Before our eyes, day by day, Scott Morrison becomes the hollow man. His face tightens and twists, his eyes are dead, and his words strangled with jargon.

We’ve seen this before. Remember Philip Ruddock gradually turning into a stick of chalk, as immigration minister and later attorney-general, while he plodded his way through the ”Pacific solution” and the vilification of David Hicks?

This is what happens to human beings who believe the ends justify the means. Ends that are wretched will invariably produce bad means.

When you peel back the layers, the oft repeated Coalition justification for stopping the boats is that ”the Australian people want it”.

It hardly needs me to point out that history is littered with tragedies when justification is hitched to popularity.

Stopping the boats is an end, and any amount of nastiness to achieve that is justified – popularity confers legitimacy.

Maybe, in decades to come, we will look back at this time and regard it as one of the worst stains on our nation. More awful than the White Australia Policy and up there with the stolen generations. A time when our nation had a dark heart.

Manus Island and Nauru are wretched wastelands, gulags without activity, but they justify the ends.

Professor Ben Saul, on ABC television on Tuesday night, drew an interesting parallel with our policy of indefinite detention, where refugees have been given an adverse security assessment. The other place under the jurisdiction of a western democracy where this also happens is Guantanamo Bay.

It appears Manus Island is also a place of indefinite detention. Liz Thompson, who, as a migration agent, had been assisting asylum seekers on Manus with their refugee claims, told Fairfax Media the official line was that the detainees would be resettled in Papua New Guinea.

Unfortunately, a PNG immigration official went ”off script” and confirmed to the camp that there were no plans in place for any resettlement program, the incarcerated should simply return home, otherwise their detention would be indefinite.

Is that why Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was pressing the flesh in Cambodia in search of resettlement possibilities? When people put their minds to it, there’s no limit to the ”refinements of wickedness” – a phrase used by Martin Amis in a television interview earlier this week.

Thompson revealed the extent of this chilling apparatus. She was taking the Manus asylum seekers through a process ”that goes nowhere … there’s no visa for them to get”. With its ”fake processing” of refugee claims, ”Manus Island is an experiment in the ultimate logic of deterrence”.

And all of this is backed up by an elaborate legal regime that sanctions and sanctifies our refinements of wickedness. Again, history shows us all too clearly where we end up if people sit idly by while nice ideals such as the rule of law and due process are diced.

So, it is all very good for well-meaning types to hyperventilate about this, week after week. Instead of politicians outdoing themselves to race to the bottom, is there something better that can be proposed?

Months ago, this column advocated going a step further than the idea earlier floated by the Greens. They proposed we take 3800 refugees from Indonesia and invest $70 million into United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees processing in that country.

I would go further and switch our entire humanitarian refugee intake of almost 14,000 from the Middle East, Africa and other parts of Asia and place it all in Indonesia.

The reason people get on boats from Indonesia is because they have no hope of being part of an orderly settlement program. If you give them hope, there is a chance they will not get on boats, because refugees will know they have a place in the queue. As a bonus we would be spared the sanctimonious claptrap that the purpose of the current policy is to save lives.

Our refugee intake from Indonesia has been woeful.

In the nine years to 2009, we took an average of 59 UNHCR refugees a year from that country. In 2010-11 it spiked to 480, a tiny 3.4 per cent of our humanitarian program.

As well, there would be real benefits for Indonesia if we sat down and negotiated a plan along these lines.

A sensible resettlement program managed from Indonesia would dramatically reduce the need for a boats policy, with all its attendant damage to our neighbourhood relations, the long-term psychological and physical damage we are inflicting on detainees, not to mention the harm we are doing to the soul of our nation.

If I am flogging a dead horse here, I would love to know. At least it might be worth trying, even for a few years, to see if it had an impact on boat arrivals and obviate the tow-backs and Manus and Nauru ”solutions”.

