Thursday 10th April 1997
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Issues - timed calls for Internet use.See which Senators voted timed calls in. Tell Communications Minister, Senator Alston how you feel about timed calls.
Sandline International leader Tim Spicer has been released by the Papua New Guinea (PNG) authorities and quickly got out of the country.
General Jerry Singirok, speaking at the Royal Commission into the mercenary affair said that Spicer had wanted to launch a direct assault to recapture Bougainville's giant Panguna copper mine.
"Palace guard is a loose military description of private armies run by Third World countries or private militia forces run by Third World countries... to give personal protection to the politicians while rendering the legitimate defence forces unoperational," Singirok said when explaining the Prime Minister's Department's quest to deploy a Rapid Reaction Force together with the Police Ready Deployment Unit and Sandline as a palace guard.
"That is the way it had been and I was fearful that if Sandline had come in and actively engaged the special forces unit, it will take the responsibilities away from the defence force.
"The new concept was instead of heavily engaging military operations in Central Bougainville, for the focus now to deploy a battalion size group on the Panguna mine and then let rebels come and fight with us around the mine," Singirok said.
About 800 fighting troops and 400 support staff were to be involved he said.
Sandline last night refusing a request that its bank account statements be handed over to the inquiry in PNG. A Sandline spokesman said that other clients confidential information would be revealed if this action was taken.
The designer of the Aboriginal flag has been identified by the courts. The Northern Territory artist, Harold Thomas, said that he was happy for the flag to continue as a symbol for his people... but copyright would be invoked and further court action would now be taken against the Federal and other levels of Government who had infringed the copyright by using the flag without paying royalties to him.
Thomas said he "did not have the foggiest" idea what the judgement would mean to him financially but was annoyed that the Federal Government had proclaimed the banner under the Flags Act in 1995 without his permission.
"In their view, the proclamation represented a usurpation of something which properly belonged to the Aboriginal people and not the Australian people generally," Thomas said.
Thomas said he came up with the design while living in Adelaide in 1970. Justice Sheppard ruled in Thomas's favour in the Federal Court knocking over the ownership claims of two others - Canberra based James Tennant and David Brown of Adelaide who was one of Mr Thomas' students.
One Nation is being launched tomorrow evening by Pauline Hanson at the Ipswich Civic Centre.
"I think it would be a tragedy for this nation if a party on the basis on which she would wish it organised actually got any credence," he said.
"Whether or not it will (get credence) I don't know, but I hope not.
"I think there is an attitude in the community which feels that she has rung some bells for them, and that what she does to people like me is put an obligation on me to say what is wrong and to argue the toss on it.
"The fact that he (Prime Minister John Howard) did not at the time act... allowed a number of people to think they could take it a step further than freedom of speech has normally been exercised, and that is to take it to the point of abuse."
Not bad for a man who doesn't even know what One Nation's policies are - as they have not been announced as yet!
What you won't read in today's newspapers - the Federal Government have decided to drop their inquiry into Independent Member for Oxley's (Pauline Hanson) use of electorate funds for the purchase of a Au$2,500 television set for home use.
Former Hanson staffer, John Pasquarelli, slammed the decision after phoning Administrative Services Minister David Jull to point out that the current inquiry into Mal Colston over travel claims has resulted in fraud charges being investigated against him and being laid against former Senator Bob Woods and serving federal MP Michael Cobbs over travel and car claims.
Pasquarelli said that he has warned Hanson that using the television outside the electorate office would breach electorate allowance rules.
A spokeswoman for Jull said, "However, there is an expectation that the electorate allowance will be used in the service of the electorate, there ios no rule that says this."
What a difference a billion or two makes in this country. Tale of two people.... Independent Mal Colston was hounded by journalists at his home last night while he continued to refuse to stand down from the Senate although he has agreed to resign as deputy president.
Following the allegations raised by Jull on Sunday about prior travel rorts by Colston it has now been revealed that the Senator was forced, on this occassion in 1983 under Hawke and Labor, to repay Au$6,444.81 while an even earlier rorting under the Liberal Fraser government had resulted in Colston repaying Au$4,198.50 in wrongly claimed airfares.
Then administration services minister Mick Young was advised to allow Senator Colston to repay the money because "your predecessor agreed to this approach".
Interesting that in 1983 when the rorts were uncovered current Opposition leader Kim Beazley was special minister of state while Deputy Leader Gareth Evans was attorney-general at the time.
Both these politicians have been ranting and raving like kids missing out on a tub of ice cream since Colston's travel rorts were exposed following his resignation from Labor ranks in the Senate a few months ago.
