This is an important time for ALL Australians. For DECADES we have POLITELY waited for our Politicians to ALLOW scrutiny of Ethics & Decisions made by THEM and the Public Sector - by a Federal Integrity Commission who can investigate without fear or favour.
A blueprint for action on integrity - Pearls and Irritations (johnmenadue.com)
John Howard promised this in 2006 and 15 YEARS later we STILL wait!
THEN what do they DISRESPECTFULLY want to give us? A Claytons ICAC - one which ALL the experts say is WORSE than not having an Integrity Commission at all because it just provides a VENEER that politicians can HIDE behind - with no intention of doing anything about CHANGING 'business as usual' at all!
Crown casino case shows federal Icac model 'inadequate', former judge says
And WE pay for it!
Meanwhile for EVERYDAY Australia, the scrutiny of Big Brother and the REMOVAL of OUR Rights - like the Right to Strike to withdraw our labour if working conditions are unacceptable - a RIGHT for almost everyone in the western world EXCEPT us & KNOWN dictatorships - has escalated!
Our Federal Politicians no longer SERVE us - they THINK they RULE us! They LIE to us with impunity and use their Corporate mates in the media to DISTRACT us..
While our Politicians freely bypass any Tender processes and even their OWN rules and regulations questionably handing out BILLIONS of OUR dollars to their CORPORATE mates to PRIVATISE OUR services and institutions - Institutions which more ethical Politicians BUILT for FUTURE generations - they TELL US we can't AFFORD to provide the world's best tertiary education for OUR children; we can't AFFORD to provide decent CARE for OUR parents and Grandparents who MADE Australia what it is today; we can't AFFORD to keep people ABOVE the poverty line when they are ill or can't get a job; and we can't AFFORD to provide PUBLIC housing - BECAUSE of policies and priorities THEY have made!
And then at election time - they suddenly CAN afford to buy us!
Politicians told us that WE had to pay them MORE - more salary and MORE allowances because of THEIR insecurity of tenure. What they conveniently left out is that their POWER and contacts enable them to set themselves up nicely for a wealthy life OUTSIDE of politics - for DECADES.
Meanwhile for everyday Australians OUR work has become even MORE insecure than theirs - because of THEIR policies.. How many of US can guarantee WE will have a job in 6 months or a year much less THREE years!
And the Corporations who BUY our politicians' favours have ensured that OUR job INSECURITY has pushed OUR wages DOWN not up!
It's time we STOPPED WAITING for a TWO-PARTY dominated system which just hands the baton back and forth to each other and WE play along with their game - to EVER want or INSTITUTE a truly RETROSPECTIVE and STRONG Integrity Commission with teeth at the Federal level which has much MORE money to hand out and oversees our LARGEST services and our RESOURCES!
As can be seen at the State level - BOTH sides have way too much to lose!
We MUST support our Independents and smaller parties who BECAUSE they don't GET/ACCEPT the DONATIONS from the big CORPORATES or industry LOBBY groups - DO truly REPRESENT us and PUSH/FIGHT as hard as we can for a REAL Integrity Commission that can see past the corporate media hyperbole and ensure our Politicians ARE ethical and are not selling US out for PERSONAL gain.
Please get as many of your friends and family to SIGN and SHARE as much as you can..
It's NOT the only thing we can do - we can also write to our Politicians and if we can get enough signatures to get some momentum going we might be able to SUPPORT Helen's Bill with some rallies..
But we need to get a few thousand signatures FIRST..
For those who want to get family/friends interested in HOW their local member/senator votes - this is an excellent site which may open their eyes to whether their MP represents THEM!
They Vote For You — How does your MP vote?
For those who are keen here are some more articles for you to read and think about:
Australians trust government to handle Covid but not corruption, report finds
Thank you fellow Integrity Fighters