Letters to Politicians

The first letter was sent near the end of September. Our economy is struggling at the moment, in the words of one of the economic heavyweights, "The consumer has gone on strike!" Can you blame us? With all the negativity from shows like Sunrise, and the various gloomy political analysts who come on the news and current affairs shows, no wonder people are scared of spending! However, the reality of our economic situation is very different. Banks around the world are doing much to restore confidence in markets, share prices are so low that the banks for example, are paying higher dividends for shares you could buy in them, than the interest on their term deposits! That is almost unheard of!

So Australia needs a "stimulus" to get people feeling confident and safe enough to become consumers again. When Mr Swan announced a taxation review, I gave him a taxation policy that would IMMEDIATELY revive a flagging economy and challenged him to act on it. What do you think? If your taxes were cut to 1.5%, would YOU feel better? Read my letter and see what you think, and then look at the taxation page.

I sent the letter below to Dr Ken Henry, Secretary to the Treasury, and included in it a copy of the above letter on taxation reform to Mr Swan, the Treasurer, in response to a "thank you" letter from the treasury for that letter. On the suggestion of a friend, I turned this one into a submission to change the Australian Tax System from the unfair and unbalanced rort that it is, to a fair Transaction Tax system. My last line stopped just short of accusing the government of treason. Let's see what they do with it!

The Environment and our Energy Sources are a real priority for Australia now. Climate change, the ETS, pollution, plastic bags, and so much more. But there are solutions, and I outlined them here, strategies which we can act upon IMMEDIATELY! With your help, we can get the governments to act on them. People Power, come on down!

The crime rate around the nation is challenging. We don't have to go far to find someone who has been burgled, assaulted, or otherwise affected. I personally have counselled rape crisis victims, and most teenagers have been offered drugs. I find that disturbing. However, there are solutions that we can enact IMMEDIATELY that will also have an immediate impact on the crime rate, and the re-offending rate! I outlined them to the Federal Ministers and EVERY State Police Minister, with this letter.

Driving on our roads is a privilege. Some people though, think differently. That must stop.

Three decades ago when I learnt to drive, there were a much smaller number of cars on the road, and if we ran out of petrol, it might have meant an hour’s wait til someone came along to help. No longer – it’s likely there will be a car on your tail in 2008! So many cars, so many new drivers, so little education provided, so many people die, so many maimed, and so many people just don’t care! Driving like idiots, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and doing it repeatedly, facing court time and again for the same sort of offence. It’s time to deal with the real issues, and they are outlined in this letter. If we acted immediately, we could reduce the road toll progressively every year ahead, and have safer and better drivers on our roads very quickly. Let’s do it!

Our Health System is in a shambles. Waiting lists, doctor shortages, huge university fees to train to be a medical professional, forcing us to hire doctors from third world countries, a shortage of hospital beds, and other hospitals closing for very poorly explained reasons, with others being 'taken over' by the federal government to prevent them going bankrupt. Yes, it's a mess.

But there are strategies which CAN turn it around quickly. It needs a rethink, and a whole new operating system - just like getting a new computer when the old system just can't cope. We have the technology and the strategies to deal with this now, and we must, because our population is growing, and it is also aging quickly - we will need even more hospital beds in the next twenty years. This is how we can do it.

A little while after this letter went to the Federal Health Minister, I received a reply from her Senior Advisor, Dr Mark Doverty, extolling all the wonderful progress made. At least, the Postal System is working! Here is where I ask him why the health system is still not working despite the progress, and how on earth he expects fine tuning a flawed system will fix it, when only structural change will do the job!

A scandal has appeared on the Gold Coast and is possibly much wider than this, but it has surfaced here. Two private hospitals have directed Ambulance Drivers that they will not accept elderly patients to their emevergency wards, they only want younger, health fund covered patients. I wondered how that fitted with the charter of the hospitals and the health departments, as it certainly does not fit with my ideas of how I want my tax dollars spent! So I asked the Federal Health minister, Qld State Health Minister, all the local S E Qld Members of Parliament and sent copies of everything off to all the TV News services. Here is what I sent them:

The Emissions Trading Scheme, the ETS, is gaining a momentum that frightens me and most other thinking Australians, and almost every consumer and every business person. It has the potential to bankrupt our country, yet there has been so much haste in putting it together that it borders on irresponsibility by the federal government, to the point that businesses may have a legal case against them for their negligence in considering ALL the facts before rushing to put the ETS in place. This letter demonstrates the sheer weight of scientific evidence that the ETS is the WRONG way to go forward, and on my Energy and Environment page on this website, you will see that evidence in links to scientific reports that should blow the ETS away.

Yet the government persists. Of all the issues facing Australia, this is probably the most serious challenge we face. There IS a climate change challenge, but the ETS is NOT the answer. Here's why, in this letter I sent to the politicians.

The future of the country rests with the children going through our education system. So why aren't we looking after them and educating them a whole lot better? We can do better and we must! Yet, our teachers work in crowd control situations each day, their schools are sending letters home to ask for money to pay for the use of services and equipment in their schools. Our education system is not doing the job it is meant to do, namely preparing our kids for their lives ahead, with an education and an attitude that will give them jobs, careers, businesses and lives to be proud of. It has to. It's our future. It's the future of this country. This is what I told the politicians, and I gave them a range of solutions we can start with right now, to change this around.

The media is alive with the talk of the government threatening to spend the rest of the budget surplus. There is also talk about going into deficit with the next budget, maybe "temporarily", if there is such a thing. However, there is another way!

Regardless, If the government don't take up my/YOUR suggestions (after all, most of the suggestions and policies on this website were suggested by thinking Australians like YOU) then the argument is on where that budget surplus should be spent/invested. I have a number of suggestions there also, and the letter has gone to the government ministers, relevant opposition shadow ministers, the Aus Industry Group, representing Australian business, and the media. Let's hope someone takes some notice, this problem is looming fast!

Now that you have read these letters, study the rest of the site, and start taking action. On each page, I have listed what you can do to make a difference, and I urge you to be proactive in saving our country from the apathy and mis-management we have become accustomed to.

To have a voice, if you are in these Social Networking Sites, you can also go to the Political Guts MySpace page, and become a friend of Political Guts, or the FaceBook page, and link in as a friend. See you there!