The night had the most poignant ending... A song by Anthony Hegarty accompanied by two aboriginal elders or was it two aboriginal elders accompanied by Anthony — in turns... I usually don't watch the Q&A programme, ABC TV. Most followers of my rants on YD would know why: TV is an emotional medium while facts and figures can be as dry as dried apricots from Turkey, as good as they can be. But emotions are not my thing when they are stirred with big ladles by lying or mediocre politicians. I prefer the straight facts and dried figs.

I must say here that the night took far more than it could chew... But regardless, I kept watching and throwing shoes at the TV every time one of the pollies on the programme opened his (they were males) trap. First to be mentioned (but later in the night) is the altercation between a politician, Steve Ciobo, and a former "terrorist" who would still be on ASIO watch list. Ciobo was making as much sense about stripping Australian citizenship by giving unilateral power to the minister of the day — as sending Jews, Gypsies, Poles, communists, homosexuals, Soviet POWs, and the mentally and physically disabled to concentration camps. I lost my favourite pair of shoes on this one. 

The other pollie, Fitzgibbons, contradicted himself on his answers on the said issue of stripping citizenship and leaving the minister's discretion to rule your name out with a straight line off the big book of who is an Aussie. I still don't know what the official position of the Labor Party is but should it go with Turdy's team on this one, it ain't going to look pretty. Shame.

I was not impressed either with the "famous" controversial "advisor", Grahame Morris, who for all I make out is pure Liberal (CONservative) potato soup. No condimentation, no leaks. Grahame will place his foot in any muddle, puddle and crapple that he can find and splash everything with mud, including calling journalist Leigh Sales a "cow". 

Last night (22 June 2015) — unfortunately the longest night of the year — having to watch Grahame chortles about great answers (from the women) he did not like, made it appear three times as long. 

Yes, the other non-politician panellists knew what they were talking about, while on a few occasions, the pollies did not want to venture beyond their area of muddling and admitted to knowing nothing about this or that subject. Well EFFF OFFF. No point coming on the show and taking some blank space. Take some initiative, you are human... Well may be not... But you are on a show about humanity. Say something that would make sense and not be a party-liner trying to demonise socialism or such, forgetting to look at your grubby naked Emperor's clothes.  

So the questions from the audience made the members of the audience asking the questions more astute and more knowledgeable than the pollies who fudged as usual their answer with double meanings and a hand on the heart — while you get the feeling their other hand is stealing cash from your pocket... No kidding, the audience should have been in THE PANEL. Hence the toon of the day.

Someone from the audience, Mark Bagshaw, asked a question about "poverty"...

Poverty and social disadvantage, and the insidious burden of low expectations are putting people's fire out. 45% of Australians with disability live in poverty, and they are less than half as likely to participate in education and the workforce as Australians without disability. We see the same dynamics in every other area of social disadvantage, and we are making virtually no progress closing the participation gap. At the same time people's lives are being transformed by simple solutions developed by communities who believe in the value of every citizen. 
Dee Madigan – how do we sell the value of social investment to a population that already thinks it pays too much tax? 
Linda Tirado – will we ever find solutions to social disadvantage when the privileged end of society makes all the decisions that affect the lives of disadvantaged people? 

The two answers summarised the whole problem. I also believe that when one of the pollies mention the failure of socialism policies, Anthony might have said "Scandinavia"...

The first answer by Linda Tirado is quite loaded: The fact is Australians are lucky, compared to other places in the world, they pay far less tax (A comparative table is added as a comment).

The second answer did not mention that Julia Gillard started the NDIS to actually normalise help to the disadvantage, especially disabled people, in need... Well would you believe that Turdy Abbott, placed his hand on his heart (He was lucky to find it on that windy day... or did he place his hand on his budgies?) in front of the TV cameras, and pledged that he would do the same thing "better". Yes, Turdy claimed he was on the same page as Labor on education, health, NDIS, ABC, SBS and all other acronyms he could think of, except he hated the carbon tax and the boats full of non-Australians... Well so far with the help of a double-cross from Palmer, Turdy has killed off the carbon tax and done everything he could to stop renewable energy from surviving (Turdy hates windmills like Don Quixote). Turdy is trying to kill off public education though he claims he is not, he is trying to make university only available to the "elite", he has tried to kill off the universal health system by various stratagems, and as far as we know, Turdy's NDIS promises are still in a draw somewhere in Canberra being eaten by silverfish. I believe he has lost the keys after staring a few "minimalist" trials by the STATES.

