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Murder, Racism, Abortion, Homosexuality, Incest
Aboriginal groups irate over Olympic flag ban
By PADRAIC MURPHY
Sunday 20 August 2000
Banned: Cathy Freeman will not be able to repeat this performance should she win in Sydney.
In a move that has outraged Aboriginal groups, the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games has banned spectators and athletes from taking the Aboriginal flag into Games venues.
SOCOG staff have been told to confiscate the flag. People who refuse risk being thrown out of the Games.
The ban could be extended to people who wear an image of the Aboriginal flag on their clothing.
The decision means Cathy Freeman will not be allowed to repeat her controversial victory performance at the 1994 Commonwealth Games and wrap herself in the Aboriginal and Australian flags should she win the 400 metres final.
"What's so threatening about a piece of red, black and yellow material?" asked chairwoman of the Metropolitan Land Council in Sydney, Jenny Munro.
"We all have rights in a democracy. These are draconian measures."
SOCOG spokesman Milton Cockburn said the Aboriginal flag would be confiscated from spectators and competitors, as it breached International Olympic Committee rules.
"Flags from non-participating countries will be confiscated by our access control staff," he said.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission chairman Geoff Clark said the ban would further inflame tensions between organisers and Aboriginal communities in the lead-up to the Games.
"Why shouldn't people be able to bring in our flag?" he said "It's officially recognised, the Games are on Aboriginal land, and the flag acknowledges Aboriginal people."
The ban would further Aboriginal groups' resolve to use the Games to inform the world of their plight, he said.
"The growing frustration of Aboriginal people is obvious," Mr Clark said.
Sources said the ban was part of an SOCOG push to make the Games as free of controversy as possible.
But Aboriginal groups said the ban was heavy-handed and would present a further obstacle to reconciliation.
Ms Munro said the policy had the potential to be a public relations disaster, especially if Cathy Freeman won gold.
"They will have exactly the sort of trouble they're trying to avoid," she said. "They are meant to be trying to promote our flag and our culture."
Adelaide, the Amsterdam of the south
By PENELOPE DEBELLE
Sunday 20 August 2000 - The Age
Mark's secret garden is a finely tuned operation. He has a hydroponic cannabis plant ready for harvest every six weeks and at any one time he has a cutting taking root, another in the growing phase and one in full bud.
"I think I grow as well as anybody," he says with pride. "I can produce as much per plant as anyone I know. The last one produced nine ounces of dried head, which is heaps."
Over two decades Mark and his friends have built up a store of knowledge about plant grafting, fertilisation, collar rot, drainage, ventilation and plant sexing. As any smoker knows, male cannabis plants are not worth the pots they grow in; only the females produce the intoxicant THC.
Mark will not say how he can tell a male from a female but he can do it at the eighth or ninth branch stage, about two months into its growth. But plant sexing is not as critical as it once was. Those who grow hydroponically - and most in South Australia do - use selected female clones, or cuttings, to guarantee a result.
Mark's business, which services his needs and those of a few friends, has been tailored to SA law which a year ago cut the 10-plant limit for personal use back to three.
Over the years the quality of marijuana had improved so much, partly because of the shift to hydroponic growing, that 10 plants had become excessive.
"Once the three-plant limit was mooted, I geared myself to grow three," Mark says. "You keep the thing rotating, I've got it pretty well under control by now."
The culture of marijuana growing that Mark represents is entrenched in Adelaide. Its famously relaxed lifestyle is for some nothing more than an easy mix of good climate, accessible housing, cheap wine and killer dope.
In such circles the results of the annual Amsterdam Cup - an international competition for the best strain of cannabis - are something of a highlight, with Internet orders going out to seed catalogues. When a strain like Northern Lights or White Widow takes out the cup, growers can order up and get their own Amsterdam quality crop under way in the shed.
In 1987 when SA became the first state to move to a cannabis expiation notice system that decriminalised - but did not legalise - personal use, Adelaide began to be looked on as a kind of Amsterdam of the south.
This claim to fame has just been promoted further by the decision of the South Australian parliament to unexpectedly disallow the regulations for three plants and raise it back to 10. Under SA law, anyone can grow up to 10 marijuana plants for themselves and their friends and risk a $157 fine - but not a criminal conviction.
The opponents of this apparent generosity include the SA police, who believe the return to 10 plants is "lunacy". They claim the government has played into the hands of organised crime which runs large-scale export operations based on small-time growers whose crops supply Melbourne and Sydney.
"If you are unemployed, a student or a sole parent, growing dope can reap you up to $80,000 a year, tax-free," wrote Adelaide columnist Christopher Pearson. "In some suburbs the gangs are major institutional landlords, providing more reliable protection than the police."
Senior police, including Chief Superintendent Denis Edmonds, say the cannabis market in SA is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a week and significant amounts of SA grown hydroponic cannabis go to New South Wales and Victoria.
Independent Victorian MP Russell Savage, from Mildura, says marijuana being trafficked between Adelaide and Sydney is regularly intercepted in his electorate. He believes a cottage industry has developed in SA that trades marijuana for money or narcotics.
"It is commonly believed that plants grown in SA are supplying the drug industry in interstate trade," Mr Savage says.
But the Australian Democrats leader, Mike Elliott, who led last month's drive back to10, said the reduction to three had made things better for organised crime, not worse. While organised crime can exploit the 10-plant limit for commercial gain, its major sources were still the large field crops which were serious operations, often guarded with guns.
When 10 plants became three, he says, small-time users were once again forced to buy from criminal syndicates who deal not only in marijuana but also LSD, cocaine, amphetamines, heroin and ecstasy.
"With three plants, organised crime almost certainly increased their market share," Mr Elliott says. "And the police were not catching the Mr Bigs. They seemed to be continuing their policy of almost harassing people with small quantities."
James Dannenberg, a member of Hemp SA, agrees the 10-plant limit reduced the power of organised syndicates - some of them linked to bikie gangs - by flattening the supply pyramid.
"Now (with 10 plants) we have hundreds if not thousands of Mr and Mrs Smalls, all producing cannabis for themselves and their friends, and we don't deny, selling some surplus," he says. "It reduced the power of the big guys by spreading distribution all around the place."
Mark also knows "a couple of people" who became involved with syndicates who provided the hydroponic equipment and took the first two crops as payment. Now, he says, the couple sells some to the syndicate, some to their friends and smoke the rest.
"As far as I know the syndicates aren't a big deal," says Mark. "You'll find that just about one in every three houses in Adelaide has some growing and the small growers supply their mates so they don't have to go to the big syndicates. It's just a very low-key operation in SA."
It also explains why Adelaide marijuana, in national terms, is cheap. In SA marijuana sells for around $200 an ounce (the industry has never organised itself to go metric) compared with $400 to $500 for an ounce in Melbourne or Sydney. It is the syndicates that grow for export who keep the price up, Mark says, while small business traders sell to cover costs.
The shift to hydroponics has in the past five years revolutionised marijuana growing because of its two fundamental advantages; it is easier to conceal and quicker to grow.
Backyard or farmland marijuana crops have become increasingly vulnerable not just to police but to other criminals who steal for their own use, or for sale.
"After I got ripped off a few times I went indoors," says Mark. "The last time three guys in a ute came charging out with axes - whack, whack whack, into the back. I wasn't there but a mate of mine was and he was too scared to put his head outdoors. He just let them go and I don't blame him."
This "rip off" syndrome is so widespread the SA Police Commissioner, Mal Hyde, says most victims of home invasion in SA are involved in the illlicit drug industry.
"The offence is often committed on those involved in cultivating or trafficking illicit drugs or where the victims and offenders are known to each other," Mr Hyde said.
Hydroponic growing has also revolutionised cannabis cropping because lights are used to simulate seasonal change.
"The shift to three plants actually encouraged people to grow indoors," says James Dannenberg. "You can grow three plants outdoors once a year, or three plants indoors four times a year. You choose."
Drug producers in SA last year stole around $2 million of electricity to grow hydroponically.
Small operators like Mark, who has a full-time job, use what they make to defray power and other costs.
No one would argue that cannabis growing in SA is not widespread. Police say SA is a net supplier and potent hydroponic marijuana from the state has been found in other states. An Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence report earlier this year confirmed substantial amounts of cannabis were going interstate.
But the same report added that reducing the personal-use limit to three plants would have little effect. The return to 10 was not deliberate policy and is unlikely to last. A compromise is likely to be found later this year with a move back to somewhere around four or five.
In the meantime, this climate of liberalisation does not seem to have sent a new wave of growers rushing to their hydroponics store - whose numbers anyway appear to be shrinking. While there were more than 70 listed earlier this year, there are now 22, only slightly more than in Melbourne which has 12 and Sydney with 17.
James Dannenberg - who believes until marijuana is made legal criminals by definition will be involved - says it is wrong to assume Adelaide is growing it alone.
"I know a guy in Sydney who runs one of the town's biggest bong and hydro shops and has done for years," he says. "They may not all advertise in the yellow pages but the notion that we are doing hydro and other states aren't is clearly a nonsense."
After massively cutting the budget of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, extinguishing native title in all but name and giving the go-ahead to the destruction of Aboriginal women's sacred sites on Hindmarsh Island (Kumarangk), PM John Howard is now pretending to be sympathetic to the plight of Aboriginal people.
On federal election night, Howard announced his support for “true reconciliation with the Aboriginal people of Australia by the centenary of federation”. He has now announced that $2.4 million in additional funding will be given to the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) to organise a national event to launch a reconciliation document in May 2000.
What has caused this apparent turnaround?
No doubt, Howard is keen that there are no big Aboriginal protests in the year 2000, when Sydney hosts the Olympics. The Labor Party's support for Howard's announcement reflects that it shares this concern.
Another reason is that Howard needs to win back some of the voters who deserted the Liberal Party in the federal election to vote for the Australian Democrats. These were voters who supported the Coalition's economic agenda, but felt that Howard should not have pandered to One Nation's racism.
While some Aboriginal leaders are sceptical about Howard's intentions, others, such as CAR chairperson Evelyn Scott, believe Howard is “quite genuine” about reconciliation now.
Everyone who is serious about fighting racism must reject Howard's reconciliation project.
This project is not intended to challenge racism. On the contrary, it is designed to con Aboriginal people into reconciling themselves with racism, turning the other cheek in the interests of national harmony.
There are many people who genuinely support reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians as a means of opposing racism. However, reconciliation does not provide a framework in which racism can be fought.
Reconciliation is premised on the idea that racism is the result of people's lack of understanding and tolerance for “cultural differences”; that is, it is a problem of ignorant individuals. On this basis, the principal means of fighting racism is education campaigns aimed at undermining racial stereotypes, and appeals for tolerance.
Because the idea of reconciliation reduces racism to a purely individual issue, it fails to acknowledge that large corporations in Australia benefit directly, and always have benefited, from the oppression of Aboriginal people.
The corporate owners are able to reinforce racist ideology through their ownership of the mass media, and their influence on the major political parties, the law and government policy.
It doesn't matter how many public education programs are run, or how many appeals for tolerance are made by well-intentioned activists: if the corporate interests in maintaining racial inequality and exploitation are not exposed, racism cannot be challenged, let alone eradicated.
The rhetoric of reconciliation, focused as it is on vague calls for tolerance and unity, does not commit “supporters” to actively oppose specific racist policies. This allows people who benefit from racial oppression to masquerade as anti-racists under the banner of reconciliation. During the debate about the Mabo decision in 1992-93, for example, CAR member Robert Champion de Crespigny, also executive chairperson of Normandy Mining, campaigned strongly against native title.
Because the reconciliation “movement” makes no specific demands on the government, it allows governments also to masquerade as anti-racist, while carrying out racist attacks.
In order to combat racism, the corporations that profit from racism and governments that represent their interests must be challenged by campaigns which oppose racist policies and advocate measures which will help eliminate racial inequality.
By GEOFF KITNEY
Fears in Germany that a new generation of right-wing extremists is being created by record unemployment and growing social divisions have been intensified by figures confirming a surge in violent incidents against foreigners and Jews.
The figures released yesterday by Germany's internal security service show a sharp rise in illegal activity by neo-Nazi groups, including the use of Nazi symbols and the distribution of racist and anti-Semitic publications and music.
The figures, which are the highest since the reunification of Germany in 1990, add a new dimension to the surge in political support for the far right revealed in a state election in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt 10 days ago.
A spokesman for the the security service said there was a clear link between the growing right-wing political movement and incidents of violence. He said the extremist anti-foreigner and anti-Semitic views of far-right politicians was helping to incite violence.
