Mar
25
2012
guys remember the golden days when the highest elected Liberal in the land was the mayor of Brisbane
sigh
there's our catastrophe
work is its own cure. you have to like it better than being loved. ⚑ ♀- About me /
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Posts tagged australian politics
Jan
15
2012
From Pamela Curr, Campaign Coordinator at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre:
“THE LATEST IN DETENTION CELLS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
There are fifty of these being built in white one and two compounds on Christmas Island. They are for those detainees whom the Minister decides need “behaviour modification”.
Don’t be shocked - this is Australia. No police investigation, no Judge or Jury, no court required. Summary extrajudicial punishment in our Administrative detention only camps.
23 hours in a cell and then you can be let out into the fresh air cage at the back of your cell if you are lucky and well behaved, for an hour per day. This complies with requirements.”
WELL THEN
Jan
11
2012
Teresa Gambaro - Wikipedia
Teresa Gambaro MP (born 29 November 1958) is an Australian politician and member of the Liberal National Party.
JOB OPENING: Senior Immigration Armpit Sniffer
The Liberal Party of Australia are a leading provider of homophobic, bigotry and hypocritical services specialising in the management of immigrant bashing in Australia, and currently have opportunities in our Citizenship & Immigration division for registered armpit sniffers with 3 + years solid experience to join our busy and friendly team anywhere in Australia.
THE POSITION:
Reporting to the soon to be Immigration Minister, Ms Teresa Gambaro, you will be primarily responsible for undertaking corporate immigration work associated with the Australian body odour legislation working with deodorant organisations in sniffing all migrants and migrants-to-be across Australia. Responsibilities include:
• Preparing, collating and lodging (including smelling where relevant) visa applications and supporting documentation with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and other immigration authorities in and outside Australia
• Migrant sniffing and monitoring of all migrant candidates of all size with immigration authorities until the matter is finalised
• Liaising with deodorant companies, visa applicants and government authorities including DIAC and other immigration authorities in and outside Australia
• Managing a high volume of visa smells in/outbound
• Providing advice and assistance to migrants with respect to deodorant options, eligibility prospects and merits of applications including matters associated with body odours as well as DIAC compliance and monitoring requirements
• Managing client and/or visa applicant expectations and tailoring advice to specific stench of the migrants
• Participating in bathing and deodorant applications to new and existing migrants
• Acting in accordance with the Sniffing Code of Conduct as administered by the Migration Sniffers Registration Authority (MSRA) in Australia and office and risk management practices and procedures
SKILLS: The successful applicant will be a registered migration agent with a minimum 3 years corporate sniffing experience and technical knowledge with respect to the current Australian sniffing law and policy. You must be a team player and self-starter with initiative and drive. You will have strong nasal skills, Australian body odour and time management/organisational skills with an ability to demonstrate a high attention to detail sniffing; must have the ability to work within a team and independently to tight armpits and manage conflicting smells and odour expectations with poise and professionalism.
CONTACT: If you believe you have what it takes to excel in this position, please forward your resume to Tonny Abbott, Recruitment Officer, via the APPLY NOW function. Applications close 31st January 2012.
Gambaro was born in Brisbane, Queensland. She was educated at New Farm’s Holy Spirit School, the All Hallows’ School in Brisbane,[1] and later at the Queensland University of Technology. She was a sales manager, account manager, marketing manager, marketing consultant and tutor in marketing at the Queensland University of Technology before entering politics.[2]
Gambaro was first elected to parliament at the 1996 federal election, in the division of Petrie.
She was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence in July 2004, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in January 2006. In 2007 she was appointed Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.[2]
Gambaro lost her seat to Yvette D’Ath of the Labor Party at the 2007 federal election.[2]
She re-entered Federal Parliament as the member for Brisbane at the 2010 federal election. She became the first woman to represent Brisbane since its creation in 1901.
In September 2010 she was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement by Opposition leader, Tony Abbott.[3]
Gambaro made news in January 2012 by suggesting that immigrants are not integrating into Australian culture well enough. She believes that their wearing deodorant is “teaching what are norms in Australia”.
References
- ^ Who’s Who in Australia. North Melbourne: Crown Contents. 2008. p. 807. ISBN 1 74095 160 3.
- ^ a b c “Biography for Gambaro, the Hon. Teresa”. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
- ^ http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/parl/43/Shadow/index.htm
taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Teresa_Gambaro&oldid=470566761 11/01/12
this rules.
