International:

The Gondwana Wildlife Sanctuary at Southbank in Brisbane will be closing down on the 28th January 1998. This unique sanctuary features a winding boardwalk where you can become part of this unique rainforest ecosystem.

The sanctuary's promotional literature states, "Nothing separates you from the animals, you are totally surrounded by tropical rainforest plants and the musical native birdcalls. Get to know our native animals better on one of the guided tours.

"Experience over 300 of Australia's native birds in our spectacular rainforest aviary, including colourful parrots, lorikeets, kookaburras and waterfowl. Become part of the rainforest, join with the animals as they feed, play and roam around their rainforest home."

It is being closed down "officially" with the loss of 48 jobs because "it is no longer financially viable" (since the loss of large numbers of traditional Japanese tourists to south east Queensland). Some seven hundred native Australian animals will have to find a new home.

The real reason for its closure is allegedly a little less kosher. We have it on good authority that two Queensland businessmen, Lindon Baker and Raymond Row offered to buy the sanctuary and keep it going for Au$4.4 million... keep the Aussie jobs and the wildlife spectacle as it is.

There is just one "spanner in the works" for the status quo vision of Baker and Row - the wildlife sanctuary is to be taken over by the highly promoted media-inspired "Aboriginal success story" the Aboriginal Dance Group belonging to Aborigine, Kerry Bowden.

Now no-one in the media has exposed this sad plight of the wildlife sanctuary because it does not "fit the theme being churned out by the media bosses".

These are so many examples now of media censorship on key issues affecting Australians that we as a nation should be demanding the break up of the News Limited and Packer empires who have such a hold over what our perception of reality is... often little more than their deception.

In another stunning example of what you and I are not supposed to know about (there will be others), we have Tipperary: Australia's tenth largest land holding (1.9 million hectares):
Tipperary owns eight properties in the Northern Territory. The company began as a joint venture between the property developer Warren Anderson and Bakire and Brothers of Indonesia. Bakire bought out Mr Anderson in 1994. The company runs 65,000 Brahman cattle.

and guess what:

"It has been estimated less than two per cent of the woody vegetation of the Northern Territory has been cleared (Scanlan et al 1991, p.8).

"This clearance has taken place mostly over the last two decades for localised urban development and creation of fruit blocks around Darwin, the establishment of some Pinus caribaea var hodurensis plantations on Melville Island, and more intensive use of pastoral leases in the Daly Basin, specifically Tipperary Station near Lichfield and in the Finniss River Basin (Kestel Research and VICDCE 1990, p.26)."

and how does Indonesian owned Tipperary effect our meat industry exports to Indonesia... well just read on..

"There is a growing cattle fattening industry in Lampung, with the joint venture company, PT Tipperary Indonesia running fattening yards in central Lampung. This is a joint venture between the Bakrie conglomerate and the owners of Tipperary Station in the Northern Territory. Cattle for fattening are shipped to Lampung from the Northern Territory."

We can also find out a bit about Tipperary's owner, Mr Bakrie, on this link:

"The principal of Bakrie conglomerates, Aburizal Bakrie, was born in Lampung, and is of Indonesian Chinese background.

"Aside from his considerable business interests, Aburizal Bakrie is very prominent in Indonesian business politics, as the head of the national level Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin). He is also an advisor to the Indonesia-Australia Business Council in Jakarta, and has had long-term business links with Australian firms such as Transfield."

And in case you thought that this foreign owned land would be subject to native title claim, you are wrong, and I quote:

"All that piece of land in the Northern Territory of Australia containing an area of 13467 square kilometres more or less bounded by lines described as follows: Commencing at the intersection of the western boundary of Pastoral Lease 562 (Tipperary) with the low water mark of the left bank of the Daly River; thence southerly by the western boundary of Pastoral Lease 562 to the southwestern corner of the said Pastoral Lease; thence easterly by part of the southern boundary of Pastoral Lease 562 to a point due north of the most northern northwestern corner of Pastoral Lease 597 (Coolibah);

So in this land-ownership scenario we have the tenth largest tract of land in Australia measuring nearly 2 million hectares owned solely by wealthy Indonesians, with some of the only cleared land in the Northern Territory (supposedly for livestock), and largely free of native title claims.

Sounds a bit "suss" one thinks especially when you hear that Suharto's favoured minister, Habibi, "is seeking to buy some of the vast tracts of Northern Territory land available for a pittance, and with no restrictions on foreign ownership up to 100%.

"Habibi with others of the Suharto clique could buy themselves a nation state to hide from the wrath of the Indonesian people.

"They already have the strategic Tipperary Station, the nearest NT land facing Jakarta, possessing a huge all-weather airstrip, and sea and river frontage. This was utilised by the Japanese in WW2 who established a forward camp on the banks of the Daly River there."

So while Australia ploughs the equivalent of Au$100 per man woman and child into support Suharto's Indonesian regime (Au$1.7 billion) the favoured clique are buying, or have bought large tracts of land in the Northern Territory... ripe for possession.

So what about the inhabitants of Australia, the voters, you know, the mugs you and me... what about our "land ownership" rights?

Well hang on to your seats because back here in Australia we now hear that lawyers are seeking avenues to make native title claims over freehold land proclaimed after 1975 - when the Racial Discrimination Act came into being. Freehold land owned by indigenous (white) Australians who, in some cases, would be descendants of Cook's first fleet...

