Friday, December 31, 2004
A Newcastle woman who worked until three days before giving birth by caesarean section has been fired while recovering in hospital.
Maree Cunningham received two letters from the insurance company's human resources manager, Tim Hopson. The first confirmed she no longer had a job, and the second demanded that uniforms be returned within four days.
The United Services Union will take the case to the Industrial Relations Commission.
The company is understood to have ordered Cunningham's workmates not to discuss her case with anyone outside the organisation.
(Source: Workers Online)
Maree Cunningham received two letters from the insurance company's human resources manager, Tim Hopson. The first confirmed she no longer had a job, and the second demanded that uniforms be returned within four days.
The United Services Union will take the case to the Industrial Relations Commission.
The company is understood to have ordered Cunningham's workmates not to discuss her case with anyone outside the organisation.
(Source: Workers Online)
The New South Wales government has offered Aboriginal people who had their wages stolen, in some cases for decades, to accept far less than what they're owed.
The government has announced it will set aside $15 million to compensate Aborigines who had wages stolen by the state early last century.
Cabinet minutes from earlier this year show accounting firm Ernst & Young estimated the 11,000 aborigines could be eligible for a total payout of up to $70 million.
From 1900 to 1968 many Aborigines were forced to put wages, pensions, family endowments, inheritances and lump-sum compensation payments into trust funds administered by successive NSW state governments and never handed over.
Marjorie Woodrow, who was also part of the stolen generation, worked on a rural property for five years from the age of 16 washing clothes, mustering sheep and cleaning the house.
She undertook the work in the late 1930's and early 1940's.
She lived in a tent for seven years with her husband and family while waiting for wages that were meant to be returned to her when she turned 21.
Now in her 80's, Woodrow estimates she is owed $250,000 for her 18 hour days worked seven days a week.
Woodrow has vowed not to accept anything less than the true value of her stolen wages.
"I promised six of my best friends, as a last dying wish, to see their wages were paid to their children as a legacy," said Woodrow.
(Source: Workers Online)
The government has announced it will set aside $15 million to compensate Aborigines who had wages stolen by the state early last century.
Cabinet minutes from earlier this year show accounting firm Ernst & Young estimated the 11,000 aborigines could be eligible for a total payout of up to $70 million.
From 1900 to 1968 many Aborigines were forced to put wages, pensions, family endowments, inheritances and lump-sum compensation payments into trust funds administered by successive NSW state governments and never handed over.
Marjorie Woodrow, who was also part of the stolen generation, worked on a rural property for five years from the age of 16 washing clothes, mustering sheep and cleaning the house.
She undertook the work in the late 1930's and early 1940's.
She lived in a tent for seven years with her husband and family while waiting for wages that were meant to be returned to her when she turned 21.
Now in her 80's, Woodrow estimates she is owed $250,000 for her 18 hour days worked seven days a week.
Woodrow has vowed not to accept anything less than the true value of her stolen wages.
"I promised six of my best friends, as a last dying wish, to see their wages were paid to their children as a legacy," said Woodrow.
(Source: Workers Online)
A HR manager pledged to "get black bastards" at a Victorian cannery, according to papers filed in the federal court this week.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union is accusing supervisors at SPC Ardmona's Shepparton and Mooroopna operations of racism and other forms of discrimination.
It says that a supervisor referred to one of its organisers as a "black bastard" and went on to state that "black bastards" at the cannery thought they were protected but he would get them, one at a time.
It says the same HR guru turned down an application for a permanent job from a woman who had already worked at the cannery because she was a single mother.
During the job interview, the mother of 10 and 11 year old children was told by another SPC Ardmona representative, "her children needed her more than the factory".
Another supervisor, AMWU papers claim, told a Fijian woman that he was German and had "destroyed her kind" during the war.
AMWU spokesperson, Bronwyn Halfpenny, said Aboriginal and Pacific Island employees had been subjected to four years of bullying and racism.
(Source: Workers Online)
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union is accusing supervisors at SPC Ardmona's Shepparton and Mooroopna operations of racism and other forms of discrimination.
It says that a supervisor referred to one of its organisers as a "black bastard" and went on to state that "black bastards" at the cannery thought they were protected but he would get them, one at a time.
It says the same HR guru turned down an application for a permanent job from a woman who had already worked at the cannery because she was a single mother.
During the job interview, the mother of 10 and 11 year old children was told by another SPC Ardmona representative, "her children needed her more than the factory".
Another supervisor, AMWU papers claim, told a Fijian woman that he was German and had "destroyed her kind" during the war.
AMWU spokesperson, Bronwyn Halfpenny, said Aboriginal and Pacific Island employees had been subjected to four years of bullying and racism.
(Source: Workers Online)
Unions are on the brink of forcing James Hardie to become the first multi-national in Australian history to hand over billions of dollars on moral rather than legal grounds.
A long-running campaign has seen the building materials company agree, this week, to open-ended funding of Australian asbestos compensation claims for at least 50 years.
The company's total asbestos liabilities are estimated at $1.5 billion.
