-Caveat Lector- I got this from Stan the Man after sending him that post on Martial Law in Oz 29 November 1999 Dear Building Community Family, Since a heap of you have written asking if martial law is now in effect here, we can tell you it is not. Somebody is jumping the gun just a tad, but maybe only by a technical hair. Martial law, as we understand it, is a Federally enacted order. The proposed bill here is _state_ legislation. Oftentimes martial law includes curfews and this is one of the few areas not addressed. In our newsletter dated November 24, we sent out information from a Herald Sun article by Nicola Webber and Damon Johnston about the proposed legislation entitled the Essential Services (Year 2000) Bill. Since we have already sent out this article, we will not include it again. Interestingly, we had about a dozen people email us back with this same material, posted from Gary North's site, asking if we had seen it... Others asked if we could verify the article/information. I did speak with the reporter, Nicola Webber, not an hour ago and also received email confirmation from its co-author, Damon Johnston, minutes ago. Yes, the article did appear November 12th in the Herald Sun. As follow up to our conversation, Ms. Webber has just faxed us a copy of same. As stated in another newspaper, The Australian, it has not _yet_ become law, but should as of early December as per http://technology.news.com.au/news/4241002.htm. In the interim, Stan spoke with Jane Wilson, the media advisor to the Victorian Premier Steve Bracks a few hours ago. Ms. Wilson stated the proposed legislation will be voted on "sometime in the next four weeks". Please bear in mind, this is _Victorian_ legislation only, not Commonwealth (Federal). Victoria is Australia's most conservative and smallest state size-wise, except for Tasmania which is about half the size of Vic. All-in-all, if this law passes, it encompasses a relatively small territory, but may contain roughly 1/4 of the country's population. One should also note that the bill is slated to be deactivated halfway through 2001. Now to the common sense side of things. Australia IS a socialist country and speaking only for myself, this does not seem in the slightest out of place. If it can happen in the U.S., a country built on the principle of democracy, should it be surprising it would be instituted in a country where there is more of a one-for-all, "mateship" attitude? This legislation, Essential Services (Year 2000) Bill, may be downloaded here http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/pdocs/bills/B00507/B00507I.html It has already passed the Lower House which is the Legislative Assembly and now awaits the Upper House where it will most surely pass becoming an Act. This proposed legislation was actually drawn up by the former Kennett government (Liberal Party) which is most like the U.S. Republican Party, being more closely tied with business interests. However, it was actually introduced by the Bracks government (Labor Party) which is somewhat similar to the U.S. Democrats. Even though this bill will most likely become law shortly since it already breezed through the Lower House, you can keep tabs on its progress here: http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/pdocs/bills/B00507/status_report.html Here are a couple of the more "interesting points" which sounds a good deal like some Executive Orders in the States. These short summaries are greatly paraphrased. For some reason, the government is most adamant about not reproducing any part of this legislation by _any_ means. If this is important to you, download the bill and have a shocking read. Basically this bill allows the Victorian government to take any of the following things you have to help in an emergency as a result of Y2K for "an essential service". The Act defines "essential service" as any of the following services: transportation fuel (including natural gas) light power water sewerage and any service declared to be "essential" by the Governor in Council Points 14 - 16 detail the inspectors' right of entry which must be granted if they suspect you have any needed items which constitutes "commission of an offence" if you do not hand over the above-mentioned items. These 3 points allows them to search your property with or without the assistance of the police and requires a search warrant. There are penalties which may be slapped on an individual as well including a $250 fine and three years jail time. IMPORTANT!! Possibly the most important point of this legislation is that it is an extension of ALREADY EXISTING legislation - Emergency Management Act 1986. If you really want your eyes to bug out, read _this_ legislation. Please note that even when the Essential Services (Year 2000) Bill is slated to run out June 30, 2001, this nasty bit of news will still be intact, just like it has been for the past 13 years. http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/cgi-bin/aglcat.pl?filename=/workdsk2/agl/httpd /htd ocs/l2d/E/ACT00897/2_2.html&filelink=http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/l2d/E/ACT 0089 7/2_2.html&text=Emergency#hit5 Remember, Australia never has disasters to hear most people tell it, BUT, this Act covers the following: earthquake flood wind-storm or other natural event fire explosions road or any other accident plagues epidemics act of war (whether directed at Victoria or a part of Victoria or at any other State or Territory of the Commonwealth) hi-jackings siege riot What else is there except an alien invasion? This article entitled: Y2K Disaster Law Given Go-Ahead is posted below for your convenience and is one of two that has widely the Internet rounds. http://technology.news.com.au/news/4241002.htm By Dan Tebbutt, Ian Grayson 16nov99 The Victorian Government is going it alone with far-reaching Year 2000 emergency legislation that suspends parts of the state constitution. Other states and territories have no plans to invoke similar legislation, believing existing laws will be sufficient to cover any problems. Only