"Unlike Mr Beazley and (then) senator Evans, I did not disregard the advice of the head of the Attorney-General's Department to send Colston for a police investigation," Mr Howard said yesterday.
Senate opposition leader John Faulkner yesterday called on the Federal Government to recall the Senate to consider Colston's future - a special sitting which would cost the Australian tax payer in excess of Au$200,000.
Now let us remind ourselves that all this petty political infighting is taking presidence over serious issues of public concern like the High Court's Wik decision. If you think that the Liberal and Labor parties represent the average Australian unfortunately you are sadly mistaken...
Extensive political commentary and links can be found on Palmer's Australian Politics page.
I SAY “hats off to the police of Ipswich". It has been too long and too many years that a proportion of the youth of Ipswich have been ruling our streets, like an organised gang of thugs.
Whether they be white or black, if they want to play handball by snatching bags, bashing and robbing, stealing cars and causing widespread destruction, then they should take what’s coming to them.
The police are probably fed up with seeing youth they have arrested walk free within a matter of hours just to commit crimes again and again.
As for the US military policeman, I don’t blame them either. What was not reported by the media was the constant harassment’s and occasional bashings and bullying by young gangs of Aboriginals on US Marines.
I don’t know about everyone else in Ipswich but I’m sick of looking out the corner of my eye, both day and night in Ipswich. So much for the Heritage City, it’s now known as thug city by many people.
Coverage Cut Short
I HAVE to write concerning this coverage of the CBD trouble aired on April &. Vision of the trouble was not continuous, implying to me that the film had been edited. This being the case, we did not see what instigated the incident.
If the indigenous legal people want sympathy from the public why not show, or insist, the whole thing be shown.
Someone is hiding something. As far as the American MPs go, if troops of their country are involved in any way, they have every right to be there, as a calming influence if nothing else. Just another excuse to jump on the “It’s Pauline Hanson’s fault” bandwagon.
With reference to the recent brawl in the mall, I would like to say that everyone, regardless of colour, creed or race, who sets out to break the law should be prepared to accept their punishment for doing so. Let Ipswich citizens support our council and our police and all those in authority and restore pride to our city of Ipswich.
The police have a job to do and if the public knew how the Marines were being bated and abused by the Aboriginal youths, they would know exactly what it was all about. I think the police did a good job and I am with them 100 percent.
The only information the public has about the disturbance on video tape is the video tape itself. No one knows what led up to it or what was said. The police did not use excessive force. If they had they would have used their batons. I haven’t heard of anyone needing stitches. Any time the Aborigines are seen in a bad light they blame police because the police can’t speak back. I also take exception to Ms Thompson blaming the police when she didn’t have anything to say about the Aborigines throwing paint over our police in the city some time back.
The police have at last treated a group of thugs the same as they would have treated any other group of Australians who were causing a disturbance. As expected the red-neck, militant Aboriginal racists are screaming black and blue murder of alleged police brutality, but are ignoring the fact that if those thugs had not started the trouble the police would not have been called in.
The man who accused the US Marine of kicking him with steel capped boots was wrong. The boots the marines wear are not steel-capped but double leather at the toe.
Aussie Home Loans the nation's biggest mortgage originators accused the report authors of endorsing the "continuing domination of the big banks and insurance cartels". Managing director John Symond said that customers could expect "an even worse level of service and fewer branches (of banks)" unless the Federal Government acted.
AMPs CEO, George Trumbull, Australia's largest insurance company with assets approaching Au$100 billion said the report was "a landmark in the evolution of the Australian financial system". He called the existing regulatory system outdated saying it "lacks consumer focus because it is based on institutions".
Well, if the deregulation of the petroleum industry under Costello in January this year is anything to go by we can expect our bank charges to increase by at least 15% in the next few months. Not a very good track record - but then Costello wouldn't know he doesn't pay for his petrol does he?
We bought a small canoe yesterday - to replace the small rowing boat which was stolen a few months back.
Name supplied.
B.A Noye, Coominya
D.Clark, Booval
Ron Johnson, Brassall
Name Supplied
C.O Morgan Acacia Ridge
No Name SuppliedBusiness:
The Federal Treasurer Peter Costello yesterday released the bank's Wallis report which got the wind up the leaders of the four big banks - as it disallowed any thought of amalgamation between them. The big winners are foreign banks which can come in and buy Australian banking institutions - under strict guidelines and, the major insurance companies which can swallow up banks - to increase their financial services.Personal trivia, from the global office:
Another perfect day in paradise - although the fall in temperatures is now quite apparent. Last night the temperature fell to about 10 degrees celcius overnight.
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