DENISOVA HUMANS SHOULD BE RECOGNISED IN THE CONSTITUTION BEFORE ABORIGINES

by Richard Miller and Brian Simpson
According to current evolutionary anthropology, Denisova hominims or Denisovans were Paleolithic humans, or a sub-species of humans, who were first scientifically recognised in March 2010. Denisovans had a common origin with Neanderthals and the group ranged from Siberia to Southeast Asia – and now Australia. It is probable that interbreeding occurred with humans, probably from Denisovan females being taken for mating as males were killed by humans in warfare. About 6 percent of the DNA of Australian Aborigines is derived from the Denisovans, a surprising, under-advertised result from the first sequencing of the Aboriginal genome. (Nature News, 22 September 2011. - D. Reich et. al., American Journal of Human Genetics, vol.89, 2011)

This logically raises the issue of whether Aboriginals mated with the Denisovans before arriving in Australia, or whether this interaction occurred in Australia. The question is politically important.

A. Cooper and C. B. Stringer “Did the Denisovans Cross Wallace’s Line”, Science, vol.342, October 2013, pp. 321-323, argue that Denisovans almost certainly made it to Australia. There is no evidence of Denisovan DNA in Asia, but there is evidence of Denisovan DNA flow east of Wallace’s Line which separates Australia from Asia. The Denisovans arrived in this area about 600,000 years ago.
In an article published in The Australian (18 October 23013, p.5), Alan Cooper, an archaeologist at the University of Adelaide said that it would be “amazing” if the Denisovans did not enter Australia, having crossed Wallace’s Line. But in a sense they had, because their signature is in the DNA of modern Aborigines - even if they never made it to Australia, which is unlikely.

All this blows the Aboriginal recognition as a “first people” out of the water. The Denisovans would be classed as a “people”, even if a sub-species of Homo sapiens. If the Denisovans were here in Australia first, it is the Aborigines who are just recent migrants, even accepting the so-called “40,000-50,000” years date of occupying this land mass!

So, let’s have a campaign for Denisovan recognition – don’t discriminate between species of humans! Write to Tony Abbott and ask him about recognising the Denisovans as Australia’s “first people” not the Aborigines. Use this against the PC brigade when they argue for Aboriginal recognition; not, that it is quite likely there were earlier people. If they reject the rights of the Denisovans then ask: “What are you, some kind of RACIST?!”

Watch: ABC ‘Catalyst’:
Denisova Cave is a cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai mountains, Siberia, Russia. The cave is of great paleoarchaeological and paleontological interest.  

ABORIGINAL RECOGNITION: CONSTITUTIONAL ASSAULT MUST BE FOUGHT, NOW

by Ian Wilson LL.B.
The headlines read, “Recognition of Aborigines in Constitution ‘A Priority’ (The Australian 3 October 2013, p.4). This refers not to the former Rudd government, but to the new Attorney General George Brandis. Even though he says he is a “constitutional conservative”, he will (he “vows”) have to have a form of words settled by July next year (2014).
Yes, even saying he would repeal the race hate legislation (we have heard nothing from him lately) work on “developing constitutional change would begin immediately and be one of his priorities”. A priority – got that?
Be aware that Tony Abbott as well “used his election campaign launch to promise to devote his efforts to recognising indigenous Australians in the Constitution”.

There is no political opposition to this, so like the Republic push we need to campaign to defeat the referendum. I don’t see much point trying to convince Abbott and Brandis to abandon it. Better to fight it head on. Maybe the campaign can generate the momentum needed to fight the issues concerning us.

Gary Johns, “History Yes, Culture No”, (The Australian 8 October 2013, p.12) published an interesting piece on this issue. The focus of the article is on the Ernest Munda case, where this Aboriginal man murdered his common law wife. He was sentenced to prison for seven years and nine months, with a non-parole period of three years and three months.
At taxpayers’ expense an appeal was made to the High Court on the grounds that his circumstances as a “traditional” Aboriginal man were not adequately considered.
The appeal was dismissed with the High Court holding that a person’s background could be considered by the sentencing judge in mitigation, and presumably was. But in the future with Aboriginal recognition in the Constitution, Munda-style cases may yield lighter sentences.

