###The Country Courier - 6/03/2021
Written by: Josaia Dulakala
The first Senate Inquiry in recent history was released following an intense multi-part round of testimony from members of the public and filing of evidence from Senators. The Senate Inquiry is the first inquiry into the systems of Statehood and Local Government since the West Wimmeran Statehood Movement rose and fell and the Local Government Act was introduced into law.
The Inquiry, headed by Senator Gregor_The_Beggar of New South Wales, dug at the heart of the issue and saw the testimony of many interested groups. By the end, Senator Gregor drafted a report with the committee of Senators which addressed the testimony of many submitters while making final recommendations.
The proposed action undertaken by the Committee was
- Minimum Population Standards for new States
- Non-Binding Requirement for a new State to meet financial and economic criteria
- Immediate Financial Support for the Norfolk Islands with restoration of basic self-governance functionalities.
- Dissolution of the "Canberra Bubble" and moving Administration Centers into the regions
- Amend or Abolish Section 125 of the Constitution
- Statehood for the Australian Capital Territory
- Additional Specialized Inquiry into Local Government Expenditure
- Exploring reform into a French-style system for local and state government.
- Enshrining Local Government in the Constitution.
With all of these findings, our politicians are tackled to really start taking action to address these findings. Shortly after the Inquiries report, it appears Senator Gregor_The_Beggar has already gotten onto the case with him presenting legislation granting the External Territories and Australian Capital Territory sovereignty over their own waters.
This is a chance for democratic reform in Australia and the response from our politicians in the coming days to the findings will be interesting to see.
The text of the bill can be read below:
> ##Local Government Reform (Wales) Act 2019
>
>
> PART 1
>
>
> #Creation of Local Assemblies or Cynulliadau Lleol
>
>
> 1) Restructuring of Local Authorities
>
> (1) A new class of elected Unitary Authority referred to as collectively as Local Assemblies or Cynulliadau Lleol shall be created.
>
> (2) All existing Unitary Authorities will become Local Assemblies.
>
> (3) The boundaries of these Local Assemblies may be altered by the Electoral Commision, but are obliged to follow the boundaries of natural communities.
>
> (a) Local Assemblies may make representations to the Electoral Commision to request the exercising of such powers.
>
> (5) The Electoral Commision will be required to issue an initial name for each Local Assembly under the following guidelines-
>
> (a) Wherein the Local Assembly represents a town or city, the X Assembly or X Cynulliad wherein X represents is replaced with the name of the town or city.
>
> (b) Wherein the Local Assembly represents a traditional county area, the X Assembly or X Cynulliad where X is replaced with the name of the county.
>
> (c) Wherein the Electoral Commission believes 5(a) or (b) are not applicable or would not be suitable, they may overrule said guidelines and issue a name as per their judgement. They must do this bilingually.
>
> (d) The Local Assemblies may rename themselves by a two-thirds majority vote of their members.
>
> (6) The Welsh Government shall have a duty to provide adequate funding by Block Grant wherein a provision of acceptable services may reasonably be provided without undue strain on revenue generation capacity under part 3 of this act.
>
> (7) At the implementation of this act, the Block Grant for each local authority area shall be set so as that the transition to Local Assembly status will be revenue neutral.
>
>
> 2) Borrowing Powers
>
> (1) Local Assemblies shall have the power to request borrowing for the purpose of capital expenditure or short term deficit from the Welsh Government.
>
> (2) In a tax year, they shall be empowered to request no more than their annual borrowing allowance, which shall be calculated as £400 per person registered as resident in the Local Assembly’s area of authority.
>
> (a) The limit may be increased by statutory instrument for this ac
TL;DR:
- Put your joint down.
- Enter your postcode to find your local MP.
- Copy the email address of your local MP and create a new email.
- Copy and paste the email template from this word document into the email.
- Edit the sections to your own name, address, and email address. Send.
- Upvote this post for visibility, perhaps share to other social media.
What's happening?
There is a new bill called the Problem Drug Use Bill, which has had its first reading at the House of Commons. The date of the second reading is TBC.
My opinion: This isn't just some petition that will receive a standard, automated, bullshit response on the government website. This is a bill being discussed by MPs and is in the beginning stages of making its way through the system. Displaying public support of the bill to MPs across the country could make a difference.
What is its impact and why should you contact your MP?
>The Bill is a ‘Private Members’ Bill’, and does not have the backing of the Government. Such Bills rarely progress into law in tabled form, but they can have significant influence on parliamentary debate and legislation — providing a rallying point for MPs from all parties who support reform. Where parliamentary and public support is evident Private Members' Bills can more commonly prompt Government to propose their own similar legislation, or adopt parts of the Bill in other forms.
>
>Key to maximising impact of the Bill is building parliamentary support so we urge you to contact your MP and encourage them to support the Bill and engage with the ideas and proposals it contains. The Bill’s second reading debate will be announced in due course and will be the first key opportunity for parliamentary engagement.
>
>The Bill presents a unique opportunity, on the Misuse of Drugs Act’s 50th anniversary, to challenge its conceptual and institutional failings, expose it to some long overdue scrutiny, and address the immediate crisis as well as preparing the ground for longer term structural reforms.
What does the bill propose?
[Full text of the bill here](https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill
... keep reading on reddit ➡Introduced: Sponsor: Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT]
This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs which will consider it before sending it to the Senate floor for consideration.
I searched through the reddit and also on through various news outlet but I couldn't find a summarised list about anything. So, I thought why not ask my fellow members of this sub reddit over here.
Also, since I am surrounded most of the times by people supporting INC and Left leaning supporters, I find it difficult sometimes to tackle them with what this government has done for our country since it took the seat. Any help guys?
