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Tuesday 9th September 1997
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International:

Ms Hanson met several senior National Party back benchers last week to seek support amendments to the Bill.

"Pauline is completely opposed to John Howard's 10 point Wik plan," Oldfield said.

"Pauline has a one point Wik plan - get rid of it.

"She will be voting against the concept of native title and I know of other Nationals who feel the same," Oldfield said, "She had discussions last week with them last week."

One of the National's Senators, Bill O'Chee, said yesterday that he was confident that several amendments would be made to the legislation before its passage through Parliament.

"We were told that there weren't going to be any changes to the legislation before but we've succeeded in getting changes," O'Chee said.

It was a day of momentary glory for former Hanson adviser John Pasquarelli yesterday. Pasquarelli was in court as a witness for sacked researcher and speech writer Jeffrey Babb. Babb was sacked by Pauline Hanson after just four weeks in the job - on the same day that Pasquarelli was given his marching orders.

In late November last year Babb said that Pasquarelli had produced a letter which was critical to his employment with Hanson. The letter clearly stated that Babb would work for a three month probationary period or "all bets were off". Babb was initially offered a job by Pauline Hanson at a barbecue on 30th October 1996 where Babb said "There was no talk of probation."

Tania Cirkovic, acting for Babb said, "I suggest Ms Hanson that you are in fact making it all up (reference to a probationary period when Babb was offered the job)."

Hanson replied, "I have not made anything up.

"I know I had an agreement with him of a probationary period."

Under cross examination Hanson said that she had hired Babb on the recommendation of Pasquarelli.

Babb, who is seeking to have his job reinstated and to be compensated, signed the letter while backdating it to November 18th - the day he started work for Pauline Hanson.

Federal Court Judicial Registrar Frances Milne has reserved her decision on Babb's claim.

Footnote:

Pasquarelli, who also sought compensation for what he claimed to be an unfair dismissal, is planning to write what he calls a "juicy" book revealing his influence on Pauline Hanson in those early days of her time as a Federal Member to Parliament. He will release the book next year.

Political:

You say:

Get ready for a "big surprise" in Princess Di's increasingly bizarre life, after an emotional outburst to journalists that she might quit Britain permanently to escape "obsessive" media attention and constant rebukes about her role in public life.

In an outburst to reporters, Di - standing aboard a motor boat and wearing only a swimsuit - revealed that her sons William and Harry were "constantly urging me to go and live abroad to be less in the public eye", adding mysteriously, "You will have a big surprise coming soon, the next thing I do."

The sensational comments, made during her controversial holiday on the Riviera with Egyptian-born billionaire Harrods owner, Mohamed al-Fayed, stunned the British public.

The palace immediately swung into damage control, denying Di would say such things. However, the reporters stand by their story, further undermining Di's shaky credibility, and royal insiders say the Queen has been aware that Di has been on edge and is planning major changes. "Prince William telling his mother something in confidence is one thing but making a public declaration is a different matter," says one.

"The Palace is nervous about what shocking moves she has planned."

Among the Palace's biggest fears are that she will:

• Marry heart surgeon Dr Hasnat Khan.
• Move permanently to New York where, as a British royal, Di would be feted in a manner she no longer finds in Britain, which is increasingly exasperated by her behaviour.
• Make a determined push to become a roving ambassador at the United Nations. The Palace wants to keep her out of the political arena.

This article was not attributed to any journalist.

The pictures were remarkably irrelevant to the text. 9 pictures of Di in a bathing costume, including a sequence of pics from 1988,1992 and 1993 showing how Di's figure has changed over the years. Also one fuzzy paparazzoid picture of Mohamed al-Fayed hugging Di.

This article looks like an attempt to trivialise Di's criticism of the press by personally attacking Di. The text is swamped by fuzzy glamour photos to influence the reader's interpretation of the text.

Photos of feral freelancers would be more relevant than low quality bikini pics. A more appropriate headline would've been "Piss off paparazzi" or "Di says GET OUT OF MY FACE!".

Elements of the media have been abusing self-regulation for too long, especially when it comes to honestly reporting criticism of media.

I propose a boycott of all businesses that place ads larger than 1/4 page in publications that repeatedly breach the AJA code of ethics.

Cheers
Tony Hancock

We sent a subtle warning to Kev Martin who runs a web site containing the banned song "Backdoor Man". This is the response we got:

Date: Mon, 08 Sep 1997 16:50:39 +1000
From: "Inda World (Kev Martin)" inda@fox.net.au
To: gwb@www.gwb.com.au

Subject: Re: Pauline Pantsdown

References: 34132374.1A95@mail.pronent.net.au

gwb@mail.pronent.net.au wrote:

>
> Hi there,
>
> The Supreme Court in Brisbane has prevented Triple J from playing the
> song "Backdoor Man".
>
> Suggest that you consider the implication of going against a court
> ruling by making the song available on-line.

Hi There to you too!

Thanks for the suggestion, but I've already considered the situation and the implications to which you refer.

Business:

"I needed that time to build up my inner strength. The cases had been around for a number of years and they had been affecting my life."

On the evening that Goward left for the farm he had an argument with his wife, "My wife and I had a discussion and I was asked to leave, which I did," Goward said.

In the late 1980s Goward was listed as the 105th richest man in Australia - before the 1987 crash cleaned him and his companies out. His main company, Westmex Limited, was placed in liquidation in February 1990.

Social:

In the last year 620 deaths from heroin overdose were recorded - a rise of 25% from the following year.

The centre of heroin trafficking is Cabramatta in New South Wales with the Vietnamese and Chinese triads apparently at the centre of this deadly criminal activity.

Here are the official heroin related death figures over the last few years for Australia:

State	1994	1995	1996	1997
New South Wales	124	281	321	n/a
Victoria	83	140	167	67
Queensland	60	43	69	n/a
Western Australia	46	62	43	58
South Australia	29	27	14	n/a
ACT	3	15	6	2
Tasmania	4	6	%	n/a
Northern Territory	0	0	%	n/a
TOTAL:	349	574	620	127

% - Figures unreliable.
1997 - Figures largely not available and year not complete.

Sport:

Personal trivia, from the global office:

Have a great day.

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