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Tuesday, 14th October 1997
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Have you signed the petition to the Prime Minister yet? If not, do it now!
Andres Serrano saw his "Waterloo" yesterday with his disgusting photograph "Piss Christ" being removed from the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne after the photograph once again came under attack.
Serrano yesterday claimed that the gallery was run "by a bunch of cowards" after the director Timothy Potts (who he called "spineless") ordered that the exhibition be closed down after only two days on display.
Potts said that he was worried about the lives of his staff after "extremists" had again attacked the photograph yesterday.
Two teenagers (18 and 16) attacked Piss Christ with a hammer severely damaging the thick plastic cover protecting the image. They are to appear in a court on Friday charged with criminal damage and burglary.
Serrano said, "In one fell swoop, the national gallery has lost all credibility and empowered its enemies. They have betrayed their obligation to the public and to me. Therefore I urge the people who are as outraged as I am by the gallery's lack of commitment to its artists and its public to boycott its Rembrandt exhibition."
Its just a pity it took them two days to make the decision....
Yesterday we reported on the Malaysian Prime
Minister, Mahathir Mohamad's,
less than cordial
relationship with the money men of the world and Australia.
Yesterday things took an interesting turn with the Malaysian PM now portraying
his country as the victim of malevolent external forces... you might recall
how we reported on his hatred of Colonial powers and Australia... yesterday
he blamed the fall in the country's currency, the ringgit, on "modern
colonialism". He claimed that these "sinister powers" were using their economic
might to weaken developing countries like Malaysia.
Dr Mahathir said, "They want nations like us to bow down and end up being
debtors to them. This way they can dictate what we should or should not do."
"Malaysia's sovereignty is at threat from such people who hope to colonise
us again by damaging the economy and by demanding that developing countries
follow their views and even restrictions."
Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer yesterday lashed
out at the "forces of evil (who) attack foreign investment at
both ends"..."They do not see the real picture. There is a jobs win-win for
Australia and Thailand flowing from projects of this nature."
Fischer was talking about the new Au$13 million PBR Automotive brake parts
factory at Rayong on the eastern seaboard and the centre of Thailand's car
industry.
"There is a message for both Thailand and Australia. This (factory)
is additional business being won by (Australian company) PBR by committing
and being here on the ground in Thailand. Its not putting jobs at risk -
in fact it is helping by extra throughput - the jobs of 1100 people who work
in Australia for PBR."
Personally the "Australian job creation" angle appears lost to me - how can
Australians gain jobs from a factory established in Thailand? If the factory
had been established in Australia I would be the first to agree. What Fischer
failed to mention is that it is the cost of labour which made this move a
wise one for PBR - but not for Australian unemployment.
Oh, and the "forces of evil"? Well that was targeted at Pauline Hanson's
One Nation who express the concerns of millions on Australians who see the
farm being sold off to outside interests.
The latest Newspoll is interesting not because it shows an apparent drop
in One Nation support but because it reflects the alleged manner in which
those surveyed are asked the question on their voting preferences.
Allegations have been made that with reference to One Nation the pollsters
couch their question along the following lines...
"Would you vote for the racist policies of Pauline Hanson's One Nation?"
The latest NewsPoll results:
Making the
news" -
an indepth exposé of media and political collusion at the highest
possible levels in Australia.
Political:
| Party | Oct 10-12 | Sep 26-28 | Sep 19-21 | Sep 5-7 | Aug 22-24 | Aug 8-10 | Jul 25-27 | Jul 11-13 | June 27-29 | June 13-15 | May 30-June 1 | May 16-18 | Election - March 1997 |
| Coalition | 43% | 42% | 43% | 41% | 42% | 43% | 42% | 42 | 43% | 44% | 43% | 41% | 47% |
| ALP | 39% | 37% | 37% | 40% | 39% | 37% | 36% | 40% | 37% | 36% | 37% | 37% | 38.7% |
| One Nation | 3% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 7% | 9% | N/A |
| Democrats | 5 | 5% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 6% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 6.8% |
| Greens | 2% | 1% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 1.7% |
| Others | 8% | 10% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 6% | 8% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 5.8% |
What is more than rather contradictory is The Courier Mail survey made at the same time that showed up to 27% of voters in Queensland would support Pauline Hanson's One Nation.
Looks like Oxley pre-selection hopeful Anne Scott's dreams of standing against Pauline Hanson in the seat of Oxley at the next Federal Election have been dashed with Labor leaders bowing to a special request by Wayne Goss to delay the decision making while he recovers from a recent brain operation.
Acting state secretary, Peter Shooter, is believed to have discussed Goss' request with advisers from federal Labor leader Kim Beazley's office. Pre-selection contests for all Labor seats except for Oxley will be completed on December 14. Oxley will be delayed to March 15.
Another beautiful day in paradise.
Have a good one.
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