What was that that John Howard told the UN about Australia not being told what to do by an outside agency? How can he keep a straight face? Trudy -------------------------------- The Sydney Morning Herald [print edition] Army powers bill passes despite attempts to stop it September 8, 2000 Toni O'Loughlin The Federal Government�s con troversial defence bill was passed last night in time for the Olympics despite the efforts of independent MPs Mr Peter Andren and the former ALP member Dr .Andrew Theophanous, who voted against the laws in the Lower House. After a marathon debate in the Senate, where the bill was held up for almost two weeks by the Greens, the Democrats, One Nation, and Labor, who argued over how to ensure the military could not be called out against strikers and protesters under the new laws, the bill returned to the Lower House. Despite the Government�s intention of passing the legislation, which it has been drafting for two years, before the Olympics, a former diplomat, Mr Bruce Haigh, said last night that the United States and Israel had lobbied intensively to ensure the bill was passed on time. Both countries, having been told their security personnel could not bring weapons into the country, wanted to ensure the military could be called upon in case of a security threat, Mr Haigh said. �The outcome of that lobbying was that if [they] couldn�t bring [their] staff in, then we [would] have to give the military the powers to respond. Israelis and Americans have been lobbying over the past three or four months but it became more intense of the past six weeks.� The Government denied it had been lobbied by either country. A spokeswoman for the Attorney-General, Mr Williams, said: �We would like the legislation passed in time for the Olympics [but] it�s not solely for the Olympics.� An Israeli Embassy spokesman said he was forbidden to talk about Olympic security. A spokesman for the US Embassy denied it had lobbied the Government However, he could not rule out that other US officials had approached the Government. �I can�t tell you whether a person on his or her own has said something to an Australian official,� he said. In the Lower House, Mr Andren and Dr Theophanous, who resigned from the ALP this year, combined for the first time to force a vote and attempt to move amendments similar to those put by the Greens and the Democrats but defeated in the Senate. Before returning the bill to the Lower House, the Government agreed to a Labor amendment which would require Parliament to be recalled within six days if the military was called out, under some circumstances, against protesters and strikers who posed a threat of serious violence to people and property. Labor�s amendment follows the Greens, who wanted Parliament recalled in all circumstances whenever the military was used against protesters and strikers. But the Democrats said Parliament should be recalled always in the event of a military call-out, including when it was to be used in the event of a terrorist threat. ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