The lighter sentence outcome will almost certainly come from the inclusion of “respecting the continuing cultures, languages and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”. Munda, as Gary Johns describes, was drunk and intoxicated on cannabis. He beat his wife up brutally, rammed her head into the walls, and repeatedly punched her in the face. He had sex with her, left the house and returned to find her dead from traumatic brain injury.
In 2009 Munda had received a suspended 12 months sentence for unlawfully causing grievous bodily harm to his wife – giving her “a fractured femur, tibia and right radius as well as deep lacerations to her forehead inflicted by a metal shovel”. The defendant wanted to receive less than three years and three months gaol for a brutal murder.

Constitutional change could result in the likes of Munda receiving less gaol time. Johns concludes by proposing that only a historic recognition be given to indigenous people, in the preamble, as the Constitution is a rule book not a story book. Well, by that argument, there should not be any change at all because politically correct judges are already interpreting the law to yield lighter sentences on cultural grounds and any, repeat any Constitutional change, even feel-good changes in the preamble will be used.
Do not trust the legal profession – lawyering is about the manipulation of the law. And that is what this fight is ultimately going to come to. In the present climate we simply cannot make any such change at all to the Constitution. Give the lawyers an inch and they will take a light year.  

THE LIBERALS ‘LET RIP’ ON NEO-LIBERALISM

by James Reed
Although Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has warned on 457 visa abuses by the capitalists (The Australian 22 October 2013, p.6), he remains a migration globalist, and a big immigration man. Business is screaming for the Coalition to repeal Labor’s weak crackdown on labour market testing requirements for 457 visa migrants. Big Business wants cheap non-white labour to exploit and a reserve army of unemployed to keep wages down. Yes, even Karl Marx got that part right.

Apart from that Morrison plans to reboot a “golden ticket” visa scheme for wealthy Asians and Middle Easterners. This will, he fantasizes, lure billions of dollars into projects here helping the economy. Dream on – think more globalist buy-ups of Aussie assets and industries with the profits flowing back to Asia. Has any foreign investment scheme ever helped us, rather than just making globalists richer? The northern tax zones, now championed by Barnaby Joyce (The Australian 22 October, 2013 p.1), will just further the foreign domination of Australia.

Labor’s principal weapon for our destruction was political correctness. Having pushed that agenda far enough for the time, the globalist’s new puppet, the Liberals, work on economic destruction of the Australian nation. That’s right, hit them with the Left fist, then hit them with the Right, and after a few decades of head-hits, the great unwashed won’t even know their own name.  

LORD MONCKTON ENTERS THE ‘TALENT’ INVESTMENT BUSINESS…

Let us be quite clear: The League is not promoting the ideas presented in the following article: “The Talent by Lord Monckton” The article is being circulated via emails. The purpose is to give just such an example of the thinking that promotes such schemes. The email begins with a summary of Lord Monckton’s work history:

“Christopher Monckton of Brenchley, high priest of climate skepticism, advised Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, wrote leaders for the Yorkshire Post, was editor of the Catholic paper The Universe, managing editor of the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, assistant editor of Today, and consulting editor of the Evening Standard. He invented the million-selling "Eternity Puzzles," "Sudoku X" and a promising treatment for infections.

Monckton writes:
“Mr Obama, at one of the many White House press conferences during the negotiations to persuade Congress to continue funding his administration, announced that he had “halved the nation’s deficit.” And so he had – by printing money to cover the other half. The Fed, whose mission was once to protect the nation’s currency, is now to protect the administration.

Not that the poodles of the press corps were going to point that out, of course. He can rely on them to say nothing, just as they have said nothing about his fraudulent “birth certificate” and his deliberate shutdown of war families’ benefits, war cemeteries, national parks and monuments that Congress had voted to continue to fund.

In three months’ time, the battle will commence again. This time, Obama will know he can rely absolutely on the poodles to tell his side of the story, and only his side. Whatever birth-certificate-like fiction he decides to peddle, he knows it will be faithfully repeated. What should we, the people, do? Can we any longer trust the institutions of the presidency, Congress, the Fed or the press to watch out for our money? The answer is No. Little by little, then, we are going to have to take the government of the nation into our own hands, directly. We must do this without violence and without breaking any law. We must use our wits. We must act at once.

To show what we can do, I am going to describe a simple, lawful project that will let us consign the Fed and its debased currency to the museum where they belong. The dollar, once the world’s reserve currency, is no longer fit for its purpose. We are going to bypass it by issuing and using our own money.
We won’t call it a “currency,” because that would fall foul of the law. For the same reason, not a single note will be printed and not a single red cent minted. We are going to bring money into the electronic age. And we are going to stop it inflating.
Our money will be honest money – something the Fed and all its predecessors in the United States have never succeeded in issuing. Our money will be 100 percent backed by assets managed by a professional board of fund managers.

