The Leftist love-affair with Islam continues

They are united by hatred of the rest of us

EVERY Australian school student would be taught positive aspects about Islam and Muslims - and that Australia is a racist country - under a proposal by an education think tank.

The plan is outlined in the Learning From One Another: Bringing Muslim Perspectives into Australian Schools booklet, published during the week by the Australian Curriculum Studies Association and the University of Melbourne's Centre for Excellence in Islamic Studies.

It says there is a "degree of prejudice and ignorance about Islam and Muslims", and Australian students must be taught to embrace difference and diversity.

The booklet refers to the al-Qai'da of Osama bin Laden as "a famous name" synonymous with the traditionalist movement in Islam. It makes no reference to terrorism.

It says "most texts used in Australian English classes still have a Western or European perspective".

Its authors are offering free seminars to teachers, which promise to "provide avenues for you to introduce Islam- and Muslim-related content in your classrooms" and "equip you with the skills to meet the needs and expectations of Muslim students in a multi-faith classroom".

But education experts have branded it a biased and one-sided approach that ignores Australia's Christian heritage and Western culture. "The book fails to mention the terrorist nature of such Islamic fundamentalists or describe their terrorist acts like the Bali bombings," education consultant Dr Kevin Donnelly said.

"Ignored is what some see as the inherently violent nature of the Koran, where devout Muslims are called on to carry out jihad and to convert non-believers, and the destructive nature of what is termed dhimmis - where non-believers are forced to renounce their religion, are discriminated against and forced to accept punitive taxation laws.

"Given that Australia's schools, on the whole, are secular in nature and the argument that classrooms should not be used to teach a particular faith, it's understandable why introducing religion into school subjects for many would be unacceptable," Dr Donnelly said.

ACSA executive director Catherine Schoo said the booklet was misunderstood. "This is simply a resource for non-Muslim teachers who may want to improve their understanding of issues Muslims face in Australian schools," she said. [A big backdown!]

SOURCE. (Andrew Bolt has further comments on the matter)





Gillard mining tax worse than Rudd's version?

WEST Australia Senator Mathais Cormann has claimed his state would be worse off under the federal government's propsed new mining tax. The Liberal senator says under the newly negotiated mineral resources rent tax, the state will contribute almost 70 per cent of the total revenue raised effectively a worse position that than under dumped prime minister Kevn Rudd’s plan.

The federal government estimates $10.5 billion will be raised from the MRRT between 2012 and 2014.

In a letter to Senator Cormann, WA Premier Colin Barnett says although it is “difficult to estimate WA's contribution to this figure with any precision... a range of 60-65 per cent is considered justifiable”. However Senator Cormann claims WA Treasury's estimate is conservative and the state will actually contribute about 70 per cent.

“Under Kevin Rudd's bad tax, WA was going to be hit for at least $4 billion out of $12 billion,” he says. “Under Julia Gillard's dodgy tax deal, negotiated in secret, it will be more like $7 billion out of $10.5 billion.”

Senator Cormann, who is Chairman of the Senate Fuel and Energy Committee, also claims Prime Minister Gillard prevented Treasury Secretary Dr Ken Henry from answering questions about the tax at a committee hearing during the week. “She doesn't want people in Western Australia to know how much we will end up paying as a result of her new tax,” he says.

SOURCE





Australian buyers browned off with hybrid green cars

THE federal government's billion-dollar green car scheme has stalled on the starting grid. The first subsidised project, Toyota's locally built hybrid, is selling well below expectations despite a booming vehicle market.

The Hybrid Camry, which began rolling off its Melbourne assembly lines six months ago, was expected to attract 10,000 buyers this year, but fewer than 3000 had been registered at the halfway mark, this week's figures reveal.

A string of record months for vehicle sales and an aggressive marketing campaign by Toyota failed to stimulate demand for the Hybrid Camry, hailed as a new era in Australian manufacturing by Kevin Rudd when he launched it in December, just before he flew to Copenhagen for the ill-fated climate change summit, and the project was granted $35 million from the green car scheme.

A sales breakdown of customer types, obtained by The Weekend Australian, shows 571 of the 2960 sales are awaiting test drives in dealerships or being used by Toyota, while the customers Toyota was hoping to attract are shunning the car, which costs $36,990.

Business fleets have bought 506 Hybrid Camrys, with taxi and rental operations accounting for another 333. Private buyers, who were expected to account for 3000 sales a year, took just 657.

By far the biggest buyers are governments, mostly state governments, which have bought 755. The Victorian government committed to purchasing 2000 before the price was announced.

The Toyota Prius, launched as a new model a year ago, is also underperforming, with sales down 16 per cent to 1019 to the end of last month, despite Toyota's forecast of 4500 buyers this year.

Consumer research by Roy Morgan shows most potential buyers baulk at the starting price of hybrids, even though the petrol-electric cars are cheaper to run.

As well as the $35m from Canberra, the Victorian government injected money into the project but has refused to reveal how much, with estimates ranging from $15m to $35m....

Other green car projects include Holden's plan to return small-car manufacturing to Australia with the Cruze, which attracted $149m in funding, and Ford's four-cylinder Falcon and diesel Territory, which got $42m. All are due on sale next year.

With its local Hybrid Camry and the new Prius in the market, Toyota expected demand for hybrids to blossom to 15,000 cars a year -- triple the best result. However, a decade after the technology was first offered, it remains the least successful alternative fuel option and has yet to muster 1 per cent of the market. This is despite a 17 per cent rebound in vehicle demand this year, a result that has taken the industry by surprise.

