MEDIA RELEASES

P.O. Box 5069 Eagleby Brigalow Corp 4207 PH: 07 3139 0442 FAX: 07 3807 4645

MEDIA

RELEASE

11/10/08 Successful Brisbane Forum providesSolution to the current financial crash. Among the 15 speakers who spoke to a packed audience, Debbie Gravenall and Neville Black provided the information, which is vital for Australia’s survival of this current financial crash. The knowledge of who is behind the crash, what they want and how Australia and Australian’s can protect ourselves from the crash. Kevin Rudd knows who is behind the crash, he knows it is deliberate, what they want and how they intend to protect themselves and their families from the results of it. Kevin Rudd has been told the solution.The solutions are1. Abolish the double tax agreement, which allows Multinationals to operate in Australia TAX-FREE provided they pay tax in their home country.2. Abolish the Lima Agreement, which agreed Australia would give all of our technology to third world countries, then destroy our manufacturing base, get rid of our farmers and buy from those third world countries what we used to make and grow in Australia.3. Abolish Australia’s agreement to the MAI (Multi lateral agreement on Investment), which allows Multinationals to bring in their own workers from overseas and be paid cheap wages.

4. Take back control of our mints and take back control of the issuing of money from the Multinationals who also control the Reserve Bank and reform the tax system, by the abolition of the current tax system and the introduction of the 1% Debit Tax system which will increase the Government tax income from approximately 170 Billion to approximately 750 Billion PA, which is possible due to the fact the 1% tax only applies to the withdrawal of funds from financial institutions. It is also possible due to the fact that Multinationals will be paying 1% of the money they move rather than paying 0 and leaving the tax burden to the Mums and Dads of Australia as it is now.

5. Place a cap on interest rates and fine those banks that commit usury.

The Prime Minister Knows all this, however will he implement those changes needed, or is he so under the thumb of the Money Changers and Multinationals that he will sell out Australia? If he starts dismissing the above solutions out of hand, then sadly the above statement will be confirmed. Chris Coyle,

Station Manager.

MEDIARELEASE 11/09/08 FLAWED 2025 DEVELOPMENT PLAN SHOULD BE SCRAPPED The Government’s draft development plan for the Far North was so flawed it should be dumped and done again, Parliament has been told. Member for Tablelands Rosa Lee Long MP highlighted major flaws with the Draft 2025 plan in making her call. Among problems were the failure of the main consultation document to include vital information such as important regulations and environmental maps, she said. As well as procedural issues, the plan’s findings were also challenged. “The plan has proposed that 70 per cent of the population growth should be directed on to the coast south of Cairns, yet within the draft plan itself future development in coastal areas is described as becoming less desirable due to increased temperature, increased flooding, more severe cyclones and sea level rises,” she said. “It is a mystery why this government is deliberately planning to put tens of thousands of people in harm’s way. Whatever happened to the precautionary principle.”Tourism industry concerns were highlighted including proposals that would have stopped the Sheraton Mirage, Skyrail, Rainforestation, the Australian Coffee Centre and other projects. Bans on rural residential subdivisions were attacked, with Ms Lee Long quoting from a report of a public meeting which condemned inadequate public consultation, ambiguity in the plan and which identified an attempt to take away the rights of freehold landholders. “In a democracy government should listen to the people,” Ms Lee Long said. “For the draft Far North Queensland Regional Plan 2025, that means stopping this exercise in bad planning and starting again.” ENDS

MEDIARELEASE 11/09/08 Political donation laws change New laws aimed at increased transparency on political donations in fact attack a number of fundamental principles, Member for Tablelands Rosa Lee Long has told State Parliament. Ms Lee Long, speaking during debate on the Electoral Amendment Bill, identified a range of flaws in the legislation. While it was originally meant to reflect Commonwealth law, that Federal process had been held up until next year, she said. “Yet for reasons of its own the Bligh Government has decided to go ahead and bring these Queensland amendments in ahead of the Commonwealth bill which it is supposed to mirror and despite the fact that the Commonwealth bill might not get passed or otherwise might have significant changes made to it,” Ms Lee Long said. She also said that a raft of amendments the government was proposing to its own bill was further evidence of its flaws. “The amendments to the amendments which will be brought in by the Bligh Government today are necessary because the bill has already been identified by the Electoral Commissioner as being poorly drafted.” She also pointed out that because it was to be retrospective, the bill would affect the rights, liberties and obligations of anyone who had made a political donation from 1 July this year, including their right to information privacy. Speaking after Parliament Ms Lee Long said there was no logical reason to rush through such flawed legislation. “This is another example of the poor law making of the Bligh Government,” she said. ENDS

