Monday, 13 June 2005

Defecting family takes plea to TV, The Australian, 13 June, 2005.

Defecting family takes plea to TV: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 13 June 2005: 5.
Show highlighting
CHINESE defector Chen Yonglin has appeared on national television with his wife, Jin Ping, and six-year-old daughter, Fang Rong, to argue his case.
Mr Chen, who is in hiding and says he fears for his safety if he is forced to return to China, sat in a Sydney park with Fang Rong as she sang Advance Australia Fair for the camera.
The television appearance followed federal Opposition calls for an investigation into whether the Immigration Department broke thelaw by tipping off the Chinese embassy about Mr Chen's defection attempt.
CHINESE defector Chen Yonglin has appeared on national television with his wife, Jin Ping, and six-year-old daughter, Fang Rong, to argue his case.
Mr Chen, who is in hiding and says he fears for his safety if he is forced to return to China, sat in a Sydney park with Fang Rong as she sang Advance Australia Fair for the camera.
However, he refused to repeat on television his claims that the Chinese Government had been involved in kidnapping Chinese student Lan Meng.
Serious doubts were raised in The Weekend Australian about his claims that Lan Meng was "taken by fishing boat to a Chinese cargo ship on the high seas", then held hostage in China to force his father to give himself up.
The television appearance followed federal Opposition calls for an investigation into whether the Immigration Department broke thelaw by tipping off the Chinese embassy about Mr Chen's defection attempt.
"It is time for me to stand up and speak out on my fear about the persecution by the Government and declare that I am only one of a large number of people under the control of the ruling party," Mr Chen told the Nine Network's 60 Minutes last night.
Mr Chen said he faced five to 10 years' jail, possibly even the death penalty, if he returned to China.
Chinese ambassador Fu Ying said last week she could see no reason why China would punish him, but Mr Chen said the Chinese Government was simply trying to woo him back and would then punish him.
"I hope that the Australian Government and the Australian people will support my action and, through supporting me, support theChinese people," he said.
When asked what kind of life he was hoping for in Australia he replied with one word: "freedom".
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said migration laws made it illegal to disclose information, without authorisation, to the home country of an asylum-seeker.
He said Foreign Minister Alexander Downer needed to provide the public with assurance there had been no breach of the law and that the matter had been properly investigated within the departments of Foreign Affairs and Immigration.
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Sunday, 12 June 2005

Stationery stoush a sign of the future, The Australian, 3 June, 2005

Stationery stoush a sign of the future: [2 All-round First Edition]

Brad Norington, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 03 June 2005: 2.
Show highlighting
NSW Premier Bob Carr visited workers yesterday at the Banksmeadow warehouse in Sydney's west in a show of support before today's Council of Australian Governments meeting in Canberra, at which the Prime Minister will ask all Labor premiers to hand over their state industrial relations systems to his Government.
[John Howard] will take control by force if they refuse. He wants to create for the first time a single national system, but Mr Carr said he would refuse to co-operate because Mr Howard's reforms were bad for NSW families and job security.
The system used by Appaloosa and a contracted labour hire firm, EL Blue, would allow serving workers to be forceably switched to AWAs under a labour hire arrangement.
A DEMAND by management at a Sydney stationery warehouse that all employees sign non-union individual contracts or face the sack has raised fears among workers about the future under John Howard's planned overhaul of workplace laws.
Appaloosa Holdings claims it cannot afford to keep its 22 workers under existing conditions and wants to "outsource" them to a labour hire company that will employ them on the Howard Government's Australian Workplace Agreements.
The company claims that workers will be no worse off and the changes are necessary because it lacks management skills and payroll services.
But the workers' union argues that employees earning $16 an hour and aged between 19 and 23 stand to lose allowances, job security and rights to union representation.
NSW Premier Bob Carr visited workers yesterday at the Banksmeadow warehouse in Sydney's west in a show of support before today's Council of Australian Governments meeting in Canberra, at which the Prime Minister will ask all Labor premiers to hand over their state industrial relations systems to his Government.
John Howard will take control by force if they refuse. He wants to create for the first time a single national system, but Mr Carr said he would refuse to co-operate because Mr Howard's reforms were bad for NSW families and job security.
"If John Howard's takeover goes ahead, these workers would be forced to sign up to agreements -- individual agreements -- or they would get the sack," Mr Carr said.
While the NSW Premier was reported in The Australian on Monday as privately endorsing a handover of his state's IR powers, he is opposed to any change in public and his Government is expected to back a High Court challenge by Labor states.
Under current federal laws, employers can only require that new employees sign AWAs.
But the system used by Appaloosa and a contracted labour hire firm, EL Blue, would allow serving workers to be forceably switched to AWAs under a labour hire arrangement.
The Appaloosa workers are all employed under the NSW award system, so moving them to EL Blue would automatically switch them to Mr Howard's federal system.
EL Blue managing director Grant Montgomery said his company, which only employs workers on AWAs, was asked to take over Appaloosa staff because the company had no human resources or payroll services. It had also experienced problems with under-payment.
"Our whole operation is on AWAs because we believe it is the best way to develop individual potential," he said.
By yesterday, 12 employees had signed AWAs, two had quit and a further eight were refusing to sign-up.
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Friday, 10 June 2005

