Saturday 30th November 1996
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Hollingworth told a Queensland Combined Churches Forum on the rural crisis that it would be morally untenable to ignore world overpopulation while vast tracts of Australia were deserted.
The pressure would worsen if large rural properties continued to fall under the ownership of foreign or institutional interests.
"It is a bit hard to justify eighteen million people sitting on a land mass the size of this island continent when you've got huge population pressures outside," Hollingworth said, "It will not be in our national interest to allow the present drift in that direction of urbanisation to continue... it might be an arguement from self-interest but it is enlightened self-interest."
The plight of the rural community has been exaserbated by the banks move in closing down branches in remote rural areas. Maybe the communities schoul unite and return to token coins as a "new-old" form of barter.
The Howard government were banking on Colston changing his critical Senate vote to support their changes to the HECS program next time it went before the upper house.
Opposition treasury spokesman Gareth Evans accused Peter Costello of indulging in an "ill-conceived frolic" this week by talking up the prospect of raised taxes and an early poll.
The fight over the budget is set to continue next week with the Senate yet to decide its position on Au$1.1 billion worth of changes for higher education and Au$1.9 billion in cuts to the research and development grant scheme.
Colston quit the Australian Labor Party in August this year after they failed to support his bid to become the Senate's deputy president.
NAB said it would buy back 74 million of its 1.48 billion shares - or 5% - at a cost of about Au$1.13 billion at yesterday's price.
Fickle world isn't it?
The Democrats education spokeswoman, Senator Lyn Allison, descibed the legislation as dangerous and disgraceful.
Under the legislation schools stand to lose more than Au$1,700 in funding for every student who leaves to go to a private school.
The acting president of the Australian Education Union said yesterday, "This is a clear case of robbing the poor to subsidise the rich.
"For every student that moves to a non government school, the Commonwealth will withdraw its funding for five governmental students.
"This will compound as the draft accelerates until there is no Commonwealth funding for government schools.
"Those who can afford it can open schools and get Commonwealth subsidy, with very few students, whilst government schools with many more students are being forced to close."
More than 70% of Australia's children attend government schools at present.
At the moment the global office remains relatively cool, but that is sure to change. Hope that we have storms this afternoon.
Yesterday we had a new fence put up above the rock wall around the house next door (see pic) - and next week we put new carpets into the house...
Business:
National Australia Bank (NAB) yesterday revealed an Au$1.1 billion share buy-back scheme that sent the share prices soaring by 48 cents to a record Au$15.32.Sport:
It appears that Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch are to meet in London next week to sort out the future of rugby league now that the administrators and front-line men have been discarded.Social:
The new States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Bill was just passed in the Senate through the help of the independent Senators Mal Colson and Brian Harradine.Personal trivia, from the global office:
It was so hot last night that I could not sleep despite leaving both large windows-doors open in the bedroom. Today it remains really hot with temperatures once again expected to reach 40 degrees celcius.
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