Friday 30 June 2006

Indonesia helps AFP bust drug syndicate, The Australian, 30 June, 2006.

Indonesia helps AFP bust drug syndicate: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 30 June 2006: 5.
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A MAJOR drug pipeline between Indonesia and Australia has been disrupted after Australian Federal Police and Indonesian authorities busted the largest pseudoephedrine smuggling syndicate ever uncovered.
The breakthrough in the case came on Monday last week when Customs and the AFP uncovered $22million worth of pseudoephedrine tablets hidden in a shipping container at Port Botany in Sydney that had arrived from Jakarta.
Police suspect the group has imported a total of more than 380kg of pseudoephedrine in at least six importations since February last year. It is estimated thepseudoephedrine imports could have been made into more than 250kg of methamphetamines, with a potential street value of $71million.
A MAJOR drug pipeline between Indonesia and Australia has been disrupted after Australian Federal Police and Indonesian authorities busted the largest pseudoephedrine smuggling syndicate ever uncovered.
Pseudoephedrine, found in many over-the-counter cold and flu medications, is the precursor for methamphetamines including speed and ice.
Authorities say the illegal drugs are widely used by everyone from nightclubbers to students and truck drivers.
The breakthrough in the case came on Monday last week when Customs and the AFP uncovered $22million worth of pseudoephedrine tablets hidden in a shipping container at Port Botany in Sydney that had arrived from Jakarta.
The delivery of the container was monitored and about two million tablets were seized. Four people charged with the importation will appear in Sydney Central Local Court on August 30.
Two Indonesian men suspected of being principal members of the syndicate have been arrested by the Indonesian National Police.
Police suspect the group has imported a total of more than 380kg of pseudoephedrine in at least six importations since February last year. It is estimated thepseudoephedrine imports could have been made into more than 250kg of methamphetamines, with a potential street value of $71million.
AFP national border manager Mike Phelan said co-operation between Indonesia and Australia had been crucial to the success of the operation.
"This operation has resulted in a major cross-border syndicate being dismantled," he said.
"If it wasn't for this co-operation, more pseudoephedrine tablets could have reached Australian shores and been madeinto vast amounts of amphetamine-type substances."
Paul Dillon, information manager for the National Alcohol and Drug Research Centre, said Australia could learn from overseas experience and avoid some of theserious consequences of methamphetamine abuse being seen in the US and elsewhere.
While it was unrealistic to ban pseudoephedrine, because of its legitimate uses, the tightening of sales in pharmacies this year -- consumers must now give their name and address and are limited in the amount they can purchase -- was the way to go.
"We should be concerned about the methamphetamine issue," he said. "While we need to be careful we don't slip into hysteria, there are a small proportion of users who are finding themselves in major difficulty."
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BlueScope cans last tin mill, The Australian, 30 June, 2006

