PM declines to fly starry banner for rebellion with a cause
By John Huxley
The 19th of November 2004
No Eureka flag will fly over Parliament House in Canberra. And, it seems, no senior Government minister will attend the week-long 150th anniversary celebrations of the Eureka rebellion, when goldminers fought for the principle of a "fair go".
The Prime Minister, John Howard, has declined to attend any part of the celebrations, which will culminate in a dawn ceremony in Ballarat on December 3.
The ceremony will mark the storming of the miners' makeshift stockade by government troops, which resulted in the deaths of more than 30 men.
"It's most disappointing," said Ron Egeberg, director of the Eureka Centre, which is staging the ceremony on the probable site of the stockade.
"We can only presume [Mr Howard] is too busy."
The Opposition Leader, Mark Latham, will attend part of the celebrations and a conference, to be addressed by Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timor's senior minister for international co-operation.
There has been no explanation for Mr Howard's decision, but event organisers say it may be because he does not wish to be associated with a flag and an event that has come to be associated, in some people's minds, with Labor, trade union and even republican interests.
However, the Government has approved special-issue Eureka coins and stamps, which will be launched by the historian Geoffrey Blainey.
"Clearly, our Prime Minister does not share the view of events of that other fine Liberal prime minister, one Robert Gordon Menzies," said Bob Walshe, an author, activist and historian, and one of the organisers of the Eureka celebrations in Sydney.
At the time of the 100th anniversary, Sir Robert told a Melbourne newspaper: "The Eureka revolution was an earnest attempt at democratic government ... so far as [it] indicated any general movement at all, it was a fierce desire to achieve true parliamentary government and true popular control of public finance."
Although the Government has resisted pressure to fly the "starry banner" of Eureka over Parliament House - as happened in 1974 - the flag will be flown at the entrance to the Senate.
It will also be flown outside the office of the Ballarat Labor MP Catherine King, who has accused the Government of snubbing Eureka.
With the Victorian senator Gavin Marshall, Ms King has attempted to have the distinctive, blue-and-white Southern Cross banner accepted as a national flag under the Flags Act - a move that her Liberal opponents have dismissed as politically motivated. The flag will not go unnoticed, however - either in Canberra, where the ACT Government intends to raise 200 flags on the approaches to Parliament, or in Sydney, where it will be flown at State Parliament and over the Town Hall.
SMH 19-11-4
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/PM-declines-to-fly-starry-banner-for-rebellion-with-a-cause/2004/11/18/1100748146105.html
Australia ranks poorly in global media freedom listing
The 28th of October 2004
Australia has ranked dismally in a global index on media freedom released today by Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Australia could only manage 41st position in RSF's third annual index of press freedom, lagging behind some former Eastern bloc nations, including Hungary (28), Czech Republic (19) and Poland (32).
Regional neighbour New Zealand placed a respectable ninth and was one of only three nations outside Europe to rank in the top 20.
But Australia's lowly ranking came as no surprise after it came under fire in the RSF's 2004 annual report released earlier this year.
In particular, the watchdog criticised Australia's policies restricting press access to refugees.
It said in the report that the Australian government "continued to prevent journalists from covering the situation of refugees held in camps on Australian territory or in neighbouring countries".
The report pointed to the January 2002 arrest of ABC TV reporter Natalie Larkins, who was carted off and charged with trespassing on commonwealth property while trying to report on 300 hunger striking refugees at the Woomera Detention Centre in South Australia.
The report also criticised a number of other attempts by several groups to stifle press freedom.
It mentioned a case in which the NRMA launched legal action to try to force Australian Associated Press (AAP) reporter Belinda Tasker and journalists Anne Lampe and Kate Askew from The Sydney Morning Herald to divulge their sources in their coverage of a boardroom battle.
The case has since been dropped by the NSW motoring body.
And it criticised attempts by the federal government to free up cross media ownership laws and make the Australian Broadcasting Authority responsible for maintaining editorial independence.
European nations dominated the top positions in today's rankings, with the eight countries sharing top spot: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia and Switzerland.
Countries in east Asia and the Middle East have the least media freedom in the world, with North Korea coming at the bottom of a global index on media freedom in 167th spot.
RSF said that in states such as North Korea, Burma and China, and in Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, "an independent media either does not exist or journalists are persecuted and censored on a daily basis".
"Freedom of information and safety of journalists are not guaranteed there," RSF said in a statement.