(Source: Workers Online)
A long-running campaign has seen the building materials company agree, this week, to open-ended funding of Australian asbestos compensation claims for at least 50 years.
The company's total asbestos liabilities are estimated at $1.5 billion.
(Source: Workers Online)
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Quote of the Moment:
"Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do."
Rudolf Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City.
"Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do."
Rudolf Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City.
United States drug manufacturers are planning a New Year's push to pressure Canberra to unwind initiatives to cut medicine prices.
A senior US pharmaceutical industry source said American drug companies would ask the US Government to use a mechanism in the new free trade agreement - which takes effect on Saturday - to pressure Australia to retreat on two decisions.
Labor amendments that impose penalties on "evergreening" patents (manipulating the patent system to keep control of a process for longer than the usual 20 years), and a Coalition election promise to cut the cost of patented drugs by 12.5 per cent once an equivalent generic comes on to the market, have generated significant opposition from American companies.
(Source: news.com.au)
A senior US pharmaceutical industry source said American drug companies would ask the US Government to use a mechanism in the new free trade agreement - which takes effect on Saturday - to pressure Australia to retreat on two decisions.
Labor amendments that impose penalties on "evergreening" patents (manipulating the patent system to keep control of a process for longer than the usual 20 years), and a Coalition election promise to cut the cost of patented drugs by 12.5 per cent once an equivalent generic comes on to the market, have generated significant opposition from American companies.
(Source: news.com.au)
A US jet with fictional owners is being used to deliver terror suspects to countries that use torture, according to the Washington Post.
The Gulfstream V turbojet had been seen at US military bases around the world, often loading hooded and shackled suspects and delivering them to countries known to use torture, a process the CIA calls "rendition".
The jet, with the tail number N379P, had been seen in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
The executives of the plane's corporate owner, Premier Executive Transport Services, were all listed with dates of birth in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, but with social security numbers issued since 1998. The Post was unable to locate any further business or credit information on them or the company.
The CIA refused to comment, but such "proprietary" or front corporations were standard procedure for the agency, former operatives told the newspaper.
(Source: news.com.au)
The Gulfstream V turbojet had been seen at US military bases around the world, often loading hooded and shackled suspects and delivering them to countries known to use torture, a process the CIA calls "rendition".
The jet, with the tail number N379P, had been seen in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
The executives of the plane's corporate owner, Premier Executive Transport Services, were all listed with dates of birth in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, but with social security numbers issued since 1998. The Post was unable to locate any further business or credit information on them or the company.
The CIA refused to comment, but such "proprietary" or front corporations were standard procedure for the agency, former operatives told the newspaper.
(Source: news.com.au)
The Federal Government has announced a $30 million reduction of funding for the next five years for homeless assistance, in an effort to shift the burden on to the States.
The announcement came a day after the announcement of a $6.2 billion Federal surplus.
According to the Victorian Council for Social Service, there are more than 20,000 homeless people in Victoria alone, 26 per cent of whom are children.
(Source: Melbourne Indymedia)
The announcement came a day after the announcement of a $6.2 billion Federal surplus.
According to the Victorian Council for Social Service, there are more than 20,000 homeless people in Victoria alone, 26 per cent of whom are children.
(Source: Melbourne Indymedia)
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
FBI agents are increasingly complaining about what they consider abusive physical and mental torture by military officials against prisoners held in Iraq and Cuba, including beatings and strangulation, according to new documents released today.
The records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union show that the FBI believes that military interrogators have broken the Geneva Conventions prohibiting torture and have followed an apparently new executive order from President Bush that permits the use of dogs and other techniques to harass prisoners.
According to FBI officials, the Bush order approved interrogation tactics that include "sleep deprivation and stress positions," as well as "loud music, interrogators yelling at subjects and prisoners with hoods on their heads."
In a June "Urgent Report" to the FBI director from the Sacramento field office, for example, a supervising special agent described abuses such as "strangulation, beatings, placement of lit cigarettes into the detainees' ear openings and unauthorized interrogations."
In a June "Urgent Report" to the FBI director from the Sacramento field office, for example, a supervising special agent described abuses such as "strangulation, beatings, placement of lit cigarettes into the detainees' ear openings and unauthorized interrogations."
The supervisor added that some officials "were engaged in a cover-up of these abuses."
In other instances, a female prisoner "indicated she was hit with a stick," according to a memo from last May, and in July, Army criminal investigators were reviewing "the alleged rape of a juvenile male detainee at Abu Ghraib prison."
Still other agents gave more detailed accounts of abuse.
In June, for instance, an agent from the Washington field office reported that an Abu Ghraib detainee was "cuffed" and placed into a position the military called "The Scorpion" hold. Then, according to what the prisoner told the FBI, he was doused with cold water, dropped onto barbed wire, dragged by his feet and punched in the stomach.
In Cuba, a detainee in May, 2002, was reportedly spat upon and then beaten when he attempted to roll onto his stomach to protect himself. At one point, soldiers apparently were "beating him and grabbed his head and beat it into the cell floor," knocking him unconscious.