BlueScope cans last tin mill: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Andrew Trounson, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 30 June 2006: 4.
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The mill, the closure of which will result in the loss of 250 jobs, was the only local source of tin plate -- thin rolled steel with a coating of tin. The decision to close will force the country's can manufacturers, Amcor, Visy and NCI, to rely solely on imports.
Mr [Michael Badcock] fears that vegetable processing could eventually go the same way as tin plate and leave Australia wholly dependent on imports. "That is the great danger," he said, warning that once processing was shut down it was unlikely to restart.
BlueScope head of Australian manufacturing Brian Kruger said Australian manufacturers "just can't compete against grocers who import own-brand tinned foodstuffs in preference to Australian tinned produce".
CHEAP imports of canned vegetables were yesterday blamed for the closure of Australia's last tin mill, with farmers warning thenational vegetable industry could go the same way.
BlueScope Steel, the country's biggest steel maker, said it had been forced by rising raw material costs and competition from imports to shut down its 50-year-old tin plate mill at Port Kembla, south of Sydney.
The mill, the closure of which will result in the loss of 250 jobs, was the only local source of tin plate -- thin rolled steel with a coating of tin. The decision to close will force the country's can manufacturers, Amcor, Visy and NCI, to rely solely on imports.
Industry experts say demand for tin cans is falling as consumers increasingly prefer fresh food and manufacturers diversify into new packaging such as plastic and cardboard. The big retailers, Woolworths and Coles Myer, are also agressively expanding their own- brand products, sometimes at the expense of local producers.
And cheap imports of vegetables, particularly EU-subsidised canned Italian tomatoes, are hurting the demand for cans and local canned vegetables.
"This is something that we feared would happen," said Tasmanian vegetable grower Michael Badcock, who chairs the grower body AusVeg.
Mr Badcock said growers and processors were being squeezed by rising imports. "No matter how efficient we are, we just can't compete," he said, blaming EU subsidies and higher costs in Australia for labour, regulation, fertiliser and fuel taxes.
Australia's trade deficit in vegetables has worsened this year to $90 million, compared with $60million at the same stage last year. Imports of processed tomatoes alone are up more than 6 per cent at $44.6 million.
Mr Badcock fears that vegetable processing could eventually go the same way as tin plate and leave Australia wholly dependent on imports. "That is the great danger," he said, warning that once processing was shut down it was unlikely to restart.
News that the mill would be shut was met with stunned silence by workers and claims by the union that the job losses would be an economic disaster for the Illawarra region around Port Kembla and Wollongong.
"Everyone was devastated," veteran line worker Necati Dun, 40, told The Australian after just coming off a 12-hour overnight shift. "There was a total silence, not a good silence."
After 19 years at the mill, during which time he lost his right index finger in an accident, Mr Dun now faces an uncertain future as he seeks to cover a large mortgage and provide for his family. He has two sons, aged 11 and eight. "To take away from them because you are losing your job and not earning the wage you used to, it is a shock," he said.
BlueScope chief executive Kirby Adams was unrepentant. "BlueScope Steel is making tough decisions for volatile times," he said.
BlueScope head of Australian manufacturing Brian Kruger said Australian manufacturers "just can't compete against grocers who import own-brand tinned foodstuffs in preference to Australian tinned produce".
Wayne Phillips, acting Port Kembla branch secretary of the Australian Workers Union, said the looming job losses were "devastating".
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Monday 26 June 2006

Tradition and romance when Nic wed Keith, 26 June, 2006. The Australian. Page One. Additional Reporting.

