Category: Government

PRODUCTIVITY SUMMIT IGNORES FACT THAT AUSTRALIA CARELESSLY WASTES EXPERIENCE OF ITS OLDER CITIZENS

On By Everald ComptonIn Government, Seniors

I have tried and failed to have the huge potential of unused productivity of Senior Australians on to the agenda of the Productivity Roundtable that takes place in Canberra next week.

While I have been treated with courtesy and respect, my comments have fallen on deaf ears as the agenda of the Roundtable focusses solely on the big end of town, most of whom are there to seek greater profits for their own empires.

If I was at the Summit, I would state concisely these undeniable truths.

*There are 6 million older Australians many of whom are bored by retirement. Together, they have massive life and work experience, but are discouraged from contributing to the prosperity of the nation.

*Indeed, they are hit with financial penalties when they try to return to the workforce.

*There is huge economic potential in fostering Intergenerational Partnerships in which the experience of oldies is linked with the modern technology embraced by youth to form small start up businesses throughout the nation. I have been advocating this for 25 years but no government has been willing to pioneer it.

*Many retirees want to start a second life when they reach retirement age by training for a new occupation. They can begin this with the enthusiasm of youth and work with enthusiasm at for at least 25 years, but governments won’t create skills training programs to encourage them to do this. (and they will live 5 years longer than those who stop work to enjoy a life of leisure)

*Oldies who want to serve the community as volunteers for not for profit institutions are banned from doing so by ridiculous workplace, health, and safety regulations causing volunteering to die across the nation.

*Because of all of the abovementioned negativity of closed minds in governments, Australia loses billions of dollars in productivity and destroys Medicare by denying Oldies the good health created by activity that also creates new taxable income streams for governments.

ALL OF THIS DUMB LACK OF ENCOURAGEMENT OF OLDER AUSTRALIANS BY GOVERMENTS OF ALL POLITICAL COLOURS WILL BE REFLECTED AT THE PRODUCTIVITY ROUNDTABLE WHICH WILL CONCENTRATE ON EXPANDING THE PROFITS OF THE BIG GUYS, MOST OF WHOM ARE TAX AVOIDERS.

PLEASE EMAIL THIS TO YOUR LOCAL MP AND ASK THEM TO MIGHTILY HARASS THE PRODUCTIVITY ROUNDTABLE.

I recommend you read the book ‘Dreamers and Schemers’ written by Frank Bonjoirno. It is a cracker of a read. It accurately describes the way governments work in Australia.

Cheers

Everald

PRODUCTIVITY ROUNDTABLE MUST RECOGNISE THAT OLDER AUSTRALIANS ARE OUR NATION’S MOST UNRECOGNISED AND UNUSED ASSET.

On By Everald ComptonIn Ageing, Funding and Finance, Government, Seniors

I applaud Jim Chalmers decision to hold a Productivity Roundtable at Parliament in Canberra in August with the aim of creating a plan to increase the productivity of our nation.

25 of Australia’s top financial and industrial power brokers will meet in the Cabinet Room to express the well known views they have been publicly advocating to the government for a long time. Sadly, very little that is new is likely be added to the findings of the Roundtable.

A few days ago, I was presumptuous enough to apply for a place at the roundtable to present three initiatives that will encourage the nation’s 6 million older citizens to happily add their contribution to the productivity of Australia. Jim Chalmers didn’t reject my self invitation. He is too courteous a bloke to do that. He just told me the truth. They have no spare seats left at the table and many people like me were also trying to get there.

So it is that I will make a written submission to the Roundtable that will advocate three important creators of productivity.

*The removal of all restrictions and penalties that discourage older Australians from re-entering the work force and bringing their wisdom, practical experience and positive work culture with them.

*Positive action by Government to foster Intergenerational Partnerships through which older Australians can partner bright young Aussie visionaries to bring their creative dreams to reality by forming ‘Wise Young’ partnerships that will pioneer thousands of new start up companies that will break new ground via visionary projects.

*Actively encourage retirees to go to TAFE as evening students soon after their 60th birthday to learn new skills that will enable them to start a totally new career when they reach the traditional retirement age of 67, instead of retiring to spend 30 years watching Netflix. They can attempt to achieve the dreams they have thought about creating for decades, but had too many responsibilities that deterred them at the time. .

These three initiatives will hugely add to Australia’s productivity and reduce the nation’s health and ageing bills as activity always wards off illness.

Jim, please personally present these three proposals to the Productivity Roundtable on behalf of all talented oldies whose work culture ensures that they never ever think of taking sickies. It will create a wonderful revolution in our nation’s work ethic.

Cheers for Australia and its productive oldies.

Everald

(Proudly displayed below is the Everald Compton Community Champion Medal which is presented every year by National Seniors Australia. It is an award that began last year and acknowledges the tremendous achievements Senior Aussies constantly make to the nation and encourages all oldies to put their best foot forward for Australia. Please applaud their huge potential)

SIGN PETITION TODAY FOR REFERENDUM ON PREAMBLE TO OUR CONSTITUTION THAT OUTLINES WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AUSTRALIAN.

On By Everald ComptonIn Civil Rights, Community and Values, Constitution, Elections, Good Books, Government, History, Justice, Law, Referendum, religion

1 October 2025

https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN8147

With significant help from three eminent Australians, Paul de Jersey, David Muir and Anthony Lynham, I have drafted a Preamble I believe our Founding Fathers should have adopted as the opening statement of the Australian Constitution in 1901.

I have lodged a petition to Parliament requesting that a Referendum be held on the same day as the 2028 Federal Election so that future Parliaments, with positive backing of voters, are required to uphold the values we regard as the ground of our being as Australians.

Here are the words I propose and for which I seek your support in signing the petition.

‘We, the people of Australia,

*Proudly acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as original occupants and custodians of our continent and islands who cared for our land, water, flora, and fauna for many thousands of years.

*Recognise that our nation is enriched by people from many ancestries who have chosen to make Australia their home.

*Affirm our commitment to democratic, representative, and secular government of our sovereign nation founded on rule of law, equality before the law, and government by the people.

*Believe in justice through independent courts and equality of social, economic, and political opportunity for all in a manner that minimises inequality.

*Seek visionary reform of our colonial heritage and reject racism, sexism, class distinction, poverty, all forms of violence, and domination by wealth, ideology, religion.

*Affirm the right of every citizen to a vote of equal value and basic benefits of home, food, education, employment, medical care, and social interaction.

*Uphold family life as a cornerstone asset of society.

*Aspire to a cohesive society that rejects greed and is based on honesty, decency, sharing, and goodwill.

*Acknowledge that our freedom of speech and religion is based on our acceptance of responsibility as citizens.

*Seek peace with all nations and our maintenance of global order in matters relating to peace, trade, health and environment.

*Strive to ensure through our collective efforts that Australia is a role model of an enlightened and just society.

With hope and determination, we commit ourselves to this Constitution.’

I welcome your recommendations for improvements.

