheses, I put it to you that the only important position is the IS.  
Avatar for Fred
Fred
@trevor It is the 'how' and the 'why'...both are important.  And in both cases, it takes more 'faith' to be an atheist than to believe in a designer and creator.
Avatar for Nick
Nick
Some believe that the world has always existed, some believe in a beginning which started with the so called “Big Bang”, and others believe that there is a God, who has always existed, who created this world. The last group are almost always derided for their belief in such a fairy tale deity by the first two groups, who at the same time fail to realise that they themselves also unwittingly believe in the supernatural, as they cannot logically explain how something can be created from nothing.
Avatar for Patricia
Patricia
@Nick Not really. Acknowledging that not knowing how something happened is not the same as tacitly accepting that it proves the existing of gods. We don't know how dark matter works, if it works or even if it exists. Not knowing this does not equate to believing that the only rational explanation for dark matter is that there are gods.
Avatar for Richard
Richard
@Nick Not sure what your argument is based on Nick but if you are saying that there must be a first cause or prime mover to explain things in the universe then that involves the fallacy of composition: what is true of a member of a group is not necessarily true for the group as a whole. Just because most things within the universe require a cause or causes, does not mean that the universe itself requires a cause. If you are arguing that something cannot come out of nothing [but why not] and therefore the universe itself must have a creator then the simple response is in that case who or what created that creator: which is a variation on the same theme.
But it is not the case as you claim that anyone who says that the world has always existed or that those who argue for a Big Bang “unwittingly believe in the supernatural”. If the universe always existed then there is nothing supernatural about that existence. If it started with a Big Bang then there is no logical reason why that is supernatural rather than natural; nor is there a logical requirement to seek a cause outside the space and time that only came into existence with that same Big Bang. Existence is not a predicate.
Better just stick with faith as your reason for religious beliefs if you feel the psychological need for them.
Avatar for Richard IV
Richard IV
@nick
You have fallen hook, line and sinker for "the fallacy of belief". That is the belief, held my most believers, like you and Mr Sheridan, that everone else has to "believe" in something. In your example, only the third group "believes" in something.
The first two groups, rather than "believing in" their respective hypotheses, have either advanced them or subscribe to them because they are crude, but reasoned attempts to explain the currently unknown , ie the existance of the universe. They may not be correct explanations of course, but unlike the third group, the first two groups can explain how their respective hypotheses could be proved and/ or disproved and their adherents would adjust their position when such evidence was forthcoming.
The third group simply believe the irrational. It is quite clearly irrational, and quite unhelpful, to advance the proposition "God created the world" AS AN EXPLANATION FOR THE WORLD'S EXISTENCE, without at the same time explaining who or what created God.
Avatar for Nick
Nick
@Richard @Nick  "If you are arguing that something cannot come out of nothing [but why not]".
I would be grateful if you could outline your argument supporting how something can come out of nothing.
Avatar for Bruce
Bruce
For those here who reject Gody that st the end of life you will face your maker weather you believe in him or not. You will then have eternity to lament your unbelief.
BruceG
Avatar for Argus
Argus
@Nick Nobody in relation to the Big Bang is saying that something has been created from nothing. It is impossible with our current knowledge to do anything other than to extrapolate back further in time to to a point when the universe was very hot and very dense. The universe has been expanding ever since and the evidence of the temperature of the early universe fits the current understanding of the background temperature of the universe at about 3° Kelvin i.e. the universe has cooled as it has expanded. There are many mysteries which will probably never be explained such as why there there is a predominance of matter over antimatter, and the relative mass or energy component of each subatomic particle.

However when one tries to reconcile this body of knowledge with the ramblings of an illiterate goatherd it is impossible to rationalise the goatherds ramblings other than abysmal ignorance which at the time was justified, but now is not.

Understanding the big being and the current state of knowledge has nothing to do with anything being supernatural, it is an extension of our knowledge base to the point at which we cannot explain things, but from that point back to where we do understand things now is a well documented body of scientific knowledge which the godbotherers is either do not understand or do not bother to try to understand.
Avatar for Ross
Ross
Religious morality is an oxymoron. If you are doing something for reward, then you are not being moral, you are doing a job. If you are doing it to avoid punishment, that's just survival. The very thought that mankind needs religion to either scare people into behaving, or bribe people into being nice, otherwise, we would all be savages, is insulting, and degrading to humanity.
Avatar for Garry
Garry
@Ross Is it possible to insult or degrade some supposedly meaningless, random matter that for no reason at all comes to life and crawls out of a primordial swamp?
Avatar for Obeyno1
Obeyno1
Christine, re modern humanity, do you mean Like Isis, or the child rape in churches.
Is the bible or Koran a better source of morality?
Endorsing slavery, commanding tribal genocide, killing homosexuals, killing unruly children, treating women as chatel and not allowing them to lead men.
Avatar for Obeyno1
Obeyno1
Garry, If we evolved naturally, we can still have empathy for fellow conscious beings and aim to reduce suffering and support a society where you get a fair go.
You don't need to invent gods to care about others.
Avatar for Gary
Gary
Faith in God : There are approximately 5,000 gods in the world that humans believe in , so plenty to choose from
Avatar for Rob
Rob
I wonder what you're response to the '10 minutes ago theory" is Greg? Ie that everything was created 10 minutes ago.
In my experience, people of faith argue more strongly against this particular creation theory than a fervent aetheist.
Avatar for Tim
Tim
Much human interaction with the real world is faith-based.
That's because as humans none of us has comprehensive knowledge.
For example, the scientific method works, but is inferential in character. One cannot prove the world is regular and orderly - that's an assumption, what we might call a position of trust. And so all science proceeds on the basis of faith.
Avatar for Patricia
Patricia
@Tim Nice try at yet another worn out theist sleight of hand.
There are a series of reasonable assumptions which, if acted upon, make life liveable. We anticipate that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. It might not, of course. We assume that most airlines most of the time perform sufficient maintenance so we get on a plane. And so on so forth. It is rational to know that uncertainty involves risks that need to be managed on a daily basis.
This is not the same as 'faith' which is, literally, beyond reason.

Not one of this class of assumptions is analogous for the assumption that gods exist.
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Freddy
Belief in god with no evidence whatsoever, nil, nought, nothing, to support it, and a whole lot of killing, horror and crime in its name, is very sad and quite demented.
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Nick

"Belief in god with no evidence whatsoever, nil, nought, nothing, to support it..."

True. Apart from the fact that we all exist.
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Roger
Now you have that off your chest Greg, please go back to Foreign Affairs which you are quite good at.
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Nick
"please go back to Foreign Affairs which you are quite good at."

Apart from the "Hilary is going to win and you can take that to the bank" thing...
Avatar for Obeyno1
Obeyno1
This is the most irrational, illogical, fallacious article I've seen for a while.
From the first paragraph, unsubstantiated assertions, fallacies, and misrepresenting atheism. Atheism is not monolithic, just as god beliefs and believers don't all hold identical beliefs.
While human beings naturally believe things this does not mean everything we believe is true.
In fact, logically, there are mutually contradictory god beliefs. They can't all be true. If the morons are right, everyone else is wrong. If the Muslims are right, Jesus isn't god.
Is Greg asserting our inner voice is a reliable source of truth? What nonsense. Our inner voices, our overactive agency assumption and lazy thinking, has given rise to beliefs in contradictory gods and goddesses, astrology, nature spirits, ancestor spirits, ghosts, demons, faerie, and any number of baseless beliefs. Is the inner that leads people to believe in shiva or Allah or Faeries or crystal healing or ghosts sufficient to make these beliefs true. Nonsense. The conflicting god beliefs can't even all be true.
There is too much irrational nonsense to unpack in his article as nearly every sentence has flawed logic. Yes 80% may believe in gods and goddesses. But they believe in conflicting god concepts. They can't all be correct. Truth is not determinied by popularity. If a majority believed the earth was the centre of the universe and the sun revolved around it, that doesn't make it true.
Greg you are an atheist in regards to all the non Christian gods and goddesses others believe. Presumably you don't think there is sufficient evidence or reason to believe in Zeus, or shiva or the Muslim god, or the Jewish god, or Mormon god, or the Jehovah's Witness god, or the supernatural and religious claims in other religious traditions. We are just more consistent and go one more.
There could be gods and goddesses, crystal healing, nature spirits. There could a billion invisible spirits inside my iPad. There could be winged horses and talking donkeys and servants. But until there is sufficient evidence or reason to belief in the billions of conflicting supernatural claims, we should logically suspend belief.
Avatar for Michael
Michael
@Obeyno1 Well said. Greg's faith based stream of consciousness essay remains unconvincing when subjected to any test of logic. Religious belief serves as a psychological balm for people's uncertainties and anxieties but can (and has) lead to great harm and evil.
I do not agree with Lenin on anything except his description of religion as "opiate of the masses". 
Avatar for Richard IV
Richard IV
@obeyno1
"There is too much irrational nonsense to unpack in his article as nearly every sentence has flawed logic"
You are 100% correct. I wanted to say this 6 hours ago, but I though I would be censored by the moderators.
I am truly, gobsmackingly staggered that a man whose reasoning is no obviously deficient and has such difficulty grasping even the most basic principles of logic has the gall to comment on serious matters such as foreign policy and defence. That is a real worry, although some intelligent and well educated people ofen only suspend in matters of faith and religion the logic they successfully apply elsewhere.
Mr Sheridan, may I respectfully reccommend a book to you? "The Elements of Logic" by Stephen F Barker. It was popular as a first year philosophy text book when I was at Uni in the '70's.
If you could just comprehend section 1 of chapter one, then I think your writing would be much more convincing.
However, what encourages me enormously is how many hundreds of commentors to this article HAVE grasped these fallacies. I honestly do not believe this would have been the case 30 years ago, so we must have being doing SOMETHING right in education. Maybe all is not lost afterall!
I am a fairly right wing conservative, by the way.
Avatar for Stephen
Stephen
Nothing written here changes my mind --- Never has been a 'God' and you can't prove he/she/they/it has ever existed.  Yes you have faith that he/she/they/it exists and which is your right and I support your right to believe in whatever you wish.    But don't impose that belief on me - and don't try and imply that I am a lesser person than you for MY belief of he/she/they/its non-existence.  

Complete disrespect of non-believers.
Avatar for Christine
Christine
@Stephen There is nothing to prove, nor should it have to be proven.  You either believe in a force greater than yourself, or you don't.  That's why it's called FAITH.
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Obeyno1
Christine, I'd just point out that having faith something is true doesn't make it so.
People have faith in all sorts of unsubstantiated and often contradictory supernatural claims.
If you are interested in what is true, then you should be looking for reasonable evidence.
It seems no can reasonably prove any of the billions of individual supernatural god concepts. So perhaps rationally we should withhold belief.
Should we have faith in Allah, or Jesus, or shiva, or astrology, or karma or any higher power someone dreams up?
Avatar for Rob
Rob
greg, Thank you for a greta piece . I struggle to understand, all the time and you have helped.
Avatar for evan
evan
I dont believe in much simply observing and weighing the odds whether something is true or not. Does this make me a failed atheist and failed god believer both? I hate it when I am accused of being a believer in atheism because atheism is a state of non belief. I neither believe nor do I not.  The rise in belief systems that are blinkered in things like politics and alternative medicine are a bane on modern life and bring us a return of once feared diseases and threats of war. True believers are a thing to be feared and avoided by me and now that Greg Sheridan has convinced me even more that he cannot be trusted to report the whole truth, I must put him aside.

Avatar for Roger
Roger
@evan Evan, everyone is entitled to one little foible and given that this particular foible of Greg Sheridan consists of nothing more or less than an imaginary friend, it's pretty harmless and not really enough to distract from the sharp insight he brings to most foreign affairs subjects. 
Avatar for Gil
Gil
And when Darwin proposed that evolution can be traced back to that original single cell, he was asked where the cell came from and he replied “From the creator”. It’s hard to be an atheist, as I am, and not deny that the odds of that cell surviving long enough in a hostile environment are near-impossible. A bet each way might be the most rational position.
Avatar for Roger
Roger
@Gil One of Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore (I can't remember which) expressed your sentiment very well in reciting their favourite prayer: "Hello god, if you are there, hear my prayer and if not, forget all about it!"  
Avatar for trevor
trevor
@Gil One of the many, many, justifications that Greg used above was "It’s highly improbable statistically" in reference to how evolutionally receptive our planet is.
As for the evolutionary side, we really don't have anything to compare with, but from a statistical point of view there are around a 1000 Billion Trillion stars in the universe so I would have thought it to be highly "probable" statistically that there are other planets just like ours.
So listen to your atheistic "inner voice" and put all your money on a win for science and reason.
Avatar for Obeyno1
Obeyno1
Trevor, following his poor reasoning anything he considers improbable may be due to a supernatural agency. Every lottery winner could be due to gods. The infinitesimal probability that you that my iPad contains the particular atoms it does could be due to gods.
Avatar for trevor
trevor
@Obeyno1 It is either one way or the other, all God or No God, if it is the former then "everything" must be Gods doing, if you have the power to create the universe, then surely you have the power to stop the little kid getting run over in the street?
Avatar for Russ
Russ
The best example of religious mental gymnastics is the obvious collapse in Christian values by people on these forums the moment you mention Refugees, at which time "The Inn is full" is the selfishly default position.  Of course, the notion that religion represents some greater truth is mocked by the fact for the vast and over bearing majority their particular brand of myth and fantasy is determined by location and parental upbringing not some divine revelation.
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Rob
Well, not so much that the "Inn is Full" as "This Inn doesn't have a back door"
Avatar for Peter
Peter
@Rob Exactly.  Render unto God which is God's and unto Caeser etc or some such.  In other words, separation of church and state, which includes affairs of the world vs affairs of the spirit.  Doesn't mean the spirit should not inform the world, but should not rule it either.  Open door policy leads to excessive local suffering, total closed door leads to turning a blind eye to offshore suffering - hence the generous but controlled Aus immigration policy. QED
Avatar for dominic
dominic
Isn't it funny, but what really strikes me is the opposite. We have the secular left hounding Christians to keep their faith out of the lives of others. Then an issue like border security comes up, and the atheists charge that we need to be more Christian.
Avatar for Joanne
Joanne
@Russ  Unfortunately, the definition of "refugee" has been bastardised for political point scoring in Australia and fails to ignite the compassion it used to.  Notice when it became useless to pay to get a boat here, then the refugees stopped. 

About six years ago Tony Abbott (a Christian) pleaded with Obama (a Christian) to send planes to help the Christians being persecuted in Northern Syria.  We had a moral obligation to help those people but almost every Western "leader" at the time didn't want to upset any Muslims.  As if you can do such a thing. Afterall, ISIS has such a highly tuned sense of justice.  Predictably, Saint Obama did what he always did - nothing.  Imagine taking advice from a right wing white man, not a good look, no matter how many it saved.  As a result of this failure of leadership thousands died and it could be argued the march of ISIS killed tens of thousands more.

None other than the Dalai Lama has been vocal in his criticism of the mostly able-bodied young men who make up the bulk of "refugees" entering Europe via Libya and Greece. Many are fleeing Africa not wartorn ME btw.  At any rate, he implored them to return and fight for their homelands, protect the vulnerable and rebuild their countries and lives.  But then again, he's always been an inhumane, nasty piece of work.  
Avatar for Bruce
Bruce
@Russ  Always bearing in mind that the majority of so-called refugees are in fact criminals - once for bribery and once for entering a country illegally. Sad that this makes it tough for legitimate refugees.
Bruce T
Avatar for trevor
trevor
@dominic @Russ Christianity does not have any claim to any moral high ground when it comes to helping others, their help has always been conditional on towing the Christian line.
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Joanne
@trevor @dominic @Russ So all the many Christian charities from the Salvos to Vinnies to Anglicare only help those who believe the Christian dogma.  You are quite patently prejudiced, ignorant and wrong.  
Avatar for Russ
Russ
Sorry Joanne that is such a mishmash of half truths and outright non facts it is difficult to know were to begin. In actual fact Abbott refuse to raise the refugee intake to allow more Christians to be accommodated:

"The Abbott Government wants to restrict any intake of Syrian refugees to minorities which are largely Christian, as passions run high in the Coalition over the way Australia should handle the crisis in Syria.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is under increasing pressure to increase the refugee intake but has put off a decision while Australia consults with the United Nations about the best approach."

It is a sin to tell fibs isn't it?
Avatar for David
David
@Peter @Rob Hi Peter,
I have a different view about the coin and Caeser's image:
"The coin bore the image and inscription of Caesar. Genesis teaches us that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God.  Our Lord is saying, 'Let the political and financial authorities have their coinage, It is their legal tender. But they cannot have human beings. Human beings belong to Another. They  belong to God.
We are fortunate to live in a wonderful democracy. But even a democracy can violate the dignity of a human being created in the image and likeness of God. As Pope John Paul II said: 'Authentic democracy is possible only in a state ruled by law, and on the basis of a correct conception of the human person,'" [Michael Tate]
Jesus Christ engaged in the poltical and nowhere is this strongest than when Pilate asked of Jesus - "What is truth" - we are not beholden to the State. As Christians we are called to be involved in politics not separated from it.
The current State's concept of the human person is going off the rails. n

Avatar for Joanne
Joanne
@Russ @Joanne Don't know why I bother.  It's always some sanctimonious insult. What on earth is a "non fact".  I know that whenever some discourse on Christianity appears in The Oz you raise to the bait very easily with your blantant anti-Christian prejudice shining proudly for all to see.  We get it Ross.  You hate Christians and clergy and cannot bring yourself to admit that some of its adherents might be just as clever as you and maybe even better people. That Christianity has served society well overall.  Maybe you have had a bad personal experience and your prejudice is understandable but that doesn't make it right.  None of what I said has been rebutted by your unattributed "quotes".  I never said Abbott wanted to allow Muslim refugees from Syria. He didn't. That would have been charitable to Syrian Muslims but a far from prudent risk considering his first concern would be his fellow Australians then, possibly, fellow Christians who had lived in that part of Syria for thousands of years and were being persecuted and killed by, you guessed it, Muslims, who we were at war with.  
Avatar for David
David
@trevor @dominic @Russ Hi Trevor,
I suggest googling Catholic Care Vic au and look at the help the Catholic Church is providing to refugees often with no help from Government. There is no requirement for Muslims to convert to Christianity. There is no towing the Christian line just as there isn't for others the Catholic Church helps.
The Catholic Church is the world's largest private provider of charity in areas of clothing, food, schooling, healthcare and refugees. n 
Avatar for Iain T
Iain T
Well Greg, it's obvious that  you are being read by a majority whose minds are made up. Not for these, the possibilty that they are wrong.
I challenge all of you to do your own investigation. Check out Creation Ministries International website and you will find scientific evidence for a designer. There is such complexity in a single cell that no other explanation makes sense. It takes more faith to believe everything came from nothing!
Prove there is no God!

