‘Australians All’…Malcolm Fraser & many others
What concerns young Australians today
November 21, 2006Are farmed fish our future?
November 22, 2006A website for ‘Justice, security and a fair go’
Have you found www.australiansall.com.au?
Apparently it all started in March this year when Malcolm Fraser invited a group of community leaders to his office to talk about what he sees as ‘our increasingly and bitterly divided world; where policies of exclusion strike at the heart of a free and open society’. ‘Thoughts on the Current Situation’ is the background paper written for the meeting.
The group shares concerns about serious and dangerous divisions between the West and Islam, divisions which they believe have already led to fear and alienation. They ask whether private citizens have a part to play in the pursuit of a just society and believe that individuals acting alone or together could and should make a difference.
The website is a place for debate, discussion and responses to events that the group sees as threatening to our commitment to a just and equal Australia. ‘Australians all’ are the first words of the National Anthem and the group has come together to promote:
1. an inclusive, open, diverse and multicultural society, where all people — no matter their religion, race, colour or background — have an equal opportunity
2. Adherence to the laws of Australia.
3. Respect for difference
4. The Rule of Law
– due process
– no secret imprisonment
– absolute right to legal representation
– a secular State
– freedom of religion
5. Acceptance that freedom and liberty carries with it the need for wisdom, restraint and responsibility
6. Acceptance that the right of free speech and a free press does not include the right to incite racial violence, to demonize or to denigrate a religion or a people
7. A world where co-operation is the cornerstone, and where unilateralism is rejected.
As a consequence, they oppose:
1. all forms of racism and discrimination.
2. selectivity in the application of the law.
3. public policy that seeks to divide or exclude.
Peter, Paul and Mary sang it in the sixties….. ‘The times they are a-changin’……how do you interpret what is going on here in the noughties?
1 Comment
I found this site because Malcolm Fraser stepped forward to defy Howard’s threat of labelling ‘unAustralian’ anyone who states the obvious about “his” government; so I put the famous name in the search bar..and so, hullo to all!
I think Australia’s situation is alarming. It calls for wisdom and imagination and decency; nothing else will even come close to averting disaster (even IF the climate problems vanish}, certainly not the transparent,predictable,half-witted trickery of the incumbent prime mimister and his fellow solicitors.
We don’t even have a real parliament to discuss the realities of the world. It’s a toy. Even just the little pretense that the parliament has an adjudicator, when he’s actually a member of the governing political organisation! It’s been a lot of fun,but we must grow up. Mother is not coming back. It’s too late in the day to pretend.. the crises are real.
Well, I shan’t elaborate here, but that’s something by way of saying where I’m coming from.
Regarding the ‘background paper’, point 7:
” A world where co-operation is the cornerstone, and where unilateralism is rejected.”
The thing is,our social structure is openly based on competition! How can competition and co-operation work? Every country wants a balance of trade in its favour, and tries to outmanouevre others, even though ‘others’ are innocent families just trying to have their life on earth. And if a smart Australian company can corner the market in ‘developing’ a poor Pacific nation’s resources and take as much as possible for profit, this is just normal business, are we going to share??. What I’m saying is that a serious commitment to co-operation would mean big changes;we’d be giving poorer nations help, real help, because we are right now living high on the massive imbalances of present and past exploitation.
I hope Marx didn’t say all that, I haven’t read the stuff, but I’m saying are we really ready for this behaving with respect thing? How do you ‘co-operate’ with 20 or 30 thousand people who starve to death this day. Easy. If there’s 20 or 30 thousand on the planet who can spare a big sandwich every day.
And there are, just in any one regional big town in Australia. But,in short, our ‘standard of living’, as our rate of buying is called by its multi-salaried beneficiaries, has got to come down.
P.S. If Malcolm F were to stand, I would even vote Liberal;
K.Rudd said the key to a successful country is to produce more and the produce more than that. Of course it doesn’t matter WHAT is produced, just accelerate!
Apologies for meandering, next post I hope to tell of my Great Prophetic Thought occasioned by visiting a phone box that worked. Peace. Jen Peter,Paul&Mary??? what about bob!