In my book, DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS, I describe the huge effort made by Alfred Deakin at the Federation Conventions of the 1890’s to have a Preamble inserted in the Constitution that would set out the values on which our new nation would be founded. Churches opposed any debate on it as they claimed they were were responsible for the morals and values of our nation, a task for which they have significantly failed.

Everald Compton

Please sign petition right now.

https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN8147

BUY YOUR COPY OF ‘MINE IS THE KINGDOM’ TODAY. RIVETTING BOOK ABOUT PARTNERSHIP OF SCOTT MORRISON AND BRIAN HOUSTON.

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

Was browsing through a book shop a few days ago and found this one. It is so fascinating I read it within 48 hours. A real page turner.

Its about the close friendship of our former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and the founder of Hillsong Church, Brian Houston, that hugely embraced religion, politics, power and money, especially government grants and tax concessions.

They had a dream of making Australia a Kingdom of God that would be a beacon for the world to follow and they made a huge effort to bring it to reality. Then both crashed at the same time, bringing their dream to an end.

Their commitment was huge and cannot be doubted. Their strategy was fatally flawed.

Read it and make up your own mind about its validity and the relationship between religion and politics that now dominates our world.

Its author, David Hardaker, is highly regarded investigative journalist who spent 5 years of detailed research in writing it and he reveals all his sources. I did not find any nasty gossip in it and he does not call us to join any crusade against Morrison or Houston.

Enjoy the read and consider its impact on our lives.

Everald.

‘DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS’

On By Everald ComptonIn Constitution, Good Books, Government, History

Enjoy reading my book about how Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin and other giants of Australian History created a nation of six States on New Years Day, 1901, the very first Australia Day.

It was an extraordinary achievement that was attained within 12 years from when Henry Parkes made his powerful Federation Speech at Tenterfield.

Now, the Constitution they wrote is out of date and Australians keep voting NO to any changes to it as they dont trust politicians to do the right thing.

So a movement of the people, not politicians, is coming together to write a totally new Constitution based on the significant challenges of a modern world of huge change that may soon be dominated by artificial intelligence.

Read DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS over Easter, then offer to join a team of non politicians who want to write a CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE and present it to Parliament as a Petition.

You can buy a signed copy for 35 dollars, including postage, from my website,

Everald’s Mission

or from any online bookstore,

THIS HISTORIC LEGISLATION MUST BE PASSED BY PARLIAMENT IN 2024. ‘AUSTRALIA DAY SHALL BE CELEBRATED THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA EVERY YEAR ON NEW YEARS DAY WHICH IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATION OF AUSTRALIA ON I JANUARY 1901’.

On By Everald ComptonIn Constitution, Elections, Government, History, Law, Referendum, Uluru

Please note the date on the photo below of Australia’s First Prime Minister, Edmund Barton. He was sworn in by Queen Victoria’s Representative, Lord Hopetoun, on 1 JANUARY 1901. This is the day Australia was founded. There was no nation of Australia before that date, just 6 independent colonies who did not trust one another and charged each other exorbitant tariffs for intercolonial trade.

THIS FACT OF HISTORY MAKES IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THAT THERE CAN BE NO VALID DISPUTE THAT AUSTRALIA DAY IS 1 JANUARY.

To observe it on any other day is an unjustifiable denial of history.

Why our Parliament in recent decades selected 26 January as Australia Day is a mistake beyond comprehension. To refuse to now change it will be a prime example of neglect of responsibility by parliamentarians with closed minds.

As matters now stand, we are discrediting our nation by honouring 26 January as it is a day in which an illegal invasion occurred, convicts were savagely brutalised and the genocide of aborigines began.

Fair dinkum Aussies simply do not applaud atrocities like that. It is simply not us.

The real tragedy is that there has never been any need for us to have observed 26 January in the first place.

Australia Day has always been I JANUARY.

Lets fix this appalling blunder so we can celebrate with boundless enthusiasm on 1 JANUARY, 2025.

ADVOCATED BY A PROUD AUSTRALIAN.

Everald Compton, who invites you to keep reading the historical notes below.

PS. Some will complain that we will lose a public holiday if we scrap 26 January. However, it will be quite simple to create a new public holiday to be observed in its place in the second half of the year. I sincerely hope it will be called ULURU DAY when we can discover, honour and celebrate 65000 years of extraordinary heritage.

PPS. A prime reason why we should celebrate what occurred on I January is that our nation was created on this day by Australians. 26 January was the work of plundering British colonists.

PPPS. By celebrating on New Year’s Day, we can give long overdue honour to EDMUND BARTON. He chaired the convention of delegates from 6 States that agreed upon our Constitution.

Those delegates presented him with 368 amendments to the draft Constitution that had been sent to them and which they wanted to be debated. In an absolutely masterly display of superb chairmanship over many days, Barton made sure that all 368 were debated and voted upon so the Convention was able to conclude with an approved Constitution that could be presented to the people of Australia to vote on at referendums.

Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin and others then travelled throughout Australia by horse, buggy, train and boat to sell and win the YES vote as there were no phones, planes, radio, television, or computers.

Then Barton led a delegation to London to sell Federation to Queen Victoria who had publicly opposed it as she wanted the Australian States to elect members to represent them in the House of Commons in London so we could become Counties of England. Barton respectfully declined to accept her proposal and said to her with courtesy.

‘Your Majesty, we have a choice. We can create the Nation of Australia in one of two ways. There is the way that the Australian people have just chosen or the way that George Washington and the Americans achieved their independence.’

Australia was born on New Years Day of the following year.

I cheer Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin with huge respect. They were giants who inspired a team of courageous leaders to create our nation. In Election 2025, may we elect many nation building giants like them who have their skill, wisdom, commitment, determination, honesty and decency.

Salut.

VOTERS ARE BETTER ABLE TO PREPARE NEW CONSTITUTION FOR AUSTRALIA THAN POLITICIANS. IT MUST TOTALLY REPLACE THE OUTDATED 1901 CONSTITUTION.

On By Everald ComptonIn Constitution, Elections, Government, History, Referendum

The Constitution of Australia, having been approved in 1901 after successful Referendums in all 6 States, has now passed its use by date.

The massive distrust that voters have in the political establishment will not ever enable it to be changed piece by piece in referendums spread over many decades. We can only achieve the creation of a MODERN AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY via a totally new document that is eventually approved in one major action as happened in 1901 after a decade of public consultation.

Significantly, it will be achieved only if it is drafted entirely by the voters of Australia themselves, not politicians.

It will gain its initial acceptance from countless Town Hall Meetings that can held across Australia over a period of 5 years where voters are able to recommend improvements so that we all have a genuine sense of ownership of our new Constitution before we vote in a Referendum to approve it.

What should the New Constitution contain as its major elements, noting that it will a totally new document? It must not in any way be an upgrade of the old document.

My initial thoughts on the main features of it are here for you to debate and improve –

*We continue to be the Commonwealth of Australia.

*Royals are left out. Utterly and totally.

*The People of Australia are empowered to elect a one term Governor General as a totally independent Head of State in a nationwide ballot every 5 years. No past or present Members of Parliament or the Bureaucracy or the Armed Services can be eligible to hold this Office.

