tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post3750645062733364215..comments2023-11-05T23:07:01.842+11:00Comments on Grog's Gamut: Place without a postcardGreg Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04956402439870441083noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-16344406231694018742010-11-13T17:01:05.188+11:002010-11-13T17:01:05.188+11:00Some years ago the gaol in Cooma was closed and th...Some years ago the gaol in Cooma was closed and the town was devastated. Nobody cared that it had been a prison for sex offenders and right in the middle of down-town Cooma, it was sorely missed. Relatives of the prisoners and prison employees had given a tremendous boost to the town economy and local schools. The closing of the prison was a disaster. Some years later, after much lobbying, pleading and threatening of State and Federal members, the prison was reopened and extended. Oh joyous day, it breathed new life into a town that was close to death. There were jobs for locals, new employed people building, buying and renting houses, buying groceries and curtains, there were more kids attending schools, playing sport and musical intruments - and how the money rolled in. Why are people objecting to asylum seekers and their carers coming to a place near them?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-85050558388431940012010-11-09T17:41:45.796+11:002010-11-09T17:41:45.796+11:00do you post every day grog i am not a member of ...do you post every day grog i am not a member of any of the social net works.so cannot receive twitter of the like<br /> and i can understand how you cannot comment all the time you have life after all and thankyou for what you do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-50203617574749826822010-11-09T17:33:51.714+11:002010-11-09T17:33:51.714+11:00some one mentioned rent a crowd a friend of mine i...some one mentioned rent a crowd a friend of mine in tassie tells me it happens there in the forest may be so who knows but know one even a journalists says and\" excuse me but do live around here"mmmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-71610234925283677772010-11-09T17:31:32.330+11:002010-11-09T17:31:32.330+11:00yes and ignore the latest newspoll
dont be poll d...yes and ignore the latest newspoll<br /> dont be poll driven abbots chickens will come home to roost soon as he runs our of popular ideasAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-13778654996505148082010-11-08T12:02:33.087+11:002010-11-08T12:02:33.087+11:00Hi Grog:
First time visitor to your blog.
I liked...Hi Grog:<br /><br />First time visitor to your blog.<br />I liked your article and it's "Ho Humminess". <br />So here we go again the same rehashed talking points delivered with the red hot sauce of bile and bigotry, and the same point by point refuting. No they are not illegals; no they are not deemed a security risk; no they are not riddled with disease et alia....Uncle Bucknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-56611070692524994122010-11-06T14:33:53.168+11:002010-11-06T14:33:53.168+11:00Trung, some points deserve a detailed reponse. Oth...Trung, some points deserve a detailed reponse. Others don't. I know Truthy from The Poll Bludger, there's is no point engaging with him on this issue.Greg Jerichohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04956402439870441083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-73649874530673686012010-11-05T22:36:32.536+11:002010-11-05T22:36:32.536+11:00Truthy, as one of those lefty labour public servan...Truthy, as one of those lefty labour public servant Canberra types - I say let them come. That way the federal government will be forced to spend hundreds of millions of dollars building housing in Canberra that we can use when the refugees vacate to move interstate. About time that Canberra got some federal pork!Davenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-66400235204566050732010-11-05T18:47:17.364+11:002010-11-05T18:47:17.364+11:00Thanks for the detail response about the East Timo...Thanks for the detail response about the East Timor Solution Greg (and morewest). I do appreciate it.<br /><br />I may have a small criticism here. I understand that you don't have to respond to any comments if you don't want to. However I do feel that you are calling TheTruthHurts' argument as idiocry without really addressing his arguments.<br /><br />If the point of you blogging is to state your opinion and hopefully try to educate and persuade people to think differently about this issue then I don't think brushing off dissenting opinion (and other commenters have called him a liberal troll) is really productive. Cause the result is that you'll just be preaching to the converted and having a comments section of people who just agree with you telling how great the article is (it is great BTW) without really changing anyone's opinion.<br /><br />___________<br /><br />Truthhurts<br /><br />When ever there is wartime situation or where people are getting persecuted. It's generally the people who are relatively wealthy who escapes the country first. After all these are the people who are more likely to be inform whether danger is imminent and these are the people most likely have access to resources to help them escape the country. Nevertheless the fact that they were relatively wealthy doesn't make them any less of a refugee or any more or less deserving then those people who were left behind in the country.<br /><br />Essentially the nature of being a refugee is to get out of the country and settle in another country, any way as possible.<br /><br />Now my parents were refugees that escaped Vietnam by boat and then they arrived in Malaysia. They stayed in a refugee camp before being settled in Australia (so I guess our family would be classified in the "Good" refugees by Liberal party standards).<br /><br />Nevertheless the condition of the refugee camps weren't exactly safe and the processing of refugee status was a long time and often takes several months for your status to even be assess. It's not you can go get employment easily.