Senator Polnut's Official Office - Congratulations

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Welcome to my Senatorial office!

This is where I hope you will bring your concerns to me, and where I'll let know know what I'm thinking on the issues of the day.

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The office will be stocked over the coming days.... STAY TUNED!

[TNF]

Welcome to the Senate, comrade!

[Flake]

Congratulations, Mr. Senator!

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Update...

As I've well and truly started to settle-in in my new role, I wanted to let you know what I'm thinking across a new of key pieces of legislation as well as what I have introduced.

I voted against the amendment to place sanctions on Switzerland. I fully understand the reasoning behind this amendment, but feel it was essentially over-kill to take such a severe step.

The current education modernization Bill is frankly a bit of a mess. Again, I support the intent, but there are risks involved with legislation that is so specific and instructs school how to act, without real regard for individual school's position. I hope that this Bill can be more streamlined over the coming days.

I have put forward for Senate consideration a bill that is designed to assist LGBTI athletes who feel uncomfortable or even threatened by the passage of anti-gay legislation in Russia, the hosts of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games.

The other piece of legislation is to provide $200m to increase the speed of the digitisation of veteran's records and the processing of existing support claims as well as  creating a new electronic claims processing system, similar to online personal income tax submission.

[tmthforu94]

All good positions - having a father who is an Army veteran, I especially support the new bill you've introduced. He complains all the time about it, though I doubt telling him we introduced something in Atlasia to address it will alleviate his feelings.

[Adam Griffin]

As many are aware, there is an amendment at vote in the Senate to repeal the Seventh and Sixteenth Amendments, which established the initiative process. You said:

To be fair, I have a decreasing level of faith in the initiative system. It was a decent idea... I'd be leaning towards abandoning it.

Can you elaborate further upon this?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

As many are aware, there is an amendment at vote in the Senate to repeal the Seventh and Sixteenth Amendments, which established the initiative process. You said:

To be fair, I have a decreasing level of faith in the initiative system. It was a decent idea... I'd be leaning towards abandoning it.

Can you elaborate further upon this?

I suppose I have had reservations about how 'reflective' of community will these initiatives will be. It's important to note that the first and only initiative was literally 'loony' and defended a voting practice that drives me personally insane and makes the SoFE's life more difficult and was soundly defeated.

However, it is possible I will reconsider my vote if I believe there is a will to produce initiatives that are both reflective and sensible.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I wanted to outline to you all my views on the Bill before the Senate entitled 'It's Not Up to You'.

I am aware, that I am breaking from my party colleagues on this Bill. But I want to make my positions known to you, or at least, to clarify them for you.

I want to start that I completely understand the logic of my colleagues position, I just don't agree. I'm concerned of the tenor of this debate, concerns raised by a number of my colleagues were dismissed as 'emotional'. Now, from the perspective of those advocating for this Bill, they may be. But while dispassionate logic is perhaps and easier and less... messy way to approach it. I admit, I'm human, I have emotions and while I do what I can to remove an excess, so that my judgement wins out, I won't deny that emotion doesn't have some kind of element in my thinking on this. If you think that undermines my ability to serve you, then that option is available to you in two weeks time.

I am being clear when I say that I do have deep reservations about aborting a foetus that has a good chance of survival outside of the womb. My position is to support the right of women to have an abortion and have control over their own bodies, my support for this is clear. I also support the reality of the need from time to time for women to make the difficult choice of aborting a foetus due to severe medical disorders at a later stage in the pregnancy.

I am fully prepared to work with all of my colleagues to get a compromise that works to the president's desk.

I will today put forward a Bill to specifically address the issue of comprehensive sex education, in the event that no compromise is possible and the Bill is defeated.


I will also be putting forward an alternative education modernisation Bill.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Today, I have submitted to my Senate colleagues, Bills designed to address some important issues facing our society, and they both deal with ensuring our children are furnished with knowledge and educational opportunities.

The first is a side-arm, and being largely forgotten element of the current controversy enveloping the Senate, sex education. I understand the issues that people have when it comes to children knowing about sex and sexuality. But I cannot help but be perplexed at the issues that people who want fewer abortions have with a concrete step that is proven to work to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

We've heard a lot about the straw-man of 'teach kids about sex, then they'll be having it'... I've got a potential shock for them, they're having sex already. Sex education does not encourage children to have sex, it encourages them to have sex safely.

We are already seeing renewed growth in STI's up to and including HIV and the biggest growth has been in young people. The realities of unprotected sex are starting to be lost on them, it is time to take this issue seriously. We have a responsibility to legislate for the world as we find it, not for how we'd prefer it to be.

The other Bill deals with educational advancement. It will create a national educational framework, with five core elements. $450 million will be provided to each region on the proviso that they adjust their educational requirements to streamline them.

There will also be additional funding available to regions that boost their IT education capacity.

We might reside in regions, but many of us move and in order for kids around the nation to compete nationally and internationally in the future, we need to have more uniformity in what we expect our kids to be taught.

We also want to create a structure to ensure that kids who want to drop out of school, have some way of generating a qualification. This will not be the same as having graduated High School, far from it, but along with counselling and literacy and numeracy testing, we need make sure that these kids are serious about leaving and that we don't leave without a net.

Both of these Bill do not dictate to the regions. While they are important, each region will have the choice whether they sign-up or not. It's pretty simple really, you don't want to participate, you don't have to, and therefore you'll lose out on nearly half a billion in additional education funding.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Question: Your bill prescribes a national literacy and numeracy test.  Will regions (such as the Northeast) that have been exempted from federal standardized testing requirements be allowed to submit the scores of the test that they designed themselves?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I think that would be a reasonable suggestion.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I'd like to note my congratulations to all of those were given the honour of serving in the Seante as at-large Senators.

Those of you who are returning know the tremendous responsibility you face, those those who are new soon will.

You all my best wishes.

[TNF]

It was an honor working with you, Senator.