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MEDIA ALERT: MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FOR PREVENTION OF WAR, AUSTRALIA
TIME TO TALK TROOP WITHDRAWAL
Why aren’t Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott debating Australia’s military contribution in Afghanistan?
Australia’s biggest current defence deployment is to Afghanistan, yet as Dutch troops are moving out, neither the ALP nor the Liberal Party has yet released their official foreign affairs policy in the campaign. None of their policy statements show any indication of a real exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Dr Bill Williams, President of MAPW, today called for the major parties to get serious about Australia’s troop commitments: ‘Why are Liberal and Labour marching in lockstep? Their policies will determine the fates of our servicemen and -women in the increasingly violent conflict in Afghanistan over the next three years. Let’s hear what they are going to do.’
A Lowy Institute poll this earlier year found that 54% of respondents believed that Australia “should not continue to be militarily involved in Afghanistan”, an increase of 3% compared to 2009.
‘This is an increasingly deadly and increasingly unpopular war: allied casualties are at an all-time high,’ said Dr Williams. ‘It’s time to downsize the military commitment and get down to talking peace with all parties in Afghanistan’.
MAPW proposes withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and a strategy of nation building through development aid and projects that foster democratic government to promote the peace and security agenda.
‘We must respect the right and capacity of Afghans themselves to sort out what happens next, and supporting them constructively in this. This means supporting an internal peace process in which all parties are involved, including the Taliban’
For comment and further information contact:
Dr Bill Williams
President, Medical Association for Prevention of War
bill.williams
For analysis of party statements to date see:
http://www.mapw.org.au/download/mapw-analysis-afghanistan-election-policies-5-august-2010
Dr Williams is a GP in rural Victoria.
Nancy Atkin
Executive Officer
Medical Association for Prevention of War
www.mapw.org.au
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LinkedinThursday, 5th August 2010
Greens launch justice reinvestment initiative
Senator Scott Ludlam has launched the Australian Greens ‘Justice Reinvestment’ initiative in Adelaide this morning, as an urgent measure to reduce crime and increase community safety.
“Justice reinvestment is a proven strategy for reducing crime and redirecting funding to wherever it is needed most,” Australian Greens Legal Affairs spokesperson Scott Ludlam said.
First emerging in the United States, the approach targets areas of high offending and invests in community programs, services and a legal safety net. As crime and incarceration rates fall, the money saved from building and expanding prisons is further invested in diversionary strategies and crime prevention.
The model has now been rolled out in ten US States, Canada and the UK. In Australia it has been championed by the Australian Human Rights Commission.
“We propose that the Commonwealth Government, through the Standing Committee of Attorneys General (SCAG), initiate the national rollout of Justice Reinvestment strategies in conjunction with the states and territories. There is no area more deserving of Commonwealth, State and Territory collaboration than access to justice, and addressing skyrocketing rates of Aboriginal incarceration.
“We have moved to implement the unanimous recommendation of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee’s 2009 ‘Access to Justice’ report, which stated: ‘federal, state and territory governments recognise the potential benefits of justice reinvestment, and develop and fund a justice reinvestment pilot program for the criminal justice system.’
“It is time to work together cooperatively, to properly fund access to justice measures,” Senator Ludlam said.
Media Contact: Fernando de Freitas
Fernando de Freitas
Media Advisor
Office of Scott Ludlam
Australian Greens Senator for Western Australia
Suite S1.36 Parliament House, Canberra ACT
P: 02 6277 3467
Fernando.defreitas
www.GreensMPs.org.au
CampaignTranscript
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH LYNDAL CURTIS
ABC AM
5 AUGUST 2010
E & O E – PROOF ONLY
Subjects: Kevin Rudd; Health and hospitals; Fast rail; Economy
CURTIS: We’ve been joined from our Townsville studio by the Prime Minister who’s campaigning in Townsville today. Julia Gillard, welcome to AM.
PM: Good morning Lyndal.