Another agent reported this past August that while in Cuba he often saw detainees chained hand and foot in a fetal position on the floor "with no chair, food or water."
"Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left for 18-24 hours or more," the agent wrote.
Sometimes, he reported, the room was chilled to where a "barefooted detainee was shaking with cold." Other times, the air-conditioning was turned off and the temperature in the unventilated room rose to well over 100 degrees.
"The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him," the agent reported. "He had apparently been literally pulling his own hair out throughout the night."
The FBI documents also included a report about a prisoner in Cuba whose legs were injured and who said he lied about being a terrorist for fear that otherwise the U.S. military would amputate him.
"He indicated he was injured severely and in a lot of pain," the FBI wrote. Yet the prisoner constantly was being asked whether he had attended a terrorist camp in Afghanistan.
The agent wrote that the prisoner "stated he wanted to receive decent medical treatment, and felt the only way to get it was to tell the Americans what they wanted to hear."
(Source: Los Angeles Times)
The records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union show that the FBI believes that military interrogators have broken the Geneva Conventions prohibiting torture and have followed an apparently new executive order from President Bush that permits the use of dogs and other techniques to harass prisoners.
According to FBI officials, the Bush order approved interrogation tactics that include "sleep deprivation and stress positions," as well as "loud music, interrogators yelling at subjects and prisoners with hoods on their heads."
In a June "Urgent Report" to the FBI director from the Sacramento field office, for example, a supervising special agent described abuses such as "strangulation, beatings, placement of lit cigarettes into the detainees' ear openings and unauthorized interrogations."
In a June "Urgent Report" to the FBI director from the Sacramento field office, for example, a supervising special agent described abuses such as "strangulation, beatings, placement of lit cigarettes into the detainees' ear openings and unauthorized interrogations."
The supervisor added that some officials "were engaged in a cover-up of these abuses."
In other instances, a female prisoner "indicated she was hit with a stick," according to a memo from last May, and in July, Army criminal investigators were reviewing "the alleged rape of a juvenile male detainee at Abu Ghraib prison."
Still other agents gave more detailed accounts of abuse.
In June, for instance, an agent from the Washington field office reported that an Abu Ghraib detainee was "cuffed" and placed into a position the military called "The Scorpion" hold. Then, according to what the prisoner told the FBI, he was doused with cold water, dropped onto barbed wire, dragged by his feet and punched in the stomach.
In Cuba, a detainee in May, 2002, was reportedly spat upon and then beaten when he attempted to roll onto his stomach to protect himself. At one point, soldiers apparently were "beating him and grabbed his head and beat it into the cell floor," knocking him unconscious.
Another agent reported this past August that while in Cuba he often saw detainees chained hand and foot in a fetal position on the floor "with no chair, food or water."
"Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left for 18-24 hours or more," the agent wrote.
Sometimes, he reported, the room was chilled to where a "barefooted detainee was shaking with cold." Other times, the air-conditioning was turned off and the temperature in the unventilated room rose to well over 100 degrees.
"The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him," the agent reported. "He had apparently been literally pulling his own hair out throughout the night."
The FBI documents also included a report about a prisoner in Cuba whose legs were injured and who said he lied about being a terrorist for fear that otherwise the U.S. military would amputate him.
"He indicated he was injured severely and in a lot of pain," the FBI wrote. Yet the prisoner constantly was being asked whether he had attended a terrorist camp in Afghanistan.
The agent wrote that the prisoner "stated he wanted to receive decent medical treatment, and felt the only way to get it was to tell the Americans what they wanted to hear."
(Source: Los Angeles Times)
Forestry company Gunns Limited has sued 20 environmentalists, claiming more than $6 million for "corporate vilification" and disrupting logging operations.
The suit has been described as a SLAPP writ - short for "strategic litigation against popular participation" - a tactic used by American companies against their critics. The suits are generally not intended to succeed, only to intimidate their targets into silence.
As well as alleged crimes, Gunns is seeking damages for "corporate vilification", meaning that the targets of the suit criticised Gunns and encouraged people to boycott them.
(Source: The Age, Tasmania Examiner)
The suit has been described as a SLAPP writ - short for "strategic litigation against popular participation" - a tactic used by American companies against their critics. The suits are generally not intended to succeed, only to intimidate their targets into silence.
As well as alleged crimes, Gunns is seeking damages for "corporate vilification", meaning that the targets of the suit criticised Gunns and encouraged people to boycott them.
(Source: The Age, Tasmania Examiner)
Three teenagers who killed a man after watching an American video on humiliating homeless people will be released from custody in 10 months.
The two 17 year olds and one 19 year old downloaded and watched the video Bumfight from the internet, which shows homeless men being tricked and attacked in return for food, liquor, cash, clothing, accommodation and drugs.
They then taunted 66 year old Arthur Burrows, who lived in a humpy carved out of a peppercorn tree, before setting fire to his home and leaving while it burned.
Justice Philip Cummins said two of the offenders demonstrated genuine remorse, and it was only fair to give each of the boys the same sentence, despite one of the 17-year-olds displaying little remorse.
