Labor View from Broome

Farewell to Broome

2008-05-11T14:19:00.004+08:00

Time to hand in the keys to the post box tomorrow morning and head down to 80 mile beach. A lot of national parks to visit between here and Black Rock in Melbourne. We'll miss the Federal budget, the remaining U.S. primaries and a few AFL games. It's a hard life!

Might get a chance to post along the way. No promises. If you miss this blog, then try reading Voices without Votes, Remembering 68 (Facebook) or watching some of the Laborview videos. Links are on the right. If you can't access YouTube try TeacherTube which has many of them. My own favourite is Howard's Last Innings: Tallyroom Spectators. So here it is:

It always cheers me up!

Country Share: Welcome to Broome

2008-05-10T17:55:00.005+08:00

Just like Broome itself Labor View from Broome has many visitors from overseas. I was surprised by the latest results for Country Share on Sitemeter. It covers the last 100 visits. Certainly posts on Voices without Votes have increased the political traffic but a closer examination of referring sites shows the power of Google searches including an increasing number of image searches. Kwoff and Digg also feature regularly with less from Reddit.

ClustrMaps shows an even greater diversity of countries visiting the site.

On Monday we are leaving Broome and returning to my country, Melbourne, to live. Might post occasionally during the next five weeks but will spend most of the time out of mobile much less internet range. Diesel is $1.80 a litre here. Wonder what it's fetching on the Gunbarrel Highway.

Expect a new name in late June.

WA Sunday Times: Not ducking but goosed!

2008-05-08T18:52:00.005+08:00

The raid on the Western Australian Sunday Times has interstate interest: WA police raid on Sunday Times leaves politicians ducking for cover This is my response to Woolly Days aka Derek Barry of Queensland:

When we moved to WA in January last year I was staggered to learn of both the powers of the CCC Corruption and Crime Commission) and their exercise of those powers: phone taps, bugging, recording of private conversations and surveillance involving people not directly accused of anything. A sort of Star fishing Chamber.

Despite or perhaps because of my long time involvement with the ALP, I would not be surprised if the assertions of dirt on the government's hands were true. However, at this stage it is pure speculation. I suggest that someone ask the CCC to investigate whether the Ministers have abused their powers.

As a Broome ALP sub-branch member I enjoyed Shelley Archer MLC's hospitality at Party functions in her home before her forced resignation and regularly visited her electorate office. I have often joked that my political jokes and anecdotes were being recorded and would be taken out of context, or worse in context.

The public seem happy to watch the squirming of politicians and the legion of urgers and suits (and hats in Brian Burke's case) who inhabit the decision-making lobbies. It is a costly exercise in both financial and civil liberties terms. Lots of unethical behaviour, some bordering on the illegal, has been exposed. I'm not aware of any successful criminal charges.

The media have thrived on the revelations emanating from the CCC's activities but aren't prepared to cop the collateral damage that comes with this heavy handed approach to keeping the bastards honest.

'What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander'.

Obama: Securing a Portion of the American Dream

2008-05-08T15:30:00.009+08:00

Barack Obama has come through stronger than ever. His victory speech was impressive:

...it's about your hopes, it's about your dreams, it's about your struggles, it's about your aspirations, it's about securing your portion of the American dream. ...we can choose this moment to come together, choose not to be afraid...

It was a combination of JFK's inauguration and George W. Bush's appeal in 2000 to bi-partisanship.

It is ironic that Bush presented himself as the Washington outsider against Al Gore. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton used similar slogans during their campaigns. Until he secured the Republican nomination John McCain had always positioned himself as the insider's outsider, in but not of Washington.

Barack's "new politics" echoes Kevin Rudd's "new leadership' of the 2007 Australian election. It can be irresistible against opponents who are perceived as offering more of the same, even Hillary Cinton. McCain may well be swamped by Obama's surge.

