Bairnsdale Conservative: Policy platform for Victoria's Nov 24th election

Education

Dan Andrews has compromised standards. The budget is high and so poor educational standards are expensive. Matthew Guy has plans to address Educational standards (as well as crime). One thing Guy has promised to do is end the Safe Schools program and replace it with a real anti bullying program. I oppose any anti bullying program mandated across the state in preference to whole school approaches. I would prefer the whole school approach to be a focus on teaching and learning, which costs less than an expensive program that is state wide. Student literacy is very important and for the younger years I'd expand budgets for literacy essentials like picture story books. I must note here that I recently did paid work for Learning Discovery, which is a Dandenong based picture story book retailer who sells books at wholesale prices. Dandenong Library is poorly stocked and does not meet certain educational needs, being unable to source basic textbooks for mathematics, or generalised history texts. It is true that the library is more of a local government issue, but then local government councillors tell me they believe AGW means they can declare Dandenong overdeveloped.

Employment

Employment in Dandenong is not as high as it could be. Red tape restrictions prevent trade and restricts employment in Dandenong. Some of that is local council, but state government can do much to improve things. Cutting waste and expenses and allowing business to trade profitably is my goal and aspiration for Dandenong with me in parliament.

Crime

I came to Dandenong in 2016 from Hallam. While in Hallam I'd the bad luck to share accommodation with an ice addict who did property damage after being arrested by police. I approached the office of Gabrielle Williams, who was away on 'study leave' touring the world for her electorate. The office said they couldn't help me, and advised me not to speak with the federal office (also ALP) as they were too busy with their shadow attorney general portfolio. One night over Easter, on Afghan New Years, one of my flatmates, an ice addict, threatened to kill me and broke my door, and lock, over ten hours. I called emergency police at 10pm and they arrived at about 6am. My landlord (Afghan) had waited outside for police to arrive since the emergency call. When police arrived they told my Landlord to go away, saying he was the problem. The responding officer asked me "When he didn't kill you in the first hour, why did you keep calling us?" As a MP, I would seek to remove restrictions and red tape from police. They were unable to arrest the ice addict because he was known to them for other things. They allowed him the long weekend to trash the joint before using SWAT to arrest him. Then they released him and allowed him to break and enter the premises for the next fortnight.

Daily briefings and notes

Tue Jun 19th

I'm announcing that I will seek nomination to be a candidate for election in the Victorian state seat of Dandenong. My policy agenda is on education, employment and crime. Dandenong is a culturally diverse seat that has existed since 1904 and has been ALP since 1969. In 2014, Gabrielle Williams won 52.8% of the vote on first preferences. The next election is 24th November 2018.

I came to Dandenong in 2016 from Hallam. While in Hallam I'd the bad luck to share accommodation with an ice addict who did property damage after being arrested by police. I approached the office of Gabrielle Williams, who was away on 'study leave' touring the world for her electorate. The office said they couldn't help me, and advised me not to speak with the federal office (also ALP) as they were too busy with their shadow attorney general portfolio. One night over Easter, on Afghan New Years, one of my flatmates, an ice addict, threatened to kill me and broke my door, and lock, over ten hours. I called emergency police at 10pm and they arrived at about 6am. My landlord (Afghan) had waited outside for police to arrive since the emergency call. When police arrived they told my Landlord to go away, saying he was the problem. The responding officer asked me "When he didn't kill you in the first hour, why did you keep calling us?" As a MP, I would seek to remove restrictions and red tape from police. They were unable to arrest the ice addict because he was known to them for other things. They allowed him the long weekend to trash the joint before using SWAT to arrest him. Then they released him and allowed him to break and enter the premises for the next fortnight.

In Education in Victoria, an aspirational area dear to the hearts of most constituents in Dandenong, Dan Andrews has compromised standards. The budget is high and so poor educational standards are expensive. Matthew Guy has plans to address Educational standards (as well as crime). One thing Guy has promised to do is end the Safe Schools program and replace it with a real anti bullying program. I oppose any anti bullying program mandated across the state in preference to whole school approaches. I would prefer the whole school approach to be a focus on teaching and learning, which costs less than an expensive program that is state wide. Student literacy is very important and for the younger years I'd expand budgets for literacy essentials like picture story books. I must note here that I recently did paid work for Learning Discovery, which is a Dandenong based picture story book retailer who sells books at wholesale prices. Dandenong Library is poorly stocked and does not meet certain educational needs, being unable to source basic textbooks for mathematics, or generalised history texts. It is true that the library is more of a local government issue, but then local government councillors tell me they believe AGW means they can declare Dandenong overdeveloped.

Employment in Dandenong is not as high as it could be. Red tape restrictions prevent trade and restricts employment in Dandenong. Some of that is local council, but state government can do much to improve things. Cutting waste and expenses and allowing business to trade profitably is my goal and aspiration for Dandenong with me in parliament.

The Irish PM is gay and supportive of their recent changes to abortion laws in Ireland. He recently was criticised unfairly for saying that catholic hospitals in Ireland would be required to carry out the procedure in appropriate circumstances. I do not support indiscriminate applications of abortion, but stand for it being a necessary life saving procedure in limited circumstances. The gender choices of the Irish PM are their own and they are welcome to them.

Another FB Meme has Zuckerberg compared with Assange over data freedoms and conflating them with Assange hiding in an Ecuador embassy in London. Zuckerberg is a family man and not one who was wanted in Sweden for serially breaking condoms while having consensual sex with multiple women at separate times. Assange has been behind riots around the world by inciting them through Wikileaks, but has not been threatened with jail for his activity.

Wed Jun 20th

I spent time today in Little India, Dandenong, visiting Bikaner sweet shop for a feast of butter chicken, salad, rice and yoghurt. I wore some of it proudly on my otherwise white shirt. The area is close to the railway station, Council, Library and the local member for Victoria. Even so, it is where I am accosted by beggars at this time of year. They seem very fit, but everyone, with a BMI less than 80, seems that way to me.

Plastic bags are a big discussion topic with major retailers now charging for them. The issue is supposed to be the environment where bags damage water eco systems, killing fish in similar way that windmills kill birds. Only Australia does not have the pollution problems of Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. I have no problem with business profiting. I object to the excuse. One helpful checkout chick told me that Woolworths would replace any of their damaged shopping bags. I looked at my damaged refrigerator bag, and she quickly added "The ninety nine cent ones, not the refrigerated ones." Quite so.

Trump signs a law to prevent family separation for lawbreakers. It might be found to be unconstitutional. Tygrrrr Express brilliantly illustrates the issue for left wingers. Peter Fonda, fearing his career had tanked, tweeted obscenity, then apologised to Trump.

Study shows almost two thirds of university educated millennials support socialism but do not know who Stalin, Lenin, or, Mao, were. I'm told real socialism will work. It just hasn't been tried yet. Some 100 million dead between Stalin and Mao might disagree if they could.

US Congress and Israel oppose the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey. Turkey spent big to help develop them. When Great Britain refused to pass over two battleships they built for Ottomans which Ottomans had paid for, they made an enemy of them in WW1. Ottomans were not good then, being engaged in genocide against Assyrians and Armenians. The deal is lousy.
Thu Jun 21st