Please read - You're the Voice and the only voice they have

[Maureen K Clifford]

You're the Voice

Last year the Gillard government gave the live export industry a second chance that it didn't deserve — and reopened the live cattle trade to Indonesia despite overwhelming calls from the community for the trade to be permanently banned.

Australians were led to believe that abattoirs would be required to meet Australian standards of slaughter ensuring that the animals were at least treated in a humane manner. Obviously this is not the case. To see an animal being tortured prior to being killed is reprehensible in the extreme. The animal so desperately tries to escape he manages to get his upper body over a 7 foot high barrier from a standing position.

To then find out that the animals were being dismembered before they were actually dead – what does this tell you? That we are dealing with a nation of people that have scant regard for life. And yet knowingly we are still sending our livestock to their country for slaughter rather than having the animals slaughtered here and exporting the carcasses.

We were promised that a new 'regulatory framework' would protect Australian cattle from ever again being abused in Indonesian abattoirs, but new footage from Indonesia reveals how hollow that promise was. Knowing that local abattoirs would be warned to be on the lookout for Australian animal cruelty investigators — Animals Australia engaged an Indonesian investigator to visit three abattoirs in Jakarta.

What he documented there over three nights has again shocked and appalled Australians and has conclusively proven that the new 'system' will in no way protect Australian cattle from cruelty on a nightly basis. Animals Australia has lodged an official complaint with the Gillard government highlighting that the evidence provided contains 61 different breaches of the basic standards expected from workers in abattoirs — including not checking that cattle were dead before they were being butchered.

A country that is unable to offer protection to its animals – has little chance of offering protection to its children, or elderly or disabled IMO. At the end of the day they too are merely animals.

We the people of Australia elect our representatives to ensure that fair play and justice for all is maintained. We expect that the face that Australia presents to the world is one of humanity, and compassion as well as the ability to speak up in defence of what is right.

If you feel as I do please use your voice to do just that and speak out on behalf of those who have no voice with which to speak.

One voice in the wilderness is merely a whisper, one hundred voices become a murmur, one thousand voices becomes a song. Let’s remember the words of John Farnham who sang – You’re the voice

You're the voice, try and understand it
Make the noise and make it clear.
We're not gonna sit in silence



You can contact your local senator by using this link – You’re the voice.

http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Memb ... en=0&ps=10

or contact Julia via this link

http://www.banliveexport.com/1/#takeAction

Thank You fellow poets - do hope you will help and become the voice for our Australian livestock either by contacting your senators or writing of the plight our livestock are facing.

Cheers

Maureen

[Rimeriter]

This one is circulating.
I've sent it on to Chris Bowen.
Probably only his admin staff will see it.
Next will be Jason Clare.

More fuel for the furnace -
Subject: A good factual letter

An interesting letter – how many feel this way, I sure do.
Its a long letter but well worth the read.



PLEASE TAKE 5 MINUTES AND READ THIS


Its one of the best letters I have read for along time, it puts it ALL into perspective.

PLEASE PASS IT ON to everyone you can, its timeBOTH parties stood up and listened,
This is our country and its being destroyed.




Subject: The silent majority


This seems to put into words what I – and I am sure many others of the silent majority – think!
It was written by Mrs JennyBell of South Australia to Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott:


To Julia Gillard (Prime Minister) & Tony
Abbott (Leader of the Opposition) ...

You BOTH Worry me ! ( In fact both of your
Political parties worry the hell out of me !!!)

Over the last three years, I find myself
becoming more and more fearful of the pair of you, and between you, you are
Turning this country into a place that I no longer feel at home in, or feel a
part of! I watch you in parliament, and no, not just the two of you, but every
politician that I see, stand up in parliament sneering at each other, and
acting like children !!! (..and if you were my children, I would be ashamed of
you all ... What an example to set!)
Although you would like us all to believe that
you are putting the needs of this country at the forefront, NEITHER of you are
doing that, you seem more interested in "one-up-manship ", in scoring off each
other, & denigrating each other, to the detriment of this country & its
people !!!
It seems to be all about YOU as individuals,
and not about what you can DO for this country !
It is fast becoming a place that I do not recognize, as the place I always thought, was the best place in the world to
be !!!

But no longer !!!
You are not listening to the people of thiscountry !!!
And here in South Australia , your counterparts are afflicted with the same disease - is it endemic in all
politicians ?
I see our hospitals under-funded, and understaffed, our health system is an absolute
mess and a disgrace ... And yet I see multi-millions of dollars being sent off
shore, in aid to other countries, before attending to this country's needs !
I see the "selling off of the farm", in large amounts, to foreign interests, (In Every State ) including water rights to
foreign interests too .... And WHY...?
Especially when you go to great lengths to tell us that water is a finite resource, & supposedly, we must ALL be careful with
how we use it, so that we ensure we have it for the future ?

