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EDITORIAL: Simple Solutions to Complex Problems

Ne News
12 January 2018

EDITOR'S NOTE: Foreign visitors are advised that the following article contains some Australian terms you may not be familiar with. There will be explanations on these unfamiliar terms in this editorial in square brackets. 

If you live in Australia (and in particular Victoria), then you would've heard news about "African gangs" running amuck and people are scared of going to restaurants because of these gangs. There are even calls for locking them up, or even deporting them in the tabloid media. And papers such as the Herald Sun (which is owned by American media baron Rupert Murdoch) are talking about an "increase" in crime rates and Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy are talking about a "zero tolerance on crime". There are even condemnation on Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews for being on holidays while this "crime wave" is taking place. But are the media and politicians talking about a simple solution to a complex problem?

The answer is yes, the politicians and the media are looking for simple solutions to complex problems. The simple solution to this so-called "problem" about so-called "African gangs" is lock them up, or even deport them. But the problem here is actually more complex than the mainstream media (and in particular the tabloid media) are portraying it as. The simple solution will be low-cost, while the complex solution will cost a lot of money, and with politicians talking about saving taxpayer's money, they want to fix this problem for minimal cost.

There is documentary evidence that crime rates in Victoria has actually gone down except in some areas, and while there has been crimes committed by South Sudanese-born Australians, the reality is that crimes carried out by South Sudanese-born Australians are very low, and that New Zealand-born Australians are the biggest foreign-born groups featured in crime rates. Saying that South Sudanese-Australians are criminals is similar to saying that Muslims are terrorists (which in fact, as mentioned a number of times by Ne News is that non-Muslims are responsible for more than 90 percent of terrorist attacks worldwide - https://www.globalresearch.ca/non-muslims-carried-out-more-than-90-of-all-terrorist-attacks-in-america/5333619).

In recent decades, under both Liberal (which is closer to the Tories in the UK than small "l" liberal in other parts of the world) and Labor has cut funding for apprenticeships and traineeships as well as TAFEs [Technical and Further Education], and there has also been an major increase in youth unemployment. There has also been cuts to funding for universities and since the days of Bob Hawke, we have seen increases in fees for universities.

It should be emphasised that this youth unemployment problem is not just unique to all Australians (and no doubt that there will be an increase in unemployment rates among African-Australian youths because of this coverage of "African gang crime"), but it is also happening around the world. In the European Union, millions of people are in temporary, part-time or bogus "self-employment contracts", and in many parts of the European Union, youth unemployment is at least 50 PERCENT, and in Portugal, it is closer to 70 PERCENT (https://www.globalresearch.ca/precarious-work-deregulated-labour-markets-poverty-wages-europes-new-reserve-army/5625446).

In Australia, the "official" unemployment rate is around 6%, but it doesn't take into account the underemployed (those who are working part-time, but want to work full-time) and the hidden unemployed, in which it would be closer to 20 PERCENT. And according to the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, there are 17 JOBSEEKERS FOR EVERY JOB VACANCY, and in August 2017, there were 2 878 100 job seekers for 174 300 job vacancies (http://unemployedworkersunion.com/). In Australia, governments has gone for the simple solution like so-called "Work for the Dole", in which people are forced to work in medial work for FIVE DOLLARS A DAY (and it is dangerous work, as there has been deaths at these Work for the Dole sites such as the death of Josh Park-Fing, which was mentioned late last year - https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/lives-of-people-on-work-for-the-dole-are-worth-less,10993), and a couple of years ago, the Liberal Federal Government announced PaTH "internerships" for young jobseekers, which pays 4 DOLLARS AN HOUR (http://unemployedworkersunion.com/response-path-program/).

The Government is targeting certain groups to distract the public from facts such as that Labor's policy on "negative gearing" is not as bad as the mainstream media portrays it, and that in world rankings, Australia's internet speeds has gone down 2 places due to the government stuffing up the NBN [National Broadband Network].

And no doubt, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is installing fear into the Australian people to create a police state (which is what this so-called "War on Terror" is all about) in which you will be allowed to criticize certain groups that the government hates, but you will not be allowed to criticize the government. It is well known that people are easier to control if they are scared, so the government is making people fearful. And it is worth noting that Victorians are going to the polls in November 2018, so no doubt that this so-called "African gang" "crisis" is about installing fear into the people of Victoria so the Liberal Party can cut funding for everything and implement tax cuts for the ruling class while ordinary people will lose out as there will be no investment in essential services that people need, such as public transport (which was privatised by former Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett), education (schools were shut down by Jeff Kennett), traineeships and apprenticeships, social services, etc.)

If we increase funding to education, traineeships and apprenticeships and social services, then we could solve the crime gang crisis instead of building more jails or even deportation that the mainstream media is proposing. Remember that this so-called "crime gang" issue is a complex issue and it demands a complex solution, not a band-aid solution that is being proposed by Matthew Guy and the Herald Sun.

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