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Australia
‘Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ 6,000-word essay, recently published in left-wing publication The Monthly, shows conservatives were correct in predicting the Albanese Labor government would be a meddling, bigger-spending, anti-capitalist nightmare.
However, while there is an understandable temptation to label Chalmers’ love letter to big government as “socialism”, that’s not quite right.
It embodies something that could prove far worse.
Chalmers’ promise to “redesign markets for investment in social purposes, based on common metrics of performance” sounds innocuous.
As does his purported optimism that “2023 will be the year we build a better capitalism” that is “uniquely Australian”.
However, this supposedly better capitalism, or “values-based capitalism”, as he puts it, is not uniquely Australian.
It’s been virulently propagated internationally for decades by the likes of Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), under the banner of “stakeholder capitalism”, and is a core component of the WEF’s Great Reset initiative.
The Great Reset is a proposed alliance between big government and big business to “reset” the global economy post-pandemic, by pushing companies to adopt “Environmental, Social, and Governance” (ESG) policies as a condition of operation.
ESG policies are characterised by identity politics and radical climate action, and are determined in part by faceless, unelected corporate elites.
It’s not socialism; it’s neo-feudalism.
ESG policies are the “values” of Chalmers’ “values-based capitalism”.
We know this because his essay bears a striking resemblance to the type of stakeholder capitalism outlined in Klaus Schwab’s 2022 co-written book, The Great Narrative, a sort of sequel to his 2020 book The Great Reset.
This, for anyone who holds right-of-centre values, should be cause for alarm.
Chalmers describes a core component of values-based capitalism as enabling investors “to work out the climate-risk rating of a firm just as a lender can work out a credit-risk rating”.
“In 2023, we will create a new sustainable finance architecture, including a new taxonomy to label the climate impact of different investments. That will help investors align their choices with climate targets, help businesses who want to support the transition get finance more easily…This strategy begins with climate finance,” he continues.
Similarly, in The Great Narrative, Schwab says stakeholder capitalism “welcomes the idea of legislative action to define with precision the benchmarks for ESG reporting and performance”.
My essay in @THEMONTHLY out tomorrow in hard copy or read it here: https://t.co/IxeNPWsazE#auspol #ausecon pic.twitter.com/gktOUGH6Nf— Jim Chalmers MP (@JEChalmers) January 29, 2023
“In the same way that companies have an obligation to report their financial results…in the not-too-distant future they will have a similar obligation to report on ESG metrics… governments will make the last call for setting the legal obligations, targets and incentives around ESG standards.”
Ultimately, the purpose of both values-based and stakeholder capitalism is to justify politicians working with corporations to create big government policies, and insidiously exert the kind of control over markets and individuals that, in isolation, is unpalatable to your average voter.
This is the antithesis of democracy.
Jim Chalmers can claim all he wants that his values-based capitalism is the right thing for Australians, but he seems to forget that values are often subjective.
While he may believe that markets geared towards controlling citizen’s behaviour is a moral good, others (like me) believe this is – at best – overly stubborn.
Chalmers would do well to remind himself of this before he positions himself as the last word on Australia’s so-called “national goals”.’https://www.skynews.com.au/insights-and-analysis/jim-chalmers-valuesbased-capitalism-takes-a-page-straight-out-of-the-great-resets-neofeudalistic-playbook/news-story/d8b32e97ea2a060d4d5d9deeddba44f8
‘Australians may be encouraged to get a fifth Covid shot as winter approaches, federal Health Minister Mark Butler said this week.
Butler told the ABC’s 7.30 program that the government was waiting on health advice regarding the additional booster shots for the general population.
He said the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation was due to provide a recommendation soon.
ATAGI recommended in November against people getting a fifth Covid vaccine because evidence from Singapore showed a fifth shot had only a “trivial” effect on case numbers.
Currently only adults with a severely compromised immune system are eligible for the shot.
Butler said although Covid case numbers had fallen to around 6500 per day this month, compared to 15,000 per day in December, it was important Australians started to prepare now for winter.
“We need to think about additional communications campaigns to the community about the need for them to consider very seriously getting those additional boosters, and that work is underway in government right now as well,” he said.‘https://www.rebelnews.com/australia_may_encourage_5th_covid_shot_as_winter_approaches?
‘Not even Kangaroo meat has been spared from the cost of living crisis currently gripping the nation.
The price of roo meat has soared from around $10 a kilo to almost $40 a kilo as a combination of wet weather, government regulation and a declining number of shooters puts pressure on supply.
A meat expert quoted in the Daily Mail said increased rainfall meant paddocks had become inaccessible to kangaroo shooters.
“This makes it extremely difficult to shoot and retrieve kangaroos without getting bogged,” he said.
He added that the difficulty in obtaining a government license to shoot kangaroos had put many shooters off the industry.
“To be a shooter you need to have a ute capable of carrying and processing carcasses,” he said.
“This means you need a tray and rack build made of stainless steel with wash-down facilities and all the other bits you’ll need to pass certifications.