The German Government has ruled out any move to outlaw far-right political parties. Germany's Interior Minister, Mr Manfred Kanther, said
the threat from extremists had to be met at the ballot box. "These parties have to be stigmatised. They have to be beaten politically. Bans do not replace problem solutions."
Community leaders in the former East Germany, where most violent attacks occur and where the extreme right is getting its strongest political support, warned that without concerted government action to boost economic activity and cut unemployment the situation will continue to deteriorate.
Yesterday's report by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution said racist attacks increased by nearly a third in 1997 after declining steadily since they peaked soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The number of extreme right criminal acts surged to 11,719, up from 8730 in 1996.
MELBOURNE -- Around 500 people attended the 1997 Whitlam Lecture on April 28 to hear Noel Pearson, chairperson of the Cape York Land Council, condemn attacks by the Howard government on native title and the Racial Discrimination Act, by attempting to override the High Court Wik decision.
Pearson explained that both pastoralists and Aboriginal people have equal rights under the law, and that the aim was to find a solution where both groups could exercise those rights. The current scare campaign in the mainstream media and by the National Farmers Federation does nothing to assist the creation of harmony between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, he said.
If the government succeeded in quashing native title, Aboriginal people would be dispossessed all over again, Pearson said. He called on the Australians to rally against the racist attacks on Aboriginal people.
By Liam Mitchell - 1997
SYDNEY -- In response to the One Nation party seeking to establish branches in northern and western suburbs, the Campaign Against Racism has called an open meeting to organise opposition to the far right, to be held on July 29, at Trades Hall at 7pm.
The meeting will seek to unite the anti-racism movement and coordinate actions to demonstrate opposition to One Nation. CAR activists are concerned that the movement should organise opposition politically and seek to draw as many groups and individuals into the campaign as possible.
Discussions in CAR have taken up what tactics to use -- should the movement be seeking to close down One Nation meetings, or should it concentrate on building a broad, open and strong campaign against all racist attacks?
Groups such as the International Socialists have argued that Hanson should be the focus and that the movement should seek to prevent her from speaking and her meetings from happening.
Other CAR activists have pointed out that such confrontations are counterproductive and will only discourage people from turning up to support the anti-racism movement; the most important task is to build a large, strong and united movement against racism.
CAR activists will be putting to the meeting on July 29 that non-violent demonstrations be called outside One Nation meetings and that the movement build towards organising a large, non-violent protest to oppose Hanson and all racist attacks outside Hanson's first public meeting in Sydney.
By Tom Jordan
and Sean Malloy - 1996
Members of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) have been accused of assisting racist attacks on immigrants and refugees in Germany by forcing new arrivals to live in squalid conditions.
According to left-wing daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung (TAZ), an SPD media spokesperson of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament, in Schwerin, said that SPD officials from Rostock municipality, and members of the CDU state government had played an important role in cultivating conditions for right-wing violence against refugee and guest worker hostels in late August.
The mayor of Rostock, the minister of the interior and the police chief of Rostock had admitted to the SPD spokesperson in private conversations that Romanians seeking asylum had been purposely crowded into one hostel where sanitary facilities and room space were insufficient.
According to TAZ, the officials did not want to create conditions that were “too good” for the refugees because they might “get on the phone” to Romania and encourage more refugees to come to Germany.
The SPD is not denying the accusations but criticised the media spokesperson for “washing dirty laundry in public”, claiming that he should have raised the issue with SPD leaders rather than go to the press. SPD officials have given the spokesperson a month's “vacation” while they decide what to do.
The press spokesperson said that he isn't sorry for revealing the racist acts, and feels that any Social Democrat or Christian Democrat who has behaved in a racist manner should resign.
By Bill Mason - 1993
BRISBANE -- Independent MP for Oxley Pauline Hanson should "look at the history of Australia, which was built on the backs of the Aboriginal people", Aboriginal pastor Reg Yates told a rally of some 200 in the Queen Street Mall on October 11.
The Speak-out Against Racism was organised at short notice, but the Democratic Socialist Party, the International Socialists, Socialist Alternative, Resistance, the Greens and many individuals came together to protest Hanson's racist campaign.
Jorge Rodriguez from the Migrant Workers' Resource Centre slammed Hanson for her racist attacks on migrants, asserting the contribution of immigrants to Australian society. Lou Gugenberger from the Greens warned of the distinction between "free speech and hate speech", saying the rise of racism here had overtones of the dark days of prewar Germany.
"Racist ideology underpins the Howard government", DSP activist Roberto Jorquera told the crowd. "Racism is used by the ruling class to divide working people and help prevent a united fight back against the real causes of unemployment and poverty -- big business."
High school student Dallas Blackmore from Resistance spoke of the urgent need to fight against the racism taking hold among youth.
By Nick Fredman
The 50,000-strong October 16 rally on the south-east London headquarters of the fascist British National Party (BNP) showed the anger of ordinary people against the rising level of racism in Britain.
When I was in Britain in July and August, there was a growing concern among activists and young people that Britain's social crisis and the rise of the far right in the rest of Europe might breed a revival of racist and fascist politics.
The threat was highlighted by a number of racist murders and beatings, including the murder of a Jamaican woman, Joy Gardner, by deportation cops, outbursts blaming Britain's woes on immigrants and non-white communities by Tory MP Winston Churchill (grandson of the famous right-wing bigot) and a new asylum bill that further restricts immigration.
A sense of urgency was put into the building of the demonstration after the BNP's recent council by-election victory on the Isle of Dogs by a mere seven votes. Previously a Labour right stronghold, the area has gone through a period of deep social decline which allowed the BNP to build up a tiny base in the area.
That's given an impetus to the anti-racist campaigns. The New Musical Express, a major youth weekly, carried 10 pages of anti-racist coverage in the issue leading up to October 16.
Activists see mobilising in south-east London and driving the fascists out of the area as particularly important, because it is the centre of renewed fascist activity. “Racist attacks have increased in the area by 80% -- and that's the ones that are reported”, Ruth Fensome of the Anti-Nazi League (ANL), one of the groups behind the demonstration, told Green Left Weekly.
“It's where the BNP have their HQ. They manage to attract young working-class people who are victims of poverty and the political climate, and so black people are at a greater risk.”
In the late 1970s the ANL organised large mobilisations, and with Rock Against Racism, huge festivals that stemmed the advance of the National Front and drove it underground. ANL was re-formed early last year to meet the growing fascist threat.
Unlike some anti-racist groups, the ANL focuses almost exclusively on defeating organised fascism, though Fensome explained, “Obviously on demos and in campaigns the ideas that racism and fascism are products of the institutions of society and the state, and that they won't go away until society is changed, will come up and be discussed”.
Youth Against Racism in Europe (YRE), also building October 16, see anti-fascism as part of a general movement against racism. They have demands around stopping racist immigration laws, ending police harassment (police and prison authorities have killed 80 black people in the last five years), against cuts to education and services and for more jobs and housing.
“We've organised demos under the slogan Jobs Not Racism”, Steve Raine of YRE told Green Left Weekly. “We attack the economic policies of the government as encouraging racism. But it's not just the Tories -- the Liberal Democrat council in Tower Hamlets blames the Bangledeshi community for their housing shortage, when they've only built one housing block.”
Tower Hamlets is the council that covers the Isle of Dogs, and many blame racist Liberal Democrat slogans in previous elections -- such as “Island Homes for Island People” -- and the refusal of the Labour Party to campaign against racism for the BNP victory.
The October 16 march was billed as a national unity action for what has been a divided movement. The disunity reached farcical levels in May, when the murder of Stephen Lawrence, a young black resident of south-east London, was followed by three separate demonstrations, organised by ANL, YRE and the Labour Party and union leadership-backed Anti-Racist Alliance (ARA).
After police provoked violence at the YRE-led action of 8000 people, ARA leaders attacked the “white left” in other groups for stirring up trouble for communities and using the issue for their own ends.
Raine admitted that anti-racists have had a tendency to march loudly into an area, denounce racism and then leave the local community to deal with antagonised local racists. YRE is taking part in activities such as protecting families suffering from harassment and building a base in local areas and housing estates to help communities themselves combat racism.
Activists I spoke to expressed a desire for a more united movement, and cited the successful campaign that forced French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen to cancel a conference for far right European MP's in Edinburgh and then Dublin in early July.
By Nick Fredman
Oct 16 1993
The 50,000-strong October 16 rally on the south-east London headquarters of the fascist British National Party (BNP) showed the anger of ordinary people against the rising level of racism in Britain.
When I was in Britain in July and August, there was a growing concern among activists and young people that Britain's social crisis and the rise of the far right in the rest of Europe might breed a revival of racist and fascist politics.
The threat was highlighted by a number of racist murders and beatings, including the murder of a Jamaican woman, Joy Gardner, by deportation cops, outbursts blaming Britain's woes on immigrants and non-white communities by Tory MP Winston Churchill (grandson of the famous right-wing bigot) and a new asylum bill that further restricts immigration.
A sense of urgency was put into the building of the demonstration after the BNP's recent council by-election victory on the Isle of Dogs by a mere seven votes. Previously a Labour right stronghold, the area has gone through a period of deep social decline which allowed the BNP to build up a tiny base in the area.
That's given an impetus to the anti-racist campaigns. The New Musical Express, a major youth weekly, carried 10 pages of anti-racist coverage in the issue leading up to October 16.
Activists see mobilising in south-east London and driving the fascists out of the area as particularly important, because it is the centre of renewed fascist activity. “Racist attacks have increased in the area by 80% -- and that's the ones that are reported”, Ruth Fensome of the Anti-Nazi League (ANL), one of the groups behind the demonstration, told Green Left Weekly.
“It's where the BNP have their HQ. They manage to attract young working-class people who are victims of poverty and the political climate, and so black people are at a greater risk.”
In the late 1970s the ANL organised large mobilisations, and with Rock Against Racism, huge festivals that stemmed the advance of the National Front and drove it underground. ANL was re-formed early last year to meet the growing fascist threat.
Unlike some anti-racist groups, the ANL focuses almost exclusively on defeating organised fascism, though Fensome explained, “Obviously on demos and in campaigns the ideas that racism and fascism are products of the institutions of society and the state, and that they won't go away until society is changed, will come up and be discussed”.
Youth Against Racism in Europe (YRE), also building October 16, see anti-fascism as part of a general movement against racism. They have demands around stopping racist immigration laws, ending police harassment (police and prison authorities have killed 80 black people in the last five years), against cuts to education and services and for more jobs and housing.
“We've organised demos under the slogan Jobs Not Racism”, Steve Raine of YRE told Green Left Weekly. “We attack the economic policies of the government as encouraging racism. But it's not just the Tories -- the Liberal Democrat council in Tower Hamlets blames the Bangledeshi community for their housing shortage, when they've only built one housing block.”
Tower Hamlets is the council that covers the Isle of Dogs, and many blame racist Liberal Democrat slogans in previous elections -- such as “Island Homes for Island People” -- and the refusal of the Labour Party to campaign against racism for the BNP victory.
The October 16 march was billed as a national unity action for what has been a divided movement. The disunity reached farcical levels in May, when the murder of Stephen Lawrence, a young black resident of south-east London, was followed by three separate demonstrations, organised by ANL, YRE and the Labour Party and union leadership-backed Anti-Racist Alliance (ARA).
After police provoked violence at the YRE-led action of 8000 people, ARA leaders attacked the “white left” in other groups for stirring up trouble for communities and using the issue for their own ends.
Raine admitted that anti-racists have had a tendency to march loudly into an area, denounce racism and then leave the local community to deal with antagonised local racists. YRE is taking part in activities such as protecting families suffering from harassment and building a base in local areas and housing estates to help communities themselves combat racism.
Activists I spoke to expressed a desire for a more united movement, and cited the successful campaign that forced French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen to cancel a conference for far right European MP's in Edinburgh and then Dublin in early July.
July 27 1997
NEWCASTLE -- The new Mindaribba Local Lands Council building in Metford has been the target of racist attacks in the past six weeks.
In the first incident, which occurred around the time of Pauline Hanson's visit to nearby Newcastle on May 30, a noose was found hanging from the front doors of the building. In the days before the building's July 8 opening, pictures of white hoods and the letters KKK were found painted on the building.
By Tim Walgers and Chris Dawson
July 27 1997
Around 200 people attended a rally to protest the launching of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party in Toowoomba on July 27.
The lively demonstration, organised by the Brisbane and Toowoomba Anti-Racist Campaigns, was addressed by a variety of speakers on Hanson and the Coalition's racist attacks.
Hannah Durack, a student at the University of Southern Queensland, commented that, “It is encouraging to see the diversity of the anti-racist crowd, with both older and young people present, unlike the mostly older, white people inside the Hanson meeting”, she said.