<br /><br />My parents didn't have the resource to try to find away out of there and get to Australia. However if our family did have some money and someone offered them the chance to get out of refugee camp and started promising them to be settle in Australia then they would be very tempted to take up their offer. Most people in the camp would be.<br /><br />If people want to take the risk of getting on a boat and making a dangerous journey to Australia (back then only 1/4 boats that left Vietnam arrived anywhere safely. Although this was an era where pirates were a much greater problem). Then so be it. After all the nature of being refugee is to escape the country and resettle anyway as possible and these are the people who are most desperate.<br /><br />The people who arrived in Australia by boat are no less deserving of status then people who stayed in the camp. Really it's a bit hypocritical to say it's ok for refugees to go to Malaysia, Indonesia (who aren't signatories of refugee convention) but it's not ok for them to travel to Australia.Trunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11385477644783391350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-20200117886804109362010-11-05T13:14:22.400+11:002010-11-05T13:14:22.400+11:00Quote Truthy We wouldn't be having this conver...Quote Truthy <i>We wouldn't be having this conversation if Labor hadn't failed on border protection.</i><br />Wrong Turthy, we wouldn't be having this conversation if Howard, Abbott and the rest of his xenophobic bigots didn't play the race card at the slightest provocation.2353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-31922873229739738312010-11-05T12:42:55.290+11:002010-11-05T12:42:55.290+11:00For the benefit of "The Truth Hurts". Th...For the benefit of "The Truth Hurts". There are NO repeat NO uninhabited former Defence establishment premises or other Govt residential premises in or within 100 Kms of Canberra. Canberra has an unemployment rate of approx 2.5%, consequently housing is in extremely short supply.<br />Do some thinking and ask yourself which area most needs the employment stimulus of hosting Refugees, Canberra or Inverbrackie/Northam, they with their supply of residential accommodation or Canberra with its accute housing shortage and lack of available tradesmen to erect some.<br />Get your hand off it and do some thinking!<br /><br />MJCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-18640083520521458462010-11-05T12:15:05.669+11:002010-11-05T12:15:05.669+11:00Mmmm, Truthy sounds like a Liberal troll.
Dio, Mik...Mmmm, Truthy sounds like a Liberal troll.<br />Dio, Mike Rann was more likely to have been against the hideous Baxter style of detention back in <br />2002, although he wasn't happy about not being informed about Inverbrackie. <br />Sonia, did you notice the professionally printed signs behind Julie Bishop and the National woman with the safety helmet "do" [can't remember her name} ? Nash or Cash I think. Much the same as the Mining Council signs during the election campaign. Nothing home made there. Another rent-a-crowd.Pipnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-75499697315775872292010-11-05T11:09:38.866+11:002010-11-05T11:09:38.866+11:00We wouldn't be having this conversation if Lab...We wouldn't be having this conversation if Labor hadn't failed on border protection.<br /><br />Remember Howard closed detention centres all over the country. You can do that when you stop the boats.<br /><br />Now Gillard is having to open dozen of new ones to deal with the flood of boatpeople causing anger in the community.<br /><br />The silent majority however are starting to gain a voice and this grass roots campaign is incredibly embarrassing for this weak kneed government, no wonder the Labor MP at the meeting tried kicking out the media, it's reminiscent of something former Soviet Governments would do when they were on their last legs.<br /><br />I can see Nauru now being the only long term option now to stop the boats, it's simply a matter of when. Labor can do it now, or they can wait until they are chucked out and let the Libs bring it back in. And once it's back it will be back for eternity because Labor will never be stupid enough to make the same mistake twice and put themselves into such a position.TheTruthHurtsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-79680337233447762772010-11-05T07:57:15.561+11:002010-11-05T07:57:15.561+11:00Hmmm I see the coalition have been at it again in ...Hmmm I see the coalition have been at it again in Northam. Surely they are as embarrassed by these people as the rest of Australia. Fuelling this type of behaviour is so irresponsible. They might steal my car??? Thats what happens when you imply that these people are criminals. Completely irrational statements. I for one am VERY embarrassed but also very happy I dont live in Western Australia.Soniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02129398639035921852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-48165039050708562302010-11-05T02:44:09.106+11:002010-11-05T02:44:09.106+11:00Grog, I agree that you should feel free to turn of...Grog, I agree that you should feel free to turn off the computer once you have posted your item for the day. <br /><br />I disagree Lyn that contributors expect to have some acknowledgement from the blog writer. Acknowledgements on The Political Sword are often little more than an overly fulsome thanks and a pat on the back whereas I hope to find comment and constructive argument.<br /><br />I look forward to reading both GG and TPS but I rarely read the comments at TPS now because so many are off-topic, social chit chat or from the rabid rightNightOwlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-91632990070264639562010-11-04T23:08:25.166+11:002010-11-04T23:08:25.166+11:00Dio, I don't recall ever defending Mike Rann o...Dio, I don't recall ever defending Mike Rann on this issue.Greg Jerichohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04956402439870441083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-9171869647093941142010-11-04T22:55:46.694+11:002010-11-04T22:55:46.694+11:00Greg
Perhaps Truthy is Mike Rann?