MEDIARELEASE 11/09/08 Experiments in disciplining children offerlittle protection to victims of bullying Decades of Labor Government interference in the disciplining of children has been attacked in State Parliament. Member for Tablelands Rosa Lee Long told Parliament that after almost two decades of ALP control over how parents and teachers disciplined children had resulted in bullying becoming a more frequent media headline issue. “While most children were well behaved, there was always a small minority who cause problems,” she said. “It is this small percentage of children who need to know their boundaries, and when they cross them they should be dealt with swiftly and firmly to nip the problem in the bud”. “The long, drawn out processes now in place simply allow problems to drag on for too long.” Ms Lee Long told Parliament she was aware of a number of schools where bullying had continued for years, despite principal after principal trying everything they were allowed to try under government policies. “But the bullies have long since learnt that they can get away with it and are simply laughing at authority,” she said. It went on to the extent that many students changed schools. Ms Lee Long described how, in many cases, bullying spread from the school grounds to outside of school but parents and students who approached police found their hands tied as officers were unable to help until a life-threatening act had occurred. “It is high time that the Bligh Government takes another look at where its experiment with discipline is going,” she said. “Suspending students or sending them to another room is not the answer because while they are absent from class they are missing out on vital education. “It is often these troubled students who are also frequently truant. In some ways suspension is simply allowing them to pay truant with permission. “It is past time for real discipline to return to our schools.” ENDS

13/08/08

RESEARCH CRUNCH LOOMS FOR
AGRICULTURE

A looming research crunch has been identified as a major issue for agriculture.

Parliamentary Budget Estimates Hearings recently heard, following questioning from Member for Tablelands Rosa Lee Long, that a shortfall of almost 40 per cent in agricultural scientists could strike by 2014.

Ms Lee Long questioned how the State Government was planning to organise a primary training facility at the Australian Agricultural College Mareeba campus when the shortfall was identified.

"The Primary Industries Minister revealed that the deans of agriculture have identified that we will need 36 per cent more agricultural scientists in six years time than we have," Ms Lee Long said.

"Even worse, despite that need there is a lack of undergraduates coming through.

"Agriculture is a vital industry, not only in terms of export earnings but because it serves the absolutely essential function of providing the food we eat.

"It is very important that our farmers and growers and producers have access to the scientific support needed to meet changing crops, markets, conditions and other factors."

However she was shocked to learn that the university of Queensland had only about 12 first year agricultural science students, when it could train up to 120, and that JCU was down to five first year students.

"I recognise the State Government is attempting to address this problem but I call on the Federal Government to take a far more active interest in this issue as well," she said.

Ms Lee Long said she also believed it was important to recognise the knowledge bank which had built up over generations in farming families across the region.

"I believe the best results will come from a combination of scientific research and strong local knowledge and experience," she said.

ENDS

13/08/08

BOOST FOR TABLELANDS HOUSING STOCK

The Government purchase of three more four-bedroom homes in Atherton has been welcomed as a small step towards meeting the region’s overwhelming need for public housing.

Member for Tablelands Rosa Lee Long said she had been advised of the acquisitions by the Housing Minister.

"There is a crisis across the State, but the Tablelands faces particularly severe problems," she said.

"Young families and vulnerable families face more then enough hurdles without having to struggle just to find a roof to put over their heads."

Ms Lee Long said she believed there was only one answer and that was for State and Federal Governments to launch a major building program.

"There is a duty of care on our governments to ensure at least basic needs are met, and it does not get much more basic than a home".

ENDS

12/08/08

Arnold-Leahy hearing
awaits Police progress

The re-opening of a Coronial investigations into the 1991 deaths of two Tablelands women remains on hold as Police continue to investigate, Member for Tablelands Rosa Lee Long said yesterday.

Ms Lee Long said confirmation of ongoing investigations into the deaths of Vicki Arnold and Julie-Anne Leahy was contained in a letter she had received from Queensland’s Attorney-General.

"The unanswered questions surrounding the tragic deaths of these two friends need to be answered, and the minds of the community and of course, the families, should be put at ease and I believe too many issues remain unaddressed at present," Ms Lee Long said.

"I recently wrote to the Attorney General to ask about progress on these issues and he has advised me that the Police Service Homicide Investigation Group is still conducting enquiries.

"At this stage, the re-opening of a Coronial investigation is awaiting the outcome of Police inquiries."

Ms Lee Long said she would continue to monitor progress on the issue.

ENDS

11/08/08

LEGAL BILLS SOAR OVER
BARRON WATER RESOURCE PLAN

At least five separate legal challenges have been mounted relating to water licensing issues under the State Government Barron Water Resource Plan, Member for Tablelands Rosa Lee Long said yesterday.