Four home-alone children perish in inferno, The Australian, 10 June, 2005. Picture Jeremy Piper.


Four home-alone children perish in inferno: [1 All-round Country Edition]

John Stapleton Elizabeth Gosch. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 10 June 2005: 3.
After the boxing, in the early hours of yesterday morning, Ms Ford and her partner Wayne Shepherd decided to kick on from the Wyong Bowls Club on the NSW central coast, visiting a friend at nearby Tuggerah Lakes.
* Lisa Ford and her de facto Wayne Shepherd left their home on Panonia Road to go to the Wyong Bowls Club to watch Anthony Mundine's boxing match on Wednesday.
* The couple ran out of petrol as they raced back to Wyong. They sprinted to a nearby service station and an attendant gave Ms Ford a ride home while Mr [Shepherd] refilled their car.

Full Text


THE Mundine fight was on at the bowls club across the road, so mother of seven Lisa Ford and her de facto husband wandered over to have a few beers and watch the action.
Seven children from three families, ranging in age from 15 months to 13 years, were left behind, when a sleepover was arranged in the aftermath of a party.
After the boxing, in the early hours of yesterday morning, Ms Ford and her partner Wayne Shepherd decided to kick on from the Wyong Bowls Club on the NSW central coast, visiting a friend at nearby Tuggerah Lakes.
Mr Shepherd said he believed another man, the stepfather of six- year-old family friend Madison Hands who he knew only as Stewart, was in the house watching the children.
But he wasn't, and at about 2am a fire that ripped through the two-storey brick home left the four youngest children dead and three others in Gosford hospital suffering smoke inhalation.
Those who died in the blaze were Ms Ford's three youngest sons -- seven-year-old Jethro Sparkes, two-year-old George Gillette and 15- month-old Harley Wells -- and Madison.
Mr Shepherd said he had received a phone call from the three older girls who escaped the fire, Ms Ford's daughters 13-year-old Kira Moore and 11-year-old Chantelle Moore, and 13-year-old family friend Alysse Haddleton.
He said they panicked in the fire and jumped from the balcony, leaving the four youngest children upstairs.
"They were yelling out for help and there was no help. Just imagine the looks on their faces, that's what cuts me up," Mr Shepherd said yesterday.
The couple's frantic dash home was slowed when they ran out of petrol in the middle of the night, but the scene they arrived at was heartrending.
NSW Fire Brigade Superintendent Ross Brogan said the house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived eight minutes after receiving a 000 call about 2am.
Firefighters tried to force their way into the house but were unable to reach the four children trapped on the second floor.
Jethro's father Glenn Sparkes released a statement through police. "We are shocked and devastated by our tragic loss. As yet we are still waiting to find out how this tragedy occurred," he said.
Police refused to confirm reports the fire started when one of the younger children put a pillow or blanket over a bar heater.
Jethro, nicknamed "Punkie", and his two half-brothers were lively but not prone to causing trouble, neighbours said.
"It was a large family, there were lots of kids and they were always out on their bikes," said one neighbour, who did not wish to be named.
Madison, who was in Year 1 at Wyong Grove Public School, lived in a nearby street and was close to Ms Ford's family.
"We used to called her Maddymoo. She was a beautiful child, she always wanted hugs and kisses," friend Margaret Spiers said. "Hopefully the smoke's got to them so they didn't suffer, that's all I pray."
Wayne Devine, who is the flatmate of Madison's mother Leanne Pearson, agreed. "The personality just boiled out of her. She was a real little Shirley Temple -- lots of blond curls," he said.
Police Acting Superintendent Kim Sorenson said the tragedy was the worst he had encountered.
`It's as high on the scale of tragedy as you can get," he said. "For a community like Wyong to lose four small children in these circumstances is beyond belief."
Nine people have died in house fires in NSW in the past three days, prompting the state Opposition to call for mandatory smoke detectors in all dwellings.
FAMILY TRAGEDY
* Lisa Ford and her de facto Wayne Shepherd left their home on Panonia Road to go to the Wyong Bowls Club to watch Anthony Mundine's boxing match on Wednesday.
* The couple believed a friend was looking after the seven children in the house.
* After the fight, which started at 10pm, the couple drove to nearby Tuggerah Lakes to visit a friend.
* They received a phone call from the older children in the house telling them about the blaze just before the local fire brigade arrived at the two-storey home at 2.08am.
* The couple ran out of petrol as they raced back to Wyong. They sprinted to a nearby service station and an attendant gave Ms Ford a ride home while Mr Shepherd refilled their car.
* Four children died in the blaze. The others were taken to hospital.
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Monday, 6 June 2005