It said a recent fact-finding mission to North Korea found journalists there were forced to serve the personality cult of dictator Kim Jong-il.
"Dozens of reporters had been 're-educated' for often minor supposed professional 'errors'," RSF said.
Meanwhile, Iraq proved to be the most deadly place for journalists in recent years, with 44 journalists killed since fighting began in March last year and ranked 148th.
The United States came in 22nd on the index, RSF said.
"Violations of the privacy of sources, persistent problems in granting press visas and the arrest of several journalists during anti-Bush demonstrations kept the United States away from the top of the list," the group said.
RSF said Cuba was the worst violator of press freedom in Latin America, coming in 166th. That was just above North Korea.
"All criticism of President Fidel Castro's rule is officially a crime. Twenty-six journalists arrested in March last year along with some 50 dissidents are still in prison," RSF said.
AAP
SMH 28-10-4
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/27/1098667831661.html
Scrafton alleges abuse and threats
The 1st of September 2004
Former defence adviser Mike Scrafton today said he was abused and threatened by former top public servant Max Moore-Wilton, whom he described as a bully.
Mr Scrafton, a former adviser to then defence minister Peter Reith, was giving evidence to a Senate inquiry into his evidence over the children overboard affair.
Mr Scrafton said he told Prime Minister John Howard three days before the last election that a videotape of the incident did not support the proposition that children had been thrown overboard.
He said he also advised the prime minister that photographs released by the government did not relate to the incident and no one in Defence that he had dealt with believed the allegation.
Mr Scrafton has said he had not spoken out earlier because he feared for his career in the public service.
Liberal Senator George Brandis, cross-examining Mr Scrafton, said Mr Scrafton was concerned only about his job.
"You were worried about yourself, Mr Scrafton, weren't you?" he said.
Mr Scrafton replied that was a major consideration when dealing with Mr Moore-Wilton, then head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
"I haven't at any point suggested that it wasn't," he said.
"And if I might add to that answer, I'm somebody who's been personally abused and threatened by Max Moore-Wilton for daring to provide frank and fearless advice to my minister which was seen to be superior to the advice Max was giving forward.
"Let me say it was confronted in an abusive way in which he swore at me in quite derogatory terms, in front of witnesses.
"Did I have reservations about whether or not Max Moore-Wilton might not carry a grudge for somebody who did something contrary to the prime minister's interests?
"Ask anybody in Canberra, Senator.
"I had about three engagements with Mr Moore-Wilton, all of which were characterised by the same sort of bullying approach to dealing with people."
In a further exchange, Mr Scrafton hit back at Senator Brandis, who has been accused of privately describing Mr Howard as a lying rodent over the children overboard issue.
Senator Brandis has filled out a statutory declaration denying the claim.
Comment was being sought from Mr Max Moore-Wilton.
- AAP
The Age
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/01/1093938978836.html
EC asked to probe anti-government website
Thursday, the 15th of July 2004
The Federal Government has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to investigate an anti-government website that may have broken the law by not naming its publisher.
The latest edition of Labor's official email newsletter refers voters to the website johnhowardlies.com.
The site is now being revamped and is temporarily off-line.
Special Minister of State Eric Abetz has called on the Opposition to dissociate itself from the website.
"The Labor Party have got a lot of explaining to do and as to, one, why they would peddle this sort of information and then, why they would seek to do so anonymously," he said.
www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1154720
Choir accuses Govt of censorship
Friday the 6th of February 2004
A women's choir says the Federal Government has censored its performance at Parliament House in Canberra.
The choir says they will now be forced to hum some of the song lyrics.
The singers performed in the foyer of the Parliament this afternoon as part of the National Multicultural Festival.
But parliamentary officials banned the group from performing two songs about the Iraq war and any other songs about "personal and political freedoms".
One of the women, Glenda Cloughley, says the group respects the dignity of the Parliament and decided to hum the "banned" lyrics.
"We are absolutely in favour of democracy, it is always a noble and fragile thing and artists are often the people whose voices are first suppressed when there is political repression about," she said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1039592.htm
ABC 6-2-4
The 27th of November 2003
High-tech gripe makes PCs more PC
By Gerard Wright in Los Angeles
To tech heads and even the moderately computer literate, the terms Master/Slave describe hardware or software configurations where one device or process controls one or more other devices or processes. But to an unnamed employee of Los Angeles County, the words were offensive.