By the way, there is a lot of evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ if one cares to check it out least of all the date even if its out by 3 years. 
Avatar for Tom S
Tom S
@Iain T Mind is made up. 
In educated societies there are far more believers who have become atheistic than atheists who become believers. Once you go down the road of logic and reason it is very difficult to turn back - even with the incentive of everlasting life lingering in the shadows.
Avatar for Richard
Richard
@Iain T Creation Ministries? Lord help us. The world is 6000 years old and science is explained by Ray 'the banana man' Comfort. Google him if anyone has the stomach, Or alternatively, if anyone wants a good laugh to start the day.
Avatar for Obeyno1
Obeyno1
I'll change my position if there was compelling evidence for a particular god or goddess concept.
Until then I won't plug gaps in our understanding with a god or rely on inner voices that some individuals rely to believe in all sorts of contradictory and unsubstantiated supernatural beliefs.
Avatar for Rene
Rene
@Tom S @Iain T It does seem that many people are running away from logic and reason. The reasoning in most arguments about same sex, climate change, blame all seem in small quantities. Many of us jump on a bandwagon and assume that this is all the proof we need.Looking outside the square seems to be an 'in' idea. How about looking outside the bandwagon?
Avatar for Tim
Tim
”...in the religious faith of atheism”. Only seriously deluded, irretrievably indoctrinated automaton could believe atheism is a religious faith.
Isn’t it sad how religious belief warps the character and values of otherwise intelligent people.
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Tim
Tim, how do you know your religious belief - atheism I take it - doesn't warp your own character and values?
Ok, that's partly a snipe, but actually, I'd really like to know how you'd answer that.
Avatar for Obeyno1
Obeyno1
Not believing in gods is a position on a single issue. Clearly not a religion. You can be an atheist and disagree on every other issue. Atheists can believe in an afterlife, ghosts, nature spirits, astrology, a lucky rabbits foot, a flat earth just no gods. Hardly a religion.
Avatar for Sean
Sean
And as long as we have known human beings, they have yearned for and believed in God. "
They've yearned for an afterlife. 
Avatar for Peter
Peter
I don't think atheists are as rational and logical as they think they are and I'm talking as an ex atheist. Pretty much all of the atheists I have had discussions with put forth very lame, facile and spiritually uneducated arguments for the non existence of God.
I live a happy life with my wife , kids , and grandkids and I don't need porn to get me interested in making love with my wife. If I'm wrong about this God business then I've lost nothing. If the atheist is wrong about God, he/she has lost everything.
Pietro the Deplorable
Avatar for Richard
Richard
@Peter Cramming for the final then?
But not Pascal's wager please. The probability is not 0.5. The more alternative gods and goddesses and the list is very very long, the less likely you are to win your bet. And the greater the chance of picking the wrong God and losing very badly and who will punish your for your choice.
Go with the evidence instead and there is no evidence, or even plausible argument, for your or Pascal's god.

Avatar for Obeyno1
Obeyno1
Peter, I'd acknowledge there are bad reasons to take an atheistic position and good reasons.
Your supernatural beliefs might help you in your life, just like another people might find belief in other religions might help them. Doesn't make any of them true.
I'd just suggest it's better to believe in more true things than false things. Particularly when not all religious and cultural practices are benign.
Avatar for Richard IV
Richard IV
@Peter. What??????? I am an atheist and am still one at 65. But, Peter, I have never met, talked to or read the work of ANY athiest who tried to put forward any argument for the non existant of God. Why? Because the existance of God cannot be proved or disproved given (a) the refusal of believers to define God in a way that allows proof of his/her/its existance or nonexistance. And (b) the state of our knowledge about the universe is not adequate.
What atheists actually do is attempt to rebutt arguments FOR the existance of God.
But, Peter, I think I can resolve your connundrum. You cannot be an ex-atheist because you were not an atheist in the first place. And your final sentence is just plain stupid, but hard to rebut because it has no clear meaning. When you say "if an atheist is wrong about God" I think what you mean is that If the existence of God were to be irrefutably, logically and scientifically proven. Now, were this to happen, your atheist would not be "wrong" if they formerly refused to believe something that could at the time not be proven, but the in the face of proof accepted it as fact. I myself would be deleriously happy and would have lost nothing at all.
Your fallacy is simple one. You, like every commentor here who criticises athiests, have failed to grasp one simple fact - an athiest does not "believe there is no god" and does not try to prove there is no god. That would be irrational. On the contrary, an atheist does not believe there is a god, until there is proof. That is fully rational. I don't think you can see the difference, which is why I suggest you were never really an atheist.
Avatar for Kate
Kate
It's unbearable to read your commentary on Saint Thomas Aquinas given your howler of an article on SSM suggesting that the great saint would support such a concept. 

Shame on you!

Until you retract your article and direct readers to what TA says on the subject it is best to leave him be. An apology to readers for misrepresenting his works would also be a good idea.

LIkewise to suggest to other Catholics that it is alright to vote for SSM  on a faith basis is also a disgrace.

Avatar for Russ
Russ
Because God talks to you Kate?  Here is a tip IF there was such a thing as God, she would be too busy with rest of the universe to care if two people fell in love and wanted to get married.  She would leave that to petty and bitter.
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Russ
Well you should probably declare you inherent and obvious bias Greg.  You are a committed and devout Catholic, so no surprises here, not much logic either.
Avatar for Matt
Matt
Love the casual uni bashing (nothing more straight and narrow in this country than an IPA report). One of the most insightful subjects I took at Melbourne university was God and the Natural Sciences, run by both an atheist and Anglican priest (feel free to give it a casual google search).

Interesting topic, but basic arguments. I have faith I am the son of my parents without empirical evidence? I have faith my car will turn on without knowing what makes it so? How backwards.... you have the potential to move onwards but you choose not to. Nothing honorable about that. Western civilisation doesn't rest on the knowledge of God, it rests on the why and how, thats what keeps things moving. The same can be said of religion, but people like you run as an antithesis to progress, both in our physical and spiritual world. 
Avatar for David
David
Mr Sheridan's idea that he only has faith that he is the son of his parents suggests there are no facts just faith. That he is the son of his mother is a fact and these days it can be established beyond any doubt he is the son of his father and therefore this is also a fact.The adoption of Mr Sheridan's logic or semantics explains how climate change has become a religion rather than a science.
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Peter
@David Until a DNA test is done it is not a fact.  Greg presumably does not require a DNA test due to his faith in his parents. QED
Avatar for THOMAS
THOMAS
@David I once diagnosed a patient who had two fathers. The zygotes/morulae collided and formed one boy. So you cant assume that Sheridan had only one father. The mother would know if this is possible, but my experience with paternity tests tells me she wouldnt be volunteering this information. Which keeps paternity testers in a job. And sometimes mothers are given the wrong baby to take home. Finally, paternity tests can be in error.
Avatar for Richard
Richard
@Peter @David Bad argument Peter. There is empirical evidence such as a birth certificate and reliable testimony from family and friends. No faith required for the very reasonable inference that he is, as a contingent matter of fact, his parents' son. If he doesn't accept all that reasonable empirical evidence faith won't solve the problem but a DNA test would.
Avatar for Richard
Richard
@THOMAS @David But presumably THOMAS there was only one mother?  And in any case he did say 'his parents' son' so if there were multiple parents you could diagnose that?
Avatar for THOMAS
THOMAS
@Richard @THOMAS @David There is a famous Australian play about two cane cutters from Mackay, who cut cane from May to December and blew their money on their Kings Cross mistresses from December to May called "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll". In it John Mills tells a naieve young widow Angela Lansbury that he had twins with two mothers. Angela says - how can that be? and John says "Well two girls were born to two of my girlfriends on the same day, and the mothers both said they were mine, so they must be twins".
Avatar for Stuart
Stuart
Possibly the strongest evidence of a God has been the ongoing belief in many Gods. It was the Jewish religion that gave us the concept of one God.
However there have been the sex gods, the sun gods etc. Atheism as espoused by Dawkins has its own god, the science god. Today we have the green god or climate change god. The point is people have and continue to believe in something that requires some faith, despite some protestations to the contrary.
With the decline in belief of the one God, it is not suprising that belief in other gods has again increased as people search for "the truth" or a greater understanding of being itself.
Some of the comments below are either exilliarating or unfortunate. It is amazing that many people still have nothing more than a16th century understanding of religion or the one God. There again when we have so little religious education these days, it is not surprising.
Avatar for Simon
Simon
@Stuart yes the immature and undeveloped views surprise me too. Cast one belief as a fairy tale i.e. bearded man in sky etc. While with no sense of irony referring to the evolution and a big bang (which is a pretty fantastical explanation).
Avatar for Sean
Sean
"Possibly the strongest evidence of a God has been the ongoing belief in many Gods. It was the Jewish religion that gave us the concept of one God."
Strongest evidence of a God? That's unfortunate because that very argument is regularly used as evidence against theism. 
Avatar for Obeyno1
Obeyno1
My understanding is one pharaoh introduced the concept of one god before Judaism.
No one believed in other galaxies 500 years ago. Is that the strongest evidence there are no other galaxies. When everyone thought the earth was flat was that the strongest evidence the earth was flat. When everyone believes disease and earthquakes were causes by supernatural agents was this strong evidence for angry gods?
If non belief in gods or Islam increased to an overwhelming majority would this be strong evidence that these positions are correct.
With respect, this is not a good argument for anything.
Avatar for Obeyno1
Obeyno1
Stuart, if you need faith then you don't have a good reason to believe.
Faith in Scientology. Faith in Islam. Faith in shiva. Faith in Mormonism. Faith in homeopathy. Faith in crystal healing. Is that good reason to believe in any of these?
Avatar for Richard
Richard
@Sean @Stuart My cat has noticed that different windows catch the sun's light and warmth at different times of the day and has therefore developed an ongoing belief that a new sun appears in the morning and then disappears at night. This is therefore strong evidence that the sun moves around the earth. 
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letters 1 CONVOLUTIONS AND SPINNERS: JULIE NATHAN'S ARTICLE

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SERIES OF LETTERS ON LINE EX THE OZ WEBSITE.

UNFORTUNATELY THE TOP ITEM WAS CENSORED BY THE AUSTRALIAN EDITOR:
I MANAGED TO CUT AND PASTE IT BEFORE IT WAS CENSORED!!!

This is not the first time The oz has done this!
Geoff Seidner
2. 48 pm Tues 28/11/17





Geoff
pending
CONVOLUTIONS AND SPINNERS: JULIE NATHAN'S ARTICLE

Julie Nathan's lamentable article ATTACKS ON JEWS A THREAT TO ALL SOCIETY 27/11/17 is at best a trite defacto plagiarisation AKA perversion of the famous Niemoler quote of yesteryear.Niemoler's  was brilliant as an original synopsis of how weak mankind can be and sadly always will be.
But  Nathan's headline delienates her obvious inversion in inverting reality by ignoring the elephant in the room: the left.
There are many outrages - not merely ignoring that almost all anti - semitism comes from the left; university lecture rooms, BDS, political parties which she reluctantly admits to in the UK.
In amazingly blaming Donald Trump irrationally for ''condoning and encouraging racist sexist and bigoted sentiment,'' - she deliberately conflates and blames an irrelevant group.
She claims insight that this group of non - entities ''look for inspiration to the mass rallies in Charlottesville...'' and ultra - nationalists in Poland'' and ''other [non - defined!] extreme groups''
She understand the nature of all numbers large and small: this alone makes her ignoring and conflation of the major source of Jew - hatred inexcusable.Her convoluted language clearly shows that she thinks she Edit (in 2 minutes)
Avatar for Geoff






Geoff
Shame on you Harry.
You know every religion in disparate ways regards themselves as the true religion........ you must know this .....it is undebatable.
So why not pick up the multiple dozens of absurdities in Julie Nathan's lame article designed to murder the basic elements of clear thinking and good writing.
Leaden phrases to the left of me...lamentable conflagration with Donald Trump on the sane right.... my goodness this could be endless! Others can see the obvious as well.
Julie N used to write great articles.
But obvious theological Jew hatred will not do Harry.
GS
Avatar for Harry






Harry
Jews will be in a better position to decry non-Jewish supremacism when they loudly and officially drop the claim that they are the Chosen People of the God of All the Universe.
To point out something that is obvious, that claim is supremacist in the extreme.
Plus, to improve their situation, Jews should erect a monument, or endow scholarships, or do similar,  to thank the non-Jews who died, or were made lame, and the families who bore the burden of these losses, in the fight against Nazism.
My earlier comments along these lines were not published here - such is the state of the matter.
Avatar for Helen






Helen
So WHY did AusAide grant the Israel Hating, Palestinjan, Hamas promoting, "Peace and Conflict Studies" at Sydney University, $500,000 two years ago!!
Avatar for Paul






Paul
The far left & far right are one and the same both tied to socialism.
Remember the National Socialist Workers Party "NAZI".
Wether socialists are far left or far right evil always follows.
The only safe space against these people is natural conservatism. 






Avatar for Wieslaw






Wieslaw
With my knowledge “ultranacionalists” in Poland are called “Patriots” and all Jews living there do not need
any armed quards, high fences, metal detectors etc. so please don’t spread left side hysteria.






Avatar for James






James
@Wieslaw the only reason Jews in Poland don't need protection is because there are none left. The few who escaped the gas chambers and didn't emigrate but went back to their old homes were shot by their former neighbours. 
Avatar for Obeyno1






Obeyno1
Won't it be grand if conservatives get their way to allow conscientious objection by private enterprises. It won't just be homosexuals being discriminated against.

17 centuries of anti-antisemitism (accused of being god killers) by Christians and 14 centuries by Muslims hasn't disappeared. 






Avatar for agostino






agostino
Sometimes, it seems that those shouting the loudest about racism are the ones that are most intolerant, shouting down diverse views, protesting, rioting, behaving in anti-social ways and destroying the private properties of people.






Avatar for Harry






Harry
Barry: Jews, silly!
It is central to Jewishness that Jews are the Chosen People of the God of All the Universe.
That is supremacist, to say the obvious.
Avatar for David






David
Surely the greatest threats to the safety of Jewish people comes from Islam. This is apparent from events in UK and Europe.  I recall seeing signs saying 'Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas' at Islamic rallies in Australia along with signs such as "behead those who insult the Prophet'. Jewish schools and synagogues in France find the need to hire security guards. The 'Charlie Hebdo' hit job happened at the same time that people in a kosher supermarket were gunned down. And, quite chillingly, Islamic terrorists in India specifically targeted jews when they massacred numerous people at a major hotel a few years back. I recall reading that they went out of their way to identify anyone who might be jewish. What this has to do with, or how this can be linked to Donald Trump, is beyond me.






Avatar for Jean






Jean
@David. I could not agree with you more. I thought this article was rather delusional. The right may be on the rise in Europe, but most of its rhetoric there has been directed against uncontrolled borders and massive Islamic immigration.
Interesting that the Greens and Labor in Australia have turned to supporting Palestine organisation and its war on Jews...including support of the BDS sanctions against Israel. How does the author equate this as coming from “right” groups?
Avatar for Ron






Ron
Deuteronomy 28:33 says to the people of God: "you shall have nothing but cruel oppression all your days", amongst many other curses, if they disobey Him. Scripture doesn't lie; this article confirms prophecy, as does the course of history.






Avatar for Alastair






Alastair
Um, no they are not Trent, but you will learn that the hard way once the Great Tribulation starts. I suggest you got to YouTube and look up current prophetic visionaries like Amir Tsarfati or J D Farag, you will find that what is happening right now in the world is 100% prophesied in G-d's Word!
Avatar for stephen






stephen
You make sweeping allegations against the Poles and Donald Trump that cannot be maintained.
Trump disavowed the white supremacists in the strongest terms. What more can he do?
In Poland, it was a show of national pride and perhaps antisemetic elements attached themselves to the march but in no possible way could the march be interpreted as an anti Jewish march.
In the religious literature of 25% of the world population, the Jewish people are held in contempt and mistrust but this religion has very little to do with Poland or Trump.






Avatar for Nigel






Nigel
BDS was invented and is promulgated in left-leaning academia. Antisemitism is a core belief of the left just look at the British Labour party.
Avatar for Phil






Phil
Does it matter whether the rise in anti-semitism is coming from the left or the right? Can't we just condemn it no matter where it originates? I do. I condemn the anti-semitism.
PhilR






Avatar for Richard






Richard
@Phil Of course it matters.  The most effective way to treat a problem is to understand it first.  If you focus on a few crazy so called "right wingers" and ignore the rampant, and establishment approved, anti-semitism of the universities, major political parties, the union movement and governments (British Labour, The Greens, Democrats etc) how can anyone develop effective techniques of fighting it?
Avatar for Obeyno1






Obeyno1
@Phil we can condemn it wherever it comes from. 
However, that shouldn't mean Israel should be free from criticism.
The settlements must stop. 
It does matter where it comes from. It does help to understand what drives it so you can combat it in the battle of ideas.
One sided leftist opposition to Israel is one set of ideas to combat. Racial supremacy and anti -Semitic Christian traditions are other ideas to combat.  
Avatar for John






John
This has the distinct sound of a hoax about it. If we found out who's actually behind 'Antipodean Resistance', we might find it's actually a set-up. 