Labor 'shame' at Sartor's plans for the Block, The Australian, 6 June, 2005.

Labor `shame' at Sartor's plans for the Block: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 06 June 2005: 3.
Ten days ago the state Government declared the Block and other parts of [Redfern] to be of "state significance" and gazetted planning controls from Sydney City Council. Mr [Frank Sartor], the minister responsible for the Redfern Waterloo Authority, in charge of rejuvenating the blighted district, has total control over its future.
His vision, which does not include Aboriginal housing, clashes directly with the "traditional owners" of the land and has sparked ugly headlines suggesting Mr Sartor wants "no black faces on the Block".
Aboriginal Housing Company chief executive Mick Mundine said the NSW Government was "ready to sell out the blackfellas". "They have a grand plan for Redfern that doesn't include the poor or people with dark skin ... This is all about power. The Block represents a true voice for Aboriginal people and that is what they are trying to stop."

Full Text

MORE than 30 years after Gough Whitlam's Redfern dream, the houses in the notorious inner-Sydney ghetto of the Block are still derelict -- the windows smashed or boarded up, the gardens full of rubbish and the doors wrenched off after successive drug raids.
The dream of creating a source of indigenous pride in the heart of Sydney is literally in ashes.
Now another Labor politician, the Carr Government's Frank Sartor, has a very different vision for the Block.
It is still owned by the Aboriginal Housing Company, but only 16 families are still living on the Block. Bought with a Whitlam government grant in 1973, it became a hub for indigenous activism, including some of the country's first Aboriginal legal and medical services.
Hope died in the 1990s. Some believe the Block's descent into drugs, crime, violence, poverty and dereliction began with the painting of an unlucky rainbow serpent on a boundary wall. Others say it was deliberately encouraged by the state government with "genocidal" harm-minimisation drug policies.
These included the provision of a "needle bus" next to a children's park, which attracted hundreds of addicts from around the city into an already besieged community, and official tolerance of heroin dealing.
A crackdown by police and Aboriginal agencies has largely rid the Block of heroin, and its shuttered houses are now empty of people. But the view of the city's skyline means that in private hands the Block could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ten days ago the state Government declared the Block and other parts of Redfern to be of "state significance" and gazetted planning controls from Sydney City Council. Mr Sartor, the minister responsible for the Redfern Waterloo Authority, in charge of rejuvenating the blighted district, has total control over its future.
His vision, which does not include Aboriginal housing, clashes directly with the "traditional owners" of the land and has sparked ugly headlines suggesting Mr Sartor wants "no black faces on the Block".
Feelings are also running high in inner-city ALP branches, which are supporting a candlelight vigil on Thursday against Mr Sartor.
Long-time Labor supporter and Darlington branch secretary Trevor Davies said: "I am today ashamed to be a member of the ALP. This is an unprincipled land grab."
Aboriginal Housing Company chief executive Mick Mundine said the NSW Government was "ready to sell out the blackfellas". "They have a grand plan for Redfern that doesn't include the poor or people with dark skin ... This is all about power. The Block represents a true voice for Aboriginal people and that is what they are trying to stop."
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Saturday, 4 June 2005

Second bag handler gone, Weekend Australian, 4 June, 2005.