CURTIS: Kevin Rudd says he’s campaigning for the re-election of the Government. Would you like to campaign together or might that be the distraction he fears he might be?
PM: Well certainly Kevin and I will have a chat in coming days and I would welcome him on the campaign trail. What he was saying last night is what, I think, he and I share as a set of beliefs. We share deep beliefs about the future of this country and we know what happens on the 21st of August will determine so much of that future. So Kevin, obviously still recovering and he talked last night about how keyhole surgery might be more than it seems. The word keyhole tends to imply that it’s not all that much but actually it is a big thing to recover from, but clearly he will be campaigning for the re-election of the Government. I welcome that and I know that it is fuelled by the beliefs that we share in this country’s future and how we best build for that future.
CURTIS: He said last night he was relaxed about the job he got after, if you are re-elected. He was asked specifically about the question of the Foreign Ministry but he also talked about passions in Indigenous Affairs and climate change – getting a global agreement there. Will it be important to find him a job that he’s passionate about?
PM: Kevin Rudd is a man of enormous capabilities and obviously he is a man with public policy passions in many areas. Of course, he’s spent a lifetime in Foreign Affairs, what first got him really active and interested in politics was this fascination with China and our place in the world and he went on as a Member of Parliament and then as Prime Minister to exhibit other passions. I mean, he wrote an amazing page in this nation’s history when he delivered the apology to the Stolen Generations.
So Kevin – enormous capabilities. He’s going to be a senior member of the team if we’re re-elected and obviously there are a wide variety of roles that he could serve in. I’ll talk to him about that if we’re re-elected, but I think what Kevin’s saying, what I’m saying is our focus is on that all important choice on election day. For the day after, I’d want to see Kevin serving as a senior member of the team if we’re re-elected in an area where he’s got enthusiasm and passion.
CURTIS: He says he doesn’t want to stand idly by at the prospect of Tony Abbott sliding into Government by default. What does that say about Labor’s chances at this election?
PM: Well I think once again Kevin would be seeing the election campaign and he would be saying to the Australian people what I’ve been saying which is that this is a tough, close contest. A photo finish. The outcome is in the balance and consequently Kevin, even though he is still recovering from surgery, is enthusiastic for campaigning for the re-election of the government because he knows the things that he cares deeply about turn on this election outcome. The common beliefs that he and I share about keeping the economy strong and the importance of work. The common beliefs he and I share about education, getting every kid a chance, of course he’s a kid from a State school who went on to great things. His life was transformed by education. He’s got that passion to see every Australian child get a great education and, of course, he’s a man with a great deal of fluency and competency in our nation’s role in the world and a man with real passion for closing the gap for Indigenous Australians – all of these things are part of the election campaign and part of why Kevin is enthusiastic for campaigning for the re-election of the government.
CURTIS: If we could go to a area of health, that Labor’s long regarded as one of its strengths. Tony Abbott today is promising more hospital beds and incentives for after-hours GP services. That’s been welcomed by the AMA. Given his mental health policy was also welcomed by experts in the area – is he getting closer than you are to delivering what the professionals want in health?
PM: Well I’m all for delivering what the Australian people need in health and that requires health reforms and, of course, we’ve just been talking about Kevin and his contributions on the national stage. He made a major contribution in putting health reform front and centre of what the Labor Government has been doing. And that –
CURTIS: Is it is important though, what the professionals say that they need?
PM: Oh look, of course what the professionals have to say is important. Designing the health care system for the future is important and what I stand for, what the Government stands for is making sure that we train more doctors, more nurses, give people access to more elective surgery, get them through waiting departments in emergency quicker than before. These are all central to our health reforms. That requires change at every level and it requires new resources. Of course, Mr Abbott’s plans when you look at them add up to no new doctors, no new nurses, no quicker access in emergency departments, no quicker access to elective surgery and no real local control or say about what happens in local hospitals.
CURTIS: But he is promising local hospital boards. He’s actually promising to devolve the running of the hospitals right down to the local hospital level.
