Penny Wong explains the Government's flood levy

A great initiative by a responsible and astute government in response to an unprecedented natural disaster in Australian history!

Victoria Cross to Cpl Ben Roberts-Smith 2011

This Australia Day will be remembered by many Australians, at home and abroad, for those individuals representing Australian interests, which must include servicemen like Trooper Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith (SASR), whom has become Australia's most recent recipient of the Victoria Cross.

This soldier has demonstrated the true measure of the qualities required for the Special Air Service Regiment troopers in action.

This person is an inspiration for all true grit warriors in any culture, race and language.

A true Australian Toa!

Who Dares Wins

Malo Tau, Malo le Toa o Ausetalia!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Roberts_Smith

SBS. Immigration Nation - The Lucky Country #3

A three part series which was aired recently on the Special Braodcast Service (SBS) Channel from the 9th, 16th and the 23rd January 2011. This has explained my 30 years experience throughout Australian institutions, interactions with employment agencies, government officials, educational institutions, the police services, pubs, nightclubs, and the justice system. It is difficult to simply call a spade a spade when it is much easier to call it by some other name, which the vast majority of Australians like to dismiss and fudge out racial discrimination slurs. My father, being a member of the sporting elites in Samoa, in lawn bowls, having represented his country in four Commonwealth games; he was also a scholarship recipient to Saint Bedes College in Christchurch New Zeaalnd and onto Canterbury University, New Zealand, back in the early 1960s. My father did not personally experience the bigotry and prejudice at institutional level in which his illegitimate offsprings, living in Australia, would experience. Subsequently, my father was dismissive of my claims of institutional racism and ochlocratic thuggery in the streets, by the police services and the justice system ipso facto, by the same people he had assumed were civilised white Australians. My late mother would beg to differ.

However, this programme has succinctly revealed the covert prejudice as experienced by the indigenous people for over two centuries and now recently by the shock troop migrants such as my late mother my sister and I, the period in particular for myself is the early 1980s.

Finally, this programme, does call it for what it always was the convention, the experience felt by a vast majority of the socio-political conditioning processes within Australia, by finally calling a spade, a spade! Enjoy the BLACK HUMOUR!

Ia manuia le matamata!

O Tim Tufuga
i Brisbane, Australia!

Ps, I had lived in Australia for 30 years, but, it was not until 29 years later, in 2008, that I had finally, and, reluctantly, become naturalised as an Australian citizen.

Why? because, I realised that even across the Tasman, in New Zealand, where I was born, they, the riff raff Kiwis left there still, were becoming as equally as bigoted, institutionally speaking, as well.

Moorooka state school 22nd Jan 2011.

On the road of recovery in Queensland floods. The Australian Labor Party members assist in the relocation of Rocklea State School pupils and resources to Moorooka State School as a temporary post Brisbane flooding contingency plan.

Tim Tufuga 22nd January 2011.

Brisbane flood clean up 15th Jan 2011

Day one of operation clean up for Volunteer Queensland in coorperation with the Brisbane City Council converge into MacGregor State High School then deployed throughout South East Queensland for post flood clean up.

Rocklea Queensland flood clean up on 16th Jan. 2011

My second day volunteering in the post Brisbane Flood 2011 clean up. The second day, I enjoin the Waterford Electorate ALP members clean up crew deployed to Rocklea, Queensland, south of Brisbane, on Sunday 16th January, 2011.

Flooded Brisbane from the air - ABC Brisbane - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Flooded Brisbane from the air - ABC Brisbane - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Brisbane flood has added to the state-wide devastation throughout Queensland. This has become the worse natural disaster in Australian history, certainly for the state of Queensland, which may be quantified to approximately $10-12 Billion dollars, or 1% of the Australian GDP.

Tens of thousands of families throughout Queensland are dispossessed and dislocated from the ravages of the flood waters. Brisbane has become the latest victim of the Queensland flood with the Wivenhoe dam succeeding in preventing a larger scale disaster with controlling the downflows of the Lockyer Valley rainwater. Brisbane has become the ultimate watershed with the Brisbane river fanning outwardly through the Brisbane CBD and Suburbs much to the chagrine and consternation of locals, some 36,000 households being affected.

Power cuts, and water quality issues have become the immediate concern for locals. The secondary concern is sanitation issues, water borne diseases and contamination concerns are now being realised.

The last concern is the clean up which will run into the billions of dollars, then the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructures, the flood affected trauma for individuals and families intermingled with the fascination and awe by all onlookers which has made the recent events a historical event completely unprecendent for the most recent generation of Brisbane folk.

Australians have become circumspect with the present disaster outcome and realise the futility of their human efforts in preventing the ravages of nature.

The cause of this freakish weather conditions is not exactly divinely inspired, but, far from this situation is the impact of the documented El Nino weather patterns which is cyclical and patterned in a normally five year cycle, however, this recent condition is a bi-centennial event. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o

Ua tupu nei lenei fa'alavelave o le lolovaia o Kuiniselani atoa sa amata i le masina o Novema 2010 ma le timuga i le masina o Tesema 2010, i le masina atoa, ua mafua ai le lolovaia lenei i Perisipene mai le aso 11,12,13 o le masina lenei o Ianuari, 2011.
O le mafuaga o lenei lolovai o le tulaga e ta'ua o le El Nino po'o o le matua tele o le timuga e ta'i lima o tausaga ona tupu lenei tulaga. Ae o lenei tulaga ua fa'aali mai o se tulaga e le masani lava i le tele o le timuga e pei ua tupu i aso, ma le masina, ua tuana'i nei i Kuinislani atoa.

Ua fealolo nei le lolovaia o Peresipene aua o le Wivenhoe Dam sa fau aua o le lolovaia i le 1974, o lenei Wivenhoe Dam sa fa'apea e le toe lolovaia ai o Peresepene ae ua fa'aali mai ua le mafai lava ona te'ete'e ma taofi le tele o le vai mai timuga mai o masina ia e tolu, mai Novema, Tesema, 2010, ma Ianuari, 2011. O le Wivenhoe Dam sa uma ona fau i le tausaga 1985. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wivenhoe_Dam

O le aufia o le tau o lenei fa'alavelave e $10-$12 Piliona tala tupe Ausetalia, ona toe fo'i lea o le ola masani iinei i Kuinisilani, ma Ausetalia atoa. E tusa o se 1 pasene o le GDP o le tupe malo o Ausetalia. Ua fa'apea e atoa se fia o masina ma tausaga ona toe fa'afo'i Kuiniselani i le tulaga masani. E le pei O le sunami o Samoa aua o lenei lolovai e a'ufia iai o Kuiniselani atoa ma le itu matu o Niu Saua lese.

Fa'afetai lava i le faitau.

Ia manuia le a'u fa'itau.

Tofa soifua

Tim Tufuga mai Brisbane Australia 13th January 2011