The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

The continuing sad & sorry story of David Hicks. Now into year 5 at Guantanamo Bay. The British government has decided not to push for his release (as it previously did for its own citizens), despite his having just become a British citizen. A desperate measure given that his own government seems to be perfectly happy to leave him where he is. Shame on the Australian government!:



Another chapter in a shameful story of justice denied
AGE editorial/June 28, 2006

WHEN a man's plea for help is rejected by both of the countries that legally owe him a duty of care, it is clear that political expediency has triumphed over justice. David Hicks, the only Westerner still incarcerated in the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, was born in Adelaide of an English mother. This entitles him to dual citizenship. Since January 2002, Hicks has languished in detention while the Australian Government has denied any obligation for his welfare, preferring to support clear breaches of international law by its American allies. Now, the British Foreign Office has decided not to make representations for his release because he was an Australian citizen when captured and handed to US forces. ... <cont>


http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/another-chapter-in-a-shameful-story-of-justice-denied/2006/06/27/1151174198971.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

... & now this: Transparency of government? Freedom of information?Honestly! :

Secrecy on Howard's nuclear trip
Richard Baker
the AGE/June 29, 2006

DETAILS of nuclear talks between Prime Minister John Howard and American officials are being kept secret to ensure the US does not shy away from communicating with Australia about key issues.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has refused to search for documents about the nuclear talks in response to a freedom of information request from The Age.

The department has made a blanket assumption that documents would be exempt from release due to their sensitivity.

Following his Washington visit last month, Mr Howard announced that former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski would head an inquiry into nuclear and uranium issues.

The inquiry will include an examination of a US plan for Australia to export enriched uranium and store nuclear waste from other countries.

The decision by the Prime Minister's department prevents the public from knowing who Mr Howard and other Australian officials met in Washington for talks on nuclear issues or the nature of their talks. ... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/secrecy-on-howards-nuclear-trip/2006/06/28/1151174268792.html

Is he listening yet? No, of course not! He's digging in his heels & continuing to insist he's right!
Incidentally, I disagree with Michelle Grattan on the reason for Howard's supposed David Hicks "obsession". I think, rather, it's an obsession with never admitting that George Bush is ever wrong! I think he rather likes the idea of being the very last Bush supporter in the planet! Besides, the polls tell him that ordinary Australians couldn't care less! No votes to be gained here!:

Shelling out false justice
By Michelle Grattan
July 2, 2006/AGE Opinion


Illustration: Andrew Joyner

The US Supreme Court has now proved what everyone already knew: that George Bush and John Howard have totally lost perspective on the prosecution of Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

John Howard is obsessive about David Hicks - there is no other word for it. The PM has become a crusader against someone who, whatever he did - which was unsavoury but in the end didn't amount to anything with tangible consequences - has already paid the price many times over.

Hicks' training with al-Qaeda did not break the Australian law at the time. It didn't produce any terrorist act, or plan for one. It can't justify the extreme punishment to which he has been subjected.

Yet nothing shakes the Howard Government's conviction, or its willingness to go along with what George Bush wants to do about the Guantanamo prisoners. It remains unswayed by the intense and mounting international criticism of Guantanamo Bay. It reacts to legal setbacks by sounding more shrill about the need for legal action.

If it had been behaving rationally, the Australian Government would have insisted on the return of Hicks long ago. .... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/michelle-grattan/shelling-out-false-justice/2006/07/01/1151174438769.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Dear friends,


For four and a half years, Australian citizen David Hicks has been locked up - allegedly tortured - without trial. Now, the US Supreme Court has confirmed what the world already knew: that David Hicks never had a hope for a fair trial because the system set up to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay was fatally flawed from the start.


Enough is enough! No more waiting for a decision to be made somewhere else. No more excuses for supporting a system found to be unlawful. With our government facing unprecedented pressure to find a real solution now, tell them it's time for David Hicks to come home and let justice run its course.

www.getup.org.au/campaign/DefendAustralianRights

As leaders from around the world had their citizens removed from Guantanamo Bay, and even America's staunchest allies called for this 'symbol of injustice' to be closed down, the Australian Government continued its support.

Their excuse has been that David Hicks cannot be tried in Australia - but eminent legal authorities have refuted this claim.*

The only path to justice now, without months or even years more of unwarranted delays, is for the Australian Government to step up and finally do its job. Demand Alexander Downer and John Howard take action to bring David Hicks home immediately - and let the evidence be heard.

www.getup.org.au/campaign/DefendAustralianRights

When GetUp first began this campaign last year, media from around the world, starting with The New York Times, reported our willingness to defend the rights of a citizen our government had abandoned..

This week, one of Australia's leading prosecutors, NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nick Cowdery, QC, called Hicks' case "an unprincipled disgrace" and said the Government now had "no excuse" for not seeking his return.

