Category: Good Books

ULURU REFERENDUM.

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Elections, Good Books, Government, History, Join the Debate

It is now time for Australians to vote in a Referendum that embeds the basic principles of the Uluru Statement into the Constitution of Australia.

This historic milestone must not be delayed beyond this year and, as the Prime Minister has affirmed that his government is ready to pass legislation enabling the Referendum to be held, it is highly possible to achieve this.

As my contribution to the debate, here is wording I believe should be voted into the Constitution as Section 129, with the heading FIRST AUSTRALIANS.

*An Assembly will be established called FIRST AUSTRALIANS, in acknowledgement of the heritage of the oldest culture in the world.

It shall

*be elected by a democratic vote of indigenous persons managed by the Australian Electoral Commission.

*consist of not more than 50 members who shall serve five year terms.

*formulate policies relating to the livelihood of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and present these to Parliament annually.

Parliament shall have

*no obligation to approve the recommended policies, but shall debate them and formally convey responses to the Assembly within one year.

*powers to make laws relating to the functions and procedures of the Assembly.

Let me have your thoughts on how these words can be improved.

In doing so, I suggest you note these thoughts.

I have used the least possible number of words as the more words that are used the more doubts can be created in the minds of voters by opponents who see words as an opportunity to nitpick.

I am aware that significant leaders of indigenous communities would like the name of the Assembly to be FIRST NATIONS VOICE but I have the firm view that this will cause the referendum to fail as many Australians will feel that it recognises indigenous people as a separate nation.

The Constitution states that to gain approval, a Referendum must not only gain a nationwide majority of votes for YES, voters in four out of 6 States must vote YES. This is a huge task and I hope that you will join me in working for its achievement.

It is important that FIRST AUSTRALIANS is part of the Constitution rather than it being created by an Act of Parliament as that can be amended or removed by a subsequent government.

As this year is the 30th anniversary of the Mabo decision of the High Court to recognise the land rights of Indigenous Australians, it is fitting that Australia now takes this next step forward in continuing to achieve a just society.

Written with a genuine sense of history in the making.

Everald

PS. Read my book DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS to discover why aborigines, as they were then called, were omitted from the Australian Constitution.

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EVERALD’s TRIO OF BOOKS

On By Everald ComptonIn Good Books, religion, Seniors

In my twilight years, I enjoy writing books and have published three over the past five years, with another five in the planning stages.

I reach 90 years of age in October this year and I will have those five finished by the time I am 95. Then, I plan to write a few more to keep my mind active until I score my century. From then on, there are real possibilities.

May I invite you to join me in this pleasant pastime? 

It is relaxing and invigorating and brain stimulating because we are able to use a lot of accumulated wisdom and experience to expand our vision of the potential and satisfaction of life and convey it to others with words they will enjoy.

Let me tell a little about the three I currently have out there in the bookshops.

Continue reading “EVERALD’s TRIO OF BOOKS” →

EGO defeats NOUS

On By Everald ComptonIn Elections, Good Books, Government, History, Misogyny, religion8 Comments

When John Howard departed the political scene in 2007, there began an era of instability that has all but destroyed legitimate democracy in Australia.

I am in my 87th year on this planet and I have never witnessed a more shameful Parliament than this one. Sadly, only a few of our Parliamentarians are aware of it. They live in a world of utter unreality, totally divorced from voters who now feel a huge sense of insecurity.

What can we do about it?

Nothing at the moment.

We have to wait for an election and hope that the deadwood in all Parties will be wiped out and replaced by Independents of quality who will force quality debates that will result in fine policy decisions.

Barton and Deakin achieved this with minority governments in the first decade of Federation 120 years ago and passed historic legislation that serves us to this day. They had brains and vision and they were leaders who had people skills. Our current Parliament hasn’t got these attributes and never will.

How did we get into this mess? Continue reading “EGO defeats NOUS” →

THE AUSTRALIAN WAY

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Good Books, Government, History, religion8 Comments

Pauline Hanson, Tony Abbott and Cory Bernardi all say that they are totally committed to the defence of the Australian Way of life. But, they differ broadly when they endeavour to explain to us what it is they are defending.

Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have differing versions of the Australian Way, but both also disagree with some of what Hanson, Abbott and Bernardi have to say.

So, how does the average Aussie punter work out what it is we are all supposed to be promoting and defending?

Embarrassingly for more moderate citizens, there seem to be some broad areas of common bias.

The primary one is a strong belief that Australia must be defended from hordes of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, as well as foreign workers and investors who bring with them sharia law and burkas and terrorists. Added to this is a primitive view that gays, lesbians and aborigines represent a threat to ‘decent’ society.

So, how do we find common ground on what it is in Australian life we should be standing up for as we try to curb the influence of those supposed ‘infidels’ and, much more formidably, how can we achieve it? Sadly, too many seem to believe that the creation of an atmosphere of fear is a good way to begin. Continue reading “THE AUSTRALIAN WAY” →

The Royals and the Nazi Salute

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Good Books, Government, History, International1 Comment

I was at Primary School when Hitler rose to power in the pre-war era of the 1930’s and thought of him as a big joke. Continue reading “The Royals and the Nazi Salute” →

Good books about Gough Whitlam, former Indonesian President Sukarno, “American Stories” and “The Price of Inequality”

On By Everald ComptonIn Good Books

GOUGH WHITLAM will be remembered in history as our most controversial Prime Minister. The only one to come anywhere near him as a generator of political heat was Billy Hughes, yet they were utterly different. Whitlam had great intellect and presence, while Hughes was a very cunning old fox. Jenny Hocking has written an objective book about Whitlam’s three years in power from 1972 to 1975. It’s called “Gough Whitlam – His Time” and you will find that reading it is a very worthwhile use of your time because it is a balanced appraisal. She hits him hard for his failings (which were many). But, she gives him measured praise where it is due — eg, Medicare which endures to this day as a fundamental right of all Australians, which no political party would now ever dare to repeal, even though the Coalition declared it to be communist at the time when Whitlam introduced it. Continue reading “Good books about Gough Whitlam, former Indonesian President Sukarno, “American Stories” and “The Price of Inequality”” →

Good books about Vladimir Putin, gangster Carl Williams and the novel “The Lifeboat”

On By Everald ComptonIn Good Books

I have spent several interesting days reading a new biography of Vladimir Putin. The authors are Chris Hutchins and Alexander Korobko, neither of whom give the impression of being fans of Putin, but come-up with a vision of a leader who is vastly under-rated because he never ever gives the world much of a look into his soul, and comes over as being cold, tough and unapproachable. Continue reading “Good books about Vladimir Putin, gangster Carl Williams and the novel “The Lifeboat”” →