Opinion

An Australia Day tribute to a Vietnam Veteran

On 26 January 2007, John (Jethro) Thompson OAM, was admitted to the Greenslopes Private Hospital for an emergency operation to replace a defective valve in his heart. This was not a routine operation. Jethro's body was still full of shrapnel - 40 years after he was blown apart in a minefield during the Vietnam war. It was coincidental that the operation was performed on the 50th anniversary of his arrival as an 11 year old immigrant from Malta.

Jethro's only request as he was wheeled into the theatre was that he see an Australian flag at the end of his bed when he woke from the operation.

Read Charlie's tribute to a special Australian . . .

Proposal for a National Civil Service Scheme

My life was greatly influenced by my conscription into the army in 1965. At the time I was working for the Victorian Country Roads Board and living in a bush camp at Nowa Nowa in East Gippsland. Our life was fairly routine - we worked hard during the week, played football in nearby towns at weekends, got into a bit of strife from time to time and didn't care much about the future.

Conscription into the army broke this cycle. It introduced me to a world I would never have otherwise known. Army training was tough. Discipline was something we all needed and the need for interdependence was quickly learned, along with a variety of other skills.

New mates. New adverntures. New skills. Exciting opportunities. Pride and respect for self, others, and country. We were lucky to have had the opportunity to serve. I believe there are thousands of young people in our society today who would relish the chance to have a similar opportunity.

Read Charlie's proposal for a National Civil Service Scheme . . .

Proposal for 3rd November to be officially proclaimed as 'Kokoda Day'

Australia currently has two official commemorative days to remember our sacrifice in World War 1 (Anzac Day and Remembrance Day).  Anzac Day commemorates the landings of our Anzacs on the beaches of Gallipoli and Remembrance Day commemorates the end of WW1. 

‘We currently have one day proclaimed to remember our sacrifice in World War 11 – VP Day on 15 August which commemorates the allied victory over Japan.

‘With the growing awareness of Kokoda it is timely to select an appropriate day that will cause people to pause and remember the sacrifice made by servicemen and women to protect our homeland in WW11. An official proclamation will allow schools to focus on the significance of the day.

‘It has been said that Gallipoli created a nation but Kokoda saved a nation.  Others have reminded us that at Gallipoli we fought for Britain and lost – at Kokoda we fought for Australian and won!

‘It is therefore timely for us to recognize the symbolic significance of the raising of the Australian flag on the Kokoda plateau on 3 November 1942 to allow future generations to reflect on those four words carved into granite pillars at Isurava: Courage – Sacrifice – Mateship – Endurance.

Read Charlie's proposal for Kokoda Day . . .

Senate Submission: Seasonal Labour Access for Melanesian Workers

A recent report by the Australian Strategic Policy Insititute 'PNG - Strengthening Our Neibhbour' advised that our relationship with Papua New Guinea is as important as our relationship with the United States, China and Indonesia. The largely Melanesian island chain to our north - Timor, West Papua, Papua New Guinea, the Solomons and Fiji are often referred to as our arc of instability. We currently have troops in East Timor, Bougainville and the Solomons. The threat of a military coup in Fiji is ongoing and Papua New Guinea is regarded by many to be on the brink. Our understanding of Melanesia has declined since the mid-1970s when many of these island nation-states received independence from their colonial rulers. Our attempts to rectify this situation are one-sided. We dispatch diplomats, advisors, observers, consultants and aid workers to Papua New Guinea but seem reluctant to allow a similar inflow into Australia. One area that particularly galls our Melanesian neighbours is our refusal to grant them access to seasonal labour markets in rural Australia. In seems incongruos that we have agreements with 36 countries for seasonal work but not one with our former mandated territory, closest neighbour, wartime ally and fellow Commonwealth member - Papua New Guinea - for example. Read Charlie's Submission to the Australian Senate on this issue . . .

Proposal for a Medal to be issued to WW11 New Guinea Carriers

One of the most shameful omissions of successive Australian governments since the end of the Pacific War has been their failure to issue a civilian service medal to the New Guinea Carriers who were indentured to support Australian troops during our darkest hour in 1942.  It is a fact that our troops would have been defeated in the Kokoda campaign without the support of these Carriers.

The issue has never been resolved in Australia because of the risk of admitting some form of liability for further compensation.

This is a cop-out because the issue of compensation has been resolved between the two governments and any further claims will be managed and resolved by the PNG Government.Description in here.

Read Charlie's proposal for a medal to be issued to the New Guinea Carriers . . .

The Great Divide: Black Melanesia - White Australia.

'You can’t let them kill my guide just because they think he’s a sorcerer’ I bellowed to the police at the end of my 37th expedition across the Kokoda track last year.  A couple of recruits I engaged had decided that one of my older guides from a neighbouring village was a sorcerer so they felt obligated to kill him.  The impending execution was not discernible to my Western mind.  We trekked together, sang traditional songs of an evening and they worked assiduously to ensure every one of my band of trekkers completed their journey safely. 

As we sat down to dinner in Port Moresby we reflected on their selfless devotion to us and agreed they were proud sons of the ‘fuzzy wuzzy angels’.

But they had unfinished business in their own tribe and by the time we finished our meal the alleged sorcerer was dead. Full article published in The Australian: more . . .