That teenager has 23 earlier convictions, including one over a car arson only two months before Mr Burrows' death.
(Source: news.com.au)
The two 17 year olds and one 19 year old downloaded and watched the video Bumfight from the internet, which shows homeless men being tricked and attacked in return for food, liquor, cash, clothing, accommodation and drugs.
They then taunted 66 year old Arthur Burrows, who lived in a humpy carved out of a peppercorn tree, before setting fire to his home and leaving while it burned.
Justice Philip Cummins said two of the offenders demonstrated genuine remorse, and it was only fair to give each of the boys the same sentence, despite one of the 17-year-olds displaying little remorse.
That teenager has 23 earlier convictions, including one over a car arson only two months before Mr Burrows' death.
(Source: news.com.au)
One of NSW's most prestigious government schools, Hurlstone Agricultural High School, maintains a "tradition of bullying", according to a review by the Department of Education.
The government-run selective boarding school gave older students rights to the first use of facilities, meaning that younger students were "preferenced" out of using the laundry and "could not ensure basic hygiene".
In extreme cases parents had removed their children after receiving an inadequate school response to complaints of physical and psychological harm.
(Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
The government-run selective boarding school gave older students rights to the first use of facilities, meaning that younger students were "preferenced" out of using the laundry and "could not ensure basic hygiene".
In extreme cases parents had removed their children after receiving an inadequate school response to complaints of physical and psychological harm.
(Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
Saturday, December 18, 2004
The NSW Labor Government has approved the use of offshore computer programmers by the public service, in conflict with ALP policy.
The Commerce Department run by NSW Special Minister of State John Della Bosca is overseeing a $50 million project under a contract with technology giant Accenture that uses software programmers based in India to build an online system for licence renewals.
In January, Labor's national conference passed a resolution "expressing concern at the recent trend in outsourcing and information technology and call-centre functions to offshore providers".
"Labor will ensure that government and government business enterprises shall not outsource their existing functions to offshore providers (either directly or indirectly) where those services can be efficiently and effectively provided in Australia."
(Source: The Australian)
The Commerce Department run by NSW Special Minister of State John Della Bosca is overseeing a $50 million project under a contract with technology giant Accenture that uses software programmers based in India to build an online system for licence renewals.
In January, Labor's national conference passed a resolution "expressing concern at the recent trend in outsourcing and information technology and call-centre functions to offshore providers".
"Labor will ensure that government and government business enterprises shall not outsource their existing functions to offshore providers (either directly or indirectly) where those services can be efficiently and effectively provided in Australia."
(Source: The Australian)
A year-long audit of the Therapeutic Goods Administration has found it failed to properly investigate whether drug manufacturers were complying with safety standards, leaving consumers vulnerable to harm from dangerous or ineffective medicines.
The review, undertaken by the Australian National Audit Office, was ordered after the TGA oversaw the country's biggest drug recall of Pan Pharmaceuticals products in May last year, less than 12 months after Pan was given the all-clear by the medicines watchdog.
The office found the TGA allowed companies to continue to manufacture drugs even when
deficiencies in the process had been identified, and its audits were at least six months behind schedule. In about 20 per cent of its audits, the watchdog concluded there was a "potential risk to public health and safety".
The senior health policy officer at the Australian Consumers Association, Nicola Ballenden, told the Herald the TGA had always been "pretty lax" in auditing drug manufacturers. And because the TGA operated on a cost-recovery basis, it did not have the capacity to initiate investigations into the so-called health benefits of a product, she said. "We would like them to be less reliant on industry funding and ... have more transparent and stricter regulatory regimes, so when they say they will audit a manufacturer they will do it now and not in six months' time. If something has gone wrong in the manufacturing process, they [the medicines] might be dangerous, not just ineffective."
(Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
The review, undertaken by the Australian National Audit Office, was ordered after the TGA oversaw the country's biggest drug recall of Pan Pharmaceuticals products in May last year, less than 12 months after Pan was given the all-clear by the medicines watchdog.
The office found the TGA allowed companies to continue to manufacture drugs even when
deficiencies in the process had been identified, and its audits were at least six months behind schedule. In about 20 per cent of its audits, the watchdog concluded there was a "potential risk to public health and safety".
The senior health policy officer at the Australian Consumers Association, Nicola Ballenden, told the Herald the TGA had always been "pretty lax" in auditing drug manufacturers. And because the TGA operated on a cost-recovery basis, it did not have the capacity to initiate investigations into the so-called health benefits of a product, she said. "We would like them to be less reliant on industry funding and ... have more transparent and stricter regulatory regimes, so when they say they will audit a manufacturer they will do it now and not in six months' time. If something has gone wrong in the manufacturing process, they [the medicines] might be dangerous, not just ineffective."
(Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
The Coalition and the Labor Party have united to defeat an amendment which would have given equal rights to gay former soldiers.
The government and opposition both voted against the proposed amendment to the Veterans Bill, that would have allowed veterans to leave their pensions to same-sex partners.
The UN Human Rights Commission declared last year that current Australian laws are discriminatory.
