oxley maiden

  1. 4,788 Posts.


    Mr Acting Speaker, in making my first speech in this place, I congratulate you on your election and wish to say how proud I am to be here as the Independent Member for Oxley.

    I come here, not as a polished politician but as a woman who has had her fair share of life's knocks. My view on issues is based on common sense and my experience as a mother of four children, a sole parent and a businesswoman running a fish and chip shop. I won the seat of Oxley largely on an issue that has resulted in me being called a racist. That issue related to my comment that Aboriginals received more benefits than non-Aboriginals.

    We now have a situation where a type of reverse racism is applied to mainstream Australians by those who promote political correctness and those who control the various taxpayer funded ''industries'' that flourish in our society, servicing Aboriginals, [word obscured in original] multiculturalists, and a host of other minority groups.

    In response to my call for equality for ALL Australians, the most noisy criticism came from the ''fatcats'', bureaucrats and the ''do-gooders''. They screamed the loudest because they stand to lose the most; - their power, money and position, all funded by ordinary Australian taxpayers.

    Present governments are encouraging separatism in Australia by providing opportunities, land, monies and facilities, only available to Aboriginals.

    Along with millions of Australians, I am fed up to the back teeth with the inequalities that are being promoted by the government and paid for by the taxpayer under the assumption that Aboriginals are the most disadvantaged people in Australia [SEE FACT 1].

    .FACT 1
    Aboriginal Equality
    Unemployment: Indigenous males 38%. Non-indigenous 9%.
    Income: Percentage with income less than $12,000: Indigenous 64%.
    Non-indigenous 4%.
    Percentage with income more than $35,000: Indigenous 2%.
    Non-indigenous 11%.
    (1994 statistics) .


    I do not believe that the colour of one's skin determines whether you are disadvantaged.

    Mr Acting Speaker, as Paul Hasluck said in Parliament, in October 1955 (when he was Minister for Territories):


    ''The distinction I make is this. A social problem is one that concerns the way in which people live together in one society. A racial problem is a problem which confronts two different races who live in two separate societies, even if those societies are side by side. We do not want a society in Australia in which one group enjoy one set of privileges and another group enjoy another set of privileges''.

    Hasluck's vision was of a single society in which racial emphases were rejected and social issues addressed.

    I totally agree with him and so would the majority of Australians.

    But remember, when he gave his speech, he was taking about the privileges white Australians were seen to be enjoying over Aboriginals.

    Today, 41 years later, I talk about the exact opposite - the privileges Aboriginals enjoy over other Australians. I have done research on benefits only available to Aboriginals and challenge anyone to tell me how Aboriginals are disadvantaged when they can obtain 3 and 5% housing loans denied to non-Aboriginals. [SEE FACT 2]

    .FACT 2
    Cheap Loans
    ATSIC runs a home loan scheme allowing disadvantaged Aborigines to get loans fixed at 3 and 5 per cent for the first year, increasing to a maximum of 8 per cent. It is similar to schemes run in a number of states for low income earners, and to schemes for defence force personnel.

    The average number of people per house in indigenous Australia is 4.6 compared to 2.6 people in non-indigenous Australia.

    The proportion of houses owned or being purchased by indigenous Australians is 35 per cent compared to 74 per cent in the non-indigenous population; 35 per cent of indigenous people rent, compared to 26 per cent of non-indigenous people. .



    Mr Acting Speaker, this nation is being divided into black and white and the present system encourages this. [SEE FACT 3]

    .FACT 3
    Life Expectancy
    Males: Indigenous 57-61 years. Non-indigenous 75 years.
    Females: Indigenous 61-65 years. Non-indigenous 81 years.
    Infants: Death rates for4 indigenous children aged 0-1 about four times greater. Young People: For people aged 25-54, the difference was 6-8 times.

    Prison Population
    Indigenous people represent 12 per cent of prison population but only 1.6 per cent of total population.

    Education
    Only 0.8 per cent of the indigenous population over 15 is educated to the level of a degree or higher, compared to 7.7 per cent of the non-indigenous population. 80 per cent of the indigenous population has no qualifications, compared to 61 per cent of the non-indigenous population. 46.3 per cent of the indigenous population left school at 15 or under, compared to 35.9 per cent of non-indigenous. 5.1 per cent of indigenous population did not go to school, compared to 0.9 per cent of non-indigenous. .