Gracelyn Smallwood, an Aboriginal activist and associate professor at the USQ, told the protesters it was important that peaceful demonstrations outside all Hanson meetings continue. She added that Howard's racist attacks must not be ignored while fighting Hanson's racist movement.
Smallwood, whose father was one of the stolen generation, criticised federal and state governments' responses to the mistreatment of Aboriginal children. “Much more than an apology is required”, she said. “If white lives were involved, surely this would be a cause for compensation”, she said.
On July 24, 60 protesters rallied outside a One Nation support group meeting in Bulimba. It was the first attempt by One Nation to establish a presence within Brisbane.
Around 40 police arrived after some protesters attempted to occupy the hall before the meeting started. Emboldened by the police presence, One Nation organisers proceeded to push and shove protesters on the steps of the building, and one woman waded into the crowd swinging her handbag around her head. Another woman scuffled with a freelance photographer and tried to snatch his camera. This violence was not included in television news reports, but police filmed the protesters all evening.
At the speak-out that accompanied the protest, one Bulimba resident told the demonstrators that the fact that “this racist organisation and its neo-Nazi friends of the Australian League of Rights and National Action are trying to create a safe harbour for themselves in this community is offensive. We need to campaign
Mereana Edmonds was bashed to death in May last
year.
Need to break abuse cycle says Rape Crisis
19.08.2000 - 2:00 PM
The case of a Hamilton woman who bashed her six-year-old child to death shows how sexual abuse can become cyclical, Rape Crisis said today.
Belinda Edmonds was sentenced to five years jail after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of her daughter Mereana Te Mana Motuhake.
It has been revealed Mereana was the product of rape.
Rape Crisis spokeswoman Claire Benson says the case highlights the need for survivors of sexual abuse to be counselled and supported so they don't go on to become offenders or continue the cycle of abuse.
However she said the fact Belinda Edmonds was raped, is no excuse for what she inflicted upon her daughter.
- IRN
Police are still searching for notorious prison escapee, Alifereti Nimacere in the hills of Naitasiri. Army spokesman Lt Ro Alipate Mataitini says Nimacere and 5 other escaped prisoners are being hotly pursued by Prison wardens, Police and sniffer dogs after a shoot-out at Naduvu village yesterday in which Nimacere was injured.
Also on the run are martial arts expert Jonasa Tonawai and compatriot Toni Celeasiga..who were involved in the hostage taking at the parliamentary complex.
Meanwhile the military will hold a court martial on the 18th of next month to hear charges against Private Henry Ali who is alleged to have shot dead fellow soldier , Private Anare Waqavonovono.
Private Ali who is currently in custody at the Nabua police Station is facing charges of murder and attempted murder of fellow peace-keepers in the middle east where the incident occurred.
Two rebels caught in Rewasau, Monasavu Thursday night are being interrogated by the military.
Military spokesperson, Lt Semi Koroi says Viliame Molikula and Viliame Nawaqaliqali are suspected to have taken part in the shooting incident in Sawani earlier this month resulting in the death of Private Joela Weleilakeba and Corporal Raj Kumar.
The Pacific ACP Ministerial Mission to Fiji and Solomon Islands has concluded the first part of its assignment, and is leaving Fiji for Solomon Islands later today.
The mission has been appointed to assess the situation in both countries, and prepare a report to present to the Co-Presidents of the Council of Ministers of the 77-member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the 15-member European Union (EU), the European Commission, and the Co-Pesidents of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly.
The report will also be submitted to the Pacific Islands Forum, which has welcomed the Pacific Island ACP members initiative. Speaking shortly before leaving Suva for Honiara, the Mission's leader, Sir John Kaputin, explained that "the ministerial Mission represents the 14 Pacific Island countries which are party to the new Partnership Agreement between the ACP and the EU.
Sir John stated the the ministerial mission is visiting Fiji and Solomon Islands to consult Government and obtain the views of a wide cross section of the people about current conditions and the best way forward to early restoration of normal standards of good governance in both countries.
Their assignments is only to collect facts which can help to provide the basis for recommendations to the European Union on the question of sanctions. The European Parliament has already passed a Resolution advising the European Commission to begin the processes which can lead to the imposition of economic sanctions.
Burnt last night was one of old wooden buildings of Lami High School which houses three classrooms.
The fire began at around midnight. However the fire department was fortunate to douse the flames before it could spread. The cause of the inferno is unknown.
Twelve men have been aprehended from the interior of Viti Levu suspected for criminal activities in the Monasavu dam area.
The men were cited by our reporters under heavy escort in a red police bus - bound for Lautoka.Suva Police Command Centre who confirmed the arrest say the men are expected to appear in the Lautoka Magistrates Court on Monday.
Meanwhile, Army spokesperson Major Howard Politini has confirmed a shooting incident early this morning at Nadovu village in the Naitasiri hills which involved Alifereti Nimacere.Politini says notorious criminal Alifereti Nimacere who fled from the scene is believed to be injured.Police, Prison wardens and sniffer dogs are searching for Nimacere and other prison escapees.
Major Howard Politini also said a group of people were arrested at Nadovu village after this mornings shooting suspected for harbouring the renegades.
Fiji Village - 19 August 2000
George Speight is destined to be reunited with his 300 plus supporters from Kalabu early next month.The hostage takers will be appearing in the Magistrates Court on September 1st on a joint charge of unlawfully assembling at Kalabu Fijian school after vacating the parliamentary complex.
Meanwhile George Speight is also facing a separate charge on an offence allegedly committed in 1995.According to the Department of Public Prosecutions,Speight is alleged to have taken $21 000 thousand dollars from a Mr. Wilson Stevens and invested it in Wattle Group, a pyramid investment scheme.Police reports say, the transaction was done without the consent of the Reserve Bank.
This earlier charge of "contravening the condition of exchange control act" has also been deferred to the 1st of September for mention.
The World News from Radio Australia reported that the former
prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka supports an inquiry into
allegations that the Fiji Military Forces handed out weapons to
coup leaders even after the government had been taken hostage.
The military states that as an institution of the state it
remains open to public scrutiny and any allegations made publicly
against it should be substantiated. The integrity of the
institution is of public interest and the relevant authorities
should ensure that the due process of legal inquiry should be
pursued to establish the facts to ensure transparency and
credibility of all parties.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meets next month to decide on Fiji's fate in regards to sporting sanctions and in particular our participation in both the Brisbane and the Wellington sevens tournament in the IRB world sevens circuit.
Fiji could be part of both the Brisbane and Wellington 7's tournament as indications are that both of the rugby giants will relax the bans to allow the Fiji 7's team to take part in their tournaments as draw cards.
Australia and New Zealand governments have imposed smart sanctions on Fiji after the May 19th coup which has taken a drastic effect on sporting bodies.
Australian Rugby Union communication manager, Strath Gordon said their position on impending a ban on rugby was in line with their governments decision and they will have to abide by the ruling.
Brisbane 7's will be staged early next year.
Former Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka has revealed in an interview in Australia that some senior military personnel were allegedly involved in the transfer of weapons from QEB to parliament after May 19th.
Rabuka says the military should clearly state who were involved in this alleged incident.
"As far as the military is concerned, I am aware that some military arsenal were taken out after that 10am coup and those who were in command at the time knew of the movement of these weapons and ammunition. Those should come out. Why did they allow them? And Im sure that at that time the perception was that Ligairi and the boys in parliament were to be given more arms and ammunition to protect the hostages from the supporters of George Speight who were at that time crowded into parliament so its a very distorted picture in the few hours after the coup which allowed more weapons to be taken out with the approval of those in command. If we are to prevent May 19th happening again we need to look at ourselves very very objectively and critically."
Military spokesperson, Lt Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini says the military will make a press statement regarding Rabuka's allegations later this afternoon.
Consistent normal supply should be restored by next Tuesday.
Thats the word from the Fiji Electrity Authority's acting chief executive, Nizum u Dean. He says most of the debris that was floating in the hydrodam has been retrieved by the navy divers. However, all should be normalised by next week.
Earlier today the military patrol in the area described the devastation on the dam as huge. Spokesperson Lt Semi Koroi says all electrical and computer equipment at the site was wrecked by bullets. He also said the gate shaft which creates electricity was filled with 200 litre drums and foreign objects , making it inoperable.
The military has assessed damaged caused by the rebels and the Monasavu landowners at the hydrodam.
Military spokesman, Lt Semi Koroi explains the devastation caused.
"The rebels have done a lot of damage as far as the dam site is concerned. They have totally devastated all the electrical and computer equipment at the dam site using gunshots. The furniture have been totally damaged, the living quarters wrecked, the gate shaft filled with 200 litre drums and riddled with bullets and foreign objects in the shaft making it inoperable."
FVN is still trying to get comments from the Fiji Electricity Authority about the damage.
Meanwhile Lt Koroi believes the rebels armed with seven military issued guns are still hiding in Monasavu
Chief Magistrate, Salesi Temo has decided not to preside over the case involving George Speight and 12 of his associates.
Temo announced his decision when Speight, Ilisoni Ligairi, Ratu Timoci Silatolu, Tebita Bukarau, Jim Speight, Jo Nata, Rusiate Korosere, Metuisela Mua, Samu Konataci, Jo Savua, Eroni Lewaqai, Viliame Sausauwai and Joji Bakoso appeared in court this morning.
They are charged with unlawful possession of firearms, consorting with people carrying firearms in public, unlawful burial and 2 counts of unlawful assembly. Chief Magistrate Temo says the prosecution had applied for him to disqualify himself from the case on the grounds that Joji Bakoso is related to him.
Temo says to avoid allegations of being biased, although he would have presided over the case as bound by his judicial oath, he has decided to stand down from the case. The case has been referred to Magistrate Laisa Laveti who will hear the matter on the 25th of this month.
However the case of Speight and others involving three counts of treason, conspiracy to commit treason and misprison to treason will be dealt with by Temo as Bakoso is not facing any of these charges.
Speight and others will appear regarding the serious charges on the 25th of this month. They are all remanded in custody until the 25th.
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase has assured the Pacific ACP delegation that the Interim Government is determined to bring back Fiji to Parliamentary democracy.
In his meeting with the delegation and the Cabinet yesterday, Qarase told the delegation that the mission is truly in the Pacific way of looking into problems and solving them.
In reply, head of the mission, Sir John Kaputin, said the mission is the most organized one he has headed. Kaputin also mentioned that this is the first ACP mission to meet with the full Cabinet in any country.
Hostage taker George Speight and group are expected to appear in court today. Chief Magistrate Salesi Temo will decide whether the Immunity decree applies or not and whether they will get bail.
He and 13 others appear on charges of unlawful assembly, unlawful burial, consorting with people carrying arms in public and illegal possession of firearms.
Government buildings has been cordoned off already and only family members and legal representatives are allowed on the premises. This has not stopped Speight's supporters from gathering around the area.
A new constitution by December next year and general elections no less than a year after that - that's the word from interim prime minister Laisenia Qarase. He announced this at the African Caribbean Pacific Ministers fact-finding mission yesterday.
The three main objectives of the new constitution will be:
Cabinet is expected to meet Tuesday next week to finalise the the draft terms of reference for the preparation of the new constitution which will be tabled before the Boselevu Vakaturaga for endorsement.
Fire destroys classrooms
Saturday, August 19, 2000
Fire destroyed three classrooms at Lami High School, outside Suva, early this morning. Police say the fire started at around 12.30 this morning.
It could not be ascertained whether the fire was started by arsonists. Investigations are still continuing, police spokewoman Sera Bernard said. It is the yet another school targeted in a recent spate of fires around the country.
On Thursday a dormitory was destroyed at Nayalo Secondary School at Wainibuka, Nausori.
And two weeks ago, Kulukulu Public School in Sigatoka was targeted by arsonists and three classrooms destroyed.
Fijian leaders failed
their people: Speed
Sunday, August 20, 2000
Their own people have deprived indigenous Fijians of a luxurious life, say ousted Deputy Prime Minister and Fijian Affairs Minister Adi Kuini Vuikaba Speed.
In an exclusive interview yesterday, Adi Kuini said: "They have been used by wealthy people which have made the rich richer and poor poorer."
Adi Kuini, who arrived home after nine months of extensive medical treatment in Canberra, agreed that grassroots Fijians have problems that need urgent attention.
While she agrees the interim administration's blueprint will help change the lifestyle of indigenous Fijians, she says it had been tried over and over as a 'guide' to uplift the lives of grassroots Fijians.
"But it has always vigorously failed," Adi Kuini said. She said the blueprint is not a new document.
Adi Kuini stressed that people shouldn't mistake it as a racist document.