PM: Well Lyndal, let’s just take one little step back and remind ourselves we’re talking about health care promises from a man who was one of the longest-serving Health Ministers in the nation’s history and his legacy was a billion dollars out of public hospitals, cuts in GP training places so we’re short of GPs now, not responding to an emerging crisis in the number of nurses and, of course, his track record with health policy is he wanders around in election campaigns going rock solid, iron clad guarantee about the things that he says and then, of course, five minutes after the election they turn to dust. So it’s actually, take a look at history and learn the lessons about how that informs us on what Mr Abbott does on health, as opposed to what he might say about health, which are always two very different things.
CURTIS: But didn’t you promise things in the last election that you didn’t deliver? Things like Fuel Watch and Grocery Watch, you haven’t brought in an ETS yet.
PM: Oh Lyndal, let’s take a step back. What have we delivered? A 50 per cent increase in health care funding, in hospital funding. Why did we need to do that? Because Mr Abbott left our hospitals starved of funds. What difference has that made for people? Well access to tens of thousands of extra elective surgery places. What else have we done? Well we’ve started delivering GP Super Clinics. We’re committed to delivering the GP After Hours Hotline. These are all things that Mr Abbott would take away and we’re training more doctors and nurses – 1,300 new GPs, 3,000 new nurses in the next three years because Mr Abbott left us short of both.
CURTIS: You’re promising a $20 million feasibility study to look at high speed rail along the eastern seaboard. That’s something that the Greens want. Are you doing this to curry some favour with the Greens given that you’re not going to cave in to what they want on the mining tax and emissions trading when you, if you get back into Government?
PM: Lyndal the policies we announce are the policies we believe in because they’re in the national interest. They’re not about currying favour with any other political party. There are no deals or arrangements on policy matters between the Labor Party and the Greens political party. I know Tony Abbott has been trying to raise fear about this. It’s simply not true. What that policy from Minister Albanese is about is responding, of course, to the huge growth in the Sydney-Newcastle corridor and so we’ll look, through a feasibility study at light rail, high speed rail.
CURTIS: Finally Prime Minister, I spoke to some of your colleagues last night. Their opinions on your chances or the Government’s chances range from all the potential from now is on the upside right through to someone who was saying that you’re gone and the Opposition will win by six seats. Where do you stand on the spectrum of optimism?
PM:I stand on the spectrum of determination Lyndal. This is tough. It’s close. We’re coming at it as the underdogs. I’m in the fight of my life and I’m going to be out there fighting every day with every member of the Labor team, including Kevin Rudd, saying to the Australian people the choice on the 21st of August is a big choice about the future of the nation. Do we want to keep the economy strong? Do we want people to have the benefit of jobs and economic growth? We made the better set of judgements when the global financial crisis threatened. We’ll make the better judgements for the future with the better plan that we have for the future and, of course, if you care about your child being in a good school, if you’re worried about being able to get access to decent health care, we stand for investing in those things and despite Mr Abbott’s words today his track record is one of cuts and his policy in this campaign is to cut back expenditure on schools and take away health services that people rely on – no new doctors, no new nurses, no quicker access to elective surgery, no quicker access in the emergency department, no ability to ring a hotline late at night when you need a general practitioner and no GP Super Clinics.
CURTIS: Julia Gillard, thank you very much for your time.
PM: Thanks Lyndal.
COMMUNICATIONS UNIT: Phone: (02) 9384 2220 | Fax: (02) 9264 2213
AUTHORISED N.MARTIN for the ALP, 5/9 Sydney Ave. Barton ACT.
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CampaignTranscript
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH ALEX CHAMBERS
ABC FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND
5 AUGUST 2010
E & O E – PROOF ONLY
Subjects: Townsville commitments.
