Term Limits !

 The Conservative side of politics has had little luck in attracting women to stand in winnable seats in parliament.  In fact,  it seems to be losing the few it has because of bullying and a lack of action on women's issues and has decided to turn to quotas to artificially balance the genders.

The entire democratic system is based on the principle of every person over eighteen being entitled to cast a vote for the candidate of their choice.  It sounds very much as if in the near future party selection will decide who will be endorsed to stand, depending on their gender.

That completely changes the conception of the public making a choice to send the person best suited to represent them to parliament.  The gender choice will be chosen by a parliamentary committee and the chosen candidates gender will be decided by the gender balance in the parliament.

In fact, to attain gender neutrality,  exactly half the seats in parliament  would be a choice exclusively selected by either a man or a woman chosen entirely on the basis of gender.   The only way an outstanding man or woman could challenge that choice would be to stand as an independent.

If quotas based on gender  become the permanent basis of endorsement to run for a seat then the voter's choice simply becomes a gender issue.  The choice of candidate narrows sharply, depending on the gender balance at that time.

Perhaps a better way of balancing parliament could be chosen from the American presidential system.  Presidents are limited to two terms in office and if this was applied to seats in parliament we would be constantly exposed to new ideas and a new thinking.

It would do away with the old curmodgions with fixed ideas who occupy a seat for decades and contribute little to the debate.  Limiting tenure to two terms of office would open the door for constant renewal and set the course for an enlightened parliament which should be attractive to people of both genders.

Politics is a numbers game, and as the present system stands, party loyalty sends the same old faces back in election after election until an issue is sufficiently divisive to break this nexus.  By limiting a hold on seats to two terms, party politics is constantly renewed and opened to a new consensus.

This two terms in office would apply to both the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Candidates for office would need to convey ideas attractive to the voters and this would put pressure on party politics to mould government to public pressure.  Government ministers would have two terms to implement their policies and get public approval before each ministry moved into new hands.

Term limitation is a form of constant renewal and that should engage a mix of both genders keen to run for office.  It also delivers the freedom of choice for the voting public that this quota system seems sure to destroy.

An Unprepared World !

Aged care is where this vaccine against the coronavirus is most urgently needed and yet we are finding that as much as twenty percent of residents are refusing the jab because of safety fears.  This is particularly prevalent when the resident comes from another country as a migrant  and still has regular contact with overseas news.

It seems incredible that entire European countries put the vaccine on hold because a mere handful of patients developed blood clots.  It was quickly determined that this was associated with underlying medical conditions which could be expected  and in most cases the embargo was swiftly lifted.

Now we are seeing human nature coming to the fore when it comes to accessing suppliers of the vaccine. The European Union is threatening to ban exports from factories within its borders until sufficient doses have been provided to its own population.

It is becoming evident that much of the third world will be the last in line for supply and the virus will continue unabated until the big and wealthy countries have received sufficient for their needs.  The development of the vaccine was an international effort by the world drug industry but the consent to make the drug under license has been restricted to just a handful of manufacturers.

A medical pandemic came out of nowhere and posed a dire threat to humankind.   It was particularly lethal to the elderly but the fact that it kept continuously  developing new characteristics meant it continued to evolve and could become a mass killer of all age groups.  We can not be assured of safety until the entire population of the planet has been immunised.

Despite this threat, China is still putting obstacles in the way of researching how this pandemic originated. It first appeared in Wuhan province and it is thought to have made the crossing from the animal kingdom to humans by way of " bush meat markets " which sell all manner of native animals for human consumption.   In Africa, this practice is thought to have released Ebola on the world.

Unfortunately, rare diseases lay dormant in animals not traditionally eaten by humans and when they are dissected for sale this sort of accident can happen.  The world population may reach ten billion by 2050 and the desperate search for food in many parts of the world is highly likely to spark new pandemics.  We are told we will have to change our food habits to include insects to stabilize the food supply and that opens the door to similar dangers.

How the world reacted to this coronvirus is not encouraging.  The disease spread by way of international air travel because of a coverup by China who tried to suppress news of the outbreak. The logical command centre to control suppression would have been the United Nations but the giant drug industry acted independently and it has taken almost a year for vaccines to develop.

Pandemics are not a new phenomenon.   The " Black death " scourged Europe centuries ago and killed a huge swath of the population.  What we need to do now is prepare for the next one !

Meat in the Sandwich !

 What an interesting new development in world politics.  China has inflicted a tariff wall on certain Australian exports in retaliation for our demand that the origin of the coronavirus be scientifically investigated, and new American president, Joe Biden has weighed in with support for its Australian ally.

There is an independent referee for these type of trade disputes and that is the World Trade Organization - and this one looks like being decided by the WTO.      But the investigation will be time consuming and China has already ignored a reverse finding on its occupation and claim to ownership of the South China sea.

 Joe Biden seems to be suggesting that the free world curb its imports from China as a way of disciplining the world's most populous country, but the authoritarian Communist government would probably use its " information control " to promote nationalism.  The situation could quickly turn to the surrogate clash of arms that existed between Washington and Moscow during the years of the cold war.