Foreign interests "Fracking" for coal seam
gas, and riding rough shod over farmers' rights to their own land, AND USING
QUESTIONABLE CHEMICALS. (You don't even KNOW what chemicals they use), and
possibly causing damage to the water table in the process !!!
And those foreign interests I believe, do NOT
have to pay anything in royalties back to this country, for the first five
years of their tenure ... IS THIS CORRECT ???

A Carbon Tax,( which you KNOW is just another
tax with a "Starting Point dollar value") which will make NO appreciable
difference, to carbon emissions, AT ALL!

A tax, which in spite of all your arguments
FOR it, you are doing alone, when other major countries will NOT & DO NOT
embrace it, or believe in it !

All that it will do for this country is put
working families and small businesses behind the eight ball, .....what planet
are you on, if you think that your few hundred dollars a year, will make even
a scrap of difference to the effect of the carbon tax on people ?Blind Freddy
can see the holes in that argument !!! Do you really think we are that dumb ???

The CONVOY OF NO

CONFIDENCE was real !!! ...and
I haven't spoken to even ONE person, who would not have liked to be there if
they could, but the tyranny of distance and /or work was the only thing that
kept them away, ( myself included ), ... And you KNOW that only a part of the
convoy was actually allowed to be in front of Parliament house and ON VIEW ..
The rest were streets away, unreported by the media !

For Mr Albanese to stand up in parliament, and
call it "THE CONVOY OF NO CONSEQUENCE ", in his sneering tone, shows just how
out of touch with the people of Australia , you really are !!!! WE WOULD HAVE
ALL LIKED TO BE THERE !!!

DEFENCE ....... Because Americans are our
Allies, and we support them in Wars, ......... Korea , Vietnam , Iraq ,
Afghanistan , .... and you have sent our soldiers to those places, and our
soldiers fought for you, and for Australia ....... some coming home with
terrible physical injuries, and some with devastating Mental Injuries as
well ..... BUT WHERE ARE YOU, WHEN THEY NEED YOU

?????

Veteran's Indexation to CPI only is a
disgrace ... and is something YOUR Labor party Julia, used as an election
sweetener, to get the Veteran's Vote ... BUT YOU LIED (Again) ! You never had
any intention of honouring your election promise to them ... and it WILL come
back to bite you at the next election !!!! (And Tony, Liberals were NO BETTER,
Howard had more than 10 years to "fix it " and didn't !)

Veterans are not alone, they have families,
friends and supporters, who are heartily sick of the deception your party
perpetrated on them ....AND THEY ALL VOTE !!!!

THEY are your obligation, first and
foremost ..... and it is not your first obligation to give aid to every man and
his dog overseas first !!! Look after your own FIRST !!!! Is this what you
call SALUTING THEIR SERVICE ???

Have you any idea , how sickening it is for our
Vets to see you both, ( Labor or Liberal ) turn up to the funerals of our
current young vets for a photo opportunity, to be seen to be "caring " in the
public eye, but only to turn your backs on them all, when they need you ???
(Just ask Breanna Till an Afghanistan Soldier's wife, how
CARING this
government is !!!)

And in light of what you DON'T do for our
Vets .......

Let's talk about Multiculturalism ......People have come here from
other countries, for a better life, for more years than I have been alive ( I
am 65 years old !) ... my own family migrated here in 1883, from Germany , and
did find a better life ...

Pre & Post war immigrants have came for a
better life, and settled in and became wonderful contributors to this country,
as did those who came here after the Vietnam War, ... all have contributed to
the rich diversity of this country, and some descendants have even fought FOR
this country, and they have become Australians and were glad to be ....and they
had NO handouts from our Government either, ...they worked hard for everything!

I have never before had a problem with all, or
any, race of immigrants coming here .
However , I DO NOW !!!

Please tell me why we have areas like
Lakemba, where police do NOT, & will NOT go, for fear of their life ?
Please tell me why we can no longer have
religion in schools, for fear of "OFFENDING" someone ? (The latest little gem
is that they are not having, or being funded, for "chaplains " any more ,
but "Counsellors "?)
Please tell me why religious Christmas
observances are no longer allowed in some schools for fear of OFFENDING
someone ?
Please tell me HOW Christmas decorations in
some stores might OFFEND someone ?
Please tell me why we have to have segregated
days in some swimming centres, for fear of "OFFENDING" someone ?
Please tell me why we have some RADICAL clerics
demanding Sharia Law in this country ... when if we were in THEIR country, this
would NEVER be allowed ?
Please tell me why our laws need to be changed,
so as not to OFFEND someone ?
Please tell me why we are fast becoming a
MINORITY voice, in our own country, because of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS ?
Please tell me WHY Australians cannot legally
wear a face covering bike helmet into a bank ..and yet it is ok to wear a Burqa
which covers the whole face ?
And please tell me WHY, when those people who
want asylum here, can wreck our detention centres, as in Villawood , and STILL
be accepted here ?

