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HOME PAGE
NOVEMBER UPDATE
OCTOBER UPDATE
AUGUST
UPDATE
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We bring people
together in each federal electorate (150 electorates around
Australia) to work locally in engaging our communities and our
representatives in an agenda of empowerment of ordinary people
and strengthening of civil society.
CLICK HERE to join us. |
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SELF-DIRECTED
SERVICES AND PERSONAL BUDGETS
You can take charge of your social support, education and health
care through a personal budget.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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AGM SEASON
Making a difference in our not-for-profits.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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STREET BY STREET
Linking
up people who live in the same
street or nearby to build community through practical helping
tasks - on a national scale.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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COMMUNITY BUILDING
NATIONAL NETWORK
CLICK HERE
to participate in the
Network. |
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LEFT AND RIGHT?
"The Left and Right have been as bad as each other. The Left has
allowed its distrust of markets and endless faith in government
to obscure the importance of civil society. The Right has been
so focused on replacing the state with markets that it has
forgotten how to cultivate a trusting society.
This is the politics of the absurd. The Left identifies with the
good society but rarely talks about the mutualism and trust
between people. The Right recognises the importance of moral
obligation but gives the impression of trusting market
transactions more than civil society.
Few things seem to happen anymore
without a government law or market transaction to guide
them. This is how record levels of GDP in Australia now sit
alongside record levels of crime, social stress and family
breakdown. The political balance needs to swing back towards
civil society.
This task, in fact, requires a new type of politics."
Mark Latham, Mutualism: A Third Way for Australia," 1999.
CLICK HERE
to read more. |
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SURVEYS |
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If you are the proprietor of
a small business, please send us your thoughts on how we can support
small businesses through our |
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SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY |
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If you
are caring for an ill or disabled family member at home, please click
here to participate in our |
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Family CarERS SURVEY |
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CORPORATE WELFARE WATCH
WINDING BACK WELFARE HANDOUTS TO BIG
BUSINESS
The Centre for Civil Society
supports a major investment of resources in the support of the most vulnerable
Australians.
But where will the money come from? Answer: from a massive redirection of
resources from corporate welfare to human welfare.
Because of Australia's bi-partisan
tradition of corporate welfare, where both Establishment parties allocate
taxpayers' money to corporates who say they need it, the true extent of business
welfare in our country has been rarely scrutinised or publicised. Most
Australians would be shocked by the extent the handouts to big business by both
federal and state governments.
As Australia and other countries grapple with the impact of the global financial
crisis, a wave of puzzlement initially greeted the decisions of governments to
bail out financial institutions and then shore up corporates affected by their
profligacy. That puzzlement has now given way to a disbelief and increasing
anger at the entrenched double standard that runs through the structure and
culture of government, namely:
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Areas of human need such as
early childhood interventions for kids with learning and developmental
delays, or disabilities, or needs for for tailored educational programs
through school, are starved of public resources, while car makers, property
developers, banks and construction companies pocket billion-dollar
hand-outs;
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Community organisations must
account for every cent in small grant allocations with onerous
accountability requirements, while corporate welfare recipients are rarely
subject to the same accountabilities, and in some cases, none at all;
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Human welfare advocates are
increasingly required to produce a 'business case' for their receipt of
public funds; while corporate welfare recipients increasingly rely on a
'threat of failure' argument to influence governments to give public
resources to private interests.
It's time to break the silence.
We invite comments and suggestions
about how we can develop a major campaign to wind back corporate welfare in
Australia and redirect public resources to public interests.
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Handout |
When
Announced |
Our Money ($million) |
Winners |
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Subsidies to car
manufacturers |
Feb 04 2009 |
$6,200 |
Auto company shareholders in
Japan and the USA |
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Commercial property construction investment |
Jan 24 2009 |
$2,000 |
Property developers |
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Free emission permits to coal-fired
electricity generators |
Dec 08 2008 |
$3,900 |
Big carbon emitters |
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Car dealer finance guarantee |
Dec 05 2008 |
$2,000 |
Car dealers |
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GMH 4 cylinder car manufacture |
Nov 01 2008 |
$149 |
US car corporation |
FURTHER INFORMATION
Vern Hughes
vern@civilsociety.org.au
Tel: 0425 722 890
©
Centre for Civil Society 2008 | |
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TRANSFORMING OUR
SCHOOLS
CLICK HERE for
details of our campaign for a Real Education Revolution.
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PARENTS FAMILIES AND
CARERS
CLICK HERE
for
info on the National
Federation of Parents, Families and Carers. |
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MAKING IT PERSONAL
Charlie Leadbeater, Jamie
Bartlett and Niamh Gallagher have authored this highly
influential Demos Report on Self-Directed Services
and Personal Budgets.
CLICK HERE
to read
Making It Personal. |
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THIRD WAY FORUM
Communitarianism,
Mutualism, Third Way Thinking
CLICK HERE
to find out more. |
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SUBSCRIBE
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email address here.
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Family Carers
There are
2.7million family carers of people with a disability, a chronic
or mental illness, or aged frailty in Australia. They are
invisible to politicians and policy makers.
Read more... |
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How to Use this Website
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If you are visiting
this website for the first time, please note that there are two
sets of links - one at the top of each page; and a second on the
left hand side.
Click on the links on the top of the page for information on the
Centre for Civil Society - including an overview of our current
CAMPAIGNS
and
POLICIES
we would like you to comment on
.Click
on the links on the left to
JOIN,
VOLUNTEER
or make a
DONATION; or to participate in one of our
DISCUSSION forums.
Use the
SEARCH
button to find items of interest; or the
WRITE
button to send us your comments and suggestions.If you are
having problems navigating, there are additional links at
the bottom of each page. Or click here for our
PLAIN TEXT version (ideal for printing).
For those with
reading difficulties, this website has been designed so you can
click on 'Text Size' in your 'View' menu to enlarge the font..
If you need more
assistance, feel free to send a message to our
WEBMASTER.
And don't forget
to visit again soon to see our website - and our ideas,
campaigns and policies - evolve. We value your
contribution. |
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