Wednesday 2nd April 1997
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Issues - The banking system under the spotlight. Ms Hanson took a ride on one of the tours through the Cathering Gorge with the Jawoyn tour operators. After the trip Ms Hanson said that what the Jawoyn community had done was an excellent example of how Aborigines could go out and earn money without bludging of the Australian tax system.
At a public meeting that night in the Katherine Social Club Ms Hanson spoke to about 200 mainly white people. She again called for the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and the scrapping of native title claims.
The Jawoyn Association executive director, Robert Lee, met with Ms Hanson in private discussions. His only comment after the meeting was "She's got her mind stuck. She's pretty comfortable with her policies and it's what gets her support."
The native title scenario would be quite hilarious if it wasn't so tragic - with claims now being lodged over just about anything nailed down to or forming part of terra firma including the latest attempt to claim the large Northern Territory town of Alice Springs - and all affected freehold land and developments.
A few weeks ago we wrote about the success of the Ernst Henry mine in securing an agreement with the local Koutha Aboriginal Development Corporation.... well now there is a dispute over the Au$3 million contract with the regional councillor for ATSIC, Ron Page, saying, "We support the concept - our main concern is the lack of consultation by Koutha who have never held a public meeting to discuss the project. We don't agree with the way directors have been put in place without consultation.
"Some previous directors (of Loutha) appointed by the community were replaced without any consultation whatsoever.
"It is probably the first time in 50 years that the Aboriginal people of Cloncurry have had a chance to get economic benefits and the majority of people involved in Koutha don't even live in the area.
"The fact is that they are in Mitakoodi land and haven't sought support from the traditional owners."
Now what was it that Bill Hayden said at about the same time about the Century Zinc project? Talking about Century Zinc, one more claimant, a woman, is expected to sign the failed agreement in Mt Isa today bringing the total number of signatories up to eight (out of twelve).
Because of the ramifications senior ATSIC staff were in Mt Isa yesterday closely monitoring the negotiations... sorry mate, just like any politician, it sounds like a good excuse for another tax payer funded trip and a photo opportunity!
The Wik issue threatens to split the National party in two because of Prime Minister John Howard's dithering over a response to the High Court's decision.
It has now been revealed that a number of sitting National Party members are considering leaving the party - making Pauline Hanson's One Nation party a very viable option.
Senators like Bill O'Chee are so disgusted about the impact that the decision is having on his northern Queensland electorate that he has threatened to quit and National MP Bob Katter who also holds tremendous respect in the same area has publicly stated that anything less than total extinguishment of native title over leasehold would be untenable.
When One Nation was formed by Pauline Hanson we raised the possibility that National and Liberal MPs could join the party... this option is looking more and more likely.
The Busang gold scandal in Indonesia has hit boiling point with Canadian miner Yamana Resources yesterday calling off its Au$30 million takeover of Brisbane based Union Mining. Yamana said that the deal had collapsed because of uncertainties in the Canadian gold market following the Busang scandal.
The Canadian company Bre-X which owned Busang was ensnared in a complex and disgusting Suharto family fued fuelled by greed and nepotism. Last week it was revealed that geological assessments that the proposed mine site contained 70 million ounces of gold were exaggerated because of inaccurate tests. The sell-off in Bre-X stock started after a senior geologist working for Busang committed suicide and independent analysis of core samples showed insignificant amounts of gold in the proposed mine.
On the day the scandal broke, last Thursday, Bre-X's shares fell by 80% - representing a huge loss of Au$2 billion. On Monday the shares were suspended. A small Calgary based company, now under investigation, sold off millions of Bre-X shares at a huge profit just before the plunge.
Shares purchased in Bre-X for just a few cents in 1993 were worth more than Au$255 each last September!
It now appears that military links between the two countries are being talked about. They were part of discussions that took place between Howard and China's President Jiang Zemin. The plan will include regular discussions taking place between Australia's defence minister Ian McLauchlan and his Chinese counterpart Chi Hao Tian.
The move seems to have poured oil over troubled waters with regards to China's concerns about Australia's close military ties with the United States of America who see themselves as playing a policeman's role in the dispute over Taiwan.
Extensive political commentary and links can be found on Palmer's Australian Politics page.
Dear Sir,
Don't worry about being labelled "radical redneck right". The Paul Howes
of the world see only two sorts of people: those who have swallowed the
standard 'all government is good' line, and the 'radical redneck right'.
That's the way their mental world is organised. But as what our
government has been doing covertly becomes increasingly overt, as it
must now, your suspicions about hidden agendas will be vindicated. The
Paul Howes of the world will then be found sitting over in a corner, in
a huff. Have a nice one,
Will you be next? Here's and extract:
Subject: Timed local calls
I feel strongly that the introduction of timed local calls will prove
to be a real hindrance to the use of the internet by lower income
earners. The internet has the potential to reduce the information gap
between rich and poor, and anything that restricts the use of this
important resource to those who have money to spare is morally
repugnant.
I am also concerned that the step from timed local data calls to
timed local voice calls is smaller than the step from no timed local
calls to some timed local calls. I don't believe for a moment that
Tel$tra will be satisfied with only timed data calls.
Sincerely,
The great danger of modern technology is that its explosive growth with changes like timed calls in the rules is going to segment our society forever along lines way beyond the traditional income differentiation by the suburb that you live in. At least, with hard work, a poor man can move up the social scale.... but not for much longer I fear.
Of particular interest was the flailing fortune of News Corp stock which fell over 30 cents to close at Au$5.72.5 after dropping as low as Au$5.65 during the day.
Now let us remember that at the start of Rupert's play for satellite companies in the US News Corp shares were well over Au$6 per share.
Kerry Packer's fortunes also dimmed a little with Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) falling well below the Au$7 mark required to launch an attack on Fairfax. PBL dropped to just Au$6.60 - its low on the day.
Ian Healy, returning from a two week suspension for throwing his bat, will return to the team as captain.
Have a good one...
You Say:
Subject: "radical redneck right"
Graham.
"You may also find it interesting to know that the communications act is
being rewritten and no one from this industry (the Internet) has been advised or had any input what so ever."
By whom? Lobby groups, select committees....
Neil ThomsonBusiness:
Well Au$10.5 billion got knocked off the price of shares in the Australian Share Market yesterday as the All Ordinaries plunged over 70 points to close at 2352 - it's largest fall since the stock market crash of 1987.Sport:
Mark Taylor has stood down as the Australian cricket captain following his continuing poor performance with the bat. He has, however, been unofficially promised the captaincy when the team tours England in the series for the Ashes later this month. In the last one day match against South Africa he was swinging the bat at every ball - more often than not missing and managed to acquire 17 runs by sheer fluke. One former test great was angry saying, "You or I could swing (a bat) like that."Personal trivia, from the global office:
Another wonderful day in paradise.
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