Primaries: beginning of the end game

2008-05-07T11:31:00.005+08:00

North Carolina & Indiana:

Not game changer or game over. Certainly not really Clinton's claimed tie breaker. It's the end game now and Hillary has very few moves left. But it appears she'll battle on.

Barack Obama's failure to win Indiana and bury her for good leaves a major question mark over his seemingly inevitable presidential campaign.

Shooting first: the Democrat candidates gun policies

2008-05-05T08:36:00.004+08:00

40 years after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Junior and Robert Kennedy the gun debate in the U.S. has hit rock bottom. After Barack Obama's comments about small town America clinging to guns, Clinton's campaign has sent a mailout to Indiana voters questioning his stance on guns: Where Does Barack Obama really stand on guns?

The media is every ready to criticise the Democrats for having no policy differences and not debating issues. So the response from key bloggers. Ben Smith at Politco knows a major policy division when he sees it. Hillary had made another serious error:

The image of the gun pictured on the face of the mailing is reversed, making it a non-existent left-handed model of the Mauser 66 rifle.

To make matters worse, a prominent gun dealer said, it’s an expensive German gun with customized features that make it clearly European.
Clinton mailing's gun gaffe (Politico 4 May 2008)

Don't you just love it when they get straight to the heart of the matter.

The Huffington Post see the flier as skewing Obama's comments:

The Hillary mailer, in selectively quoting from this, omitted all of Obama's references to people's economic circumstances, leaving the misleading impression that all Obama did was "accuse" rural and small-town Americans of being "bitter" people who "cling to guns."

It seems that everything is being taken out of context in this election season. Ask John McCain about about his 100 year Iraq war and oil statements. Ask the Reverend Wright.

Anyway I took the bait and went to Barack's official website Obama'08 for the good oil (not the stuff they fight wars over apparently - ask McCain if that was out of context). Now his gun control ideas might be hidden somewhere in the downloadable PDFs but I couldn't find any reference to a guns policy. The closest was a classic Obamaism headed Sportsmen under Additional Issues:

Obama recognizes that we must forge a broad coalition if we are to address the great conservation challenges we face. America’s hunters and anglers are a key constituency that must take an active role and have a powerful voice in this coalition.

I'm not even game to look at the Democrats' policies on the death penalty. But then again Hillary and Barack are/were supposed to be liberals.

Reprise: The Great Presidential Race

2008-05-03T11:52:00.003+08:00

It's time to reprise The Great Presidential Race. If you haven't watched it, the metaphor has a continuing life.

Hillary's predicted demise is a bit like the US recession, the numbers don't quite stack up yet.

3 May: World Press Freedom Day

2008-05-02T15:53:00.005+08:00

From Amnesty Interantional

World Press Freedom Day on 3 May highlights the importance of freedom of the press, and reminds governments to uphold their citizens’ right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It’s also a chance for us to reflect on the damage caused to individuals when freedom of the press is denied.

Who said that freedom of the press was owning one? You often get that feeling in Western Australia where there is a virtual monopoly of print media.

Hopefully where there is "free" internet, that is becoming less of the case. Little comfort for the Chinese or the Tibetans at the moment.

Pentagon Propaganda: who cares?

2008-04-30T11:36:00.004+08:00

It seems that few care about the 1984 style manipulation of information by the Pentagon. The Huffington Post has been on the job though. It even gave them a chance to criticise the New York Times for going soft on their own exposé. In Pentagon Suspends Military Media Analysts Program Jason Linkins argues that

...the Times has done little to advance its blockbuster story since it was first reported.

Their other bloggers, Robert F Kennedy jr and Brendan Demelle use far more colourful rhetoric:

In a sophisticated propaganda effort that would make Joseph Goebbels and Edward Bernays green with envy, the Pentagon had turned some fifty former officers, posing as independent experts, into hand puppets mouthing pro-war talking points on Fox News, ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC. Unearthed: News of the Week the Mainstream Media Forgot to Report

Media Matters preferred to contrast the Pentagon sideshow with the real Planet Hollywood news:

Since The New York Times reported on the hidden ties between media military analysts and the Pentagon on April 20, ABC, CBS, and NBC have still not mentioned the report. By contrast, during their April 28 evening news broadcasts, all three networks reported on the Vanity Fair photo of Miley Cyrus.

