Some of these ideas are good, but I think people with children mostly want to live where there is plenty of access to schools, TAFE colleges and Universities.

I support a reduction of immigration from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The multi-national corporations will simply continue to use these people to drive wages down and reduce working conditions, with the full support of the major parties.

I don't like the federal government bringing in hundreds of thousands of migrants each year without giving ANY THOUGHT as to how the States will cope where infrastructure is concerned. That's grossly irresponsible, especially when we already have 100,000 Queenslanders living on the streets.

I suggest everyone goes to see the movie: "Capitalism: A Love Story."

It is a documentary that shows how global corporatism is affecting the people in the USA. It's fairly similar to what we have happening in Australia, but they fail to mention the complicity of The Greens, who certainly seem to be in cahoots with anyone who wants to enslave us, virtually steal our resources, or leave us scavenging for food on the streets.

The Aborigines have already been banned from using their traditional lands on Cape York under the "Wild Rivers" program, but a small area has been set aside only for the Chinese, so they can continue to help themselves to our mineral resources.

WITH A 'HOLISTIC' APPROACH, WE CAN, IN THIS COUNTRY, RE-BUILD COUNTRY COMMUNITIES....IF WE SET OUR MINDS TO IT, WE CAN....IS THERE ANY REASON WHY WE CANNOT BUILD COUNTRY UNIVERSITIES, ESPECIALLY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES, BUILD A TAFE COLLEGE ALONGSIDE IT, THEN ALLOW OUR YOUTH TO HAVE EVERYTHING CLOSE BY , ENABLING THEM TO CHOOSE CAREERS WHILST IN GRADES 10, 11 AND 12? MY CHILDREN CANNOT "HANDLE" THE REPETITION OF THESE 3 YEARS. THEY NEED TO VENTURE INTO LIFE-CHOICES SUCH AS TAFE AS EARLY AS YEAR 10, ALBEIT 2 OR 3 DAYS A WEEK...OR PERHAPS SPEND TIME WORKING IN COMMUNITY PROJECTS....2 WEEKS A YEAR 'WORK EXPERIENCE' IS TOTALLY INADEQUATE...WE ALL KNOW THE WAY THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW IN THIS COUNTRY NEEDS A DRASTIC "STOP" SIGN.....FOR GOD'S SAKE BARNABY, TAKE US INTO THE FUTURE WITH PLANS THAT ADDRESS ALL THE ABOVE..BE IT OVERCROWDED SEA-BOARDS, WATER SHORTAGES[AS A RESULT], WOEFUL EDUCATION CURRICULA AND MOST ESPECIALLY THE FUTURE OF OUR FARMERS AND OUR FOOD-CHAIN...GOD BLESS OUR FARMERS.........JEANIE. [back 2 the future!!!]

P.S. HOWSABOUT A "BACK TO BASICS' CAMPAIGN BARNABY? "THE 3 R'S" 4 EDUCATION, HEALTH [WITHOUT IT WE HAVE NOTHING], FIXING COUNTRY HOSPITALS, SUPPORTING OUR PRIMARY PRODUCERS, RE-INVENTING AND RE-BUILDING RURAL COMMUNITIES..'YES WE CAN"!!!! ...KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARNABY....JEANIE [NIGHT NURSE].

Hi Jeanie:

Yes, you have lots of good ideas.

I think the government wants to move people into the cities so the Chinese can take over farming, and then send most of the food back to their homeland using privatised rail and ports.

In China, most of the adults have been moved into the cities where they work like slaves for terrible money in order to fill our $2.00 shops with junk. In the back blocks of China you will find mostly grandparents looking after grandchildren (not too many, after 30 years of a One Child Policy).

It must be at least 30 years since we were told we had to become part of the Asia/Pacific Region. Despite a huge public outcry over the anticipated low wages, and terrible working and living conditions, the Australian government did as it chose (or possibly was ordered!).

Remember, Rudd told us only days ago that he belongs to the People's Republic of Queensland, and he is certainly very keen to make us a Member State of the Chinawealth of Nations.

He wants an Asia/Pacific Economic Union by 2020, which is when I believe a Neo-Communist Green Global Government will be taking over. This is why we should never sign the Copenhagen Treaty which will redistribute even more wealth from the developed countries to the third world - no doubt while big corporations pocket most of the booty (think Al Gore).

Rudd is selling off and even almost giving away our national assets to China (50 years worth of natural gas via the Gorgon Project, cheap prices on iron ore and coal). They even have access to a mining area on Cape York, while aboriginal people are effectively "locked out" under the Wild Rivers Program.