Would it be too cynical to suggest that governments, of whatever hue, do not want to test something that is humane? They are too invested in the nasty option – which has the flimsy justification of popularity.

source:brisbanetimes.com.au

Διευθυντής γυμνασίου στην πόλη Μάριμπορ της Σλοβενίας, τον οποίο μαθητές είχαν βιντεοσκοπήσει με κινητό σε υποτιθέμενες προσωπικές στιγμές με καθηγήτρια Μαθηματικών, αυτοκτόνησε μετά τη δημοσίευση του βίντεο στο διαδίκτυο και την προβολή του επί μία εβδομάδα από τα ΜΜΕ, ανακοίνωσε η σλοβενική αστυνομία.

Οπως μεταδίδει το κροατικό πρακτορείο ειδήσεων ΧΙΝΑ, η αστυνομία επιβεβαίωσε το τραγικό γεγονός,χωρίς σχόλια,όπως συνηθίζεται σε τέτοιες περιπτώσεις.

Ο πρόεδρος του Συλλόγου διευθυντών εκπαιδευτικών ιδρυμάτων της Σλοβενίας, Μίλαν Ρέγιετς δήλωσε στο σλοβενικό τηλεοπτικό σταθμό POP TV ότι ο διευθυντής της Μέσης Σχολής Μηχανικών του Μάριμπορ προφανώς κατέρρευσε ψυχικά υπό τη μεγάλη πίεση και εξέφρασε τα συλληπητήριά του στην οικογένεια του εκλιπόντος.
Ο διευθυντής άφησε πίσω σύζυγο, γιο και κόρη.
Αμέσως μετά τη δημοσίευση του επίμαχου βίντεο στο διαδίκτυο, ο διευθυντής κατήγγειλε το περιστατικό στην αστυνομία και υποστήριξε ότι το βίντεο είναι προϊόν μοντάζ.

Η αστυνομία δεν ανακοίνωσε τα αποτελέσματα των μέχρι τώρα ερευνών και δεν έχουν αποκαλυφθεί τα άτομα που ανάρτησαν το βίντεo ίντερνετ.

Το τραγικό περιστατικό προκάλεσε έντονες συζητήσεις για τα δικαιώματα δημοσίευσης υλικού στο ίντερνετ και για την προστασία της ιδιωτικότητας, για τους κανόνες ηθικής, καθώς και για τη σχέση εκπαιδευτικών και μαθητών σε εκπαιδευτικά ιδρύματα.

Πηγή:madata.gr

The extension of civil partnership to include same-sex couples has been forwarded to the legislative committee.

After many years of deliberation, the Ministry of Justice is considering some serious changes in the Family Law of the country.

The extension of civil partnership to same-sex couples is being considered. However, according to a report in To Vima Sunday newspaper, the ministry is not going to extend this to marriages of same-sex couples.

The extension of civil partnership to include same-sex couples has been forwarded to the legislative committee, as this issue has been brought before the European Court of Justice.

source: Neos Kosmos

There is a need to create paths to employment for talented newcomers.

Young, highly-skilled, with quality educational and professional backgrounds; the three women who talked to Neos Kosmos fit the “modern migrant” profile, as depicted by the recently released research report of the Australian Greek Welfare Society (AGWS). Despite their skills and qualifications, their transition to the Australian job market has not been smooth.

Dora Lakoumenta is a University of Melbourne graduate, holding a BSc in Genetics and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education. She left her birthplace, Melbourne, to live in the city of Patras. There, she managed the family business, an English language school, while teaching English as a second language for almost 20 years. Since returning to Melbourne in 2012, she has been working in a call centre.

“The role is a combination of customer service and tele-sales,” says Mrs Lakoumenta. “A high-stress, low paid job, really. But seeing the high cost of Melbourne living, upon my return, I thought that I should start working as soon as possible. I sent out many applications. There was no response. When an acquaintance informed me about this job, I took it. Today, I am not as stressed as in the beginning and yes, I would like to look for a better job. However, I have absolutely no experience or knowledge on how to write a professional resume or prepare for a job interview. Up until this stage, I never had to look for a job and I really do not know where to start.”

Alkmini Balda, on the other hand, was a fairly experienced job hunter. At least, that is what she thought.

“I had to forget all I knew about looking for a job. Things work differently here, recruiters and employers follow different rules,” she points out. She came to Melbourne with her two daughters, looking forward to a new, better life. She was optimistic and confident; the confidence of a professional with 20 years of international experience in high-profile organisations, who possesses impressive qualifications acquired from reputable universities in Switzerland and London.