    I am fed up with being told, ''this is our land''. Well, where the hell do I go? I was born here and so were my parents and children. I will work beside anyone and they will be my equal but I draw the line when told I must pay and continue paying for something that happened over 200 years ago. Like most Australians, I worked for my land - no one gave it to me.

    Apart from the $40 million spent so far since MBA, on Native Title claims, the Government has made available $1 billion for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders as compensation for land they cannot claim under Native Title. Bear in mind that the $40 million spent so far on Native Title has gone into the pockets of grateful lawyers and consultants. Not one Native Title has been granted as I speak. [SEE FACT 4]


    .FACT 4
    Native Title
    The Government has set aside $1.2 billion over 10 years for the indigenous Land Corporation which is designed ultimately to be self-funding. .


    Mr Acting Speaker, the majority of Aboriginals don't want handouts because they realise that - WELFARE IS KILLING THEM. This quote says it all - ''If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime''. Those who feed off the Aboriginal industry don't want to see things changed. Look at the Council for Reconciliation. Members receive $290 a day sitting allowance, $320 a day travelling allowance and most of these people also hold other very well paid positions. No wonder they didn't want to resign recently! [SEE FACT 5]

    .FACT 5
    Public Fees
    These are standard rates for any government body. However, members of the Reconciliation Council who are already on government payroll don't recieve sitting fees. Government member MP Peter Nugent told Parliament in September that many other members don't take fees and travel allowances. .


    Reconciliation is everyone recognising and treating each other as equals and everyone must be responsible for their own actions. This is why I am calling for ATSIC to be abolished. It is a failed, hypocritical and discriminatory organisation that has failed dismally, the people it was meant to serve. It will take more than Senator Herron's surgical skills to correct the terminal mess it is in. Anyone with a criminal record can and does, hold a position with ATSIC. [SEE FACT 6] I cannot hold my position as a politician if I have a criminal record. Once again, - two sets of rules!

    .FACT 6
    ATSIC
    Atsic employees are subject to the Public Service Act. Elected representatives face the same restrictions as those in union ballots: They cannot have been imprisoned for four months or three months for dishonesty. Labor sought to amed this to put it on the same footing as politicians: a conviction of 12 months or more. The deputy chairman of ATSIC, ``Sugar'' Ray Robinson, would be ineligible to stand for Federal Parliament on this basis because of a 1963 conviction for rape, along with several less serious offences. .


    If politicians continue to promote separatism in Australia, then they should not continue to hold their seats in this Parliament. They are not truly representing ALL Australians and I call on the people to throw them out! TO SURVIVE IN PEACE AND HARMONY, UNITED AND STRONG, WE MUST HAVE ONE PEOPLE, ONE NATION, ONE FLAG!

    Mr Acting Speaker, the greatest cause of family breakdown is unemployment. This country of ours has the richest mineral deposits in the world, vast rich lands for agriculture and is surrounded by oceans that provide a wealth of seafood and yet, we are $190 billion in debt with an interest bill that is strangling us. [SEE FACT 7]

    .FACT 7
    Debt Head
    Total debt is $187.8 billion at June 1996, but $128 billion of this was private sector debt. The debt servicing ratio _ the proportion of interest costs to exports - has fsallen to about 11 per cent from a peak of 20 per cent in 1990. .


    Youth unemployment between the ages of 15-24 runs at 25% [SEE FACT 8] and even higher in my electorate of Oxley. Statistics (by cooking the books), say that Australia's unemployment is at 8.6% or just under one million people. If we disregard that one hours work a week classifies a person as employed, then the figure is really between 1.5 and 1.9 million unemployed. This is a crisis that recent governments have ignored because of a lack of will. We are regarded as a third world country with first world living conditions. We have one of the highest interest rates in the world and we owe more money per capita than any other country. All we need is a nail hole in the bottom of the boat and we're sunk!

