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Wednesday 14th August 1996
Wednesday 14th August 1996
Prime Minister John Howard will officially be presented with the 120-page report prepared by the 17 member commission.
Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman, Laurie Brereton, said Australia had continued to take a lead in anti-nuclear issues but that this was at risk because Alexander Downer had already performed a back flip on the issue and his future direction was unclear.
When in opposition Downer had described the commission as a political stunt and a "naive and childish" exercise. Now that he was in government Downer had described the commission's findings (which included the like of US defence secretary Robert McNamara and Nobel Peace prize winner Joseph Rotblat) as valuable and creative.
One wonders what Downer's next downer will prove to be...
and now news that is just plain weird...
An elderly couple from Gladstone in Northern Queensland were attacked by a sexually active stag on their deer farm on Monday. Alex and Elsa Scrivener would have been kicked to death if they hadn't held on to the stag's antlers and dragged it and themselves to the fence - through which they escaped.
Alex bears wounds in his mid-sternum and leg which look like he has been shot with a .22 rifle.
He is in a stable condition in Gladstone hospital.
Aboriginal Affairs minister John Herron revealed that funding to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission's (ATSIC) Au$928 million budget would be reduced by Au$470 million over the next four years.
The move has outraged ATSIC although housing, health and employment funding will be sanitised. The move cuts the rest of the organisation's budget (including that of the highly controversial Aboriginal Legal Aid service) by 30%.
The savings in areas such as higher education, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Aboriginal Affairs now total about Au$2.5 billion.
On the other hand the National Party leader, foot-in-mouth Tim Fischer, who has been under extreme pressure from the farming lobby since the decision to ban automatic weapons, announced good news rather prematurely for the rural and mining sector - confirming that the diesel fuel rebate would remain unaffected. There had been a great deal of speculation that this would be chopped saving the government Au$1.3 billion per annum.
Now I call that a very expensive compromise to save a politician's skin. One wonder's what their hide is worth today? To top it all Mr Fischer's announcement made on talk back radio has enraged his ministerial colleagues like Resources Minister Warick Parer who had been working behind the scenes to get the mining industry to agree to savings.
Looks like those negotiations will go out the window now...
While the Treasury Corporation of Victoria has admitted to a Au$171.5 million liability to FAI over the 1987 deal, the parties are fighting over will foot the retrospective tax bill of at least Au$69 million.
The former Labor Victorian state government racked up more than Au$1 billion in liabilities through complex financing deals of public transport rolling stock, the World Congress Centre, the National Tennis Centre, St Vincent's hospital (is nothing sacred!) and other general loans.
Most of these have attracted huge tax bills or other unforseen liabilities years later and did not have to go to the Loan Council for approval.
And what's Victoria's motto? Victoria is on the move... yeah, backwards it would seem!
She spoke publicly for the first time since returning from Atlanta where she performed very poorly after winning a court injunction to represent Australia and pushing out selected medal hope Lucy Tyler-Sharman from the 3000m pursuit race. Watt failed to get a medal and has not been backward in coming forward with her point of view.... Tyler Sharman has maintained her dignity and her silence even though her dreams were shattered by the unsuccessful Watt.
Now Watt is call the national coach, Charlie Walsh, and the Australian Cycling Federation a dictatorship calling on the Australian Sports Commission to hold an inquiry into the selection of teams.
She has withdrawn because she would have to attend a training camp in Germany under Walsh's supervision.
Now let us remember that Lucy Tyler-Sharman was selected for the Olympics ahead of Watt when she nudged a world record time in the 3000 metre pursuit during training - a time some ten seconds better than that of Watt's at the Olympics .
Now who was the spoiler... I think I know the answer.
The new code will also include a new crime of "killing an unborn child over 24 weeks old" - an offence which will carry a life sentance.
The last was prompted by the case of a young Queensland woman, Tracie Wooding, who was kicked in the stomach by her former boyfriend, a karate expert, at 32 weeks. Her baby died as a result of the kick.
A home invasion is defined as any crime where an offender threatens or uses violence, is armed or pretends to be, before, during or after entering a dwelling. The definition of a dwelling will be widened to include cars, boats and even tents.
The new code also proposes that people who use self defence to protect themselves or their dwellings cannot be sued for damages.
In the past we have had crazy cases where a thief, for example, has been hurt by the owners while stealing from a house - and then successfully sued the owner for assault... what a crazy world.
The new code also looks at:
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