(Source: MCV newspaper)
The government and opposition both voted against the proposed amendment to the Veterans Bill, that would have allowed veterans to leave their pensions to same-sex partners.
The UN Human Rights Commission declared last year that current Australian laws are discriminatory.
(Source: MCV newspaper)
Monday, December 13, 2004
The bosses of the Tattersall's lottery, who each 'earn' more than $1 million a year for helping to run the company part-time, are seeking an extra $100 million for the stress of their job.
As well as their wages David Jones, Raymond Hornsby, William Adams and Peter Kerr each receive director's fees, superannuation and two free cars.
The men say they have endured "significant pain and trouble". One example they gave involved entertaining a British politician, having him stay at a family farm and showing him the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The men claim they have suffered stress from public and media scrutiny of the Tatts empire, although neither William Adams nor Peter Kerr have been quoted in a major Melbourne newspaper for at least 10 years.
The men also cited the stress of using charitable donations to gain favour with the public, politicians and business partners, and using their political connections to influence government policy.
(Source: news.com.au)
As well as their wages David Jones, Raymond Hornsby, William Adams and Peter Kerr each receive director's fees, superannuation and two free cars.
The men say they have endured "significant pain and trouble". One example they gave involved entertaining a British politician, having him stay at a family farm and showing him the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The men claim they have suffered stress from public and media scrutiny of the Tatts empire, although neither William Adams nor Peter Kerr have been quoted in a major Melbourne newspaper for at least 10 years.
The men also cited the stress of using charitable donations to gain favour with the public, politicians and business partners, and using their political connections to influence government policy.
(Source: news.com.au)
Police have been trying to manipulate computer data to artificially reduce crime figures, according to a leaked Victoria Police email.
The email says "numerous" requests have been made by police to doctor entries on the LEAP crime database.
The email refers to requests to the force's Central Data Entry Bureau to reduce crime "sub-incidents" into a single incident so as to "bring down the crime statistics for their response zones".
According to one source, "very frequent" requests are also made to data entry staff to alter crime data on LEAP in other ways. The requests, mostly made to night shift workers when only one supervisor is on duty, come towards the end of each month as police stations are compiling their regular crime statistics.
A "high number" of telephone calls would be made to data entry staff from senior police seeking to have crime locations changed from one region or response zone to another to try to make crime statistics in that area look better, the source said.
The source also said clean-up rates for crimes are manipulated through requests from supervising station officers and officers in charge to improperly change the status of an investigation from "active" to "pending".
An "active" status on the LEAP database means the crime is still unsolved. "Pending" means the crime is close to being solved and the offence is therefore 'off the books'.
The source said that while senior police at individual stations had the power to access LEAP directly, they went through data entry bureau staff so as not to leave an electronic audit trail.
(Source: The Age)
The email says "numerous" requests have been made by police to doctor entries on the LEAP crime database.
The email refers to requests to the force's Central Data Entry Bureau to reduce crime "sub-incidents" into a single incident so as to "bring down the crime statistics for their response zones".
According to one source, "very frequent" requests are also made to data entry staff to alter crime data on LEAP in other ways. The requests, mostly made to night shift workers when only one supervisor is on duty, come towards the end of each month as police stations are compiling their regular crime statistics.
A "high number" of telephone calls would be made to data entry staff from senior police seeking to have crime locations changed from one region or response zone to another to try to make crime statistics in that area look better, the source said.
The source also said clean-up rates for crimes are manipulated through requests from supervising station officers and officers in charge to improperly change the status of an investigation from "active" to "pending".
An "active" status on the LEAP database means the crime is still unsolved. "Pending" means the crime is close to being solved and the offence is therefore 'off the books'.
The source said that while senior police at individual stations had the power to access LEAP directly, they went through data entry bureau staff so as not to leave an electronic audit trail.
(Source: The Age)
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Australian Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks claims he was beaten while handcuffed and blindfolded.
In an affadavit, Mr Hicks also said prisoners at the detention centre were terrorised by attack dogs and forced to take drugs.
"At one point, a group of detainees, including myself, were subjected to being randomly hit over an eight-hour session while handcuffed and blindfolded" Mr Hicks' statement said.
"I have been struck with hands, fists and other objects, including rifle butts. I have also been kicked."
Recently published documents show that FBI agents sent to Guantanamo Bay warned the US government of abuse of prisoners from the time suspected Taliban supporters were first held there.
A letter written by a senior Justice Department official suggested that the Pentagon did not act on the FBI complaints.
(Source: MX)
In an affadavit, Mr Hicks also said prisoners at the detention centre were terrorised by attack dogs and forced to take drugs.
"At one point, a group of detainees, including myself, were subjected to being randomly hit over an eight-hour session while handcuffed and blindfolded" Mr Hicks' statement said.
"I have been struck with hands, fists and other objects, including rifle butts. I have also been kicked."
Recently published documents show that FBI agents sent to Guantanamo Bay warned the US government of abuse of prisoners from the time suspected Taliban supporters were first held there.
A letter written by a senior Justice Department official suggested that the Pentagon did not act on the FBI complaints.