Ms Lee Long put the spotlight on the Natural Resources and Water Minister during questioning at Budget Estimates Hearings recently.

Focussing on recent proposed amendments, she asked: "Can you tell me how much your department has spent in the 2007-08 financial year on court costs and associated legal expenses relating to the water resource planning process and in particular in relation to the Barron draft water resource amendment plan?"

In his reply the Minister said that the government was forced: "oftentimes to defend our decisions in court where those individuals disagree with the decisions we have made.

"One of the areas where we have had a number of discussions and some court action is in the Atherton area with the Barron River ROP.

"A couple of landholders have taken us to court. I wish that that did not happen but that is their right.

"Five appeals have been lodged in the Land Court regarding water licences for groundwater in management area B of the Atherton sub-artesian area.

"The department is currently in the process of finalising a settlement with one of the appellants. One of the remaining appeals has been heard. That appeal was dismissed. A hearing date for the other three appeals has not yet been determined.

"We are still in the process of expending money on legal costs to defend our water planning actions on the Barron.

"The Land Court has indicated that it will not make a decision on the first appeal until all cases have been heard. However, this is being contested by the first appellant.

"The three other appellants who have sought a concurrent hearing have indicated their intention to seek a six to eight month adjournment so they can have their expert witnesses perform further assessments".

In further questioning Ms Lee Long raised the issue of the cost to irrigators who had invested in authorised water exploration.

"I believe there were around 12 who had actually spent sums of between $30,000 and $300,000 in this process," Ms Lee Long said, before asking the Minister if he believed his department acted reasonably in declaring an unexpected moratorium on area B groundwater.

"These people who spent that amount of money and were in the process of applying for allocations are now left high and dry and out of pocket. I would expect that they should be at least compensated," she said.

In his response the Minister said not all 12 had launched legal appeals and that landowners who already had physically commenced bore construction when the moratorium notice was published could complete their bores subject to conditions, as could those with pre-existing contracts or sufficient written evidence of prior intentions to construct works as defined under the Water Act provided they were complete by 16 May 2006.

"The Minister also said that some 11 landholders had applied for extensions if completion was not possible due to unforseen changed circumstances," Ms Lee Long said later.

"He advised that 11 landholders did apply for extensions but that not one of those extensions had been granted, based on the advice of an independent expert community panel."

"I believe that a planning process as long and drawn out as the Barron Water Resource Plan, which has been underway in one form or another for some 12 years and which still results in multiple law suits and heavy expense to ordinary people and has not addressed irrigators needs adequately."

ENDS

12/08/08

TAFE FUTURE
CONSULTATION SUBJECT

PROPOSED changes to the TAFE system are now open for public consultation.

Member for Tablelands Rosa Lee Long MP said the changes were a result of alterations in how TAFE will be governed, with the consultation process aimed at finding a method that will best meet the training needs of students, workers and employers.

"The recommended model is for a Statutory Authority and this consultation process is a chance for members of the public to have their say and I encourage them to do so," Ms Lee Long said.

"TAFE provides some of the most vital education options covering a wide range of trades and hands-on careers. University is not for everyone and TAFE is a major resource for those looking for alternatives.

"And in today’s world, trades are increasingly appealing in terms of providing a great career with the potential of terrific earning power.

"TAFE is also a very flexible organisation which can often react quickly and meet new needs as they emerge, so the way these facilities are governed is very important."

Ms Lee Long said copies of the discussions paper were available at www.trainandemploy.qld.gov.au/skillsplan, or from her office.

