Tag: POLITICS

Fake Art Harms Aboriginal Culture Campaign

It’s been two weeks since I was in Sydney, and a week since we returned from Canberra for the Fake Art Harms campaign. I was originally heading there to participate in the Indigenous Professionals Closing the Gap event with the Prime Minister. But, as a representative on Viscopy and FACCI, I headed to Canberra to participate in a day of lobbying as part of the Fake Art Harms Culture campaign. Other members of the delegation included Indigenous Art Code, ArtsLaw, and ANKAA.  Continue reading Fake Art Harms Aboriginal Culture Campaign

Fake Art Harms Culture #fakeartharms

I flew to Sydney for a meeting of the Fake Art Harms Culture working group. Facilitated by Indigenous Art Code and Arts Law, and with Viscopy the campaign was designed to draw attention to the proliferation of fake Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art being produced overseas and in Australia, and the sold in Australia. Continue reading Fake Art Harms Culture #fakeartharms

Another State of Origin

A bit of a diary entry ….
I’m sitting here writing, watching ABC News 24, the Returning Officer is announcing that Senator Penny Wong is now the leader of the Senate, and the Deputy Leader is now Anthony Albanese. About two hours ago Kevin Rudd was elected by the Caucus as leader of the ALP. He has replaced Julia Gillard as the leader of the ALP, and later when the Governor-General “makes it so”, Prime Minister.

What a night! Regardless of what I think of Rudd and Gillard, I do think it is a great learning opportunity for people – hopefully they’ll learn more about the way the political system works. Tonight Kevin Rudd has been elected the leader of the ALP. When Kevin Rudd lost the leadership three years ago, people were so angry and upset about our “democratically elected” leader losing his position. Julia Gillard was seen as “knifing Kevin in the back”, and her leadership was seen by a lot of people as illegitimate, even after her election.
In my opinion, these beliefs don’t reflect the how the system works.
We, as individuals, all make up the electorate. We elect an individual to represent us (our MPs). Those MPs, work together to determine who the leader of their party will be. And technically, the Parliament determines who the Government, and who the Prime Minister will be.
So, while the leader of the ALP has been decided by the Caucus, it is still up to the Parliament to confirm that Kevin will be Prime Minister.
Even at 8.55pm, it is still undecided. With Independents who have not declared that they will support Kevin Rudd, holding the balance of power; and with Parliament sitting only for a few more days before the election, we are in for one crazy ride.
I can’t imagine how the ALP is going to run an election campaign against the Liberals, with a gutted front bench (with so many resigning because they will not work under Kevin Rudd) and internal tensions on-going.
Update: As a I upload the pic, Wayne Swan has just announced he’s not resigning. He is my local member.

Aborigines are the ‘Biggest Losers’ in the human race

Politicians say some stupid stuff sometimes. It’s part of the compromise. Part of the game. If you want to be in charge of a group of 22 million odd people, then you have to ‘say the right thing’ I guess. The right thing, being what appeals to the majority.

Continue reading Aborigines are the ‘Biggest Losers’ in the human race