(Source: MX)
Friday, December 10, 2004
Centrelink staff have been directed to withhold information from disabled people and single parents, in an effort to get them into the privatised Job Network.
A memo from Centrelink management advised that "people who are not currently required to be actively seeking work, i.e. disability support pensions, parent payment customers with children under 13 years of age now need to be strongly encouraged to take part".
The 'strong encouragement' includes avoiding telling them that they are not required to go. The memo tells Centrelink workers "don't come up with reasons why someone can't go, and avoid letting customers come up with reasons why they can't go. For parenting customers with children under 13 years, and disability support customers, there's no requirement that they go, so if asked, you'll need to answer the question correctly, but avoid having it as part of your spiel."
(Source: ABC News website)
A memo from Centrelink management advised that "people who are not currently required to be actively seeking work, i.e. disability support pensions, parent payment customers with children under 13 years of age now need to be strongly encouraged to take part".
The 'strong encouragement' includes avoiding telling them that they are not required to go. The memo tells Centrelink workers "don't come up with reasons why someone can't go, and avoid letting customers come up with reasons why they can't go. For parenting customers with children under 13 years, and disability support customers, there's no requirement that they go, so if asked, you'll need to answer the question correctly, but avoid having it as part of your spiel."
(Source: ABC News website)
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Branch stacking and corrupt practices are widespread in the Labor Party, according to a report by a senior ALP figure.
The report by former Premier John Cain found "evidence of branch stacking on a significant scale", with claims of "phantom branch meetings" and bogus documents. Mr Cain described the practices as "corrupt and corrosive" for the party.
Mr Cain found that he could verify as genuine only two of 200 disputed membership applications.
The office of Keilor MP George Seitz, which according to a senior party source has a seating capacity of 26, was supposedly the site of joint meetings for three branches with a total membership of 496.
Practices such as branch stacking are used by rival factions in the ALP to allow them to gain control of party branches and offices.
Sources from the Left and Right factions of the ALP both claimed that their faction was not responsible for branch stacking but that the other faction was.
(Source: The Age)
The report by former Premier John Cain found "evidence of branch stacking on a significant scale", with claims of "phantom branch meetings" and bogus documents. Mr Cain described the practices as "corrupt and corrosive" for the party.
Mr Cain found that he could verify as genuine only two of 200 disputed membership applications.
The office of Keilor MP George Seitz, which according to a senior party source has a seating capacity of 26, was supposedly the site of joint meetings for three branches with a total membership of 496.
Practices such as branch stacking are used by rival factions in the ALP to allow them to gain control of party branches and offices.
Sources from the Left and Right factions of the ALP both claimed that their faction was not responsible for branch stacking but that the other faction was.
(Source: The Age)
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Sadists and pedophiles preyed on wards of the state in South Australia, some of whom were treated as medical guinea pigs, a commission of inquiry was told today.
The commission of inquiry into children in state care opened in Adelaide today with its head, former Supreme Court Justice Ted Mullighan, apologising for holding the first session in a church hall. The location was met with anger by some former wards set to allege sexual abuse by the clergy to the inquiry.
More than 200 written submissions have been received by the inquiry, which will deliver an interim report to the state government in six months.
SA Parliamentary Speaker Peter Lewis, himself a victim of child abuse, told the inquiry heinous crimes had been covered up by powerful officials in the state.
The inquiry's terms of reference were criticised by former ward Debra Smith for being restricted to investigating claims of sexual abuse, excluding physical and mental abuse.
Ms Smith said electric shock treatment was performed on some wards of the state who were treated like "medical guinea pigs".
"We have a doctor here in South Australia who was giving shock treatment to children for things like running away, being so-called uncontrollable," Ms Smith said.
"An uncontrollable child is not an uncontrollable child, it's an unhappy child.
"How dare people tell us we were uncontrollable while we were being raped, pillaged and plundered by the state, by the government – the very people that were supposed to be looking after us."
SA Family and Communities Minister Jay Weatherill said that "we fully expect that the outcome of the inquiry will not be comfortable for this or past governments."
(Source: news.com.au)
The commission of inquiry into children in state care opened in Adelaide today with its head, former Supreme Court Justice Ted Mullighan, apologising for holding the first session in a church hall. The location was met with anger by some former wards set to allege sexual abuse by the clergy to the inquiry.
More than 200 written submissions have been received by the inquiry, which will deliver an interim report to the state government in six months.
SA Parliamentary Speaker Peter Lewis, himself a victim of child abuse, told the inquiry heinous crimes had been covered up by powerful officials in the state.
The inquiry's terms of reference were criticised by former ward Debra Smith for being restricted to investigating claims of sexual abuse, excluding physical and mental abuse.
Ms Smith said electric shock treatment was performed on some wards of the state who were treated like "medical guinea pigs".
"We have a doctor here in South Australia who was giving shock treatment to children for things like running away, being so-called uncontrollable," Ms Smith said.
"An uncontrollable child is not an uncontrollable child, it's an unhappy child.