SO , in light of the above, WILL BOTH OF
YOU ......Please tell me WHY, when some of our Vietnam Veterans FINALLY
received (in the last 6 months) the recognition that they should have had after
the Vietnam War, (and which they received from the USA & South Vietnam, during
and immediately after the Vietnam War), that the families of those Veterans,
were refused assistance by this Government, to attend that award ceremony, and
yet this Government ....flew , accommodated , and even took on bus tours, to
the the families of asylum seekers, after the funerals of those who were killed
in the boat which sunk off Christmas Island ?

What does that say, about just who are this
government's priorities ?


The Australian people that I speak to have
genuine concerns about becoming a second class minority in our own country, and
the reasons for it, are some of the above, ..... Are you so blind that you
cannot see this ?

And no , I am NOT racist !!!...(if I did not
like Catholics or Protestants would I be considered racist ?) Of course not !

Why is it, that if we object to what is
happening in our country ... we are immediately labelled RACIST, in an attempt
to shut us up ?

We are fighting Radical Muslims, in Afghanistan
& Iraq , are we not ?I hear you say, yes but the Muslims we have here are "Not
like that " ... well how would we know ? ..do we hear ANY of them coming out &
speaking AGAINST radicals ?? I haven't ...have you ???

Islam is not compatible with ANY of the values
that we hold here in Australia ! ....Are not the experiences of Britain ,
France , and the Netherlands an example of that? Why do you think it would be
any different here ? We even have an Australian born "radical ", whose message
is that Australia WILL become a Muslim country, under Sharia Law, & that we
had "better get used to it ".

Will both of you grow some "Balls ", and start
sticking up for this country and its people ???

We are the people who put you where you are,
and PAY you to look after our interests ! ... And you are NOT doing that, by
any stretch of the imagination !!!

I would appreciate an answer, from both of you,
if only to convince me that once again, I am not talking to a brick wall !!!!!

In case it has escaped both of you ...I would
like to remind you that, in Australia the Government ... is FOR THE PEOPLE, OF
THE PEOPLE, & BY THE PEOPLE ...
never forget that......because you sure have up
till now !!!



Mrs Jenny Bell
20 Helene St
Nuriootpa
S.A.
0885623753


Let us get this out to all – please keep
forwarding and if you have people in the press or if you know Politicians – let
them know we are dis-satisfied with their behaviour !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE SEND THIS GREAT LETTER TO AS MANY PEOPLE
IN AUSTRALIA AS YOU CAN, AND IF YOU HAVE CONTACTS OVERSEAS DO THE SAME?

Richard & Gwenda Bates
gvbates@ozemail.com.au

[r.magnay]

....when is someone going to do something about the cruelty to our native animals in the name of culture....and not to mention the thousands of ill treated camp dogs?...........too hard perhaps!

[william williams]

Ross I agree one hundred and ten percent.
1960 to 1962 I was a pro shooter a bullet was quick and clean and efficient.
If I was not then my licence would have been taken from me. I have seen and deplored the actions and distortions made up by the Media in the name of sales for their so called commercial profit.

The medias actions and distortions of the true truth is no better than a great majority of our present day politicians, who are incapable of leading the greater majority of the population who are easily persuaded via untruthful statements.
Members of my family fought and some died for away of life that was cherished only now to have it destroyed by the intellectual stupidity of unqualified common sense people.

I know what you mean ROSS camp dogs camp community people are a problem that need common sense bought into being.

William Williams

[Maureen K Clifford]

I guess it is like anything - you have to make the public aware of a problem before it can be solved. There are many animals, native, domestic and farm in Australia that are still treated appallingly - but the public rarely get to hear of it and so there is no concerted effort to do anything. The RSPCA being a voluntary organization don't have the resources either financial or manpower to cover the whole country but will always step in when an area is brought to their attention and they are able to get someone to it.

Personally don't believe that dugong, turtles etc should be allowed to be hunted any more as a food source by the few because they are native tucker - they are too precious - but others perhaps would not see it that way.

Camp dogs are no doubt malnourished, flea ridden, worm ridden and often suffer from rickets - so do many farm dogs that I have seen. No doubt many are abused as are many farm dogs. If one cannot get the owner to see reason ( in isolated areas I would have no idea what you would do) at the very least report it to the local police and/or council, take photos and maybe if able to do so seize the animal or buy the animal. You have to do what you can, even if it is unsuccessful - the worst thing would be to do absolutely nothing.

If we could right the wrongs of the world with a magic wand I am sure there are plenty of people out there who would be doing that right now. We many not be able to save them all - but we can raise awareness - and every life saved is a bonus, and every animal spared from a cruel and inhumane slaughtering has to be considered a step in the right direction.