The worker took his or her complaint to the county's affirmative action office. The office considered the complaint, cross-checked it against Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employers to act when a worker perceives something discriminatory at their place of employment, then passed it on to Joe Sandoval, who runs the county's $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) purchasing and contract services department.
And last week, Mr Sandoval wrote [see email below] to the hundreds of companies that form the county's estimated $US300 million-a-year supply chain of video supplies, and computer hardware and software, asking them to mind their language. Specifically, "the manufacturer's labelling of equipment where the words Master/Slave appeared to identify the primary and secondary sources. Based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County, this is not an acceptable identification label."
A week later, on Tuesday, Mr Sandoval had received several dozen responses to his suggestion. "I got a couple of positive replies," he said. "For the most part it's been pretty negative." The county, Mr Sandoval said, had merely taken the cheapest option. The alternative was to face an anti-discrimination lawsuit, with costs in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In an America where words can easily lose their original meaning - the federal law that relaxed regulations on air pollution was called the Clear Skies Act - Mr Sandoval has already dealt with his share of sceptics, and the inevitable "Only in LA" observations.
Meanwhile, the county's IT staff have been busy. With each service call, they have been rewriting the terminology approved by the American National Standards Institute in 1998. "If they find those words, they tape over it and change it to primary/secondary," Mr Sandoval said.
Subject: IDENTIFICATION OF EQUIPMENT SOLD TO LA COUNTY
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:21:16 -0800
From: "Los Angeles County"
The County of Los Angeles actively promotes and is committed to ensure a work environment that is free from any discriminatory influence be it actual or perceived. As such, it is the County's expectation that our manufacturers, suppliers and contractors make a concentrated effort to ensure that any equipment, supplies or services that are provided to County departments do not possess or portray an image that may be construed as offensive or defamatory in nature.
One such recent example included the manufacturer's labeling of equipment where the words "Master/Slave" appeared to identify the primary and secondary sources. Based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County, this is not an acceptable identification label.
We would request that each manufacturer, supplier and contractor review, identify and remove/change any identification or labeling of equipment or components thereof that could be interpreted as discriminatory or offensive in nature before such equipment is sold or otherwise provided to any County department.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance.
Joe Sandoval, Division Manager
Purchasing and Contract Services
Internal Services Department
County of Los Angeles
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/26/1069825847240.html
SMH 27-11-3
Government gag?
30-5-3
The Feral Government declined to fund the ABC enough to enable it continue all of it's current services in the recent budget. And now it comes to light that it is investigating the ABC's coverage of the recent war against Iraq.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-28may2003-63.htm
' "We went through the entire transcript of the ABC coverage from day one and we chose examples which we thought were indicative of a particular line or slant being taken," he said.
The Minister has highlighted more than 60 examples of what he calls at worst, bias against the US military. '
That's right the Feral Government went through all the transcripts looking for anti US military bias. What a waste of time and resources! Now I know where some of our wasted taxes are going!
The ABC is supposed to be independent and free to broadcast what it likes without government intervention. Otherwise how can they report the real news?
But here we have the Feral Govt searching for anti US military bias in their broadcasts! Not only is that interference, but why should the Feral Government be concerned about anti US military bias?
Don't forget Iraq was invaded because it was going to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, but no weapons of mass destruction have yet been found in Iraq.
I'm now looking for volunteer workers in my campaign to rename Canberra, New Washington.
Alston attempting to intimidate ABC, Labor says
The Federal Opposition says the Government is attempting to nobble the ABC, after the Communications Minister called on it to investigate the AM program's coverage of the Iraq war.
Senator Richard Alston says AM's reporting was at the very least sceptical of the US military.
"We went through the entire transcript of the ABC coverage from day one and we chose examples which we thought were indicative of a particular line or slant being taken," he said.
The Minister has highlighted more than 60 examples of what he calls at worst, bias against the US military.
The ABC has agreed to investigate AM's coverage of the war.
Senator Alston has also asked whether ABC News and Current Affairs director, Max Uechtritz, influenced the staff of AM.
Labor's Communications spokesman Lindsay Tanner says the Minister is attempting to intimidate the ABC and says Senator Alston warns of further action after the ABC inquiry.
"That could involve any number of attacks on the ABC," he said.
"It should not be tolerated in an open and democratic society."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-28may2003-63.htm
ABC 28-5-3