"How dare people tell us we were uncontrollable while we were being raped, pillaged and plundered by the state, by the government – the very people that were supposed to be looking after us."
SA Family and Communities Minister Jay Weatherill said that "we fully expect that the outcome of the inquiry will not be comfortable for this or past governments."
(Source: news.com.au)
The West Australian Liberal Party says it intends to limit gay rights if it is elected next year.
WA's Liberal Party leader Colin Barnett said he intended to raise the age of consent for gay males, ban adoption and IVF services for gay and lesbian couples, and deny access to the Family Court.
(Source: The Age)
WA's Liberal Party leader Colin Barnett said he intended to raise the age of consent for gay males, ban adoption and IVF services for gay and lesbian couples, and deny access to the Family Court.
(Source: The Age)
Australian children are being falsely diagnosed as having medical problems when they really have problems learning to read, according to a government enquiry.
Dr Ken Rowe, the newly appointed head of the national inquiry into the teaching of literacy, said that "hospitals are complaining that their clinics are being filled with kids who are being referred for things like Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder...but once the pediatricians sort out the children's literacy problems, the behaviour problems disappear. What is essentially an education issue has become a health issue."
The Royal Children's Hospital is overhauling its clinical services after an internal audit revealed that one-quarter of all children who attended the emergency department and other outpatient services for medical help, were diagnosed as having non-medical conditions, such as learning difficulties and behaviour problems.
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Professor Vicki Anderson, director of the hospital's department of psychology, said that "ADHD is clearly overdiagnosed...the appeal of a pill for ADHD is much easier than arranging twice-a-week remedial reading sessions."
Professor Anderson said families often sought help at the Royal Children's Hospital's learning difficulties clinic because of long waiting periods at schools to have a child's learning problems assessed by Education Department psychologists.
(Source: The Age)
Dr Ken Rowe, the newly appointed head of the national inquiry into the teaching of literacy, said that "hospitals are complaining that their clinics are being filled with kids who are being referred for things like Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder...but once the pediatricians sort out the children's literacy problems, the behaviour problems disappear. What is essentially an education issue has become a health issue."
The Royal Children's Hospital is overhauling its clinical services after an internal audit revealed that one-quarter of all children who attended the emergency department and other outpatient services for medical help, were diagnosed as having non-medical conditions, such as learning difficulties and behaviour problems.
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Professor Vicki Anderson, director of the hospital's department of psychology, said that "ADHD is clearly overdiagnosed...the appeal of a pill for ADHD is much easier than arranging twice-a-week remedial reading sessions."
Professor Anderson said families often sought help at the Royal Children's Hospital's learning difficulties clinic because of long waiting periods at schools to have a child's learning problems assessed by Education Department psychologists.
(Source: The Age)
The United States Army's plans for the newly 'liberated' city of Fallujah include compulsory labor battalions, forcing all Iraqis to wear identifying badges at all times, and DNA and retinal scanning of all citizens.
Under the plans, troops would funnel Fallujans to 'citizen processing centers' on the outskirts of the city to compile a database of their identities through DNA testing and retina scans. Residents would receive badges displaying their home addresses that they must wear at all times. Buses would ferry them into the city, where cars would be banned, on the grounds that they are used by suicide bombers.
One idea that has stirred debate among Marine officers would require all men to work, for pay, in military-style battalions. Depending on their skills, they would be assigned jobs in construction, waterworks, or rubble-clearing platoons.
Lieutenant Colonel Dave Bellon, intelligence officer for the First Regimental Combat Team, said that previous attempts to win the support of Iraqis had failed, because they signalled weakness by asking Iraqis what they wanted - what Lieutenant Colonel Bellon described as "What are your needs? What are your emotional needs? All this Oprah [stuff]". He said that Iraqis "want to figure out who the dominant tribe is and say, 'I'm with you.'".
(Source: Boston Globe [US])
Under the plans, troops would funnel Fallujans to 'citizen processing centers' on the outskirts of the city to compile a database of their identities through DNA testing and retina scans. Residents would receive badges displaying their home addresses that they must wear at all times. Buses would ferry them into the city, where cars would be banned, on the grounds that they are used by suicide bombers.
One idea that has stirred debate among Marine officers would require all men to work, for pay, in military-style battalions. Depending on their skills, they would be assigned jobs in construction, waterworks, or rubble-clearing platoons.
Lieutenant Colonel Dave Bellon, intelligence officer for the First Regimental Combat Team, said that previous attempts to win the support of Iraqis had failed, because they signalled weakness by asking Iraqis what they wanted - what Lieutenant Colonel Bellon described as "What are your needs? What are your emotional needs? All this Oprah [stuff]". He said that Iraqis "want to figure out who the dominant tribe is and say, 'I'm with you.'".
(Source: Boston Globe [US])
Thursday, December 02, 2004
A broad survey of health conditions in Iraq has found that conditions for ordinary Iraqis are far worse than before the invasion.
The report by the British group Medact found found a "hugely increased burden of death and mental and physical illness from all causes" as a result of the conflict.
