Originally posted by dscomp
We are currently enjoying a resource boom, our dollar has hit an all time high, we have about 4% unemployment, and our 'moral, social, political, and economic life' is far from being 'ruined'. We are more prosperous than ever and the outlook is for continued growth.

To make the outlook even brighter we are due to have a Federal election in a few weeks in which the encumbent, out-dated, ass licking NWO slime bag PM is expected to be ousted in a landslide win, in favour of a much younger, vibrant, practising christian PM..

Yes, we do have a resource boom, but I would beg to differ that "we" are 'enjoying" it......the only way we would enjoy it is if we are either working in the mines or own & run them. The Australian economy is booming due to this resource boom, yes, but socially alot of people on the east coast are going downhill. I do not see at all how I personally am beneiftiing from a resource boom. The government has a huge surplus of funds that they refuse to spend on health, education, and infrastructure as much as they should.

What do they care about? Here, you aussies, have another tax cut.

Alot of good that does to use other than to give in one hand while rising inflation pressures due to that tax cut force interest rates higher and the banks take that tax cut and more back off you. Good system

Your mention of 4% unemployment is just boating false figures as the government does.....why do I say that? Because included in that 4% is people who work an 1hr a week are considered as employed. WTF?

If you want the real figure of employment, do a survey of people that are employed and working a full 38hour week - I bet you'll see the "real" unemployement rate somewhere over 20%.

Now here's another document I'd like to bring to your attention (both readers of ATS and Mr Lear) that documents CIA involvement in Australian Politics through the last couple decades, including the Gough Whitlam saga and the Pine Gap dealings.

Titled "Fortress Australia" found here -

It is widely accepted that the demise of the Whitlam labor -government in 1975 was brought about by the direct intervention of the American CIA and NSA in Australian domestic affairs. The reasons were clear, Whitlam resented the fact that America's secret bases at Pine Gap, Narrunga and North West Cape had been established as a result of agreements made with the previous conservative government and for all intents and purposes apart from very low level liaison, Australians were excluded from them. This was the height of the Cold War and there was genuine concern among members of government and the public at large that Australia could be subject to major nuclear attack as a result of having these bases on their territory. This fear was not unfounded.

According to reports at the time, Whitlam had constantly pressured the American government to allow Australians to take a greater role in the operation of the bases and to have full access to the intelligence they gathered. He also wanted to alter the terms of the agreement to put Australia in charge. Such demands were too much for the American administration to tolerate so orders were given to destabilise and get rid of the government. It is ironic that Pine Gap played a key role in Whitlam's destruction by acting as the main carrier of secret communications between Washington and Australia during this period.

It was also well known that the US Airforce conducted joint training exercises with the NSCA and there were several reports of the US Green Beret officers entering Australia on tourist visas and going directly to West Sale.

The operation had some similarities to other past CIA activities in Australia. The best known example was the case of the Nugan-Hand merchant bank which prior to it's collapse in 1980 was said to have been involved in arms and drug trafficking, the laundering of drug money, and the funding of CIA operations in Australia and Asia. Nugan-Hand was run by Australian Frank Nugan and American Michael Hand, a past Green Beret officer and employee of Air America. In the late 1960's and early 1970's the officer in charge of the overall operations of Nugan-Hand plus a major US currency counterfeiting operation in Sydney was the already infamous General Richard V. Secord.

When the operation was closed down, Michael Hand was given a new passport and immediately returned to the USA where he now lives under another name. Frank Nugan lost a great deal of money and threatened to expose the operation if he was not reimbursed. This was a serious error as he was shot dead a few days later with a .300 magnum hunting rifle.

There are at least ten top secret American facilities in Australia with the so called 'Joint defence Space Research Facility' at Pine Gap outside Alice Springs being classified as the most important. At the time the agreement to establish Pine Gap was signed by the Australian government it's purpose was to control and act as a downlink for geosynchronous satellites stationed over the Pacific and Asia. The American agencies involved with this intelligence gathering are the CIA, NSA and the NRO. However there were other reasons for establishing the base which have never been fully revealed to the Australian government. The agreement clearly stated that it was not a requirement for the USA to share all information with Australia. In fact when the Whitlam government came to power in 1972 what little information that was being shared with the Australian Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) was reduced to a trickle and at one time, prior to 1975, stopped altogether

Pine Gap's communication systems are the most sophisticated available utilising satellites, micro wave, low frequency and their own dedicated cable to the USA Also they are directly connected to Nurrunga, North West Cape, Geraldton, Australian Defence Signals Directorate in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, all CIA and NSA stations, ASIO, SIS and perhaps one of the most interesting secret departments of all, the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation which deals with UFO's and crash retrievals.