Friday, 16 December 2005

PM calls for calm over the holiday, The Australian, 16 December, 2005.

PM calls for calm over the holiday: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 16 Dec 2005: 6.
Show highlighting

Mr [JOHN Howard] slammed the torching of churches in western Sydney in recent days, saying it was "particularly repugnant". It was "utterly and unconditionally condemned, particularly at this time of year when people celebrate the birth of Christ".
Mr Howard and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said they supported new laws rushed through the NSW parliament yesterday giving police more powers to crack down on rioters.
"The Prime Minister has refused to accept that racism is an issue because, he says, he is optimistic about Australia," Dr [Dean Drayton] said. "By refusing to admit racism runs deep, the Prime Minister has eliminated himself and the Government from being part of the solution.
JOHN Howard has cautioned people not to get caught up in navel- gazing over the reasons behind Sydney's race riots, saying everyone should settle down and enjoy Christmas.
The Prime Minister said the time for reflecting on the fundamental causes of the race troubles lay in the weeks ahead.
"It is very important in the wake of what has happened in the past few days to deal with the immediate challenge, that is to calm everyone down," Mr Howard said yesterday.
"Let's not wallow in self-pity, self-flagellation and self- criticism," he said. "Have Christmas and celebrate the fact this is still the greatest country in the world in which to live. Let nobody tell us otherwise."
Mr Howard said there were warning signs in the lead-up to the riots at Cronulla beach last Sunday that should not have been ignored, but they should be examined away from current events.
"Some of it is just incredibly bad behaviour fuelled by too much drink," he said. "We know what a potent combination that can be in any society, in any set of circumstances."
Mr Howard slammed the torching of churches in western Sydney in recent days, saying it was "particularly repugnant". It was "utterly and unconditionally condemned, particularly at this time of year when people celebrate the birth of Christ".
Mr Howard and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said they supported new laws rushed through the NSW parliament yesterday giving police more powers to crack down on rioters.
Mr Beazley said he did not believe Australia was a racist country but "obviously there are some racist elements involved on both sides".
He said neo-Nazi groups had been involved. "There are stirrers out there but they are a very small minority," he said.
Uniting Church president Dean Drayton accused Mr Howard of abrogating his responsibility as a leader and ignoring "the state of our nation's heart".
"The Prime Minister has refused to accept that racism is an issue because, he says, he is optimistic about Australia," Dr Drayton said. "By refusing to admit racism runs deep, the Prime Minister has eliminated himself and the Government from being part of the solution.
"I tear my hair out when our leaders do not acknowledge these tensions in the community."
Speaking of attacks on churches, including the burning down of a Uniting Church hall, Dr Drayton said the mob violence was not necessarily targeted at the church.
"People have a go at any of society's institutions and the church is a soft target," he said. "I do not see it as an attack on a particular religion. This is much more a fear of the `other'."
He said the work of the police should always be supported, but calling for law and order was not going to solve the problem in the long term.
"The only way is to get to know each other," he said. "We have to help people to live with the neighbour who is different."
Posted by at No comments:

Another morning assignment, PM opens Westlink M7 Motorway, The Australian, 16 December, 2005.,

They're called Public Private Partnerships or PPPs, a collusion between government and private industry to fund major infrastructure projects. Sydney is now ringed with expensive tollways costing commuters up to $50 a day, a huge impost on their beloved constituency, "working families". It is essentially a government gifting transport routes and public lands to private enterprise, for private profit. Yet another impost on people who are just trying to get to work. Then PM John Howard was a great proponent of these things, and so for that reason I remember this job for what I came to regard as yet one more travesty of public policy.






Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, 15 December 2005

Churches are new target, The Australian, 15 December, 2005. Additional reporting. Page One.

Churches are new target: [2 All-round First Edition]

Nick Leys, Dan Box, Additional reporting: John Stapleton, Jonathan Porter. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 15 Dec 2005: 1.
Show highlighting
Police believe the attack on the hall, in the suburb of Auburn, was intended to destroy the Uniting church next door, while nearby StThomas's Anglican Church, which has a primarily Chinese congregation, had all its front windows smashed. Three of the attacks were on churches within minutes of each other. The night before, Molotov cocktails were used in an attack on an Anglican church in Macquarie Fields in the city's far southwest.
Arab Christians have suggested the attacks on churches may have been meant as a violent attempt to "shame" the city's Lebanese Christian community into supporting Lebanese Muslims in the race- hate war, which began as a battle against young white males over use of suburban beaches.
"Those who violate the curfew will be doing so in defiance of their faith, of the law and their community leaders. We are all united in opposing violence," Lebanese Muslim Association leader Ahmad Kamaledine said.