*The Governor General will be permanent Chair of a National Corruption Commission comprising 5 former Justices whom he or she will personally select and whose terms will end when the Governor General’s term ends. The Commission will appoint prosecutors to take its findings to Courts.

* There will be only One House of Parliament. It will simply be called the Parliament and it will have 200 elected Members. 100 will be elected as Members representing an Electoral District. 100 will be elected by percentage of the national vote gained by their political parties or by groups of Independents.

*Parliament will be elected for a fixed 4 year term with the Election date being stated in the Constitution. No Member can be elected for more than 5 terms. The legal status of political parties will be clearly stated in the Constitution with their election of candidates being conducted solely by the Electoral Commission.

*The elections every 4 years will be publicly funded. Receipt of political donations from any source will be an offence punishable by law.

*All candidates for election to Parliament must obtain an Accreditation Certificate before nominating to participate in an election. This will require them to complete one year of prescribed part time study of the Constitution, Parliament, Public Service, High Court and Australian History,

*A totally independent High Court of 7 persons will be established with all Justices appointed for one 10 year term by a majority vote of Parliament.

*There be not more than 25 Ministries, each supported by a Department staffed by independent Public Servants to implement legislation passed by Parliament. All Heads of Departments must have served as Public Servants for a minimum of 10 years. Each Minister will, by approval of a vote of Parliament, appoint an Assistant Minister as their primary adviser. Assistant Ministers will not be Members of Parliament or the Public Service. They will be people with proven professional skills and qualifications from the private sector.

*All 6 existing State Governments will cease to exist. They will be replaced by 50 new State Governments who will implement and manage community services on behalf of, but independent of, the National Government, and with greater scope than State Governments now have to implement local initiatives. Their prime aim will be to decentralise the nation and move population away from current capital cities.

*Each of the 50 State Governments will appoint an Administrator by a majority vote of their Parliament. The Governor General will formally approve the choice subject to the vote having been carried out in the correct manner.

*There will be no Local Governments as there is no need for Australia to have three levels of government. Their current work will be carried out by the 50 new State Governments.

There is much more that I could add, but this is a sufficient to start a popular debate.

No attempt should be made to ask Parliament to initiative this genuine community movement. It will be implemented by volunteers from all over Australia with no political parties or their financial members being involved. Initially, it will best be led by 10 eminent citizens who volunteer their services. Their costs can be covered by voluntary public donations so as to be independent of Parliament.

Parliament will be invited to act on the proposed new Constitution only when a major consensus has been achieved among voters for the Constitution and they are ready to own it and vote on it in a referendum..

Australia is a democracy.

We must put genuine democracy to work for the first time in the history of Australia.

EVERALD COMPTON AO

Everald’s Mission

CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF AUSTRALIA.

On By Everald ComptonIn Constitution, Good Books, Government, History

You can do this by reading my book.

DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS

Discover why there were no FOUNDING MOTHERS, why ABORIGINES were ignored and why NEW ZEALAND walked out of FEDERATION negotiations.

Enjoy my depiction of the main characters, Henry Parkes, Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin, Samuel Griffith, George Reid, John Forrest, Charles Kingston and others.

Then decide whether or not Australia needs a new Constitution 122 years later.

I invite you to buy a signed copy on my website

Everald’s Mission

Cost is only 35 dollars including postage.

While you are in buying mode, feel free to also buy any or all of my other 3 books,

THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR NOTES – Flynn of the Inland.

CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN – history of my era.

A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET – inspirational life of man with terminal illness.

If you buy all 4, you pay only 100 dollars, including postage.

Let me know if you would like to buy them for a friend.

I will post them direct at no extra charge.

Cheers,

Everald

PS. In the photo below you will see also a great book on the life of the greatest of the Founding Fathers, Alfred Deakin. Written by a great historian Judith Brett, it is a wonderful read.

I INVITE YOU TO SIGN THIS PETITION TO PARLIAMENT ASKING THAT THEY RESEARCH THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL BENEFITS OF UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME.

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Funding and Finance, Government

You and I have the democratic right to place a Petition before Parliament asking them to consider and act upon any matter of public interest that concerns us.

All that is required is that we go to the website of the Australian Parliament, click on PETITIONS, and follow the guidelines on how to submit a request in not more than 250 words.

Our document goes to the Petitions Committee of Parliament for consideration. If they agree that it is a suitable petition, they invite us to submit evidence of community support for our request. This means that we invite supporters to log on to the Parliament website and follow the prompts to register as a supporter.

The Petitions Committee will then study our supporter base and, if they believe it is sufficient, they forward our Petition to the relevant Minister whose portfolio of responsibilities cover the domain of our request.

We are then free to contact the Minister to advocate our cause before, as required by law, he or she replies to us.

Because of this democratic privilege we have here in Australia, I decided to submit a Petition asking Parliament to set up a Committee to investigate the establishment of UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME in Australia.

As I want to achieve the best possible result, I invited my friend, Dr Karen Stenner, an eminent political scientist, to draft the petition and submit it to Parliament. She has done this splendidly and successfully as the Petitions Committee has now asked us submit evidence of community support.

So we need your help right now and invite you to click on the link below to register your support.

Please do it TODAY as our deadline set by the Committee is 31 August.

Ignore the survey on the website. Just click ‘Continue’.

I will not bore you here with a detailed description of the huge benefits of Universal Basic Income. Just type it into Google and you will find many descriptions of where and how it has been trialed around the world.

I will just give you these few dot points as an indication of key elements of its value.

*Replaces all welfare, and there is no Centrelink, as all over 18 are eligible to receive UBI.

*Removes the stigma of welfare.

*Financed by the removal of a huge bureaucracy & the imposition of a levy on all of the many tax evaders in Australia.

*Gives people the financial backing to survive while they start up a small business or undergo skills training to change occupations.

*Unlike the age pension, it enables everyone to earn as much as they want to without penalty other than normal income tax.

*Significantly increases participation in the work force.

*Reduces mental stress from daily life.

Just be reminded that we are not asking Parliament to implement Universal Basic Income. We are just inviting them to investigate it. Hopefully, we live in a world of open minds where we constantly seek to find better ways of doing everything.

Here is the link for you to use to sign up as a supporter of UBI. You will note that the Petition has been submitted by Dr Karen Stenner.

Please do it TODAY and also send it on to your friends inviting them to do likewise.

http://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN5308

You are helping to create a better Australia.

Many thanks.

Everald

I AM CHATTING WITH REBECCA ON ABC EVERY FRIDAY MORNING AT 10.

On By Everald ComptonIn Government, History

Rebecca Levingston is a good friend. She hosts the morning program on 612 ABC Brisbane from 8.30 until 11 Monday to Friday and from time to time I have enjoyed being her guest.

At 10 on Fridays, she devotes 30 minutes to reviewing the major news events of the week and has invited me to be her guest commentator on the program every week commencing on Friday of this week, 21 July.

So I am delighted to accept Rebecca’s invitation and look forward to many weeks of chatting about the key issues that challenge us all.