Avatar for Calvin






Calvin
It is factually wrong and highly inappropriate to imply that Trump is responsible for any anti-semitic behaviours. He has been an articulate and unambiguous supporter of Israel for years, has close Jewish relatives, has worked well with PM Netanyahu, and has been a welcome and stark departure from Obama's constant sniping against Israel. Trump's factual acknowledgement of the Holocaust during his Warsaw speech in July was lauded throughout Poland and Israel...a speech which would have been inconceivable during the Obama years. It is preposterous to imply that Trump is anti-semitic or has encouraged anti-semitism.






Avatar for Patricia






Patricia
@Calvin Perhaps the situation is not black and white? That on the one hand Trump has exhibited laudatory behaviour and that, on the other hand, the GOP more generally and Trump in particular has had strong support from white supremacist groups many of which approve of Hitlerism?
Avatar for Forne






Forne
@Patricia @Calvin There must be people in the US who survived the Holocaust and see it all starting to happen again and a President who praises the white supremacist groups must remind them of another leader and we all know how that ended.  

Avatar for kev of Tas






kev of Tas
Julie Nathan, you have to choose between your obviously leftist ideaology and the TRUTH.
It is the LEFT which is the threat to Jews. It is we conservatives who are your only friends in this country.

Avatar for Patricia






Patricia
1. Conflating 'Jews' with 'Israelis', and vice versa, is racist.
2. Conflating Israeli state bad behaviour with Jewish bad behaviour is racist.
3. Isolating Israel for particular criticisms when several similarly powerful nations exhibit the same behaviour is racist.
4.  Whether Israelis are more or less racist than citizens of other states, and whether this is exhibited in bad Israeli state behaviour, is moot.
5. Racism is so deeply embedded in Australia's power structures, cultural mores, established religions, state and private institutions, and individual values that it anti-semitism and racism towards other groups generally hides in plain sight. Swastikas painted on synagogues, pigs blood poured on mosques, and policing rates of Indigenous youth 20 times that of non-Indigenous youth are the symptoms, not the exceptions.
6. It would be useful to do an exegesis of why 'anti-semitism' deserves a separate term when all other forms of racism lack a specific term. i can see points for and against.
7.  One does not have to go far to find racism or anti-semitism across the political spectrum.

IMO, ascribing anti-semitism to the Left or to the Right is more about Left v Right than anti-semitism per se. 
My view is that conflating the two issues debases the struggle against anti-semitism and the struggle against racism more generally. In addition, an understanding of anti-semitism becomes somewhat lost in the disintegrating conceptual value of dichotomy past its use-by date.
8. I am not sure that far right Israeli politicians, political groups and commentators are doing anyone a favour by framing their political opponents terms of anti-semitism. If they do wish to do so, they should be comprehensive about it. This is not false moral equivalence. It is applying the same standards against the whole political spectrum. They should look at right wing white supremacist groups who support Trump, particularly the ones who are attracted to Hitlerite regalia. Poltiical groups associate with traditional ultra conservative Roman Catholics in states like France and Poland, and in our very own home grown groups such as the League of Rights.
I fear that the general points (above) about social media enabling and encouraging racism of all forms is only too true. 








Avatar for Chris






Chris
@Patricia Take your Leftist hate of Jews under the disgusie of hating Israel somewhere else. It is an intellectually dishonest gambit.
Avatar for Patricia






Patricia
1. My general world view could be described as having a concern for those who are (relatively) powerless and who are suffering as a consequences. This naturally leads to a concern for the victims of all forms of racism. Beyond that, I regard racism as a civilizational threat. At the level of my lived experience, racism tends to diminish us all.
2. While I was inculcated with anti-semitism as part of a traditional European rural conservative Roman Catholicism upbringing, I believe I have come a long way in dealing with it at a personal level. If there is anything at all in my post that needs to be addressed in this context, I would welcome comments. I undertake to examine them with honesty and integrity.
3. I don't hate Israel.

My view is that your sprayed accusations and your arrogant tone detract from us having a useful discussion.
Avatar for kev of Tas






kev of Tas
The most prominent change has been the rise in extreme right-wing activity.
Prominent change - it went from one incident to two.
Meanwhile the large violent barrage anti-semitic actions by leftists and islamists remains constant at about a zillion a year. Very reassuring.

I suggest that this whole article is a desperate attempt to avoid the facts - anti-Semitism is fulled by the LEFT and by islamists.

Avatar for Allan






Allan
Nathan is totally out of touch as the big threat is from the socialist left. Has she been watching the ABC or Fairfax?
Avatar for Peter






Peter
I was not aware of the need for security services as described, if this is the case this situation is absolutely disgraceful.
Avatar for Chris






Chris
Sorry, but isn't this the same story from 2016 ... and 2015 ... etc.?
Maybe it is true, but my eyes and ears don't tell me it is true (They are the same eyes and ears that tell me, despite 'statistics', that there is little sexual assault on campus, women are doing very well in society and the SSM debate was conducted in a civil manner).
It is difficult for 'research' to be convincing when those who conduct it have a vested interest in the outcome.
Avatar for Geoff






Geoff
There are so many labels being attached to people (left, right, etc) when there is such a diversity on the scale.  It's like children doing name-calling without any ability to rationally and intellectually reason out what is going on.
It amazes me that someone who authors a report on anti-Semitism will attempt to lay blame on a supporter of Israel (namely Trump, who did in fact condemn, not condone racism) and let the greatest perpetrators of anti-Semitism off without a mention!






Avatar for kev of Tas






kev of Tas
@Geoff It is safer to attack Trump because there is no danger of retaliation and it might curry favour (for a while) with the REAL enemy.
ie it is appeasement.
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letters 2....

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letters 2


Avatar for Paul
Paul
As the writer well knows - but fails to mention - is that the rising incidence of anti-Semitism comes from the “left” and its obsession with the supposed sins of the state of Israel. The writer also fails to mention he other cause - the existence of a virulent anti-Semitism amongst some in the Muslim community which largely goes unremarked or unchecked by mainstream media for fear of being labelled Isamophobic. The whole article is one of deflection from the real issues and the mention of Donald Trump is simply ludicrous.
Avatar for David
David
@Paul I agree Paul,
The idea that anti-semitism is an extreme right wing thing is wrong. It is, as is fascism, a projection of the left's own history and beginnings onto conservatives and those of the right that is the problem.
Dinesh D'Souza explains this very well in his book The Big Lie. n 
Avatar for Aaron
Aaron
@Paul Exactly. I can bet your bottom dollar a lot of anti Semitism is being bred on the university campuses which are hot beds for far left ideology. A shame she cannot either see where their real enemies are, or chooses not to mention it.
Avatar for Jean
Jean
@Aaron@Paul. The very large elephant in the room which the “fashionable” left will not name for fear of being deemed one of the “ists” or “phobics”. Completely deluded is a good description.
Avatar for bronwyn
bronwyn
I'd never heard of Antipodean Resistance, and Wikipedia says its membership is 'very small'. The left is known for its anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian proclivities, which sometimes spill over into boycotts or other anti-Jewish activities. However their objections are more political than racial. 
Blaming Trump for anti-Semitic behaviour is a lot of rubbish, hardly worth taking seriously. His son-in-law, who is supposed to be too close to Trump, is a Jew.
I don't think we are dealing with a major problem here.

Avatar for PatrickJD
PatrickJD
@bronwyn  Indeed, the author's bias against conservatives shows. It is a pity because anti-Semitic hatred of Jews (Arabs too are racially Semitic, not all Jews are) is abhorrent to conservatives who recognise the good that Donald Trump is doing. The author does not seem to have taken note of the US President's recent visit to Israel and his explicit support for civilized Western values.
Avatar for graham
graham
The greatest threat to a Palestinian family and their home is the Jewish State of Israel. A good size in Israel would agree with me. They can't have both ways they lost the high ground a long time ago.

They are intitled to go about their life here without any fear same as the Palestinian children should be allowed without fear of kidnap.
Avatar for Paul
Paul
@graham It is interesting - we are told that anti - Zionism has nothing to do with anti - Semitism. Why raise the policies of the state of Israel in a discussion on anti - Semitism?
Avatar for Geoff
Geoff
@graham Israel has given up a lot of land for peace (land that they bought) to appease Palestinians. Every time they gave it up, the Palestinians were emboldened to be more aggressive.  They do not want peace. They have openly said they want every Jew wiped from the face of the earth.
You made no mention of the fact that these so-called Palestinian children and their families are paid a lot of money to attack Israelis by the Palestinian authority and when arrested (kidnapped in your words), the families are paid even more. This money by the way is provided by gullible donors to the Palestinian causes.

Avatar for Greg
Greg

Blood libel (also blood accusation) is an accusation that Jews kidnapped and murdered the children of Christians in order to use their blood as part of their religious rituals during Jewish holidays. Historically, these claims – alongside those of well poisoning and host desecration – have been a major theme of the persecution of Jews in Europe.

Is this what you are referring to. Contemporary ME popular television, including for children, perpetuates the yarn to this day. Particularly favoured in Palestine.
Avatar for kev of Tas
kev of Tas
@graham The greatest threat to Palestinins is their own administration and the greatest threat to Palestinian children is dying in a tunnel collapse or some other terrorist related activity.
I suggest you actually GO THERE some time and see for yourself.
Avatar for Ken
Ken
It is most certainly not those on the right who are anti-Semitic.  What a ridiculous accusation.
Avatar for arlys
arlys
Sorry. Why target Jews? What on earth have they done? They are good citizens, they don't need a special police squad, the children are well educated and polite, they feature highly in Medicine, Judiciary, and big business, they are good Australians, who contribute greatly to the country. Are they now being lumped in with us white, straight, Conservative Catholics, who are the present targets? There is no place for any religion or group to be targeted in this democracy. No place whatsoever.
Avatar for David
David
I find this staggering, the greatest threat to the Jewish community is the left wing; just look at the campaign from UNSW radical Left Socialist Alternative.  The left wing in all its glory of equal representation claim the Jewish minority to be a threat.
Avatar for ivan
ivan
Kicked out of more than half the country's in the world for no reason. When will the racism stop?
Avatar for Greg
Greg
@ivan yes, as the Palestinian support groups in Australia chant on a regular basis for the "right of return" never do they ask that for the millions of Jews forced out of ME countries when they had been there for millenia. The Jews of Yemen were forced to walk to Israel on mass.

Attacks on Jews signal ,,,by Julie Nathan... ECAJ RESEARCH OFFICER

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Attacks on Jews signal a worrying threat to all civilised society

In the aftermath of the Holocaust it was hoped that expressions of murderous Jew-hatred would be considered so odious as to be a thing of the past.
The Holocaust, the deliberate and planned killing of every Jewish man, woman and child the Nazis and their collaborators could get their hands on, was a seminal event for humanity.
It demonstrated that although human beings have the potential to rise to all kinds of lofty heights, there is also no limit to the moral depths to which they may sink.
In far too many European minds, Jews were not seen as thinking, feeling fellow human beings but as objectified examples of an ­impersonal “type”. The concept of “the Jew” became the repository into which Jew-haters projected their personal insecuri­ties, cravenness, misanthropic ­impulses and self-loathing.
Fast forward to the next ­century and another continent. ­Despite the best hopes, and years of education about the evils of ­racism, incitement to murder Jews has been resurrected, even in Australia, which has no history at all of official persecution of Jews.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the peak representative body for Australian Jews, publishes an annual report on anti-Semitism in Australia, which documents anti-Semitic incidents.
The latest report, just ­released, ­reveals that in the year to September there were 230 anti-Semitic ­incidents reported, a 9.5 per cent increase.
The most prominent change has been the rise in extreme right-wing activity.
This new development has been predominantly through the formation of a neo-nazi group Antipodean Resistance in October last year. It originated in Melbourne but has spread to most states.
The activities of Antipodean Resistance are primarily of propaganda and recruitment. To this end, members of the group have been heavily involved in putting up thousands of Nazi swastika stickers and thousands of anti-Jewish, anti-homosexual and pro-Nazi posters, especially at universities, public places and in areas with numbers of Jewish residents.
These posters are not just run-of-the-mill agitprop. Two Antipodean Resistance posters demand “Legalise the execution of Jews” and call for the killing of homosexuals.
The posters have graphic images of shooting Jews and homosexuals in the head.
Other Antipodean Resistance posters vilify and demonise Jews, homosexuals, Chinese students and non-white immigrants.
Where has this resurrection of Nazi murder rhetoric come from?
During the past few years there has been a steady rise in far-right political activity in Europe and North America.
From proscribed neo-nazi terrorist group National Action in Britain (which Antipodean Resistance looks to for inspiration), to the mass rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia in August (in which a protester was killed by a far-right activist), and rallies in Poland of up to 60,000 ultranationalists (with many calling “Jews out!”) this month, neo-nazi and other extreme right groups are becoming increasingly active and emboldened.
Many blame US President Donald Trump, whose rhetoric and behaviour have indeed at times condoned and encouraged racist, sexist and bigoted sentiment.
Yet on the other side of the political spectrum British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also has shamefully tolerated and been accused of condoning anti-Semitism among the far left and Islamist groups he has courted.
However, the deterioration in the standards of discourse in ­conventional politics is a mere symptom of a deeper malaise ­simmering within Western ­society, brought about by growing technological disruption, economic inequality, job insecurity and xenophobia, and a contracting middle class.
The tra­ditional ­social consensus about our democratic institutions and values is being undermined in the process. Intolerance, bigotry, ­hatred and violence increasingly rise through the cracks in the bedrock of society.
The Jewish community bears the brunt of this fracturing of ­society.
Because of the high incidence of physical attacks against Jews and Jewish communal buildings during the past three decades, and continuing threats in Australia, Jewish places of worship, schools, communal organisations and community centres need, for ­security reasons, to ­operate under the protection of armed guards, high fences, metal detectors, CCTV cameras and the like.
The Jewish community is the only community within Australia that has to live with such high ­levels of security.
The necessity is recognised by Australia’s law ­enforce­ment agencies and arises from the entrenched and protean nature of anti-Semitism in Western and Muslim culture.
As history has so often shown, when people can target Jews with impunity, in the street, in institutions or anywhere else, then sooner or later other sectors of society also will be targeted. Jews are said to be the “canary in the coalmine”.
The devastation wrought by racism and racially motivated violence may start with the Jews but it never ends with the Jews.
Julie Nathan is research officer for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and author of the ECAJ anti-Semitism report.

THIS IS AND WAS ECAJ!!!! by gs

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On 25 Aug 2017 10:13 AM, "Geoff Seidner"<g87@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
 
 
From: g87
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 11:16 AM
Subject: Fw: Dear Danny, Peter Wertheim, Julie Nathan of ECAJ
 
 
 
From: g87
Sent: Thursday, November 28, 2013 2:28 PM
Subject: Dear Danny, Peter Wertheim, Julie Nathan of ECAJ
 
CONFIDENTIAL

Dear Danny, Peter Wertheim, Julie Nathan of ECAJ
and Phillip Chester ZFA, Tzvi Fleischer and Colin R of AIJAC
Please pass on to Sam T of Zionist Council.


CC to I Leibler, Romy Leibler, Akiva Hamilton – Shurat Hadin

Shalom people!
STRENGTH TO YOUR ARM, AKIVA HAMILTON!

Re the ‘TO’ area above: I submit for your respective websites the article I had written some time ago.
Let there be no doubt that you will NOT publish it.

And I tell you that in terms of pure unadulterated humbug – nothing beats the last paragraph of today’s The Australian:
[I pasted it to a semi – secure blog, rarely used by me]

http://cognatebmpaz.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/anti-semitism-on-increase-oz-2811.html
Ms Nathan also spoke of the need for legal recourse to tackle vilification and hate, citing sections of the Racial Discrimination Act the government has pledged to repeal.

I refer to the scenario of legal recourse, of course.

Please be careful in responding: it may be better to ignore me for reasons not obvious

Kindly publish my essay without smart – alec comments – and we will see how many people support your stance.

Should you wish to make any comments – any of you are invited to do so in writting.

As an aside – I do wonder why the ‘silent majority’of our people have remained silent. You are challenged to comment and / or publish my article to enable those moribund of mind to understand what a con – job you have pulled!

Shalom
Geoff Seidner

As an aside: I recall Mr I Leibler wrote an article decimating the lamentable anti Israel writings of Jonathan Sacks in the AJN – 10 or so years ago. It was the only one.....
We will see whether he has the courage to lacerate you guys named in the ‘To’ area above
###########################
###############################



GOOD   ON   YOU,    SHURAT   HA   DIN!!
I am saddened that the usually esteemed ECAJ and other major Israel – supporting groups – ZFA and the Zionist Council of Victoria have not appreciated that their late October attempts at undermining  the incipient legal action by Shuarat Hadin the Israeli Law Centre against the determined ‘boycotteers’,  are dreadfully ill advised.
There will be a directions hearing commencing in the Federal Court on Wednesday 27 November in the Federal Court. I refer to The Australian: November 25, 2013 which also correctly advises  that:
‘’Several prominent Australian Jewish academics -- including some who oppose BDS – manifestly back his [Lynch, Rees and University of Sydney] right to support it as an expression of academic freedom, and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has disowned Shurat HaDin's action.’’

Am I reading this correctly?
It saddens me that The Oz is correct. I posit that basis the article in JWire and ECAJ website that our leading people resent action taken by Shurat Ha Din - and  in the process fail to realize they somehow also manage to effectively support the BDS! Well may they claim that they oppose the BDS. It is meaningless codswallop to so claim and yet do everything to undermine the legal process which the Australian Jewish organizations should have started themselves.
And it gets worse - much worse.

I understand they feel diminished because they did not act earlier before S.HaDin shamed them with action.
It is expected that they will have disparate excuses for what I regard as almost essentially treacherous action on their [ECAJ] part. Arguably to justify their own unmasterly inactivity. Note carefully furthermore that in supporting boycotters’ rights under the aegis of ‘’academic freedom’’ – they plainly humiliate themselves? Non? It is plainly astonishing.
I [GS] asked these Jewish mainstream organizations early November to explain the inarguable ‘’PATHETIC SITUATION THAT WILL POSSIBLY ENSURE
THAT THE JUDGE ADJUDICATING  WILL BE AWARETHAT THE ENTIRE JEWISH / ZIONIST BUREAUCRACY SEEMS TO BE WORKING
AGAINST SHURAT HADIN, TO OUR MUTUAL DISADVANTAGE!!
Exactly whose side are you guys on – I continued.
Or is it do that not think things through!?
Surely if you cannot / will not help - why hinder?

