Smoke & Mirrors

My life is good. I really haven't got a lot to complain about personally. And my surroundings are beautiful - sanitised, safe and very middle class.



I live close to all the major tourist attractions, and the coast, which is the gleaming shiny beautiful face Sydney and Australia proudly show off to the world.



But not all is well in Paradise. The current government has systematically been changing that. Which leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth.



The safety-net for Workers' Rights and work entitlements has been massively reduced under the new Workplace Reforms, weakening the whole system of arbitration and awards and the role of the Unions. So now of course the most disadvantaged are the already vulnerable and least affluent workers. Not to mention the fact that the legislation was possibly passed through the back door - something which the States are now fighting.



The proposal by the government for a Citizenship Test, where the applicant must prove fluency in the English lanaguage is preposterous. Of course this is being proposed as a response to global terrorism. Nice one. Not. We got rid of the "White Australia Policy" - yes that's right for you non-Aussies, we had this immigration policy until the early 70's. And let's not forget that many Indigenous Australians don't speak fluent English and noone can say they are less Australian for it.



Add to that: wanting to reinstate detention of children who arrive on our shores seeking asylum; selling off of public assets to the private sector; lack of funding for education; lack of funding for the hospital system and the national TV network the ABC; and the allowance of the incarceration of an Australian citizen under inhumane circumstances and breaking all sorts of human rights - David Hicks is now being held in Guantanamo in a cement box a few metres by a few metres without natural light for 22 hours a day. The US say this isn't solitary confinement. Mr Howard do you think this is really fair?



No apologies right now for this rant. I wonder what you all think about stuff like this? And this is just the tip of the iceberg.