At least relations between these two super powers ha not quite degenerated to that cold war level and they are still speaking to one another.  China's relationship with the rest of the world tends to be quixotic. The power of Xi Jinping is absolute and yet he is mistrustful of his masses.  What he fears is any commercial downturn that create unemployment.  There is unrest amongst his perimeter Islamic people and the residents of Hong Kong clearly want to break away from Beijing control and that could spread internally if unemployment increased.

Of course this Australian goods embargo would swiftly dissolve if Australia decided to toe the Beijing dialogue.  The Chinese are desperate to avoid blame for the coronavirus pandemic which has killed millions of people worldwide.  It started in China and the Chinese government instituted a cover up which allowed it to escape to the rest of the world.

Australia has been singled out for a trade embargo because it had the temerity to suggest an international investigation to stop a similar outbreak happening elsewhere in the future.  Australia poses no military threat to China and it therefore feels it can get away with a selective trade embargo while continuing to import raw materials essential to national development.

These difficulties could disappear as swiftly as they originated if Beijing feels it has made its point, but if American imports of Chinese goods becomes reliant on Australian exports receiving justice it could take the issue to a very new level. That would be a situation that could extend for a number of years.

The one thing that would be to Australia's disadvantage would be for this trade issue to evolve into a dispute between the great powers.  We will quickly find new markets for the majority of the goods rejected by Beijing and this will simply become an irritant rather than a crisis.   It is in our interests to keep it low level.

That is the disadvantage of being a " middling power " on the world stage.  Sometimes we get dragged into issues which are not in our best interests !

Reversing the Benefit !

 It looks like the solar energy revolution which has seen  solar panels appear on the roofs of countless Australian homes is turning full circle and is about to bite owners in the hip pocket.   The  Australian Energy Market Commission  (AEMC ) is considering a proposal to reverse the benefit home owners receive for sending excess energy they produce back into the grid into billing them for receiving it.

The whole point of paying to have solar on your roof was to generate at least some of the power your home consumes and gain a small credit for the excess returned to the grid.  The popularity of solar turned it into a major power supplier in its own right and now the industry is wailing that it is producing too much power.

The argument the industry is trying to sell to justify this reversal is that it urgently needs more funds to pay for upgrades in infrastructure.  It cites the expected  $ 3 billion transmission link that will connect the new Snowy Mountains hydro plan to the cities.

Consumers with long memories may remember the  incredible upgrade of wires and poles just before what was a publicly owned electricity network was sold into private hands.  The upgrade of worn out coal fired power stations has been an ongoing argument ever since.  In fact it has been solar's contribution that has kept the lights on in New South Wales.

The AEMC is claiming that the average solar owner earns an average $ 640 a year credit from returning excess power to the grid.  The true amount is much less and has been constantly dropping  as the amount generated by the sun steadily increases.

Promised cost effective pricing reforms have not been put into practice in this past decade.  The industry makes money shipping electricity around the wires and poles and now they want to make money by receiving it as well.  They are threatening to pay even less for the power that flows back into the system.

The electricity industry is playing a dangerous game.  The efficiency of today's batteries is ever rising, and the price is steadily lowering.  Connecting a group of nearby houses to a common central battery is becoming a viable proposition and even individual homes becoming unconnected to the grid is fast becoming a reality.

The electrical industry holds the whip hand as long as homes remain connected to the grid.  Once a trend starts to disconnect from the grid the power companies retain the need to maintain the poles and wires to get power to the scattering of homer still reliant on the grid, but with an ever decreasing customer base to cover those costs.
The argument the power companies are making to justify this raid on power returned to the grid from solar will not stand up to a critical evaluation.      Pricing reforms have stalled over the past decade and this would have been a better outcome for all, but this proposal seems to ensure that the power generating industry will have a rocky future !

The House Price Enigma !

 The most frightening news for many Australians should be the prediction that house prices are expected to surge another nineteen percent by the end of this year.   Data shows that Sydney prices advanced  six percent in the past three months while Melbourne prices lifted by 4.4 %.

That might be good news if you already own a house, but buying into the market is fast becoming unrealistic for the average wage earner, despite interest rates on house mortgages being set at an all time low.  That is a contradiction by our Reserve bank trying to get Australia to spend its way out of recession and it is inevitable that these low rates can not hold indefinitely.

Traditionally, the housing market in Australia has been split between owners and renters.  The rents charged are governed by scarcity of  rental stock and the fact that we have a glut of unsold apartments is keeping rents low in contrast to house prices., but that will not last indefinitely.

Thousands of Australians are stuck overseas because the coronavirus shut down international air travel and the vaccination of the nation will see them come home in the months ahead.  We traditionally grow by regularly granting entry to new citizens from the world's refugee camps and our need for new housing will steadily increase into the future.

We are already seeing  evidence of " homeless people " sleeping rough in our cities. In other parts of the world this takes the form of what is called a " Favella " - a shanty town where people put together rudimentary shelter from whatever they can find to shield them from the wind and rain.  Usually it is on public land and presents a fire risk for the people living there.

