MDFF 30 December 2017

NEW

Wasn’t going to send another Dispatch in 2017, but I received some good news so here goes…

On 26th October Malcolm Turnbull rejected the Uluru Statement following a Cabinet decision.

Thus I resigned myself to 2017 finishing on that sour note and to have a break and once again take up the cudgels next year.

My resignation proved pre-mature- someone sent me a link to a NEW website, a NEW Government initiative. Something positive to bring in the NEW Year.

As previously mentioned the Prime Minister’s prime objection to the Uluru Statement from the heart was that it sought, as he called it a “third tier of Government”. I assumed this to be a lie, but in view of the olive branch emanating from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, I thought I’d better ‘fact check” this. So here it is…

https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/2017-05/Uluru_Statement_From_The_Heart_0.PDF  (check it out- it’s only one page)

Janis Joplin – Piece Of My Heart  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJb7cBfrxbo

Maybe I am blinded by my prejudices, but nowhere in the statement do I perceive there to be a push towards a third tier of Government, not even reading between the lines. Should any of you think otherwise, I would gladly hear from you.

Another reason Malcolm Turnbull gave for summarily dismissing the Uluru Statement from the heart, is that he thinks a referendum would have almost no chance of success. In this he is probably right. The days when a quarter of a million people walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for Reconciliation are long gone. The politically motivated opportunistic stigmatizing propaganda barrage has put the kibosh on that.  A change to the Australian Constitution requires a referendum which has a majority in every state of the Federation- this has proved notoriously difficult to achieve. Malcolm Turnbull had no such qualms however when he lead the Republican charge for the 1999 referendum. Back then he lost the referendum, on this occasion he lost respect, with which in my opinion he wasn’t over endowed with in any case.

You can imagine my delight when I stumbled on this:

“FAST food fans, listen up! McDonald’s has added a NEW addition to the Big Mac family – the Big Mac BLT. The US chain’s iconic takeaway, which already features American cheese, crisp lettuce, special sauce, onions and pickles, now comes with a rasher of bacon.”

But when I came across https://closingthegaprefresh.pmc.gov.au/ I was simply ecstatic!

The Closing the Gap Refresh consultations were launched on 7 November 2017 in Broome, WA at the Gimme Club

The Rolling Stones- Gimme Shelter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3rnxQBizoU

“Australian governments are committed to working together, and with Indigenous leaders, organisations and communities to refresh the Closing the Gap agenda”

CLOSING THE GAP REFRESH CONSULTATIONS HAVE BEGUN
20 December 2017

Yes sir, a NEW carrot !

“Dangling a carrot in front of a donkey—or anyone else for that matter—is not nice, and not fair, unless you eventually plan to give it up to them (Vera Nazarian)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbKQ7nXx0o8 John Lennon, Happy Christmas…

See ya’s next Year,

Frank