"The Coalition Government was working on a similar plan to uplift the living standards of indigenous Fijians and it was one of our main objectives."
She said it was unfortunate for them, as they were not given the chance to complete their mission.
"I can't understand why some Fijians have overthrown the coalition government when it has just been in power for a year and was doing its best to work towards uplifting the Fijians' lives.
"It m not that Fijians begun suffering when Mahendra Chaudhry came into power, but it has to be noted that their problems have existed for years and when someone wanted to rescue them, they were cut off."
Adi Kuini has also called for a National Referendum and requests the Laisenia Qarase-led interim government to consider the proposal of a Government of National Unity with the People's Coalition.
She said it is appropriate for the interim government to work with the elected members, as they have the mandate of the people to rule.
"I am not saying that we go back to the original structure of the coalition government, but we can still work with the concept of national unity that we had been advocating."
She said elected members have the legal as well as the moral right to rule the country.
"We know and understand the fact that the majority of our Fijians are burdened with poverty and are economically suffering but coups and destabilising a legitimately elected government, certainly, will not help improve their lives.
She warned that people should stop using 'race to play political games, arguing that Fiji will only move forward, if people of all communities put aside their racial differences and vow to work together.
"It's not late, as there is ample time for people to get their acts together and move ahead," she said.
"I think we all have to do some soul searching. There are too many hypocrites around us."
Adi Kuini said the two major races have to realise that they both need each other.
"I am giving a challenge to all those who call themselves Christians to follow what their Bible tells them.
If they can't come together with their fellow brothers then they have failed in there spiritual lives.
"And if we don't come together at all, then we will face the consequences and we have already started facing it, our own sons are being killed on the land they have been born and bred. Isn't this enough for us to change our attitudes?"
Adi Kuini admitted that the Peoples Coalition had faults. "But then who is perfect?" On democracy, she said it can work, if people want to make it work.
"It has worked from 1970 until 1987, when it was thrown out from the system. It was restored after the 1992 elections and worked smoothly from then to 1999 and it again challenged."
Adi Kuini requested the Indo-Fijian not to flee the country. "I want my Indo-Fijian brothers and sisters to note that until there is God almighty, they will be safe in this land.
I, an indigenous Fijian, request them to stay here because we need them. I sympathise with what they have experienced in 1987 and now and assure them that things will change.
All we need to do is have faith in Him." She said it will be a shame to the indigenous Fijians, who call themselves Christians, if they let the 44 per cent of the country's Indo-Fijian population leave.
Fiji's Daily Post
The Olympic shadow
Latest: Friday August 18, 2000 05:35 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Workers clamber over Sydney Harbor Bridge's stately arch, hanging the first of 170,000 bulbs that will etch five rings into the city's skyline during the Olympic Games.
The giant rings taking shape this week will dominate the city, just as the 2000 Games have cast their shadow over other Australian news in recent months.
But beyond the circus of preparations for the Sept. 15-Oct. 1 Games, Australians have had plenty of issues to deal with as their country looks to its future while struggling with its past.
Over the past year, Australia has led a multinational peacekeeping force into a neighboring country, searched for ways to reconcile its black and white communities, voted not to drop Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and wrestled with a new tax system.
November's referendum on the monarchy highlighted the struggle of a young nation to come to terms with its future shape and its colonial past. Australians had a heated debate over whether their nation should become a republic and replace the queen with an elected head of state.
Opinion polls showed a clear majority of Australians wanted to ditch the queen -- arguing she was an anachronism and throwback to the nation's history as a British penal colony.
But the republican vote was deeply divided over how a new head of state should be elected. Eventually, the referendum came down heavily in favor of retaining the monarch.
The Olympics bring a new indication that the queen's influence is waning. Tradition holds that the head of state opens the Games, but Queen Elizabeth will not do so. Instead, her representative here, Governor-General Sir William Deane, will do the honors.
Another unresolved battle with the past that continues to haunt Australia is how to reconcile its Aboriginal and white populations and atone for past mistreatment of indigenous Australians, who now make up a small, underprivileged minority of the population.
Conservative Prime Minister John Howard has rejected repeated calls to offer a blanket apology to Aborigines for policies of the past, including the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their parents.
That refusal has enraged Aborigines, who say they will use the Olympics as a stage to showcase their grievances to the world.
Although most leaders advocate peaceful protest, a few activists have threatened violent disruptions.
Aborigines number just 386,000 in the population of 19 million. They are the worst educated, least healthy and most likely to be jailed members of society.
But despite the problems, there have been notable successes, said Dr. Gerard Henderson, head of the Sydney Institute, an independent think tank.
Henderson points to improvements in land rights for indigenous Australians as a significant advance. "There has been a lot of change and by and large it has been successful," he said.
"There are not many people marching in the streets about land rights," he said.
While wrestling with domestic issues, Australia has also continued to play the role of a regional power with varying degrees of success.
Its leadership of a multinational peacekeeping force in East Timor won Australia international praise but wrecked the country's relationship with Indonesia.
Howard was instrumental in pulling together a force to quell violence that erupted in East Timor after the province voted in an Aug. 30, 1999, U.N.-sponsored referendum to break away from Indonesia.
Diplomatic efforts have been under way for nearly a year to mend the broken fences between Canberra and Jakarta.
But after the praise over East Timor, Howard's government was accused of being asleep at the wheel earlier this year when it was taken by surprise by coups in Fiji and the Solomon Islands that threatened to destabilize the South Pacific region.
The Australian government -- seen by many as the superpower of the South Pacific -- imposed sanctions on Fiji and played host to cease-fire negotiations between warring factions on the Solomon Islands. But many said the action came too late, after Fiji's economy was wrecked and dozens of people were killed in the Solomons.
In a development that will hit Olympic visitors in the hip pocket, Howard's conservative government introduced a new 10 percent goods and services tax July 1 that has raised prices of restaurant meals and cab fares - among plenty of other things.
There were fears of economic meltdown as stores failed to come to grips with the new system, but in the end the introduction of the new tax went smoothly.
And Henderson expects the Olympics will go equally smoothly, with sporting fervor overwhelming concerns over mass protests.
"I suspect the Olympic Games will be successful," he said. "Australians like their sport."
Impact devastating: ACP
Saturday, August 19, 2000
The impact of the events of May 19 is devastating says the ACP delegation which just finished assessing the situation in Fiji.
The delegation said the European Union would now decide on whether to impose any sanctions on Fiji or not.
However, no time frame was given as to when the report, which will form the basis of EU decision, will be finished.
The delegation said their visit here was successful given that they received wide support from various sections of the community.
ACP mission impressed
Saturday, August 19, 2000
The ACP mission to assess the situation in Fiji says they were impressed with the support received.
The mission was able to meet with Prime Minister Lesenia Qarase and obtained views from all major political parties, chief justice, NGOs and community groups.
The mission said that it would ensure the report presented to the EU presents a fair and rounded picture of the situation in Fiji.
Forum pleads more hearing
Saturday, August 19, 2000
THERE may be a need for another set of African, Caribbean, and Pacific ministerial delegation to visit Fiji to ensure that a fair picture is portrayed to the European Union, said Citizens Constitutional Forum executive director Reverend Akuila Yabaki.
Rev Yabaki said it would have been better if the ACP delegation was globally represented.
"The fact is that the group, which is visiting Fiji currently, represents the Pacific and there may be times when they will remain sensitive about the Pacific culture," Rev Yabaki said He said a global representation will perhaps work with a broader spectrum.
"Perhaps, they may feel restricted."
The ACP delegation currently visiting Fiji includes ministers from Samoa, PNG,Cooks and Vanuatu.
Fiji's Daily Post
Rabuka says army elite
released guns
Saturday, August 19, 2000
FORMER Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has accused some senior army officers of being involved in the May 19 coup.
In a Radio Australia interview, Mr Rabuka said this group of officers, which he did not name, ordered the release of arms to George Speight's security advisor Ilisoni Ligairi.
The arms were released from the First Meridian Squadron or the 1MS (formerly the Counter Revolutionary Warfare -CRW) unit armoury.
The arms, he said, were used by the 1MS group that entered Parliament on the morning of May 19.
He has called for an investigation on the matter.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini said that the news was a surprise to them.
"We were not involved in the coup and no order was given for the release of weapons from the CRW armoury," Lt Col Tarakinikini said.
He said the military was open to scrutiny.
"We have a duty to the nation and that's what we're doing at the moment," he said.
He said such allegations should be substantiated as it was "really damaging to the army".
"All through the political crisis the soldiers had been working for 24 hours in providing security for the nation."
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister's Office Adi Finau Tabakaucoro has also rubbished Mr Rabuka's claim.
"It now seems Mr Rabuka is turning against the army for the excellent job they're doing," she said.
"His statement would damage the good reputation of the army and the confidence of the public in them would be affected."
She questioned why Mr Rabuka was "speaking out this time after all that the army has done in restoring normality".
"What good will Rabuka's claim bring to the country?"
Adi Tabakaucoro asked.
She said it seemed the claim was targeted at ruining the good reputation of the army.
The revelation by Mr Rabuka had strengthened claims from certain section of the community that the army was involved in the coup.
In a Sydney Morning Herald article earlier this month, Lt Col Tarakinikini's was named as one of those being investigated for the coup.
He has since denied his involvement.
Fiji's Daily Post
Temo bows out
Saturday, August 19, 2000
CHIEF Magistrate Salesi Temo yesterday disqualified himself from presiding over the criminal case involving coup leader George Speight and the group.
Mr Temo has also ruled against an application by defence lawyers to charge Joji Bakoso, who is a cousin of his, separately.
Mr Temo yesterday transferred the case to Laisa Laveti, a long time state prosecutor who joined the bench early this year.
Speight and 13 others were initially charged with being armed in public; consorting with people carrying firearms; unlawful burial and two counts of unlawful assembly.
Last week, state prosecutor Wilisoni Kuruisaqila filed a motion that Mr Temo disqualify himself because he was a relative of Joji Bakoso who is also involved in the case.
The defence led by Rabo Matebalavu countered by filing another application asking that the charges against Bakoso be severed and he be tried separately.
Mr Temo ruled that the group be remanded in custody on Nukulau until next Friday when he will deal with charges of treason, conspiracy to commit treason and misprison of treason.
Ms Laveti will address the issues relating to the validity or otherwise of the Immunity Decree No.18 2000 and the matter regarding bail.
Bakoso and Rusiate Korovusere, a former Lieutenant Colonel and former diplomat, are not charged with treason, which is punishable by life imprisonment. The case which was scheduled for 2.15pm was called at 9.30am.
The change of time saw only a handful of Speight's supporters at government buildings.
Last Friday over 300 supporters paraded near the court house to catch a glimpse of their "heroes" who have been on Nukulau for the past two weeks.
Fiji's Daily Post
Rebels ambush driver
caught by army
Saturday, August 19, 2000
THE driver of the vehicle used during the ambush in which two servicemen died last Tuesday in Naitasiri has been arrested, army spokesperson Howard Politini said.
Major Politini said the man, whose identity has been withheld, was arrested on Thursday in his village in Naitasiri.
He is suspected to be the driver of the vehicle in which the rebel gunmen escaped in, after shooting at a police and army search party along Qiolevu Road in Sawani.
Corporal Raj Kumar and Private Joela Waleilakeba died in the shooting.
The army believes the rebel gunmen include four escaped prisoners and a soldier.
They are part of six people wanted by the military and the police.
The escapees include known criminals Alivereti Nimacere, Leone Lautabui, Semesa Roko and Peni Tukai who escaped from the Naboro Maximum Security Prison last month.
Major Politini said the group had been sighted by villagers in the Naitasiri area.
He said the gunmen crept in to villages during the night for food but stay in their jungle hideout during the day.
Police believed the men may have got hold of the weapons from Kalabu where George Speight and supporters stayed after they moved out from parliament on July 20.
Most of the wanted men surrendered to the military last week.
Major Politini said the villagers in Naitasiri have been supportive in the searching for the rebels.
Police warned that the harbouring or helping of criminals is a serious offence.
The military warned that the men are dangerous and the public should call the military hotlines on 380-738, 380-000, 380-894, or Crime Stoppers 306-000, with any information on the wanted men.
Fiji's Daily Post
Ministers must face
treason, Gucake
Saturday, August 19, 2000
FIJIAN Association Party secretary Josaia Gucake said some members of the Interim Administration should face charges for treason and sedition in regards to the May 19 coup.
Mr Gucake said crimes of treason and sedition should be taken seriously because they were crimes of the highest order.
"It will be a great miscarriage of justice if only some of the perpetrators of the coup were to be tried by the law while others are left alone because they have been illegally assigned to positions of power," Mr Gucake said.