Welcome to the Talent. Bring us your dollars, your pounds, your Mickey Mouse euros. All this Monopoly money is now valueless. We can – and we will – do without it. Suppose you bring us $10. We shall give you Talents in return, at that day’s rate of exchange. And how is the rate of exchange decided? By a simple division sum. Every day, like every bank, auditors for the Talent Asset Board will add up the value of all the assets it holds – bullion, specie, commodities, stocks, bonds, real estate – and divide it by the total number of Talents it has ever issued and not redeemed.

That division sum, whose result will be published daily, will tell everyone what one Talent is worth. For the Talent will have a real value, and that real value will determine its rate of exchange for worthless currencies like the pound and the dollar. So you will get the appropriate number of Talents for your $10. And the Talent Board will not hold on to your dollars for a single moment longer than it has to. It will buy real assets with your $10 and add them to the asset fund that backs the Talent. So, as the Talent rapidly grows, the asset fund is self-financing.

Fascinating DVD tells history of a nation’s people controlling the monetary system — not the government: “Jekyll Island: The Truth Behind the Federal Reserve”
Your Talents will go into your bank account, initially with the Talent Bank – an entity entirely separate from the Talent Asset Board. Eventually, all clearing banks will allow accounts denominated in Talents – once they’ve gotten used to the idea.
But what use is a currency you can’t spend? Where are the notes and coins?
Answer: in your billfold, right now. There you will find a credit or debit card. Use it to pay for any purchases you want from your Talent account, and the transaction will be converted at that day’s rate of exchange, just as you can if you go to Malaysia, say, and you want to buy a knick-knack priced in ringgits. You can even draw cash – but not in Talents, because we won’t print or mint.
Eventually, you will be able to carry a Talent cash card, which you can top up anywhere using your credit card and then use to buy small items by tapping a touch-pad on the retailer’s counter. In Hong Kong they already have these cash cards; they are called…

Elephant Cards. But what if you want your money back in dollars? No problem: Just exchange as many Talents as you want for dollars. You’ll get a nice surprise: You will get more dollars than you bought in for. Why? Because the value of the Talent asset fund will have risen, but inflation accelerated by Obama’s money-printing will have pushed the dollar down.
If you save in Talents, you will get a lower nominal rate of interest than you will get in dollars, but you will not have to pay tax on that element in the interest that purely compensates you for inflation, because inflation is history.
If you’re paid in Talents, you need never ask for an annual inflation-compensating pay raise at all, because the Talent won’t inflate. True, no absolute guarantee against inflation can be given, because there can be market crashes.

But a well-spread asset portfolio, geographically and sectorally, will provide maximum protection against market collapse. And, as time goes on, the Talent will be over-funded by about one-eighth, precisely to insure against widespread asset collapses. Once the Talent is available, others will copy it. Indeed, the smart guys, reading this article, will rush out to set up their own competitors before we’re even off the ground. So much the better. The more competition, the better the deal for the customer.
So long, then, Federal Reserve. It’s not been nice knowing you. You have made yourselves irrelevant. Go and get proper jobs. And don’t apply to the Talent Asset Board. We’re looking for serious, competent fund managers, not monkeys who have destroyed the nation’s currency. Gentle reader, write in to WND and let me know what you think of this modest proposal.”

In his ‘other life’ Christopher Monkton was an adviser to the Thatcher government.
Geoffrey Dobbs wrote of the Thatcher government in the Home journal, July 1988:
“The Conservatives have been returned to power three times under Mrs. Thatcher because they have tried, with some success, to encourage personal responsibility and initiative, to reward effort and merit, and to reduce taxation, bureaucracy and dependence on the State.
But there is also something very wrong about some results of their policies—about ‘privatisation’ that merely transfers assets from State bureaucracies to multinational financial bureaucracies, about policies that stimulate enormous and growing consumer debt and encourage ‘yuppyism’ and the ‘grab-now-pay-later’ mentality…
These evils are all a direct expression of the nature of money as debt (i.e. loan-credit) repayable with interest, which ultimately is impossible without borrowing more - the very essence and enforcement of the ‘grab-now-pay-later’ philosophy.”  