What do you intend to say when your grandchildren ask:  What

did you do in the war against the anti - Israel scourge of
this decade’’?
 There was no answer to this: indeed one of the 'troika' essentially admitted I
was right.

How could it come to this? Our people using the favoured line of our enemies, for goodness sakes!
 Any or all of the troika could have done what Shurat Ha Din did. It begged to be done because primary or secondary boycotts are arguably illegal basis either commercial law or Racial Vilification law. Which the BDS plainly comprimizes. You guys should have chosen your weapons – instead you did the most demonstrable example of mealy – mouthed inaction dressed up as jealousy.
Inverted humour attempted.
But they did worse than nothing.
Instead they  publically criticised / vitiated Hamilton’s action. Certainly giving
oxygen to our enemies! Can I put in a few more exclamation marks!!?
And putting it in the public domain – in spite of the fact that action against inarguable defacto Jew haters will have had greater prospects if it was  not ‘kiboshed’ with self – serving selfishness.
Now I have put this in the public domain myself – and appreciating that our enemies are reading this as well. You have forced my hand. Shame also on all of our
people who have allowed this to pass without comment. I have watched the cavalcade of nothingness for many weeks – pardon the oxymoronic insult.
Maybe in some sort of rational world the judge will contemplate my humble words and accept that the ECAJ et al are simply wrong. It is rare – but it is possible for mainstream Jewish entities to be 'misguided'. Desperately wrong and pathetically misguided. I have never seen anything like this inane situation that The Australian and Shurat HaDin have been the only ones to stand up against the BDS promoters and our local organizations do matters adverse to Israel's interest
To those Jews who espouse that theirs may be a viable legal opinion – they  should realize they are helping  the same people who were quoted as railing against the London Declaration on anti semitism. [see below] Even if they are proven to be right – which is far from certain -  it is irresponsible to do what they have done.
Note Sydney University’s Peace Studies Prof. Rees on the London Declaration signed by all responsible parties:   ‘’ it is childish, thoughtless but easily populist.’’ 
This is what Rees wrote: Criticising Jew Hatred is ‘’childish’’! The Australian 15/5/13http://cognatesocialistdystopia.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/hhhhantisemitism-but-easily-populist.html
And never mind the self – fulfilling prophecy which our  Zionist organizations had chutzpah and ineptmodus in setting into motion. Devoid of notion. I wrote some poetry many years ago which when found will aptly designate this farce for what it is; in non – post modernist poetry.

It is my understanding that holding ‘them’ to account is best achieved by threats  and real world  action through the courts: there has to be an understanding who
one is doing business with.
Well - may the Executive Director Peter Wertheim in his article in Jwire 31/10 ‘’believe that the most appropriate and effective way....through public discourse’’
Where is the evidence that anything anyone has said in civilized discourse has had any effect?
Au contraire – the University of Sydney have a Sturt Rees who on 15 May this year was quoted by The Oz as being against governments signing the London Declaration against anti semitism!
This is how far our enemies have taken it: who would have believed a few short years ago that 'they' would insist that railing against AS as ''childish thoughtless and easily populist''

Note Wertheim’s waffle in his public pronouncement in seeking justification for his BDS stance in nation states signing the document is strained and and inarguably absurd.. 

See below: it is self - contradictory tripe to suggest that the BDS promoters are allowed to have their day in court'' - and simultaneously vitiate same  via suggesting they are against the action action to bring it to court is ''are opposed to litigation if it is pursued merely as a political tactic.”

Excuse me? This is ethereal nonsense to invert reality by criticising via the ‘political’ moniker.


Excuse me Mr Wertheim - exactly how can it be anything but ''politics'?

Maybe he can pursue legal action without subject matter? That would eliminate the political scenario!

Pray explain what you say here: exactly how would you describe your comments: political, non? Do you resile from making political statements in
favour of protecting Israel against the BDS? Exactly what do you do during the day? Support a motherhood version of politics?
I suggest you get real as they say in the non – classicist world.It is all too absurd for serious discussion: I sometimes wonder how we won so many Nobel Prizes.

The Syney University are the source of the infamous Sydney Peace Prize.... with infamous list of anti – Israel winners. They select them for their anti Israel stance - shamelessly.
And our people select disingenuous verbiage as above and below to harm ourselves.

And the Vice Chancellor of Sydney Uni has plainly never had any intention of doing anything about Rees or the chief boycoteer Lynch, the Professor of the Peace and Conflict Studies Centre at University of Sydney. I did not realize that their much – parodied nomenclature was still extant.
Furthermore the idea to take viable legal action against those who would bedevil Israel is necessary. Surely the legal system will allow defence against evil incantations.
Contemplate what the gay or some entity  turned against gays or Muslims? It would result in proverbial war or worse. And  the ECAJ merely wants to continue  asking them nicely to  cease and desist?
Surely legal action compares favourably with ECAJ fatuous attempts at ‘’exposure... its deceptive and sometimes racist rhetoric, methods...’’
Where has it got you, Peter W? In my opinion there are two irrefutable ideas in this realm:  only  declaration of war or threat of legal action has ever been heeded by those who care not for civil discourse.
Who is your hero – Churchill  or Chamberlain? The analogy is appropriate. And if you want examples of viable real – world action via the courts compared with
waffled, plaintive bleating – tell me where have you seen examples of success with ‘’through public discourse.’’ ?
I repeat:

  • Look at Rees’ comment about the London anti semitism document : ‘’childish, thoughtless but easily populist.’’
  • How misguided is the modus vivendi that ‘’....but we are opposed to litigation if it is pursued merely as a political tactic.”
But now we come to the arguable ultimate: Start Rees and Lynch have tried the astonishing and got away with it to date: they effectively refused access to the
Sir Zelman Cowen Scholarship to a Jew who was plainly helping the Palestinians!
And of course Sir Zelman Cowen was the highly respected Jewish Governor – General!
The Scholarship was / is being run by a Jewess Sue Freedman-Levy who has obviously not spoken up about this.
Could someone help me understand how the Peace and ‘Conflated’ studies Centre through Lynch has the authority to control the Sir Zelman Cowen Scholarship?
I do not want to call this chutzpah – because this minimizes it somehow.
If only for this I wish Shurat Hadin well. Maybe one day I will see an article in mainstream media – not just JWire – that openly wonders at how professional Israel – Haters can  refuse a ‘peacenik’ Jew access to the Sir Zelman Cowan scholarship.
Never mind all the other matters in this epistle.
And maybe someone at the ECAJ will admit that theirs was not a good idea!

Geoff Seidner
13 Alston Grove East St Kilda 3183
03 9525 9299
03 9 525 9290


“The ECAJ believes that the most appropriate and effective way to combat the boycott campaign is to expose its deceptive and sometimes racist rhetoric, methods and aims public scrutiny. In our view, attempts to suppress the campaign through litigation are inappropriate and likely to be counter-productive. It is for this reason that the ECAJ has had no involvement in the action brought by Shurat HaDin and will continue to fight the boycott campaign through public discourse. If any individuals believe they have been adversely affected by racially discriminatory policies and practices of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies they are entitled to have their day in court, but we are opposed to litigation if it is pursued merely as a political tactic.”

On 15/5 Professor S Rees of Sydney University thought the signing by more than 40 Parliamentarians of The London Declaration against anti semitism was ‘’childish, thoughtless but easily populist.’’
Throughout it all we have the Vice Chancellor  Spence seemingly vitiating the boycott – yet allowing it to be promoted at his University!
    The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has issued a statement detailing their reasons as to why they are not aligned with Israeli Human Rights group Shurat HaDin’s move to litigate against a NSW professor who advocates BDS against Israeli academics.
Peter Wertheim
Peter Wertheim
In a prepared statement, executive director of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim states: “The campaign to boycott academic and other contacts with Israel is repugnant to all who sincerely seek a just and lasting resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians,” said Peter Wertheim, the Executive Director of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ). “The path to a just peace is through mutual engagement, not vilification. Contacts between Israeli and Palestinian academics should be encouraged and facilitated by their Australian and other colleagues, not stigmatised.”
The ECAJ has long been a vocal critic of the anti-Israel boycott campaign. “The boycott campaign is a calculated attempt to demonise, isolate and ultimately dismantle Israel through the distortion of international law and human rights. The hate-filled protests outside Max Brenner chocolate shops and the ill-considered scheme of Marrickville Council to boycott Israeli products at a cost of millions of dollars to its rate-payers, which was subsequently abandoned, have rightly been condemned and derided by most Australians. All major parties including the Greens, except for a handful of their MP’s, disavow the anti-Israel boycott campaign” Wertheim said.
“The ECAJ believes that the most appropriate and effective way to combat the boycott campaign is to expose its deceptive and sometimes racist rhetoric, methods and aims public scrutiny. In our view, attempts to suppress the campaign through litigation are inappropriate and likely to be counter-productive. It is for this reason that the ECAJ has had no involvement in the action brought by Shurat HaDin and will continue to fight the boycott campaign through public discourse. If any individuals believe they have been adversely affected by racially discriminatory policies and practices of the Centre for Peace and Conflict  Studies they are entitled to have their day in court, but we are opposed to litigation if it is pursued merely as a political tactic.”
Asked whether he believes that all criticisms of Israel are antisemitic, Wertheim answered “No. Israel is a vibrant pluralist democracy and its citizens – Jews, Bedouin, Druze and other Israeli Arabs – are often its most incisive critics. But it is also false to suggest that no criticisms of Israel are antisemitic. There is clearly an overlap, as has been acknowledged by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, the United Kingdom All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the members of pa

BDS Litigation “inappropriate” says ECAJ » J-Wire

Oct 31, 2013 - In a prepared statement, executive director of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim states: “The campaign to boycott ...
rliament from many countries, including Australia, who have signed the London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism and the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Antisemitism.”
Kindly note that essentially there is no need for me to send emails of my ‘works’ to most people on my lists: you need merely the links below.


I will send emails from time to time for disparate reasons.
Note my personal details:
Geoff Seidner
Tel: 03 9525 9299..... 03 9525 9290

Alternative email: geoffseidner@gmail.com
######################################################################################################################
THESE TWO PAIRS OF BLOGS ARE THE ONES I USE CURRENTLY.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The pair of blogs below have essentially been discontinued for
technical reasons.
There are hundreds of entries of disparate current interest.
http://cognatemediaspinners.blogspot.com.au/


From: g87
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2013 11:54 AM
Subject: Background to ARTICLE FOR JWIRE!! Good on you, Shurat Ha Din!

Editor Jwire
Hello Benjamin
LINKS IMPORTANT BELOW!
Regards
GS
**************************************************
Note my personal details:
Geoff Seidner
East St Kilda 3183
Tel: 03 9525 9299..... 03 9525 9290
Alternative email: geoffseidner@gmail.com
######################################################################################################################
THESE TWO PAIRS OF BLOGS ARE THE ONES I USE CURRENTLY.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The pair of blogs below have essentially been ‘partially – discontinued’ for
marginal / technical reasons.
There are hundreds of entries of disparate current interest therein.
###################################################################
#################################################################

 

 

 

 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/159867894/Shurat-HaDin-s-complaint-about-BDS

 

 

 

Shurat HaDin's complaint about BDS - Scribd 

**********************************
From:
Sent: Sunday, November 03, 2013 1:43 AM
Subject: FW: Israeli organisation sues Sydney academic over boycott support
Don’t suggest you join the comments – they will just out swamp you with their blind bias and hatred.
...... 
From:
Sent: Sunday, 3 November 2013 1:26 AM
To: 'g87@optus.net'
Subject: Israeli organisation sues Sydney academic over boycott support

I refer to Julie Nathan and ECAJ!!!

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▼  November (4)


I refer to the pathetic article by Julie Nathan in The Australian on Monday 27/11/17 
See item 

 2 above.

See on - line letters in The Australian 27 - 28/11/17  ''letters 1 -  2 above.
See that the Oz censored my on line comment: they have done this before!

Finally see that the ECAJ has 'history'!

THE ECAJ SHOULD SACK WERTHEIM AND JULIE NATHAN AS WELL:Danny Lamm should reclaim his old job!

Geoff Seidner

EARLIER BRILLIANT J N PRICE!!!!!!Greens should just shut up and listen...august 16, 2017

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Greens should just shut up and listen



The video proves the desperate need for the cashless debit card system.
The video proves the desperate need for the cashless debit card system.
When elders from the communities of Kununurra, Wyndham and Ceduna travelled to Canberra last week with a video revealing the appalling violence on their streets, they delivered a strong message. Those streets are war zones of drug and alcohol-fuelled assaults and child abuse — and they want it to stop.
The video, supported by West Australian mining businessman Andrew Forrest, proves the desperate need for the cashless debit card system that quarantines 80 per cent of welfare recipients’ payments to limit access to alcohol, drugs and gambling.
These elders are crying out for the lives of the children being assaulted and abused. In one of these communities, 187 children are victims of sexual abuse with 36 men facing 300 charges, and a further 124 are suspects.
I know all too well the deep frustrations these Australian citizens feel as they are desperate to save their people from the crisis being played out day after day in their communities. They have long fought for our political leaders to recognise the need to take the tough — sometimes unpopular but necessary — steps to make meaningful change that will save the lives of Aboriginal children, women and men.
So why do large numbers of our media and our political leaders (including some indigenous ones) fail to respond to such clear evidence of assault, child abuse and violence at the hands of our own people but are prepared to call for a royal commission when the perpetrator is a white person in uniform or when institutionalised racism is perceived to be at play?
A television report on the horrendous treatment of juvenile inmates at Darwin’s Don Dale Youth Detention Centre swiftly sparked a royal commission. Yet footage of an Aboriginal man stomping on an Aboriginal woman and various other vicious acts — which in my view are far more shocking than that of the Don Dale footage — draws criticism by the Greens that the video was simply propaganda for the cashless welfare card. This is not propaganda; it is proof.
WARNING: The video below contains graphic footage
We hear regularly that we should be listening to Aboriginal people on the ground to understand the complexities of the problems and to encourage us to find solutions for our horrific circumstances. Well, here is a video created by Aboriginal leaders in conjunction with the wider community, including the police and a mayor, pleading for the implementation of a practical measure to help curb the purchase of alcohol and drugs so the lives of the most marginalised Australians may be improved. No, it is not a magic bullet, but it is a start towards improving the lives of Australian citizens in crisis.
Forrest has been criticised for telling the world that he has been approached by minors willing to sell sex. A 14-year-old I know who roams Alice Springs streets at night regularly witnesses children selling themselves to “old” Aboriginal men for alcohol and cigarettes. We pass such information on to the police, who already know it is happening, yet the authorities responsible for these children tells us they have seen no evidence of it. Just as there was a conspiracy of silence to deny the reality of frontier violence, now there seems to be a conspiracy of silence on the left to deny what is happening openly in our streets.
The evidence of deep crisis has never been so blatant. This trauma is inflicted on our people by substance abuse and violence fuelled by a taxpayer-funded disposable income. However, if a rich white man throws his support behind a group of frustrated and desperate indigenous leaders living with this trauma their plea simply is dismissed as perverse by the politically correct without offering any effective alternative solutions.
The Greens call Forrest paternalistic, yet WA Greens senator Rachel Siewert has the audacity to tell indigenous people how we should think, what our problems are and what we should be doing about it. Siewert and her party chose not to meet the elders who came all the way to Canberra from their remote communities to communicate the real problems.
The Greens reaction is nothing more than the racism of low expectations and egocentric virtue-signalling of those toeing the line of an ideology that is further compounding the crisis. If the video shocked you, good. It should; and what should follow is an appropriate response that recognises the human right of Aboriginal women, children and men to live in safety, free of drug and alcohol-driven violence and sexual abuse. Sacrificing whole generations to violence and abuse does not help the fight against racism. It reinforces it.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is an Alice Springs councillor and a research associate at the Centre for Independent Studies.
Reader comments on this site are moderated before publication to promote lively and civil debate. We encourage your comments but submitting one does not guarantee publication. We publish hundreds of comments daily, and if a comment is rejected it is likely because it does not meet with our comment guidelines, which you can read here. No correspondence will be entered into if a comment is declined.
413 COMMENTS
278 people listening



Avatar for Andrew


Andrew
I saw the program and if the system that is being trialed works for them then it should be up to the Aboriginal Councils in their respective regions to be allowed to introduce it. For too long the Governments / Political parties have been trying to control the Indigenous peoples to the detriment of the people. I am all in favour of having a card like that right across the welfare sector as we have other people abusing the system along with their children / families as the money does not get through to where it should be spent in a lot of cases. if it limits the percentage they can spend on alcohol / cigarettes / gambling then I'm all for it as this is not what a benefit is paid for - it is for the basics of life.
Avatar for EdwardO


EdwardO
Perhaps paternalism - at least when compared with the alternative - is not such a bad option.  
Avatar for Barry


Barry
The responses are as important as Councillor Price's article - it shows the range of views - from the naive to the practical to the acceptance of reality; but not enough seek,to listen or understand, so the Greens are only cashing in on the political opportunity to have a point of political difference, like too many other opportunists within the indigenous issues over the last 50 years.
Only when the left understand the damage they have done with their welfare and their imposition of their values on people who need leadership and compassion and not political opportunism.
Avatar for Robert


Robert
Thanks Jacinta for a well-reasoned article based on your own first-hand knowledge and experience. We need more from you to help us understand what is really going on. As for the Greens, perhaps SHY could take her daughter on a taxpayer-funded tour of an indigenous community. She should be able to justify this in the same way she justified the  whale-watching trip, and how good would it be if it actually opened her eyes to reality. Thanks Twiggy for using your money and influence to support this initiative. 