“While waiting for my visa to be issued, I tried to come in direct contact with local head hunters; a very common practice in Europe. Those whom I managed to meet made it seem quite easy to find a job, possibly because they knew they didn’t have to find me a job until my visa was sorted out. This worked against me, as I could have benefited from working as a volunteer to build connections and Australian work experience”.

Right after her visa was issued, Mrs Balda was unpleasantly surprised with the level of response to her job applications. “I was only offered a few contract positions and I soon understood that any work experience outside Australia was either underplayed or not considered at all by human resource professionals. This might not be true for individuals with work experience in Coca Cola, Deloitte, PwC and the likes, I suppose.

“My understanding was that in order to minimise the risk, they would only consider candidates that were an exact fit to the job description, leaving out of the selection process candidates with transferable skills and future potential. A few of them also had a very negative perception of Greece. Finally, I felt that any qualifications I had did not matter much either.”

Mrs Balda soon came to the realisation that she had to adapt to the new conditions. So she set out to ‘re-package’ herself and her professional offering. With the help of a career consultant, she came to understand what recruiters were looking for and made a consistent effort to respond appropriately. Soon after she had a revamped resume, refreshed interview skills and a newly-learned technique to address ‘key selection criteria’, often requested as part of the selection process. There is a $1,500 price tag attached to all that. However, she highly recommends the investment, noting that “people need to be careful when selecting their career consultant; the professionalism, knowledge and quality of service varies”. Meanwhile, she took on a number of contract jobs, acquiring the much sought-after local work experience. Her structured approach finally brought results. She currently holds a suitable RMIT University position that she greatly enjoys.

“It is easy to be discouraged, even depressed by recurring rejection. You need to be persistent. Learn to promote yourself and be prepared to justify the exact reasons why you are the best fit for the role. I believe this is an area for the Greek community to provide support and enriched services, acknowledging the evolving needs of the population they serve,” Mrs Balda stresses. “People need to be properly informed,” she adds. “The way that the Greek media presented Australia a few years ago was misleading. They would talk about families who relocated with all expenses paid by employers, failing to mention that this was only applicable within specific industries, e.g. mining or when attracting employers with a rare skills set.”

Tina Nikiforaki is a love migrant. She left New York and a promising career in the fashion industry and came to Melbourne to live with her Australian husband. Despite having worked with brands such as Calvin Klein and John Varvatos, and with a Masters in Global Fashion Management and a degree in Economics, she had to go back to square one. Starting as a sales consultant, she never stopped looking for the next step in her career and is now a deputy manager in a high-profile chain store.

“I feel that I took many steps back,” she says about her personal experience of the local job market. “Recruiters started to respond to my application only after I added some local job experience at the top of my resume. But again, they would only offer me casual jobs in sales.” Her advice to newcomers would be: “Network! My current employer found me on LinkedIn, while I got my first job in Australia through a HACCI networking event. It’s also very important to be open to any job,” she adds. “It might be easier to first enter the job market and then, once you are in, look for your dream job.”

In our human capital-driven economy, the issue in question is not only about hurt feelings, stress management and working harder or smarter until you get noticed by an employer and get a suitable, quality job. It’s about a non-affordable luxury – letting talented individuals get lost in translation, stuck in unsuitable, low-skilled, low-paid jobs, when their skills, experience and knowledge could be major growth and prosperity contributors to the local economy, the Greek diaspora and society as a whole.

Fortunately, the people at AGWS are well aware of the issue and are already taking concrete action to resolve it. The organisation is seeking funds from the Australian government to implement their proposed Career Transition Program, which will operate along the same principles as those of their already successful Referral and Legal Information Services. The organisation’s CEO, Voula Messimeri, explains that the program will include seminars to assist newcomers in writing winning resumes and cover letters and developing essential job search and interview skills, non-technical skills such as communication and presentation and effective networking techniques and finally, to provide information on employment rights.

Another important component of the program will be “an annual careers expo, organised in partnership with other Greek community organisations” aiming to assist newcomers, and young people in particular, with career planning, issues related to skills and qualifications recognition and improvement. Additionally, according to Mrs Messimeri, through this event people will be linked to “volunteering and internship opportunities as pathways to employment”.

source: Neos Kosmos

Steve Dimopoulos wins the seat of Oakleigh.