* Race wars turn religious
* Lebanese leaders call for youth curfew
FOUR churches in Sydney's southwest have been attacked in 24 hours as the city's riots spread from race to religion.
A community hall linked to a Uniting church was burned to the ground early yesterday, carol-singers were spat on and church buildings peppered with gunfire.
In response, members of the Arab Christian and Arab Muslim communities have called for a curfew for all Lebanese youths over the weekend.
Police believe the attack on the hall, in the suburb of Auburn, was intended to destroy the Uniting church next door, while nearby StThomas's Anglican Church, which has a primarily Chinese congregation, had all its front windows smashed. Three of the attacks were on churches within minutes of each other. The night before, Molotov cocktails were used in an attack on an Anglican church in Macquarie Fields in the city's far southwest.
Arab Christians have suggested the attacks on churches may have been meant as a violent attempt to "shame" the city's Lebanese Christian community into supporting Lebanese Muslims in the race- hate war, which began as a battle against young white males over use of suburban beaches.
Community leaders said Lebanese youths should not venture out after 9pm on Friday and Saturday, and should stay home all day on Sunday.
"Those who violate the curfew will be doing so in defiance of their faith, of the law and their community leaders. We are all united in opposing violence," Lebanese Muslim Association leader Ahmad Kamaledine said.
Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen welcomed the call for a curfew. "We must remember that it is first of all in the home that we learn to respect and care for others," he said.
"So I trust that all parents will join these community leaders in encouraging their own young people to exhibit mature and thoughtful respect for other people at all times."
Despite the call for a curfew, the state Government, police, community and religious leaders were bracing for a violent clash between opposing ethnic groups over the weekend.
The church attacks prompted NSW Premier Morris Iemma to yesterday assign extra police to monitor places of worship.
Mr Iemma said police would pay special attention to churches, schools and church halls. "We have to be on guard for this, and these hooligans and criminals will not destroy the fabric of our society," he said.
A heavy police presence was again ordered last night as the suburb of Cronulla -- the scene of race-related violence on Sunday - - began a second night of lock-down and police roadblocks.
During a tour of the command post set up in the Sydney Police Centre to co-ordinate the crisis, Deputy Commissioner Andrew Scipione told Mr Iemma thesituation was being treated as if it were a terror attack.
"We are running the same command and control centre as we would for a terrorist situation," Mr Scipione said.
Elsewhere in Sydney, two men were attacked in separate incidents by men wielding bats and golf clubs and asking their victims if they were Australian.
Steve Stanton, a spokesman for the Maronite Catholic Church in Australia, said he thought the shooting outside a carol service in South Auburn on Monday night was the responsibility of a "very small minority" of fanatics within the wider Muslim community.
"There is also a view that it will have been done with a view to shaming the Lebanese for not standing united," he said.
Amjad Mehboob, head of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, said he believed the violence had been committed by an extremist fringe of the Muslim community. "I wish we knew who they were. I wish we could engage with them so we can find out what their beliefs are, so we can deal with them," he said.
"This is something that started out as a minor scuffle between some youths and a couple of life-savers that has suddenly become an issue of racism and religion. Buildings can be rebuilt, but the damage this is doing to our community is extremely deep."
Reverend Glenys Biddle, of the Uniting church in Auburn, said the destroyed hall had been a important part of the local Tongan community. "For them, they have lost not only a physical building but a sense of fellowship," she said. "A lot of memories have also been lost for Anglos, Tongans and people of all sorts of cultures."
Shafiq Khan, the principal of the al-Faisal College next door, said Christians and Muslims had always worked amicably, and the fire -- coupled with the fear it may promote -- was a loss for both religions. "This is a crime against peace, the community and the country; a crime against harmony and against our children, who used the hall," he said.
Television and sporting celebrities and leaders from Sutherland Shire and the Islamic community will hold a meeting this morning, brokered by local MP Bruce Baird, to try to settle their differences.
More reports -- Page 4
Opinion -- Page 10
Editorial -- Page 11
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, 12 December 2005

Aussie pair leave to sniff out trouble in Tokyo, The Australian, 12 December, 2005.