the ACT is adding to existing emergency laws. A general-purpose Emergency Management Bill currently before the ACT Assembly includes provisions for "major and systemic technological failure". The Victorian move comes after the Longford gas explosion last year revealed Victoria's disaster provisions to be outdated. The laws go beyond existing emergency measures by giving the Government extraordinary powers to deal with any computer-related breakdown in vital infrastructure. The Bracks Government last week introduced the Essential Services (Year 2000) Bill to ensure it is fully equipped to deal with unforeseen emergency issues. The Victorian law will give ministers "power to give directions to any person for the purpose of maintaining or resuming essential services". Orders could include rationing or restricting access to anything declared an essential service by Victorian Governor Sir James Gobbo. "In addition, there will be tough enforcement provisions to punish persons or corporations who feel their own needs to be more important than those of their fellow Victorians," Transport Minister Peter Batchelor told Parliament. The Longford explosion showed the lack of suitable emergency powers in Victoria, Mr Batchelor said. A clause in the Bill will amend the state constitution to prevent court action against any person "acting in good faith" under the Y2K law. While conceding some people may believe the emergency powers "are so broad as to be draconian", Mr Batchelor said private and public sector groups have had opportunity to ensure Y2K readiness and undertake contingency planning. The legislation is expected to be passed early next month. A June 30, 2001, sunset clause is included. ************* For the last little exciting tidbit, you may want to read this Senate speech from Sen. Richard Alston on hoarding. We have included it in its entirety because it is somewhat a pain to access. However, to do so on your own here's how: Go to http://search.aph.gov.au/search/. Type in the search area exactly this: hoard* and emergencies and dig* and hole* Click on search and it will take your to this little gem: Senator ALSTON (Victoria--Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) (4.51 p.m.) I listened with interest to that contribution read by Senator Lundy, Senator Lundy being the shadow minister assisting the shadow minister for industry and technology, who in fact puts out a letterhead which simply describes her as the shadow minister assisting on information technology. How anyone except the insiders--this is inside baseball stuff--would know what that meant, I do not know. Nonetheless, it has provided a sufficient platform for Senator Lundy to think that somehow she can get into the point-scoring business on an issue which I had thought had considerable bipartisan support. This is a unique problem--one that we can never determine the precise nature and extent of in advance, although we know the date, so it is quite unlike normal man-made disasters or emergencies. It is nonetheless a problem that is being taken increasingly seriously around the world. But to stand up in this parliament and somehow suggest that the Australian government is off the pace simply ignores all of the facts about what is happening internationally. As I would have thought Senator Lundy would be aware, the efforts of this government have been acknowledged worldwide. The OECD and the Gartner Group regard Australia as being right up there with the US. In the Congress only last week the Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem found that Australia ranks in the top tier of preparedness together with the US, the UK and Canada. They are not saying that we are No. 1, 2, 3 or 4. They are saying that we are in the top tier and there is no-one doing any better than we are. That is their finding. The fact is that we have been working very closely with state and territory governments and peak industry bodies since 1996, since we came to government--in other words, about three years. There are people who have done more than that. Telstra started work some four years ago, but when we came to office in March 1996 there was basically no-one home. So we have had to start from scratch. We have put in place all sorts of important requirements for disclosure. Senator Lundy says that this is an ad hoc approach because it is being left to individual countries and companies as though somehow there is a template that fits across the globe, which is a preposterous and ridiculous proposition. Anyone would know that different countries are at different stages. We are at the top. I came across a country recently which was going to conduct a seminar on 'Is it too late to start?' I would have thought that they are not quite up to scratch. I also came across a European country recently that had put in place a national committee about nine months ago, but it had its first meeting in January this year. We have had a national steering committee looking after the requirements for reporting of companies to the Stock Exchange which has been looking very closely at industry performance. We have had ABS surveys. Senator Ian Campbell has been doing the rounds assiduously and talking to all of those with a keen interest in the subject. What you will find is that Australia is doing very well indeed. It is not a question of complacency. It is not a question of saying that we have done enough, but you have to keep powering on, and we have been. Senator Lundy seems to think that, for example, one of the things we should be doing is taking advantage of a great opportunity for leadership in the Asia-Pacific region. If she had bothered to surf the Net last night she would have seen a speech I gave yesterday on the Gold Coast to the International Telecommunications Union entitled `Year 2000 Compliance and Telecommunications Workshop for the Asia-Pacific Region'. There was substantial attendance. They all accepted the proposition that Australia had a great deal to offer and they were very interested in looking at the initiatives we had