So here we are, back to square one... 

------------------------------

Now the next question came from someone whose land is being f&^%$@# up by uranium mining. 

Curtis Taylor asked: I travelled here tonight with my family from the Western Desert. I’m a Martu artist from the Parangurr community in Western Australia and family of these elders here tonight.We have Native Title over our country and we have been forced to negotiate with mining companies, like Cameco over the Kintyre uranium project and Reward Minerals at Lake Disappointment. Both mining projects we don’t want on our country but we have no rights to say no to mining under Native Title. When will Australia talk about changing the Native Title Act and getting real land rights?
Very good question the answer to which was the usual two-faced coin by politicians that mining always takes precedence over the surface of the planet because mining equals cash... or gold, like in Ballarat in the 19th Century... Having seen Lake Disappointment (I might have posted some pictures of it on this site), I would suggest this natural wonder should be placed immediately on the natural wonder Australian register and leave it to Curtis to manage. Sure it's flat and does not show up like Uluru, but it shows up as a massive white reflection in the sky... It is a place of massive beauty should you be able to survive the heat, near 50 degrees C in the shade and possible 90 under the sun. 
The follow up question came loaded from an intractable possible lover of nuclear energy:
Rhys Clayton asked: Antony, as an advocate for environmental issues, you would be aware that global warming will be the greatest threat facing humanity in the coming century. In light of this, is it not the responsible position that nuclear energy should make up a greater proportion of the worlds electricity production as we transition from fossil fuels? Australia has the largest uranium deposits in the world. Is it not our moral obligation to export more uranium in order to make alternatives to fossil fuels more viable?

A MORAL OBLIGATION?... Yes, amoral thinking... By then I could not find any more pairs of shoes to throw at the box so I went and head-butted it. And please note, Australia does not have the "largest deposits of uranium in the world"... Fallacy. It's only easier to dig holes in Australia because of the "open spaces" and most pollies already have holes in the head making them feel an affinity with digging holes — mining. 

Nuclear energy is 100 per cent safe claimed Grahame, who of course never heard of the Three Mile Island disaster, of people being experimented on with plutonium in the USA and died, never heard of Chernobyl and of Fukushima... (I could mention more "nukular accidents", but they already are mentioned on this site, YD). The one thing about nuclear energy is that nearly all the power station need massive government subsidies to "make a profit" and that the resultant weapon grade material can be (has to be) bought by governments to make sure the nasty bits do not fall in the hands of terrorists (the main subject for the night). Most nuclear power stations have a limited life and by the end of it, the "clean up costs" are usually beyond the reach of mere nuke entrepreneurs and are added to the public debt... Comparatively, nuclear power is far FAR more expensive than generating energy with renewable sources placed closer to the consumers, even on top of everybody's home... and why not add a Tesla battery box as well...

-----------------------

The next questions raised the issue of citizenship and this is better answered by the ABC... But the massive agenda of the night which solved little and stirred a lot, was capped by this most enticing emotional singing and clapsticks... Just for this, it was worth the pain of watching politicians wriggle answers like worms being attacked by ants... The pollies did not get away. The night was won by the other panellists: Linda Tirado, Dee Madigan and Anthony Hegarty. Thank you for being there, though I would have preferred not to watch.

 

Further info: 

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A Government frontbencher has told a man acquitted of terrorism charges a decade ago that he should no longer be an Australian citizen.

Steve Ciobo, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, was confronted by Sydney man Zaky Mallah on the ABC's Q&A program.

Mr Mallah was found not guilty of preparing a suicide attack on a Commonwealth building after being held for two years in Goulburn jail.

In a plea bargain, Mr Mallah pleaded guilty to threatening to kill ASIO officials.