Comments will be politically independent and socially responsible with no headline grabbing nonsense. Our aim is to offer commonsense advice on the issues of the day that you can debate at home.

So, listen in and enjoy every Friday at 10.

Shalom

Everald (and Rebecca. She is the fine person you can see below.)

MY COUNTRY IS BEING TORN APART

On By Everald ComptonIn Constitution, Government, History, Referendum

Six years ago, eminent leaders of Indigenous Australians met at Uluru to draft and agree upon a Statement from the Heart. This led them to make a courteous request for a Referendum to be held to approve the establishment of a Voice that would enable them to make proposals to Parliament without having any legislative power.

Some delegates walked out in protest as they wanted to negotiate a Treaty similar in spirit to the one New Zealand Maoris signed at Waitangi 180 years ago. However, the support for Voice was substantial and the debate on Voice versus Treaty is evidence of democracy at work.

The expectation at Uluru that day was one of hope that participation in a vote for Voice would unite our country in a way that Australians have not experienced in the 235 years since the British invasion of the continent.

Prime Ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison rejected Voice, but Anthony Albanese committed to it in his 2022 election campaign and has honoured that mandate as Prime Minister. Referendum legislation has now passed the Parliament and we all have the right to vote on it in October this year.

However, the YES and No campaigns are now locked in a bitter and nasty battle that is tearing Australia apart in a way that was never intended by the initial advocates of Voice. Both sides must share the blame for this.

YES is ultra sensitive to questions of how Voice will work, insisting that all will be revealed after the Referendum. Their responses are too often unnecessarily abusive declaring any questioner to be either racist or stupid or both. Quite extraordinarily, they are oblivious to the obvious fact that if people vote No because they don’t get the information they request, there wont be any Voice legislation to reveal to us as the Referendum will have been lost.

NO gives the clear impression that their opposition to Voice is based solely on the fact that, because of their small numbers in Parliament, they see this Referendum as the only opportunity they have to enjoy a political victory over Anthony Albanese before Election 2025 and they will not waste the opportunity. Their campaign is based on the crude political art of spreading false information that sounds like truth, causing many people who intend to vote NO for legitimate reasons to publicly disassociate themselves with Dutton, Littleproud, Hansen, Price and Mundine, meaning that there will be little political gain for them.

The sad fact is that both sides are hugely fostering deep divisions that are destroying the social fabric of Australia.

I have stated publicly on many occasions that I am a YES voter and a Yes advocate as is proven by the speeches I have made over the past year to older Australians of my era and I can tell you that I have not yet been in a room where Yes voters have been in the majority.

In question time after my speeches, or during the coffee break when people can speak in confidence, I find that these are the most persistent questions for which answers are sought and I don’t have sufficient information to answer their concerns.

*How many members will be elected to Voice?

*What will be the annual cost to the Budget for the operation of Voice?

*As there are twice as many Indigenous Members of Parliament as Indigenous people should be entitled to have as a percentage of the population, why can’t those Parliamentarians be asked to do the work of Voice as a specially appointed committee within the Parliament where they can wield influence?

*Will Voice be able to significantly help solve the social and financial and justice issues that have beset Indigenous Australians for a long time and can Voice create genuine value for the expenditure of billions of dollars this is spent by governments in continually failing to solve these problems?

*How can we trust politicians not to give Voice greater powers after the referendum when we know that the disgrace and deceit of Robodebt is a vivid reminder of the long list of the ways in which politics has consistently failed us in years past?

*Can we be guaranteed that Voice is the only constitutional change that Indigenous Australians will request? Will there be more after this one?

I could list other legitimate questions that are regularly asked by decent people, but these are the prime ones.

But I also reveal with sadness that when I seek answers to those questions so I can use them at meetings I address, the YES campaign hits me with criticism for committing the mortal sin of asking, even though we live and vote in a democracy which entitles us to ask.

Right now, Voice is on a pathway to defeat.

This will be an horrendous tragedy as enormous social divisions will be created. It will ensure that Australia becomes a pariah nation on the world scene while racial hatred steadily consumes our country.

It can be avoided if both the YES and No campaigns make long overdue decisions to act responsibly so people can vote in confidence without fear of the future.

I will continue to advocate for YES to Older Australians who currently hold many negatives in their minds about Voice despite having one hand tied behind my back by leaders who refuse to answer questions.

No matter what happens, I will always believe that the magnificent mountain we proudly call Uluru is the spiritual heart of our nation and I will never ignore its cry for justice and peace to be embedded in our souls.

Everald Compton AO

July 2023

OUT WITH CENTRELINK. IN WITH UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME.

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Government, Justice

Most governments around the world have welfare programs that attempt to provide for the basic needs of its citizens who are old, ill, poor, unemployed, disabled etc.

Those programs are far from ideal and are as narrowly targeted as is possible. A huge amount of paperwork is needed to apply for welfare and if you qualify you are constantly required to prove that you remain eligible.

If you are fortunate enough to qualify for it, usually after a long waiting period, you find that it places you on or below the poverty line and this means you live under constant financial and emotional pressure.

There is also a stigma attached to anyone who applies for welfare. You are regarded as a lesser being when you receive it. Indeed, many in your community will regard you as lazy, an undeserving burden for your fellow citizens to carry.

In addition, taxpayers pay excessively for their government to employ many thousands of public servants to manage a huge bureaucratic welfare system. In Australia, we call it Centrelink and it can justly be proclaimed as the most hated, inefficient and ineffective institution in the nation.

Far too many nations, especially Australia, have far too often had governments whose ideology has led them to want to punish welfare recipients, regarding them as sinners in need of repentance. The criminal application of ROBODEBT in Australia is a prime example of welfare persecution that caused people to suicide.

There just has to be a better way to create a just and decent society.

Indeed there is and it is called UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME (UBI), an enlightened alternative that a few nations have experimented with regionally and the results show noteworthy promise. The Province of Manitoba in Canada is a good example.

The basic plan is this.

*Every registered voter, who actually votes so as to prove their identity, will receive an unconditional monthly payment from government without applying for it. It should be at least the size of the current age pension and you will receive it until the day you die.

*If you also earn wages for work, or income from enterprise or investment, the UBI you receive will be counted as taxable income but you are not punished for working as currently happens with the age pension in Australia.

*If you choose not to receive UBI, you instruct government to pay it into a sovereign fund that is established for this purpose and is used for nation building projects.

*The cost to government of providing funds to pay for UBI is partially offset by the savings generated from closing Centrelink. The remainder is covered by ensuring that all tax evaders pay a minimum tax on revenue no matter how much they claim as losses.

*A prime benefit of UBI in social terms is that there is no such person as a welfare recipient. All stigma is removed as no one can tell what your personal position actually is.

*The existence of UBI means that there is never any need for governments to make relief payments to people when crises occur such as floods fires droughts etc. Everyone is receiving their UBI payment every month no matter what tragedies hit them.

*Mental health improves dramatically and its economic cost is reduced as UBI removes financial tension from millions of lives.

*More people will become self employed as they start small businesses knowing that if they fail they have their UBI to sustain the basics of life while they have another try.