Buyers shopping for cheap-to-run cars have turned to diesels, as stricter fuel standards have encouraged importers to introduce a wave of new models, mainly from Europe, Japan and Korea.

SOURCE






Unfair regulator of "fair" pay: Another of Kevvy's flawed ideas still in action

THE new one-stop shop industrial relations authority is a bureaucratic minefield.

IF I hear the word fair one more time, I may suffer a brain fever. A fair system is what we were promised by Julia Gillard when she redesigned our workplace laws.

Indeed, the legislation is called the Fair Work Act 2010. But what is fair, who determines what is fair and to whom does fairness apply?

Does our system value fairness towards those convicted of producing and possessing child pornography above fairness towards their employer and the other employees?

Consider the latest decree from Fair Work Australia; food manufacturer Uncle Toby's has been ordered to pay 10 days' pay as compensation to its former employee Steve, a convicted child pornographer who was "unfairly dismissed" after his employer found out about his convictions.

In March, two union officials visited the company, advising they had received complaints about Steve, a casual employee of seven years, "harassing and stalking women in the workplace". Saying "the employees are not prepared to come forward because they are fearful", the union said: "You can't let him back on site." Steve was a listed sexual offender with work restrictions and reporting obligations to the police. Uncle Toby's workforce is one-third female.

In April, the local paper reported Steve had been convicted of eight offences, including harassment by post, stalking and making, producing and possessing child pornography.

No shifts were offered to Steve after this time. But Fair Work Australia found that for Steve, Uncle Toby's was a "procedural fairness-free zone". Even though there had been no contact with Steve since the convictions, the company was found to have dismissed him because his security access card was cancelled in June.

Fair Work Australia found that although the company had a valid reason for terminating Steve's employment, the process wasn't fair. The company was told it should have gone through a proper disciplinary process. It was also suggested the company could have suspended Steve until the outcome of any appeals Steve may have lodged against the convictions was known.

Uncle Toby's was ordered to pay 10 days' wages as compensation. Steve may have trouble spending much of it, because he is in jail.

I wonder if Uncle Toby's and its staff feel our system is fair.

"Big government industrial relations bureaucracy" is how our Prime Minister described the Workplace Ombudsman in 2007. The ombudsman is now part of Fair Work Australia. The office functions as the industrial police, mostly checking that employers are paying workers in accordance with their award and recovering back pay when they are not. The Howard government established the ombudsman in 2006 and since that time, the office has gone from strength to strength.

Since inception, the ombudsman has conducted 83,000 investigations, recovered $107 million in back pay for employees and dished out nearly $5.5 million in fines to employers. For business owners, not complying with the awards is now very expensive.

An ombudsman spokesman says more than 98 per cent of investigations are resolved without going to court, because the employer pays the amount the ombudsman says is owed to employees. Most employers will pretty much pay anything to make the matter go away. So is this fair or not? Ordinarily I would say let people have what they are entitled to. If only it were that simple.

The problem is sometimes employers find it difficult to determine what their legal obligations are with regard to paying staff. Sometimes workers do not neatly fit into an award's coverage. There can be two or more awards that could apply, or there could be doubt that any award applies.

In this instance, Fair Work Australia refuses to provide definite advice . It is up to the employer to guess, but if they get it wrong, look out. Unlike Fair Work Australia, the ombudsman is happy to form definite opinions about which award should be chosen and to collect back pay owed as a result of a mistake.

Understandably, employers feel this is unfair. If the ombudsman can form an opinion to prosecute, why can't this opinion be given up-front so the employer can avoid the mistake in the first place? After all, the ombudsman is part of Fair Work Australia, the one-stop shop we were promised by the government.

Fairness is defined in the dictionary as reasonable, unbiased and impartial. I'm just not feeling the fairness of our new system.

SOURCE







"Affirmative action" appointment angers Victorian lawyers

After the affirmative action hiring of a disastrous Victorian police chief (Nixon), one would have thought that the Leftist government and its officers would have learnt their lesson -- but ideology trumps all, I guess

VICTORIA's Office of Public Prosecutions is divided overr the controversial promotion of a young female solicitor by Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Rapke QC.

Diana Karamicov was one of several people promoted last week within the Crown prosecutions office. Her promotion - along with the other appointments confirmed during the week - was recommended by Mr Rapke, as is standard practice. But some inside the OPP are furious and claim she has been promoted ahead of others who were more experienced.

And the rumours and allegations concerning her promotion were so intense the Government was forced to convene an independent panel to reinterview Ms Karamicov and all other applicants to ensure their appointments were above reproach.

The Sunday Herald Sun understands that Gavin Silbert, SC, the chief Crown prosecutor, also wrote to Attorney-General Rob Hulls expressing his concern about the appointments.

Mr Silbert, a barrister with 30 years' experience who sits on the Government's Sentencing Advisory Council, outlined his concerns about the appointment process to Mr Hulls. Mr Silbert could not be contacted yesterday.

The circumstances surrounding the appointment and the stoush between Mr Rapke and Mr Silbert have set Victoria's criminal bar abuzz, and the controversy began even before Ms Karamicov's appointment was formalised. Numerous legal sources told the Sunday Herald Sun that the controversy was an open secret in the criminal bar.

Mr Hulls said he would not comment on any correspondence he might or might not have received or go into detail about any individual.

SOURCE