Words the 2020 summit initial report tries not to use

So quickly after the final session closed yesterday was the Australia 2020 summit initial report (with pictures) posted on its website that one has to wonder if some of the pages were typed in anticipation of workshop outcomes.

 

The 40-page initial report covering the official 10 topics is here.

 

Using Acrobat Find to count, it is remarkable for those words it seldom uses or uses not at all, across these forty pages which cover everything from the economy to an alleged call for a republic.

 

democracy used twice

democratic not used at all

equality    used once

equity       used once as a financial term

justice       used once as in 'justice system'

fairness     used once

fairgo        not used at all

rights        used seven times, but two of these as in 'property rights'

welfare      used three times

humanity   not used at all

freedom(s) used three times   

protection(s) used twice

share(ed/ing) used eleven times, but eight of these referred to data/information sharing or sharing priorities/topics/aspirations 

caring       used three times

disadvantage used seven times, but once was as a paragraph heading

regional     used twenty-four times, but seven of these were as international descriptions

 

The people who supposedly decided on the language are here.

Based on simple maths they are each responsible for about 0.04 parts of one page.

North Coast music industry Dolphin Awards to be held at Lismore on 30 April 2008

It's time for those Dolphin music awards again.

 

The Dolphin Awards, co-ordinated by the North Coast Entertainment Industry Association, will be staged at ONE nightclub, next door to Mary Gilhooley's Irish bar in Lismore on April 30.

The night will feature the best of North Coast talent and reward the efforts of artists and industry workers in numerous award categories.

There will also be live performances by Diana Anaid, Invisible Friend and Andy Holm, and a DJ.

Co-ordinator Rod Tyson described the event as the North Coast's answer to the ARIAs.

"It's a good starting off point for some of these bands," he said.

"The North Coast has the biggest concentration of music and artists in all of Australia."

This year, the event will be sponsored by Splendour in the Grass, and in the next 12 months the Dolphin Awards and Splendour are also joining to host a number of youth-focused events, including a proposed gig called Bands in the Park.

"We're happy to be on board to support the Dolphin awards which are a great showcase of North Coast talent," Splendour representative Darcy Condon said.

Spivs Inc (NSW) and Developers Unlimited are at it again

The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday.

 

THE State Government plans to give its agencies and councils power to compulsorily acquire private land to re-sell to developers at a profit - or, if they choose, at a reduced price so the developers make even more money.

Legal authorities describe as "quite remarkable" a section of new planning laws flagged by the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, to acquire land by force to onsell to private developers.

"A man's home may no longer be his castle, but it could well end up being somebody else's castle," said Anthony Whealy, a planning expert with Gadens Lawyers. "It will certainly be welcome news to many in the development game.

"Under the current law, the minister is not able to re-sell land which has been acquired or transfer it to another person. The new scheme expressly allows that, and makes it clear that it may be done as part of a profitable proposal by a private developer."

 

The last time New South Wales was perceived to be so thoroughly in the hands of big business interests (not all of these of spotless corporate character) was in the 1970s and 80s.

Some of the development companies operating in this state right now were unfavourably mentioned during government inquiries, royal commissions and even one coroner's inquest during that period.

Quite a few of the most generous political donors have business interests on the NSW North Coast.

Planning Minister Frank Sartor and the rest of the Iemma Government may protest about media beat ups, but they have done nothing to dispel the idea that NSW Labor is blatantly 'on the take' and just as susceptible to brown paper bag deliveries as that not so long ago Coalition Askin Government.

Indigenous delegation heads for UN to protest Rudd Government policy

ABC News reported on Friday.

 

The National Aboriginal Alliance is taking its concerns about the Northern Territory intervention to the United Nations.

A delegation leaves today for the annual UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York.

Delegation Leader Les Malezer says parts of the intervention, like income management, breach United Nations charters on racial discrimination and human rights.

"What we hope to do is at least make people aware internationally of the extent of racial discrimination that occurs only against Aboriginal people in Australia and that continues despite changes of government," he said.

"Despite decades of supposed reforms in Australia, it's still the most discriminatory place in the world."

 

On the same day The Age published an article on Australian National University researchers.

 

A GROUP of academics predict it could take 2000 years to bridge the gap in the median household income of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

Before the 2020 Summit, the Australian National University researchers have warned that the Rudd Government needs a "fundamentally new policy framework" if it is serious about closing gaps in social outcomes for Aborigines.

Jon Altman, Nicholas Biddle and Boyd Hunter, from the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, examined census data from 1971 to 2006 to chart trends. They found that most socio-economic outcomes for indigenous people have improved in the past 35 years.

The number of indigenous people getting qualifications after school and employment in the private sector has improved. And if current trends and policy persist, gaps in these areas could be bridged within 35 years.

But gaps are not closing in areas such as the unemployment rate, male and female life expectancy and median incomes. The latter is partly to do with the rise in incomes for non-indigenous workers.

 

Full copy of April 2008 ANU study here.

 

Kevin Rudd's Australia 2020 summit has a big job ahead of it and only two days to come up with a new way to approach the issue of inequality and racism.

This is an impossible task and may only increase general dissatisfaction with the Federal Government's handling of indigenous affairs.