"Justice should be done and seen to be done.
This can never be done if the law was to apply to only those who are not astute enough to be in the interim administration," he said.
Mr Gucake did not name members of the Administration thought to be supporters of the May 19 coup which was led by George Speight.
He said the only solution to the crisis in Fiji was a Government of National Unity which is stipulated under the constitution.
"This option is acceptable at all international level and to the majority of this nation whose representatives were elected to the Parliament," he said.
Fiji's Daily Post
Aust-Fiji body welcomes
'safe' announcement
Saturday, August 19, 2000
THE Australian Fiji Business Council has welcomed the decision by the Australian Government advising its citizens that travel to Fiji was now safe.
"The Council shares the government's assessment that the situation in Fiji has stabilised to the point where Australia can once again be confident they can travel there for holidays and for business," President Ross Porter said.
Mr Porter noted that 80,000 Australians visit Fiji annually, and provide the underpining for the tourist industry.
In addition, there is a substantial Australian investment in Fiji's tourist industry.
"Many thousands of jobs in Fiji have been lost since the May 19 coup, and ordinary Fijians of all races are hurting badly through no fault of their own.
Fiji's Daily Post
Wainibokasi intimidation
continues
Saturday, August 19, 2000
INTIMIDATION and psychological torture continues in Wainibokasi and nearby Indo-Fijian settlements.
Four more families have moved to their relatives home in Suva after receiving threats that their homes would be burnt down.
A resident interviewed by the Daily Post said yesterday that it was unfortunate that intimidation continues despite the arrest of the key-players in the events of May 19 and the placement of an Interim Administration.
"We call on the interim Prime Minister Lasenia Qarase to do something to help us," he said.
"We are innocent people and we have nothing to do with politics, so why are we victimised?" he questioned.
The resident said the military patrolled the area but it would have been better to have a camp set up there.
"We continue to receive warnings and this is making us scared."
Another resident said he is preparing to go to Western side.
"The safety of my family is my first priority and I am prepared to forego my work at my farm here and move to West for a while."
He said four of his kids were so afraid after the burnings of homes that they were neither able to eat properly or play freely in their own back-yard.
"Oh, God, help us, we are victimised in the land, where we were born and bred and we have seen our forefathers die."
Fiji's Daily Post
PINA stresses need for
dialogue
Saturday, August 19, 2000
THE Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) looks forward to discussing proposed Fiji media legislation with Fiji's interim government, said president William Parkinson.
He said PINA would like to work with government to ensure the proposed legislation does not infringe on the basic rights of the people to freedom of expression and information.
"We believe this is particularly important at this time in Fiji when we have an interim government, which has not been democratically elected," Mr Parkinson said.
He said PINA made it clear that any new attempt to regulate editorial content by any means other than through a truly independent Fiji Media Council would be in clear breach of internationally accepted standards of media freedom.
"This would be fought vigorously by PINA and its international network of supporting media freedom organisations, "he said.
Mr Parkinson added: "I did note in the cabinet release the plans to put in place Newspaper Registration Legislation.
PINA has no problem with the use of this type of legislation being used to identify owners and publishers of newspapers.
We are concerned that the statement also says that the legislation will be `amended to include appropriate penalties for infringement of the proposed Media Act."
Mr Parkinson said the revision of media legislation proposed in the Thompson Foundation Report had led the Fiji news media to implement a number of steps recommended in the report.
He said: "The Fiji media on the basis of The Thompson report went ahead and formed the Fiji Media Council following the guidelines set down in the report.
"I would hope that government in putting this legislation into practice fully recognises the existence of this body and works together with the current media council to implement the legislation.
Certainly in discussions with the last two governments we have been assured that this is their intention.
"With regards to regulation it should be noted that the media in Fiji choose to become members of the council but are not obliged to join.
I hope that this freedom is preserved in the new legislation.
It is vital that the council remains voluntary."
He said the current Fiji Media Council has already established codes of practice covering journalism, advertising and general programming of broadcasters.
"I would hope that the legislation recognises and adopts these codes that are already in place.
"Once again the current council and it's operations provide an excellent model for how the `new' media council should operate and I see no reason why this body should not just continue on where the other one left off.
"The media like every person and organisation in our society must accept a level of accountability.
It is vital, however, that this accountability is to a truly independent body which reflects the views, culture and traditions of all the people of Fiji."
The Pacific Islands News Association is the professional organisation linking newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations and national associations of news media practitioners in 21 Pacific Islands countries and territories.
Its objectives as mandated by its members, are to:
PINA is a member of the world's two leading media freedom organisations, IFEX (the global network of freedom of expression and media freedom organisations) and the World Press Freedom Committee.
Fiji's Daily Post
FEDERAL Court judge today rejected compensation claims
AAP - Aug 11 2000
A
FEDERAL Court judge today rejected compensation claims by two
members of the stolen generation, taken from their families as
young children.
In an Australian first, Justice Maurice O'Loughlin broadcast a
short summary of his decision live from the Federal Court in
Darwin.
Members of the stolen generation Lorna Cubillo, aged 62, and 53-year-old Peter Gunner sued the Commonwealth for the trauma, distress and continued isolation from what they have called the cultural and spiritual lives of their Aboriginal mothers.
The pair also sought punitive damages, which the court awards in a case when the actions of a defendant require punishment by extra damages.
The ruling is a big setback for 700 other claimants who have lodged writs and thousands more forcibly removed under a government policy that lasted until the 1960s.
Justice O'Loughlin's decision on the emotionally-charged issue was broadcast live from Darwin's Federal Court on television, radio and the Internet.
Justice O'Loughlin stressed that his decision was not about the broader issue of the stolen generation or any apology for the former government policy.
The judge said he accepted that Ms Cubillo was viciously assaulted by a missionary in a white institution and that she was very unhappy.
But the judge said no evidence existed about why government officials took her from her traditional Aboriginal family.
Justice O'Loughlin said in the case of Mr Gunner, there was evidence that his mother put her thumb print on a document approving his removal.
The court heard Ms Cubillo was taken from her traditional Aboriginal country near Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory in 1947 and later suffered brutality in a white institution. She was aged seven or eight when taken away.
Mr Gunner was taken from his traditional homelands at Utopia outside Alice Springs in 1956 aged seven or eight years.
The court heard Mr Gunner was also abused in the white institution he was placed in. It was not immediately clear whether an appeal against Justice O'Loughlin's decision to the Full Federal Court would be considered.
The case started just over a year ago, and has sat for 107 days in Adelaide, Perth, Townsville, Darwin, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Melbourne with 60 witnesses.
The High Court has already ruled that legislation used to remove Aboriginal children was not unconstitutional.
The claim by Ms Cubillo and Mr Gunner is based on a claim that the actions of government officers exceeded the legislation, motivated by a racist desire to biologically assimilate children taken into white society.
The judge read out a short summary of his reasons for decision - a document of 700 pages which he formally handed down.
Lawyers will study closely his reasons to decide whether an appeal is possible and how other claims are affected.
In Ms Cubillo's case, the judge said the onus was on her to prove that government officials acted contrary to legislation that allowed for the removal of children.
But he said many potential witnesses had died so it was very hard to know what happened.
"People are dead and documents if they ever existed have been lost," he said.
"There is now no way of knowing what went on in the mind (of a government officer) when he participated in the removal and detention of Ms Cubillo.
"I cannot assume out of a feeling of sympathy for Ms Cubillo that (the officer) failed to perform his statutory duty."
In the case of Mr Gunner, there was some evidence which indicated government officials gave careful thought to his welfare.
"However the documents that were available point strongly to the director through his officers having given close consideration to the welfare of the young people," the judge said.
"Most importantly there was his mother's thumb print on a form of request that asked that Peter be taken to St Mary's and be given a western education."
Second black box
recovered
05.02.2000 - NZ Herald
PORT HUENEME - A robot submarine recovered the flight data recorder of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 yesterday from the ocean canyon where the plane came to rest after slamming into the sea, killing all 88 people on board.
The recorder, considered vital to finding out why the jetliner crashed, was recovered by the remote-controlled robot in 200m of water, not far from the spot where searchers retrieved the cockpit voice recorder.
The second "black box" was taken on board the Kellie Chouest, a commercial ship contracted by the United States Navy. A National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said it would be rushed to Washington, where investigators were already studying the cockpit voice recorder for clues to why the MD-83 crashed.
Pilots can be heard on the cockpit voice recorder describing the plane as "inverted" - flying upside down - in the final moments before it plunged into the Pacific on Tuesday, board chairman James Hall said before leaving for California to visit the crash site.
Witnesses have described how the MD-83 nose-dived into the sea in a deadly corkscrew motion, twisting and turning in a "continuous roll" as it plunged from 5200m.
A Navy ship yesterday began using a sonar scanner to "map" the wreckage on the ocean floor off the coast for the investigation.
Relatives of crash victims were taken from Los Angeles to Point Mugu, about 96km to the north, for a private memorial service. Point Mugu is the closest point to the crash site, about 12km away.
- REUTERS
The clean up begins after last night's smash.
Crowd at crash scene appals police
04.07.2000 - By PATRICK GOWER
Police are angry a large crowd of onlookers stood by and ogled the carnage of a rush-hour crash in Otara that left two people fighting for their lives.
The two were in an extremely critical condition in Middlemore Hospital last night after their car lost control on East Tamaki Rd and careered over the median strip into an oncoming van.
The Fire Service used the "jaws of life" to free them from the wreckage.
Sergeant Dave Beattie said three other occupants sustained moderate injuries.
"We still don't know what caused them to crash across the median strip, so we desperately need anyone who saw it to come forward," he said.
"In saying that, the actions of some onlookers was appalling.
"A large number of people - many with young children - just stared as the victims were pulled from the cars.
"It was a horrific sight, you just have to question why some people would be so disrespectful."
Sergeant Beattie said it was likely alcohol was involved.
SA may be
cartels' new base
By JOHN
MERRIMAN and KATE UREN
19 Aug00
- The Advertiser
A $63
MILLION cocaine seizure in Adelaide – the nation's
second-biggest haul – has led to fears the city is a new
target for powerful Colombian drug-running cartels.
"Eighty per cent of all cocaine comes from Colombia, so it's
a pretty good guess that the goods have come from there," SA
regional director of Australian Customs Mr Richard Janeczko said
yesterday.
An early-morning raid on a home unit in James St, Prospect, on Thursday uncovered 317kg of cocaine in several blue plastic drums – the largest containing 20kg of cocaine – and almost $300,000 cash.
Justice Minister Amanda Vanstone, who revealed details of the raid by national drug authorities yesterday, said it was a serious blow to drug cartels.
"It amounts to about 1.6 million hits that won't be on the streets and every parent should be very grateful to the law-enforcement agencies for keeping it off the streets," she said.
"If there is a view that Colombian drug cartels are looking for markets, of course our people are going to be on the alert and, of course, we are going to put resources to it to ensure we don't become a target.
"With such a large number of people coming in through the Olympics it's an obvious opportunity for people to try to bring in things illegally," Senator Vanstone said.
"This is a very clear message to the drug cartels," she said.
"If they think they can get drugs into Australia by bypassing Sydney and Melbourne they can think again."
The cocaine was packaged in 500g "cakes" and wrapped in plastic.
It is the second-largest cocaine seizure recorded in Australia and the largest in South Australia. The largest haul was the 502kg seized from a yacht off the NSW coast near Broken Bay on February 1 this year.
Officers from the Australian Federal Police, Customs, National Crime Authority and SA police swooped in Prospect at 1am on Thursday.
Pietro Antonio Cerullo, 55, was arrested earlier, allegedly in possession of 317kg of cocaine with a street value of $63.4 million.
Police have also charged him in relation to $299,000 which they had allegedly found in a trailer parked at the James St address.
Cerullo appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court yesterday charged with possessing a prohibited import.
The barrister defending Cerullo, Peter Waye, did not apply for bail and Cerullo was remanded in custody until September 29.
Cerullo
is scheduled to answer the charge on October 27.
High School Horror: 15 classmates did not
escape the terror. PICTURE/AP/FOTOPRESS
Day to die, victims taunted
22.04.1999 - DENVER - A kid in a white shirt heaved something up
on to the high school roof, and it exploded in billowing smoke.
Student Don Arnold thought it was just a lunchtime prank, a
firecracker maybe.
Then bodies started falling.
"One boy was running and suddenly his ankle just puffed up in blood," said Arnold, aged 16. "A girl was running and her head popped open." A bullet had slammed into her skull.
They were the first victims in yesterday's bloody late-morning shooting spree at Columbine High School in affluent Denver suburb of Littleton.