“These can cost upwards of $25,000 to have built in some areas. Add in the cost of diesel at $2 per litre and you’ve significantly eaten into profit margins.”
Even the cost of bullets had increased exponentially, he said.
“It’s certainly not cheap to shoot. Throw in cost of licensing and the cost of kangaroo tags and it really becomes difficult to financially justify continuing as a kangaroo shooter.”
He said less shooters meant less kangaroo meat on supermarket shelves and higher prices.’https://www.rebelnews.com/kangaroo_meat_prices_soar_amid_cost_of_living_crisis?
‘Christalignment is a false Christian group based out of Melbourne, Australia that has aligned itself with the cult of Bethel Church. Christalignment is well-known for its “Christian” version of tarot card readings and other occult practices. A few years ago, Christalignment made headlines when it held a nude festival and posted a topless “spirit dance” and wrote it off as part of its “evangelism” strategy.
It is utterly abhorrent that the people at Bethel Church and other charismatic communities have taken something as completely and unmistakably occultic as “tarot cards” and sought to disguise it as “Christalignment.” There is no way to make something so heavily steeped in the dark arts seem like a sensible approach to “empowering destiny” and “making better decisions in the future.”’https://disntr.com/2023/01/09/christian-psychic-readings-and-taro-cards-continue-to-grow-in-popularity/
We very seldom watch anything on the ABC but did turn to it for a very short time New year’s Eve! NOTE, I said SHORT!
‘The ABC’s coverage of Sydney’s world-famous New Year’s Eve fireworks has been blasted online as “a disgrace” and out of touch.
As thousands of people flocked to Sydney Harbour to view the spectacle, some viewers of the national broadcaster were less impressed with what they saw which was led by Charlie Pickering, Zan Rowe and Jeremy Fernandez.
Following the Calling Country fireworks display over the Harbour at 9pm, the live music commenced which featured acts such as Tones and I, Ball Park Music, Vika & Linda, Dami Im, Morgan Evans and Tasman Keith.
A segment of the coverage was also dedicated to this year’s WorldPride Festival, to be held in Sydney, which included a performance from drag queen Courtney Act.’https://www.skynews.com.au/business/media/australian-broadcasting-corporation-cops-backlash-online-over-woke-coverage-of-sydneys-new-years-eve-fireworks/news-story/06596cf1e8ece9d302b843eb5f6c2603?net_sub_id=282058248&type=curated&position=1&overallPos=3
‘Major corporations including Telstra and Channel 10 have declared they will not celebrate January 26 as a national holiday.
Both organisations have advised staff they can choose to work on Australia Day and nominate another day of leave instead.
Network 10 created headlines earlier this week when they advised that Australia Day was “not a day to celebrate” for Indigenous Australians and staff were therefore free to celebrate the national day on a date of their own choosing.
An email sent to Network 10 editorial staff said: “We aim to create a safe place to work where cultural differences are appreciated, understood and respected. For our First Nations people, we as an organisation acknowledge that January 26 is not a day of celebration.
“We recognise that there has been a turbulent history, particularly around that date and the recognition of that date being Australia Day. We recognise that January 26 evokes different emotions for our employees across the business, and we are receptive to employees who do not feel comfortable taking this day as a public holiday.”
Meanwhile, a Telstra spokeswoman told the Daily Mail: “Our employees have the choice to work on Australia Day or take leave on another day.”
Other organisations to follow suit include Deloitte, KPMG and EY.
A KPMG spokeswoman said the company’s “cultural leave policy” meant that staff could celebrate Australia Day on a date that was “relevant to their culture” and “beliefs”.
Various local councils around Australia have boycotted Australia Day in recent years, arguing that it does not align with their values. But the move of corporations to boycott the national day is new.
January 26 is celebrated as Australia Day because it was on that day in 1788 that the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove and Governor Arthur Phillip raised a Union Jack flag on Australian soil.
Last week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ditched a rule made by the Coalition government that forced councils to conduct citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
Councils are now free to hold citizenship ceremonies on any day in the week beginning January 23.’https://www.rebelnews.com/woke_companies_tell_staff_they_can_work_on_australia_day?
This is scary but it is the future the globalist Left want us to have.
‘The NSW government is moving ahead with anticipated plans for Digital ID, with the announcement of an official pilot program through the Service NSW app.’https://tottnews.com/2022/11/20/nsw-digital-id-pilot-program/
‘Recently, I sat down to interview an Aboriginal Elder from South Australia for the ExCandidates podcast, of which I am a host. Her name is Kerry White, a former nurse and diabetes educator from the Narungga people. The aim of the interview was to determine her views regarding the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
It was a fascinating interview because it completely deconstructed many fundamental aspects of the current ‘narrative’ surrounding the Aboriginal people.
I say ‘Aboriginal’ because even during the pre-interview phone call I had with Kerry, I made the mistake of using the term ‘Indigenous’.