Avatar for jim


jim
Remember the basics card that operated in the N.T for seven years, that was found to be a total failure with no improvements in the drug or alcohol problems so why will this card work,? seems to me they have just revamped the same failed basics card and now call it the ' healthy welfare card' the only difference is the basics card allowed 50% of welfare in cash and the healthy welfare card allows 20%. .Also remember prohibition in the USA failed, people brewed their own moonshine alcohol , how will they stop that from happening
Avatar for Philip


Philip
All else being equal a specific ideology may be supportable.... but hey all else is not equal and the ideology is seen correctly to be an absurd attempt at making the world fit into it rather than acceptance that another approach is indeed required.  Unfortunately this failure of logic is oft the result of one becoming too convinced by their own pinnacle of education where one attains the best results by writing convincing arguments to discount reality in favour of an ideal. ...and please don't refer to Trump on this as I have no appropriate response.    
Avatar for Rolf


Rolf
Twenty years in child protection, many around Aboriginal people who are almost unanimously saying, over and over again, what Jacinta is saying. Listen up. She is spot on. A useful way to use what she says is to use it as a benchmark for judging who is spouting sanctimonious twaddle and who isn't. Clue - she isn't.
Avatar for Matthew


Matthew
This is tragic, and something needs to be done to help. It is unfortunate, though, that these numbers are used inappropriately by feminist organisations to paint all men with the domestic violence brush.
Avatar for Richard


Richard
It seems that most contributors are more interested in finding any excuse to bash the Left, Greens or ABC rather than contribute ideas.

Is introducing "cashless welfare card" paternalistic?   Generally it is considered paternalistic so getting it delayed should be a good thing except when the delay is proposed by the "Left".    As far as I can tell all Rachel Stewart wanted was more community consultation, before implementation, based on concerns of local people.   

In the case of the appalling state of indigenous safety, health and education there is truck loads of blame to cover everyone including many indigenous leaders.  Falsely claiming all lefties are to blame is completely useless and does not advance the debate.

ATSIC was disbanded by John Howard after a review, when it was struggling.   However the review did not recommend its disbandonment  just some major changes.   Putting Indigenous people in charge of their own indigenous matters seems the best way to go to me.    Jacinta like her mum is someone to take notice off.

Avatar for Terrence


Terrence
The chances of the inner city smug leftist elites ever being caught up in 'reality' seems to get more remote everyday. Jacinta is just so 'correct' it makes my heart bleed. Only when the nation finally goes broke and we all have to start again will this nonsense stop.
Avatar for Tribal Allen


Tribal Allen
The Greens want Aboriginals illiterate, unemployed, addicted and slaves to (their) welfare system. This suits the neo-Marxist cause.


This comment has been deleted


Avatar for Lex


Lex
@jim  The real problem is not how funds are provided to these people, whether by cash or by basics card; it is the fact that any money is provided at all, with no expectation of any value being provided in return for it.
Self-esteem and personal pride in being able to provide for one's dependants, in some practical and tangible form, is what is lost when people are given money for nothing. The best solution is to take away all forms of assistance from white society, and let our indigenous peoples decide for themselves whether they want to actively participate in the modern world, or retreat to a hunter-gatherer existence living off the land eating kangaroo and witchetty grubs. Once that decision is made, the rest is easy. Those who choose to participate in modern society can access education the same as the whiteys, and make their own success. Those who choose to retreat to the lifestyle of their forebears, can retreat to the desert to do so - but with no access to alcohol or tobacco, or drugs, or petrol. There is no possible way that the current half-way solution will ever deliver the self-determination that our Aboriginals appear to seek. 
Avatar for Victor


Victor
I look forward to reading anything with Jacinta Nanpijinpa Price's name on it. Her articles are so informative and contain so much sense.  I hope those in a position to do what she is advocating will listen and act for the sake of the children who are in such need.

Avatar for JasonJ


JasonJ
Every article I have read from Jacinta has been insightful... I hope one day she runs for parliament - We need logical voices like her's when it comes to Indigenous Affairs 
Avatar for Fred


Fred
Jacinta I really do hope that you succeed in your endeavours. I know that what you are saying is correct as I have heard it directly from one of the women and elders of communities here in Queensland. Unfortunately the Greens are so sure of their superiority in all matters they cannot seem to comprehend that there might be a better way then their ideas of doing things. They have never seen groups of children sleeping out in the open under a street light, to be near the police where it is much safer than for them to go home. Labor of course is not game to offend the Greens who they rely on to get voted in. I really do wish you well in your endeavours to save your people from being decimated by sit down money.
Avatar for Iain T


Iain T
We were holidaying in Point Sampson (northwest WA) and on the Friday night a horde of people descended on the caravan park. We were told that they all come from Pt Hedland because the place wasn't safe for their children on the weekends!
Avatar for Malcolm


Malcolm
Jacinta speaks from experience & is the real voice of many concerned Aboriginals. It is just sad that the many left wing politicians & commentators just do not accept that they are so much a part of the problem by ignoring reality & then pushing things like Constitutional recognition, treaties etc when in fact the people need real help to overcome this continuous problems that they face. Some of us see these things in our own communities & know the truth. It is time the Greens & those of like mind actually got out of the road & allowed those who know the reality of the problems to be in a position to try to address them
Avatar for Judith


Judith
Profound. If only the Greens and others could understand why. Leak did and was castigated.
Avatar for Felicity


Felicity
Jacinta - you have shown leadership by bravely speaking up on behalf of Aboriginal children and communities.  Thank you for explaining this situation to the wider community.
Avatar for Peter


Peter
I rember well the Aboriginal Elder who said she was looking after her great grandchildren because their family had lost three generations to "the grog".
The old lady is dead now and I often wonder who is looking after those kids and their kids.
Avatar for Paul


Paul
That video is really confronting. And its not filmed in a third world but in our country. We need to get smarter in the way we help the indigenous Australians. We have not made improvements in the last 20 or 30 years that I am aware of. We keep doing the same things over and over without anyone taking responsibility. We all have compassion to see things improve, but how do we as Australians, as voters find a way to help these people. A way that is lasting, allows for their dignity and pride to be re built, and kids to feel safe at home?

Maybe we have been succored into the softly softly approach. Compassion alone does not work. Indigenous alone cannot fix it. We need to get smarter and more determined to remove this problem which is a stain on our society every day that it continues.
Avatar for Maurice


Maurice
Must we always wait to hear from Jacinta? Where are the Aboriginal members of parliament such as Dodgson, Birney et al. Suppose once you get to comfortable Canberra the problems in the sticks fade.
Avatar for Paul


Paul
This is one lady Australia should be listening to. She tells it as it is. Have developed a high regard for her opinions. Hopefully our politicians have the sense to take note. 
Avatar for Mark


Mark
A senior Left senator and minister from WA told me about 15 years ago that the Left's policies in Aboriginal affairs had been an unmitigated disaster.  He has never said that publically because he would be disowned.  The herd mentality of the Left, and the ALP which it controls and the Liberal wets such as Fred Chaney, will ensure the same failed policies continue.
Prove me wrong Pat Dodson.
Avatar for Norman


Norman
Jacinta saw you on Outsiders Mate. I would love to see the intercourse between you and the laughable Yarra Council about Australia Day.
Power to you on your path. Please consider partnering with Cory Bernardi.
Don, Norm's son. 
Avatar for Chris


Chris
 The Greens get a lot things wrong. I resigned when they voted against an ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme). In Canberra they pressured Labor for trams to replace buses to get a slower, less frequent, no express services, further between stops and with half the seats of the present system. Now Canberra is going broke paying for steel wheels to replace rubber and the buses are going 100% electric anyway.


Avatar for Laurie


Laurie
@Chris but Canberra has aLabor Government with a green as balance of power. You will only expect bankruptycy and stupidity. and of course higher property taxes to pay the bills. Maaybe you getting what you deserved.
Avatar for Jeffrey


Jeffrey
Jacinta has provided a powerful argument for change and good on her.    I agree the more people out there who expose the hypocrisy of the left and their blatant politicisation of the plight of the less well off the better it will be for all of us.
But do the Greens and the left in general have the backbone to accept their paternalistic social experiments and their top down approach of imposing things on people has failed.    It’s far better to accept that a bottom up approach of doing things with people tends to bring desirable change; but the left don’t like that idea because it’s a conservative one.
But lets hope positive change soon comes to these communities.
Avatar for Kevin


Kevin
Can we hear now from decent people who have been voting for the Greens as to whether they support such left-wing ideology as to fail to address child sexual abuse and violence against aboriginal children and women, fueled by rampant alcohol and drug abuse?
Please step up here!
Avatar for Alex


Alex
This brings tears to my eyes - but also makes me so angry. There is something terribly wrong with Australia - that our leaders are so incompetent to address the real issues.  They bang on about issues of no importance to the vast majority of the country's population whilst people continue to suffer - either through violence in these communities - or high electricity bills, or loss of jobs.  It's like listening to the music whilst the ship sinks.  Powerful stuff.


Avatar for Dennis


Dennis
@Alex We cant have more jobs unless business gets support. Its business that creates the work for people. 
Avatar for Ces


Ces
Well done Jacinta. Why is it ordinary people can get the problem but the learned high paid morons in Canberra can't. Lobby them to send their children to the country for a week & then we would get action!!!!


Avatar for Lynne


Lynne
Once again Jacinta you have clearly written the truth. It seems that the luvies , Green or Left firmly believe that they know what's best for all of us and take their stance accordingly, the truth will to be adapted to fit their mindset.
Avatar for Rocky


Rocky
Makes total sense. The Greens fervent opposition to this idea or ANYTHING that resembles common sense is breathtaking.
Avatar for Tony


Tony
As usual everybody's pointing fingers calling each other racist and nobody is doing anything. Including me.
Avatar for Colin


Colin
Jacinta showed her qualities on Outsiders last Sunday; she is a young lady of intelligence and charm.
It's reassuring to know that there are young people who have the integrity and foresight to take this nation into the future.
Avatar for Robert


Robert
I saw Jacinta Price on a TV program last weekend, and wasn't she impressive.  She actually spoke common sense . . . more than our pollies ever do . . . and she spoke from the heart about the plight of her people. She did not speak from the dogmatic position of the Greens/Labor  (or loony Left if you prefer) that the only solution to Aboriginal problems is to throw money at it.

The hope of the aboriginal people of this nation are people like Jacinta Price (and Noel Pearson and other similar elders) taking charge for two reasons . . . the first is that their people will (hopefully) listen and recognise the possibilities for good changes; and the second is that those of who are whitefellas (like me) will support and admire people like Jacinta when they say what needs to be said.

Congratulations, Jacinta!
Avatar for Laurie


Laurie
Why do people vote for the Greens. They want people to be exposed to self destruction without any input from the people who want to help themselves. I suppose the Greens know best.
Avatar for Laurie


Laurie
The Left and the Greens knows what is good for us. I dont know why we bother with education and going to work. Just sit back and the left will deliver money to us and tell us how to live.  The left is a sick joke.


Avatar for Wieslaw


Wieslaw
@Laurie You are perfectly right, the Left and the Greens are simple followers of anarchist and communist Paul Lafargue. His best known work is: THE RIGHT TO BE LAZY.
Avatar for John


John
There seems to be an absence of leadership on this and many other issues within the Aboriginal community.  There is little agreement amongst prominent Aboriginal people about strategies and solutions to address issues that exist within some Aboriginal communities.  However, these same prominent Aboriginals make it clear that only Aboriginal people can comment on and suggest ways to resolve these problems. 

One concerns is that some of the prominent Aboriginal people who make up Aboriginal Inc are those who know that they profit from dysfunction and chaos - because that is what keeps them in a job and keeps the money flowing.  Providing real and effective solutions to day-to-day problems doesn't seem to be the main aim for some who profess to be leaders of Aboriginal people.  


Avatar for Alex


Alex
@John  I understand your point - and our tendency to stand back to allow Aborigines to manage their own issues.  But it's not working. At some point, someone in power - white black, pink or brown - has to have the courage to stand up and show some leadership, saying "enough is enough" - and deal with the consequences.  We expect immigrants to assimilate to the Australian way of life - and yet we don't expect Aboriginals to do the same - why?  We're too frightened to offend?  When 1/3 of children are being raped, we're too frightened to offend.  Give me a break.
Avatar for Darryl


Darryl
Well said.  Well argued.  On this issue alone and the first hand account of Green politician behaviour, how could anyone with a gram of compassion or integrity vote for the Greens?  But they will, sitting there in their privileged inner city parallel dimension and they will conceitfully and self-indulgently believe they are helping to save the world.  In truth they are just the unwitting targets of con-artists who have a quite different agenda. 
But the children will still be suffering.
Avatar for Yvonne


Yvonne
Jacinta, another excellent article. I think all working-age people who receive welfare should be using a cashless card, not just indigenous people.


Avatar for Ray


Ray
Couldn't agree more. The abuse of the welfare system is rampant: the cashless card will force all recipients away from drugs & alcohol, terrific article Jacinta.
Avatar for Peta


Peta
Well said. All Australians should be able to live in safety. It's about time that realistic solutions such as the cashless debit card are implemented to protect women, children and men in these communities.
Keep up the good work!
nmmnvb

SIMPLY THE BEST J N PRICE !!!! Cashless debit cards protect Aboriginal women and children DEC 26, 2017

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Cashless debit cards protect Aboriginal women and children



A still from the #timetoact video. Picture: Supplied
A still from the #timetoact video. Picture: Supplied
The left seems to be increasingly more concerned with the rights of the individual when those individuals are alcoholics, addicts and abusers assaulting women and children — the rights of the victims themselves are ignored.
Empty rhetoric and vacuous, overused weasel words are used to bolster the argument against obviously effective tools such as the cashless debit card.
When those in the sheltered towers of academe — such as Melbourne’s Elise Klein in a recent article — denounce the CDC, they are in effect attacking voiceless, marginalised Australian women and children, enduring a life alien to those in virtue-signalling metropolitan coffee claques.
To witness Labor now align itself with the Greens and backflip on its bipartisan support for the CDC being trialled further afield can be likened to watching it supply dangerous drugs to an addict or weapons to a violent abuser. It seems the rights of the perpetrators come first.
In the Aboriginal tradition of thousands of years, the rights of the collective mob quashed the rights of the individual.
This was a matter of survival in a hunter-gatherer system. But we live in the modern age, in a modern country — informed by the Enlightenment’s upholding of the rights of the individual. And the CDC aims to defend those individual rights against the tyranny of the mob.
Yes, traditional society was based on a demand-share economy. Sharing reinforces kin relationships and boosts the status of the sharer. Men have higher status than women. They are less obliged than women to share. Before money, it was the only way people could expect to survive. Now, in a cash economy, it is an economic disaster easily descending into abusive “humbug”.
When applied to food distribution, theoretically everybody got to eat.
Even then, women sometimes missed out on their share if they were married to demanding and uncaring husbands.
Even the highly empathetic anthropologist Diane Austin-Broos in her book, Arrernte Present, Arrernte Past, admits that children sometimes are undernourished because their carers — wise and ethically minded elders — are so readily inclined to give money away to kin, especially adult male relatives, leaving less than enough to buy adequate food for dependent children.
The demand-share principle is deeply ingrained, taught from the beginning of life. Sharing is deeply emotionally satisfying, but it excludes the ability to budget, to plan and invest in the future.
Refusing to share can provoke verbal or physical assault. The acceptance of interpersonal violence in small-scale societies can lead to ferocious attacks on wives and to “granny bashing”, the young assaulting the old to obtain the means to finance addictions.
Many Aboriginal families have found ways to cope with being generous to kin, proud of their identity but also budgeting to feed and house their families. Most in the remote communities and town camps are trapped in poverty because of unquestioning loyalty to tradition.
Once, people lived in small family groups scattered across a vast country. Demand-share worked. Currently there is overcrowding and dangerous addiction. Addicts expect their kin to fund their addictions without question. This is disastrous.
Klein is selective in the research findings she accepts. She cites the rise in crime in the Kimberley under the CDC trial but ignores the rising crime levels in Broome, Derby and Fitzroy Crossing, where the card has not been trialled.
She does not know life in the regions where research has been carried out, or the culture lived there.
However, senators Malarn­dirri McCarthy and Patrick Dodson do understand this culture. So why, then, do these Labor politicians take advice from inner-city green academics who likely have never set foot in a town camp or lived in a remote community — where women’s and children’s lives are in daily danger?
They should both understand that the CDC helps recipients to combat their own addictions and allows them to say no to addicted kin. It helps them feed their children, and learn how to budget, and to pay their bills.
I know this because I live among it. Because I regularly talk to women affected by alcohol abuse and violence — and because they tell me the basics card and the CDC make their lives safer.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is an Alice Springs councillor and a research associate at the Centre for Independent Studies.
Reader comments on this site are moderated before publication to promote lively and civil debate. We encourage your comments but submitting one does not guarantee publication. We publish hundreds of comments daily, and if a comment is rejected it is likely because it does not meet with our comment guidelines, which you can read here. No correspondence will be entered into if a comment is declined.
195 COMMENTS
172 people listening



Avatar for Tony


Tony
Gosh this woman (wooperson?) she continues to tell it as it is on many issues and has maturity beyond her years.
Avatar for john


john
Good on you Jacinta.

You stand out like the evening star, informed through experience and with the honesty and spirit to speak out.
In my opinion you are a beacon of hope for the Territory..
Hopefully without prejudicing my first statement I consider that  Dodson and McCarthy have nothing to offer Australia.
Avatar for Rohan B


Rohan B
I see enough derelict indigenous hanging around in my area to see that something is very obviously wrong.
Throwing more money at the problem isnt the answer. 
Avatar for T


T
We support you 100% Jacinta. This country needs people to tell the ugly truth, not hide behind political correct left wing ideology and to protect those that can't fight for themselves. The CDC is the answer.
Avatar for ALLAN


ALLAN
All Labor is interested in, is are there votes to had.    Labor never cares.   
Avatar for Richard


Richard
Why isn’t this article in The Guardian, The Age or Koori Mail?
Oh that’s right, there are none so deaf ......
Avatar for George


George
Most of the schemes for “assisting” Aboriginal Australians were setup by and designed to be exploited by the left hand side of politics with their lawyers, consultants and other leeches. Changing the status quo affects their multimillion dollar income streams - of course they will oppose.