taken. In relation to the awareness program that we are launching, as I came into the chamber I heard Senator Lundy saying things like `recently the government said in estimates that they were exploring or examining the possibility of commissioning'. This is what Senator Lundy said in the second reading debate on the Y2K information disclosure bill: We heard just last night at an estimates committee that the government has finally, albeit belatedly, commissioned research in preparation for a public awareness campaign. She comes in here and says that we are exploring and examining possibilities, and yet here she is accepting that we had commissioned research in preparation for it. The fact is that I took the opportunity yesterday to announce the strategy. The government is developing a strategy to address the concerns of the general public about the risks or otherwise of service failures emanating from the Y2K problem in addition to, but coordinated with, the Y2K industry program. The strategy aims to stimulate public confidence in measures undertaken by Australian governments, state and federal, and industry to achieve Y2K readiness, to minimise the scope for unnecessary contingency planning by the public and to raise awareness of Y2K issues among groups where remediation progress appears to be slow. In Australia, unlike some other developed countries, we have been fortunate that the press has taken a largely responsible and balanced approach to reporting and commenting on the issue. However, if we want the public to continue to receive balanced messages, then we have an obligation to make available information concerning our preparedness. We have been on the case now for many months and years. We are constantly updating and improving the disclosure arrangements. As Senator Lundy well knows, since 1997 the Australian government has been requiring reports from its own agencies and departments. I noted also that Senator Lundy said that we had voted down on two occasions attempts to require the provision of more information. The fact is that, as you should know, there are quarterly reports which we have been in the practice of making available. Because of the election, it was not possible during the caretaker period to provide the relevant report at the normal time. We therefore brought the two together and released them in December. No-one that I am aware of has in the slightest degree been critical of that proposal. Senator Lundy, no-one comes to me complaining that we are not up with world's best practice. You say that you get a lot of complaints and concerns from people all around the community. It is odd. If they are asking you what the government is doing, then presumably they are ALP branch members who are incapable of writing to me or Senator Ian Campbell. If they want to know what the Labor Party is doing, would they ask me? If they want to know what the government is doing, they ask the government. They are not asking me; therefore, they are branch members. So you can have your telephone box conversations about the issue, but the fact is that out there 92 per cent of the public are aware of the dimensions of the problem. The challenge is to focus on those who are not taking it perhaps as seriously as they might, like SMEs. We will be conducting workshops and other activities to ensure that they do understand the dimensions of the problem. We had a meeting on 17 December last year attended by representatives of all state and territory governments. Once again, there was general agreement in principle to provide further disclosure, particularly in relation to utilities which are the responsibility of the state and territory governments. We have consistently made it clear that we have a target date of July 1999 for all agencies to achieve Y2K compliance. We are confident that that date will be met. As I said earlier, since September 1997 all Commonwealth government agencies have been reporting quarterly on the state of readiness of their mission critical systems. Summaries of the last two reports have been published to provide an opportunity for business in the community to monitor Y2K progress of essential government services. The next quarterly report will provide detailed information concerning the preparedness on a portfolio by portfolio basis. Shortly after that we will release information concerning the preparedness of individual Commonwealth departments and agencies. So we stand ready to take on board any constructive suggestions. If Senator Lundy, who I think has already had briefings on the matter, wants any further information we are more than happy to make it available. We regard this as an issue that should not be the subject of political point scoring. Those who are interested in ensuring that there isn't a scare campaign out there--that there are not people hoarding food and taking money out of the bank and leaving the country and digging holes in the ground--have a responsibility, particularly if they are in elected office, to ensure that they are fully informed and that they work as closely and as cooperatively as possible with all those stakeholders in the issue. We are prepared to take that approach, but I must say I don't think it adds a great deal to either the sum total of human knowledge or public awareness to be rabbiting on about `the government's failure to take early and decisive action to prepare all facets of the Australian community for the negative social and economic impacts of the year 2000 problem, to initiate a public education campaign to ensure that the Australian community is informed and to facilitate transparency'. You have an obligation to point to what has already been done and to show where it should go further. It is always your tired response to say, `Well, you are doing all the right things but you should have done them a bit earlier.' I don't remember you being out there when Clinton made an announcement in the middle of last year. I didn't get any correspondence from you. I didn't see any press releases from you. This is all after the