Arnold's girlfriend, Lindsay Hamilton, 15, was inside the school studying for a biology test when she heard shots and explosions.
"It's a good day to die," she said someone yelled at one point. "We want everyone to die."
By early today 15 bodies had been recovered - nine boys, three girls and one adult. Twenty people lay critically ill in hospital, but police fear more victims may lie inside the booby-trapped school.
Hours after the shooting - by two teen killers clad in balaclavas and trench coats who giggled as they sprayed bullets at their fellow students - Columbine High was rocked by two explosions.
Bomb disposal experts were combing the classrooms last night, and had recovered more than a dozen handmade devices, including pipe bombs.
A pipe bomb was also found at the home of one of the killers, whose bodies lay in the library after what police say was a "suicide mission," possibly timed to coincide with Adolf Hitler's birthday.
Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were found dead in a room littered with the corpses of mostly ethnic-minority students and popular athletes. The unpopular students were Goths, part of a "Trenchcoat Mafia" who dressed in long, black coats decorated with Nazi insignia.
Many students were in the cafeteria queuing for an early lunch when the shooting began. Food server Karen Nielsen heard someone yell, "Get down!"
Hearing shots from outside, she rushed to a window and saw three bodies.
"I was on automatic," she said. "It was just, `Get to the wounded'."
One of the boys felled outside the cafeteria door had been shot in the face, another was shot in the back. The third looked dead.
Karen Nielsen ran back inside and called 911. But two hours ticked by before police entered the school.
"We had initial people there right away, but we couldn't get in," said Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone. "We were way outgunned."
Students described their attackers as heavily armed - with semi-automatic weapons and an assault rifle, some said - and one student said they appeared to have hand grenades.
When the attackers strode into the cafeteria, said 15-year-old Chris Donnelly, "everyone was trying to crawl at first, but then someone got up and ran, and everybody was running. I saw someone bleeding on the floor."
Other students holed up in classrooms for up to four hours. Eventually they were led out - around puddles of blood - by Swat teams.
Karen Nielsen fled the cafeteria for the teachers' toilets, where a handful of staff cringed as the attackers banged on other doors, shouting, "We know you're in there."
The shooting receded as the gunmen headed towards the library.
Hours later, after police combed through every abandoned backpack and gym satchel for explosives, Sheriff Stone's team reached the library, where the majority of the dead were found.
"It was one of the last rooms we entered, and it was the most gruesome." - AP
Russia's Northern
Fleet at heart of nuclear crisis
19.08.2000 - NZ Herald
While Russia grapples with the fate of the stricken submarine Kursk, RUPERT CORNWELL finds another catalogue of disaster in the nearby icy wastes where its Northern Fleet is serviced.
MURMANSK - "Hero city," boasts the massive grey concrete slab on the drive into the bleak expanses of Murmansk.
But today, "Radiation Scare City" might be a better name for the great port above the Arctic Circle, destination for the Allied convoy lifeline in the Second World War.
Murmansk is still an important port. But its main post-Soviet distinction is as the gateway to the Kola Peninsula in northwest Russia, and to the bases of Russia's Northern Fleet, generator of perhaps the greatest - and certainly the least protected - concentration of nuclear waste on earth.
Solid radioactive waste is stored at 11 sites around the peninsula, often in the open without any protection. Liquid waste is stored at the five main naval bases on the Kola, usually in equally poor conditions.
The stricken Kursk was based at Zapadnaya Litsa, or "Western Estuary," just 48km east of Russia's border with Norway. On the estuary's western shore lies Andreyeva Bay, where 21000 spent fuel rods - equal to 90 reactor cores - are stored in rusting containers and tanks whose contents are exposed to the skies.
On the eastern side is Nerpicha, home to, among other vessels, six 30,000-tonne Typhoons crammed with nuclear warheads, the largest submarines ever built.
For curious Westerners, Murmansk is as far as you get. Severomorsk, the headquarters of the Northern Fleet which lies 16km to the north, is closed to foreigners, while Zapadnaya Litsa is off limits even to Russians, apart from workers at the bases and the submariners themselves.
In an illustration of the obsessive secrecy which pervades these parts, British Nuclear Fuels two years ago joined French and Norwegian companies in a $US50 million ($111 million) scheme for an interim storage facility for spent submarine fuel. Fine - except that the Russians have not allowed a single foreign specialist to the site. But, as always, secrecy breeds rumour.
Wedged claustrophobically along the eastern side of its fiord, Murmansk is a city where you feel you are living on the nuclear edge. Still moored close to its centre is the infamous cargo ship Lepse, laden with hundreds of damaged fuel elements from nuclear-powered ice-breakers based in the port.
Clean-up work on the Lepse has now started. But what dire stories are swirling there in the wake of the Kursk disaster may only be guessed at - though what happened for a few hours one May day in 1998 may convey the flavour.
Rumours flashed around Severomorsk that a Delta class submarine carrying nuclear missiles had had a major accident in the Barents Sea. When the stories reached Murmansk and its population of 500,000, children were sent home from school and police issued with iodine tablets.
Calm returned only when the regional governor and senior Northern Fleet officers held a press conference to insist that the episode had been merely a planned exercise to test reaction to a possible nuclear accident on board a submarine.
Thomas Nilsen, a specialist at Norway's Bellona Foundation, the world authority on the nuclear pollution threat posed by the Northern Fleet, was sceptical about that explanation then. And the Kursk disaster has come as no surprise to him now.
"Ever since the financial collapse of autumn 1998, the situation has been desperate for the Northern Fleet. There hasn't been enough money for wages and maintenance, the best officers have left for jobs where at least their salaries are paid."
But one of the first things Vladimir Putin did after becoming President was to go to Murmansk and spend a night on a nuclear missile submarine.
"That was a sign of how important he believes the fleet to be," Nilsen said this week.
Even at the best of times conditions were dicey. When Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, a founder of America's nuclear Navy, once paid a goodwill visit to the giant nuclear icebreaker Lenin in Murmansk, he tested himself afterwards for radiation exposure - to discover that in half an hour he had absorbed as much radioactivity as in half a lifetime on US nuclear-powered craft.
But his problems were nothing as to the dilemma of Putin today, of trying to keep up with the United States as a global nuclear power without the resources to do so. The nuclear crisis of the Northern Fleet is a measure of Russia's failure to square that circle.
Abuser locked up for
good
19.08.2000 - NZ Herald
A 58-year-old man with a 30-year history of indecent assaults on children was sentenced in the High Court at Auckland yesterday to preventive detention.
Brian Raymond Harris had pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault and three charges of inducing boys aged 8 and 10 to commit indecent acts.
The charges date from December to March when Harris was working as a caretaker at a creche in Auckland and living in a shed beside a playground.
During sentencing, the court heard that Harris, deaf since birth, had himself been sexually abused as a child, that he was of relatively low intelligence and did not understand the impact of his actions on his victims.
Philip Hamlin, for the Crown, said Harris had reoffended over 30 years in spite of terms of imprisonment relating to indecent assaults on 10 boys and one girl and in spite of counselling.
"The opportunity was there. Unfortunately, it has not worked," said Mr Hamlin.
He submitted that there would be a risk of further offending once Harris was released from jail.
Preventive detention, carrying an indefinite term, would allow continued official oversight of his case if he was ever released.
Hugh Leabourn, for Harris, said his client's offending arose when he was in contact with children. Yet Harris was not a man who drove his car to public lavatories or who swam in the children's areas of public swimming pools.
Mr Leabourn said Harris had expressed remorse to the families of the two boys involved, but the letters he wrote them illustrated his intellectual level and an inability to communicate effectively in written form.
Prison would be like solitary confinement for a man like Harris, said Mr Leabourn as the court proceedings were interpreted for Harris in sign language.
Mr Leabourn submitted that a sentence of between four and six years would be appropriate.
Justice Sir David Tompkins said the charges were representative.
The offending, involving the 8-year-old victim, whose family Harris befriended, had been protracted.
Sir David said Harris had enticed the two boys into his shed and, when the opportunity arose, had also offended with the 8-year-old on his family property.
"The effect on the two boys and on their families has been dramatically destructive," said Sir David.
One family were considering leaving New Zealand as a result of Harris' activities.
A psychiatrist had been unable to determine if Harris suffered from paedophilia "in a psychiatric sense" because of his disability, Sir David said.
However, Harris had acknowledged that he had committed more indecent offences than those he had been convicted of.
Sir David said he had to confront the issue of whether to impose a finite jail term of eight to nine years or preventive detention, which would be for not less than 10 years.
"I am satisfied that, on the evidence, there is a substantial risk that whenever you are released from prison, you will reoffend and that therefore a sentence of preventive detention in this case is expedient for the protection of the public.
"It means that when you are released, steps can be taken in an endeavour to safeguard children more effectively than if a sentence was for a fixed term."
Joanne McCarthy and Kurt Bolli on their wedding
day in March 1995.
Killing that stole a loving woman
19.08.2000 - NZ Herald
Joanne McCarthy was a cherished wife, mother and teacher whose murder shattered the lives of many, as SCOTT INGLIS reports.
About 2.30 pm each weekday, Joanne McCarthy would buckle 11-month-old son Marcus into his carseat and drive to Stanmore Bay Primary School on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
For the next three hours, the 33-year-old would devote herself to children in the afterschool care programme. She would feed them, care for them and play with them until their mothers picked them up.
The children looked forward to seeing her and she was always on time.
But on a hot Thursday in November 1998 she did not arrive, leaving assistant Kay Huggins, school staff and the children worried.
As the time passed, concern turned to horror as news spread that the popular childcare teacher had been slain in her home.
Last Tuesday, 32-year-old Travis Burns was found guilty of her murder and sentenced to life in jail.
During his trial, the jury heard how Burns beat Joanne McCarthy to death with a hammer in her home and dumped her bloodied body in her water-filled bath.
The killing shattered her husband, Kurt Bolli, her family and friends and robbed Stanmore Bay's children of a loved and trusted mother figure.
Dark-haired Joanne McCarthy - Jo to friends - was born in Karori, Wellington, on New Year's Day 1965 to Michael and Carol McCarthy.
She had two older brothers, John and Peter.
John, now 38, remembers her as a "pretty normal little sister" who knew how to stick up for herself.
When Jo was 11, her mother died, leaving the children to shoulder more responsibility. Jo went on to St Mary's College but when she was 15, her father died.
She stayed with family friends until starting a BA course at Victoria University.
After 18 months there, she headed in 1985 for Sydney, where she found work as a nanny - and her love for children grew.
The next year, she went to London and continued nannying.
About the same time, Hamilton-raised Kurt Bolli left his carpentry job in Wollongong, Australia, and headed for Europe.
Their paths crossed on Sunday, August 6, 1988, at The Ship pub in Hammersmith, London.
Kurt remembers what attracted him to her: "Her personality, her openness, her directness - you knew where you stood."
The couple returned to New Zealand on Christmas Eve 1989.
In 1991, they bought their first home in Mt Albert and spent weekends renovating the old house.
"She liked to start things and I would end up finishing them," Kurt laughs.
They loved the outdoors - skiing, fishing and tramping, and indoor netball.
They bought their second house in Mt Eden and were now thinking of starting a family.
Jo began training as a kindergarten teacher in 1991 and went on to work at two kindergartens, including St James in Grey Lynn.
One of her best friends was Lynn Harris, who started training with Jo. She struggles with tears describing the friend who was an important part in her life and touched the lives of others.
Jo invited Lynn to share family moments and the pair would talk for hours on the phone.
A hole remains in her life: "We just used to go on shopping sprees and do St Lukes ... I haven't found that again in a friendship."
Kurt and Jo married on a Friday in March 1995.
Two years later Jo became pregnant with Marcus, and three months later they moved to Whangaparaoa for the change in lifestyle.
Jo left St James in November and Lynn Harris took over her job. Marcus was born in December 1997, but it wasn't long before Jo was keen to work with children again, even if it was part-time.
She applied for a job as coordinator of Stanmore Bay Primary's fledgling after-school care programme.
One of the programme's fund-raisers, Susan Lott, remembers Jo arriving for her interview, smiling with Marcus in his pushchair.
Her credentials were impeccable, her enthusiasm incredible.
"We offered her the job on the spot."
On a tight budget, Jo and the other mothers began building the afterschool programme, working out of a classroom and later the hall.
The kids instantly warmed to Jo - some even drew pictures with the words "We love Jo" written on them.
Susan Lott: "If there was a kid who was a little bit left out, she would hone in and not make a big deal about it."
On the day she died, Kurt kissed his wife goodbye as she lay in bed just after 6.30 am and headed off to work. Jo got up and tended to Marcus.