Avatar for Richard


Richard
Which collectively amount to billions of dollars each year. So many vested interests, so much money available .....
Avatar for Peter


Peter
It is interesting watching the retorts from the left mainly Patricia and her cabal, here you are witnessing a classic case of trying to shut down the argument by verbal bullying as they are unable to mount a counter argument because the  argument is coming from the very people they purport to support. This is because the left do not want the indigenous people to actual improve their lot. If they do there will be one less cause to bash main stream Australia with


Avatar for Mike


Mike
We've been throwing money at this issue for years, and it hasn't worked.   Why not try this ? Or are the lefties only pretending to care about people?
A good question...


Avatar for Stuart


Stuart
Unfortunately the bulk of the money nurtures the Northern Territory Public Service and the inner city victim industry.
Avatar for Stephen


Stephen
Yes, enabling addicts is terribly wrong.  When the Government is doing the enabling, then the women and children are in real trouble.
Avatar for Michael


Michael
Once again we have city based academics and interlopers having a say in a policy matter that has no material affect on their lives , however a massive impact on the lives of Aboriginal women & children, as described by Jacinta. 
I'd like to use some choice words in telling these people where to go, however I shall refrain and say to the inner city charlatans & interlopers. just this: If you want to have a say on CDC program, get your butts to these remote communities so you can live & earn your living there. until such time, MYOB !
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, you are a star.



Avatar for Ted


Ted
Just a deep heart felt thank you Jacinta from an aging white male bush pilot.
Avatar for James


James
The only long-term solution is for indigenous people to have the same property rights and normal local government representation as anyone else. Imagine patronising any other section of the communIty - say Vietnamese or Italian Australians - with a special government department that organises their housing and income. Just abhorrent. It robs people of their autonomy and self-respect.


Avatar for Julian


Julian
@James getting beaten to a pulp and sexually abused leaves little room for autonomy and self respect. Jacinta is black and lives among her people. I assume that you're white and live among your people: latte sipping SJWs.If you can't help don't get in the way.
Avatar for Mark


Mark
Good luck young woman, you will need it against these socialist zealots, they resolve nothing. 
Avatar for Mark


Mark
Hang on. Aren't we supposed to idolise Indigenous culture as something special? I don't understand?


Avatar for Stuart


Stuart
It's ok to challenge Western culture, challenging any other culture seems to be racism.
Avatar for Nick


Nick
Thank you Jacinta for bringing a perspective from the field rather than an ivory tower paid for by hard earned taxpayers money.
Most of the biggest policy failures and wars have been lost trought instructions from ivory towers rather than input from the field


Avatar for arlys


arlys
Like your mother, Jacinta, you are a wise soul. You both belong in Parliament, along with Warren Mundine. Then we might just make some inroads.


Avatar for steve


steve
@arlys Actually Bess Price has done exactly that, she was a Cabinet Minister in the previous NT CLP government. I have no idea of Jacinta's political alignment though I suspect she prefers to speak her mind without the constraints of party affiliation.
Avatar for van cam


van cam
The only concern for the left is their ideology and its rhetoric, no more no left. Because of that, they could trash their nation, or anyone, any victims for a victory of their ideology. For this reason, they could not see any victims who is being crushed and suffered  under their ideologically guided actions. How could they prioritize victims? 

The left are the brainwashed and heartless family of the Human sapiens species. These organisms often live and thrive in the inner-city, cluttering around academic institutions like universities, very active in interfering and sabotaging the cohesion of the society or communities, ideologically guided by their very tunnel vision. They can be undergraduates or professors, or greens politicians..... They usually don't really work for a living in the real world. 


Avatar for Jon


Jon
Van cam, you are spot on, these left wing undergraduates, or professors or Green politicians are just leeches. What they say might sound good but it is "all about care, with no responsibility"
Avatar for Patricia


Patricia
No doubt Ms Price will be thrilled at the Charity Advocacy Laws being perpertrated by Australia's enemies of democracy.

Mr Turnbull. who has dozens and dozens of empty bedrooms at this disposal, spoke of love while he served the homeless on Christmas Day.

Mr Turnbull's Govenrment is perpetrating laws that STOP people like Ms Price from speaking out if they are members of an Indigenous Charity.

Spot the heartless mockery, the cynicism, and the blatant undermining of Australian free speech.

Of course the foreign owners of Australian mining industry will be able to spend tens of millions on subverting our democracy any time they choose.

Ms Price is following Mr Pearson into the Hard Right sucker trap.

You will be betrayed, Ms Price.

The only open question is, 'When?'


Avatar for Greg


Greg
You really do operate in a parallel universe Patrica. Having recently stayed in Ceduna where the cashless card is in use, it is a changed place. The decent people black and white who want to give their children a fair start in life won’t agree with you.
Avatar for Peter


Peter
@Patricia  So Patricia judging by the dribble you have just written you are in support of the alcohol abuse the bashings and so forth. In this argument you can sit on the fence.
Avatar for Stuart


Stuart
We can sleep easily as we have Patricia as our democratic messiah. The CDC is working a concept foreign to Get Up! It must be therefore opposed at all cost. They indigenous must be kept as victims as it suits the comrade narrative of oppression by the wicked capitalist state.
Avatar for Brasso


Brasso
@Geoff J. @Patricia Absolutely nothing whatsoever, just some Turnbull bashing, although I'm surprised there wasn't a little Abbott and Trump abuse worked in there as well.
Brasso's mate
Avatar for Save the Krill


Save the Krill
This is a voice in the wilderness, I suspect.  If those in virtue-signalling metropolitan coffee claques and acaedemia have their agendas (destroy the government), then they will not be listening to her.  It is good that you have published this.
Avatar for Alice


Alice
Great article Jacinta. The priority should be on stopping the violence and protecting vulnerable women, children and elders.
Avatar for Kenneth


Kenneth
It is time to stop respecting these inappropriate Aboringnal traditions. Just because it is the way things were done is no reason to give it any respect now. The time has come to tell the truth and call out the abysmal failure the government supported Aboringinal handout schemes are working. Children and women are dying because inner city greens and socialists want to feel good. End the BS and listen to the ones who know. I have seen this totally dysfunctional system myself and we should all be very ashamed of what we are allowing to happen.


Avatar for Noel


Noel
@Kenneth Traditional culture has served its purpose and it is time to move on.  By keeping the worst of their culture, they are exposing themselves to the worst of our culture.
Avatar for Mark


Mark
If the CDC makes life better for the abused then what would the ALP or Greens have to virtue signal about? I suspect their refusal of the CDC is more about their survival and not the survival of the abused.


Avatar for Brad


Brad
@Mark  Labor and the Greens are doing what they have always done. They highlight what they see as a problem of national significance and then do nothing about it. When the Coalition wins office they do do something about it, like they did with buying frigates and other warships, gay marriage and the republic referendum, etc; and then Labor decides that it is in their interest to backflip on the policy, accuse the government of burning money and try to gain some electoral leverage from it.
It's all about politics with Labor, never solutions. This current crop make Chifley, Hawke and Keating look better with every waking moment.
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jmkgvjhf

letters the oz dec 29 2017...a tale of 2 letters...

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Victoria Police seem to be ignoring reality, hoping it’ll go away

It appears that Victoria Police denial (“No ethic gang link to crime, say police”, 28/12) is an example of ignoring an obvious problem and hoping that by denying it for long enough, the problem will go away.
The media has reported over recent months, with the exception of the ABC, it is plainly a problem created by youths of African appearance as police have been prone to admit on the rare occasions when CCTV equipment has shown obvious ethics links of the perpetrators.
Denying that a problem exists reinforces growing public perception that the police hierarchy have become captive to political correctness that has become rampant in Victoria.
Hugh Francis, Portland, Vic
I am delighted The Australian is taking a hard line on political correctness in Australia and publishing readers’ comments and articles criticising the trend. The latest news from Victoria emphasises how political correctness can be used to distort the truth.
Victorians can see on a daily basis the criminal behaviour of these African gangs, and yet Victoria Police are denying the fact. What will it take to force Victoria Police to admit the truth, I wonder?
Tony Young, Blackbutt, Qld
Social conundrum
Steve Chavura sensibly concludes that “balancing inclusiveness with freedom of speech and other liberal rights” is a worthy effort (“Beware the martinets who would silence all debate” 27/12).
Yet, the issue remains unresolved purely for the reason that the conflicting forces identified as the cause of our conundrum are ill-defined or even misunderstood. Freedoms relate strictly to the formation, upkeep and compliance with the law.
Inclusiveness is an amorphous, indefinable, evolving societal phenomenon concerning ways of behaviour and expected levels of tolerance and human response to the many forms of communal issues that have been the bane of civilisations.
Whereas a freedom is a reference to the degree by which a legal system does not impose a prohibition of action, matters of social interactivity involving individual preferences with respect to daily life were never the province of the secular legal system.
It is the loss of control of the legal system, including the capacity to dictate what is essentially free and what is not, steering it into the morass of cultural wars that were fought and resolved by the citizenry itself, that is the exclusive cause of the conundrum which is impossible to resolve.
George Carabelas, Mt Barker, SA
................
Carabelas has written one of the great letters of recent times!
GS
................
Card’s mixed evaluation
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s opinion (“Debit cards protect Aboriginal women and children”, 26/12) conflated the basics card with the cashless debit card. The former introduced in 2007 has been shown to make no discernible difference in rigorous independent evaluation published in 2014 and cost more than $1 billion to implement. So much for value.
The CDC, trialled since 2016 in Ceduna and the East Kimberley (not in Alice Springs), has had mixed evaluation. Price chooses to attack Elise Klein for her evidence-based critique of the CDC trial in Kununurra, but ignores a growing number of reputable studies that highlight possible unintended harm to Aboriginal children including in lower school attendance and nutrition and weight.
There are better ways to spend public funds to address what are ultimately problems associated with deepening poverty among remote indigenous Australians, despite the rhetoric of closing the gap.
Jon Altman, Fitzroy, Vic
ALTMAN IS PATHETIC!

GS

Mao’s drug war
Supervised injection centres to reduce harm from heroin make as much sense as special roads reserved for drunk drivers (“What happened in the war on drugs? Drugs won”, 28/12). The war on drugs hasn’t been lost — it has never been properly waged.
China had freely available opium and heroin during World War II, courtesy of the Japanese. The result was 10 million addicts in Manchuria’s population of 30 million. Mao Zedong instituted the death penalty for drug traffickers, with detoxification and rehabilitation for users. Those who did not comply were jailed. He won that war.
Roslyn Phillips, Tea Tree Gully, SA
Unionist’s priorities
If Sally McManus wants to achieve any credibility, instead of attacking the definition of casual workers she should address the enterprise bargaining agreements struck primarily by unions that quite simply line union pockets to the workers’ detriment.
She could also elect to review other widespread rorting of worker’s superannuation contributions that line union and, in turn, Labor coffers.
Mal Alexander, Vermont, Vic
##################################################################
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from gs:
Do a google search on Prof. Jon Altman
NO NEED ...SEE BELOW!
https://www.google.com.au/search?source=hp&ei=B3pFWsrVF8f18QWV96iQCw&q=jon+altman+letter+the+australian+card%27s+mixed+evaluation&oq=&gs_l=psy-ab.1.3.35i39k1l6.0.0.0.6522786.2.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..1.0....0...1..64.psy-ab..1.1.214.6...214.DIZWMokxPao


PVO 1 Dec 22, 2013...HE IS A MENSCH!

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Peter Van 0nselen is a decent individual who is prepared to defend himself appropriately.
I am posting this range of correspondences as a matter of record and a continuum / context re other matters.

HE IS A MENSCH!
mensch
mɛnʃ/
noun
NORTH AMERICANinformal
  1. a person of integrity and honour.

Mensch - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensch
Mensch (Yiddish: מענטש‎ mentsh, cognate with the German word Mensch meaning a "human being") means "a person of integrity and honor". The opposite of a "mensch" is an "unmensch", meaning an utterly unlikeable or unfriendly person.
Übermensch · ‎Untermensch · ‎Gutmensch


 
 
From: g87
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2013 11:58 AM
Subject: PVO IS A FOOL
 

Hello PVO!

I now wish to contemplate that you, Peter Van Onselen are also*** a fool.

You are in good company! How is it possible that you lack even the basic elements of nous?

****Like another organization I know..... does not bother coming to terms with what has been freely available in the pages of The Oz over the past few days: it is a massive indictment for a former Liberal staffer like you who is so keen to distance himself from his past to ignore it all!
There are dozens of plain stupidities extant in your current article in the Saturday edition of The Oz.
ALL arising from the basic principal that you are indeed STUPID.

Maybe between playing with my grandchildren I will bother listing them all? But what a waste of time: I now formally regret my first - time use of the leftist phrase as below.
'WHAT A RACE TO THE BOTTOM THAT WOULD BE'

The most elementary catastrophy is the subject of PVO - the very idea that the esteemed Attorney -  General George Brandis is a hypocrite!

Peter, dear twirp; understand this. Politics is governed by a series of rules. Your childish derivation of hypocrasy at best trite.

Let me explain this to you.

  1. Politics is governed by the need to be re - elected when in government and the logical inverse when in opposition.
  2. Along the way the combatants dual in the classical way on trying to discredit each other.
  3. Your silly words about inflated rhetoric... is plain asinine. THERE IS NOTHING HERE THAT JUSTIFIES YOUR TITLE! I wish time could be spent on this alone; but someone will explain it to you when / if you go back to JOURNALISM school for remedial lessons in clear thinking / logic. I am of course assuming that someone will bring this to your attention - because you are not easily contactable, methinks.
Actually - I will try to email this to you: if it is a valid email address so be it.

Send me a cheque for $1000 and I will give you a complete analysis of why you are a fool.


BY THE WAY - WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT YOU IS THAT YOU WERE CLUELESS ON THURSDAY METHINKS WHEN CHALLENGED BY CHRIS KENNY ON SKY NEWS!

That is the advantage of being so asinine that you rarely have any idea of what goes on around you when it comes to the subtler elements of the journalists' art. Why you could go through life like members of PER CAPITA –you mention them – who also never get to understand the basic idea that socialism is DYSTOPIAN!!
Regards
Geoff Seidner
PS: Was there not a comedy film about a Winthrop?

Trading Places (1983) - IMDb

???
By the way: your professorship indicates you lecture in journalism: it is seriously suggested that you sue me for defamatin or libel. I will have a lot of fun.
I May even need to complete a didactic analysis of the above.
 

 


  1. Peter van Onselen appointed Foundation Professor in Journalism ...

    Apr 12, 2011 - Winthrop Professor Peter van Onselen ... has been appointed Foundation Professor in Journalism at The University of Western Australia.
 

http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201104123459/appointments/peter-van-onselen-appointed-foundation-professor-journalism

 

The University of Western Australia

UWA Staff Profile

W/Prof Peter Van Onselen

Foundation Professor in Journalism
Communication Studies
Contact details
Address
Communication Studies
The University of Western Australia (M257)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia
Phone
6488 7239
Fax
6488 1030
Email
peter.vanonselen@uwa.edu.au




Brandis and Dreyfus take hypocrisy to a new level

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Illustration: Eric Lobbecke Source: TheAustralian
ALL you can do is laugh at the hypocritical actions of the first law officer, Attorney-General George Brandis QC, and his opposition counterpart, Mark Dreyfus QC, himself attorney-general in the previous Labor government, when it comes to appointments and the pair's commentary on those appointments.
The two men are no strangers to hypocrisy, having used inflated rhetoric to condemn others for entitlements abuses before themselves being caught out for not dissimilar failings. But the pair's commentary about two recent appointments to the Australian Human Rights Commission reads as if it were torn from the pages of a Yes Minister script.
Last July, Dreyfus appointed 31-year-old Tim Soutphommasane to the AHRC. Brandis slammed the appointment, describing Soutphommasane as an "overt partisan of the Labor Party", adding that "appointees must be people who can command the confidence of the entire community that they will discharge their responsibilities in the human rights field in a non-partisan manner".
Soutphommasane was a member of the Labor Party and an active voice for the Left, appearing regularly on the political talk-show circuit. He was also a fellow at the left-leaning think tank Per Capita. Dreyfus rejected the Brandis attack, arguing Soutphommasane was well qualified for the role. I'll come to that misnomer in a moment. It is worth noting that Soutphommasane was an entry-level academic (albeit a very good one) when he was appointed to a role previously held by judges and former federal ministers.
This week Brandis made his first AHRC appointment, selecting 33-year-old Tim Wilson, a director at the right-wing (it sees itself as "free market") think tank the Institute of Public Affairs.
All of a sudden Brandis no longer thought it important that appointees "discharge their responsibilities in the human rights field in a non-partisan manner", as he had previously said. Equally, having condemned Dreyfus for making the Soutphommasane appointment late in Labor's term without consulting the opposition before doing so, Brandis announced Wilson's appointment to the AHRC before the Governor-General had even formally signed off on it. Brandis's high bar for due process was suddenly forgotten.
What was Dreyfus's reaction to the Wilson appointment? He said it was "dubious to say the least", attacking Wilson's partisanship (until the appointment Wilson was a member of the Liberal Party). How can Brandis and Dreyfus expect people to take them seriously? By all means condemn a partisan appointment by your political opponents, but don't then make one yourself. By all means make partisan appointments, but for God's sake shut up when your opponents go on to do likewise.
The sad thing about Dreyfus and Brandis is that they are supposed to be the adults in any room: former senior members of the bar and now senior frontbenchers within their parliamentary parties. Prior to Brandis and Dreyfus demeaning themselves, I would have argued that the biggest complaint anyone should have with the Wilson and Soutphommasane appointments is that with a base salary of more than $320,000 a year, surely candidates should have CVs to match the likes of a Brandis or Dreyfus to even be considered for positions on the AHRC.
In truth, the reason appointees to the commission no longer live up to the pedigree of past commissioners is because the AHRC has been exposed as nothing more than a lobbying arm of the public service, and an expensive one at that. The Fraser government set up the AHRC as an almost quasi-judicial body that would have the power to enforce rulings on issues within its ambit. But a 1995 High Court judgment stripped the commission of the power to make and enforce decisions, turning it into a toothless tiger. Hence the AHRC no longer conducts hearings.
The limited role of the AHRC today is what brings into question the $25 million it costs each year to run. It isn't just the salaries of the commissioners that are expensive and no longer justifiable. The entire apparatus takes rent-seeking to a new level. You have to love the irony that in the same week that Treasurer Joe Hockey talked about the need to reduce the size of government when releasing his mid-year economic and fiscal outlook, the Attorney-General makes a new appointment to a body he had previously (privately) canvassed abolishing.
It is hard to justify the salaries of commissioners being tied to those of judges, now the role of the AHRC has been downgraded. The calibre of appointments isn't what it once was. There are exceptions: Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, a former law partner, is one. Another is Gillian Triggs, a former dean of law at the University of Sydney. But for the most part finding senior practitioners to fill AHRC roles is increasingly hard to do now the functions of the commission centre around a glorified form of lobbying and public advocacy. And with this shift the likes of Soutphommasane and Wilson become ideally suited to becoming commissioners: able to hit the airwaves to mount arguments in the policy areas they have been assigned.
The question for taxpayers is: why are we now paying for them to do pretty much what they already had been doing, at a cheaper price, when they were paid by their ideologically driven organisations? A new conservative government was always likely to counterbalance years of left-wing appointments to the AHRC with right-wing appointments of its own. A strong conservative government, however, would simply have abolished the commission and saved the money.
There is nothing the AHRC does that can't be done by advocacy groups within academia, the non-government sector or even government departments. Equally, the toothless reports the AHRC produces could just as easily be done by the Ombudsman, only with much greater powers to investigate before publishing findings.
If the AHRC has to exist at all, Wilson's appointment at least starts the process of balancing up the organisation. Were it a truly quasi-judicial body such ideological thinking wouldn't much matter, but as a body for public advocacy it certainly does.
Peter van Onselen is a professor at the University of Western Australia.