Nov
22
2011
“
By Media correspondent - Aamer Rahman for RISE (Refugee Survivors and Ex-detainees)
‘We not give up until they respect us.” – Baiada Chicken worker
A couple of nights ago I went down to the picket at the Baiada chicken factory in Laverton. Around 40 to 50 people were camped out at the factory, maintaining the strike that has shut the plant down since last Wednesday. The conditions at this factory are horrific. Last year, a young Indian worker, Sarel Singh, was decapitated as he cleaned a high-speed meat processor. His co-workers were made to clean up his remains. After that, they were forced to work overtime to make up for the time that was ‘lost’ cleaning up Sarel’s body, as if he was just another animal carcass. The machine was switched back on within a couple of hours of his death.
The majority of the workers at the factory are from migrant and refugee backgrounds, mostly African and Southeast Asian. They were camped out in makeshift tents and marquees – some with their young children - with a fire in a barrel to keep them warm. Their stories are heart breaking. Almost half of the workers are paid as contractors, through dodgy labour-hire firms, or simply cash in hand for ridiculously long shifts with no overtime pay. They are subject to constant bullying and harassment, especially in relation to union participation.
The Baiada family’s wealth was estimated at $495 million June 2011. Their total revenue in the last financial year was over a billion dollars. It controls a dominant share of the Australian poultry industry after buying out its major competitor. This is an empire built on the backs of poor men and women who are exploited in sweatshop slaughterhouses so that we can enjoy our dinners. Baiada supplies, amongst others, Coles, Aldi, Nandos, KFC, Steggles and Lilydale, which claims to be ‘free-range.’ It also supplies live chickens to Madina Halal Meats who are the major halal meat supplier in Victoria.
The workers began an indefinite strike on Wednesday, 9 November, for better conditions, a 5 per cent pay rise a year for the next three years, better health and safety conditions and job security. Early last Thursday, a security guard rammed the workers with his car, breaking a worker’s arm. He had been instructed to do so by Baiada management. Baiada has also managed to get a court injunction against the union organising on site.
The workers at the picket need all the help they can get. Non-perishable food, blankets - anything to make the long hours on the picket line more bearable. By striking, they have forfeited what little wages they had, so they need some cash too. Many have home loans and families to feed. They also just want to see people – anyone – from the community to come and say hi and let them know that there are people who believe in their right to a working life with dignity.
” Status Update [from RISE facebook page]By Media correspondent - Aamer Rahman for RISE (Refugee Survivors and Ex-detainees)
Nov
20
2011
David Cameron's Australian accent fails to impress//BBC
David Cameron’s attempt to impersonate Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been described as “so bad it could cause a diplomatic row”.
Foreign doctors' obstacle course 'a disgrace'//The Age
Our nation’s dependence on foreign doctors is self-made. The decision by first Labor and then Liberal federal governments in the 1990s to freeze local medical school enrolments was made amid predictions of an over-supply of doctors. But the freeze did not account for a growing population and the reluctance of Australian doctors to work in the bush. So doctors were recruited from overseas.
There was a catch. The Howard government barred doctors who entered the country after 1997 from billing under Medicare for 10 years unless they worked in areas of need, often in rural towns.
…The system meant foreign doctors were conscripted to work in the bush, Dr Pesce said. Given the lack of support, and the nature of rural practice, there ”could not have been a worse place” to send doctors unfamiliar with Australia.
The Rural Doctors Association of Australia says overseas-trained doctors have prevented a catastrophic collapse in the medical workforce in rural and remote areas, but it too wants the ”unconscionable” 10-year moratorium phased out.
this is an interesting case study of crazy migration bureaucracy. ummm incidentally it’s weird that you’re still called a “foreign doctor” after 10+ years of living in australia.
Oct
31
2011
januarydaze replied to your quote: FIRST-BORN daughters will succeed to the throne…
how is Queen Eliz queen then? wasn’t she the first born daughter? confused
it’s a long story and I can’t remember/understand it all but it boils down to: no dudes left. edward VIII abdicated and left the line of sucession, his little bro (george VI) became king, george didn’t have any sons, just liz and maggie. so there you go. IF YOU WATCHED THE KING’S SPEECH YOU WOULD KNOW THIS
jenniferanne replied to your quote: FIRST-BORN daughters will succeed to the throne…
is aus trying to leave the commonwealth? canada probably never will. no one cares enough! and those that do are usually libertarians from alberta. many are actually proud to be part of a symbolic monarchy. (the sense of history, and all that.)
well, you don’t necessarily have to leave the commonwealth if you’re a republic, and it seems nobody really wants to leave the commonwealth. mostly people do vaguely want a republic but it’s a pretty dead issue. there was a referendum on it about ten years ago but it was framed by the right-wing mostly-monarchist government of the day as a choice between a) a really specific, super unpopular republican model and b) no republic, so the referendum failed. the monarchy is actually becoming slightly more popular, presumably because of the royal wedding and the ebbing away of memories of republican campaigning.
