 
Howard Fails The Mutual Obligation Test
The Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, Senator Kate Lundy, said today that John
Howard’s Work For The Dole proposals say a lot about how the Government has failed
young Australians.
Senator Lundy said the Howard Government is the party that fails the mutual obligation
test.
"The Howard Government has an obligation to help provide jobs for Australia's
youth and provide resources to address specific problems faced by young people. It has
failed.
"John Howard's 'Australian Way' is to cut previously successful youth training and
employment programs, slash university funding, silence their peak lobby groups - and have
Australian's youth seen, but not heard.
"John Howard’s ‘Australian Way’ is to further disadvantage the
disadvantaged."
Senator Lundy said programs for numeracy, literacy and a host of other areas of
disadvantage were addressed - and funded - under the previous Government’s Working
Nation initiatives.
"Programs including the Special Intervention Program, JobTrain and Skillshare
– which contained literacy training – were slashed and burned.
"The Howard Government cut $1.7 billion from job programs which actually helped
young people.
"In their place we have a few words in a speech from the Prime Minister – no
funding, no detail, no structure, no idea.
"It is the Prime Minister who needs to be sent off on a 'mutual obligation'
training course, not the young people of Australia," Senator Lundy said.
Contact: Simon Tatz on (02) 62300411 or 0418 488 295
007/1999
Internet to give young people a say on the Republic
Senator Lundy, Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, announced today her new internet site
where young people can have a say about the Republic.
The address is http://www.katelundy.dynamite.com.au/australianrepu/
or click on the new link in the left column on the 'home'
page of this site.
"My republic page advocates my view on the issue, which is that I passionately
support Australia becoming a republic. This world wide web site contains a survey which I
am asking people to fill out and email to me. I hope to find out the views of Australians
on-line, particularly those who are under 18 and therefore not elegible to vote in the
referendum.
"Young people are very interested in the forthcoming referendum and this is a way
they can let their views be known to at least one Parliamentarian. The survey takes only a
minute to fill out. The site also contains links to the Consitutional Convention, which I
attended as an appointed ALP delegate.
Senator Lundy continually updates the extensive individual home page herself, which
contains recent speeches, public statements and special campaign pages.
"Unfortunately, not all Australians can afford to access the internet and
therefore I recognise that this form of consultation with the community does not reach
everyone. Until there is equity of access to new forms of communication like the internet,
many people will be at an information and communication disadvantage, Senator Lundy said.
That's why it is important to retain current forms of communication as well." Senator
Lundy concluded.
Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295 006/1999
Fahey should act on ‘Bluesheet’ revelations
Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister Assisting on Information Technology said that she
was not surprised some leading computer firms are using the Bluesheet system, which
involves compiling personal information on public servants’ involved in Commonwealth
IT purchasing, given that some computer companies would stop at nothing to make a sale.
Today’s Canberra Times revealed personal information on political, religious and
personal preferences is allegedly used by computer companies to ‘target’
bureaucrats by providing them with gifts.
"As far as I’m concerned these revelations are a serious breach of the
privacy of the public servants concerned", Senator Lundy said.
"As the architect of the outsourcing process, the Minister for Finance and
Administration, Mr Fahey, should have been aware that IT companies were using such
techniques. It is now up to Mr Fahey to ensure that these marketing techniques are not
being used to corrupt the tendering process.
"There is no evidence presented by the Canberra Times that indicates any tender
process has been corrupted, and I am confident in the integrity of senior public servants,
but as these revelations of "bluesheet" marketing practises have come to light,
Mr Fahey has no choice but to investigate them.
"I would hope no-one has been stupid enough to have an all expenses paid night at
the Sydney Opera House as a guest of a multinational IT company in the middle of delicate
negotiations over Mr Fahey’s outsourcing plan, Senator Lundy said.
Senator Lundy added that the Opposition would be following through this issue in senate
estimates hearings.
005/99. . Contact: Simon Tatz on (02) 62300411 or 0418 488295
Encryption a double-edged sword for Coalition
Cryptography, or the scrambling of electronic data to make it confidential, has once
again become a hot issue for Australia’s on-line community as a result of the recent
re-negotiation of a little-known international agreement called the Wassenaar Arrangement,
Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister for Information Technology said today.
Cryptography restrictions have long been a focus for privacy advocates who see the
ability to exchange information securely on the Internet as a fundamental right. However,
now the restrictions are undermining an important Australian growth sector, Senator Lundy
said.
Australia is a signatory to this Arrangement, but under pressure from the US, have in
the past chosen to adopt even more restrictive regulations than provided for in the
Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Gods and
Technologies. (Wassenaar is the town in the Netherlands in which the Arrangement was
originally negotiated at the height of the cold war in 1949.)
Connected citizens and business want to have confidence in the Internet, the medium
that gives life to the global economy, and are demanding completely secure levels of
encryption. The recent changes to the Wassenaar Arrangement loosened the approach to
exporting encryption associated with financial institutions in response to this pressure,
but Australia is yet to adjust its regulations reflecting this.
To the outrage of privacy advocates, justification for retaining this level of
restriction is argued on the basis that governments need to de-crypt electronic
communication for national security reasons. Use of emotive ‘law and order’
language is not new in government PR campaigns designed to trample the case for personal
privacy. However, now that high level (128 bit) encryption software is easy to down-load
from the Internet, restrictions are not only futile, but ridiculous, Senator Lundy said.