--
Geoff Seidner
13 Alston Grove East St Kilda 3183

613 9525 9299







-- 
Geoff Seidner
13 Alston Grove East St Kilda 3183

613 9525 9299



PVO 2... 22/12/13..calls GS 'unhinged'

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Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2013 1:35 PM
Subject: Fwd: PVO IS A FOOL
 
Hi there,
You sound rather unhinged, I hope things all come together for you in the years ahead
All the best
Peter

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:
From: Peter Van Onselen <peter.vanonselen@uwa.edu.au>
Date: 22 December 2013 11:58:25 AM AEDT
To: "vanonselenp@theaustralian.com.au"<vanonselenp@theaustralian.com.au>
Subject: FW: PVO IS A FOOL
G87@OPTUSNET.COM.AU




This message and its attachments may contain legally privileged or confidential information. It is intended solely for the named addressee. If you are not the addressee indicated in this message or responsible for delivery of the message to the addressee, you may not copy or deliver this message or its attachments to anyone. Rather, you should permanently delete this message and its attachments and kindly notify the sender by reply e-mail. Any content of this message and its attachments which does not relate to the official business of the sending company must be taken not to have been sent or endorsed by that company or any of its related entities. No warranty is made that the e-mail or attachments are free from computer virus or other defect.


--
Geoff Seidner
13 Alston Grove East St Kilda 3183

613 9525 9299







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Geoff Seidner
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613 9525 9299



PVO3.... we are getting friendlier...DEC 23, 10 35 am

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Sent: Monday, December 23, 2013 10:35 AM
To: g87
Subject: RE: Greetings PVO
 
Hi Geoff
I won’t read it but wish you the best with your thoughts, I just don’t have time, or the energy, to read that kind of stuff, no offence.

Re Brandis, yes he challenged my claim that Tim W is a partisan, but I invite you and Brandis to actually look up the definition of the word ‘partisan’. Once you do you will see even in his letter today Mr Brandis accidently pointed out that Tim is in fact a partisan. But let me also point this out to you – I assume you are able to see the logic of it – if Tim W isn’t partisan, bc as Brandis says he from time to time doesn’t follow the party line of his political party, what was Brandis doing calling Tim S a partisan, seeing as Tim S also doesn’t always follow the party line of his party – eg on refugees and immigration matters? Very funny that the AG couldn’t see that was where his logic took him…Ooops!
Best
Peter

From: g87 [mailto:g87@optusnet.com.au]
Sent: Monday, 23 December 2013 9:29 AM
To: Van Onselen, Peter
Subject: Greetings PVO

Greetings, PVO
Thanks for your comments.

Under the circumstances there is no way I wish to create a problem by communicating with you by further on this subject: I guess any subject.

You could take it as harassment – and unless you so indicate to the contrary you may need to merely secretly look at my blog from time to time. It will rapidly move from PVO soon. May you write quality items with considered thought in future.

Note that the Attorney General George Brandis has also taken you to task this morning in The Australian. He is being generous to you: he is a politician after all. Maybe I too should have been ‘generous’. There are so many twirps of the left: why did I pick on you?

However I promise not to tell if you have a ‘decko’ at my next few entries on my blog.
Humour attempted.

Regards
Geoff Seidner 



Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2013 1:35 PM
Subject: Fwd: PVO IS A FOOL

Hi there,
You sound rather unhinged, I hope things all come together for you in the years ahead
All the best
Peter

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:
From: Peter Van Onselen <peter.vanonselen@uwa.edu.au>
Date: 22 December 2013 11:58:25 AM AEDT
To: "vanonselenp@theaustralian.com.au"<vanonselenp@theaustralian.com.au>
Subject: FW: PVO IS A FOOL


This message and its attachments may contain legally privileged or confidential information. It is intended solely for the named addressee. If you are not the addressee indicated in this message or responsible for delivery of the message to the addressee, you may not copy or deliver this message or its attachments to anyone. Rather, you should permanently delete this message and its attachments and kindly notify the sender by reply e-mail. Any content of this message and its attachments which does not relate to the official business of the sending company must be taken not to have been sent or endorsed by that company or any of its related entities. No warranty is made that the e-mail or attachments are free from computer virus or other defect.


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PVO 4

PVO 5 ...Ex Catalaxy dec 29 2013

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Geoff Seidner <myemail99@optusnet.com.au>
Date: Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 9:14 AM
Subject: dec 29 2013 11.11 am catalaxy Fw: [New post] PVOs watch list for 2014
To: geoffseidner@gmail.com


 
 
Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2013 11:11 AM
Subject: [New post] PVOs watch list for 2014
 

New post on Catallaxy Files

PVOs watch list for 2014

by Sinclair Davidson
Peter van Onselen has put out a pollie watch list for 2014. So he has 5 on the up and 5 on the down. It is the on the down choices that I'm interested in.
First he nominates Wayne Swan - but Swan has more or less disappeared from public life, if not actually the Parliament, when Julia Gillard lost office. PVO does suggest that Swan might be snapped up by the private sector. Surely not. The only people who could credibly employ him would be some union dominated super fund.
PVO also nominates the shadow ministry.
The collective of ageing shadow ministers who should have retired when the Labor government lost. It is remarkable how many former ministers past their prime stayed on to hog frontbench spots which should have gone to the likes of Nick Champion, Stephen Jones and Ed Husic. Expect a few to fall away next year, as they realise opposition ain't much fun.
This is correct. These are the people to watch because much the same thing happened after 2007. The then Coalition shadow ministry had the same problem. But as it became clearer that opposition was going to be a short term proposition the older members didn't retire and make space but hung on there. If the now shadow ministry starts retiring then that reveals their expectations of returning to government.
So far all good.
Then:
George Brandis or Christopher Pyne: Neither probably will fall from grace, but both have had poor starts as ministers. 2014 will either see them find their feet, or the mistakes will pile up and Abbott will need to act. The former is more likely for both men, but they will be closely scrutinised next year.
on Christopher Pyne I agree. While I think dumping Gonski would have been good policy, he completely fluffed the implementation.
What of George Brandis? I can't see him being in the same category as Pyne. I don't perceive him as having had a poor start. So I asked PVO on twitter what the story is. PVO nominates three areas where Brandis is vulnerable. Entitlements, hypocrisy, and not abolishing the Human Rights Commission.
So we're in full agreement on not abolishing the Human Rights Commission.
It is hard to get too excited about the entitlements thing. We covered it here at the Cat at the time and it is disgraceful and politicians should be paid in cash and all that. Okay - but I'm not convinced that Brandis is uniquely vulnerable in this area. Ultimately there is no real political cost in this area. If criminality come be demonstrated then it is a different story - but exploiting vague rules may cause a temporary stink and excite journalists and bloggers but I doubt there is any long-term cost here.
Then PVO and Brandis have been exchanging barbs in The Australian over hypocrisy and the meaning of partisanship. That is pure self-indulgence on PVOs part. Nobody cares. More importantly that isn't the risk Brandis faces in 2014.
The risk Brandis faces in 2014 is that the political left succeeds in discrediting Tim Wilson. I have no doubt they will give it a red-hot go. If they succeed an already overly cautious government will become more cautious. If they fail the Abbott government may acquire more of a backbone.
Sinclair Davidson | December 29, 2013 at 11:11 am | URL: http://wp.me/pScng-cz2
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PVO 6 hello again pvo dec 29

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Geoff Seidner <myemail99@optusnet.com.au>
Date: Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 9:16 AM
Subject: dec 29 2.41 am Hello again PVO!
To: geoffseidner@gmail.com


 
 
From: g87
Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2013 2:31 PM
Subject: Hello again PVO!
 
Hello Peter
Congratulations,
You have in your two recent articles given me enough incentive to base a major essay, thesis, monograph or even a book on the subject of
MEDIA MANIPULATION AND INSULTS TO THE INTELLIGENCE.
 
I may change the nomenclature – but methinks some people may recognize that it will be based on the
WINTROP PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM AT WA UNI.
 
I will send you advance copies as I write it: you may be prepared to comment on salient segments.
Oh – by the way – I will try to find room for Emmerson: remember him?
His article is right next to yours in Saturday’s Oz.
 
Yours Sincerely
Geoff Seidner
 
 
 
 
 December (66)
 
 
 

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13 Alston Grove East St Kilda 3183

613 9525 9299




PVO 7 Skynews APRIL 4, 2012

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Geoff Seidner <myemail99@optusnet.com.au>
Date: Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 9:23 AM
Subject: gs to skynews...april 4 2012 1.07pm RE PETER VAn ONSELEN and Emmerson on Skynews
To: geoffseidner@gmail.com


 
 
From: g87
Sent: Wednesday, April 4, 2012 1:07 PM
Subject: RE PETER VAn ONSELEN and Emmerson on Skynews
 
Ian Ferguson,
News Director
Skynews,
Dear Mr Ferguson
 
As per our brief conversation at approx 12 25 pm - a few mins ago today.
 
I wish to complain about Peter Van Onselen's plainly pathetic - essentially apologetic interview with Minister Craig Emmerson.
Skynews Tuesday 4/4/12
8 .10 pm??
 
The following didactic points are made hereunder.
 
Van Onselen made a few pre - interview 'editorial' comments about Labor's discreditable actions re The ABC / SKY Fiasco - and maybe Craig Thompson scam.
It was the only semi - worthwhile thing he did: but Emmerson had no reason to answer - he was conveniently not there!
This was clearly a pathetic attempt to say something which had no gravitas / implications re the interview whatsoever!
I could impeach it in disparate ways - but what is the point?
Certainly ask him why some matters material he dared not mention to Emmerson!
 
He was apologetic to Emmerson for having to MENTION UNMENTIONABLES: NOT _ NICE THINGS!!!
Pathetically - this is a reasonable synopsis - VO was mentioning that he really only wanted to talk about China - and sought his understanding - DULY GIVEN!!!
 
THE TEXT WILL VERIFY ALL!!
 
He gave Emmerson a pathetic free kick which Emmerson effusively, enthusiastically  took!!
Methinks it was an oblique comparison of an earlier event!!
INEXCUSABLE: ARE THESE TWO CLOSE FRIENDS??
Emmerson and Craig Thompson are flatmates: it showed!!
 
I request that you kindly send me a transcript of this lame interview.
Also inform me as to how to obtain this online - in future.
I am not familiar with your site.
 
Compare with ABC TV 7 30 Uhlman interview last night - for cute, ironical  example!!
And there is much more: you should read The Australian today and over the past 10 days - PVO may glean interview skills from the content of the OZ.
It probably has 40 plus 'unkind' articles - it is indeed the EVIL MEDIA - AKA THAT ALIEN BOB BROWN,,,,,
 
Please pass this on to Peter VO. FOR HIM TO DEFEND HIMSELF!
 
His performances simultaneously almost bemuse and infuriate me.
It varies between the pathetic and the acceptable - depending on how he feels about being seen as a former Liberal staffer - and his ostensible need to curry favor with the Gillard government.
 
If Labor has made scores of catastrophic disasters and hundreds of mere stupidities - it is time PVO forgot his biases and simply acted professionally.
 
I have a blogsite that you may care to view: it needs improvements - but not of the intellectual kind!
 
 
 
Thank you
Geoff Seidner

Geoff Seidner
13 Alston Grove
East St Kilda 3183
03 9525 9299
 
 

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613 9525 9299



PVO 8 CATALAXY MAY 2013

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Geoff Seidner <myemail99@optusnet.com.au>
Date: Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 9:23 AM
Subject: Fw: [New post] Can Peter van Onselen count?
To: geoffseidner@gmail.com


 
 
Sent: Monday, May 6, 2013 2:56 AM
Subject: [New post] Can Peter van Onselen count?
 

New post on Catallaxy Files

Can Peter van Onselen count?

by Samuel J
I was intrigued to read van Onselen's latest piece on an upcoming rout of Labor in the election. Among other things he states
If these dire predictions eventuated, Labor still wins 37 seats, one more than in 1975.
As if Labor winning 37 seats in 2013 is better than winning 36 seats in 1975.
In 1975 there were 127 seats in the House of Representatives, so Labor won 36 / 127 = 28.3 per cent of the seats.
If Labor wins 37 seats out of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives in 2013, that would be only 24.7 per cent of the seats. Surely a worse result than 1975, Mr van Onselen?
Samuel J | May 6, 2013 at 2:56 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pScng-aXy
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613 9525 9299



PVO 9 Catalaxy JUNE 2013

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Geoff Seidner <myemail99@optusnet.com.au>
Date: Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 9:24 AM
Subject: Fw: [New post] Is Peter van Onselen Rudd’s campaign manager?
To: geoffseidner@gmail.com


 
 
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 7:13 PM
Subject: [New post] Is Peter van Onselen Rudd’s campaign manager?
 

New post on Catallaxy Files

Is Peter van Onselen Rudd’s campaign manager?

by Samuel J
I though that Peter van Onselen is supposed to be a journalist. But his writings over the past month have been consistently pro-Rudd. He seems to be acting as Rudd's campaign manager.
Today we have his article Blocking Kevin won't leave Julia a martyr saying she should step                                aside because she won't be a martyr like Gough Whitlam. He argues she should stand aside because
all that will be remembered is the size of the defeat Gillard would have presided over.
Rudd admitted yesterday he made mistakes as prime minister. It might seem like an obvious statement, but to the powerbrokers who are considering asking him to return to the prime ministership it was a key statement for him to make.
Again on 15 June in Gillard will leave no platform for ALP comeback, van Onselen wrote
The game-changing nature of a return to Rudd would see a realignment in fundraising for Labor, as well as seats into which those funds could be targeted. The simple fact that the party would no longer need to plough money into double-digit margin seats just to save the furniture would force the Coalition to spread its financing thinner. And Rudd could even open up defensive plays by the LNP in a state like Queensland, thus helping sitting Labor MPs to hang on to                                  their seats.
Rudd is a proven campaigner popular with the public. The polling bounce alone following a change to Rudd would generate enthusiasm Gillard simply could not muster.
On 12 June, in an article Emotional blackmail follows political terror van Onselen attacks Julia Gillard
The perspective that Rudd is some sort of terrorist because he didn't just roll up into a little ball and quietly go away after he was brutally ejected from the prime ministership is a convenient argument by Gillard supporters. But she was the initial aggressor, when as his deputy she challenged Rudd in his first term. That is true political terror.
On 11 June he wrote This is Shorten's one shot at redemption arguing that Shorten must support Kevin Rudd by following John Button's example of tapping Bill Haydon on the shoulder
The next sitting fortnight is Shorten's chance at redemption, even if the process will not be a pleasant one. History will surely see it that way. Shorten must look to Button for inspiration.
Doing so [bringing back Rudd] has more chance of lifting Labor's fortunes than the dysfunctional situation at the present
HOW do 102 souls make the conscious decision to strap themselves into a bus that is about to career off a cliff? Because that is what the federal Labor caucus has done by sticking with Julia Gillard.
There are other examples, but I'm convinced that Peter von Onselen is Kevin Rudd's biggest supporter and fan.
Samuel J | June 19, 2013 at 7:11 pm | Categories: 2013 electionSJ | URL: http://wp.me/pScng-bhH
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PVO 10 WITH MARK BUTTLER...SKY.. JULY 2013

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Geoff Seidner <myemail99@optusnet.com.au>
Date: Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 9:25 AM
Subject: Fw: MARK BUTLER TRANSCRIPT - INTERVIEW WITH PETER VAN ONSELEN AND PAUL KELLY SKY AUSTRALIAN AGENDA - CLIMATE CHANGE [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
To: geoffseidner@gmail.com


 
 
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2013 5:36 PM
Subject: MARK BUTLER TRANSCRIPT - INTERVIEW WITH PETER VAN ONSELEN AND PAUL KELLY SKY AUSTRALIAN AGENDA - CLIMATE CHANGE [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
 
Twitter.com/Mark_Butler_MP
The Hon Mark Butler MP
Minister for Climate Change
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Water

