WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN PAKISTAN

WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN PAKISTAN  

I greatly admire the stand taken by the Pakistani film star Veena Malik, who is reported in ‘The Australian’ today to have called for women to be freed from conservative dress and the horror of honour killing.

Ms Malik said Pakistan’s culture of fear had intensified since this month’s murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer. The Governor was shamefully murdered after expressing his opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy law.  

The Governor was right. There needs to be a proper separation between religion and politics, between Church and State, and laws against so-called “blasphemy” are a blatant attack on the right of free speech and tolerance of different religious convictions.  They should be got rid of, in Pakistan and anywhere else they exist.

Ms Malik pledged to fight for women’s rights.  “Why aren’t men being beaten? Have you ever heard they’ve thrown acid in a guy’s face here in Pakistan?”

Ms Malik said “We should emphasise education and improving the literacy rate, but we’re still stuck in “Look at her, she’s not wearing shalwar kameez (traditional dress), she’s wearing jeans.”

“If a woman is cool with wearing a burka, she should wear a burka. If a woman, being a Muslim, wants to wear jeans, then she should wear jeans.  That’s your right.”

Monday 31 January, 2011

KELVIN THOMSON MP

Member for Wills

Australia Day Speech: Speaking out against Violence Against Women

In November last year I was one of the Male Parliamentarians for the Elimination of Violence against Women who took the White Ribbon Pledge – not to commit, not to condone and not to stay silent about violence against women.  One of the things we committed to was to raise awareness of the issue within our electorates, and I want to do something about discharging that obligation today.

A core part of Australian citizenship is respect for Australian law and the Australian legal system. And a core part of the Australian legal system is that violence against women, sometimes referred to as domestic violence or family violence, is never acceptable.

Domestic violence is an abuse of power perpetrated mainly, but not only, by men against women either during a relationship or after separation.  It can take many forms – physical violence, coercive sex, emotional abuse, such as blaming the woman for all the problems in a relationship, or constantly undermining their self-esteem and self-worth, forbidding or physically preventing the victim from going out and meeting people – in effect imprisonment. It can take the form of using religious teachings or cultural tradition as an excuse for violence.

In Australia religious teachings and cultural traditions are not more important than the right of women to equal treatment with men, not more important than the right of all of us to be free of violence or the fear of it, nor are they more important than Australian law.  And practices such as so-called ‘honour’ killings, dowry murder, trafficking in women and girls, female genital mutilation, and forced marriages are all breaches of Australian law and are not allowed in this country.

Unfortunately surveys suggest that our laws against domestic violence are often broken. In the last 12 months one in 20 women (5%) have experienced physical violence, that is assault, attempted assault, or the threat of assault. 

Over 50% of Australian women report experiencing at least one incident of physical violence or sexual violence by a man during their lifetime.

Sadly, much of this violence is perpetrated on women by men who they know. Among women physically assaulted in the last 12 months, the most frequent category of perpetrators was current or previous male partners.  The second most frequent category was male family members or friends.  The most common location for physical assaults to occur for women is in their own home.

I hope you will agree with me that this is unacceptable and has to change. Being a good Australian man or woman means building safe and healthy relationships – partnerships, involving joint decision making and shared responsibilities.  It means economic equality, emotional honesty, respect.  It means supporting your partner’s goals and valuing their opinions.

KELVIN THOMSON, MP

Member for Wills

Kelvin Thomson response to Herald Sun Article on Power Costs

Kelvin Thomson response to Herald Sun Article on Power Costs

The Executive Director of the Energy Retailers Association, Mr Cameron O'Reilly, is out of touch with everyday working and fixed income Australians if he thinks electricity price rises in the order of 20.3% for a kilowatt-hour are justifiable. Melbourne and Brisbane suffered the highest inflation of the capital cities last year, as a result of rises like this. Over the past 10 years electricity prices have almost doubled across Australia’s eight capital cities, with Melbourne’s prices having risen by over 50% in real terms – 52%. 

Mr O’Reilly must explain why consumers are being asked to fork out more money for a basic necessity?

I think it’s high time pensioners and other household electricity consumers got some relief from ever rising electricity prices. I think regulatory authorities should limit electricity price rises for household consumers to the percentage amount by which pensions rise.  This would give pensioners and fixed-income earners some badly needed respite.

Kelvin Thomson MP

Federal member for Wills

Thursday 27th January 2011

MORE LABOUR MIGRATION IS THE LAST THING WE NEED

MORE LABOUR MIGRATION IS THE LAST THING WE NEED

The claim by Chris Richardson of Access Economics that we need more skilled migrants in order to cope with the flood damage is insulting and ridiculous.

1.    We were able to build the roads, bridges, schools etc that have been damaged by the floods. To suggest we have lost the skills needed to rebuild this infrastructure is insulting.  If it has any substance, it suggests that relying on skilled migration is dumbing Australia down.

2.    Numerous studies show that new arrivals come with a big infrastructure requirement. They bring their families with them, and all require houses, roads, schools, hospitals etc and many require English-language and other forms of assistance.  One academic has found that population growth of 2% in a community doubles the infrastructure task of that community.  In the years ahead the building industry will have its work cut out for it in rebuilding flood hit towns and communities.  Nationally we’ve just had a flood come through the house.  This is a time for replacing the carpets and the furniture and getting the power back on, not putting on an extension.