Australians are global leaders in encryption software and the potential for developing
this industry sector is great. With the growing Australian IT trade deficit making export
expansion an absolute necessity, the Coalition government must approach their regulatory
response to the Wassenaar re-negotiation as a unique and important opportunity to support
the IT industry.
The current export restrictions, imposed on a discretionary basis by the Department of
Defence have no impact whatsoever on the flow of cryptography distributed globally via the
Internet. The restrictions do, however, significantly diminish opportunities for
Australian companies.
The Government is due to revisit the regulations. If the Government is serious about
supporting the IT industry, these outdated regulations must be removed.This would be a
important step in the right direction for growing our own industry base, creating jobs as
well as safeguarding the privacy rights of Australian citizens in the information age.
Contact: Simon Tatz (02) 62300411 or 0418 488295
03/99
Sports Minister acknowledges Government failure on water safety
Today’s telephone hook-up on drownings, convened by the Federal Sports Minister
Jackie Kelly, is tacit acknowledgment that the Government’s 1998 nationwide
initiative to combat drownings was a complete failure, Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister
for Sport, said today.
In March 1998, then Federal Sports Minister Andrew Thomson launched a new national
body, The Australian Water Safety Council (AWSC) charged with addressing all aspects of
safety for recreational, sporting and commercial activities connected with all coastal and
inland waters of Australia.
Yet the Government provided no funding for AWSC.
Minister Kelly’s emergency phone hook-up indicates that the Government’s
previous rhetoric on water safety failed because it was not matched by Government funding.
At the start on the summer season, Senator Lundy called on Ms Kelly to seek additional
funding for basic water safety (see attached press release). Unfortunately it has taken
the deaths of over 50 people on Australian beaches before the Minister decided to act.
Contact: Simon Tatz (02) 62300411 or 0418 488295
01/99
YOUNG LIBERALS INSULT WOMEN
According to a report in today’s The Australian newspaper, the Queensland
Young Liberals will this weekend consider a proposal to issue on-the-spot fines to women
who breastfeed in public.
ACT Senator, Kate Lundy, today called the proposal a disgraceful insult to women.
"The fact that this is even on their agenda indicates just where the Young
Liberals in Queensland want to put women and their young children - out of sight, out of
mind, and certainly not in public view," Senator Lundy said.
"This is an outrageous suggestion. Women should not be hindered from feeding their
infants when and where the need arises.
"Fining women for breastfeeding in public simply limits women’s ability to
take part in public life. The Young Liberals message to nursing mothers is ‘stay at
home’.
"It is also totally out of step with all the reputable medical advice. For health
and nutrition reasons, breastfeeding is best.
"If this old-fashioned, ignorant proposal was ever introduced, what we would
probably see is a decrease in breastfeeding rates, which would result in poorer health
outcomes for these children.
"Judging by this and other proposals on the Queensland Young Liberals agenda, it
is clear they are as out of touch with contemporary thinking and attitudes as their senior
counterparts.
"I call on Senator Newman, as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Status
of Women, to publicly reject this outdated position on behalf of the Government.
"It flies in the face of public health measures taken over recent years to support
women to breastfeed and improve breastfeeding rates – and it is a perverse attempt to
treat nursing mothers as second-class citizens," Ms Lundy said.
Contact: Simon Tatz on (02) 62300411 or 0418 488 295
02/99
Coalition fragments approach to Australia's global promotion
"Never before has such an important and unique opportunity presented itself to a
nation. On the cusp of the new millennium, Australians will be contemplating becoming a
republic in 1999, hosting the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2000 and commemorating the
Centenary of Federation in 2001.
"The three events cover both constitutional and cultural aspects of our lives and
will evoke deep feelings within most Australians: be it the glorious feeling when our
athletes bring home gold or when we consider our national identity in casting our vote in
the republic referendum.
"What will the legacy for Australia be following this frenetic triennium?
"These events will consume vast amounts of time, energy and resources, in varying
degrees, from governments, business and the community alike both in preparation and as
workers, spectators, volunteers and participants. It makes good sense to ensure that the
legacy is a positive one for all Australians. This means investing in a strategy that will
return not only economic outcomes for Australia, but social outcomes as well.
"How the Republic referendum, the Olympics and our Centenary celebrations are
handled will make a profound statement about Australia's administrative aptitude, business
capabilities, multicultural identity and confidence as an independent nation. For all of
these events, the stage is an international one.
"The Olympics in particular offers a unique marketing opportunity to brand far
more than tourist destinations. Unfortunately for Australia, the Coalition has shown
ineptitude in grasping the significance of the opportunity. A global strategy is required
and demands immediate attention.
Today's announcement by the Minister for Sport and Tourism demonstrates the fragmented
approach chosen by the Coalition. The 'Brand Australia' campaign has been in development
for some time and fails to build on the valuable synergies that exist over the next
triennium for promoting exports other than tourism.
"Adding the word 'millenium' does not fool anyone.
Further reference: Australia's
global promotion - a triennium of opportunity - 8 January 1999
Contact: Simon Tatz on 0418 488295 04/99
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