    .FACT 8
    Unemployment
    Unemployment among 15-19 year olds is 27.6 per cent. .


    In real dollar terms, our standard of living has dropped over the past ten years. In the 1960s our wages increase ran at 3% and unemployment at 2%. Today, not only is there no wage increase, we have gone backwards and unemployment is officially 8.6%. The real figure must be close to 12 or 13%.

    Mr Acting Speaker, I wish to comment briefly on some social and legal problems encountered by many of my constituents, - problems not restricted just to my electorate of Oxley. I refer to the social and family upheaval created by the Family Law Act and the ramifications of that Act embodied in the Child Support Scheme. The Family Law Act, which was the child of the disgraceful Senator Lionel Murphy should be repealed. It has brought death, misery and heartache to countless thousands of Australians. Children are treated like pawns in some crazy game of chess.

    The Child Support Scheme has become unworkable, very unfair and one sided. [SEE FACT 9] Custodial parents can often profit handsomely at the expense of the parent paying child support and in many cases the non-custodial parent simply gives up employment to escape in many cases, the heavy and punitive financial demands. Governments must give to ALL those who have hit life's hurdles, the chance to rebuild and have a future.

    .FACT 9
    Child Support
    While the Child Support Agency was once heavily complained about, the Commonwealth Ombudsman reported in September that while still accounting for 16 per cent of complaints, the levelling-off in the numbers of complaints was cause for cautious optimism. Staff had been retrained. There had been restructuring and there were few complaints about rudeness or unhelpful telephone inquiry and counter staff. .


    Mr Acting Speaker, we have lost all our big Australian industries and icons including Qantas when it sold off 25% of its shares and a controlling interest to British Airways. Now this government wants to sell Telstra, - a company that made $1.2 billion profit last year and will make $2 billion profit this year but first, they want to sack 54,000 employees [SEE FACT 10] to show better profits and share prices. Anyone with business sense knows that you don't sell off your assets especially when they are making money. I am only be a ''fish and chip shop lady'' but some of these economists need to get their heads out of the text books and get a job in the real world. I wouldn't even let one of them handle my grocery shopping!

    .FACT 10
    Telstra
    Telstra announced in September it would shed 22,000 jobs over the next three years. .


    Mr Acting Speaker, immigration and multiculturalism are issues that this government is trying to address but for far too long, ordinary Australians have been kept out of any debate by the major parties. I and most Australians want our immigration policy radically reviewed and that of multiculturalism abolished. I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians. Between 1984 and 1995, 40% of all migrants into this country were of Asian origin. [SEE FACT 11]They have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate. Of course, I will be called racist but if I can invite who I want into my home, then I should have the right to have a say in who comes into my country. A truly multicultural country can NEVER be strong or united and the world is full of failed and tragic examples, ranging from Ireland to Bosnia, to Africa and closer to home, Papua New Guinea. America and Great Britain are currently paying the price.

    FACT 11
    Migration
    It is true that between 1984 and 1995, 40 per cent of migrants were from Asia. About 30 per cent came from Europe and Britain. However, only 4 per cent of the population is Asian-born. Labor argues that if 50 per cent of immigrants come from Asia for the next 35 years, it would still only increase the Asian-born component of the population to 7 per cent. .

    Mr Acting Speaker, Arthur Calwell was a great Australian and Labor leader and it is a pity that there are not men of his stature sitting on the Opposition benches today. Arthur Calwell said and I quote, ''Japan, India, Burma, Ceylon and every new African nation are fiercely anti-white and anti one another. Do we want or need any of these people here? I am one red-blooded Australian who says NO and who speaks for 90% of Australians''. .

    I have no hesitation in echoing the words of Arthur Calwell!

    Mr Acting Speaker, there IS light at the end of the tunnel and there ARE solutions. If this government wants to be fairdinkum, then it must stop kowtowing to financial markets, international organisations, world bankers, investment companies and big business people. The Howard Government must become visionary and be prepared to act, even at the risk of making mistakes.