The CSIRO told us recently that, in the future, we would be exporting most of the food - an interesting turn of events considering they also said, in the same National Press Club address, that our nation would be seriously affected by Climate Change (drought and rising sea levels). Also bear in mind that Rudd intends to ramp up population from 21 to 35 million.

Over the last (at least) 20 years, the government has also let our education system run down, with poor curricula and low standards of discipline, and encouragement of high school students to take on part-time jobs, in order to further damage their educational outcomes.

For decades, foreign students have displaced our children from Universities, and despite the government raking in huge sums of money (our third largest export earner), our kids have been forced to pay high tuition fees or incur enormous HECS debts. Bearing in mind that a lot of foreign students come back to Australia to work, we must ask ourselves: "Who do they want to get the best jobs in this country?"

Now try to marry the above information to the fact that the National Farmers' Federation is being destroyed from the inside out, and our country becoming a Member State of the Chinawealth of Nations by 2020, and you will begin to be in the picture as to what the future holds.

Hi again, Jeanie:

You said you were a night nurse and I didn't address the issue of Health at all.

From what I've seen, both Coalition and Labor want to push both Health and Education into the private sector.

Anna Bligh has decided to virtually decommission the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane by turning it into little more than a bandaids and crutches operation. This means that northside parents will have to go way over to the new "state of the art" children's hospital on the southside with their dangerously ill children.

At the same time, Labor has foreshadowed an increase in the population of SE Queensland of 100% - up from 3 million to 6 million. Does this seem sensible to anyone?

From what I have seen on the National Press Club address, there are now 3 competitors for the doctors' work - Pharmacists, Nurse Practitioners and Physician's Assistants. Physician's Assistants will also take work and much needed practical experience away from medical graduates.

The Australian Nurses' Federation said it was opposed to the use of Assistants in Nursing with a one-year TAFE qualification doing the work of a Registered Nurse (3 years uni, 1 year practical experience) for excellent "life and death" reasons. At the same time, they are pushing nurses into doctors' work.

To my knowledge, the aim is to give workers more responsibility and more work for less money. That seems to be the name of the game. Whether people live or die as a result seems to be immaterial.

The ANF has been lobbying for quite some time for equal pay for aged care nurses. When someone from the "Insiders" program spoke with the Minister for Health & Ageing, Nicola Roxon, she would only guarantee the current rate of pay for "existing staff".

Since they were discussing Industrial Relations Streamlining, I was led to believe that new aged care staff might be paid EVEN LESS than the current employees.

From what I've heard, hospitals in regional centres are being closed or amalgamated - the same as is happening with schools. Very sick people may only be able to see a Pharmacist or Nurse Practitioner for their medical needs.

Outside our public hospitals here in Brisbane, there are long lines of ambulances waiting outside the emergency centres. People are dying in both the regional areas and the cities before receiving treatment.

In future, if you don't have the money to pay expensive private school fees, and health insurance premiums for treatment in a private hospital, the government intends to play Russian Roulette with both your Health and Education.

HI LORIKEET, THERE ARE SO MANY ISSUES WITH "HEALTH DELIVERY" IN SITU, I WOULD NOT KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN!!!!AS NURSES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR ARE STRESSED TO THE LIMIT, NOT ONLY DUE 2 STAFF SHORTAGES BUT LACK OF DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT, EVEN THE BASICS...THE PRIVATE HOSPITALS ARE MORE APPEALING 4 NURSES 2 WORK IN, BEING THE OPPOSITE OF ALL THE ABOVE...ADD 2 THAT THE FACT WE ARE NOT PERMITTED 2 SPEAK OUT, AND TOLD 2 "MAKE DO AS BEST YOU CAN"...NO WONDER SO MANY NURSES ARE LEAVING.... WHO IN HEAVENS NAME CAN YOU TRUST 2 TALK 2?.. ..REGARDS, JEANIE.

Hi Jeanie:

Some aged care centre staff have spoken to me about their problems.

It really concerns me that they have been banned from discussing what each nurse earns. This interesting development has occurred since the place filled up with Asian nurses. Some are here on visas and have language difficulties. I think they are sitting ducks if someone wants to underpay them, because they don't have citizenship, and don't understand unions or our political system.

A few months ago, the aged care centre put the cleaning out to contract. The contractor only employs 80% of previous staff numbers, which means each cleaner has 3 wings to clean instead of 2.

Consequently there are nearly always no paper towels or liquid soap in the dispensers. I'm sure you know how important it is for nurses to work in a clean environment.

The leading hand was only being paid $15 an hour. She said she was getting $20 in Darwin where rents are also significantly cheaper. In the end, we lost this lady to a more generous employer closer to home, which also helped to minimise her fuel bills.