the whole republic campaign was super nationalist and gross. I kind of think that in the current political climate, or any foreseeable near future political climate, any attempt to establish a republic would bolster white nationalism. like, the closest republicans typically get to an anti-imperial argument is that white Australians of Irish ancestry might be cranky about Australia’s continued fealty to England. yeah, sure, we often are, but you have a whole Commonwealth’s worth of people fucked over by British imperialism, many of whom now live in Australia, and that’s the best you can do? latch onto the Irish as the go-to white face of oppressed peoples again? mother of God. either way, it just seems like reshuffling the deckchairs on the oppressive hierarchical colonial nation-state…ship…thing. the metaphor got away from me there but just assume the usual anarchy ra-ra
Oct
29
2011
asylum seekers and suicide in Australia
the front page of The Age today has a picture of the naked torso of a brown-skinned person covered in methodical, presumably self-inflicted, minor wounds. it’s really shocking. it’s attached to this article: The sixth suicide in just over a year within detention centres raises more questions about the treatment of asylum seekers. the sixth suicide was this guy. this Tamil guy was accepted as a refugee — which is notoriously difficult — but was still in detention two years later because his security clearance hadn’t come through. maybe. he might have been cleared and was just caught up in red tape, it’s not clear. he was refused permission to leave the centre for a little while for Diwali celebrations, and concerned friends were refused permission to speak with him on the phone, for no explained reason. he died shortly afterwards.
I don’t really have anything to say except that this is happening. and that detention centres seem to be designed as psychological death traps.
Oct
24
2011
Student illegally detained//Kirsty Needham//The Age
AN INDIAN student who paid thousands of dollars to study in Australia was illegally detained at the Villawood detention centre for 18 months because of mistakes by immigration officers, the Australian Human Rights Commissioner has found.
The commissioner, Catherine Branson, has found that Prashant Cherkupalli, 31, should be paid $597,000 in compensation for the 509 days he was illegally detained between November 2004 and April 2006.
Mr Cherkupalli, 31, who kept his ordeal secret from his family, is now suing the Commonwealth in the NSW Supreme Court for damages.
”I was ashamed to tell my parents. I came here to do something and ended up in prison. I spent thousands of dollars from my family,” he said.
The detention caused him to miss classes and forfeit $57,000 in student fees. He has since graduated with a master of engineering degree from Sydney University.
…Mr Cherkupalli believes he lost the opportunity to gain permanent residency in Australia because the time spent in detention meant he was too old when he applied after graduation. ”Everyone’s aim after being a student is to get a job and settle down. I can’t do that,” he says.
via sqhaird
Oct
7
2011
We Don’t Need Another Hero
My new drawing series, We Don’t Need Another Hero, features people of colour as outlaws of their post-apocalypse, drawn as if posters for fictional movies.
As an artist of colour, my racialised existence has inherently informed my work, but this new series explicitly investigates racial politics. I’ve sought out peers from various sociocultural and racial backgrounds to propose characters, costumes, and fictional surrounds to represent themselves as survivors of their armageddon. The post-apocalyptic genre seems a relevant forum to discuss Indigenous and people of colour immigrant experiences living in settler colonial realities.
Subjects include contemporary Indigenous artist Tony Albert in “Yesterday When The War Began’, Samoan circus and burlesque performer Fez Faanana in “Attack of the Under Water Woman”, Indigenous activist Robbie Thorpe in “Armageddon Out of Here”, Papua New Guinean performance artist Pandie Panther in “Uritai Headhunter: Warrior of Paradise”, Colombian hip hop emcee Ben Beracasa aka Clandestine Voice in “When the South Rises” and Indigenous historian and activist Gary Foley in “Creature from the Black Platoon”.
Gallerysmith will host We Don’t Need Another Hero from 13th October 2011. Opening event on Friday 21st October 6-8pm, to be opened by Gary Foley and featuring performance by the Ladies of Colour Agency and tunes by DJ Pandie Panther.
Some preview pics..
Pandie Panther “Uritai Headhunter: Warrior of Paradise”
felt-tips on paper, 127 x 97cm, 2011
Third World Terrorist in “When the South Rises”
felt-tips on paper, 127 x 97cm, 2011
(portrait subject Ben Beracasa aka Clandestine Voice)
“Creature from the Black Platoon” starring Gary Foleyfelt-tips on paper, 97 x 127cm, 2011
Tony Albert stars in “Yesterday When the War Began”
felt-tips on paper, 127 x 97cm, 2011
Robbie Thorpe as Djuran Bunjileenee “Armageddon Outta Here”
felt-tips on paper, 127 x 97cm, 2011
photography by the lovely John Brash @ fotograffiti
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