Tradition and romance when Nic wed Keith: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Caroline Overington, Additional reporting: Tracy Ong, John Stapleton, Mariko Fritz-Krockow. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 June 2006: 1.
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Actor Nicole Kidman married Queensland-born country singer Keith Urban in a romantic twilight ceremony in Sydney yesterday -- and every detail was just as any little girl might plan it.
Kidman had emerged from her home at Darling Point. She was seated in the back of a cream Rolls Royce, beside her father, Antony Kidman, who looked as wistful and as fiercely proud as any father anywhere.
"You look beautiful," cried one fan. Kidman waved the tips of her fingers through the glass and was gone. She walked down the aisle in her Christian Louboutin heels, on her father's arm, to the sounds of a Sydney Symphony Orchestra quartet.
IT was the wedding of her dreams.
Actor Nicole Kidman married Queensland-born country singer Keith Urban in a romantic twilight ceremony in Sydney yesterday -- and every detail was just as any little girl might plan it.
There was a grand church overlooking the sea, a Rolls Royce, and the family priest presiding.
There was a nervous groom, a walk down the aisle on her father's arm -- and reportedly a tiny moment of tension when the bride stepped gingerly into her exquisite hand-stitched Balenciaga dress and found it didn't quite fit.
Kidman's day started at about 8am, when the personal trainer arrived at her Darling Point mansion.
Make-up was next, then Kidman's hair, which was allowed to spring into its natural curls, instead of being ironed flat.
The dress -- described as romantic, flowing, gorgeous and the "colour of chalk", not white -- had to be altered at the last minute by a local haute couture designer who was rushed to the scene.
Across town at the InterContinental Hotel in Sydney, the groom's family and guests were emerging.
Keith's father, Bob Urban, said he was feeling good, and it must be said he was looking mighty fine in a handlebar moustache and a very Nashville lace-trimmed shirt.
One of Keith's young nieces, Jessica Urban, was asked: "What do you think she'll be wearing?"
"A dress," she innocently replied.
At 4.15pm, six white buses arrived to take the guests to the church.
About the same time, the groom's car -- as befitting a country lad, it was a four-wheel drive -- was spotted by helicopters as it crossed the Harbour Bridge.
At the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel on the grounds of St Patrick's Estate in Manly, the crowd was already gathering.
Ann Lee, 62, of Los Angeles, was perched up high. "The one thing that's interesting is there's no vendors here," she said, surveying thescene. "If this was the US, there'd be Nicole T-shirts, at least. Somebody's missed an opportunity."
The No135 bus to Manly Hospital was allowed to trundle through. At Manly Hospital, just up the road, nurses came out in their uniforms to watch the circus.
"We've told the patients you'll have to take care of yourselves today," joked one. "We're out here for the wedding."
The media amused themselves taking pictures of Lea Cotter of Bateau Bay on the NSW Central Coast, who turned up dressed as a can- can girl, with a red bustier and feathers in her hair. "I've only seen one of her movies -- Moulin Rouge," she said. "But I liked it.'
Across the street from the church, the students of St Paul's Catholic College put up a sign: "To Nicole and Keith, Congratulations."
At 4.25pm, there was a roar from
From Page 1
the crowd as the Boy from Oz, Hugh Jackman, in an open shirt and even wider smile, became the first guest to arrive. He wound down the window and waved, prompting the cold spectators to hoot with delight.
He was rumoured to be early because he was performing, possibly Peter Allen's sentimental Tenterfield Saddler.
Ten minutes later, just as the sun dipped behind the Norfolk Island pines on the beachfront, word swept the crowd: the bride was on the road.
Kidman had emerged from her home at Darling Point. She was seated in the back of a cream Rolls Royce, beside her father, Antony Kidman, who looked as wistful and as fiercely proud as any father anywhere.
Kidman's face was partly obscured by a veil, her lap covered with roses. There was something Princess Diana about it.
She sat and smiled, no doubt with butterflies in here stomach for the long 50-minute crawl over the Harbour Bridge, up Military Road, over the Spit Bridge, past a milk bar with a newspaper billboard out the front: "Nicole nervous about big day."
At 5pm, they flipped the switches on the fairy lights in the trees outside the chapel, all the way up the curved driveway, creating a romantic path to the church door.
When Kidman approached and saw thousands of people waiting for her, she rolled down the window, put her fingers through and waved.
Her smile was enormous. You could see the little girl in her eyes.
As the car crept towards the iron gates, people rushed forward and you could feel the sudden swell of goodwill.
Here was their Nicole, looking pretty and happy, stepping out to take a second chance on love.
"You look beautiful," cried one fan. Kidman waved the tips of her fingers through the glass and was gone. She walked down the aisle in her Christian Louboutin heels, on her father's arm, to the sounds of a Sydney Symphony Orchestra quartet.
In the pews were the glamorous guests: Naomi Watts, the King Kong star; Jackman and actor wife Deborra-Lee Furness; Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann and wife Catherine Martin, and Russell Crowe.
The Kidman family priest, Father Paul Coleman, a Jesuit, preached on the subject of keeping love alive.
"Make time for each other," he said. "Do romantic things together."
And later, Urban was expected to serenade Kidman with one of his best-selling songs. The chapel bells rang at 6.25pm and the couple were married.
Continued -- Page 6
Editorial -- Page 11
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Thursday 22 June 2006