To my knowledge, The Macquarie Group owns most of the large aged care centre chains in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, along with a lot of other significant holdings (BHP Billiton, banks etc).

I believe a lot of the money leaves the country via the Macquarie Bank, instead of being spent on caring for the elderly.

When the head of the ANF did the National Press Club address, she said the aged care budget was stretched as tightly as a rubber band, but if that were truly the case, the private sector (especially corporations) wouldn't be in the business at all. I emailed the ANF and told them so.

I guess we could try writing to Wayne Swan, Federal Treasurer and the Minister for Ageing (Justine Elliot) and ask them to ensure that pensions, and additional contributions some elderly people are required to pay, are actually spent on their care.

I think the people who own private hospitals are tightwads as well. They kick patients out as quickly as possible, so they can get a bed fee and an operating theatre fee for each patient each day. I believe this is occurring in as many instances as possible to maximise profits.

I also think private hospitals are tightwads on food. If you are a private patient in a public hospital, you are likely to be better fed than those paying more for their care in a private hospital.

A highly experienced senior nurse told me that private hospitals are owned by accountants.

HELLO LORIKEET, THANKYOU 4 MORE BACKGOUND INTO "CARE OF PATIENTS/LACK OF", IN UR CITY.....I RESPONDED 2 BARNABY'S PRESS RELEASE ABOVE, AS A WAY OF RELATING TO HIM THAT HIS THOUGHTS ON "FUTURE COMMUNITY PLANNING" ARE THE ONLY POSSIBLE WAY WE CAN MOVE "FORWARD".......WITH UR EXPERIENCES AND SO MANY OTHERS WHO NEED A "FORUM" TO, "WITHOUT PREJUDICE", SPEAK OUT LOUD TO THOSE IN CHARGE, I WONDER IF WE CAN POSSIBLY ASK BARNABY TO FACILITATE SUCH AN INQUIRY.....I'M NOT SURE HOW IMPORTANT THE ISSUE OF HEALTHCARE, RETIREES ACCESS 2 SERVICES, 'AGEING' PLANNING IS, [ESPECIALLY WHERE ON EARTH WE CAN ACCOMODATE AND CARE FOR OUR SENIORS IN THE FUTURE], AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, DOES THE "WILL' ACTUALLY EXIST IN OUR POLLIES TO GET CRACKING !!! BARNABY'S PRESS RELEASE ABOVE SHOULD NOT STOP AT THIS ONE-OFF "AIRING"............THERE ARE TOO MANY INSIGHTFUL AND SOUND IDEAS IN IT 2 LET IT SIT....FROM MY PERSPECTIVE I WONDER IF BARNABY IS AWARE OF WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING IN OUR HOSPITALS.......I WOULD LIKE TO STAND UP ON THE FLOOR OF THE 'SENATE' AND PLEAD 4 URGENT CHANGES ACROSS THE BOARD!!!!! HOWEVER, I AM BUT ONE VOICE, BUT ABLE TO ARTICULATE WHAT I SEE DAILY, AND THE URGENT PLEAS FROM THOSE PATIENTS IN MY CARE, BOTH IN HOSPITAL AND IN THE COMMUNITY...MY 40 YEARS NURSING HAS SEEN HEALTHCARE GO IN "RETROGRADE"..IT'S A DISGRACE!!!IT IS SIMPLY NOT KEEPING PACE WITH OUR GROWING POPULATION NUMBERS AND I BELIEVE NOT 'FIXABLE' IN OUR EASTERN CITIES, IT'S TOO LATE 2 FIX THE 'BLOWOUT', THEREFORE, BARNABY'S IDEAS ABOVE, MAY BE THE PLACE 2 START....."HOLISTIC COMMUNITY PLANNING' AND ALL THAT NEEDS 2 BE PROVIDED WITHIN IT, "MUST" BE FIRMLY PLACED ON BARNABY'S AGENDA........ADD MY PERSONAL WISH TO REWRITE NURSING TRAINING AND NURSING PRACTICES, THEN I CAN MOVE FORWARD WITH CONFIDENCE THAT MY CARE HAS NOT BEEN WASTED, NOR MY TEARS.....LORIKEET PLEASE EMAIL ME ON edney1@ optusnet.com REGARDS, JEANIE

Hi again, Jeanie:

I suppose you would be aware that we have serious problems with the Age Pyramid in this country, but some other countries are much worse.

Ever since the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1961, we have been well below Zero Population Growth (estimated need at 2.1 or 2.3 children per couple), which has been the main cause of the problem, and part of the reason the government started bringing in more migrants (but not the huge number Rudd wants to bring in, quoted at 250,000 per year).