ENDS

ectoral Council of Australia Media Release 9th of July 2008 Craig Isherwood, National Secretary PO Box 376, COBURG, VIC, 3058 Phone: 03 9354 0544 Fax: 03 9354 0166 Email: cec@cecaust.com.au Website: http://www.cecaust.com.au Appeal to reason: Don’t fall for British lies—again—on Zimbabwe When George Bush and Dick Cheney deliberately lied to justify the biggest diplomatic/military blunder in our time—the Iraq war—remember who it was who fed them the key “intelligence” used to make the case: the British. It was Tony Blair and the British who “sexed up” the Iraq dossier, which enabled Bush to claim that 1) Saddam was buying yellowcake uranium from Niger, and 2) Saddam’s weapons-of-mass-destruction could be deployed to attack Britain within 45 minutes. The British weapons expert who exposed the British lies, David Kelly, later turned up dead, ostensibly by suicide. Five years later, over one million Iraqis have been killed, five million displaced, and the claims of the real weapons inspectors, that Saddam had no WMDs, have been confirmed. Now, the British are at it again, this time targeting Zimbabwe with a propaganda offensive calculated to cast Robert Mugabe as the next Saddam Hussein, and hence justify outside interference into the nation. What is the background to the crisis in Zimbabwe? Zimbabwe was formerly Rhodesia, the jewel in the Crown of the British Empire in Africa, claimed, and named, in 1895 by Cecil Rhodes, the bankroller of the British Roundtable, who boasted of his intent in his writing titled Confession of Faith: “I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race. Just fancy those parts that are at present inhabited by the most despicable specimens of human beings; what an alteration there would be if they were brought under Anglo-Saxon influence; look again at the extra employment a new country added to our dominions gives. I contend that every acre added to our territory means in the future birth to some more of the English race who otherwise would not be brought into existence... Africa is still lying ready for us, it is our duty to take it. It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes: that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race, more of the best, the most human, most honourable race the world possesses.” [Emphasis added.] Eighty-five years later, when those “despicable specimens of human beings” won independence for Zimbabwe, two percent of Zimbabwe’s population, the white descendents of “the finest race in the world”, controlled over 70 percent of the land. The British pledged to assist in solving the obvious problem of land redistribution at the Lancaster House negotiations that established independence. For 18 years, effectively nothing happened, and then in 1997 Tony Blair reneged on the pledge. It was when Mugabe was forced to take matters into his own hands, that Tony Blair’s government unleashed the diplomatic assault on Zimbabwe, including crushing economic sanctions, that continue to this day. There are now signs that it is a classic British dirty tricks operations behind the election violence being used to demand Mugabe’s overthrow: African military sources told the Executive Intelligence Review news service that the brutality and professional, execution-style nature of the killings in the lead-up to the June 27 presidential run-off had all the hallmarks of a British-style counterinsurgency “third force”, like the Rhodesian special forces Selous Scouts (named after Cecil Rhodes’ friend Frederick Courteney Selous) used against the freedom fighters in the 1970s, which were a more advanced form of what the British had deployed against Kenya and Malaya (Malaysia) in those countries’ respective struggles for independence from the British Empire. At the June 23 United Nations Security Council meeting, Britain conveniently blamed Mugabe for the violence which was making a fair election impossible, to demand the UNSC name MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai President. Zimbabwean Ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku countered that “there have been numerous cases of MDC-T supporters going around dressed in Zanu-PF regalia and beating up people. This is an outdated strategy used by the Selous Scouts during the liberation struggle, and with the predominance of Selous Scouts in the MDC-T, it is obvious what is going on.” Morgan Tsvangirai was supported in the 2005 election by Ian Smith, Rhodesia’s last leader under whom the Selous Scouts carried out their murderous campaign; one of the veterans of Smith’s Rhodesian Front, Roy Bennett, is the MDC’s chief fundraiser, criss-crossing British Commonwealth countries rattling the tin for the overthrow of Mugabe. This is the background that is well known by Zimbabwe’s neighbours, like South Africa—hence their resistance to Britain’s agenda. It is clear that the British are using the crisis they set up in Zimbabwe, to overturn the key principle of international law which established the sovereignty of nation states, the Treaty of Westphalia, in their drive to shore up their globalisation empire, in the face of a global economic breakdown crisis which is forcing national governments to assert their national interests, in areas like food and fuel, against the demands of the British for more free trade. The architect of Zimbabwe’s chaos, Tony Blair, confessed to this objective in a March 5, 2004 speech: “So for me, before Sep. 11 [emphasis added], I was already reaching for a different philosophy in international relations from a traditional one that has held sway since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648; namely that a country’s internal affairs are for it, and you don’t interfere unless it threatens you, or breaches a treaty, or triggers an obligation of alliance. I did not consider Iraq fitted into this philosophy...” For more information on Zimbabwe, click here. To order the new DVD 1932, for insights into U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt’s push for independence for European colonies in Africa, Asia and South America, and the staunch British opposition, click here. To join the CEC, and fight for the principles of national sovereignty and the common good, for our nation, and the world, click here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe the following people may be interested in receiving regular updates from the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia. E-mail 1 E-mail 2 E-mail 3 E-mail 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We hope you found this message useful. As a registered political party, the CEC receives e-mail addresses from various sources, which it does not pass on to any other organisation. If you would prefer not to receive further e-mails of this nature at your e-mail address airandtv@yahoo.com.au, click here to unsubscribe. If the link does not work, copy the following into the address field in your browser: http://cecaust.com.au/remove/?s=airandtv@yahoo.com.au