The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, March 8, 2000. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au Subscription rates on request. ****************************** 1. Olympics under the gun 2. Editorial: Racism alive and well 1. Olympics under the gun A massive mobilisation of military personnel is under way in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics. Army counter terrorism units have been in heavy training for 18 months, specialising in boarding ocean-going vessels as well as in dealing with chemical, biological and radiological attacks. by Marcus Browning Almost the whole of the Australian military's special forces will be on 24-hour alert at a number of spots around Sydney starting in August and ending in October, after the Paralympics. This in addition to 30,000 private security personnel, the NSW Police Force and agents from the Federal Police, plus tens of thousands of Olympic volunteer workers who will be given powers to arrest and detain. Sydney in September will be a city under siege. A squadron of Black Hawk helicopters will wait in readiness at the Holsworthy army base west of Sydney. The Olympic Security Command Centre, which will coordinate operations, has pinpointed 115 places throughout Sydney as possible terrorist targets. The spectre of Osama bin Laden, number one on the CIA hit parade, has been conjured up, his suspected "connections" in Australia already under surveillance. In fact, unnamed sources told "The Age" newspaper last week that he had "connections throughout Australia". Intelligence agencies here have gone so far as to collect the names of thousands of people from around the world believed to be some how or other linked to bin Laden. Clearly Australia's Arab community is in for a barrage of harassment and racist abuse. And what about the three Hercules RAAF aircraft which will be capable at a moment's notice of moving assault units anywhere around the country? Presumably this is in case terrorists decide to attack the Games via Western Australia or Victoria or Queensland. ŠAll this in the name of Olympic security, even though security spokespeople and government representatives keep insisting that the possibility of an attack is "slim", "low", "unlikely". Twofold purpose The military involvement has a twofold purpose. Firstly, it is an ideal opportunity to practice the mobile strike force tactics and crowd control measures of the special units. These units have been created for just such action; to move swiftly to any "hot spot" in the region (after getting US approval of course) and if necessary crack down on dissent within Australia. Secondly, it is to serve as a public relations exercise to make the public feel secure in the knowledge that there is a crack defence force to protect them (so we feel "relaxed and comfortable", to quote Prime Minister Howard). Howard announced last week that military spending is to be increased in the 2001-2002 budget. To do that and maintain the precious budget surplus means there will be more cuts to funding of public services, more privatisations, more hardship. Thus, the Sydney Olympics will be used to soften up public opinion and to try to put a stopper on growing opposition to the government's economic terrorism. END 2. Editorial: Racism alive and well Three recent events show again what we all know, that the Aboriginal people of Australia continue to be discriminated against, that racism is alive and well and that property interests are a driving force in the determination of the Federal Government to keep the Aboriginal people down and out. The Prime Minister's decision to welsch on his election promise to finalise a process of reconciliation should come as no surprise. The Prime Minister does not have any good intentions and never has had. His words are always to be understood as an exercise in opportunist politics aimed to find the way to look after the interests of conservative Australia and the class interests of big business. The Government and the Prime Minister personally are implacably opposed to recognition of the due rights of the indigenous people of Australia. There has yet to come from these politicians recognition of the fact that the establishment of white settlement was an invasion and that the occupation of the land was theft. This is neither recognised nor compensated. Conservatives have consistently opposed and fought against the granting of any form of land rights. Š Howard stubbornly refuses to say "sorry" on behalf of the Australian nation for the crimes committed by those responsible for the "stolen generation". His refusal to say "sorry" has got nothing to do with his claim that the current generation cannot be blamed for the crimes of the past. The same goes for his Government's refusal to override the mandatory sentencing laws of WA and the Northern Territory. His excuse is that he will not override the laws of a State Government. What it really means is that he will not implement the international conventions ratified by the Australian Government which define the rights of children and basic human rights. This stand is being taken while the Government lectures other countries on the question of human rights. Another blow to the Aboriginal people is contained in the decision of the Federal Court to override a lower court decision which granted land rights to the Miriuwung-Gajerrong people in the far north of WA. And why did the Federal Court throw out the original ruling? It is significant that it disallowed the claim for that part which included the Argyle Diamond Mine, the Ord River scheme, a number of pastoral leases and the township of Kununurra - all land occupied and exploited by mining, pastoral and other property interests. In this decision we see that property rights override every other consideration and that the much-heralded Native Title legislation does not take the justified claim for land rights very far. The mandatory sentencing laws of WA and the NT are clearly racist in their operation and that is exactly what was intended. These two States have large Aboriginal populations who suffer high levels of unemployment and deprivation. Poverty and unemployment inevitably bring petty crime but there is no recognition of these factors in mandatory sentencing. These laws also take away from judges any flexibility they have had to take into account circumstances. The State Governments responsible for this legislation want to divert attention from the underlying social issues and shift the blame for crime to the individual concerned. They have no intention of taking any action to fix the social problems, to provide employment, to improve the health situation and provide housing, water, etc. To put it at its harshest, the policy of genocide has not yet been abandoned. END -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