As always, with every social initiative, special attention will need to be given to people who are in very special situations where they usually fall through the cracks.

The first step in introducing UBI into Australia will be for the Prime Minister to establish a Committee of Parliament to study it in depth and determine whether or not it can be designed to work effectively in Australia. If it reports positively, then legislation can be introduced to implement it.

If you agree in principle with UBI, please send this article to your local Federal MP asking him or her to advocate the establishment of a Committee of Parliament right now. It will take a courageous government to implement UBI but I think that our current Prime Minister and Treasurer may be the leaders to pioneer it.

UBI is not an idea that I have thought up. Far from it. I have simply been following its slow but purposeful introduction overseas, especially in Scandinavia and Canada.

The prime advocate here in Australia is a long standing friend of mine, Dr Karen Stenner, who is a highly experienced political scientist of excellent international repute. I am an enthusiastic volunteer on her team who, in my twilight years, wants to be part of the huge social and financial revolution that UBI will create.

You can follow Karen on Twitter @karen_stenner.

Join us in a journey to a safer and better future for all Australians.

Everald

26 JANUARY IS NOT AUSTRALIA DAY.

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Constitution, Good Books, Government, Referendum, Uluru

I have already celebrated Australia Day 2023.

On 1 January this year, as I do every year, I poured a wee dram of my finest scotch whisky (Lagavulin from Isle of Islay) and quietly proposed a proud toast to Australia and the Founding Fathers who brought our nation into being on I January, 1901.

I do this in acknowledgement of the undeniable fact that until the first day of 1901 there was no nation of Australia. That’s the day that 6 independent colonies came together to create our nation. It is the only day on which we can celebrate Australia Day. All other possible days that are suggested from time to time are cosmetic attempts to pretend to celebrate our nationhood.

26 January is quite clearly the wrong day for several valid reasons.

It is the day when the British created a jail for several shiploads of their convicts, plus the many shiploads that followed. They treated all of them brutally. I am descended from a convict (and proud of it). Why should I celebrate anything to do with the British inflicting agony upon him?

May I also ask why I should celebrate a day in which the British invaded a continent and began to steal it from its indigenous owners who had been here for 65000 years?

This totally unjustifiable invasion led to a war of occupation that lasted 100 years during which 30000 aborigines were shot defending the land that was theirs and another 100,000 died from diseases of civilisation brought by the invaders.

Do we really want to celebrate theft, murder and brutality? Fact is we have done so by accident. We simply started celebrating 26 January without giving any real thought as to what the day actually represents.

I cannot understand why we have any need to celebrate on 26 January when we all know that the rightful and only day to celebrate Australia Day is 1 January. It is a fact of history we have chosen to deny.

People who love public holidays say to me that if we celebrate on 1 January it will deprive them of the public holiday we are used to having on 26 January. They oppose any change because of that gross deprivation alone. Aborigines and convicts and the nation building of the Founding Fathers pale into insignificance for them compared with the loss of a public holiday.

However, we should all note that it will be no problem at all for our federal government to declare a replacement public holiday later in the year, hopefully to celebrate ENVIRONMENT DAY when we can plant trees and commit ourselves to stop polluting Australia.

Celebrating Australia Day correctly on New Years Day will also highlight positively our need to sadly note that our Founding Fathers did not acknowledge our Indigenous Heritage in our Constitution. Actually, they had no option as our State Governments insisted on retaining control of Aborigines and threatened to call off the Federation Movement had Aborigines been mentioned. Indeed, New Zealand withdrew from the proposed Federation because they wanted the status of Maoris recorded in the Constitution and their request was bluntly rejected by all 6 States.

However, we can do something positive towards correcting this huge error later this year by voting YES in the Voice Referendum.

May I say in closing that the dumbest thing about 26 January is that it occurs just at the time when our schools begin their year. We give students another holiday when they have just completed 6 weeks of holidays. Unbelievable really.

My regular readers will note that I hammer away about the disaster of 26 January every year. May I say that I will continue to do so until I take my last breath.

It is simply wrong (and stupid).

Which reminds me of another fact. 26 January is only New South Wales Day. The other five States were founded on different dates and treasure their first settlement just as proudly as NSW.

Your fair dinkum Aussie Mate

Everald

PS. You will note that I have featured below a great book by a fine Australian author Thomas Keneally. It is called A BLOODY GOOD RANT. This is a splendid description of my words above. It is also a great read that stimulates the mind. You will come across a number of chapters in which he makes very thought provoking comments about our image of Australia and our unintentional denial of our history.

BILL TO ESTABLISH VOICE PRIOR TO REFERENDUM

On By Everald ComptonIn Constitution, Government, History, Referendum

As a committed YES voter and positive campaigner in the Referendum on VOICE, I request that a Bill containing this wording be passed by the Parliament of Australia immediately so that it will become law automatically when the Referendum is passed and cannot be altered without another referendum being held.

‘An ABORIGINAL and TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER VOICE will be established by adding these words to the Constitution of Australia.

Voice will have 35 Members who are Indigenous Citizens elected by Indigenous Voters for a five year term.

Each State shall elect 5 members, Northern Territory 4 and Australian Capital Territory 1.

Their election will be arranged and implemented by the Australian Electoral Commission.

The Rules and Procedures for the work of VOICE will be determined by Act of Parliament as will its annual operating Budget.

Voice will meet 4 times annually for one week on each occasion.

Its Members will debate and submit policies applicable to the livelihood of Indigenous Australians, especially a preamble to the Constitution and the wording of a Treaty that sets out their sovereign rights.

The policies will be transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives who will make appropriate arrangements for both Houses of Parliament to consider them.

Parliament will be under no obligation to accept them but the Speaker will convey a response to VOICE within reasonable time on each occasion.

This legislation automatically becomes law on the passing of the Referendum.’

EVERALD COMPTON AO

2023: THE YEAR OF LIVING CURIOUSLY.

On By Everald ComptonIn Good Books, Government, History, religion

I have given up on making new year resolutions. Most of them are dreams.

In 2023, I will concentrate on ATTITUDE CHANGE.

Am intending to take a searching look at my usual habits and gradually improve them, making radical changes if necessary.

I will commence by being curious about every challenge that faces me.

Before charging in to fix it, I will get CURIOUS and ask ‘why did this happen, can it be fixed by simple commonsense, is there a new way to fix it that has not been tried before, can it be done without generating anger and distrust while fostering goodwill and community spirit?’

I intend to base it on the thoughts expressed in a highly popular television series many decades ago by Professor Julius Sumner Miller. He called it WHY IS IT SO? His philosophy was to face every challenge by asking HOW DID THIS HAPPEN and WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO SOLVE THIS. Do nothing without first becoming CURIOUS.

So it will be that with family, business, politics and religion I will get ultra CURIOUS in 2023.

But I will not just get live on curiosity. This will be useless unless I then act decisively to act, create and resolve. Results must be achieved otherwise I am wasting my life and doing nothing to lift the lives of others.

I need a base from which to start.

My 91 years of experience of life will help but I need to be across what is happening right now that can help me in becoming adequately curious.

