Today's Headlines
an Aussie's viewpoint on Australia's first daily Internet newspaper.
Since October 1995

Thursday 12th June 1997

Associated links:

Search entire news archive by day	Search entire news archive by text
Definitive Lifestyle Guide to over 5000 Australian webs	Global Web Builders Gold
The Kid's Locker Room	World Wide Websters

International:

Democracy was dealt a blow as well with some paying guests being refused entry to the hall because the thugs protesting outside had become to violent and police feared that someone might get hurt while trying to run the gauntlet through them to the entrance.

Eggs were thrown covering the windows of the convention centre and at least two people were injured because of the protesters. At one stage police had to charge into the crowd and rescue several elderly One Nation supporters who were being roughed up by the young hooligans. Visibly shaken the elderly women and men, in their sixties, were escorted into the centre by police.

Earlier in the night about 8,000 people marched through the centre of Adelaide in a procession aimed at promoting multiculturalism and reconciliation. Many of these then protested outside the centre.

We hope to bring you a full report of this event later on the One Nation launch page.

In Hong Kong earlier this week an annual exhibition by twenty one top Australian schools aimed at encouraging Asian students was a flop with the poor attendance being blamed on Ms Hanson. Evelyn Fyfe of the Australian Education Consultancy was quoted as saying, "Most parents brought up Pauline Hanson and they asked to what extent racism was effecting students. We were stunned. There is no doubt that the news coverage of Pauline Hanson has done a lot of damage and it will take a long time to recover."

There lies the rot. There are not many free-thinking Australians who do not accept that the mainstream media have their own agendas and will do almost anything in an attempt to gain readership to boost commercial returns from advertising. This includes putting up a curtain of deception regarding Ms Hanson and very, very selective reporting to maintain their public stance on what One Nation stands for.

The damage that this action is creating in the media overseas is then turned back on Ms Hanson as if she is to blame for the deception that they served up in the first place. Ms Hanson is not alone in receiving this treatment there are many other areas where the same type of reporting effects average Aussies - but because of the relatively low profile of the news we do not know or hear about many of these cases.

Well its nice to know that hard earned Australian tax payers money is going to such a worthy cause. The despicable Soharto family creamed 11% off a deal aimed at providing accurate weather reports and predictions on the territory around Indonesia. Australian tax payers footed the Au$27 million bill because the weather information would assist the bureau in providing more accurate predictions in northern Australia.

They faced one hurdle - even though the information would have greatly helped the Indonesian farmers who have no idea what is going to happen weatherwise at the moment.

The hurdle - the acceptance of satellite stations by the ruling Soharto government. To overcome the hurdle an "agency agreement" was established with one of the president's eldest daughter's companies. Tutu, as she is called, is one of the mega-rich Soharto family who cream every major project that a business wants to establish in Indonesia. The Australian company, Television Australia, was able to re-negotiate the agency agreement commission payable to the Soharto company down from 15% to 11% - or about Au$3 million.

I call it economic prostitution - especially when the project collapsed because the Indonesian government failed in their duty in giving the go ahead in the placement of satellite dishes in critical points around the thousands of islands that make up the country.

Once Soharto's eldest daughter's company had received the Au$3 million it was every man for himself.

The slowing in Japanese tourist trade is a result of heavy competition from Hawaii. That is the official result of a report by the economic think tank of the Foreign Affairs Department.

The report suggests that more theme-based holidays would bring the Japanese traffic back to Queensland. Andrea Spear, co-author of the report, said only 15% of 17 million Japanese tourists last year were first timers which meant that there was a large new market to target. "The latent demand for travel is enormous among people that have never travelled. That is the first choice for whatever they want to do in their leisure time. The first choice is to travel overseas.

"We have a strong potential growth rate for tourism. I think we have to work on it. We can't take it for granted."

My view is a bit more jaundiced, Hawaii has become a mini-Japan with shops, the tourist industry and the best golf courses now owned by the Japanese tourist operators and their associates. The monetary gain that the closed shop makes leaves popular Australian haunts like the Gold Coast in the dark.

Whatever, it is pleasing to note the discrediting of the scuttlebutt previously raised in the media that the Japanese tourists were staying away because of Ms Hanson.

A new "extra-terrestrial" cult has sprung up in Perth. Apparently it is based on the teachings of Sheldon Nidel.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Official home page.

Political:

The Queensland Graingrowers Association (QGA) wrote to Howard following his address to an estimated 2,000 graziers and miners at Longreach.

The letter questioned the plan's ability to deliver security of tenure as promised by Howard and urged the Prime Minister to negotiate an acceptable package with the states and territories to ensure that they had the right to compulsorily acquire native title rights "at the request of the land holder".

In response Howard wrote:

• The proposed legislation will confirm the freehold title, whether in a city, town or the country, has extinguished native title.
• Confirm that residential and many agricultural leases extinguish native title.
• Allow government infrastructure to be built, notwithstanding native title, in cities, towns and the country.
• It will allow the removal of the right-to-negotiate regime (which only applies to mining and compulsory acquisition for third parties) in cities, towns and on pastoral leases.
• Allow claims for native title to be made in relation to vacant Crown land in cities, towns or the country, and over some leasehold land.
• However native title claims for exclusive possession will not be able to be made over pastoral lease land.

The QGA president Ian Macfarlane said in response to Howard's letter that he "seems to say whatever he needs to pacify the audience in front of him at the time".

You say:

Business:

The deal is expected to cost Murdoch's company close to US$1 billion and follows hot on the heels of his venture with another satellite giant, Echo Star, earlier this year. The deals will give News Corp a substantial stake in the US Pay television market .

Personal trivia, from the global office:

Have a great day.

Return to Australian National News of the Day

#