Recently it has been estimated that 100,000 civilians have died as a result of the invasion of Iraq and the continuing conflict. The risk of violent death in the 18 months after the invasion was 58 times higher than in the 15 months before it, while the risk of death from all causes was 2.5 times higher.
The report said that "limited access is a particular problem for women." The security situation and the threat of sexual violence prevented many women seeking care for themselves and their children.
Diseases continue to increase, with more than 5000 reported cases of typhoid between January and March this year. The Iraqi health ministry says vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, mumps and typhoid are increasing.
(Source: The Age)
read the report
The report by the British group Medact found found a "hugely increased burden of death and mental and physical illness from all causes" as a result of the conflict.
Recently it has been estimated that 100,000 civilians have died as a result of the invasion of Iraq and the continuing conflict. The risk of violent death in the 18 months after the invasion was 58 times higher than in the 15 months before it, while the risk of death from all causes was 2.5 times higher.
The report said that "limited access is a particular problem for women." The security situation and the threat of sexual violence prevented many women seeking care for themselves and their children.
Diseases continue to increase, with more than 5000 reported cases of typhoid between January and March this year. The Iraqi health ministry says vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, mumps and typhoid are increasing.
(Source: The Age)
read the report
A confidential report by the Red Cross says that the American military has used psychological and sometimes physical coercion "tantamount to torture" on Guantanamo prisoners.
The finding came after a visit by a Red Cross inspection team to Guantanamo Bay in June.
Lawyers for the two Australian detainees, David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, said the Red Cross report corroborated their claims that they had been tortured.
Habib's lawyer, Stephen Hopper, said his client had been tortured in Egypt, where he had been badly beaten and nearly died, and in Guantanamo Bay, where he had been deprived of sleep for four days and was seen by British detainees collapsed and bleeding from the ears.
Mr Hopper said Habib was also told his wife had been murdered and was shown pictures of his children's heads superimposed on the bodies of pigs and donkeys.
Hicks' lawyer, Stephen Kenny, said the claims in the report fitted with Hicks' description of his treatment.
The Red Cross said the team of humanitarian workers had asserted that some doctors and other medical workers at Guantanamo were participating in planning for interrogations, in what the report called "a flagrant violation of medical ethics."
Doctors and medical personnel conveyed information about prisoners' mental health and vulnerabilities to interrogators, the report said.
The report said investigators had found a system devised to break the will of Guantanamo prisoners, who number about 550, and make them wholly dependent on their interrogators through "humiliating acts, solitary confinement, temperature extremes, use of forced positions". The methods used were increasingly "more refined and repressive" than the Red Cross learned about on previous visits.
"The construction of such a system, whose stated purpose is the production of intelligence, cannot be considered other than an intentional system of cruel, unusual and degrading treatment and a form of torture," the report said. It said that in addition to the exposure to loud and persistent noise and music and to prolonged cold, detainees were subjected to "some beatings."
The conclusions by the inspection team have provoked a stormy debate within the Red Cross committee, with some members arguing that it should make its concerns public or at least aggressively confront the Bush Administration. In exchange for exclusive access to the prison camp and meetings with detainees, the Red Cross has agreed to keep its findings confidential. The findings are shared only with the government that is detaining people.
(Source: The Age)
The finding came after a visit by a Red Cross inspection team to Guantanamo Bay in June.
Lawyers for the two Australian detainees, David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, said the Red Cross report corroborated their claims that they had been tortured.
Habib's lawyer, Stephen Hopper, said his client had been tortured in Egypt, where he had been badly beaten and nearly died, and in Guantanamo Bay, where he had been deprived of sleep for four days and was seen by British detainees collapsed and bleeding from the ears.
Mr Hopper said Habib was also told his wife had been murdered and was shown pictures of his children's heads superimposed on the bodies of pigs and donkeys.
Hicks' lawyer, Stephen Kenny, said the claims in the report fitted with Hicks' description of his treatment.
The Red Cross said the team of humanitarian workers had asserted that some doctors and other medical workers at Guantanamo were participating in planning for interrogations, in what the report called "a flagrant violation of medical ethics."
Doctors and medical personnel conveyed information about prisoners' mental health and vulnerabilities to interrogators, the report said.
The report said investigators had found a system devised to break the will of Guantanamo prisoners, who number about 550, and make them wholly dependent on their interrogators through "humiliating acts, solitary confinement, temperature extremes, use of forced positions". The methods used were increasingly "more refined and repressive" than the Red Cross learned about on previous visits.
"The construction of such a system, whose stated purpose is the production of intelligence, cannot be considered other than an intentional system of cruel, unusual and degrading treatment and a form of torture," the report said. It said that in addition to the exposure to loud and persistent noise and music and to prolonged cold, detainees were subjected to "some beatings."
The conclusions by the inspection team have provoked a stormy debate within the Red Cross committee, with some members arguing that it should make its concerns public or at least aggressively confront the Bush Administration. In exchange for exclusive access to the prison camp and meetings with detainees, the Red Cross has agreed to keep its findings confidential. The findings are shared only with the government that is detaining people.
(Source: The Age)