Each of us has the right to a fair trial, and David Hicks' rights must no longer be forsaken for political convenience. If you haven't already, please join us now in taking a stand.

www.getup.org.au/campaign/DefendAustralianRights

Thanks for being part of this,
The GetUp team

*including Professor George Williams and Devika Hovell, directors of the public and international law units respectively at the University of NSW
-------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au.

GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues.

Good on you, Deb!
I was actually contemplating the rights & wrongs of posting that here, myself (having already signed the petition). Let's hope they meet their target numbers!

Yeah....I kinda snuck it in here, figuring only Ozzians, and a few interested parties, will see it.


I figure they are getting close.


I LIKE these people....using the net to make sense!

Edit:

99%


But don't stop sending it to your friends!

Yep, GetUp is an interesting political/media development alright!

Looks that way, doesn't it?

Well then!
So now we know what WorkChoices is really about! (as if we didn't know before!)
This should do wonders for the ALP!:

Last Update: Friday, July 7, 2006. 12:20pm (AEST)

Cowra abattoir 'acted legally'

The Office of Workplace Services (OWS) has found the Cowra abattoir did not break the law when it decided to dismiss 29 employees and re-hire some under a different award.

In March the abattoir gave notice to 29 employees and invited them to re-apply for 20 positions under different terms.

OWS director Nicholas Wilson says the inquiry found the company did not target staff for termination because they were union members.

"Our investigation has established no evidence that the 29 employees were selected for dismissal because they were members of a union," he said.

"In addition the Office of Workplace Services has found no evidence that Cowra abattoir's reason for termination was an attempt to move from the provisions of the applicable agreement or award."

The OWS has found the company took the action in the interests of financial viability.

It says the action is lawful under WorkChoices and would also have been lawful before WorkChoices was introduced.

Prime Minister John Howard says the findings refute claims made by unions and the Opposition about the WorkChoices laws.

"It comes under the heading of trying to blame the new laws for everything that goes wrong," he said.

"And we've had a steady stream of alleged malevolence under the new legislation, which on closer examination proves to be nothing of the kind."

But Opposition industrial relations spokesman Stephen Smith says the problem with WorkChoices is that it allows such action to be lawful.

"And that's exactly what John Howard and Kevin Andrews have desperately being trying to avoid, and finally they're sprung," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1681107.htm

Sad, isn't it?

Ah, poor, poor Peter! It's starting to really get him down. Will JH ever retire? Will he ever get his chance at the top job?:

But if & when Peter does get his big chance, Labor will be ready! :

Labor plans 'smirk' attack
Jason Dowling
July 9, 2006/Sunday AGE

Labor is drawing up a secret election strategy for a Kim Beazley-Peter Costello contest at the next election, amid growing signs that Prime Minister John Howard will quit by year's end.

Increasingly convinced Mr Howard's 10-year reign is almost over, Labor's election specialists are formulating a blueprint to target what they see as Mr Costello's electoral weaknesses. .. <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/labor-plans-smirk-attack/2006/07/08/1152240539876.html

... & some advice to Labor from Michelle, about the next coming Oz election:

Past presents a future
Federal politics
By Michelle Grattan
July 9, 2006/Sunday AGE



Labor is the only Australian party that regularly contemplates its past, its future and its navel simultaneously. Just now there's much attention on all three, with icon Gough Whitlam turning 90 on Tuesday, two new books about the ALP's direction and the Opposition gearing up for its 2007 election pitch. .........

............Arguably, federal Labor is at a tipping point. Its chances of winning next year still appear low. But compared with a year ago, it's in a better position to give the Government a run for its money. Industrial relations has cut through more strongly than might have been expected. The unions have proved, in their campaigning and advertising, that they can play as tough as John Howard. The Liberals, because of the uncertainty about their leadership, can't avoid being partially in limboland until that's sorted. Howard repeatedly warns his followers that winning a fifth term will be a huge fight, but refuses to tell them whether he will be with them in the trenches.

On the negative side, Labor remains ambivalent, indeed pessimistic about Beazley, although it seems to have passed the point of serious thought about replacing him.

At the very least, the ALP next year should be able to win seats, putting a future Coalition government on a knife edge. But to do that, let alone any better, it needs a well-pitched message that goes beyond industrial relations, and that's what Beazley and his crew are working on. ....<cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/michelle-grattan/past-presents-a-future/2006/07/08/1152240536526.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

I heard someone say that Gough said Julia Gillard would be the next Labour PM.

Maybe.
Good choice!
But when, when ....?

Meanwhile, back at Liberal Party headquarters .....

I'm wondering if this (leadership stoush) is a cover for taking attention away from some other matter.

Ir laws?