MONCKTON’S UTTER LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

by Wallace Klinck
A response to the ‘Talent’ investment proposals:
I give Lord Monckton some credit for his criticism of the "climate change" alarmists. The earth's climate has been changing from the beginning and will continue to do so quite regardless of what mankind thinks about the process or imagines that they might do to determine it's course. Carbon dioxide is absolutely essential to plant growth and its atmospheric content was higher in historic ages of much more luxuriant plant growth, which latter is essential to human and animal life. One volcanic eruption could many times over completely nullify any human efforts to moderate the earth's temperature through deliberate carbon dioxide reduction.

The point is, I believe, that those who suffer from the delusion (where it is a delusion and not a naked quest for power) that some form of overarching Global Governance will solve our major problems, are constantly fabricating more and more artificial crises and spectres of potential crises in order to justify increasing surrender of individual and national sovereignty. If significant climate changes do occur we will have to learn to adapt as we are able. We are not and surely never will be in a position to regulate the processes occurring in the sun.

The purpose of human existence and the nature of existing system of cost-accountancy:
With regard to his latest financial proposals, I think that these reveal his utter lack of understanding of both the purpose of human existence and the nature of the existing system of cost-accountancy---which latter he does not appear to consider in any way. I see no evidence that he has any conception of the true physical nature of cost [1] or that he has any effective policy to bring financial prices into line with natural cost [2] which is falling continuously with increases in technological efficiency.

There appears to be no recognition in his proposals of the need for an increasingly distributive system of money accountancy, per se--that is, of the implications of the so-called "problem" of "un-employment" where human labour is rapidly being made redundant through increasing real capitalization of industry by automatic processes.
One might infer also that he probably has no idea why new production must be financed by new credit. Douglas revealed how new money can be created to lower prices and that new issues are not inflationary if scientifically administered and accounted.

It seems that people are willing to consider any and every hare-brained, undisciplined and unscientific scheme other than Social Credit.
I think that Lord Monckton's proposals, however intended, are a mere flight from reality and that they constitute just one more diversion by which the public's attention is averted from financial and economic realism. Many rightly disillusioned and angry people seem so often to seek some rear-guard action of retreat rather than pursuing a direct and militant policy of demanding fundamental systemic change.

We must develop our knowledge, expertise and confidence so that we can confront the practitioners of financial "witchcraft" face-on and if it takes a "blunt blow between their eyes" to awaken them (or force them) to acknowledge financial and economic reality, so be it. We do not have to put up with the monstrous and insane travesties to which we are being subject with increasing ferocity and to do so constitutes an equally monstrous act of irresponsibility and immorality.

The utter failure of the policies of the current financial dispensation is rapidly bringing it into complete disrepute. Social Crediters should regard this as our great opportunity. We must be on the scene to give constructive direction to the changes that can be made and must come. We cannot afford to lose by default because we are led down the rabbit trail of every unsound and unscientific financial scheme which emerges on the scene.
It's high time that we realize and appreciate what a gem of realism we have in Social Credit as a legacy from C.H. Douglas and that we get focussed on the real issues. We have to bring relentless and decisive pressure upon the administrators of present financial and economic policy, but, we cannot do this effectively unless we demonstrate beyond all challenge that we are sound and consistent in our advocacy.
One of the best things we might do right now is to try and apprise Lord Monckton concerning the principles of sane financial policy. He appears to be an exceptionally motivated activist and if he could be brought "on board" with Social Credit he might prove to be a very valuable ally. You will note that I have included his e-mail address cmonckton@wnd.com. That is what I think of the situation.”

1. “An Introduction to Social Credit” by Dr. Bryan W. Monahan

2. “Social Credit and National Accounting” by Victor Bridger

THE QUESTIONS POSED BY DOUGLAS IN 1931 ARE STILL RELEVANT

In “The Monopoly of Credit” Clifford Hugh Douglas asked:

How is it possible for a world which is suffering from over-production to be in economic distress? Where does money come from? Why should we economise when we are making too many goods? How can an unemployment problem, together with a manufacturing and agricultural organisation which cannot obtain orders, exist side by side with a poverty problem? Must we balance our budget? Why should we be asked to have confidence in our money system, if it works properly? It is hoped that answers to these and similar questions will be suggested by a perusal of the following pages.

One of the first results of this awakening interest has been a demonstration of the distance which separates exact knowledge from popular understanding of the methods by which the ordinary necessities of life and the amenities of civilised existence are placed at the disposal of individuals in the modern world. If this ignorance were of a purely negative nature, the situation would be sufficiently disquieting. But unfortunately that is not the case.