Apparently, Miley is the star of Disney Channel's Hannah Montana. You learn something important everyday.

Truth: The First Casualty of the Iraq War

2008-04-28T10:12:00.007+08:00

The aftermath of the 2020 Summit seemed to distract the Australian mass media and the blogosphere from yet another case of U.S. government manipulation of political coverage. It was the Iraq war again, of course.

Anthony Lowenstein's blog and Sarah at The Voice of Today's Apathetic Youth did alert us to the New York Times report which exposed the use by the Pentagon of retired military officers to sell the war. According to the NYT as well as attending special briefings:

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his propaganda team courted as many as 75 retired military officers who could best market the Pentagon line, particularly on television. As detailed in The Times on Sunday, many of these officers used their access to Pentagon bigwigs to promote their private businesses.

A PBS NewsHour report followed up these allegations but could not get any response from the major US networks who were the main beneficiaries of this deception. Perhaps they were just too embarrassed. Apparently they ignored the Times story just as they had been ignored their responsibilities to check their sources. PBS's take:

...the Pentagon targeted many of these analysts as part of an information apparatus to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance.

Pentagon officials organized hundreds of private meetings with senior military leaders and the military analysts. They included talks with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

According to the Times, analysts were also taken on tours of Iraq and given access to classified intelligence. In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated.

It was also disclosed that most of the analysts have ties to military contractors.

The Australian media seem to have joined their American counterparts in not covering this story adequately.

I often wondered what credence we could give to the independence and objectivity of the regular war experts used by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and other Australian media during the Iraq invasion. Former SAS commanding officer Jim Wallace was frequently used by the 7.30 Report.

His interview with Four Corners just before the invasion could have been scripted by Rumsfeld. Wallace is the Managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby. I wonder if he agreed with George W. Bush's initial metaphor for the war on terror as a "crusade". I do not recall any occasions on which Wallace's militant christianity was mentioned when explaining his credentials as an expert commentator on the war.

NT Intervention: We must do better!

2008-04-26T08:58:00.005+08:00

If there is much truth in this story from The Age, then Jenny Macklin's mid-year review of the NT intervention is going to be extra difficult: NT intervention 'creating unrest' in big towns

Could these problems have anything to do with the total lack of planning and consultation when the emergency was declared last year? There needs to a comprehensive strategy to issues such as alcohol abuse, not just piece meal solutions that just shift things around.

Who could have imagined a quarantine card black market emerging or people moving to regional centres to get grog.

We must do better!

Penn Primary Blues

2008-04-23T17:02:00.013+08:00

Michigan and Florida will hang over the Democrat 2008 primaries for a long time. An internal party dustup might have cost Hillary Clinton the nomination and almost certainly the presidency as a result. She has been playing catchup with a stacked deck (love those mixed metaphors). The job of the Super Delegates will be tough if it stays close. They are part of the process just like its many other imperfect aspects.

Take Texas for instance. Clinton won 50.89% of the primary vote in the primary and captured 65 delegates to the national convention. Obama's 47.37% gave him 61. When the caucus convention process finishes in June, Obama should win 38 national delegates to Clinton's 29. Seems fair except that to vote in the caucuses they had to vote in the primary first. Barack did well in caucus votes probably because of the nature of the these meetings. Please see Obama: King of the Caucuses for more on this.

The outcome of all this was that Clinton won the Texas popular vote clearly but could end up with less delegates than Obama, 94 to 99.
Doubtless Obama supporters will scream from the rooftops if Clinton wins at the National Democratic Convention in August without a majority of the popular vote or primary/caucus delegates. The strategy is only to object to the rules if they work against your side.

Who would ever have imagined that Indiana would be a real player in this enervating scenario?