Aussie pair leave to sniff out trouble in Tokyo: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 12 Dec 2005: 5.
Show highlighting
The former strays, now worth tens of thousands of dollars each, will be at the front line of Japan's fight to stop the spread of avian flu. Japanese quarantine officers have spent the past two months in Australia working with the dogs. Cleo and Candy will be looking for birds, bird eggs, bird products and any other items that could harbour avian flu.
The dog's former custodian, national trainer of quarantine detector dogs for the federal Government, Steve Austin, said the pair would be the first quarantine dogs ever used in Japan.
CLEO and Candy, in common with thousands of young Australians every year, left home on Saturday for their first overseas trip. Unlike most teenage backpackers, however, this pair will be looking for trouble.
The beagles flew to Tokyo's Narita airport, destined to become Japan's first sniffer dogs.
The former strays, now worth tens of thousands of dollars each, will be at the front line of Japan's fight to stop the spread of avian flu. Japanese quarantine officers have spent the past two months in Australia working with the dogs. Cleo and Candy will be looking for birds, bird eggs, bird products and any other items that could harbour avian flu.
The dog's former custodian, national trainer of quarantine detector dogs for the federal Government, Steve Austin, said the pair would be the first quarantine dogs ever used in Japan.
"They are lovely dogs, they have a beautiful temperament," Mr Austin said of his charges.
"What has helped the Japanese discover the beauty of beagles is the fact that avian flu is spreading rapidly across Asia and they are desperate to stop it.
"Asian governments are waking up to the fact that dogs are reliable, easy to transport and their detection prowess is second to none."
Mr Austin said the project was not just about training and selling the dogs, but training their handlers and the dogs together.
This has taken place on-site at Hanrob Pet Care Centre at Heathcote in Sydney, one of Australia's biggest boarding and training facilities.
Cleo and Candy have been trained by teaching them to associate a particular odour with a pleasant experience -- a little treat of dried liver every time they sit next to a suspect package.
Recent tests conducted by the NSW Police Dog Squad showed the dogs passed with a 100 per cent success rate in finding their target odours.
"This is potentially a very big growth industry for Australia," Mr Austin said. "It is possible that in the future you could see Australiandogs at Asian airports sniffing out any Australians stupid enough to smuggle drugs."
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, 8 December 2005

Iemma to make sweeping changes to PPPs, The Australian, 8 December, 2005.

Iemma to make sweeping changes to PPPs: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Ean Higgins, John Stapleton. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 08 Dec 2005: 4.
Show highlighting
NSW Premier Morris Iemma will today announce sweeping changes to the way the state deals with public-private partnerships, especially toll roads.
In another day of high drama, Mr Iemma called for a reduction in the $3.56 one-way toll. However tunnel chief Peter Sansom said not only would there be no reduction in the toll, but that his company would sue if the Government tried to undo road closures forcing cars into the tunnel.
Mr Debnam said the Government and the tunnel operators must come clean on what roads they would allow to be reopened, and reverse the effective sell-off of public roads. "The NSW Premier needs to explain to the public why they have stubbornly refused to reopen roads when their own legal advice shows they could do so without penalty," he said.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma will today announce sweeping changes to the way the state deals with public-private partnerships, especially toll roads.
In an attempt to draw a line under the politically damaging controversy over tolled tunnels, which is threatening Labor's chances of re-election in 2007, Mr Iemma will say that future motorway projects that involve the private sector will require a much higher degree of transparency and state control.
The state Government will in future retain a greater say over setting the tolls and the closure or restriction of competing roads.
The announcement is based on a study by bureaucrat David Richmond, which Mr Iemma commissioned in late October.
It will be aimed at differentiating his administration from that of his predecessor, Bob Carr, under whose watch controversial private projects such as Sydney's Cross City Tunnel and Lane Cove Tunnel were commissioned.
The Cross City Tunnel in particular has been a major embarrassment to the Government, attracting hostility with its high price and the closure of surface roads to force people to use it.
In another day of high drama, Mr Iemma called for a reduction in the $3.56 one-way toll. However tunnel chief Peter Sansom said not only would there be no reduction in the toll, but that his company would sue if the Government tried to undo road closures forcing cars into the tunnel.
Mr Sansom called a press conference to announce the reversal of statements he had made under oath to a parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday, when he said the company would not sue for compensation if roads in the up-market suburbs of Paddington and Woollahra were restored to normal.
"It is extremely legally complex. We are not dropping the toll and we are not changing the roads. We have a contract with theGovernment," he said yesterday.
The Opposition produced advice from law firm Clayton Utz to the Government about the contract, which showed more than 50 of the72 public roads shut, narrowed or altered could be returned to their original function without triggering compensation claims by theproject owners.
Mr Debnam said the Government and the tunnel operators must come clean on what roads they would allow to be reopened, and reverse the effective sell-off of public roads. "The NSW Premier needs to explain to the public why they have stubbornly refused to reopen roads when their own legal advice shows they could do so without penalty," he said.
Meanwhile, at the inquiry into the tunnel, former premier Nick Greiner rejected a suggestion from Greens MP Lee Rhiannon that construction firm Baulderstone Hornibrook, with which he is associated, had won the contract to build the tunnel because it contributed $100,073 in recent years to the NSW ALP.
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, 5 December 2005