Even with a Baby Bonus in place, the current birth rate is only 1.9. I think the Baby Bonus will possibly lead to a Baby Boom followed by a Baby Bust.

I have been told to expect Bob Brown, Federal Leader of The Greens, to introduce a Euthanasia Bill into the parliament at any time - possibly after the ETS is dealt with, (hopefully not with Labor/Greens' desired outcome).

As you may be aware, the Labor government under Rudd has suggested cutting out Low Care due to the "high cost". He said he would train a further 8,000 nurses/carers to help look after elderly people in their own homes.

From what I've seen of Home Care, Low Care and High Care, I'd say the best of these is the very one Rudd wants to cut out. Some people are simply not safe in their homes.

In Low Care, people are having to shell out close to the total value of their homes, especially in facilities owned by corporates moving money out of the country.

When my mother was in Low Care, there were 17 people with only one Assistant-in-Nursing to look after them, which was fine if no one had an accident or got sick. A Registered Nurse came from another floor to medicate those people who couldn't manage their own prescription items.

The people in need of Low Care are nearly all women. In one facility, women outnumbered men 16:1, and in another 11:1. From my point of view, these widows are exhausted, especially those who have nursed their elderly husbands at home. I consider the possible abolition of Low Care to be a blatant discrimination against women.

Women in Low Care form an excellent little community which does things together and goes out as a group on the mini-bus. If someone has an accident or is sick, they visit one another for moral support and comfort.

If I was looking at cutting out any form of care, it would be Premium Care, which would appear to be extremely costly Medium Care available only to the rich.

If the government wants to save money, it should cease giving out Middle Class Welfare while the poor, disabled and vulnerable continue to suffer. The Disability Support Pension is currently under review, and there was no increase in unemployment benefits or Widow Allowance in the May budget.

Conversely, the Child Care Rebate of $7778 per child has no income test attached. This means that the wife of a high income earner (or even a billionaire) receives the equivalent of an Age Pension for going out to work, if she has 2 children. Some parents also get a Child Care Benefit, but at least that is means tested.

When the Labor government tried to cap the Health Care Rebate at $100,000 household income in order to spend more money on public health, the Coalition voted against it. The current cap is $150,000.

Under the Labor government's new Education Revolution, they gave $3,000,000 to an expensive grammar school here in Brisbane, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. I think financing elite private schools is a complete waste of borrowed money that could be spent more wisely.

According to an article I read a couple of days ago, several of the United States of America have gone broke due to the provision of Middle Class Welfare and too many Tax Breaks for Business People.

I heard it said a few years ago that a man earning a middle income with a non-working wife actually pays NO TAX AT ALL, by the time they have picked up all of the government benefits available to them.

The same would currently apply to most working women with little children in Child Care.

The Taxation System certainly needs to be fixed, and we need a "user pays" system for private schools which are currently receiving huge sums of money mostly from the federal government.

In my view, if you keep raising Child Care Rebates and keep funding Private Schools, the providers of the services will still keep racking up child care and education costs accordingly.

This will disadvantage the average and the poor very markedly, while making the rich, richer.

Hi Barnaby

I've been looking again at your post. I think we can expect something much worse than a rearrangement of the current deck chairs if the ETS is passed.

I think the "plasma screen" is about diminishing the material resources of every Australian.

The "school hall or library" is bandaid work done on borrowed money, instead of the government building much needed new public schools. It's also about giving more building funds to the private sector, so they can take over Education altogether.

The "ceiling insulation" is about fiscal irresponsibility using slave labour, electrocution of residents, and the plan to double electricity charges.

I've been told that EVERYONE should immediately email Sue Boyce and tell her of their ABSOLUTE OPPOSITION to an Emissions Trading Scheme which will make all of us more vulnerable to skulduggerous global agendas.

Otherwise the idea of "painting the canvas of a great future" will become little more than a black-and-white brochure to toss in the recycling bin.

I think our farmers will be removed from the land altogether, as conditions of the ETS are quickly amended. Then China will send its slaves to do the work and ship most of the food out of the country, while Australians of every ethnicity pay very exorbitant prices or STARVE.