You will note from the image below that I am reading a selection of essays on what we can learn from 2022 to prepare us for 2023. They are written by top quality academics from the Universities of Australia who write splendid articles for publication daily in a news service called CONVERSATIONS that you can discover on Google. Their writing will help us to get CURIOUS about how we can do much better in 2023. I recommend that you buy and enjoy the book. Its a good read.

I am also basing my venture into the realm of the curious on the inspiration given to us by extraordinary leaders whose lives, in life or death, impacted us in 2022.

My hero of the year is President Zelensky of Ukraine. A great leader of huge courage and ability.

Also Elizabeth11 – grace, dignity, calm, wisdom, longevity.

Mikhail Gorbachev – with huge courage he destroyed communism and paid a great personal price for doing so.

Sidney Poitier – magnificent talent as an actor who tried valiantly to close the racial divide.

Roger Federer – as graceful and talented a tennis player as ever graced a court and an inspirational person of huge generosity. In old fashioned terms, an absolute gentleman.

However, nothing will be possible without a core set of values on which I base my life and this means that any success I can achieve will be founded on my performance as a committed working partner of Jesus of Nazareth in constantly trying to have a creative role in achieving a better world.

So, a great year lies ahead in 2023.

It will be as good as we make it personally. It will be utterly pointless blaming politicians and everyone else for our problems. Our fate is entirely in our own hands.

But let us not forget that our first and correct and most positive challenge is to get CURIOUS.

Enjoy a happy, prosperous, satisfying year of achievement that you share with family and friends in creating a better society than we now have.

Shalom,

Everald

And don’t forget to get fired up for 2023 by reading my 3 books.

THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR NOTES

DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS

A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET.

And watch out for the publication of my new one that will hit the bookshops at Easter

CATCHING THE LINVILLE TRAIN – for a journey through history.

Go to my books website

https://EveraldBooks.com

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NO POLITICAL PARTY IN AUSTRALIA REPRESENTS TRADITIONAL CONSERVATIVES.

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

I grew up in a conservative family during The Great Depression of the 1930’s.

My mother was the granddaughter of a Lutheran Missionary and the daughter of a devout Presbyterian Elder.

My Dad was a hard working and very reliable labourer who was a faithful member of the right wing Australian Workers Union and a devoted follower of Edward Theodore, the most financially conservative Treasurer the Labor Party has ever produced.

With the benefit of their example, I grew up with a set of values that have been a cornerstone of my life and remain with me to this day.

Those values are not based on any ideology or theology.

They are basic and clear.

Let me list a few of them.

*Work hard and always do more than you are paid for.

*Save hard and be ready for tough times.

*Give away all you can. It puts power into your life.

*Learn skills and use them to find better ways to do your work.

*Never look backwards.

*When you are down, get up and start again.

*Dream visionary dreams and reach for the stars, always taking careful steps forward.

*Never leave your mates behind. Always pick them up when they are down.

*Be a committed working partner of Jesus of Nazareth and walk with him to create a better world.

*Treat everyone the same, no matter what their race or religion or social status may be.

*Foster the politics of commonsense.

*Apologise when you are wrong.

*Never end a day with harsh words.

*In all your dealings, make sure both sides win.

So, I look at the world of today, which is far different to my world of 9 decades ago, and ask if most people still live by these values. I find that the answer is NO. I reckon this is so because few leaders – political, financial or religious – are committed to those values.

Certainly, no political parties spell them out as their basic policies.

So called Conservative Parties are guilty of persistently promoting greed and power and privilege. They have no fundamental core of values and are mostly controlled by those who call themselves the Christian Right but are not Christian. They are more like bigots.

Parties that can be identified as being in the socialist realm go to extremes in trying to change the world by replacing traditional values with short term trends towards progress and rewriting history without putting anything solid in its place.

The only home where traditional conservatives like me can find a meaningful place is in the political centre where the ideology of commonsense prevails. From there, we will always be able to look at every issue and ask,

What is the commonsense way to fix this?

And to hell with the stupidity of both capitalism and socialism.

At this moment, Independents are the only politicians who are trying to occupy the centre ground and move forward with commonsense. The others are hide bound by the rules and ancient dogmas of their Parties and the primitive beliefs that they cling to.

My valued friend, Tony Windsor, was a fine example of how a quality Independent works. Still is.

History records that he, as an Independent, held the casting vote in the New South Wales Parliament during the term of a Liberal minority government led by Nick Greiner, and in the Federal Parliament when Julia Gillard’s Labor Government survived in the minority.

If you ask both Gillard and Greiner, they will affirm that, with every piece of legislation they put forward, Tony Windsor would put it through the COMMONSENSE TEST. If it did not stack up, he would refuse to vote for it and they would have to go back to the drawing boards.

Read his book, WINDSOR’S WAY and be inspired by the story. It is a great read. I know because I wrote the Foreword.

So, I invite you to join me as a TRADITIONAL CONSERVATIVE who is an enthusiastic REFORMER. Indeed, it is not possible to be a genuine conservative without being a progressive reformer. If you don’t want to be a reformer, it means that you may be a fascist.

We will be grounded in our values and use them as our cornerstone on which we will significantly reform and enhance the world by using by using the most powerful weapon on the planet. COMMONSENSE.

Cheers

Everald

Descendant of a convict sent out to Australia from England in 1831 for stealing a bed.

He used COMMONSENSE to eventually earn a pardon.

Then he worked hard and saved hard as a solid, middle of the road Conservative. When he died, he owned 5 workers cottages in Maitland obtained by investing with COMMONSENSE.

VOICE

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Constitution, Elections, Government, History, Law, Referendum, Uluru

Sometime during the second half of 2023, we will be given the opportunity to vote YES or NO in what will be known as the VOICE REFERENDUM that arises from the ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART.

As announced by the Prime Minister earlier this year, a YES vote in the Referendum will create an amendment to the Australian Constitution that will enable Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders to participate in a democratic election to establish a VOICE which will meet regularly to recommend policies to the Australian Parliament which will have the total authority to accept or reject them.

After the Referendum, Parliament will debate and enact a Bill that creates the rules that will apply to the way in which the VOICE is elected and operates.

In reality it is quite simply a positive step forward in integrating 65000 years of heritage into our Constitution and our life as a nation.

I will vote YES and actively campaign for a Yes vote.

In doing this, I am well aware that a significant number of my friends intend to vote NO and have carefully considered reasons for doing so. I respect their right to vote according to their conscience.

Here are some of their reasons for voting NO.

*Australia is a nation that already has a voice – our Federal Parliament – to which we have elected a significant number of indigenous parliamentarians.

*The Voice will create apartheid.

*Australia provides billions of dollars to Indigenous people every year and this has been wasted. No matter what is done for them, they are ungrateful and will always want more.

*The establishment of a Voice will not solve the problems that are ingrained in indigenous society such as crime, unemployment, alcohol, drugs, health, housing, domestic violence, poor education and lack of skills.

*It is only city aborigines who want a Voice. Country aborigines have no interest in it.

