TRUTH and Nothing but the TRUTH.

WE WANT OUR LEADERS TO REFLECT SOMETHING VERY REAL AND MEANINGFUL TOWARDS THE KIND OF SOCIETY WE LIVE IN AND WANT TO PROGRESS TOWARDS.


Nobody is PERFECT; we learn to learn, from our mistakes.

Before I renew my membership to the ALP I have to pull back from the global gossip village of politics and reflect on what is real in this life and what role can I play. At 49 I know myself well, so aware of my limits and potential, of  what I can contribute to the organic life of the nation of which I belong.

COMMUNICATING WHAT HAS INSPIRED US AND WHAT LEADS US ON IN OUR OWN PERSONAL QUEST - LIKE PARTICIPATING IN A SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY AS A MEANS TO ACHIEVING THE BEST WE CAN BE FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE - IS AN ACT OF FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY in our own abilities.

The Prime Minister doing what she can for low-valued workers.

(pic: The Australian, Renee Nowytarger)

So far in my learning, it is the Labor movement and the Labor parties which make these progressive leaps - not just for a select few. The frustration is how long it takes to get though all the power plays, but there are two really good things which have made my day happy and satisfied with the Australian Labor Party(and with the leadership of Prime Minister Julia Gillard).

1. FAIR WORK AUSTRALIA decision to raise wages for the low-paid in the community care sector.(Congratulations to the Prime Minister and Australian Services Union).

2.  NATIONAL CURRICULUM IN SCHOOLS.

I paid my Membership Renewal to the Australian Labor Party 

(even though I've felt like it's been a dark night of the soul on the refugee treatment).

We all know that within parties there is a spectrum of issues which has been traditionally termed the left, right and centre and sliding in between. That's Life! 

So I am relieved - we have many groups necessary in the Labor Movement which you can align with in the desire for more depth and pursuit of knowledge and creating change: Labor for Refugees, Labor for the Environment, Labor for Palestine, Rainbow Labor, Labor Women etc etc etc. There's no need to join The Greens, right now, though I value their contribution.

No party of human beings can be completely harmonious, and this is why there are Rules and a guiding platform which can be challenged and modified with rational argument and more votes where you sit! Gaining a seat of power for a politician is a double-edged sword because one hopes their decisions are going to do more MORE good than harm.

As a Conservative Prime Minister John Howard was adverse to the challenge that the victims of past policies of child abduction were done for the best of intentions so didn't need an apology. Indeed he seemed  angry that the status quo of  his generations attitudes which was notorious for keeping people shamed and hidden under the carpet would become part of the history you learned at school! 

He was also scared that these lower-class of working people could agitate for compensation - you know like for a new set of teetch so they could eat. (which is what many did with their money from Queensland redress scheme).

I agreed with every swipe and statement that Prime Minister Paul Keating said about the mean Tory attitudes which undermined the open dialogue and egalitarian honesty with the Australian people.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd showed the respect and recognition due to the thousands of children, black and white, rich and poor who had been shamefully ignored and abused within the attitudes of the day and the long-term consequences of such policies affecting the most marginalised in society.

Those children now the elders in our community have a measure of  confidence in being listened to, and acting on their concerns for their health, home and bad teeth! In fact the announcements of equal pay and educational improvements tie in: Many of the wards of the state like my mum were child labour. They were hardly educated, enough to get by expecting they would be the cleaners, the carers, and barworkers being from the underclass. 

Low-valued, low paid. Finally, FAIR WORK and a Labor Government and Australian Services Union have changed the way we perceive women in the workforce.

JULIE at the Apology screening Qld Parliament House,  to the Forgotten Australians and Child Migrants. Holding the orphanage photo when mum was 9years and newly arrived from England in Australia.

JULIA pressing forward with nation changing reforms in education and Industrial relations.

With the energy and intellligence of  MP's  Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard who were the engine drivers of  Building the Education Revolution (understanding that the neglect under the Liberal government in Education meant a lot of catching-up).The Howard Years Were No Golden Age and Here's Why

In the Queensland State Election I acknowledge The Premier, Anna Bligh pressing ahead with the Federal Government's initiative of a national curriculum, starting this month. I'm proud of these two Labor women putting all they can into a quality education at all levels for all students.

More kids might actually like going to school now! Hopefully they will have a well grounded education which will further a life-long love of learning, and open mindedness, leaving nothing out, even when the topic under review is about their herstoric record....

Progressing

Daughter Jasmine, with her two degrees which means she will be teaching the new National History Curriculum that her Grandmother experienced via the Child Migration Scheme in a Catholic Orphanage in New South Wales, 1950-1959.

TO HONOUR MY MOTHER'S 71st birthday - I thank the CLAN, for insisting the Australian National History Curriculum will include all Year 6 and 10 students being taught about the "Forgotten Australians".

"Experiences of Australian democracy and citizenship, including the status and rights of Aboriginal people and/or Torres Strait Islanders, migrants, women and children...with a new elaboration investigating those who were placed in orphanages, homes and other institutions and their legacy." 

Links to 

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) 

BOOMERANG - child migration of Kathleen Clarke 1950

Whilst the pursuit of truth and justice comes mostly from the grass-roots, our  current Prime Minister Julia Gillard works to meet the demands of the economy in a progressive and enlightened way. Not shying away from competing with world standards - an Education is required for all people to achieve their potential -  To enable pathways for success whatever your talents may be.

When my mother had been  in Australia a short time, the Prime Minister Ben Chifley (ALP) died. The CLAN use this post card on their web site to aid in persevering with their aims for redress, ironically for the policies which existed and were created during his time, which have have had such debilitating consequences...If an idea is worth fighting for, no matter what the penalty is, fight for the right, and truth and justice will prevail.

IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR FEMINISM the stigma and policies against family planning services, unmarried pregnant women, women in the paid workforce, domestic violence etc. would not have been challenged and changed. SO WE HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT CHALLENGE OF THE STATUS QUO THAT PREVENTS US FROM BEING THE SOLAR LIGHTS ON THE HILL.

Emboldened with my renewed membership of the ALP, I'm going to keep blogging on about it....with no fear of censorship.  What a great International Day for Women coming up - celebrating the victory of the women in the Australian Services Union, and a woman Prime Minister who knew this was the right and just thing to do for a Labor Government.

ORANGES & SUNSHINE(2011)d.Jim Loach- movie about British social worker uncovering the British and Australian Governments policy of deportation of thousands of  children to Australian orphanages.