CHAMBERS: Hi there, I’m Alex Chambers. It’s 26 minutes to nine on 630 ABC North Queensland. And it’s only been just over two and a half weeks since the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, was in Townsville. I spoke to her earlier this morning to find out exactly what she’s doing here again. I started off by asking her that Tony Abbott has just been to Townsville. He’s promised $21 million for upgrading Blakey’s Crossing, $2 million for aged care beds and $45 million towards a new entertainment centre. So what is Labor offering Herbert? And this is what she had to say.
PM: Well, I’m here today and I will be here with our fantastic Labor candidate, Tony Mooney, who of course is so well known to the people of Townsville, and if he is elected at the forthcoming election, I think would be an amazing and passionate advocate for this local community. And with him today I am going to commit that a re-elected Gillard Government will construct stage four of the Townsville ring road. We will deliver it. I know that there’s growth in this community, I know that’s putting pressure on local roads – the number of cars growing by the thousands each year. This is the right solution for the future and we will build it.
CHAMBERS: The front page of the local paper today says that there is $200 million in funding for this area here. Would this be right?
PM: The amount we will commit is up to $160 million – that’s 80 per cent of the cost. We will consult with our expert infrastructure body, Infrastructure Australia, but we will be delivering that if we are re-elected to get this job done.
CHAMBERS: Now another issue that’s been quite big around lately is the new entertainment convention centre. Tony Abbott actually mentioned the other day that the Opposition, if elected, they promised $45 million towards a new centre in Townsville. Can Labor match that?
PM: Well, Tony Mooney has raised this with me and it’s been raised with my by local community members here and I will continue to consider that matter, but obviously we thought that the priority was to commit this $160 million today to make a difference to the shape of the way that Townsville moves, the way the traffic moves, to take pressure off, to enable local families, local businesses to move around.
CHAMBERS: So this is what you’ve been hearing from Townsville people? They want the upgrade of the road?
PM: Well, I think the upgrade of the road is so important to the future. I mean, without action the traffic volumes that you’re going to see on Shaw Road and the Bruce Highway, the intersection there, are going to reach 64,000 vehicles a day by 2021. 64,000. Now this is the plan that will take that pressure away.
CHAMBERS: Now I’ve also heard that you might be providing some funding for James Cook University this morning as well. What does that entail?
PM: You have a fantastic university here, and it’s a fantastic university because it’s got a real sense of how it’s going to work with and serve this local community and a real sense of what it means to be in the tropical north. We’ve invested a great deal in the university and we want to keep investing. What we want to create is a new centre of research excellence that’s going to support a team of researchers to investigate ways to help with healthcare; we’re talking about health professionals bringing the best of their expertise, focused here in the university. And of course, the university and its knowledge comes out into the community here because it’s got that great sense of place.
CHAMBERS: Another issue that I was going to raise: will you be visiting Palm Island while you’re here? I know the Palm Island mayor, Alf Lacey, would like you to go over there and see what it’s like. Do you have any plans to go there?
PM: Look, I’m not in a position to get to Palm Island today, I’m afraid, but in a future visit would be happy to do so.
CHAMBERS: He was wanting to have a chat about jobs for people on Palm Island and economic development. Do you see that you’d be able to make time to get over there at some stage?
PM: Well, look, I’m not in a position to do that today but I’m always happy to talk to people about jobs and economic development. Jobs, the economy, is at the centre of this campaign. Nothing more important to me, nothing more important to the track record of what the Government has done than investing, supporting jobs at a difficult time in the global economy. Global financial crisis threatened, we made the right judgment to support jobs here and around the nation. Mr Abbot would have made another judgment, the wrong judgment, to allow 200,000 people to go onto the dole queues. For the future, we will keep making the better judgments if elected to have a platform of stability and a strong economy, then we can build for other things but we’ve got to keep people working.
CHAMBERS: Prime Minister Gillard, thanks for your time.
PM: Thanks very much.
COMMUNICATIONS UNIT: Phone: (02) 9384 2220 | Fax: (02) 9264 2213
AUTHORISED N.MARTIN for the ALP, 5/9 Sydney Ave. Barton ACT.
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August 5, 2010
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