Ecstasy Seizures The Australian 22 June 2006

JUNE 22
John Stapleton
THE price of the popular party drug ecstasy is set to rise in Sydney after police seized 250,000 ecstasy pills with an estimated street value of $12.5 million.
Police also confiscated two pill presses, used by gangs to manufacture the tablets, as well as 18 kilograms of the amphetamine based powder used to manufacture ecstasy.
The raids took place last weekend at five properties located in the Sydney suburbs of Bondi Junction, Zetland and Coogee.
Two men were arrested after 60 officers monitored the alleged gang's activities for three months.
Reese Gerard Woodgate, 42, of Bondi Junction and Nicholas Jake Barton, 32, of Coogee, were refused bail in Parramatta Local Court on Sunday when they were each charged with supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug. Police expect to make further arrests.
NSW Special Crime Unit Commander, Superintendent Ian Foschollo, said the raids would put a significant dent in the amount of ecstasy available for sale in the city's clubs and was likely to push up the price. ``I think there is no doubt that this has had a major impact on the supply of illicit drugs, and by virtue of that it's going to push the price up,'' he said. ``It's probably a good thing because it takes it out of the reach of the ordinary users out there in the street.''
NSW Commissioner of Police Ken Moroney claimed police had disrupted a major organised crime group involved in the large scale manurfacture and supply of drugs for the Sydney market. He condemned the use of the term ``recreational drug'' to describe ecstasy, which has been popular for more than a decade amongst nightclubbers wanting to stay up dancing all night. The ``love'' drug is also known for its aphrodisiac effects.
``We will continue to use all lawful means at our disposal to eradicate illicit drugs from our society and to identify, investigate and prosecute those criminals who trade in death and harm in the community,'' Commissioner Moroney said.
A recent United Nations report revealed that Australians were the largest per capita users of ecstasy in the world. This is contrary to international trends, which show the drug becoming cheaper and less fashionable in most of the world's capitals.
Australians also pay amongst the highest prices in the world, making this an attractive market for both overseas and domestic suppliers.
Information manager for the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Paul Dillon, said despite some very large seizures in recent years there had been no appreciable impact on the ecstasy market, with no increase in price or decrease in supply. ``This quite clearly shows that there is a tremendously large market,'' he said.
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Tuesday 20 June 2006

Sea King Inquiry The Australian 20 June 2006

JUNE 20:
John Stapleton
THE multi-million dollar inquiry into the Sea King disaster which left nine dead on the island of Nias in Indonesia during aid operations in the wake of the Asian tsunami last year has stalled amidst concerns over potential bias.
The inquiry, which raised doubts over the proper maintenance of helicopters within parts of navy, has run for ten months, interviewed 150 witnesses and taken 9,000 pages of evidence.
Suggestions of potential bias have been made against the Board of Inquiry's president Commodore Les Pataky due to positions he has previously held.
Last week counsel for Air Commodore Noel Schmidt, the man who was responsible for the decision not to implement recommendations improving the Sea King's seats, a move which could have saved several lives, raised the potential conflict of interest.
Commander Gerry Purcell, representing Schmidt, argued that there may be a conflict of interest because Commodore Pataky and another member of the board, aviation expert Captain Brett Dowsing, had held senior jobs during the implementation process following on from a Board of Inquiry into the Barmaga helicopter crash on Cape York in 1995 which left one person injured.
Pataky was Chief of Staff at Maritime Command at the time when the recommendations were being implemented or ignored. Dowsing was Fleet Aviation officer during the late 1990s and oversaw aviation operations.
Yesterday counsel assisting the inquiry agreed, recommending to the board of inquiry that the two men stand down.
About 30 relatives of the nine who died showed up at the Sea King Board of Inquiry yesterday. They spent a long and frustrating day listening to legal argument in between a lengthy adjournment.
Commander Jack Rush, counsel representing the families, told the board of inquiry that regrettably they agreed the President and Dowsing had to stand down.
However Commander Sandy Street, representing the former maritime commander Rear Admiral Rowan Moffatt, lamented the potential loss of the knowledge, observations and learning acquired by the two board members over many months.
The inquiry will reconvene this morning to take submissions on whether the Board should continue in its present form, be reconstituted or perservere with only three members.

