This week's stories: Former ALP Premier and Minister Says Party Now the
Same as the Liberals...Is That A Sigh of Relief Or Are You Just
Dying?...A Terrorist is Whoever We Call A Terrorist...Government May
Have Been Able to Save 353 Refugees...
A senior member of the Labor Party has quit her position in the shadow
cabinet, saying that the party has become basically the same as the
Liberals.
Carmen Lawrence was the party's spokesperson on Aboriginal affairs. She
is also a former West Australian Premier and was a Minister under the
Keating government.
Dr Lawrence said that the party's support for war with Iraq, for tax
rebates for private health insurance, and for public funding for wealthy
private schools, were basically the same as the Liberals.
Dr Lawrence said that the final straw was the party's new refugee policy.
As a concession to refugee supporters in the ALP, the party leadership
allowed some of them to sit on the committe which drafted the policy.
However their suggestions were then over-ruled. The policy maintains
mandatory detention, does not give immediate permanent residency to
proven genuine refugees, and maintains the government's 'excision' of
Christmas Island from Australian migration laws (even though the ALP
criticised the government for this).
(The Age, December 6).
A woman who has died of lung cancer has been ordered to repay $700,000
compensation. Rolah McCabe was given the compensation after suing
British America Tobacco Australia Ltd. Mrs McCabe said that, when she
started smoking, tobacco companies knew that smoking was dangerous but
had hidden this information from the public. The company destroyed
internal documents that may have effected its case.
A senior partner with law firm Slater and Gordon said that the decision
"would only cause sighs of relief in corporate boardrooms".
(The Age, December 7).
Police in New South Wales will have the power to search without a
warrant and without reasonable suspicion under proposed new terrorism
laws. Although the new laws are supposedly designed to deal with
terrorism, they have been announced soon after a large protest against
the World Trade Organisation in Sydney.
(Sydney Morning Herald, November 19).
The Australian government may have known the exact location of the
'SIEV-X' boat, and so may have been able to save the 353 refugees who
drowned when it sank.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty is attempting to
claim "public-interest immunity" to avoid revealing whether police used
tracking devices to trace asylum-seeker boats heading from Indonesia.
Australian authorities have admitted knowing at the time about the
boat's probable departure but have denied any definitive knowledge about
where it sank, and say they failed to spot the boat during twice-daily
reconnaissance flights.
They have also admitted involvement in "disruption" activities to upset
the activities of people smugglers in Indonesia and attempts to stop
people leaving, but have not given any details.
(Canberra Times, November 22).
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