Liberal West Australian MP Wilson Tuckey confirmed yesterday that the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) had recently accepted native title claims over freehold residential blocks in Exmouth and Bremer Bay - forcing the owners to go through native title mediation.

Tuckey said the West Australian blocks had been freehold for many years but because they were "handed back to the Government for a nanosecond" to have new forms of tenure issued on them lawyers acting for Aborigines had seized this "window of opportunity" as native title had for that nanosecond been allowed to potentially exist over the properties.

The claim, if successful, means that tens of thousands of Australian freehold properties registered after 1975 could be subject to Native Title claims.

Tuckey gave two examples where NNTT president, Justice Robert French, had declined to stop freehold land from Native Title claims.

"People are spending money hiring lawyers and their banks don't want to lend them money to build houses because they don't know who owns it.

"There are people trying to mount an alternative argument saying the backyard is not subject to this threat, but that doesn't stop householders eventually having to spend three times the value of their block to find out if they own it.

"I now have evidence that not withstanding what they (the High Court) said, the legal profession is now trying to dissect those words into 1000 pieces.

"Your backyard isn't safe - not because the High Court didn't say it was safe - they did - but because people are checking the past processes used on land and Justice French is registering the claims."

The NNTT has refused to comment on Tuckey's claims.

However, the greed on the lawyers is not just affecting "white" Australians, the Koutha Aboriginal Corporation in an Au$15 million joint venture with MIM's Sir Ernst Henry Mine which had a native title writ served against it a few days ago attacked the injunction given to the Mitakoodi/Junhjlar people by the Federal Court saying that it could cost 40 Aborigines their jobs. Ms Elaine McKeon said that the action by the Aboriginal groups had brought a proposed Aboriginal training programme to a halt.

A spokesman for the Mitakoodi people, Eddie Ah Sam, said yesterday that the Aboriginal Corporation provided only a few jobs for a few select Aborigines and accused MIM and Savage Resources of using "divide and conquer tactics" to bypass the legitimate requirements of the Native Title Act.

Sam said that the Mitakoodi/Junhjlar people were now seeking employment opportunities and compensation from MIM and Savage Resources in exchange for allowing the Sir Ernst Henry mine to continue to mine on "their traditional lands".

The ATSIC regional councillor, Ron Page, through his hat in the ring with this statement, "We're certainly not opposed to development - let's embrace everybody, not just a few."

Oh what a mess! Squash native title - it's the only way to get this country going forward and, hopefully, put a few blood-sucking lawyers out of a job... and while we are about "cleansing" Australia let's get the Indonesian's out of the Northern Territory and give the export meat trade back to Australian farmers.

You Say:

Subject: Purgatory is better than Hell

The Australian Treasurer Costello with the Parliament depend on the fact that most people are apathetic (I couldn't say stupid). Today 3/12/ Costello says that our economy in relation to the other developed countries is very good. That is like saying it is better in the frying pan than in the fire. He wouldn't be game to compare it with the economy of the developed countries 20 years ago: you know, when we were really stupid and believed in God and Country and other unsophisticated things. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING THAT IS BAD LOOK GOOD, THEN COMPARE IT WITH SOMETHING THAT IS WORSE. Please Australia, young and old, wake up to the trick of statistics, and get us a new broom: sweep out the incumbents, go for a real change. SACK them all.

Philip Madsen

Letter to the Editor.

Industry Commission.

The people and workers of Geelong will be most disturbed to know that the outcome of the Productivity Commission is a fait-accompli. For a start, the tariffs are controlled by a 1975 international agreement that is still slavishly adhered to.

Secondly, the current tariff inquiry is taking place under the "Productivity Commission Bill 1996", therefore this panel is functioning under a Bill that has not yet been enacted into Australian Law, it is instead running with the disclaimer "legislation formally establishing the new commission is before parliament".

Thirdly, this illegal commission has been given undreamed of power over "the activities of states as well as the Commonwealth", it has also been granted an extensive agenda that "involves all sectors of the economy and all levels of government".

This is not democracy, this unelected panel is continuing the groundwork that the Labor government of Paul Keating set up with the "Hilmer Report", or, "National Competition Policy" of 1992. The Liberal government of Jeff Kennet is also implementing the same policies that are destroying the Victorian economy with Privatisations and I.M.F. austerity measures.

The Productivity Commission has been functioning illegally since the March 1996 election, why have these details been kept from the groups in Geelong that are fighting for their survival?

Geelong has already been devastated with the policies of other private unelected groups such as the H.R.Nicholls society (of whom our Federal Treasurer is a member), the Tasman Institute or the Institute for Public Affairs, do we knowingly allow another group of unelected people determine economic policy for us with the governments blessing?

What a shame that the party system has no room for representation of the common people!

Noel Mc Donald

Business:

Here is an extract: "But it would seem that the old beggar-thy-neighbour instinct is still around, is still the guiding principle of a group of ultra-rich people. For them wealth must come from impoverishing others, from taking what others have in order to enrich themselves. Their weapon is their wealth against the poverty of others.

Personal trivia, from the global office:

One to be enjoyed in the global office.

Have a great day.

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