Hillary Hangs (on with) 10

2008-04-23T12:56:00.004+08:00

A 10% margin is just what uncommitted Democrats, or committed ones for that matter, did not want. Not quite enough to change the likely Obama nomination, not small enough to finish off Clinton, no end to the primary season.

Obama supporters see the result as a plus for McCain. Bob Cesca at the Huffington Post :

I don't mind so much that it was a disappointing night for Senator Obama in terms of the popular vote spread, but I'm not thrilled with the fact that every day this race continues means a better November for Senator McCain.

Best post of the last day or so is tigtog's Pennsylvania Primary: what are the good reasons and what are the bad reasons to vote for either Dem candidate? She argues that:

I would vote for Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama for two particular reasons which tip the scales for me:

1. The GOP smear machine: Clinton has spent the last 15 years being smeared by it, she has stood strong against the dirt, and there is no new dirt that Rove’s apprentices can throw at her. Kerry folded when he was Swiftboated, Clinton has shown that she never will. Obama is untested by comparison.

2. Reproductive Choice: Clinton is rock-solid. Read that linked transcript - Obama wants to find “common ground” with anti-abortion zealots.

It's the complete opposite of Michael Moore's negative and cynical endorsement of Barack Obama. Moore would vote for any Democrat including the donkey:

I'll tell you why. Because I can't stand one more friggin' minute of this administration and the permanent, irreversible damage it has done to our people and to this world.

He is frankly more interested in promoting a new political force:

Any endorsement of a Democrat must be done with this acknowledgement and a hope that one day we will have a party that'll represent the people first, and laws that allow that party an equal voice.

So it seems that all this politicking is good for democracy, if not necessarily for the Democrats.

Grey Gurus for 2020 Portal

2008-04-22T07:50:00.010+08:00

A recommendation from the Productivity (Education, Skills, Training, Science and Innovation) group at the 2020 summit, which has received some publicity is:

Business – school connections

Creating a coordinated partnership program between Australia’s top 100 companies and schools. This program could also include universities and vocational education and training institutions

The idea of businesses adopting schools is hardly new. It has been evolving in Australia for more than 30 years and is well and truly alive. Every new education minister seems to rediscover this idea as their own. Julie Bishop did the same. One longstanding program is Adopt a School. Certainly we should be trying to extend these initiatives.

I like the next suggestion:

Golden Guru: retired people acting as mentors in the workplace

Grey guru in my case. I recommend the Indigenous Community Volunteers as a starting point for those interested. This program is open to young and old.

The Artists in Residence idea from the Creativity mob isn't new either.

Bring art into our schools by introducing ‘practitioners in residence’ via a national mentoring plan funded by philanthropic funds and tax incentives

Artists in Schools, from the Northern Territory, is just one such program.

This isn't meant to be nitpicking. They are good ideas and programs that need more publicity and support. Perhaps a Golden Guru or two at the new 2020 website and the proposed government portal would help a lot.

19th Century Federation Failing

2008-04-21T07:37:00.007+08:00

The 2020 summit discovers New federalism. Gough Whitlam should be proud of them. The proposals to cut down on duplication and conflicting State laws have been brewing for 35 years.

Needing a police check recently for a national volunteer organisation, I applied to the WA authorities and received a "National Police Certificate'. It certified that the applicant did "not appear on the disclosable court history records of any Australian Police jurisdiction". It wasn't good enough. Apparently Australian Federal Police have their own check so you have to be cleared by them as well.

Waste? A waste of time? Potentially disastrous if one database has serious convictions which the other doesn't reveal? Draw your own conclusions!

There is supposed to be a national system of teacher registration. However, when you move interstate you must take out and pay for the local version. Classes in WA go without teachers while the system goes slow and discourages potential applicants. More wasteful duplication. Another disincentive for the teaching profession.

Good thing we only need only one passport!