"As the first man in Australia to be charged with terrorism under the harsh Liberal Howard government in 2003, I was subject to solitary confinement, a 22-hour lockdown, dressed in most times in an orange overall and treated like a convicted terrorist while under the presumption of innocence," Mr Mallah said.

"I had done and said some stupid things, including threatening to kidnap and kill, but in 2005 I was acquitted of those terrorism charges.

"What would have happened if my case had been decided by the minister himself and not the courts?"

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-23/steve-ciobo-confronts-former-terror-suspect-zaky-mallay/6565434

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Dee Madigan

An English teacher by trade, Dee sold out and joined the advertising world in 1995. She has been winner or finalist at almost all major awards, including Cannes, New York International, Caxtons and Folio.Whenever there was a tampon ad shot on an exotic foreign beach, there was a very good chance Dee wrote it. And attended the shoot.Dee is currently the Creative Director of Socket.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/panel-members/deemadigan.htm
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Steven Michele Ciobo (pronunciation: /tʃoʊˈboʊ/; choe-boe) (born 29 May 1974) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of Moncrieff, Queensland for the Liberal Party since November 2001. He served in the Abbott ministry as a parliamentary secretary to the Treasurer between September 2013 and December 2014; and as a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and to the Minister for Trade and Investment since December 2014.

He was born in Mareeba, Queensland, and was educated at Bond University and the Queensland University of Technology. He was a consultant with Coopers & Lybrand, a senior consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and an adviser to senator Brett Mason before entering politics.

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Antony Hegarty (born 1971), often referred to simply as Antony,[1] is an English singer, composer, and visual artist, best known as the lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons.

Antony was born in the city of Chichester, England, in 1971. In 1981 Antony's family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States. In 1990 she moved to Manhattan, New York to study at New York University, where she founded a performance art collective (Blacklips) with Johanna Constantine.

Entering a musical career, she began performing with an ensemble of NYC musicians as Antony and the Johnsons. Their first album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released in 2000 on David Tibet's label Durtro. Their second album, I Am a Bird Now (2005), was a commercial and critical success, earning Antony the Mercury Music Prize.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Hegarty

 

----------------------------

Linda Tirado

From the author of the eye-opening and controversial essay on poverty that was read by millions comes the real-life Nickel and Dimed, as Linda Tirado explains what it’s like to be working poor in America, and why poor people make the decisions they do.
We in America have certain ideas of what it means to be poor. Linda Tirado, in her signature brutally honest yet personable voice, takes all of these preconceived notions and smashes them to bits. She articulates not only what it is to be working poor in America (yes, you can be poor and live in a house and have a job, even two), but what poverty is truly like—on all levels. In her thought-provoking voice, Tirado discusses how she went from lower-middle class, to sometimes middle class, to poor and everything in between, and in doing so reveals why “poor people don’t always behave the way middle-class America thinks they should.” 
http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Mouth-Living-Bootstrap-America/dp/1611763304
-------------------
Curtis Taylor
Uploaded on Jun 26, 2011 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KOKIkK72L0) 
The first buildings in each community were the schools. Martu wanted their children to learn English but also their own language. The schools in the western desert are remote independent schools; not state, not public. This gave the community more input on what their children should be taught. They created the schools to be bilingual schools teaching English and Martu Wangka together.

Kuul is one of three videos about Martu History, created by Curtis Taylor for the Yiwarra Kuju (Canning Stock Route) exhibition housed at the National Museum of Australia in 2010. The exhibition bought to the fore the stories of contact, conflict and survival, exodus and return to traditional country and was created by Aboriginal artists and communities in collaboration with FORM. The exhibition is will be opening in Perth in October of 2011.

These three short videos give an insight into Martu history and culture. The Martu traditionally live in the Pilbara in Western Desert, and are a collective of different dialect speakers that identify as a single group for social, political and cultural reasons.