*A Treaty, based on the Waitangi Treaty of New Zealand, would achieve more.

In response to these concerns and beliefs, I tell my friends the reasons why I will vote YES.

*Indigenous people were excluded from the Australian Constitution in 1901. This was an insult and a mistake which must be rectified now.

*When Britain, in 1788, invaded the continent we now call Australia, they stole land which had been occupied by indigenous people for 65000 years. The welfare that is now given to them is a tiny fraction of the value of their land that they have never ceded.

*100 tribes of Indigenous people have never been able to speak to the Australian Parliament with one democratically elected Voice. Previous institutions have been comprised of political appointees who did the will of the governments that appointed them.

*White people have always decided what is best for aborigines, never the reverse.

*Defeating the referendum will achieve nothing. This issue will never go away. We will just irresponsibly kick the can down the road so our children and grandchildren will eventually have to do what we failed to do.

*It is quite simply the right and decent thing to do.

I am certain there are other important reasons why people will vote YES or NO and these will emerge during the referendum campaign. However, the ones I have outlined give an indication of the general scope of the forthcoming debate.

The Albanese Government will not provide funding for either the YES or NO campaigns. Both sides are required to set up there own organising teams and raise their own funds. This is a good thing as it would be wrong for the government to be seen to be promoting YES even though it is a clear policy of the Labor Party. So, it must promote neither.

I have joined, as a volunteer, a significant group called FROM THE HEART and my role is to help organise a strong YES vote from the Senior Australians. My plan is to enlist as many older Aussies as possible to visit everyone in the streets around their own home to chat about the absolute common sense of having a VOICE. We won’t waste money on advertising. Face to face talking is the powerful way to sell this historic strengthening of our national life.

My gut feeling is that there is a significant task ahead.

Right now, my private polling of public opinion tells me that Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania are likely to vote NO and this will create a national defeat of VOICE as our Constitution says that a referendum cannot pass unless a majority of States vote YES.

I also suspect that Senior Australians will vote NO by a margin of 60/40 because of ingrained negativity about all indigenous issues generated over many decades, but I think that a positive campaign could make it 50/50. Young voters will then take it over the victory line.

Overall, I reckon that with sincere and courteous campaigning the cause for YES can achieve a positive victory and I intend do my best to make it happen. My experience is that most older Australians are responsible people who will try to do the right thing for the good of Australia once they understand the issues at stake.

Creating a VOICE is clearly a nation building exercise that will benefit us all.

Nevertheless, I have an open mind to debate any better alternatives that sincere advocates put forward as this issue will never go away. Defeating it will achieve nil.

Grace and Peace in the spirit of ULURU. It is a symbol of unity.

Everald

‘I ACKNOWLEDGE THE PRESENCE IN THE HOUSE OF EVERALD COMPTON AO’.

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Constitution, Elections, Good Books, Government, History, Referendum

These friendly words of welcome were made last Wednesday by Hon. Milton Dick MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament.

I was visiting Parliament, negotiating on behalf of community projects in which I am personally involved, for the 121st time since my first visit there 66 years ago, covering an era in which 14 Prime Ministers have held office.

Milton had invited me to be his guest in the front row of the Speakers Gallery at Question Time, so I relaxed there as I took in the spectacle of Parliamentarians tearing one another apart – verbally – as usual.

During the proceedings, he announced my presence and the Members greeted me with warm applause. I was not expecting this, so I instantly decided that I better stand up and nod my thanks. This caused a bit more applause. I was quite moved by the honour, especially as the response came from all Parties in the Parliament, something that does not often happen in a Parliament that is constantly becoming more divided.

That same evening, Milton invited me to share an upmarket whisky with him and other MP’s in the Speakers Office as we chatted about political people and events over my six and a half decades as a visitor to Parliament. As we enjoyed our drinks, he asked me to express an opinion as to who were the best and worst Prime Ministers in my era. I responded that I have no doubt that Julia Gillard was the best and Scott Morrison the worst.

The visit to Parliament in this past week enabled me to have private meetings with 29 politicians and bureaucrats. I made sure that I covered Labor, Liberals, Nationals, Greens. Independents. This is a practice I have followed over all the years as I learned long ago that, to achieve anything significant at Parliament, it is vital to get as many people and parties onside as is possible.

On this occasion, at the conclusion of my three days there, I can say with confidence that I am pleased with the progress made with my projects, but am always aware that I should have done better,

I must mention that I found this Parliament, led by Anthony Albanese, to be a much more progressive place on sound government than those run by Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison. They were consumed by the exercise of power whereas this one shows clear evidence of genuinely trying to achieve results in an ever changing and challenging world of huge social, economic and religious divisions. A totally different attitude prevails at this moment and I found it to be refreshing. My hope is that it will continue to be so.

Right now, the major political battlegrounds are in the fields of industrial relations, anti-corruption, robodebt, voluntary assisted dying, child care, climate, environment, voice referendum, aged care and skills shortage, with many other initiatives in the pipeline. It will be good for Australia if most are successful

A few matters are obvious headline gatherers that are worthy of special comment right now.

*The Voice Referendum is currently in trouble. I found only a few MP’s who are confident that it will pass as most of them feel that Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania will vote No. The Australian Constitution clearly states that a majority of States must vote Yes for any Referendum to pass on the issue of constitutional change. I will vote Yes and will campaign strongly to secure an overall Yes vote as it is fundamentally wrong for Australia to have a Constitution that does recognise 65000 years of indigenous heritage. However, it will require a a well planned and very positive campaign to secure a Voice to that heritage.

*Along with the political demise of Scott Morrison, the power of the Christian Right has faded considerably in the current Parliament. I doubt that it will ever regain its influence as most Christians are in the centre ground of politics, not out on the extremes of the right.

*Many veteran Nationals and Liberals in Parliament intend to retire at the 2025 Election. They are resigned to the inevitability that Anthony Albanese will enjoy two terms as Prime Minister and Jim Chalmers will follow him for at least another 2 terms. They do not want to be in the political wilderness for so many long years. I can understand their feelings on this matter but the key issue is this. Can they find replacements who are Prime Minister material? This task is of great importance as they do not have anyone in their ranks at this moment who is electable as Leader of our nation. As matters stand at present, they are obviously very weak as the official Opposition. This is shown by their consistently poor performances at Question Time. Too many of their questions are embarrassingly ridiculous.

*The TEALS and other Independents are not political amateurs. They are preforming with positive credibility and getting results. One example of this is the humble but powerful performance of David Pocock in gaining amendments to Industrial Relations legislation.

So there it is for now.

Many things can change in a hurry in politics, so nothing is certain. But, for now, the new Labor government is doing better than most people expected.

I will be back there in Canberra in February. It may be a different world by then. Who knows.

But let me close by saying that I will never ever forget my first meeting with Sir Robert Menzies way back in 1956. He had a commanding presence and looked and acted like a Prime Minister of huge distinction. The key issue to remember is that he clearly occupied the centre ground of politics. It was obvious that he was a genuine Liberal. He was not a Conservative. The future of Australian politics will always be in the Centre. The LNP must get back there in a hurry or remain in the lonely wilderness for decades.