Hi Barnaby...I think we should ONLY have skilled migration and business migration....The mess they have made of Britain should be a warning to us. Black people are mostly trouble in every country in the world. We seem to want to import the problems they bring with them. We have white South Africans in this country and still have not got P.R. after ten years, yet the "pirates" in Indonesia are promised to have theirs within 12 weeks. Rudd is dangerous and the quicker we get rid of him the better. But, as a Liberal I wish they would get rid of Turnball he is a leftie and a few years back was deciding which party would butter his bread best....Lynda

DEAR BARNABY, COULD YOU PLEASE, PLEASE, ASK YOUR PARTY SENATORS TO INTRODUCE A DIRECTIVE 4 CEILING INSULATORS, GIVEN TWO DEATHS BY ELECTROCUTION OF INSTALLERS TO DATE...DIRECTIVE= 'THAT THE 'MAINS' POWER BE TURNED OFF WHILST INSTALLERS ARE IN SITU.' THANKYOU.....ALSO NURSES HAVE STRONG CONCERNS ABOUT 'FIBREGLASS' BATTS..THEY ARE BANNED IN MANY PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES..SOME MEDICAL RESEARCHERS ARE PREDICTING THESE PARTICULAR BATTS WILL BECOME THE 'ASBESTOS FACTOR' OF THIS CENTURY..THEIR GLASS FIBRES CAN BE EASILY INHALED INTO LUNG-LINING..UPON QUESTIONING A NUMBER OF INSULATION COMPANIES OVER THE PHONE, I LEARNED THAT ALL WERE AWARE OF THIS...SOME STATED THEY GIVE WORKERS PROTECTIVE CLOTHING...I DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING OTHER THAN A BIOLOGICAL FULLCOVER BODYSUIT WOULD BE EFFECTIVE....DOES MR. GARRET HAVE ANY COMMENT ON THIS? IF THEY ARE DANGEROUS..BAN THEM.....THE OVERALL CONSENSUS FROM INSULATION COMPANY OWNERS WAS THAT WOOL, AND I AM TOLD NEW ZEALAND WOOL ONLY, IS BY FAR THE BEST PRODUCT..THERE IS LITIGATION WRITTEN ALL OVER THIS SAGA....'SPRAY-IN' GREY STUFF, IS RECYCLED NEWSPRINT...APPARENTLY THAT FLATTENS DOWN QUICKLY AND RENDERS IT USELESS.... MY FEELINGS GO OUT TO OUR SENIORS, ESP. THOSE LIVING ALONE..I HAVE REPORTS OF MANY BEING 'BULLIED' INTO SIGNING-UP...OR VERBALLY ABUSED OVER PHONE, IF THEY CANCEL THEIR ORDER...WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON? REGARDS, CONCERNED NURSE , JEANIE

I think Jeanie raises some very valid concerns. My ex-husband installed fibreglass batts in our roof himself in 1987. Fortunately he was a licensed electrician.

That stuff made him itch all over, despite the fact he was wearing overalls and boots. I washed his clothes separately except for his white socks, which went into the general family wash. Big mistake! The fibres went through all of the clothes and we all did a bit of scratching.

I would never consider using fibreglass batts again.

The recycled paper that gets pumped into ceilings has caused many house fires. Although it is treated with some kind of fire retardant, it is still dangerous and provides food for cockroaches and rodents.

I know an engineer who swears by his aluminium batts, because they are good at reflecting heat and are light weight. They won't weigh down your ceiling if you have roof damage due to storm, but they can act as a conductor of electricity, and if the installer doesn't know what he's doing, electrocution is possible.

Wool batts don't burn but are expensive and heavy. You can get wool/polyester blend batts and straight polyester batts. I know an engineer who installed the polyester batts after checking all of the possibilities and costings.

Sound Immigration Programme.

Currently Australia has 2 million citizens on the poverty line plus hundreds of thousands in each capital city having severe problems feeding themselves and raising their families due to crazy socialist State administrations using voodoo tax systems to bankrupt the citizenry.

What absolute moron really believes that 'to borrow a nation out of debt' is sound economic sense? All debt financing does is to stockpile additional massive debt and bankrupts the nation. Moreover anyone who advocates this 'national treachery must be charged with treason against the Commonwealth of Australia.

Precisely, when did a majority of Australian citizens specifically and lawfully authorise [referendum] any elected administration – Commonwealth or State to fritter away billions of taxpayer dollars subsidising alien immigration into Australia – in the intervening time, millions of Australian citizen’s are being bankrupted by manic despotic barbarians?

Stop All immigration immediately – as charity begins at home. We must immediately implement a national credit policy which will reverse our current parlous economic state, reduce taxation, re-establish national manufacturing / farming industries - as was original, and make Australia a sovereign independent nation, as it was before mongrel traitors committed duplicity against Crown country and citizenry.

Amen! When will we get some statesmen in Parliment that do not pander to the chardoney, coffee latey set. If we had greens in the first fleet we would be still living around the tank stream.