Only good journalism can keep the enemies of the free world in check
STILL running in the Sydney press are repeats of their original front pages with radically blanked out lines, signifying an Australian media initiative to highlight government suppression of information and attempts to control what the people across the nation should know.
The federal police had earlier raided journalists’ offices to secure what they considered to be inappropriate data.
Putin has his KGB mates doing the same thing in Russia. Garry Kasparov has written “Winter is Coming” with a sub-title “Why Vladimir Putin & the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped”.
Recent statistics indicate that in Australia today, one in six people work in a government instrumentality. Back in the 1980s that figure was one in 23 working for governments.
Today, one way or another, we all work for the government.
Think about this: in the last 40 years, governments have sold off to the private sector major instrumentalities such as phone services, electricity supplies and post offices. So it is not surprising that Canberra and the states can boast that their employment rates are satisfactory. At the same time, with so many people on that payroll, how can they get things so wrong, so often, or disregard breaches of common trading which we as members of the public identify on a daily basis.
Recently a dairy farmer was on TV saying that, with the Australian pressures of drought and banking, Coles and Woolworths have sent so many in his industry to the wall. Businesses are now in a position to import milk from Thailand and sell it for less. That’s not a fact we would hear from a government.
Clive Hamilton has written “Silent Invasion” which examines the influence of China in Australia. We read about political donations, acquisition of prime real estate and rural country, but there is more to the story that we wouldn’t know if it wasn’t for the press.
Of particular interest are books written on national circumstances that expose activities that the various government bodies, charged with keeping law and order, have failed in their duties.
The banking Royal Commission may never have happened if it were not for the media. Adele Ferguson has written “Banking Bad” – the front cover says “Whistleblowers, corporate cover-ups, one journalist’s fight for the truth – the reporter who broke the stories that led to the Royal Commission”.
Enough said to demonstrate that governments and their instrumentalities had done nothing until she broke the ice.
“Murray-darling Journeys” by Angela Bremers records the journeys by boating people along those rivers over the last 200 years. In another book the writer reveals the records kept by people on a station near Tilpa where their data shows that there was less water flows in the Darling River between 1900 and 1950, than 1951 to 2000.
I went searching for the book “Yancannia Station” which explains the progressive ownership, livestock numbers and droughts, the detail of which indicates a repeat of current times about every 20 years.
The data circulated today has selectively varied to the point that one has to question its reality. Personal knowledge recalls that dust storms like the ones we have had recently also occurred in 1942, before “climate change” was around.
Ten years ago, Fred Pearce wrote his first edition of “When the Rivers Run Dry” which covered a worldwide analysis of water use. In it was reference to Bradfield’s plan to divert the Clarence River flows west into the Barwon and then on to the Darling.
His latest edition doesn’t include that reference and that begs the question, did he consider the nation’s intention to provide for the future would never happen?
Given the “Four Corners” analysis of the Murrumbidgee restructuring in the $13 billion Scheme and the construction of weirs and channels to serve a selected few farms, Australia must be leading the world in its failure to deal with the water crisis.
Canberra might be handing out cash relief but there is no evidence of providing water in the future. And all that surplus fresh water that Bradfield earmarked for diversion inland, still just flows out to sea. One would only read about that in the media.
“Plots & Prayers” by Niki Savva tells of Malcolm Turnbull’s demise and Scott Morrison’s ascent. In August 2018, 53 Liberal MPS cast their vote against Turnbull, effectively ending his leadership. The lead-up to that change in leadership and Turnbull’s exodus are set out in detail in a way that the politicians would not tell you.
Jamelle Wells has written “The Court Reporter” in which she presents so many cases in various courts. As a journalist she brings out the variation in the sentencing styles, the type of detail put forward by legal people, and the reactions of those sentenced.
Over time we can see the sentence for murder getting shorter – it was a hanging offence when I was young, but today one can get off with a few years if one has the right reasons.
The author writes about the Lindt Cafe case, how Man Haron Monis was on bail for serious sexual assault and accessory to murder charges. Gutless administration.
Currently there is an investigation into the care of senior citizens in nursing homes, and a related book is “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande. It covers illness, medicine and what matters in the end, at a time when aging has become such an important topic. Even as medical advances improve, many patients suffer through improper treatments.
Today’s communities form their opinions about the state of the nation from a mixture of government releases and hearsay. If we are to have correct information about the way we are ruled, it is vital that there is freedom of media information.
Enjoy your browsing,
Dave Pankhurst z Dave Pankhurst is the owner of The Book Connection, 178 Macquarie Street, Dubbo