Yours with an open mind.

Everald

My book DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS is enjoying increasing sales. Many Australians are realising that to vote in the voice referendum, they must have some knowledge of what our Founding Fathers put into the Constitution. My book is written as a thriller in which Barton, Deakin, Griffith, Kingston, Forrest etc are the very credible heroes.

Go to my books website, EveraldBooks.com, to place an order for it (and my other books).

THE MURDER OF CASSIUS TURVEY

On By Everald ComptonIn Community and Values, Constitution, Government, History, Referendum, religion

Three weeks ago, a young Indigenous Aussie, just 15 years old, was peacefully walking home with his friends from the school they attended at Middle Swan in Western Australia.

His name was CASSIUS TURVEY.

They were attacked by a 21 year old man who hit him, and some of his friends, with an iron pole. He died two weeks later and his attacker has been charged with murder.

When he was laid to rest this week in the ancient and splendidly spiritual traditions of his ancestors, there was a genuine outpouring of grief across Australia as people of many cultures and religions met to light candles of remembrance. These gatherings were not organised as a part of any campaign against racists. They just happened. Indeed, the family of Cassius asked that his death not be used in any way as part of a political campaign.

Certainly, most of us do not want a nationwide crusade similar to that which happened when George Floyd was murdered by 4 police in USA. That incident was not a show of grief. It was as close to anarchy as it was possible to get. Simply, it was naked political unrest fostered by extremists who capitalised on the sincere feelings of many peace loving Americans who were appalled at Floyd’s death.

The death of Cassius is a stark reminder to all of us that we live in a violent society that is growing in its incidence of brutality for no valid reason.

This has been fostered by the ever growing use of hostile and insulting words that millions of us use every day in the normal course of our lives.

I cringe when politicians abuse one another in Parliament on every occasion they can. They set a dreadful example to the nation of disrespect and intolerance.

Media stirs divisions among us every minute of every hour of every day by creating controversial headlines that are blatant lies designed to divide society into warring factions that will support whatever sick ideology they are fostering at the time.

Social media is the worst centre of abuse by far. The bitterness, nastiness and lies that are spewed out every day are hugely disgraceful. So much so that I have recently taken up the practice of instantly blocking any follower or reader who is even slightly abusive, vulgar or hypocritical. We do not need them in our society in any shape or form.

We can commence our crusade against abuse by the way in which we participate in the debate during the forthcoming Referendum which will be held in Australia sometime during 2023 on the creation of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander VOICE.

This referendum has the capacity to create huge social divisions across the nation, not because there is anything illegal or divisive or dishonorable about it, but simply because it will give racists and bullies a respectable platform to vent their appalling spleen across our society and try their very best to divide us into warring factions.

I intend to campaign strongly for a YES Vote simply because I passionately believe it is time to recognise in the Australian Constitution the 65000 years of Indigenous heritage of our nation. This was deliberately omitted when our Constitution was written and voted on in 1901.

However, I will use no nasty language and I will respect the right of opponents to express their differing views as citizens of a democratic nation. If ever I overstep the mark, I will apologise sincerely.

My profound hope is that Australia will grow as a nation that has a predominantly cohesive society and that, in the years ahead, young Aussies like CASSIUS will be able to live with an expectation of security in a peaceful community, no matter whether they are black or white or of any other ethnic group or religion or culture.

May I say this in closing.

I did not attend a public gathering for CASSIUS. I paused for a few moments at my home to quietly shed a tear for him. He died before he had the opportunity to play the music that was in his soul. There and then, I made a quiet commitment to work relentlessly to foster a nation of peace.

And I now remember the words of the great English poet, John Donne, (amended to remove the word Man).

‘The death of any person diminishes me as I am involved in humankind. Therefore, never ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for you.’

Sincerely,

Everald Compton

JIM CHALMERS BUDGET – WHAT IS YOUR JUDGEMENT?

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

The first time I took an interest in a Federal Government Budget was 77 years ago when I had to write an essay about it at High School in Toowoomba. I knew so little about Budgets of any kind that I barely scraped a pass.

Since then, I must report that I have never ever seen a Government Budget that everyone thought was the right one. Indeed, voters are usually split somewhere around 50/50 in their opinions of its worthiness, no matter what type of government is in power.

This year has been no different.

I have known Jim Chalmers for 15 years having first met him when he was the key economic adviser to Wayne Swan and played a considerable role in deciding Australia’s response to the Great Financial Crisis. We have kept in regular contact down the years and I was greatly honoured when he launched my book DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS at a function in Brisbane two years ago.

He has put an enormous amount of work into this current Budget Update and I know that he firmly believes in its capacity to work for Australia. I also know that he a person of honesty and integrity who will readily admit to any errors of judgement that he may have made and do something about fixing them if he believes that criticisms are valid.

The main criticism in the public arena has been that there is little of obvious significance in the Budget to directly help pensioners, people on fixed incomes, and those who have not had a wage rise, to handle the widespread ravages of inflation and huge rises in energy bills. I feel for them mightily but I can’t see a way to solve that problem until inflation comes under control. The key issue for us to understand is that inflation is not a domestic issue for Australia alone. Every nation in the world has been hit with it and it already has caused some political casualties, eg, former British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, who totally misjudged it.

My view is that, while the Ukraine War initially created some inflation, it has been grossly fuelled by far too many businesses using inflation as an excuse to unjustifiably put up prices and lie to us that inflation was the cause. It is one of the purest examples of greed I have ever seen. Quite disgusting.

Nevertheless, there were many good things in the Chalmers Budget such as in the area of child care and paid parental leave, flood relief etc.

This brings us to an important point for debate.

Must governments do everything for us. Do they need to control and dictate our lives and how much should we determine for ourselves? And in what ways are we personally responsible for our neighbours. If there are struggling pensioners in my street, should I take them some food as often as I can? The answer is YES.

I remember the dark days of the Great Depression of the 1930’s when my mother took meals to friends who were unemployed and there was no dole to sustain them. I was her helper in cooking and delivering, even though I am certain she would have done much better without my amateur efforts.

So it is that Australia’s most urgent need is to have strong caring communities and it is our calling to create them wherever we live. And to ask Jim Chalmers to back us in every way that he can when the next Budget arises in May 2023. State and Local Governments must do likewise. They share responsibility with the Feds and ourselves.

I hope you will find time to enjoy reading my book DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS. It tells the story of how the Australian Constitution was written in the 1890’s and implemented in 1901. It forecasts that we now need many changes to it that will enable us to adapt to a totally different world 120 years later. For example, if we had only two levels of government instead of 3, Australia would have much more money to provide for the needs of pensioners. If we had a UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME embedded in the Constitution, then no one would ever be in need or left behind.

We face a challenge right now. We know that we live in a world of huge change and I reckon that Jim Chalmers has the ability and humility and decency to help us face those changes and lead us to a better quality of life that gives us the opportunity to shine as good citizens. Let’s keep him on his toes while he walks with us towards the light on the hill.

And keep smiling.

Everald