Second bag handler gone: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 04 June 2005: 9.
Show highlighting
Mr [Geoff Dixon] said the airline had been working in close co-operation with the NSW Crime Commission, NSW Police and Australian Federal Police in its investigation and said the man had been under surveillance for some time.
The cocaine bust was originally seen as a coup for law enforcement, before it was revealed in court proceedings that alleged kingpins of the conspiracy to import between $15million and $20million worth of cocaine from South America, Michael Hurley and Leslie Mara, had slipped the net, possibly as a result of a tip- off.
QANTAS has sacked a second baggage handler after a police investigation into the $30million cocaine-smuggling operation at Sydney airport that was smashed on May 9.
Qantas chief executive officer Geoff Dixon said last night the company had maintained constant surveillance on a "very small number of people" since the arrest of 14 people in the police swoop.
Mr Dixon said the airline had been working in close co-operation with the NSW Crime Commission, NSW Police and Australian Federal Police in its investigation and said the man had been under surveillance for some time.
"We have a zero tolerance for any illegal activity and will act quickly to ensure people who should not be in our workforce are dealt with appropriately," he said.
The cocaine bust was originally seen as a coup for law enforcement, before it was revealed in court proceedings that alleged kingpins of the conspiracy to import between $15million and $20million worth of cocaine from South America, Michael Hurley and Leslie Mara, had slipped the net, possibly as a result of a tip- off.
The AFP suspended an officer on May 27 over his alleged misconduct during the investigation.
Sydney airport has come under intense scrutiny over its loose security practices in the wake of the alleged role played by baggage handlers in the drug-smuggling operation.
AFP commissioner Mick Keelty said baggage handlers were "part of the international syndicate who are operating to help import the drugs into Australia".
Mr Hurley, 58, and Mr Mara, 52, are both on the run, with federal arrest warrants issued against them.
Those arrested as part of the syndicate included NSW police detective sergeant Ian Finch and former Macquarie Bank executive director Ian Robert Chalmers, who was granted $500,000 bail this week.
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Friday, 3 June 2005

Carr tells workers: no future in AWAs, The Ausralian, 3 June, 2005

Carr tells workers: no future in AWAs: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Brad Norington, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 03 June 2005: 2.
Mr [John Howard] will take control by force if they refuse. He wants to create for the first time a single national system, but Mr [Bob Carr] said he would refuse to co-operate because Mr Howard's reforms were bad for NSW families and job security.
The system used by Appaloosa and a contracted labour hire firm, EL Blue, would allow serving workers to be forceably switched to AWAs under a labour hire arrangement.
EL Blue managing director Grant Montgomery said his company, which only employs workers on [AWAs], was asked to take over Appaloosa staff because the company had no human resources or payroll services. It had also experienced problems with under-payment.

Full Text

A DEMAND by management at a Sydney stationery warehouse that all employees sign non-union individual contracts or face the sack sounded a warning about the future under John Howard's planned overhaul of workplace laws, NSW Premier Bob Carr said yesterday.
Appaloosa Holdings claims it cannot afford to keep its 22 workers under existing conditions and wants to "outsource" them to a labour hire company that will employ them on the Howard Government's Australian Workplace Agreements.
The company claims that workers will be no worse off and the changes are necessary because it lacks management skills and payroll services.
But the workers' union argues that employees earning $16 an hour and aged between 19 and 23 stand to lose allowances, job security and rights to union representation.
Mr Carr visited workers yesterday at the Banksmeadow warehouse in Sydney's west in a show of support before today's Council of Australian Governments meeting in Canberra, at which the Prime Minister will ask all Labor premiers to hand over their state industrial relations systems to his Government.
Mr Howard will take control by force if they refuse. He wants to create for the first time a single national system, but Mr Carr said he would refuse to co-operate because Mr Howard's reforms were bad for NSW families and job security.
"If John Howard's takeover goes ahead, these workers would be forced to sign up to agreements -- individual agreements -- or they would get the sack," Mr Carr said.
While the NSW Premier was reported in The Australian on Monday as privately endorsing a handover of his state's IR powers, he is opposed to any change in public and his Government is expected to back a High Court challenge by Labor states.
Under current federal laws, employers can only require that new employees sign AWAs.
But the system used by Appaloosa and a contracted labour hire firm, EL Blue, would allow serving workers to be forceably switched to AWAs under a labour hire arrangement.
The Appaloosa workers are all employed under the NSW award system, so moving them to EL Blue would automatically switch them to Mr Howard's federal system.
EL Blue managing director Grant Montgomery said his company, which only employs workers on AWAs, was asked to take over Appaloosa staff because the company had no human resources or payroll services. It had also experienced problems with under-payment.
"Our whole operation is on AWAs because we believe it is the best way to develop individual potential," he said.
By yesterday, 12 employees had signed AWAs, two had quit and a further eight were refusing to sign-up.
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