Particularly in regard to finance, which may be termed the nerve system of distribution, most people hold, with some persistence, ideas which are both incorrect and misleading, and are supported in their disinclination to change these views by sectional interests of great potency and ability in the attainment of their own objectives, which superficially seem well served by the prevailing ignorance.

No just appreciation of this situation is possible which does not take into consideration the peculiar, and perhaps unique, position occupied by finance in the organisation of modern society in every country. Finance, i.e., money, is the starting point of every action which requires either the co-operation of the community or the use of its assets. If it be realised that control of its mechanism gives, to a major extent, control of both personal and organised activity, it is easy to see that education, publicity, and organised Intelligence (in the sense in which the word “Intelligence” is used in military circles) can be controlled, first to minimise the likelihood of criticism arising, and should it arise, depriving it of all the normal facilities for effective action.
Finance can, and does control policy, and as has been well said by an American writer, Charles Ferguson} “control of credit and control of the news are concentric.”…” Important further reading: “The Douglas Manual”

IT’S FOOD JIM, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT

by James Reed
The great Mike Adams, the “Health Ranger” at Natural News.com has had his food scientists do a study via the microscope of some chicken Nuggets and publicised the results in 16 August, 2013 edition. The article has amazing colour photographs of strange dark fibres in the “food”; “dark black hair-like structures sticking out of the nugget mass, as well as light blue egg-shaped structures with attached tail-like hairs or fibres.”
It was something out of a horror movie and made my stomach churn. Disclaimer: It doesn’t take much to make my stomach churn.
Adams in a Natural News.com entry 5 October 2013 reports on more work done on the chicken nuggets. He cites an article at The Atlantic 4 October 2013, reporting on a scientific investigation into the mysterious contents of these alleged “food” items. The paper is by Richard de Shazor (et. al.), “The Autopsy of Chicken Nuggets Reads “Chicken Little”,” American Journal of Medicine, 2013 :
The conclusion is that the so-called chicken nuggets consisted of over 50 per cent fat with the rest muscle, some blood vessels and nerves. The fat content reached as high as 58 percent with as little as 18 percent protein in a sample. Is it any wonder that there is an epidemic of obesity and obesity-related disease!

I nominate the nugget to be a symbol of the decline of our civilisation because this “construction” is a perfect metaphor for our world today.

SADLY…. NO “GLOBAL CATASTROPHE”… YET

by James Reed
What – the world’s still here! Economic scribblers were starting to get a little worried that the US shutdown could have spiralled into a global catastrophe because US government bonds and treasury notes keep the global economy, well, “regular”. A loss of confidence by nervous bankster gangsters would lead to the global economy becoming more than a little constipated. Dumping these liquid assets would wipe out banks, leading to a ‘financial meltdown’.
But it didn’t happen, obviously enough because Republicans are part of the game plan. Not to worry though, the evil day – no, no, no – the glorious day of collapse has just been put off as the US debt just keeps going up.

The farce though did yield a great picture of Prezzy Obama visiting a Washington food aid centre where furloughed federal workers were volunteering in sandwich making. (The Australian, 16 October 2013, p.7) Obama has an apron on, seemingly making sandwiches for the cameras. He arrogantly tilts his head and puts his right hand to his ear to hear better the cheers from the legions of his loyal subjects. Amongst the sandwiches he looks very much the ‘king of the lunch’.  

SURVIVING THE COMING CRASH

by John Steele
Mike Adams (Natural News.com 14 October 2013 “EBT Recipients Ransack Wal-Mart Stores”) reported on what happened in early October when the US federal EBT food stamp system failed. Local retailers were no longer connected to the food stamp database and so could not track how much credit was left on each EBT card.

Card holders went on a rampage “ransacking” stores, and taking shopping trolleys of groceries and charging them to the non-working EBT cards, which had a false unlimited account balance. When the EBT database came back online, the slower fraudsters simply left their shopping trollies, shrugged their shoulders and walked out. In a time when the social welfare safety net completely breaks, guess what they will do.  

THE MACHINE STOPS Series

by Arnis Luks:
The Machine is ‘limping along’, badly in need of attention and repairs, and those within it caught up within their artificial surroundings and oblivious to any approaching catastrophe. If The Machine broke down suddenly, it would be back to basics very quickly for the occupants who survived. And so, we as realists, should take stock of our own situations.

We would have to not only fend for ourselves but take into account what that means for our community or city, etc. The fact is, we must take stock of our situation, both family and community wise.
For my family, after tallying what immediate food stocks and available water we have in store, and how long these items will last, the next question would be: What else can I produce, how do I trade for other needs, and what can I use as a means of exchange?....