There is every chance that this will be the fate of poorer Australians unless this price inflation of housing is not brought under control.  We would do well to remember the housing shortage after the end of the second world war.

Vast estates of cheap land saw many families live in a caravan or build a garage to live in while they constructed a home.  Many of the facilities we take for granted were missing, but it was a way for the average person to move towards home ownership which served the need at that time.

Of course, the answer best suited to bringing home prices under control would be a building boom in which the supply of homes was greater than demand - and priced accordingly.  That would be possible if the government acted to acquire land for home sites and made blocks directly available to buyers who would contract with the building industry to provide the homes they need.

Basically, we need to build our way out of this price inflation that see s home prices increase by thousands of dollars in a bubble that must eventually burst.  If we fail to bring home prices within reason, the " Favella " in Australia  will emerge.

Saying and Meaning " No " !

 Rape is said to be the most unreported crime in the Australian justice system and it is easy to see why this is so.  Any charge of rape will incite the rapt attention of the news media and in the majority of cases it provoke an angry denial from the offender.

Rape is a serious crime and a successful prosecution requires compelling evidence to be presented., and in most cases this devolves into the conversation between the two people involved and all the intimate details make embarrassing reading on news reports.

In the vast majority of cases the woman raped suffers in silence.  The fact that rape has broken this vow of silence in both the Federal and New South Wales parliament has brought the issue into focus and the women of Australia are united in demanding justice.  Women have found their voices and this matter will not be allowed to simply rest.

It is evident that some men are repeat offenders  who impose themselves forcefully on women and the police are appealing for victims to come forward and make an " informal " report.  They stress that this is important even if there is not enough evidence for a prosecution.  It allows the police to build a dossier of the offenders and bring them under police surveillance.

The police are adamant that such reports will be kept confidential and no action will be taken without the victim's approval.  The law makers are still struggling with the issue of " consent ".  Varying state parliaments have failed to agree on a common  form of agreement between two people that could not be used a defence of rape.  A woman has the right to change her mind at any stage of the proceedings and this  complicates the consent issue.

In the past, fear of an unwanted pregnancy placed a limit on sex between unmarried couples, but the development of the " pill " changed all that, and now some men assume that having sex with a new acquaintance is an automatic " right " - and act accordingly.  For many women, unwanted sex is a hazard of establishing new relationships.

Basically, this entire issue revolves around gender imbalance.   For centuries it has been a man's world.  Men have been the bread winners and women the " homemakers " and mostly women were denied the educational advantages to compete in a man's world. and it is quite evident that is changing.

This uniformity of opportunity still has a long way to go, but the gap is closing.    Women are taking their place in all aspects of industry and it is quite evident that they are demanding equality in deciding their choice of sexual partners.

Rape will no longer be the unreported crime on the statute books now this consent issue is reaching prominence.  The world we live in now is " different " and men will need to learn new rules to achieve sexual harmony.

Return to Civilian Life !

 It looks like a rebellion is forming in both government and opposition ranks and the outcome will be a Royal Commission to try and determine why there is a much higher rate of suicide amongst returned members of our armed forces than in the civilian population.

The problem with Royal Commissions  is that it will take about eighteen months before we see any real action and a lot will depend on what terms of reference apply, and that brings it into the political debate.

The expected outcome across the wide ranging political spectrum will have a big bearing on what is hoped to be achieved and will probably avoid the obvious.  This is not a new problem.  It has existed as long as we have had people returning from armed combat in the many wars that have plagued this nation.

Families embracing loved ones returning from both the first and second world war noted that they were very " different " from the young men who had enlisted  and most found returning to civilian life had many " difficulties ".  Former loving relationships easily shattered  and divorce after retuning from war was common. Many turned to alcohol as a refuge.

To be of use as a member of the armed services requires enlistees to change and the first thing is " boot camp " where the individual is trained to unquestionably obey orders. This training progresses to the use of weapons and with that comes the need for a vast change of attitude. He or she is trained to believe that taking the life of the " enemy " is not only essential - but desirable.

Trainees are encouraged to stick a bayonet into dummies representing the enemy and shooting in mock battle scenes.  It is a process aimed at dispelling the notion that human life is sacred and replacing it with a " kill or be killed " mantra.  In a combat situation, killing to preserve the lives of his fellow soldiers becomes an automatic duty.

Members of our armed services see duty in places like Afghanistan and Syria where death and destruction is an everyday event.  They live with danger and it is completely unreasonable to expect them to complete a tour of duty and then hand in their uniform and return to civilian life.

It is usual for an enlistee to be given six months training before they serve in a combat role.  The army performs the pyschological task of creating a combat soldier and it would be reasonable to expect a similar  training period to return that soldier to civilian life.

Just how that can be achieved is something medical science will need to determine, but it is obvious that simply discharging highly trained soldiers at the end of their tour of combat duty does not equip them for civilian life., and it should not require a Royal Commission to reach that conclusion !