With a history spanning more than 25,000 years, the Martu were one of the last indigenous populations to come into contact with Europeans until 1905 when the Canning Stock Route wells were being established. From this time onwards Martu were forcibly removed from their land onto missions or settlements like Jigalong. Some Martu did not make contact until the 1960s, most notably the small group of women and children who were tracked and "cleared out" in 1964 to make way for the Blue Streak missile tests fired from Woomera in SA.

The end of the 1970's saw the missionaries leave Jigalong mission, and the Martu began resettling in their desert lands, establishing the self-autonomous communities of Jigalong, Punmu, Parnngurr, and Kunawarritji. It was not until 2002 that they were granted native title over their land. Today Martu continue to live in their desert communities as well as the surrounding regional towns of Marble Bar, Nullagine, Newman, and Port Hedland. 

Although not unchanged, cultural practice remains strong with annual ceremonies involving participation from surrounding Indigenous groups from Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia. Martu continue to care for their country through recently established programs of Land Management involving Martu Rangers in each community and a collaboration with government and non-government organisations addressing a range of ecological and cultural issues including pest species management and cultural site preservation.

Warning: viewers should be aware that these videos includes names and images of deceased people that may cause sadness or distress to Aboriginal people."

Curtis Taylor, 21yrs, hails from Parnngurr Community, located 400 kms east of Newman. Curtis is an actor and emerging film writer/director, and a young Martu leader. He is currently an undergrad at Murdoch University, completing a Bachelor of Culture, Communications and Media. After finishing school in 2008, Curtis worked as a Community Coordinator and Youth Development Officer at Martu Media (a division of Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa), where he also spent 18 months working on the Yiwarra Kuju Project as a filmmaker and youth Ambassador. Curtis was the recipient of 2011 Western Australian Youth Art Award and Westfarmers Youth Scholarship.

Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route exhibition is a joint initiative between The National Museum Canberra of Australia and FORM.

----------------------------------------

Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon (born 16 January 1962) is an Australian politician and Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Hunter in New South Wales. From December 2007 to June 2009 he was the Minister for Defence in the First Rudd Ministry. He resigned from cabinet in June 2009, following a series of controversies.[1] In July 2013, following Kevin Rudd's election as Labor Leader, he was appointed the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the Second Rudd Ministry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Fitzgibbon

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Conservative commentator and political advisor Grahame Morris has produced an extraordinary anti-Irish rant in a TV discussion about same-sex marriage.The former chief of staff to Prime Minister John Howard – who has led election campaigns for the Liberals – was speaking on SkyNews on Monday and was asked about Australia’s move towards a bill that would allow marriage equality.“The trigger [for the debate in Australia] was a vote in Ireland. Now I love the Irish, the parliament is full of Irishmen but, ” he said, “these are people who can’t grow potatoes, who have a mutant lawn weed as their national symbol and they can’t verbalise the difference between tree and the number three. And then all of a sudden, Australia has to follow suit.”Bruce Hawker, the Labor Party strategist, who was also taking part in the discussion, remarked: “There goes the Irish vote. All you Irishmen out there, note that.”You can watch the clip here.Mr Morris is no stranger to controversy.In 2012, he was widely criticised for calling ABC journalist Leigh Sales a “cow”.Also in 2012 he apologised to then prime minister Julia Gillard after declaring that Australians “ought to be kicking her to death”.
http://www.irishecho.com.au/2015/06/02/liberal-party-advisors-anti-irish-tv-rant/34643
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Dr Mark Stephen Bagshaw (born 6 November 1956) is an Australian businessman and disability advocate.[1] He is involved in advocacy for people with a disability, especially in the arenas of employment,[2] education and accessibility.[3] He was Co-Chair, National VET Disability Advisory Taskforce 2007 to 2008; Co-Chair, Australian Disability Training Advisory Council 2002 to 2005. Bagshaw was a Don't DIS my ABILITY ambassador.

Bagshaw attended Newington College (1971–1974).[4] Since a spinal cord injury at age 16 that resulted in quadriplegia he has used a wheelchair for mobility. He was a Year 11 student at the time and Newington offered Bagshaw a bursary and did everything possible to help him to continue studying for his Higher School Certificate.[5] Majoring in economics and psychology at the University of Sydney he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1979.[6]

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bagshaw