Not a day off, but still well angry so here goes nuthin'...
Hello Mauritius, Finland, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Singapore, Poland, etc...welcome to my humble blog...yay for the Interweb...and of course to my good friends on Mt Gambier City Council...and I'm just so sick of dissecting Council's manipulation and corruption of appropriate process, and the massive damage that they have done to Mt Gambier...and I'm sure readers are too...so this instead...
Many people have expressed concerns about a range of issues in Australia's relationship with Indonesia, including 'people smuggling', the live cattle trade, financial aid and/or military training, and Islamic extremism.
I believe that there are workable solutions to some if not all of these, and hopefully some of these ideas may stimulate further debate and/or suggest to others potential strategies
I don't completely understand Islamism or any other 'ism', eg, Lutheranism, Catholicism, Vegetarianism, Nudism, etc, anymore than a long and inconclusive philosophical debate about Tribalism and self-realisation driving the necessity for definitive exclusivism and internal focus that denies an ambivalent Universe it's dues...stare into the fire not the dark...and of course structures of control and influence...
And how much slaughter in the name of God?...and even good deeds done, why in the name of God?...why not in the name of humanity?...
Genuine democracy allows infinite scope for self-expression that does not impose on others, but it requires the genuine participation of all concerned, and a mutual respect for the individual...but I digress...
Much has been made recently of Australia giving 'Foreign Aid' (?approx $380million per annum-I'll check) to Indonesia, which spends far more than that on it's Military, and I concur that this is not appropriate. The same can be said of Australians training Indonesian 'security units' like the notorious 'Unit 88' which is accused of crimes, including 'assasination', against West Papuan Independence Activists.
I note with extreme concern that Australia is now providing almost identical training to the Sri Lankan Military, whilst issues of government authorised massacres and/or assassinations of Tamil prisoners and/or civilians remain virtually un-investigated in any way.
Not that long ago Australian troops were pursuing an East-Timorese 'rebel' around his own country in the exact same fashion that Indonesia did with people we now hold up to be icons and heroes...we've all heard it...one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter...and who are we to judge...
When the ABC TV ran footage of a mis-treated cattle in Indonesia the entire live cattle export industry was immediately shut down, but only weeks later they showed footage of massaces and executions in Sri Lanka and what happens...nothing...(ah, not nothing...we sent our cricket team-Ed)...oh, yeah...thanks...and then CHOGM (the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) goes there...
I would suggest we have our priorities a little confused...
First step - It is not appropriate to just hand money to Indonesia. Re-direct 'Aid Funding' into programs that are specifically targetting the issues we can address.
Stop The Boats - There are tens of millions of 'displaced persons' around the world...every day thousands flee the Syrian Civil War across the border into neighbouring Jordan...I'm staggered by what people continue to do to get to Australia and I cannot blame them...and again it appears that dozens of 'anonymous queue jumpers' have died just trying to get here...you don't have to be a 'bleeding heart' to weep for the loss...and this must stop.
Loathe as I am to agree with Clive Palmer, his recent comments align closely with my belief that establishing 'migration centres' within Indonesia is a practical solution that would break the 'people smuggling' model.
Australian financed centres in Indonesia that employ Indonesians (and Australians, Sri Lankans, Afghans, etc), that are subject to strict regulation, and a policy that directs any 'boat people' back into those facilities/services and thus destroys the 'smuggling model'...provide monitored facilities that completely remove the necessity for and attractiveness of employing smugglers.
This is not 'Turning Back The Boats'...this is an agreement between nations to ensure the safe passage of genuine refugees and allows/encourages Indonesia to address issues of boats originating in their ports, leading to imprisonment of Indonesian nationals (sometimes juveniles), drownings, etc...most 'illegal immigrants' fly into Australia and then 'over-stay' their visas...(apologies for all the '...', but I'm trying to give a guernsey to every term, official or otherwise)...
Even a 'third party' solution, eg, with Malaysia, can still foster Regional co-operation, render people smuggling obsolete, and allow Australia to share some of our collective wealth by continuing our 'Foreign Aid' without subsidising Indonesian military action in places like West Papua, instead creating real employment across Indonesia.
I'd also suggest that allowing subsidised Indonesian toilet paper, etc, into Australia to the immediate and massive detriment of local manufacturing, is 'Foreign Aid' at a direct cost to Australian producers, employees, etc...and has to stop...Free Trade is a ludicrous non-reality that only we abide by...(unless of course it's the Australian Wheat Board paying massive bribes to Saddam Hussein back in the day-Ed)..
Indeed...however, individual corporate malfeasance is not the same as omnipresent government ideology pursued as policy...(fair enough-Ed)...
Live Cattle Trade - I would personally like to see no cloven hooved animals (or other 'feral' species) churning up the extremely fragile Australian environment, destroying native habitat, predating vulnerable
indigenous species, etc, but that's a reality centuries behind us, not of the future...today's reality is control if not eradication...
Apply the same template in reverse to the "People Smuggling' issue, and you can stop the Live Cattle Trade.
The issue is 'protein supply' and if beef is the answer ('if'-another post for another day), Australia's cattle industry is in the perfect position to help Indonesia, and other parts of Asia, to achieve these 'protein quotas', but this must be done with processing in Australia.
I personally don't give a damn, but if there are specific cultural and/or religious criteria that must be met, then authorised, qualified inspectors employed in 'Top End' abbatoirs can ensure these requirements are strictly adhered too.
Frozen and/or chilled carcasses and/or prepacked meats can be distributed via refridgerated containers, etc, directly into major population centres like Jakarta, and regional areas can supplement that with locally produced 'fresh meat'. Those containers can also become mobile butchers, regularly travelling out to remote communities to distribute the Australian product, and then used to help get regional produce back to cities.
Where this is financially impractical in the vast openness of Australia, the highly condensed population of Indonesia is relatively more accessible.
This creates excellent employment in Australia and across Indonesia with the distribution network that needs drivers, mechanics, clerks, etc, and stops animals suffering more than is absolutely necessary. Live cattle ships can easily be converted or scrapped.
Even with a ludicrous Carbon Tax, it would still be cheaper to transport carcasses than live animals, and people within the current system can be re-employed, eg, possibly affected abbattoir workers in Indonesia utilised as labourers/ distributors, etc.
I genuinely believe that basic measures can immediately be implemented on the longer road to full integration of our systems of production and supply with Indonesia.
In conclusion - A strong, coherent Indonesia is a critical factor in Australia's national security, and again, another post for another day.
Divert this 'Foreign Aid' into specific programs that stop Australia potentially financing Indonesia's military, but destroy people smuggling, and are genuinely supportive of Australian producers...could it be that simple?...(must be if you thought of it...that or ludicrously optomistic and unworkable-Ed)...cheers...
Tomorrow: More Council Shenanigans and Other Housekeeping
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