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Monday 19 June 2006

Certified baristas, crema of the crop, The Australian, 19 June, 2006.

Certified baristas, crema of the crop: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 19 June 2006: 5.
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Chairman Robert Forsyth, an international coffee judge, said Australia had evolved in 15 years into one of the most sophisticated coffee-drinking societies in theworld and licencing baristas was the logical next step.
"I certainly think there are too many people behind espresso machines with far too much arrogance," he said. "To make one good coffee is not hard, but for a cafe owner to work with a professional barista and build the cafe's business, this is rare and takes years. Licencing could give cafe owners the confidence to determine whether the person walking into their cafe is any good."

COFFEE aficionados know that it is not just the blend but the barista driving that hissing, grinding machine which guarantees a decent cup.
Now the industry, alarmed by the rising number of people who purport to know how to make a half drinkable latte, wants to licence baristas so that the serious business of feeding the nation's caffeine habit comes with a guarantee of quality.
The AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association says those who qualify for the barista licence will require plenty of specific knowledge, including how to treat customers, something lost on many of the nation's coffee makers.
The association's conference next month, "Beans and Machines: Real Coffee in an International Context", will launch a national licencing program set to change the dynamics of Australia's burgeoning coffee scene.
Chairman Robert Forsyth, an international coffee judge, said Australia had evolved in 15 years into one of the most sophisticated coffee-drinking societies in theworld and licencing baristas was the logical next step.
He said the crackdown on drink driving, the introduction of poker machines in hotels, thereby turning them into unappealing gambling dens, and the relaxation of council rules allowing tables and chairs outside cafes, were driving the boom in coffee shop numbers.
"Yes, Australia has reached a mature market in terms of espresso- based coffee drinking, but we have to take one step further and make it more consistent," Mr Forsyth said. "That comes through training. The licence will be based on the judgment of internationally recognised experts.
"The customer will be certain that the person behind the machine knows exactly what they are doing; the cafe owner will know they are hiring someone whose work is consistent with world standards."
Scott Callaghan, 25, an employee at Morgan's Handcrafted Coffee who last month won the World Latte Art Championship in Switzerland, said licencing could add credibility to the industry.
"I certainly think there are too many people behind espresso machines with far too much arrogance," he said. "To make one good coffee is not hard, but for a cafe owner to work with a professional barista and build the cafe's business, this is rare and takes years. Licencing could give cafe owners the confidence to determine whether the person walking into their cafe is any good."

Also published on news.com.au

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Thursday 15 June 2006

Anger as terror cleric is released, The Australian, 15 June, 2006. Page One.

Anger as terror cleric is released: [8 NSW Metro Edition]
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Patrick Walters, Additional reporting: John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 15 June 2006: 1.
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blessing to the October 2002 attacks in the Bali tourist district of Kuta, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. [Bashir], 68, made a 12-hour pilgrimage by road last night to the al-Mukmin school in the village of Ngruki, central Java, where he inspired Bali bombers Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, who were students there.

"Can I say something to Indonesian politicians, both those here and those who may be listening or reading in Indonesia: I want them to understand from me, on behalf of the Government, how extremely disappointed, even distressed, millions of Australians will be at the release of Abu Bakar Bashir," Mr Howard told parliament. Mr [Downer] said the Government had told Jakarta atthe time the sentence was handed down that Bashir had been treated too leniently.

He said a UN Security Council committee had listed Bashir in April as a terrorist subject to international restrictions. Indonesia was obliged to enforce a range of restrictions on Bashir, including freezing his financial assets and banning him from travelling outside Indonesia.

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THE release of terrorist leader Abu Bakar Bashir from an Indonesian jail yesterday unleashed a wave of fury from the families of Bali bombing victims and calls for the Howard Government to force Jakarta to recognise Australian anger over his freedom.

An unrepentant Bashir last night declared US President George W. Bush a "kaffir" -- or non-believer -- making clear he was going to continue as a preacher of hate.

As Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone fought off a Coalition backbench revolt over tough new laws aimed at placating Indonesian anger at the granting of visas to 42 Papuan asylum-seekers, Labor accused John Howard of failing to make Jakarta recognise Australian "sensitivities".

"Mr Howard and Mr (Foreign Minister Alexander) Downer are always listening to Indonesia's political sensitivities," Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said. "It's about time Mr Howard and Mr Downer asked Indonesia to listen to Australian sensitivities."

Mr Rudd said failure to get "an absolute iron-clad guarantee of a security clampdown" on the cleric would represent "a major defeat" for Australia in the regional war against terrorism. "You can't talk tough on terrorism and yet let this one simply go through to the keeper," Mr Rudd said.

But Muhammad AS Hikam, the leader of an Indonesian political delegation visiting Australia, said any additional clampdown on Bashir was unlikely. "This is the rule of the land and the law being applied to him," he told ABC television.

Bashir, the spiritual head of the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network, was released from a high-security jail in Jakarta early yesterday. He was convicted last year of giving his

Continued -- Page 2

From Page 1

blessing to the October 2002 attacks in the Bali tourist district of Kuta, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Bashir, 68, made a 12-hour pilgrimage by road last night to the al-Mukmin school in the village of Ngruki, central Java, where he inspired Bali bombers Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, who were students there.

Other leaders in the JI network also studied at the school, as did the bomber who attacked Jakarta's Marriott Hotel in August 2003. Bashir has pledged to resume his teaching there.

He made two stops to pray during the drive, both times emerging from his vehicle surrounded by a scrum of minders in jackets with the logo "Mujahidin", a reference to Islamic fighters.

Bashir described Mr Bush as a "kaffir". The word is generally used as a term of extreme derision. He earlier said the US was "a state terrorist because it is waging war against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan".

Bashir was greeted by thousands of supporters when he arrived in the city of Solo, which contains Ngruki, last night. He went straight to Solo's Mummidiyah Hospital for a check-up, having complained of a sore coccyx and stomach troubles.

In Canberra, the Prime Minister told parliament "millions of Australians" would be extremely disappointed that the radical cleric had been set free.

But the Government stopped short of a fresh diplomatic appeal to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Government over the lenient sentence.

"Can I say something to Indonesian politicians, both those here and those who may be listening or reading in Indonesia: I want them to understand from me, on behalf of the Government, how extremely disappointed, even distressed, millions of Australians will be at the release of Abu Bakar Bashir," Mr Howard told parliament. Mr Downer said the Government had told Jakarta atthe time the sentence was handed down that Bashir had been treated too leniently.

"We of course accept the decisions of the Indonesian courts, but we are deeply disappointed with that release today and we share the pain with those families that suffered so much as a result of the Bali bombing," he said.

He said a UN Security Council committee had listed Bashir in April as a terrorist subject to international restrictions. Indonesia was obliged to enforce a range of restrictions on Bashir, including freezing his financial assets and banning him from travelling outside Indonesia.

Mr Downer said Jakarta had a strong record in fighting terrorism, having captured and convicted more than 160 terrorists, with three on death row and four serving life sentences. "Having said all that, the Australian Government cannot walk away from the fact that we are deeply disappointed that Abu Bakar Bashir has been released from prison."

Labor lobbied the Indonesian delegation, urging them to ensure Jakarta took steps to stop Bashir from posing a future security risk. "This is a man who served only 14 months out of a short 30- month sentence and is responsible for mass murder," Mr Rudd said.

Angry relatives of Bali bombing victims lashed out at Bashir's release.

Peter Iliffe, father of victim Joshua, said Bashir was a "rotten bastard" who appeared proud his followers had killed so many people and whose release showed Indonesia's hatred of the West.

Retired policeman Don Howard, whose son Adam was 27 and partying with his mates from the Coogee Dolphins club when he was killed in the blast, said Bashir's release was an injustice to all the Australians who had died. "It is one law for them and one law for Western civilisation," he said.
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