About 10.50 am a friend, Julie Roe, dropped off her 14-month-old daughter, Georgina, at Jo's home while she went to the hairdressers.
Jo was last seen alive by another friend at 11.35 am.
Jo always fed Marcus between 11.30 am and noon, before having her own lunch. But on that day she never got to eat lunch.
Instead, Burns bashed her with a hammer.
The two toddlers were close by and were spattered with her blood.
Julie Roe found her friend in the bath between 1.30 pm and 1.45 pm.
Later that afternoon, as staff and students worried where Jo was, another friend rang Kurt on his cellphone, saying there were police cars outside the couple's home.
Kurt rang the police. They said they could not tell him anything but he should make his way home.
He drove like a "mad man" but on the way heard a radio bulletin saying a body had been found in a Whangaparaoa house.
"I just sort of slowed down and just about broke down in my car."
The following days were a blur.
Jo was buried a week later and a pohutukawa tree was planted at Stanmore Bay school.
The murder left many in Whangaparaoa fearful.
"There was an immense amount of fear," said Stanmore Bay principal Dave Fletcher. "A lot of solo mothers wouldn't come out of their homes."
Nearly four months later, after it was confirmed that Burns' DNA had been found under Jo's fingernails, detectives arrested him on March 12, 1999.
The fear in Whangaparaoa slowly began to subside, but the void left by Jo McCarthy's death remains.
Kurt, who with John McCarthy steeled himself to sit through Burns' trial, has struggled to rebuild his life.
He hasn't worked since the murder and now lives in Hamilton with Marcus.
He says Marcus and his family, and Jo's family, have kept him going.
"I've got a little blond boy who keeps me focused on life. If it was not for him I would be off the rails."
It is unlikely Marcus will remember his mother, and he will have to rely on home videos and photos.
John McCarthy: "That would have been the last thing Jo would have wanted ... Certainly I feel bitter about it. What a waste to the community. Who knows what she might have achieved."
Pupils banned after
rugby ref attacked
19.08.2000 - By ALAN PEROTT - NZ Herald
Two Wesley College students have been banned from playing rugby after a referee was attacked at a match between the school's 3rd XV and Papakura High School.
One student has been banned for life, the other for four years, in disciplinary action handed down by the Counties-Manukau Rugby Union judicial committee.
The police have also charged the pair with common assault.
The disciplinary committee investigated alleged assaults on the field and in the changing room after the game last weekend, won 3-0 by Papakura.
Rugby union chief executive officer Peter Dunne would not name the referee, but said he had been shocked and distressed. "Our attitude towards this incident is shown in that we have acted quickly and harshly."
He said the union had an exemplary relationship with Wesley College and it was the first time this year any of its students had come to the union's attention.
Wesley principal Graeme Cowley said the whole college had been spoken to "and reminded that they are ambassadors for the school at all times, and of the importance of fair play both on and off the pitch."
Both of the senior boys charged were good students and had no history of bad behaviour.
The school would not take any further action until the court case had been completed.
Mr Cowley said that if the 3rd XV had won the match, they would have won the Counties-Manukau secondary schools championship.
Police make presence
felt in tense township
19.08.2000 - By NAOMI LARKIN -NZ Herald
Police were keeping a high profile in Waitara last night as tension simmered over the report into the police shooting of Steven Wallace.
Waitara police last night confirmed that fresh officers had been brought into the Taranaki township in preparation for the weekend.
The police presence in the town has been heavier than usual since the report into the 23-year-old local's death was made public on Wednesday.
The police report found that the unnamed "Constable A," who shot Mr Wallace dead in the town's main street early on April 30, acted lawfully, in self-defence.
Otaraua hapu member Tom Hunt said yesterday that police numbers had been steadily rising since Tuesday, the eve of the report's release. Some of the officers were wearing plain clothes, he said.
"There are certainly strange faces around town in police cars and on the streets. There are a number of people walking around the town who are not from here."
A small group of townspeople protesting against the report yesterday walked through Waitara carrying banners and placards naming Constable A before congregating outside the police station.
Similar angry protests took place outside police stations in Whangarei and Wellington on Thursday.
Waitara police have also had to deal with a series of incidents, including threats against officers by relatives of Mr Wallace, abuse from his mother and graffiti saying police were murderers.
The Maori Affairs Minister, Parekura Horomia, has called for calm in the wake of the decision not to prosecute. Mr Wallace was part-Maori, as is the constable who shot him.
He said that Mr Wallace's death was a "test for everybody."
A neighbour of Constable A last night said: "People in the neighbourhood give (Constable A) 100 per cent support."
The constable and his family had left their home but both he and his wife were well, the neighbour said.
"They are not happy, because this was their home. I think it is shocking that any man, be he police or otherwise, who does his duty then has to leave his home and his way of life - which he loved."
A lawyer for the Wallace family, John Rowan, QC, told the Weekend Herald that he was considering the option of a private prosecution to be taken against the police by the family.
"I am now studying the police file and have referred aspects of it to experts I've retained."
Sub's crew 'had time
to speak'
19.08.2000 - NZ Herald
The Russian Navy knows much more than it is letting on about the conditions inside the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, according to US intelligence sources.
Throughout the drama, the Navy has insisted that the only communication from the crew trapped at the bottom of the Barents Sea has been tapping on the submarine's hull.
But now intelligence sources in Washington, quoted by ABC News, say the crew were in direct radio contact for a short time after the 10,700- tonne Kursk sank, giving the Russians a fairly accurate picture of conditions on board.
The sources claimed that the crew said half of the vessel had been flooded after one or two explosions in the torpedo tubes and missile silos and, as a result, half of the 118 men on board had been killed instantly.
The big questions now facing the rescuers are, first, whether a British LR5 rescue submarine expected to arrive on the scene tomorrow will be able to dock with the Kursk and, second, whether there is anyone left to save.
The answer to the first question appears to be yes. The British LR5 has previously docked with a Polish submarine with the same escape hatch as the Kursk.
The Russians are pinning their hopes on the LR5 because it is much more manoeuvrable than their own underwater rescue craft. It can hover and travel up, down or laterally like a helicopter to reach its target and so is reckoned to have a much better chance of connecting with the Kursk.
The answer to the second question is not so clear. The last sign of life detected on the submarine was a faint tapping on Wednesday morning. Since then nothing has been heard from the crew and the Russian Navy calculated that the air would run out yesterday.
However, it now says the air will last for several more weeks.
If there is anyone alive on board and the LR5 is able to dock, it will take the survivors to the surface 16 at a time.
"All we want to do is to get into position and do our level best to rescue them," said Commander Alan Hoskins, of the Royal Navy submarine rescue service, as he sailed towards the disaster site from Trondheim in Norway.
Asked about the LR5 mission's chances of success in the powerful sea currents reported to be swirling around the Kursk, he said: "Until we are there and the pilots have gone down ... they will not know for certain what the currents are.
"If the current is two knots or less, we can cope with that."
A report late last night said that a Russian rescue craft had briefly latched on to an escape hatch but quickly returned to the surface because the hatch was damaged.
It was unclear whether the rescuers linked to the front escape hatch, which is known to be damaged, or the rear one, which is thought to be in working order and the only chance of saving the crew.
Gonorrhoea on rise in
abused children
19.08.2000 - By MARTIN JOHNSTON
NZ Herald
The number of New Zealand children contracting gonorrhoea after sexual abuse is increasing at an alarming rate, according to child health specialists.
The Starship children's hospital in Auckland has diagnosed 10 children with the sexually transmitted disease since 1997, compared with only two in the five years before that.
Gonorrhoea, which can cause a discharge or pain when urinating, is readily cured with antibiotics but if left untreated it can affect fertility in men and leave women sterile.
The new figures from Starship hospital are the latest in a shocking series of revelations in recent weeks about the affect of abuse on children.
Statistics New Zealand figures show in the year to June 1999, about 6495 children were reported as suffering from abuse.
Health experts estimate up to another 27,000 children may be exposed to abuse but their suffering has gone unreported.
The clinical director of Starship's child abuse unit, Dr Patrick Kelly, said the 10 cases of gonorrhoea involved children aged between 3 and 7 at the time of diagnosis.
"For us, going from where we saw one case of gonorrhoea in a young child every second year [we're now] seeing three a year, which although in terms of absolute numbers might not sound all that dramatic, it's actually an extraordinarily big increase," said Dr Kelly. "I think it's fair enough to describe it as an epidemic."
However, Dr Kelly did not believe these figures indicated an increase in the rate of child abuse, but rather reflected the sharply rising adult rate of gonorrhoea.
He said it was arguably fortunate for the 10 children that they had developed the disease, as it appeared their diagnosis was the first time anyone had suspected sexual abuse.
Dr Kelly said many social workers and police officers who investigated child abuse cases did not understand that if children had gonorrhoea they must have been sexually abused. It could not be caught off toilet seats or by sharing towels.
Dr Kelly hopes those misunderstandings will end from next year, with the setting up of a "Cares" centre aimed at bringing together agencies involved, including his own unit.
Since families will go to only one place instead of many for services, it is hoped the project will increase the chances serious abuse - such as the case of James Whakaruru, the 4-year-old beaten to death by his mother's partner - will be stopped in time.
The Government agencies involved in the Cares project have agreed to it in principle but the funding formula has not been finalised.
The Starship Foundation charity group, supported by Sky City, is organising a fund-raising campaign and wants to chip in with more than $100,000.
The hospital's unit will be joined at the centre by child abuse teams from the police and the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services, plus the evidential videotaping unit. A similar facility is planned for South Auckland.
Mereana Edmonds was bashed to death in May last year.
Bashed to death - by her mother
19.08.2000 - By MONIQUE DEVEREUX - NZ Herald
Mereana Te Mana Motuhake Edmonds was a happy little girl who lived most of her six years with her beloved Nanny in Hawkes Bay.
Then she went to stay with her mother - and her life turned into a living hell.
From almost the moment she arrived to live in Hamilton in December 1998, Mereana was brutally bashed, punched, slapped and kicked.
She was rarely without bruises, her collarbone was broken and her ribs were fractured.
As punishment for wetting her pants or the bed, the little girl spent nights locked in a dark shed outside her house or was violently slung into the wash-house.
She was kicked so hard she lost her sense of balance and was unable to walk around the house without hitting furniture or walls. She was often picked up by her hair.
Once, she was slammed backwards into a hard object with such force that her brain rebounded off the front of her skull.
Mereana almost escaped her abusive world.
In May last year, plans were made for her to return to Flaxmere to live with Nanny.
But too late. On May 10, 1999, Mereana was found dead in her Hamilton home.
Yesterday in the High Court at Hamilton, her mother, Belinda Edmonds, aged 32, was jailed for five years on a charge of manslaughter.
Edmonds' partner, 31-year-old Dorothy Tipene, was jailed for 18 months on a charge of cruelty to a child.
Justice Grant Hammond acknowledged that Mereana's death was the cumulative result of "a difficult life" and that Edmonds' psychological problems contributed to her actions.
Mereana died as a result of violence. She was also conceived as a result of it - Edmonds was raped at 26. In normal circumstances names of rape victims are suppressed, but Justice Hammond told the Weekend Herald that in this case Edmonds' name could be revealed because a charge of rape was never laid.
Despite the lack of a criminal conviction, he said, the court accepted that Mereana was conceived by rape.
The third of eight children, Edmonds became a solvent abuser at the age of 10 and later a repeat offender. She started living on the streets after leaving school in the third form.
Edmonds has 48 convictions - 42 for anti-social crimes such as theft, five for assault and one for cannabis possession.
Most of her siblings have also been through the courts. A brother in the Mongrel Mob was recently jailed for 10 years.
During her pregnancy, Edmonds sought treatment in a Hanmer Springs drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme, where she met Tipene.
Mereana was born in Hastings on November 24, 1992. She lived with her mother on and off for 18 months before going to live with her grandmother, Haraiata Edmonds.
Mereana's next 4 1/2 years were those of a normal childhood. She went to Peterhead School, where teachers regarded her as a real character with a sense of humour.
Principal Tim Anderson said Mereana "simply adored her Nanny." Teachers remembered her as a sparkling, happy child. News of her death "crushed everyone."
In 1998, Edmonds decided her daughter should live with her in Hamilton. The pair first lived at the YWCA but even in the early stages caring for Mereana was a struggle for Edmonds.
In court yesterday, her lawyer, Herman Roose, said Edmonds had conflicting feelings for Mereana. On one hand, she felt motherly emotions and affection.
On the other, her personal problems, especially the rape, made it difficult to care for the little girl.
Eventually, Mereana, Edmonds and Tipene all lived together in a Boundary Rd house and Mereana was enrolled in Hamilton East Primary School.
