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Through this long, long election campaign with both leaders staying ‘on message’ I have not been posting emails on this page. Have read some on 3AW and used some of them in my editorials. Here are a few on different topics.
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Subject: Fw: Prostituting Yourself
Hi Derrin, I am writing to you today as I heard political advertisements against plain packaging of tobacco products yesterday afternoon on 3aw.
These ad's are trying to affect the outcome of our election. These ad's are being financed by international tobacco companies who are desperate to stop this as it's will set a precedent that other countries may follow. You and your producers are loosing credibility as this is blatently wrong and you should be able to see that Derrin.
You claim to take a stance against injustice and abuse while you allow your program to be used by your station to foster something that does so much damage to our society. Can you justify this or don't you even care? I will ring this afternoon during your program to challenge you directly and let your audience judge your stations actions.
Jeff Long
Melbourne
HINCH SAYS: I made the point on air that the corner store owners are backed by the international cigarette companies and named them all on air. Problem is, if I censored them, and remembering that tobacco is still a legal product, you could accuse me of trying to influence the election. Can’t win. Feel free to put you point across on air.
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Hi Derryn
Whilst not generally a 3AW (right wing, sometimes red-neck station) listener, I am certainly one of your supporters, and have often praised your qualities to others. You have the rare quality (for people in your profession) of actually listening to people, and fairly assessing their message before flying off with your own pre-formed opinions. For instance, you are prepared to say things like “I hadn’t thought of that; you make a good point there”.
But this evening, when talking to Dick Smith, you appeared to me to completely miss his message. As did a near-Neanderthal John Elliot on Q&A after Dick Smith’s show last night. All people like him seem to be able to say is “How will our economy keep going without increased growth?” Even when John Howard was finally giving some (public at any rate) credence to anthropogenic climate change, he kept bleating on “But we mustn’t hurt the economy”. Even there he was wrong. A dead Barrier Reef, storm-ravaged areas from Pakistan to China to central USA, floods, tornadoes and forest fires, ruined ecosystems – all predicted as part of climate change – aren’t all that crash-hot for any economy.
You ask how we can pay pensions or look after the elderly if we don’t have a growing economy? Dick’s point was exceedingly simple – this growth can’t continue for ever. What do you do when you’ve run out of arable land to grow food? Or you’ve used all the readily available water? Or we’ve ruined or lost most of our soil? And so on and on. It’s not just a truism – it’s true. The earth is finite. We can’t keep plundering it at an ever-increasing rate. Dick Smith’s question – and mine – is why wait until catastrophe or calamity before looking for another way? Why ruin Australia’s cities further than they have been so far by more and more overcrowding? Sure, we’re not at Calcutta standard yet – but why head relentlessly in that direction until we are, which is what it seems advocates like Elliot, that dreadful fellow from Transurban and, dare I say it, yourself, seem to be saying?
Keep up your generally excellent work.
Cheers
Brian Simpson
HINCH SAYS: Brian, as I said in my editorial ( Fri Aug 13, 2010) critics who hide behind the euphemism ‘sustainable growth’ can’t seem to come up with a figure. Remember former Labor leader Bill Hayden was predicting and advocating a population of 50 million thirty years ago. Then the figure came down to 35 million by 2050. Now, it seems, the doomsayers want a population freeze.
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Derryn:
Attached is a letter I have just sent to the Australian Electoral Commission regarding their supposed lawful right to force people to vote. As you will see from my letter, although I have been very brief, there is no way the parliament can make laws to force people to vote.
I am generally not political in my correspondence to people and likewise this is only political in the fact that it is Constitutional and about voting. I cannot bring myself to give any of the major parties even a preference as these people have:
1) Destroyed our economy. Taken us from a wealthy nation many years ago to now having a national debt that our children’s, childrens, children will still be paying back
2) Destroyed our manufacturing, sending our jobs off shore and using cheap imports to fool us that our inflation is in check and smudging the jobless figures.
3) Destroyed the average farmer.
4) Continue to tax us out of existence.
5) Feathered their own nests with lifelong pension and gold cards rewarding themselves for all the damage they have inflicted. Unconstitutionally.
6) Continued to ignore our constitution and then have the nerve to tell us we need to scrap is because it is broken and become a republic.
7) Allowed the courts to deny us redress for their unconstitutional actions with the High Court generally refusing to accept cases that may expose the rot. Unconstitutionally
8) Hidden alternate energy sources from us and them blamed us for manmade climate change. All to prepare us for even more taxation.
9) Created bureaucratic mazes for anyone that legitimately wants to have a go.
10) Have politicians that represent the party first and foremost and refuse to listen to their electorate.
I could fill pages but I think you get the idea.
I don’t expect others to not vote unless they are willing to fight the Electoral Commission but then again if no one voted it would send a strong message that we are not happy.
If you are going to vote please consider the minor parties and independents and send a clear message to the Liberal, Labour, and Greens, that we have had enough.
Those of you receiving this email that are not involved in the ongoing struggle probably don’t realize the full extent that the system has been corrupted and destroyed but rest assured those of us that deal with this system daily know the rot they are perpetrating against the people they are supposed to protect.
Without doubt we are being conditioned for the future implementation of a one world government under the united nations. The same united nations passing resolutions that were ignored by the USA when invading Iraq. The same United Nations that condemns Israel for the treatment of the Palestinians yet stands by and lets it continue.
We need to take back our country before it is too late and in my opinion the only way we can do that is to throw them all out and start again with politicians that represent us the people and abide by Constitutional restraints. It’s not too late, but too late is not too far in the future.
Feel free to pass this along.
Regards
Andrew Moyle
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Hi Darryn
The following facts kept us out of recession and not Rudd or labor
1. Australia had a budget surplus. (US & UK were already in deficit & borrowing money)
2. Interest rate were higher than OECD countries leaving the reserve bank the option to cut rates.
3. Australia had flexible industrial relations regime that allowed the employers to cut working hours and not sack employees.
4. The good economy that Rudd/Gillard inherited from a clever and prudent Government.
5.All Rudd/Gillard/Swann did was, push this country into deficit and if the US does not recover what do these spend thrifts do then???
I wonder what this country would have been like if it was in deficit and heading into recession and interest rates were already low, when the GFC hit (eg. us at about 2%)
Regards
Jeremy Perera
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Congrats Derren, on your stand not to have Gillard & Abbott on your program.
It is patently obvious to me, that they both want to have total control over the agenda, and for the most part, they appear to trot-out the same old 'programmed' questions/answer format at every media appearance.
In so doing, they are avoiding the 'hard hitting' questions and topics likely to be put by you. This is quite regrettable. I would like to hear them face some real questioning on other issues for a change.
By not accepting your past invitations to appear on the program, they lose out on two counts......especially given your ongoing dominance in the ratings arena.
Keep it up Derren, and may you succeed "Big time" in the upcoming court battle.
Sincerely
Allen Howes
HINCH SAYS: that ‘ upcoming court battle’ is in the High Court and will now be heard in November. |