Should Australia be in Afghanistan?

Australia has two rather stark choices in the war on terrorism.  We can continue to support America, the only nation with the will and the resources to fight global terrorism, or we can go it alone and hope the fanatical Islamic Jihadists will leave us alone.

The appeasers who support the option of abandoning America in Iraq and Afghanistan will undoubtedly be the first to squeal if we ever experience another ‘Bali’ on Australian soil.  They will fill letters columns blaming John Howard, write opinion pieces on our lack of national intelligence capability and bemoan the tax increases necessary to pay for an independent defence capability. 

Full article in Camden District Reporter: Should Australia be in Afghanistan? . . .

Iraq and Kokoda: similar enemy – different form!

Defence Minister Brendon Nelson recent statement on the comparison between the war against Japan and the war in Iraq has drawn some unfair criticism.

In 1942 Japanese society was led by militarists who indoctrinated their soldiers in the warrior code of bushido.  They believed in the divinity of their Emperor and in their divine mission to establish a co-prosperity sphere in South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Full article in Camden District Reporter : Iraq and Kokdoa: similar enemy - different form . . .

David Hicks: Hero or Traitor?

Australian soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are entitled to feel a sense of betrayal over the hero worship being afforded to terror suspect, David Hicks.

Betrayal is something soldiers learn about early in their training. Betrayal of a mate on the field of battle is cowardice.  The penalty is excommunication.  Betrayal of your country in war is treason.  The penalty was death with dishonour.

Full article in Camden District: David Hicks: Hero or Traitor? . . .

Australians in Overseas Prisons . . .

Australians usually end up in jail overseas when they break the laws of the particular country they are visiting.  Many are languishing in third world jails because of their involvement in the illicit drug trade, illegal prostitution rackets or paedophilia syndicates.  They are motivated by the attraction of windfall profits or the satisfaction of their perverted sexual obsessions.

The misery they wreak as a result of their actions is of no consequence to them.  Others can try and piece together the human misery resulting from their irresponsible actions as far as they are concerned.  Broken family relationships, the destruction of once promising human minds and the repulsive exploitation of vulnerable young boys and girls are of no consequence to them.

Full article in the Camden District Reporter: Australians in Overseas Prisons . . .

History Wars in our Education System

The rejection of the black armband view of our history by students is no surprise to the silent majority of Australians.  The Executive Officer of the NSW History Teachers Association, Louise Zarmati, advised a Senate Committee into the academic standards of school education in Sydney last week that students are not prepared to wear the guilt associated with the teaching of ‘progressive’ indigenous history.

Ms Zarmati told the committee that students in Western Sydney were resistant to learning indigenous history and most found it to be an unpleasant learning experience. 

Somebody should tell Pat Byrne, President of the Australian Teachers’ Union.  Last year she crowed that progressive educators ‘had succeeded in influencing curriculum development in schools, education departments and universities’.  These institutions are safe-havens for parasitic lefties in our society.

Full article in the Camden District Reporter: History Wars in our Education System . . .

Workchoices - another NSW Labor con

The introduction of workchoices into the NSW campaign was a clever ploy by Labor to dupe voters.  It worked.  No doubt the spin doctors will feel pleased with themselves as they recline in plush leather chairs to admire the sweeping harbour views from their taxpayer funded offices for another four year term.

NSW voters will soon realise they were conned because workchoices is a Federal Government responsibility.

Full articlein Camden District Reporter: Workchoices - another NSW Labor con . . .

Schoolyard bullying

Preparing our children for school and sharing their development is one of the great joys of parenting. Every day tens of thousand of parents prepare uniforms, lunch boxes and educational material then proudly escort their siblings to a bus stop or directly to the school yard.

They then hand over the responsibility for their child’s care and educational development to trained teachers and administrators and return to their busy family and work schedules.

Whilst it is hectic and often stressful it is one of the most rewarding phases of our lives.

In a perfect world our children would return home from school to share their day’s experience with excited and interested parents.

In an imperfect world many of them will fall victim to some form of bullying in any school year.  Experts tell us that up to 10 percent of students will be bullied each week with physical threats and abuse, verbal gossip and relationship intimidation. Full article in Camden District Reporter ... Schoolyard Bullying . . .

NSW Election 2007: A Hung Parliament!

We should brace ourselves for the possibility of minority government after the election on March 24.  Given that we now have fixed four year terms in NSW a ‘hung’ Parliament would be the worst possible outcome for the State.   It matters not which major political party forms minority government, Labor or Liberal, the result will be the same.  Political chaos for the next four years!

Full article in Camden District Reporter: A Hung Parliament . . .

NSW Election: It's time for change

This election is not about Labor’s record after 12 years in office.  If it was they would be thrown out.

Despite a GST windfall, a property boom and record gambling taxes NSW is teetering on the edge of recession.  So where has the money gone?  How could they have squandered such an opportunity?

It is clear Labor has squibbed the big decisions.  Vital infrastructure projects - dams, roads, public transport, health and educational facilities - are now off their agenda.  A bloated bureaucracy, greedy mates and the insidious influence of the Greens have seen to that. 

This is why Labor’s spin doctors have not mentioned the word ‘Labor’ in their campaign.  It is electoral poison.

Full article in Camden District Reporter: NSW Election: It's time for change . . .