Labor has won the Victorian election, giving the Liberal Napthine government the boot, the only party in history to lose after their first term.

Premier elect, Daniel Andrews has met with prime minister Tony Abbott today, with the pair agreeing to disagree on the proposed East West Link toll road.

Labor has promised to tear up the contracts for the $18 billion toll road.

One of the biggest seats for the Greek Australian community is now in the hands of a Greek Australian, with Labor’s Steve Dimopoulos becoming the leader for the Oakleigh ward. edging out fellow Greek Australian, Theo Zographos for the Liberal Party.

The swing seat of Bentleigh is still in contention, with current votes leaning towards Labor’s Nick Staikos, who is on 51 per cent second preference lead ahead of the Liberal’s Elizabeth Miller.

Labor’s Jennifer Kanis has lost the seat of Melbourne, with the area now in the Green’s hands both federally and the in state.

Ellen Sandell becomes the Legislative Assembly’s first Greens MP, representing one of the the most diverse, central and populated areas in the state.

In the coming hours, Daniel Andrews will be electing his cabinet, with Labor MP Jenny Mikakos picked to become one of the first female Greek Australian ministers in the state of Victoria.

source: Neos Kosmos

Police take away what is believed to be evidence or remains. Pic: Cameron Richardson Source: News Corp Australia

GRAVE concerns are held for the mother of a baby found dead at Maroubra beach in Sydney’s east on Sunday morning.  

Police have appealed for the parents of the newborn – discovered naked only 30cm below the soft sand and too decomposed to determine its age or gender – to come forward.

“Police are concerned about the welfare of the mother involved and hope she sought medical assistance,” Inspected Andrew Holland said.

“We hope that she sought medical assistance and that she feels confident enough to contact Eastern Beaches detectives.”

The horrifying discovery was made by two boys, aged 6 and 7, playing footy in the sand after their nippers training around 10am yesterday.

It’s believed the boys’ father tried to calm them saying the body they’d found buried may have been that of a little dog, but the reality was much more disturbing.

Police set up a crime scene at the site of the baby’s shallow grave. Pic: Cameron Richardson Source: News Corp Australia

A crime scene was established and the area evacuated. Source: News Corp Australia

Police are appealing for anyone with information to come forward. Source: News Corp Australia

Police were called and beachgoers looked on in horror as a blue tent was set up over the site of the infant’s shallow grave.

A crime scene was established and police and lifesavers evacuated the area, as the boys who discovered the body, as well as lifeguards and other witnesses were given counselling.

Too decomposed to determine its gender or age, police are hoping pathology tests today will offer more information about the “very small infant” as they investigate the possibility it was only a few days old along with suggestions the child may have been stillborn.

A post-mortem examination is set to be conducted today.

Police scoured the area and collected a large amount of sand from the surrounds as evidence, though the had very little to go by with the baby left without a blanket or any clothing.

“We’re making some inquiries through births, deaths and marriages to determine where we can find the parents of this child,” Inspected Holland said.

“We’re hopeful the parents will come forward.”

Hope is also held CCTV footage from the local surf club and businesses in the area may lead police to information that will help identify the family of the baby.

The discovery comes only a week after a group of cyclists rescued an infant whose cries they heard coming from the bottom of a roadside drain in the city’s west.

Police said the baby had spent five days in the drain.

The baby’s mother has been charged with attempted murder.

Officials on Sunday said they were hunting through hospital records to try and find the parents of the baby buried at the beach.

Inspector Holland said the discovery of the baby’s body had been upsetting for all involved.

“Everyone’s upset,” he said.

“Something like this doesn’t like this doesn’t happen every day and will affect everyone at the surf club involved.”

Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page.

The search for evidence continues. AFP PHOTO/William West Source: AFP

source: news.com.au

 

HOME prices have recorded their first slowdown in six months, with Melbourne leading a fall that could ease pressure on calls to introduce measures to cool the housing market.

Home values fell 0.3 per cent across capital cities for November, although year-on-year growth remains positive, at 8.5 per cent.