With no hint of hesitation, Kerry quickly corrected my error and informed me that Aboriginal people prefer to be called Aborigines.
I asked her to expand on this during the interview.
Kerry explained that Indigenous were ‘…anyone native to Australia. Including flora and fauna. If you’re born in Australia, you’re Indigenous.’
‘The other term that they use for us is First Nations,’ Kerry went on to say. ‘First Nations – that’s Canadian. We are not Canadian. We are Aboriginal. We are from Australia and the Torres Strait.’
Why did we move away from the term Aborigines in the first place? Was it a fear of political correctness? Obviously, we were not listening to Elders such as Kerry White. Instead, we have chosen to listen to Woke activists, university lecturers, and inner city elites.
Kerry then went on to explain the divide between Aboriginal ‘mobs’ in rural/remote areas, compared to mobs in city areas.
‘When it comes to Aboriginal people, we have two separate lots,’ she began, educating us again. ‘We have a lot of Aboriginal mobs. Not tribes, not clans. Mobs. That’s an Aboriginal term. [The mobs] are divided into two. And that is rural and remote, and that is separate from the city-ites.’
Could this explain the clear difference in message between Senators Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Lidia Thorpe, who grew up in Alice Springs and Melbourne respectively?
How will an Indigenous Voice to Parliament adequately represent the concerns of this divide?
Kerry went on to teach us another Aboriginal term – ‘tick-a-boxers’. These represented the people who claimed to be Aboriginal when it is clear they are not. Recent census data points to this.
Since the 1971 census, the number of people identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander has risen from 116,000 to over 800,000 – a 590 per cent increase. Even from 2016 to 2021, the national population increased by 8 per cent, but the Indigenous population increased by 23 per cent.
‘There should be some form of identification. Proof that these people claiming to be Aboriginal are actually Aboriginal,’ Kerry began, before recalling how almost twenty years ago, the government scrapped the need for someone to obtain proof that they were Aboriginal.
‘So, if you want to be Aboriginal, all you had to do is tick the box.’
Kerry pointed out that the word Indigenous is included in the official wording of the proposal – the ‘Indigenous Voice to Parliament’. Therefore, one wonders, would simply ‘ticking a box’ to indicate you were Indigenous suffice to be recognised by the new body? What can of worms would that unleash?
It must be frustrating for an Elder like Kerry. How many times have true Aboriginal Elders been asked to comment or contribute to the debate on The Voice? According to Kerry, it is yet to happen for anyone in her community.
For Kerry, her feelings on the Voice to Parliament are clear.
‘It’s a no from me. I say no to The Voice. I don’t want it,’ she replied pointedly.
‘We, the Aboriginal people from rural and remote Australia do not want it.
‘A bit over two hundred years ago, they rounded Aboriginal people up and locked them on missions. So Aboriginal people were segregated from White society. Then we come forward to now – “The Voice” – and they’re segregating us again. They’re taking us back two hundred years.
‘You’re dividing the country again, it’s back to segregation. And frankly, it’s racist towards our White brothers and sisters that live in this land with us.’
Furthermore, Kerry makes the argument that Aborigines are already over-represented in Parliament, thus nullifying the need for a new body such as the Voice.
‘We have eleven Aboriginal members in Parliament, in the Upper and Lower house.’ Kerry begins. ‘That equates to 4.9 per cent representation, Aboriginal representation in Parliament. For 3.2 per cent of the population. With that, we actually have over-representation in Parliament. So why would we need a Voice? Unless they’re saying that our Parliamentary members are not doing their job.’
Does Kerry reflect the thoughts and feelings of all Aboriginal people? Should her statements and explanations concerning Aboriginal people be taken as gospel? Of course not. But that is the point. Can a ‘Voice’ to Parliament represent all the varying ‘voices’ of Aboriginal Australia?
More importantly, is the debate on the Voice taking the focus off the true needs of Aboriginal people? As a nurse, Kerry is well-versed in the issues facing Aboriginal people, especially in remote communities.
‘With Aboriginal people, it’s mostly linked to diabetes. We have a high rate of diabetes amongst Aboriginal people.’ Kerry explains.
‘Heart problems. That began to rise about fifteen years ago. They don’t have access to medical care out there. They don’t have health centres and doctors and all that. They don’t have it. They’ve got to travel sometimes 3-4 hours to get to a doctor, or medical treatment if something should happen out there.’
Kerry White joins Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, along with Senator Pauline Hanson of One Nation, in speaking out against the Voice to Parliament. Their message also stresses the need to unify the Nation, not to divide it along the lines of race. You would think that a study of history would compel anyone to agree.
We already have Parliaments at local, state, and federal levels that attempt to address all the ‘voices’ of society.
According to Kerry White, Senator Price, and surely many other Aboriginal people, this is the way it should remain.
For me, the lesson was that it is always best to go straight to the source, and avoid the mainstream ‘narrative’.’https://spectator.com.au/2022/12/what-i-learnt-from-an-aboriginal-elder/
whatyareckon 