event. All you have done is realise that you cannot oppose it, that it makes a lot of good sense. These things may not deliver as much as we would all hope, but it is a step in the right direction. The most you can say, as people have always said--we even started yawning when we said it in opposition--is, `You are on the right track but you should be going a bit faster.' As far as your economic approaches were concerned you weren't going fast enough except, I suppose, on privatisation, where you were privatising everything you could get your hands on. But beyond that, it is a pretty thin criticism to say, 'I agree with what you are doing but I wish you had done it a bit faster.' We could all say that with the benefit of hindsight. The fact is that your obligation is to look at what we are doing, tell us what more you think should be done and, if you do come up with constructive suggestions, I can assure you-- Senator Lundy --What are you doing with the public education campaign? Have you commissioned it? Senator ALSTON --I have just told you that. You conceded that we had commissioned research. I announced yesterday that the Australian government considers that 'it has a national role to coordinate and improve the quality of information available'. We are developing a national communication strategy to address the concerns. Okay; you say it should have been done yesterday. If we had done it yesterday or six months earlier you would have said, 'That's fine, but you should do another one because everyone has forgotten,' and then you will say that we should have done twice as many. One can never get those things right. If you want a public awareness campaign, we're having one. Okay? Next issue. What are the other problems that you are serious about? You supported the legislation. You presumably support a national communications strategy. What else are you asking for? You are asking us to facilitate transparency. I would be very surprised if you can point to any other regime in the world-- Senator Lundy --It doesn't matter; we are asking you-- Senator ALSTON --It doesn't matter? How can you say that world's best practice is not enough? What do you want us to do? Do you want us to have a field day, where we all leave Canberra, where we leave the keys at the airport and invite every citizen to come up, help themselves, trawl through the systems, open them up, take away all the reports and somehow be brilliantly informed? What they want is the decision makers to get on top of the issue. It is very interesting that you can rabbit on without notes when others are talking, but when it comes to delivering a contribution you cannot look up for a moment. In other words, you have to stick to the brief because those who have written it for you have told you, `There is a bit of a political line we can run here.' You know that the things we are doing are all that ought to be done. We are leading the world in many respects. We are not taking it for granted for a moment. We believe there is more that can and should and will be done. But at the end of the day you will need to offer a lot more than that if you are to move from shadow-boxing to shadow representation. At the moment you are a couple of steps away. All I can say is that if Mr McMullan is reading this he won't have too much to worry about. He will no doubt want your assistance in drafting, but if he is looking for ideas he wouldn't have got them from today, unfortunately. So by all means next time you have any good suggestions, let us know. ************** EARTHQUAKES In case you've been leading a "normal" life ;-) and missed recent quake news, the Ring of Fire has certainly picked up speed in the past 36-48 hours. At this rate, we will catch with the yearly average, despite the current very busy solar cycle for CME's, flares and geomagnetic storms - usually inverse to quake activity. November 26: KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, 5.8 mb. KOMANDORSKY ISLANDS REGION, 5.8 ms. VANUATU ISLANDS, 7.1 ms. VANUATU ISLANDS, 6.0 mb. KOMANDORSKY ISLANDS REGION, 5.7 mb. VANUATU ISLANDS, 5.6 mb. VANUATU ISLANDS, 5.7 ms. NEW YORK depth shallow, magnitude 3.4 mbLg. This earthquake was felt at Ajax, Oshawa, Scarborough, Toronto and Whitby - no reports of damage. November 27: CENTRAL PERU, about 65 miles (110 km) SE of Cuzco, 6.0 mb. KOMANDORSKY ISLANDS REGION, 5.5 ms. NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G., 5.7 mb. November 29: OREGON, about 15 miles (20 km) WNW of Klamath Falls, 3.4 ML. NORTHEASTERN CHINA, about 40 miles (70 km) S of Anshan, China, 5.2 mb. SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN, 6.5 ms. This earthquake is in the same general area as the magnitude 7.4 event on November 15 which was felt in Sri Lanka; no damage or casualties are expected. Magnitude This Year Normally Year 8.0 to 9.9 . . . . .0 . . . . . . . . . .1 7.0 to 7.9 . . . .17 . . . . . . . . .18 6.0 to 6.9 . . . . 97 . . . . . . . .120 5.0 to 5.9 . . . 819 . . . . . . . . 800 4.0 to 4.9 . . 5928 . . . . . . 6,200 (estimated) 3.0 to 3.9 . . 4873 . . . . . 49,000 (estimated) 2.0 to 2.9 . . 3732 . . . . . . . . . 1.0 to 1.9 . . . 627 . . . . . . . . . 0.1 to 0.9 . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . No Mag. . . . . 1777 . . . . . . . . . TOTALS . . 17,875** . . . . . . . . . **As of November 26, 1999 http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqstats.html#table_2 Depending _when_ Madeleine Zirbes updated this page on the 26, if the 7.1 Vanuatu quake was recorded in this report, the 7.0-7.9 quakes would have reached their yearly average of 18. With affection, Holly and Stan, Seismo and Taco - all wondering what kind of world we live in... AUSTRALIAN site: http://www.ballarat.net.au/~standeyo/ AMERICAN sites: http://www.millennium-ark.net http://buddyebsen.com/standeyo/ Emergency Preparedness: http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/Hollys.html We are about to go on a Journey. All Aboard http://sites.netscape.net/gsussnzl/poleshift DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
