Welcome to Pigs Will Fly

How do you feel about the way our major parties are tackling our budget? We’ve received the article below Balancing the Budget which takes the position that debt is acceptable/not all bad, given the capacity to pay this off via productive assets that deliver us benefits. Not unreasonable, except that we, the taxpayers, never see the real situation/figures and ‘trusting’ party political interpretations is fraught.

Another Reasonable Approach

Jennifer Westacott of the Business Council calls for Government to abandon the ad hoc nature of recent announcements. She says:

“The adoption of sensible stable and coherent fiscal rules would support confidence…businesses would create jobs and make investment decisions that grow the economy…

The right starting point would be to take stock of

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It’s heartening, no it’s fantastic to read about Indigenous school kids at Aurukun, Coen, Mossman Gorge and Hope Vale schools on Cape York – all part of the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy – learning and keen to learn, with American educator Zig Engelmann’s Direct Instruction (DI) program. Noel Pearson, Chair of the School Board, discovered the program and was optimistic about its potential for the Cape York community.

What Is Direct Instruction?

“Direct Instruction is an approach to teaching. It is skills-oriented, and the teaching practices it implies are teacher-directed. It emphasizes the use of small-group, face-to-face instruction by teachers and aides using carefully articulated lessons in which cognitive skills are broken down into small units, sequenced deliberately, and

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Innovative…intuitive…realistic? Adam Creighton’s thinking on making making superannuation voluntary puts forward some pretty accurate sounding reactions of many Australians.

Australia Comes Second – After The Need To Be Elected

Over recent weeks I have seen several suggestions of ways of balancing the Federal Government books. All involved politically suicidal actions affecting important voter groups, so little meaningful discussion has taken place.

One Idea That Would Balance The Books

Adam Creighton suggests removing just ONE regulation that would be popular all round. He says:

“The government need only remove the regulation that makes super contributions compulsory.

The national accounts show wages and salaries in Australia totalled $632 billion last financial year, with an extra $76bn in super and workers compo payments. The super contributions are taxed

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Kevin Butler and BlazeAid, a 100% volunteer organisation, are still going strong in the face of ongoing natural disasters. Kevin estimates that for each $1 they receive, fencing to the value of $80 to $100 is done on disaster-affected properties.

Please Just Come

Kevin says whether you can work for one day, or a week or more, your contribution will make a difference and help bushfire-affected families in Tasmania, Victoria and NSW and flood-affected families in Queensland.

Teams of volunteers are now working alongside farmers from basecamps at Sorell in Tasmania, at Heyfield (moved from Maffra), Victoria, at Bookham, Nimmitabel and Coonabarabran in NSW, and at Monto, Mundubbera, Murgon, Biggenden, Dululu and Gin Gin in Qld.

Volunteers will be needed for many more …

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Merriel Lawrie has contacted PWF about the NT National Trust property ‘O’Keeffe House’ in Katherine needing caretakers.

The Caretakers’ Position

Katherine’s National Trust chapter is seeking an energetic couple with their own van to live on site at O’Keeffe House.

O’Keeffe House caretakers take care of the house, pavilion and garden and meet and greet visitors. They tell some of the history of the property and serve refreshments over the Tourist Season, commencing 1st May.

The House is open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm and hosting here is a very pleasant way to experience the warm N.T. winter.

For Further Details

For more info please contact eithe:
Gillian on 08 89721686 or
Merriel on 08 89721605, email merriel_lawrie@bigpond.com

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