Good ideas need political will. Let's hope that the summit adds some backbone to our decision makers. I wonder if anyone mentioned plastic bags?

(Personal disclosures: I was an unsuccessful applicant for the summit. It looked like a success to me: ✭✭✭✭✰.)

Update: I forgot to mention that you have to get a police check for teacher registration as well.

Sitting Duck: Hillary sticks her neck out

2008-04-19T09:03:00.005+08:00

Blue Collar Hillary is a product of SuperNews. Never explain a joke. Enjoy!

Looks like Obama has the multi-media community in the US on side. Well, US politics is Planet Hollywood.

Incentives for green bags

2008-04-17T19:43:00.005+08:00

This can't be an original idea but here goes. Instead of a dis-incentive scheme for plastic bags we should try an incentive scheme. No charge for the plastic bag but a discount or refund for using your own bags.

Haven't seen anyone else use a green bag at the supermarkets in Broome for weeks if not months and we're on the lookout. How about a refund from Coles and Woolworths for the bags we don't use? Let the plastic bag users pay more for their groceries so that we don't have to pay for something we don't want.

Might help others to bring those bags from home.

Democratic debate: God and Guns

2008-04-17T11:19:00.006+08:00

There was an odd coincidence during the latest Democratic debate in Philadelphia. Barack Obama was defending himself regarding his remarks that small townspeople retreat to their passions for religion and guns during tough economic times. Hillary Clinton was trying to explain her slip about being under sniper fire in Bosnia, a conflict rooted in religious passions if ever there was one.

Barack claimed that he messed it up in San Francisco:

Well, I think there's no doubt that I can see how people were offended. It's not the first time that I've made, you know, a statement that was mangled up. It's not going to be the last.

...the point I was making was that when people feel like Washington's not listening to them, when they're promised year after year, decade after decade, that their economic situation is going to change, and it doesn't, then politically they end up focusing on those things that are constant, like religion.

Hillary was also frank:

On a couple of occasions in the last weeks I just said some things that weren't in keeping with what I knew to be the case and what I had written about in my book. And, you know, I'm embarrassed by it. I have apologized for it. I've said it was a mistake. And it is, I hope, something that you can look over, because clearly I am proud that I went to Bosnia. It was a war zone.

The Fix, the Washington Post political blog, seemed to score it a draw:

The choice between the candidates crystallized tonight. It is not, fundamentally, a choice about issues or even ideology -- it is a choice about approach. Obama is an idealist, using nearly every question to appeal to the better angels in people; Obama sees the world as he wants it to be and believes he can make it. Clinton, on the other hand, is an unapologetic pragmatist; she has been through the wringer that is national politics before and knows how to play the game.

Most other blogs such as Huffington Post are so one-sided at the moment, it's hard to get any useful news or views from them.

A transcript of the debate is available online at The New York Times.

Broadband for Kimberley Indigenous Communities

2008-04-16T13:57:00.004+08:00

As part of the continuing Community Cabinet visit to Broome, Fran Logan, WA Minister for Industry and Enterprise, announced the connection of Broome and the remote Indigenous communities of Ardyaloon, Bidyadanga, Djarindjin and Lombadina to high-speed broadband.

It was hot and windy at the Port where the server is housed. Wish my ADSL broadband was as good as this new service is supposed to be. Downloading video to Youtube and Teachertube has been frustrating, with frequent lost connections and poor quality when it gets there, especially on Youtube.

Once the dust settles I'll review the Community Cabinet.

Questions Without Notice

2008-04-15T16:50:00.008+08:00

Community Cabinet in Broome has been a public relations blitz with 20 media events planned for the visit. The local journalists have warmed to the task with an increasing number of questions off the topics of the ministerial announcements.

Opt-out organ donation, health rehabilitation centres, alcohol bans and liquor licensing issues, and doctor shortages are just some of those raised in 'Questions Without Notice'.

Not included from my footage were questions about the Fremantle football club, the West Australian newspaper, and ALP membership rules and pre-selections. Thought they are getting enough coverage in the mass media.