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW SKY AUSTRALIAN AGENDA WITH
PETER VAN ONSELEN AND PAUL KELLY


21 July 2013
Topics: Asylum Seekers, Climate Change, FBT

PETER VAN ONSELEN:    To discuss the issue of climate change first up, we're joined now out of Adelaide by the Climate Change Minister Mark Butler. Mr Butler, welcome to the program.
MARK BUTLER:                 Morning, Peter.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:    We are going to focus, obviously, on climate change, but just a quick question to start if I can, on this announcement from Friday in relation to the boats. You're a senior factional member of the Labor Party left. There has to be some disquiet, doesn't there, within the broad Labor movement - but certainly within the left you would think - about a policy that appears to be as harsh as this, as Paul Kelly talks about?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well I think the Prime Minister was pretty frank at the announcement on Friday - there would be people within the Labor movement and the Labor Party, and the broader community, who would feel uncomfortable with this. But in my discussions with some people over the last couple of days, although you know, there is a level of discomfort about some aspects of this, there is also a very strong and clear recognition that something very different needs to be done.
                                             The numbers, the ruthlessness with which people smugglers are putting people - including very young children - on these leaky boats, the number of people we're losing on the seas means that business as usual is simply unacceptable. So yes there is a level of discomfort I'm sure in parts of the Labor Party and the Labor movement, but there's a very strong recognition that this sort of game-changer is needed to start to arrest the numbers of people coming over from Indonesia in particular.
PAUL KELLY:                      Just on that point Minister, given the appalling nature of the detention conditions in Papua New Guinea, are you prepared to live with the idea that women, and children and family groups will be sent there to those conditions?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well I think a range of these details will be fleshed out, and I know you're talking to Bob Carr who's had much more involvement in these arrangements than I have. But the Prime Minister again made clear on Friday that there'd be very strong supports put in place for these resettlement arrangements in PNG in terms of health services, education services and the like. Over coming days and weeks I'm sure we'll see details of that fleshed out. But I know there's a very broad recognition, including by the Prime Minister and Minister Burke and I'm sure Minister Carr, that PNG is going to need - and deserves - some assistance from Australia in some of those services.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:    We will pass that political hot potato on to Bob Carr after the break where we'll talk to him about it. Let's move on if we can, to your portfolio area of climate change. It's rhetoric gone over the top, isn't it, for Kevin Rudd to describe himself as the terminator of the carbon tax? At the end of the day, all that's happening here is the floating price is being brought forward by twelve months, and that's only happening if the Government actually changes legislation, and that's unlikely to happen before the election. We're just talking about an election promise here, rather than any actual change, aren't we?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well I'm not sure I've ever heard Kevin Rudd call himself The Terminator. We have said we're terminating the carbon tax, that is the description given to the fixed-price arrangement by many in the community, and most in the media, Peter and Paul. And to be very clear, that arrangement under a Labor Government will be terminated and we'll be moving more quickly than otherwise would have been the case to an emissions trading scheme. A scheme that for the first time, introduces an actual cap on the amount of carbon pollution that can be dumped into the atmosphere, and allows businesses to work out the proper price.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:    Don't you need to go to Parliament before the election to show voters that you're fair dinkum about this? I mean recalling Parliament, and trying to get this through the Senate, whether you succeed or fail depending on what the Greens and the Coalition did, wouldn't that be a real strong gesture that this is more than just an election promise?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well that question's obviously very much tied up with the question of election timing, and I'm not privy to that and Kevin Rudd, as Prime Minister, has a range of issues he needs to factor in that decision. But I've made it clear I think before, that I see it as my responsibility to be ready to do either. Either to take legislation to the Parliament in the event that Parliament does sit again before the next election, or if not, then at least to have very, very clear draft legislation out - which I hope will be out in coming days or at the most the next couple of weeks - so that no one could be under any ambiguity or any uncertainly about what the Labor Party's commitment is around climate change.
                                             We'll have draft legislation out, we already have costings out, we'll be very clear what the impact to households and business will be. And if - before or after the election - the Greens Party or the Opposition for that matter, turn their back on emissions trading again, for a second time, as they did in 2009, then I think the people will judge them very, very harshly. This is a model that has been accepted very broadly around the world, overwhelmingly around the world as the right model to deal with the threat of carbon pollution, and resulting climate change. And I think the time has come for the Opposition to get off the political posturing, for the Greens to get off their far-left political posturing as well, and adopt the model that is increasingly being adopted around the world.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:    I'm sure we'll get to some of those details about the model in a moment. But you mention there about the Government being very clear about the cost of pricing carbon and so on. There's a bit of unclarity though isn't there, or a lack of clarity. Because initially I recall for years during the life of this Parliament, your side of politics saying that the Coalition is overstating the impact on cost of living, they're overstating the impact of the carbon tax on for example electricity prices. Yet part of your pitch for bringing the floating price forward, is to fix cost of living problems - indeed to fix the difficulties that people face in terms of their power bills. That's inconsistent.
MARK BUTLER:                 Well fix is your language Peter, I don't think Kevin Rudd used that language at all last week. He said that there would be a modest but important impact on cost of living for households, and also an impact on input costs for business, which ultimately will flow onto households. This will be important relief, but the modelling we put out there, the estimates - for example - on electricity prices when the fixed carbon price, or the carbon tax was introduced, was absolutely spot on in, I think, every jurisdiction around the country.
                                             Tony Abbott was talking about $100 roasts, and towns getting wiped off the map. He was the one overstating, our modelling was spot on. And what we're saying this week though, or said last week, is that we'll be able to provide even more relief to households, so that during what is a difficult time for everyone - with ongoing uncertainty in the global economy - households, businesses for that matter, will have just a little bit more relief than we would otherwise have been able to deliver them in 2014-15.
PETER KELLY:                   Minister do you accept that the emissions trading scheme, which is being adopted, is in fact Julia Gillard's scheme?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well, it's clear that the scheme introduced and passed, essentially under the prime ministership of Julia Gillard, was going to move to an emissions trading scheme in 2015-16. It has been the policy of the Labor Party for years now, the 2007 election and 10 election, to have an emissions trading scheme - a scheme that caps carbon pollution and allows business to work out the cheapest possible way to work within that limit on carbon pollution in our economy. So yes, Julia Gillard, all members of the Labor caucus, have been committed to emissions trading.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:    [Interrupts] So Kevin Rudd is still selling Julia Gillard's scheme, that's the bottom line. He's just brought forward the date of the floating price.
MARK BUTLER:                 That's right. We've been able to terminate the fixed price, or the carbon tax, what ever language you want to use, twelve months earlier, so that we can move more quickly to the emissions trading scheme, which has always been the ambition of all Labor Party members since well before the 2007 election. We also remember of course, last week is six years to the date that John Howard announced that the Liberal Government then was committed to introducing precisely the emissions trading scheme model that we're moving to introduce in 2014-15. This is not an unusual model to be used in response to this very significant challenge.
PAUL KELLY:                      Now Minister, the Shadow Minister Greg Hunt argues that over the next eight years the revenue raised through your carbon pricing arrangements, as announced by Kevin Rudd, will be 58 billion as opposed to 64 before. Do you agree with those numbers?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well no I don't. Look it's important to recognise what happened with Treasury's modelling on this. Treasury, as is appropriate, modelled a price in 2020 that would reflect, I guess, the implementation of the international commitment - so not just here in Australia but across the world - the international commitment to keep carbon pollution to 450 parts per million, which ultimately would mean that the increase in global temperatures would be kept to below two degrees Celsius. And what Treasury has done is essentially drawn a straight line from the floating price date, which will now be 2014-15, up to that price in 2020.
                                             Now over time of course, this is going to be a market where business ultimately sets the price, and Treasury will have to update its modelling, and it's forecast in the same way it does in response to fluctuations in the currency market, or in the commodities market. But that was entirely the appropriate thing for Treasury to do, but being a market, over time Treasury will have to review quite what the market is doing.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:    One of the issues though, isn't it, is that people look at the projections by Treasury for where the floating price will move to, versus the reality of where it's going start now that it's tied into the European scheme. And they look at that and wonder how the budget is going to be anything other than massively in the red, if we are less likely to bring in the kind of revenue through the floating price than Treasury has earmarked, given the amount of compensation that's being handed back to voters at the same time.
MARK BUTLER:                 But this is not unusual. We don't operate a command and control economy. We operate a private economy, effectively, and Government revenue is always subject to fluctuations in the market as I've said, in response to fluctuations in the currency market. And very significant fluctuations in commodity prices that we've seen, hit revenues very hard. They hit them in a good way in the mid part of the last decade, they're hitting them on the downside, and have been for the last few years. So this is not unusual. It makes Treasury's job very difficult, they're very talented bunch, but over the next coming years they'll have to monitor that market in the same way they monitor all other markets.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:    But as uncertain as things like the iron ore price might be if we're seeing a shift from $100 to $70 in percentage terms that's nothing like what we're seeing with the carbon price moving from around $24 a ton down to $6 a ton. I mean that's got to gut the budget, doesn't it?
MARK BUTLER:                 Which is why we've had to make some pretty responsible but difficult savings over the last week that we've announced. And I guess that is the commitment ultimately particularly the Treasurer and Minister Wong as Finance Minister, they do have a difficult job in a time where revenue is being depressed through the ongoing impact of the GFC and the issue we have with nominal GDP growth being lower than real GDP growth. We have a very strong commitment to fiscal responsibility and as these different markets fluctuate including in the future the carbon market, it is the job of the Expenditure Review Committee to make sure that we cut our cloth accordingly.
PAUL KELLY:                      Minister, our 2020 reduction target is five per cent. Given the ongoing warnings about the nature of the climate change problem, to what extent would you like to look at a more ambitious target?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well, in the time I've been the Climate Change Minister, a number of environmental groups have talked to me about their ambition for government to increase the target. As you'll remember we have a range of targets that we've announced. The five per cent minimum and then potentially higher targets depending on progress in international negotiations. My response to them and to the community more broadly is we put in place I think a system that deals with this properly. It's a system overseen by the Climate Change Authority chaired by Bernie Fraser, the former Reserve Bank governor, and he is doing a report along with the rest of his board and the authority staff that will be looking at the 2020 reduction target of five per cent as a minimum and also the caps year on year between 2014 and 2020 to ensure that we to that ultimate end point.
                                             I think that's the appropriate thing to do, a draft report from Bernie Fraser's board will be out I think in around October and legislatively they're required to produce a final report by the end of February to give us a very clear view about what that minimum target should be. So my inclination is to let the Climate Change Authority do its work. I know it's an authority that has a high level of confidence in the environmental group sector and in the business sector. I think instead of me stomping around and nominating other figures, it's best to let the authority do its work over the coming months.
PAUL KELLY:                      To what extent to you think the Australian public is still concerned about climate change? A number of people would argue the issue has gone off the boil. What's your view of that and to what extent do you think climate change will be an issue front and centre at the coming election?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well, look I think community views about climate change have moderated to some degree since the middle part of the last decade. I think the impact of the drought particularly in my part of Australia and some other weather events were very much accentuating the sense of immediacy around climate change but also in a zero sum game way after the global financial crisis, there was more of a focus on the immediate, I guess economic health of the country and household security and suchlike. But against all that I think there is still a very deep underlying concern about climate change. I mean some of the research the Climate Institute released last week for example shows that the vast majority of people still think climate change is a reality and a very worrying reality at that. And that human activity is a very significant cause of that climate change.
                                             They want their governments to act but I think it is true that the I guess the smoke and the heat over the carbon tax debate over the last couple of years has I think blunted the sense in the community that government is serious about this. Not just our government but Parliaments are serious about this. That's why I think it's so important that we made the decision that we did last week. We give the opportunity to the community to have a confidence that we are going to move to the best possible model as quickly as we can, the Emissions Trading Scheme. We are going to have a cap on carbon pollution for the first time that reduces over the years. And we are going to continue to have a very, very strong commitment to renewable energy.
                                             So that we can continue to see solar and wind-power and suchlike grow into the future. And I think that will respond to the very deep underlying sense the community has that they do want serious action from their governments about what is going to be a very enduring challenge for years and decades to come.
PAUL KELLY:                      What I'd like to ask you is do you believe that the Australian public has got to make financial sacrifices in this cause? I mean as Minister, is that your message or not? And the reason I ask the question is because the degree of compensation provided for these arrangements now is simply over the top. So what's your view, what's your message about this point of financial sacrifice?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well, look, we make no apology, Paul, for the support that we've particularly given to low and middle income households. Households on fixed incomes like pensions to ensure that they are protected during this transition in the economy. There does have to be a very significant transition in the economy and government is supporting that. For example, through supporting small-scale renewable energy projects. People putting solar and solar water heaters on their roof. Right up to the sort of support that we need to give to very large-scale renewable energy projects. I mean to that extent the broader community is making a sacrifice through government making financial commitments and giving financial support to that transition.
                                             But we make no apology for ensuring particularly that low to middle income households are protected during this transition period. As we did in the 1980s when there was a very significant transition in the economy under the Hawke and Keating governments.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:    Minister, do you see how it looks like it doesn't make sense? That if you're compensating people indeed overcompensating people for increases in electricity prices attached to measures to try to address climate change, then you're not changing their habits necessarily because they've got the extra money in their pocket to pay for the price rise. The whole point of an Emissions Trading Scheme isn't it to deter people from being in a position where they choose these high emissions intensive forms of energy, why would they do that when they've got the money in their pocket to pay for it?
MARK BUTLER:                 Well, because and this is the crucial element of an Emissions Trading Scheme, you introduce a cap on carbon pollution so that there is an effective limit on the amount of carbon pollution that can be dumped into the atmosphere. That forces business to start to find cleaner ways to operate. They start trading those obligations through an Emissions Trading Scheme in permit so that they can find the cheapest way to do it. But there is no choice. Under a system that has a cap on carbon pollution, the community simply must move to a cleaner way of operating. But also I've seen a very strong willingness on the part of households to do this.
                                             When we came to government there were around 7000 households that had solar rooftop panels on their rooves. There are now more than one million. People are willing to make this change. They want to make a change for the better of the environment into the future. But the really critical element is putting this cap on carbon pollution. A cap or a legal limit on carbon pollution that is the central element to the Emissions Trading Scheme.
PETER VAN ONSELEN:    Mark Butler, we appreciate your time on Australian Agenda.


Media contact:          Tim O’Halloran            0409 059 617


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Geoff Seidner
13 Alston Grove East St Kilda 3183

613 9525 9299



PVO 11

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Geoff Seidner <myemail99@optusnet.com.au>
Date: Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 9:25 AM
Subject: Fw: Of Viccisitudes and muting the enemy
To: geoffseidner@gmail.com


 
 
From: g87
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2013 3:52 PM
Subject: Of Viccisitudes and muting the enemy
 
Hi Peter,
Methinks everyone is ‘partisan’ – it is innate in the way we all are. Where the left are however wilfully blind, the conservative view of the world is different.
I am writing on this........
 
I tell you Peter that Brandis and Julie Bishop are brilliant.
 
First she appointed Natasha Stott  Despoya to an AMBASSADORIAL post for the girl people.  Where she will become essentially a publically – mute entity.
In the process he gets her eternal thanks for becoming so encumbered. I remember the interview on ABC TV approx. 10 days ago: it was bemusing.
My blog has not caught up with this matter yet.
 
Then Brandis does the Tim Wilson ‘thingy’.
Whatever you may write hereunder / earlier today – you have to admire that if nothing else but the sheer chutzpah in similarly silencing Gillian Triggs.
This lady is Wilson’s nominal boss – yet is also effectively encumbered with embarassment. She is of the extreme left – and her organization is not in her control anymore, it seems.
A TV interview I recall as well.
 
Kindly note that any didactic analysis of things basis an ethereal interpretation of the ‘partisan’ word misses the point. Nor should you enter into other domains – about refugees et al.
[During the next few weeks I look forward to writing a major essay on the vicissitudenous nature  of some people:  in changing subjects as a diversion.  I will send it to you when finished]
 
In the world of real politic – these guys / girls are ADULTS – compared with the infantile modus vivendi / operandi of Rudd – Gillard – Rudd and the imbeciles who supported them unilaterally.
 
I look forward to you revisiting writing excellent articles as you frequently do.
 
Regards
Geoff Seidner
 
 
 
 
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Sent: Monday, December 23, 2013 10:35 AM
To: g87
Subject: RE: Greetings PVO
 
Hi Geoff
I won’t read it but wish you the best with your thoughts, I just don’t have time, or the energy, to read that kind of stuff, no offence.

Re Brandis, yes he challenged my claim that Tim W is a partisan, but I invite you and Brandis to actually look up the definition of the word ‘partisan’. Once you do you will see even in his letter today Mr Brandis accidently pointed out that Tim is in fact a partisan. But let me also point this out to you – I assume you are able to see the logic of it – if Tim W isn’t partisan, bc as Brandis says he from time to time doesn’t follow the party line of his political party, what was Brandis doing calling Tim S a partisan, seeing as Tim S also doesn’t always follow the party line of his party – eg on refugees and immigration matters? Very funny that the AG couldn’t see that was where his logic took him…Ooops!
Best
Peter

From: g87 [mailto:g87@optusnet.com.au]
Sent: Monday, 23 December 2013 9:29 AM
To: Van Onselen, Peter
Subject: Greetings PVO

Greetings, PVO
Thanks for your comments.

Under the circumstances there is no way I wish to create a problem by communicating with you by further on this subject: I guess any subject.

You could take it as harassment – and unless you so indicate to the contrary you may need to merely secretly look at my blog from time to time. It will rapidly move from PVO soon. May you write quality items with considered thought in future.

Note that the Attorney General George Brandis has also taken you to task this morning in The Australian. He is being generous to you: he is a politician after all. Maybe I too should have been ‘generous’. There are so many twirps of the left: why did I pick on you?

However I promise not to tell if you have a ‘decko’ at my next few entries on my blog.
Humour attempted.

Regards
Geoff Seidner 



Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2013 1:35 PM
Subject: Fwd: PVO IS A FOOL

Hi there,
You sound rather unhinged, I hope things all come together for you in the years ahead
All the best
Peter

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:
From: Peter Van Onselen <peter.vanonselen@uwa.edu.au>
Date: 22 December 2013 11:58:25 AM AEDT
To: "vanonselenp@theaustralian.com.au"<vanonselenp@theaustralian.com.au>
Subject: FW: PVO IS A FOOL


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-- 
Geoff Seidner
13 Alston Grove East St Kilda 3183

613 9525 9299



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