P.S. - I will also be posting a similar question replacing NDA with UPA so that others can also be aware of some good things (even if few) done by them too.
P.P.S - Sorry for mistakenly deleting my previous post. I had to change the flair but I just pressed delete instead!
What if we reshaped the way our counties and cities worked as a country? As we see most densely populated areas have more progressive ideologies where as the people in the countryside have ideas that are more “I want to be left alone”. What if cities were given different laws that conformed to the more social and economic changes people want as opposed to the rural communities that just kind of do whatever they want in a free market. How would this play out? How would we even see it done? Would you guys have anything to add to this? Has anyone done this before?
The Himachal Pradesh law prohibits outsiders from buying land in the hill state.
Section 118 of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act relaxed so Priyanka Gandhi could buy land
However, the Congress government in the state in 2007 relaxed the acquisition norms under Section 118 of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act to facilitate land purchase by Priyanka.
State Congress leader Vidya Stokes played an important role in helping the Vadras buy the three-and-a-half bigha (one bigha is 0.4 hectare) agricultural plot for around Rs 47 lakh.
Plot is surrounded by Charabra forests
Plot is surrounded by Charabra forests
The plot surrounded by thick pine and cedar forests in Charabra, some 15 km uphill from the Himachal Pradesh capital, lies close to the President's summer resort The Retreat and Oberoi Group's luxury spa Wildflower Hall.
In 2011, the entire building was pulled down -- not because of any dispute -- but apparently the Gandhi scion was unhappy with the building design
The work for the cottage was given to a Delhi-based architect in 2008. However in 2011, the entire building was pulled down -- not because of any dispute -- but apparently the Gandhi scion was unhappy with the building design and the size of its rooms, said party leaders close to the family.
It was later redesigned and re-constructed by Shimla-based builder Tenzin in the hill architecture style with strong foundations, an open terrace, a drive-in and five bigger rooms that have wooden interiors, shingled exteriors and a sloping tiled roof.
Priyanka is among the few high-profile people who have built houses in Himachal Pradesh and she and her family visit it frequently to inspect the construction work.
RTI Filed
A bench headed by Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan issued the notice on a petition filed by RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya. The RTI activist has been seeking details of the property and permissions granted by the state government under section 118 of HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act. The court fixed June 2 as the next date of hearing.
In his plea, Bhattacharya has claimed that while the Centre had given him information relating to Sonia, her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka’s property in Delhi, the Shimla Deputy Commissioner’s office had denied him similar info
... keep reading on reddit ➡TL;DR:
- Put your joint down.
- Enter your postcode to find your local MP.
- Copy the email address of your local MP and create a new email.
- Copy and paste the email template from this word document into the email.
- Edit the sections to your own name, address, and email address. Send.
- Make this post visible, and perhaps share to other social media.
What's happening?
There is a new bill called the Problem Drug Use Bill, which has had its first reading at the House of Commons. The date of the second reading is TBC.
My opinion: This isn't just some petition that will receive a standard, automated, bullshit response on the government website. This is a bill being discussed by MPs and is in the beginning stages of making its way through the system. Displaying public support of the bill to MPs across the country could make a difference.
What is its impact and why should you contact your MP?
>The Bill is a ‘Private Members’ Bill’, and does not have the backing of the Government. Such Bills rarely progress into law in tabled form, but they can have significant influence on parliamentary debate and legislation — providing a rallying point for MPs from all parties who support reform. Where parliamentary and public support is evident Private Members' Bills can more commonly prompt Government to propose their own similar legislation, or adopt parts of the Bill in other forms.
>
>Key to maximising impact of the Bill is building parliamentary support so we urge you to contact your MP and encourage them to support the Bill and engage with the ideas and proposals it contains. The Bill’s second reading debate will be announced in due course and will be the first key opportunity for parliamentary engagement.
>
>The Bill presents a unique opportunity, on the Misuse of Drugs Act’s 50th anniversary, to challenge its conceptual and institutional failings, expose it to some long overdue scrutiny, and address the immediate crisis as well as preparing the ground for longer term structural reforms.
What does the bill propose?
Full text of the bill here. Key
... keep reading on reddit ➡TL;DR:
- Put your joint down.
- Enter your postcode to find your local MP.
- Copy the email address of your local MP and create a new email.
- Copy and paste the email template from this word document into the email.
- Edit the sections to your own name, address, and email address. Send.
- Make this post visible, and perhaps share to other social media.
What's happening?
There is a new bill called the Problem Drug Use Bill, which has had its first reading at the House of Commons. The date of the second reading is TBC.
My opinion: This isn't just some petition that will receive a standard, automated, bullshit response on the government website. This is a bill being discussed by MPs and is in the beginning stages of making its way through the system. Displaying public support of the bill to MPs across the country could make a difference.
What is its impact and why should you contact your MP?
>The Bill is a ‘Private Members’ Bill’, and does not have the backing of the Government. Such Bills rarely progress into law in tabled form, but they can have significant influence on parliamentary debate and legislation — providing a rallying point for MPs from all parties who support reform. Where parliamentary and public support is evident Private Members' Bills can more commonly prompt Government to propose their own similar legislation, or adopt parts of the Bill in other forms.
>
>Key to maximising impact of the Bill is building parliamentary support so we urge you to contact your MP and encourage them to support the Bill and engage with the ideas and proposals it contains. The Bill’s second reading debate will be announced in due course and will be the first key opportunity for parliamentary engagement.
>
>The Bill presents a unique opportunity, on the Misuse of Drugs Act’s 50th anniversary, to challenge its conceptual and institutional failings, expose it to some long overdue scrutiny, and address the immediate crisis as well as preparing the ground for longer term structural reforms.
What does the bill propose?
Full text of the bill here. Key
... keep reading on reddit ➡