Following his ...Greg<br /><br />Perhaps Truthy is Mike Rann?<br /><br />Following his election in 2002, Mr Rann said he was opposed to detention centres being opened in South Australia and that all asylum-seekers should be housed in “centres in Canberra, close to the federal government officials who process and assess the refugees”.Diogenesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-4897668026146587262010-11-04T22:39:45.365+11:002010-11-04T22:39:45.365+11:00thanks Truthy, nice of you to prove that you can a...thanks Truthy, nice of you to prove that you can always squeeze in just a bit more idiocy into this debate.<br /><br />"peaceful Canberran utopian lifestyles"<br />Funniest line I've read all week.Greg Jerichohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04956402439870441083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-45350553150966697892010-11-04T19:34:43.698+11:002010-11-04T19:34:43.698+11:00All Labor needs to do to stop the boats is go back...All Labor needs to do to stop the boats is go back to the Pacific Solution.<br /><br />Howard took boat arrivals from 5500 in 2001 to 1 single boatperson for the entire of 2002. THATS A SOLUTION.<br /><br />What Labor are doing now is basically stalling for time and pretending they are doing something with this East Timor solution when it's clear it's never going to happen. A Labor tactic to simply stall for time as things get worse and worse.<br /><br />There are 5 Million refugee's waiting for resettlement in the world. Australia has a set rate intake of 13,500 humanitarian spots per year.<br /><br />The belief by the left that somehow those who pay people smugglers, pass through multiple countries and jump the queue are the most deserving out of all those 5 Million simply enters the world of do-gooder fairy land. NO these people are not the most deserving, they are the least deserving. Only Australia and the U.N should have the right to decide and choose those most in need, NOT people smugglers and criminal gangs.<br /><br />And finally onto the point about redneck racist Inverbrackie. Can someone please explain to me why the hell Labor keeps opening detention centres in Safe Lib electorates well away from the lefties, labor seats and Canberra bueracrats?<br /><br />Forget Inverbrackie, Weipa, Northam, Leonora or all the other out of the way area's it's time we open Canberra up for (people smuggler)business. Should be lots of army base space and public land in Canberra for a 1500 male detention centre I reckon and only a short drive away from the immigration public servants sucking the tit of our tax dollars.<br /><br />But yet... nothing. No plans for a massive detention centre in leftwing heartland of Canberra, the perfect place for a detention centre. <br /><br />Anyone care to hazard a guess why?<br /><br />Seems Canberrans have caught a bad case of the NIMBY's don't want the detention centre wrecking their peaceful Canberran utopian lifestyles.TheTruthHurtsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-51851027755653110672010-11-04T17:37:09.144+11:002010-11-04T17:37:09.144+11:00A little bit of information about the Catholic Sac...A little bit of information about the Catholic Sacrament of Confession [now called Reconciliation].<br />Before absolution is granted, the person confessing his or her sins, must be sorry for their sins and be intending to do better in the future.<br />I'm no expert on the subject but I reckon Tony Abbott might be having trouble with the second part given that he probably doesn't believe he's doing anything wrong in the first place......ever.Pipnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-28215879724549727382010-11-04T17:02:56.362+11:002010-11-04T17:02:56.362+11:00emjar and others - As a Catholic Tony Abbott can t...emjar and others - As a Catholic Tony Abbott can tell as many lies as he likes or commit other heinous acts with impunity. The Catholic Church has "confession" where people get "forgiven" for all their "sins". Great system for a politician (of all parties).<br /><br />Grog, don't be misled into responding to comments more than you feel comfortable with.<br />A site like TPS may have 200 comments but they consist mostly of those people posting on it talking to each other over and over. It is more a social site for this reason and while Ad Astra posts really good material the responses confer an "in-house" flavour to any discussion.<br />The Opposition have chosen a path for this term of Government that seems to require them to play to the lowest common denominator and those in the media who don't care about anyone or anything other than themselves and their pay-packets.Alistair Baillieu-McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-51660347802403924612010-11-04T15:47:53.448+11:002010-11-04T15:47:53.448+11:00arguing for and supporting something because it is...arguing for and supporting something because it is right - how i would love to see that.