My Willing Workers: I keep bees, so, my 50,000 workers in each hive, produce an abundance of honey for themselves and some extra for us. Our part in this arrangement is to ensure the hives are clean and sealed, there is sufficient flower in their location (ground, bush and tree) and there is also an ample supply of water close by.
Honey is an amazing product. I can use it to eat (brain food), to sell at markets (coin of the land) or just to store for a rainy day. What makes it most interesting is that it can readily be traded for kind rather than cash. The producer can claim ‘as his own’ a means of exchange at a fair rate. One pot of honey should get you two cabbages or two caulies without too much fuss.

Early Colonial History - The ‘Rum” Trade: A Governor representing the British government ruled the penal colony of New South Wales… Note and coin money was in short supply, so a complex barter system developed which was controlled by those who had access to goods – particularly food, clothing and alcohol. Convicts and lower ranking military were regularly paid in goods, rather than money, and the most popular form of payment was rum. The NSW Corps involvement in this system led to its nickname in the 1790s – the Rum Corps. Source: New South Wales Government Site
There’s a little early Australian history for you. Further to that, a neighbour once commented that in Romania, due to food shortages the common people more readily traded honey than gold.

It is early in the honey season and we have just completed the ‘first take’. We hope it is a sign of a good season ahead. Beata and I are de-capping the frames and spinning them to extract the honey. We are in discussions as to what options we have with the honey produced. The car needs new tyres, downstairs needs a ceiling, there are council rates due; all normal stuff but a different approach is needed because we have accepted that the honey is an acceptable means of exchange and is a claim on real wealth for tyres, downstairs ceiling or for council rates, which we will need to exchange some honey for coin of the land.

The next question is “will the tyre man be willing to accept so many pots of honey for a set of new tyres for the car”? If he DOES NOT, then it will be my task to exchange the pots of honey with someone else for something he will accept in exchange for the tyres. This may be done by selling door to door or attending a community market for coin of the land, or involving another commodity that he may accept.
The KEY to this way of thinking is to produce something that will readily be traded and members of the community have need of. If I produce ballet shoes but everyone is into rugby, that would not work. This allows each community group to have their own means of exchange to trade amongst themselves. Lucky the person who can make shoes or turn other raw materials into a valuable commodity that everybody needs!
It is ironic that when old beekeepers ‘fall off the perch’ their equipment, (something I consider quite valuable) can go to the next generation, for usually very little effort. It is usually not a question of money.

Matthew 17:24-27: The Temple Tax
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”“Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” NIV

LETTER TO THE CEO OF RURAL CITY OF WANGARATTA

ACEO Kevin Spiller, August 8th 2013
Rural City of Wangaratta, 3676.
Dear Sir,
I thank Mayor Rozi Parisotto for her explanation of the abandonment of the referendum for Constitutional Recognition of Local Government published in Wangaratta Chronicle 7th August 2013.
I also note the Minister LG Jeanette Powell MP and Bill Sykes MP Member for Benalla “have both expressed their joy” the referendum will not be held. The political activity of the Municipal Association Victoria has reduced respect for individual Councils.
It is now clear Victoria Local Government is legally administered under state government legislation.
This raises questions about an advertisement in Rural City Connection, Wangaratta Chronicle 2nd August 2013.
Executive Officer Hume Strategy Partnership. The contact given is Paul Sommerville, Manager Projects & Contracts on 5722 0888 (RCOW number).
The position is to effectively and efficiently implement the Hume Strategy for Sustainable Communities 2010-2020 regional plan on behalf of Hume Strategy Partnership members.
• The Partnership includes the Federal Government appointed and controlled Regional Development Australia committee,
• Hume Regional Management Forum.
• North East Local Government Network which I understand is responsible to the Victorian Government.
Does this position have legal significance ?
The former Rural City of Wangaratta Council acknowledged membership of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.
A Notice in the Victorian Government Gazette G27 4th July 2013 announces introduction of a by-law to alter the administration of the Water Act 1989.
I have made a submission of objection to this change which to my knowledge has not been discussed locally although it has huge implications.
This year I found RCOW Budget paper much easier to follow. I am not qualified in financial management but was able to understand Council objectives.
May I encourage Council to review its ways of communication with residents and ratepayers. We need to know what is going on and the reasons for change.

Alison G Walpole ....................... acknowledged as at 9th September 2013
Whorouly South, Victoria.
Rural resident rate payer.