Anger at plan to split up Sydney, The Australian, 5 December, 2005.

Anger at plan to split up Sydney: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 05 Dec 2005: 8.
Show highlighting
The 25-year plan, hailed yesterday by NSW Premier Morris Iemma as a blueprint to secure Sydney as Australia's gateway to the world, was derided by the Opposition as "just a collection of coloured drawings".
Mr Iemma claimed Cities: A Plan for Sydney's Future would provide a city centre within easy reach of every Sydney family.
Measures to safeguard farmland on the urban fringe, and to protect Sydney's $1 billion a year agriculture industry, are included. An early part of the plan, a new tollway through western Sydney, will open on December 16, eight months ahead of schedule. The $1.5 billion Westlink M7, funded mainly by the private sector and the federal Government, will be a fully electronic toll road that uses a distance-based tolling system.
SYDNEY will be turned into a network of five different cities over the next quarter of the century.
The 25-year plan, hailed yesterday by NSW Premier Morris Iemma as a blueprint to secure Sydney as Australia's gateway to the world, was derided by the Opposition as "just a collection of coloured drawings".
Mr Iemma claimed Cities: A Plan for Sydney's Future would provide a city centre within easy reach of every Sydney family.
But Opposition planning spokesman Chris Hartcher said the proposal just papered over divisions between two of the state's most senior ministers.
Mr Hartcher said the secret behind the City to Cities announcement was that it was devoid of proper infrastructure planning and revealed a rift between Infrastructure Minister Michael Costa and Planning Minister Frank Sartor.
He said Mr Costa had wanted to include infrastructure in the strategic plan but had been over-ruled. "This battle has been waging massively," he said.
"This is the architect's plan for a house without the tradesmen or the materials. As long as the NSW Government refuses to put up an infrastructure plan, it is simply a collection of coloured drawings."
Mr Iemma said Sydney would be divided into 10 new sub-regions to cater for predicted population increases and to ensure housing affordability, with detail being released in coming months.
By 2031, Sydney is expected to have an additional 1.1 million residents, 500,000 new jobs and 640,000 extra dwellings.
The five cities will be based around the CBD and North Sydney as well as Parramatta, Penrith and Liverpool in the city's west.
Mr Iemma said the report would provide a framework to secure Sydney's status as Australia's gateway to the world.
"This plan is about making Sydney a better place to live -- managing growth and sharing our prosperity across an expanding city," he said.
"This means the infrastructure needs of our expanding communities are met at the same time as new suburbs develop. It delivers jobs, housing, transport, shopping, recreation, culture and waterside facilities within easy reach of every Sydney family. Sydney's dynamism has spread far beyond the traditional central business district."
Greens MP Sylvia Hale criticised the plan as a rehash of existing initiatives and merely a public relations exercise.
"There is certainly nothing in this document that will improve the long-term liveability of Sydney," she said. "The Government has clearly abandoned any pretence at real planning."
The scheme includes the establishment of a new Employment Lands Advisory Group to ensure Sydney has an adequate supply of industrial land.
As well as the creation of 43 new bus corridors, the plan involves the construction of an $8 billion rail extension to Sydney's northwest and southwest.
Measures to safeguard farmland on the urban fringe, and to protect Sydney's $1 billion a year agriculture industry, are included. An early part of the plan, a new tollway through western Sydney, will open on December 16, eight months ahead of schedule. The $1.5 billion Westlink M7, funded mainly by the private sector and the federal Government, will be a fully electronic toll road that uses a distance-based tolling system.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)