Tuesday 15th 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.
The claim alleges that four police officers and an American military police officer "tackled to the ground and punched, kicked and kneed (Blake) a number of times about the head and ribs".
It claims that Blake suffered bruising and lacerations to the head, abrasions to the arms, bruised ribs, bruised legs, aggravation to an injury to his jaw and shock.
Tax payer paid counsel for Mr Blake, Paul Richards, said that the claim was lodged against the Queensland Government because they were "agents of the state of Queensland".
Richards said the claim was not motivated by money, but "deterrence".
Blake said he just wanted "justice to be done so it doesn't happen to anyone in the future".
This is exactly the reason why the police did not respond to the abuse of protestors on Friday night at the launch of Pauline Hanson's One Nation... like all white Australians they are scared of the inequitable justice system in this country shining the spotlight on them.
Well I guess it had to happen, Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH) said last night that it intended taking legal action against the ABC Four Corners Program. The first time that the Four Corners programme's claims have reached the local News Limited papers they quote directly from the CPH press release... without ever quoting from the programme itself.
The managing director of CPH, Brian Powers, last night accused the Four Corners program of "an extraordinary number of inaccuracies and misrepresentations" going beyond "shoddy and unprofessional journalism".
"The Four Corners allegations defy logic. The (casino) transaction recently announced is a commercial one. Showboat has determined that they wish to realise part of their assets in the Casino. They have never stated to (Packer company) Publishing and Broadcasting or, so far as PBL is concerned, any other party that they are selling as a result of any coercion, campaign or otherwise," Mr Powers said.
With regard to the ANI deal Powers said that from the time CPH bought into ANI until it sold out ANI's share price rose by 50%, pushing its market capitalisation from Au$750 million to Au$1.2 billion.
"ANI management was keen to acquire ABT as it fitted in well with (ANI's waste management business) Holter... the price was negotiated at arm's length and no coersion was used by CPH," Powers said.
"The allegation that the acquisition of ABT resulted in a loss of Au$400 million bu ANI is absurd. The losses referred to by Four Corners appear to relate to the losses from ANI's entire environmental engineering group.
Since 1993, well after CPH left ANI, the market for environmental engineering has become extremely competitive."
Perhaps the most interesting thing that News Limited don't say about Australia's defamation laws is that they effectively silence the party being sued - no matter how right or wrong the facts raised might be. The claimant can also drag out the case effectively closing off all further discussion on the topic. A past master at this little scam was the late Laurie Connell a West Australian businessman who for years escaped conviction because all those who would comment had been charged with defamation by his army of lawyers.
Howard's plan involves a tight definition of native title rights, confirmation of pastoralist's rights under their current legislation and a significant paring back of what states claim is an effective power of veto by Aborigines over development projects on pastoral leases.
Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer said at a National Party meeting in Rockhampton last night, "If there is to be a future for the great Australian beef industry, the great Australian wool industry, the great Australian mining industry, then there must be extinguishment which validates pastoral leases.
"It is stating the obvious to say that the extinguishment must be comprehensive. This, of course, is no more or less that was provided for in the preamble of the Native Title Act in clear terms and incidentally what (Aboriginal leader) Noel Pearson and (then Prime Minister) Paul Keating accepted was reality at the time."
Pauline Hanson was interviewed on three television stations before lunch yesterday - she was with Bert Newton on Good Morning Australia, Anne Fulwood on 11AM, and Kerri-Anne Kennerley on Midday.
Pick of Ms Hanson's comments: "I deplore racial intolerance, I really do."
Extensive political commentary and links can be found on Palmer's Australian Politics page.
Your obsession with conspiracy theories is becoming rather boring. You seem to believe that the press is conspiring to ignore the transgressions of Packer and the political activities of Pauline Hanson, whilst unfairly beating up Senator Colston. I think that it is more likely that editors have a better feeling for what interests the public than you do. A story ceases to become "news" after being aired for a week without any significant developments being reported. The fact that certain sections of the press are "continuing" to ignore an issue is not news.
I share your interest in Pauline Hanson's efforts, but I don't buy your arguments that she is somehow being nobbled by the press. Anyone who brings up racial issues in Australia is going to alienate large sections of the populace - usually the small "l" liberals on the east coast. Maybe I am reading the situation incorrectly, but it seems that Ms Hanson has already been dismissed as a redneck Queenslander by a lot of people. Newspaper editors have a pretty good sense of what interests their readers, and I wouldn't mind betting that Ms Hanson has been written off for this reason.
David Johnson
Salt Lake City, Utah
(ex Townsville, ex Kalgoorlie, ex Melbourne)
Subject: Lack of Media Coverage
Nice Web site!
On Saturday, in Sydney, outside the Family Court of Australia, there was a rally to protest injustices in the Family Court. The rally called for the dismissal of Justice Nicholson by the government. There was a march through the city streets to Hyde park where several speakers addressed the crowd.
News crews from ABC(TV and radio), SBS, seven, nine and ten were present.
I could find not one second of television coverage and not one line in the Sunday Telegraph.
I appreciated Pauline Hanson's sentiments expressed in her maiden speech, particularly those in relation to the Family Court.
Cheers,
Doug
Subject: Pauline Hanson party
I think it's dangerous to allow a building up of sentiment such as that personified by PH. We should learn from history as to where such actions lead. In times of building crisis, people will always look for some subgroup of society to blame. Rather than fuelling these smouldering embers, we should be changing the fundamentals that give rise to them. We should be addressing unemployment, and reconcilation.
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