Sir John Howard wrote:
> http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23564255-2,00.html
>
> DELEGATES at the 2020 summit in Canberra have been telling each other
> about the potentially calamitous problems and the terrific
> op****tunities that Australia faces in the coming years - and that they
> have just one day left to cover them all.
>
> High-profile delegates - and Cate Blanchett's baby - spent the day
> talking at Parliament House about the big ideas they have for the
> country's future. They have been split into 10 policy areas and after
> a group phase, split into sub-groubs within those "streams".
>
> The summiteers have to come up with one big idea and three practical
> ideas by the end of the summit tomorrow. One of the concrete policy
> ideas must be able to be implemented at no cost or next-to-no cost.
>
> With some branding the event a "talkfest", it was argued the biggest
> issue would be how the Rudd Government responded in accepting or
> rejecting ideas put forward.
>
> The summit started this morning and will be over by 3pm tomorrow, with
> the delegates having just four minutes to outline their ideas.
>
> "I think we need to ask ourselves whether 1000 people over a weekend
> will be able to come up with anything meaningful," Opposition Leader
> Brendan Nelson has said.
>
> Republic
>
> As expected, the republic featured prominently in the governance
> stream, with most delegates favouring constitutional change in the
> next two years.
>
> The group showed their sup****t for a rapid removal of the monarchy
> from the Australian system, voting for a deadline of 2010 after a 12-
> year timeline received lukewarm sup****t. Labor MP Maxine McKew, in
> charge of that stream, urged delegates to show more passion for the
> subject after their initial recommendations failed to draw even a
> single "whoop" from the group.
>
> In the health stream, delegates sup****ted increases in taxes on
> alcohol, cigarettes and junk food as well as the establishment of a
> health inequalities commission.
>
> Another idea was to establish a "Healthbook" service modelled on
> Facebook, which would allow users to share health information with
> selected others.
>
> For those tackling indigenous issues, a treaty with the government was
> the top priority. It would "formally recognise Aboriginal and Torres
> Strait Islander people as the first people of Australia, involving a
> legal agreement as to the status, rights and obligations of indigenous
> people and the Australian government," said delegate Janina Gawler.
>
> Delegates also heard ideas for an indigenous future fund to be set up
> to provide ongoing funding for future programs, as well as the re-
> establishment of a peak indigenous body.
>
> Darker vision
>
> International relations expert Alan Dupont told the security stream of
> the summit that climate change, pandemic disease, food, water and
> energy scarcity and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction were
> the key issues.
>
> "While it is less likely that states are going to use nuclear weapons
> these days, the general consensus in the field is that if terrorists
> were to get hold of them they would probably use them," Professor
> Dupont said.
>
> Former defence chief General Peter Cosgrove said the traditional view
> of national security as related solely to the defence forces had to
> change.
>
> "So we have to build an independent international relations policy.
> This is not code for no more alliance (with the United States)," he
> said. "We have to have an Australian view which is specific to our
> own future."
>
> Pace of change
>
> Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told delegates the point of the summit was
> to acknowledge that politicians do not have all the answers and that
> the government was instead throwing open the windows to let in some
> fresh ideas.
>
> "Some of these ideas we will be able to embrace, others we will not,
> and some we will take in part and change," he said.
>
> He said change occurred at a breathtaking pace, comparing today to 12
> years ago, when there were 3 million fewer Australians.
>
> "Only one in three households had a mobile phone. We were barely using
> email or the internet," he said. "Just 300,000 home computer users
> were connected to the internet at home.
>
> "We had never heard of Facebook, we had never heard of MySpace, nor
> even Google."
>
> Mr Rudd said the challenges the nation now faced were unprecedented in
> complexity and intensity, with climate change a pressing concern.
>
> Supermum Cate
>
> Australian actor Hugh Jackman said he would focus on promoting the
> arts in education, then praised fellow actor Blanchett for committing
> to co-chair a meeting just days after giving birth.
>
> "I have given her my kids - she is looking after them for the
> weekend," he joked.
>
> "Cate Blanchett is superwoman ... she is flawless as a person and I am
> thrilled that she is leading our stream."
>
> Blanchett told the delegates taking part in the creative stream of the
> summit she expected six-day-old Ignatius Martin Upton to benefit from
> the ideas coming out of it.
>
> "He will be starting high school by 2020," Blanchett said. "He is a
> lucky bugger - I hope."
>
> Opening the meeting, and occasionally interrupted by a vocal Ignatius,
> Blanchett admitted bed had been a tempting option this weekend.
>
> "It is a measure of my belief in the weekend that I am here at all, as
> you could imagine I would rather be in bed," she said.
>
> Bad mix?
>
> The chief secretary of the Salvation Army, James Condon, criticised
> organisers for seeking to champion the cause of the oppressed, the
> marginalised and the disadvantaged without actually including any of
> their ranks in the summit's working groups.
>
> "Where are the homeless people? Where are the people who've been
> addicted to alcohol? Where are the gambling addicts?" he asked.
>
> However, organisers are hopeful they have ended one criticism - on the
> male-female make-up of the talks - by ensuring more women are
> involved.
>
> ----------------------------
>
> Blanchett's baby apparently had plenty to say.
>
Krudd was on the news tonite talking about opening Australia's windows
to let in fresh air! What a wanker! The whole thing makes me puke. What
is this?? government by a leftist think tank!? did anyone by any chance
come up with the idea of bringing John Howard back to run the country?
and kicking Krudd out? That would be the best idea to come out of it!
--
rgds,
Pete
=====
http://pw352.blogspot.com/
'I'm not young enough to know everything' -Oscar Wilde
|