3.    Mr Richardson’s argument that the recovery effort will drive demand for jobs, leading to price rises and then to higher interest rates, ignores the impact of higher population growth on prices and interest rates.  Population growth is driving electricity price rises, gas price rises, water price rises, housing price rises, food price rices and higher grocery bills.  These price rises put upward pressure on interest rates.  Why is Mr Richardson concerned about inflation caused by workers getting higher wages but not concerned about inflation caused by population growth?

4.    Mr Richardson’s Access Economics Report says that the unemployment rate is set to drop to 4% this year. This is a good thing, and we should welcome it, not try to undermine it through labour immigration.  Prime Minister Gillard said last year she wanted Australia to become a high participation economy, where everyone who has the capacity to work has the opportunity to work.   She is absolutely right, but labour migration to Australia only undermines that goal.

5.    Mr Richardson claims that “migration numbers have been falling away very fast.  It’s been happening for a while now but the acceleration there is a concern”.  But the official Departmental figures show that Net Overseas Migration was 100,000 in 2004,

 123,800 in 2005,

 146,800 in 2006,

 177,600 in 2007,

 213,500 in 2008 and

 285,300 in 2008-09. 

So our net migration nearly trebled in six years.  The Department of Immigration and Citizenship official report described the skilled migration for 2008-09 of 114,777 places as “the largest outcome on record”.  Mr Richardson needs to produce evidence to support his claim.

6.    The claim that a lack of skills will hold back the reconstruction task flies in the face of facts that:       

·         The Master Electricians Australia CEO has stated that Queensland has enough electrical contractors to handle the work and he opposes interstate electricians fixing Queensland homes

·         Some builders have put their business on hold while they fix their homes; one said “it’s too hard to take on clients….when you don’t know if you’ve got a house to live in.”

·         Trying to do everything at once risks running the economy in such a way that the Reserve Bank  steps into slow things down by raising interest rates – the very thing Mr Richardson says he doesn’t want to see happen.

KELVIN THOMSON MP

Member for Wills

Thur 27 January, 2010

SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE HOUSING UNAFFORDABLE

SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE HOUSING UNAFFORDABLE

The Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey of 325 cities around the world comparing the ratio of house prices to median yearly household income, has ranked Melbourne at No 321 and Sydney at No 324! Only overcrowded Hong Kong ranks worse.

The median Melbourne house price was $565,000 and the median household income was $63,100, so the ratio of house price to income was 9. Sydney was worse at 9.6, and Hong Kong had a house/price income ratio of 11.4.

These figures show just how much rapid population growth has damaged housing affordability in our large cities. Australia used to be a country where everyone could aspire to a home of their own. Sadly that is no longer the case. Our high migration high population growth path is killing off our children’s chances of owning their own home.

Kelvin Thomson MP

Federal Member for Wills

Monday 24^th January 2011

ADELAIDE AND CANBERRA BEAT THE BIG CITIES FOR LIVEABILITY

ADELAIDE AND CANBERRA BEAT THE BIG CITIES FOR LIVEABILITY

It is noteworthy that a survey of more than 4000 Australians from Australia’s eight capital cities surveyed by the Property Council preferred living in Adelaide and Canberra to living in Australia’s bigger capitals – Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. It is also noteworthy that Australia’s largest city – Sydney – was rated by residents as the worst.

Adelaide and Canberra rated better than the big cities on issues such as roads and traffic congestion, environmental sustainability, and access to affordable housing.   This shows yet again that bigger is not better – people would be happier and better served if our capital cities stopped growing, and they are certainly not being well served by the rapid growth rate we have at the moment.

KELVIN THOMSON MP

Member for Wills

Monday 24^th January, 2011

LAND SPECULATION BY PROPERTY DEVELOPERS

LAND SPECULATION BY PROPERTY DEVELOPERS

I have written to both the Victorian Planning Minister and Shadow Minister for Planning about the problem of land speculation – property developers purchasing parcels of land, getting zoning and planning approvals, then not actually building anything, but rather reselling the sites at higher prices without having to contribute anything to  the land or community.

As Moreland Council CEO Peter Brown has pointed out, this behaviour has a circular effect, with the next developer requesting even more storeys or dwellings as a means of recouping their high purchase costs. The City of Moreland has a number of key sites where this has been going on – the former Tip Top site in Brunswick, the old Coburg High School site, Pentridge and the former Kodak site in North Coburg.  In September last year the Kodak site was sold to new developers for $79 million after being bought for $40 million in 2006. All the developers have done is to profit from the increased land value which is a consequence of the infrastructure and community facilities which everyone else’s work and taxes and rates have built up.  In the process they have made housing less affordable.

One solution that has been raised to address this issue is to make planning permits for redevelopment sites non-transferable.  I believe this could help encourage developers thinking of purchasing key land parcels to actually develop the land, rather than engaging in  speculation.  I have asked both Victorian Planning Minister and the Shadow Planning Minister to investigate this issue.

KELVIN THOMSON MP

Member for Wills

Monday 24^th January, 2011