    In this financial year, we will be spending at least $1.5 billion on foreign aid and we cannot be sure that this money will be properly spent, as corruption and mismanagement in many of the recipient countries are legend. Australia must review its membership and funding of the UN, as it is a little like ATSIC on a grander scale, with huge tax free American dollar salaries, duty free luxury cars and diplomatic status. The World Health Organisation has a lot of its medical experts sitting in Geneva, while hospitals in Africa have no drugs and desperate patients are forced to seek medication on the black market. I am going to find out how many treaties we have signed with the UN, will have them exposed, then call for their repudiation. THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD CEASE ALL FOREIGN AID IMMEDIATELY AND APPLY THE SAVINGS TO GENERATING EMPLOYMENT HERE AT HOME!

    Mr Acting Speaker, abolishing the policy of multiculturalism will save billions of dollars and allow those from ethnic backgrounds to join mainstream Australia, paving the way to a strong, united country.

    Immigration must be halted in the short term, so that our dole queues are not added to, by in many cases, unskilled migrants not fluent in the English language. [SEE FACT 12] This would be one positive step to rescue many young and older Australians from a predicament which has become a national disgrace and crisis.

    FACT 12
    Unemployed Immigrants
    A recent study found that unemployed immigrants are less likely to recieve unemployment benefits that Australian-born unemployed and that levels of employment decrease significantly as the length of the stay increases/ Most immigrants who receive welfare payments have entered Australia under the Refugee and Humanitarian programs. .

    I MUST STRESS AT THIS STAGE, THAT I DO NOT CONSIDER THOSE PEOPLE FROM ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS CURRENTLY LIVING IN AUSTRALIA, ANYTHING BUT FIRST CLASS CITIZENS, PROVIDED OF COURSE THAT THEY GIVE THIS COUNTRY THEIR FULL, UNDIVIDED LOYALTY.

    Mr Acting Speaker, the Government must be imaginative enough to become involved in the short term at least, in job creating projects that will help establish the foundation for a resurgence of national development and enterprise. Such schemes would be the building of the Alice Springs to Darwin railway line, new roads and ports, water conservation, reafforestation and other sensible and practical environmental projects.

    Therefore, I call for the introduction of National Service, compulsory, for male and female, upon finishing year 12 or 18 years of age, for a period of 12 months. This could be a civil service with a touch of military training because I don't feel we can go on living in a dream world for ever and a day, believing that war will never touch our lives again.

    The Government must do all it can to help reduce interest rates for business. How can we compete with Japan, Germany and Singapore who enjoy rates of 2, 5.5 and 3.5% respectively? Reduced tariffs on foreign goods that compete with local products only seems to cost Australians their jobs. We must look after our own before lining the pockets of overseas countries and investors at the expense of our living standards and future.

    Mr Acting Speaker, time is running out. We may only have 10 - 15 years left to turn things around. Because of our resources and our position in the world, we won't have a say because neighbouring countries such as Japan with 250 million people, China (1.2 billion), India (1 billion), Indonesia (250 million) and Malaysia (300 million) are well aware of our resources and potential. [SEE FACT 13] WAKE UP AUSTRALIA BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!

    FACT 13
    Population
    The World Bank reports that the population of Japan in mid-1994 was 125 million people, China 1.2 billion people, India 913 million, Indonesia 190 million and Malaysia 19.7 million.


    Australians need and want leaders who can inspire and give hope in difficult times. Now is the time for the Howard Government to accept the challenge.

    Mr Acting Speaker, everything I have said is relevant to my electorate of Oxley, which is typical of mainstream Australia. I do have concerns for my country and I am going to do my best to speak my mind and stand up for what I believe in. As an Independent, I am confident that I can look after the needs of the people of Oxley and I will always be guided by their advice. It is refreshing to be able to express my views without having to toe a party line. It has got me into trouble on the odd occasion but I am not going to stop saying what I think.

    I consider myself just an ordinary Australian who wants to keep this great country strong and independent and my greatest desire is to see all Australians treat each other as equals, as we travel together towards the new century. I will fight hard to keep my seat in this place but that will depend on the people who sent me here.

    Mr Acting Speaker, I thank you for your attention and trust that you will not think me presumptious if I dedicate this speech to the people of Oxley and those other Australians who have supported me. I SALUTE THEM ALL!



 
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