There are still some more ministerial events to come, so watch this space.

Second Magistrate for the Kimberley

2008-04-15T13:08:00.003+08:00

Law and order is an expensive business. When announcing a second magistrate for the Kimberley, the WA premier Alan Carpenter explained that the need for a second magistrate in the region is not just a question of geography and population.

We have also put a lot more emphasis on law enforcement in the Kimberley. We have put into place our multi-function police stations. They obviously have an impact, and therefore an impact on the workload of everybody involved in the legal system, not the least of which is the magistrate.

More laws, more police, more judicial staff, more legal aid, and more prisons. And more indigenous people in those prisons. We can only hope that the better schools, medical care and employment opportunities promised will help to break this vicious cycle.

WA Cabinet Meets in Broome

2008-04-15T08:13:00.003+08:00

The Western Australian State cabinet meets in Broome as part of its regional community consultations. Local public sector workers rally outside about the cost of living. Diesel is $1.76 per litre and rising, and bananas fetch $3.98 per kilo on a good day.

New pool for Fitzroy Crossing

2008-04-14T20:30:00.004+08:00

The previous post explains the context for this video.

For the official media statement, please see: Premier announces swimming pool for Fitzroy Crossing

Was thinking of tagging it "good news indigenous story" but couldn't face the cynics.

Carpenter's Community Cabinet Courts Kimberley

2008-04-14T14:33:00.005+08:00

The WA Premier, Alan Carpenter, has announced a new swimming pool for Fitzroy Crossing and funding for a second magistrate for the Kimberley. This comes as part of the State Community Cabinet visit to Broome this week.

$5.4 million has been allocated for the pool's construction and operating costs. The Premier supported a 'no-school no-pool' policy for stuents, arguing that it is an opportunity, "to not only provide the physical health benefit, the social benefit, but to encourage them to go to school." He also indicated that the government aims to employ and train local indigenous people not only in the construction phase but also in ongoing employment.

At Broome Courthouse the Premier and Jim McGinty, the Attorney General, announced that $700,000 will be spent on a second Kimberley region magistrate and two support staff based in Kununurra. There are also plans to open a new Legal Aid office in Kununurra next year. The Premier said that it was not only a matter of geography but that the workload has gone up because of the government's increased law enforcement in the Kimberley.

When questioned about the backlog caused by lack of jurors, Mr McGinty explained that less than 20% of those summoned to jury duty in the region turned up. In response the government will spend $40,000 on a campaign to increase that number.

Further announcements about law and order issues are expected this week. There is no doubt that it is a major issue for the State election later this year. Many people will be looking for comprehensive policies from all parties to lower the crime rate and incarceration rate, particularly for indigenous people. Hopefully the attempts to get bi-partisanship on indigenous issues will disappear in the crime and punishment mood of most State campaigns.

Clinton: Working Class hero?

2008-04-14T07:42:00.005+08:00

Clinton plays working-class hero after Obama gaffe (ABC News 14 April 2008) is an online edited version of a Reuters story from the Australian Broacasting Corporation (not the American Broadcasting Company).

Clinton has toured a working-class neighborhood to stress her blue-collar background...

But it was Senator Obama's week-old comments saying economic problems led many "bitter and frustrated" voters in small towns to "cling" to their guns and religion that still ruled the political agenda.

The furore could threaten Senator Obama's chances in Pennsylvania, which votes on April 22 to help pick a Democratic candidate to run against Republican John McCain in November's presidential election.

It was the sort of slip that Barack didn't need. Firstly in his continuing struggle with Hillary and later if he is Presidential candidate. Hillary certainly cannot afford any more mistakes. As this story indicates, she will continue to push her perceived greater economic credibility over Obama and McCain as a key campaign focus. She must win the Democrat heartland of working class America to have any chance.

Clinton just won't give in. Unless she has a disaster in Pennsylvania it will be up to the Super delegates. More on their role in future posts.