CommSec’s chief economist Craig James said the fall was a result of supply picking up and demand tapering off “in line with higher prices”.

“The market is correcting itself off its own accord, which suggests there’s no need for the Reserve Bank to intervene with so-called macroprudential controls,” he said.

Melbourne recorded the biggest monthly fall, down 2.6 per cent. Home values in Sydney and Perth rose 1 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively, the largest rises. Brisbane and Hobart recorded smaller rises, with all other cities down.

The strong growth in home values has almost entirely been caused by a booming market in Sydney and Melbourne. Home values in Sydney have increased by 13.2 per cent for the past 12 months, according to the CoreLogic figures.

“Four markets were higher, four were lower, so there hardly seems to be a uniform boom,” Mr James said.

“Home prices will continue to ease off to more sustainable levels, and we’re going to see a substantial easing of capital growth in Sydney as some of the new apartments come on to the market.”

CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher said home value growth had peaked in April, when year-on-year growth hit 11.5 per cent.

Mr Kusher said all capitals had now past their cyclic peak.

“Market indicators such as auction clearance rates remain quite strong, but also point to slightly weaker overall housing market conditions,” Mr Kusher said, noting the total number of property listings had also started to trend higher.

“This may indicate a slower rate of sale and is indicative of mounting stock on the market.”

But inner-city Melbourne agent Tom Roberts, of Nelson Alexander, remains optimistic.

“From our point of view, our area hasn’t appeared to slow down. We’re in the city and that’s remained strong,” he said.

“I’ve certainly seen the figures that point to price growth slowing, but those broadbrush numbers don’t take into account some areas are slowing and some are not.”

What appears to be a shark was captured leaping from the water during the Coffs Harbour Boardriders contest at Macauley’s on Sunday.

A PHOTO has surfaced of what appears to be a shark leaping from the water during a surf contest in Coffs Harbour. 

The shark reportedly leaped into the air twice on Sunday as the mums of the Coffs Harbour Boardriders Club were in the water during a special one-off heat off Macauleys Headland.

Landing metres from a number of competitors, the shark caused a frenzy in the water as the mothers club quickly paddled to the safety of the shoreline.

“It was real,” surfer Sharni Winkler said.

“My arms are so sore from paddling back into shore, but at least I still have arms,” she joked.

The photo was taken by Steph Bellamy, who was watching on at the time.

Some bystanders said they initially thought it was a tuna or large pelagic fish leaping from the surf, but those in the water say there was no mistaking it was a shark.

The species of shark is unconfirmed at this stage with suggestions it may have been a spinner shark, a thresher or a mako.

source: whitsundaytimes.com.au

THE Abbott Government’s hopes for a budget surplus before 2018 are “well and truly toast”, with a new major report predicting an Australia in debt for “as far as the eye can see”.

The findings by Deloitte Access Economics takes a swipe at the Senate for not allowing the government to curb spending, while simultaneously tackling the Federal Government for actually spending more instead of cutting.

The Coalition has announced $2.5 billion of policies for this financial year, and $2.9 billion for the next one.

Much of this was thanks to deals struck with the Palmer United Party to ensure the magnate’s support for dumping the carbon and mining taxes.

Those extra costs though pale in comparison to the financial losses caused by tumbling of resource prices, which are now taking a toll on government coffers.

The government is expected to have $2.3 billion less than expected between now and mid-2015.

However bad that news is, that shortfall will almost triple the following year, with government revenue to be $7 billion worse than expected by the 2015-16 financial year.

The report finds that after Australia rode the boom through much of the early noughties, we are now faced with bad news but the Senate (and voters) are refusing to take their medicine.

“When even the Greens oppose sensible fuel tax policy – the restoration of indexation to fuel excise – it is clear something is wrong with Australia’s political processes,” the report states.

“If our nation can’t make the easy choices, how are we going to make the hard ones?”

Later Deloitte explains that it has done its calculations on the government’s plan, assuming a “mature national conversation” on the Budget.

“If Australia’s politicians can’t craft a compromise, then better Budgets will be even further away than our forecasts have them here.”

source:whitsundaytimes.com.au