<br /><br />it is time that somebody stood up and said that the way we treat asylum seekers is wrong, and that it is going to change whether people like it or not.firstkittenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11752756458763921286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-57311336374158145802010-11-04T14:37:27.728+11:002010-11-04T14:37:27.728+11:00Great The media has to carry a fair bit of the bla...Great The media has to carry a fair bit of the blame for this hysteria too. i had friends who turned upto the first Woodside meeting and said that it wasn't nearly as hostile and 'anti-refugee' as was portrayed on the box. <br /><br />The reality is that those refugees housed at places like Inverbrackie will be ones close to the end of the process who prima facie have strong claims and are likely to be granted protection.<br /><br />Abbott's comments are simply offensive and reek of Nazi propaganda, a deliberate attempt to dehumanise. It's ok for some people to be put in ghettos because they are somehow less than us and less deserving.<br /><br />ps. I did hear someone refer to Woodside as the Golden Grove of the Adelaide Hills lolNadinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-24431376144704493862010-11-04T13:32:34.550+11:002010-11-04T13:32:34.550+11:00While the smarmy abbott and co keep up this preten...While the smarmy abbott and co keep up this pretence that the refugees are evil people who break the law to get here the great unwashed beer swilling lib supporters will continue to show their true colours, red of neck, green of eye. black of heart. <br />While the rabble you see at these lib rallies probably dont read, either lazy or just illiterate , it would be an improvement if this article by Grog was handed out at these meetings so as to have an easily understood rebuttal of the rants of the lib organisers.<br />I agree with ernmalliescat once the refugees are settled the locals who are opposed may realise that they are pretty much like everyone else and only want to live without turmoil in their lives.tredlgtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-73356448458737997032010-11-04T12:04:20.592+11:002010-11-04T12:04:20.592+11:00I am not religious but Tony Abott's stand on r...I am not religious but Tony Abott's stand on refugees seems to be opposite of my limited understanding of the Christian faith. I note the church community is much more compassionate on this issue. I wrote this letter to the Herald back in July:<br /><br />http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/stop-vilifying-desperate-people-20100709-103wi.html<br /><br />We're last in the queue for logic<br /><br />We sent our elite soldiers into the dangerous war zones of Afghanistan, uninvited by its people, but ''freeze'' the application for refugee status of the same people fleeing the same war zones, who arrive uninvited on our shores. We worry about our declining birthrates and pay a bonus for more babies, but reject whole families knocking on our doors.<br /><br />We celebrate the courage of a 16-year-old sailing around the world in a high-tech yacht, but complain about ''queue jumping'' when asylum seekers risk their lives on leaky boats in the same treacherous seas.<br /><br />We swamp our airtime with discussions of a few thousand boat arrivals when vastly more come by air. Our Prime Minister talks about ''leadership'', ''moving forward'' and ''governing for all of Australia'', then crafts her policies on polling results of a few marginal seats. Our Opposition Leader is a devout Christian - but exactly which paragraph of the Bible teaches him to ''turn the boats around''?hannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434369190746987531.post-88390293926400091742010-11-04T11:57:56.436+11:002010-11-04T11:57:56.436+11:00Trung, a Timor Leste solution has at least three m...Trung, a Timor Leste solution has at least three major advantages over the Pacific solution for the Government.<br /><br />1: AS don’t have to pay smugglers to take them from Indonesia to somewhere near Australian waters in a leaky boat. They can take commercial inter island transport either direct to LT if there are regular direct links, or to West Timor and then a bus ride to the TL border where presumably transport will be provided to take them to the processing centre. Either way, it should be cheaper and much safer.<br /><br />2: The whole ‘boat people’ meme disappears. No more daily reports about another boat being intercepted. No more Opp demands to “STOP the BOATS.” The numbers game also becomes much harder for the Opp and media. The only one you might hear is how many AS have been accepted. Effectively, the boat people take on the same status as the much more numerous ‘airline people,’ i.e. invisibility.<br /><br />3: It saves us a lot of money. Less need to have patrol boats on permanent station and Coast Watch planes endlessly looking for AS, no having to transport them to Nauru, no having to ship all they need, food, clothes, water, toilet paper, etc, 3,500km to that speck in the vast briny. Most of what they need can be sourced in LT.morewestnoreply@blogger.com