But the school was troubled by her behaviour. On hot days she would arrive wearing full-length clothing, then refuse to go swimming.
She was sometimes too scared to get off the school bus to go home, and would cling, crying, to the legs of one of the teachers.
The school notified Child, Youth and Family Services. Board of trustees chairwoman Bev Cooper will not say what follow-up came from that call, or how many times the school called CYFS, but is confident the school acted appropriately.
But sources told the Weekend Herald that CYFS made one phone call to Mereana's home to ask if there was a problem with her care, and was told by one of the accused that all was well.
No other call, no home visit and no follow-up were made.
CYFS will not discuss Mereana's case except to say its actions were "appropriate" and would not be reviewed - a decision made by chief social worker Mike Doolan with the Commissioner for Children's backing.
Asked if a single phonecall to one of the people alleged to be abusing the child was appropriate, a CYFS spokesperson was "not sure if we're prepared to comment on that."
Two weeks before Mereana's death, Edmonds was reaching crisis point.
The abuse was out of control and she was having intensive counselling. Around this time plans were made for Mereana to return to her Nanny.
But she didn't get there.
Edmonds and Tipene were both charged with manslaughter on December 14 last year. Tipene's charge was later reduced to one of cruelty.
At a depositions hearing this year, a pathologist said Mereana had suffered three major brain traumas before her death, caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain.
One, from a severe blow, was received about two hours before she died. The child had numerous other injuries - bruises and abrasions all over her body and even a bite mark made by an adult.
Yesterday, Justice Hammond told Edmonds she was "clearly a grossly damaged person."
He called Tipene "a distinct agent in the death of Mereana."
He acknowleged that both women were remorseful about their action, especially Edmonds, who in evidence to police said: "I never really hugged her. Now I know I loved her, I wish I could have another chance with her."
Weapons were to protect
hostages: Rabuka
Friday, August 18, 2000
2.45 pm
Former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka claims the military handed out weapons to the May 19 coup plotters after the government had been taken hostage.
He said the weapons were issued for the protection of the hostages.
Speaking on an Australian radio station, Rabuka says he supports an enquiry into the May coup, asserting that it was important that a critical analysis of the situation was carried out. He claims those in command knew about the movement of the weapons.
Rabuka claims the weapons was released to former military officer and coup supporter Ilisoni Ligairi to protect hostages from George Speight's supporters that crowded the parliamentary complex.
He says the culprits should come out and explain why the weapons were taken out.
Police start coup
investigations
Friday, August 18, 2000
6.00 pm
Police have begun investigations into the possible involvement of the military into the May 19 coup, Radio Fiji reported today.
Investigators are trying to establish a link betweeen the perpetrators of the coup and the military.
Three senior military officers and two members of the interim government are suspects at this stage.
It is believed a former military officer, now in the police department, could also be investigated.
Military spokesperson Major Howard Politini told Radio Fiji that enquiries like these are not a surprise and more could be expected.
He said the military and the police are conducting their own investigations to attempt to reveal those who were involved in the civilian coup.
Ligairi wanted ex-soldiers
to help 'cause', Dr Dewa
Friday, August 18, 2000
FORMER British Army soldiers now living in Fiji were asked to support Ilisoni Ligairi in Parliament immediately after the May 19 coup.
This was revealed by former British Army soldier and Fijian Association Party parliamentarian Doctor Fereti Dewa yesterday.
"I was approached by one of us who was inside the complex supporting Ligairi, to ask the others to come to the complex as they had some concrete evidence for the reasons behind the illegal take-over," Mr Dewa said.
Mr Dewa told his comrade that he, as a former soldier, would stand and uphold the oath he,had sworn.
He said he was told of the alleged support from the Special Air Services squadron.
Mr Dewa however told his former colleague the British elite group would never stoop to anything so low.
He said there was no way for the SAS to be actively supporting Ligairi.
Their training and oath of allegiance was totally against the barbaric actions of Ligairi and his men Dr Dewa said.
The former FAP parliamentarian said he met his comrade three weeks after the take-over and his tone had changed.
Ligairi told Dr Dewa he had seen no good reasons for the coup and no support from the SAS whatsoever.
On the other hand, he said there were big problems within parliament.
He told Dr Dewa "instead of the SAS, what they need in there is a big SOS.
Mr Dewa said a group with the capabilities such as the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit is too advanced for Fiji.
He said the group is well versed in all aspects of warfare.
They're trained for special missions, Dr Dewa said but not to overthrow a democratically elected government and damage a country's economy like what Ligairi and his CRW men did.
The role played by the CRW in the May 19 take-over according to Dr Dewa has shown the Crack squad was formed for other intentions.
Members of such groups in other countries are hand picked, highly qualified men.
They go through many psychological tests before being finally drafted in, said Dr Dewa.
Home Affairs Minister, Ratu Talemo Ratakele said the decision to scrap the CRW unit was up to the Commander of the Fiji Military Forces, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama.
Fiji's Daily Post
Qarase defends Fijian
rights
Friday, August 18, 2000
INTERIM Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase yesterday said it would be unrealistic to reinstate the 1997 Constitution and the People's Coalition Government, or appoint a Government of National Unity.
Mr Qarase said this during a two-hour meeting with the African Caribbean and Pacific ministerial delegation at his office in Suva yesterday.
He said the 1997 Constitution was unpopular with Fijians and that Fijians were dissatisfied with certain policies of the Mahendra Chaudhry Government.
Mr Qarase said the May 19 coup was illegal and could not be condoned.
On the other hand, he said it would be unrealistic to return to the pre-May 19 regime given the wide dissatisfaction among Fijians.
"The reservations on the Constitution, which several Fijian provinces had registered in the 1997 Great Council of Chiefs, unfortunately were not taken seriously into account by the Government at the time in taking the draft 1997 Constitution to Parliament for its adaptation.
"It would therefore be important that the new Constitution must be fully explained to Fijians at all level including the GCC and the provincial councils," he said.
Mr Qarase said that his government will not adopt a new Constitution unless it received the full endorsement of the Fijian community at the provincial level through the GCC.
He said the Interim Administration was committed to promulgating the new Constitution.
This he said would be done by December 2001. Elections will be held a year after that.
He said the three main objectives of the new Constitution are:
Mr Qarase told the ACP mission, the Administration was committed to developing solutions to the ALTA issue that would be just and fair to both landowners and tenants.
"To ensure this, there is to be full consultations with the Native Land Trust Board and key stakeholders in the sugar industry, including the Sugar Commission, the Cane Growers Organisation and the Fiji Sugar Corporation.
Mr Qarase also said his government, while committed to implementing in full the Blueprint for Fijian and Rotuman Development, the Administration would also assure that equal concerns and consideration was given to all citizens and communities," he said.
Fiji's Daily Post
Army Nab 11 Rebels
Military tightens noose
around Monasavu area
Friday, August 18, 2000
ELEVEN more people were arrested in the Monasavu area yesterday as the military tightened its security net in the high risk region.
Military spokesman Second Lieutenant Semi Koroi said two men were arrested near Rewasau village carrying arms.
Also nine Waibasaga youths carrying medical and food supply were apprehended by foot patrolling soldiers.
Lt Koroi said it is suspected the ration was for runaway criminals at large in the region. Since the military moved into the area a week ago rebels have been arrested and people suspected to be linked or assisting them.
The arrest comes at a time when the Fiji Electricity Authority is trying to get power supply back to normal after months of black-outs that disrupted the lives of thousands of households across Viti Levu and a badly wounded economy.
FEA chief executive Nizzam-ud-Dean is assuring the public that his staff are giving their best, given the security and cold conditions up at Monasavu and Wailoa, to return much needed power supply to normal.
"I would like the public to bear with us but I can assure them that normal power supply will be back early next week," he said.
Mr Dean said civil engineers, mechanical and telecommunication staff started work at Wailoa and the dam site on Tuesday and additional technical staff were deployed yesterday in an effort to speed up inspection and needed repairs.
"We have switched on the transmission line from Wailoa and the power station has been put to order," he said.
Mr Dean said workers are inspectig the dam area and the tunnel to establish if there are damages to be attended to.
He said both sites are secured by the military and his staff are sleeping in tents as staff quarters at Wailoa and Monasavu were extensively damaged.
The military had to secure the Monasavu and Wailoa sites after an FEA vehicle was seized last week even though civilians who occupied the facilities for two months had withdrawn.
Monasavu has been embroiled in controvesy for the past five years as landowners demand the authority and government pay compensation for the use of the dam's catchmen area.
The seizure last month and the subsequent disruption in electricity generation reached boiling point when landowners were threatening to inflict damages on some facilities in the power station and tunnel.
Fiji's Daily Post
Sabha calls for good
governance
Friday, August 18, 2000
THERE is an urgent need for good governance as the Interim Government is heavily slanted towards the needs of the indigenous community.
This was part of a joint submission by Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Shree Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabah, and The Then India Sanmargya Ikya Sangam to the African Caribbean and Pacific fact finding ministerial group.
The organisations said there is an urgent need to ensure that a constitutionally elected government of national unity is put in place.
They said this will go a long way in dealing with the apprehensions of the Indo-Fijian community.
This they said will not only benefit Indo-Fijians but the nation as a whole.
The originations are concerned with the manner in which attention is being drawn to indigenous rights.
"Holding elected governments hostage to redress indigenous issues is becoming the norm for socio-political developments here in Fiji," the submission said.
The organisations said they believe societies who feel aggrieved must find solutions within the means of nationally accepted laws and regulations.
Therefore, it is imperative that indigenous concerns are addressed within the framework of the 1997 Constitution, the organisations said. Another issue raised was that of land leases.
The submission said the current arrangement of leases expiring with no provisions for further extensions or renewals was of great concern to them.
This, they said, resulted in hundreds of farmers being evicted with no definite arrangements for resettlement or compensation by the State.
They believe the current arrangement will not be able to sustain lasting economic and social prosperity in Fiji.
The ACP delegation has been asked to influence the Interim Administration into providing a just and fair compensation.
Fiji's Daily Post
Interim govt does not need
sympathy, FTUC
Friday, August 18, 2000
DO NOT sympathise with the Interim Government's propaganda that they are championing indigenous rights.
That's the submission by the Fiji Trade Union Congress to the African Caribbean and Pacific fact-finding mission.
In the submission FTUC said the ACP should question the interim government on its commitment to good governance.
They said the support from the indigenous Fijians at grassroot level should also be questioned.
"ACP mission must not take any action to legitimise the interim administration, as it has taken on board all the demands of George Speight and his group and is only making discrimatory laws," the submission said.
"It has clearly indicated that the 1997 Constitution be abrogated by illegal means and not be reinstated."
The ACP mission was also requested to tell the interim government not to make any decisions or change laws pertaining land.
The FTUC said the reverting of Crown Schedule A and B Lands to native Land and remove all native land from the ambit of Agricultural Landlord Tenants Act (ALTA) will create more fear and anxiety for the predominantly Indian tenant farmers and further polarise the racial divide.
FTUC said the ACP mission should know that 17,000 leases under ALTA are on native land and the administration's decision to remove native land from ALTA will prove catastrophic for the sugar industry which is already struggling to survive in the face of threats of removal of the preferential prices.
Fiji's Daily Post
Tavola to visit Canberra
Friday, August 18, 2000
Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade Kaliopate Tavola is to visit Australia next week.
Tavola is seeking clearance for his proposed courtesy call to Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer.
He said he will use the visit to "raise matters important to Fiji's bilateral relations" with Australia.
Temo stands down from case
Friday, August 18, 2000
Chief Magistrate Sailesi Temo has handed over the George Speight case of unlawful assmebly and related arms charges to another magistrate.
Temo says the prosecution had made an application for him to disqualify himself from the case on the grounds that one of Speight's accomplices, Jioji Bakoso, is related to him.
Coup leader Speight and 10 other rebels appeared in the Magistrates Court in Suva today. The men are charged with unlawful possession of firearms, consorting with people carrying firearms in public, unlawful burial and two counts of unlawful assembly.
Their case has been deferred to August 25. Temo says he is bound by his judicial oath and to avoid allegations of being biased he would stand down from the case. Temo would still handle the treason case because Bakoso is not facing this charge alleged against Speight. It will be handled separately from other charges.
Suva resident magistrate Laisa Laveti has been appointed to succeed Temo.
Chaudhry gets doctorate
Friday, August 18, 2000
Deposed prime minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, has been given an honorary doctorate on his visit to his home state of Haryana in India.
Chaudhry's grandfather came to Fiji from Haryana.
Tens of thousands of people gave him a hero's welcome. Chaudhry addressed the crowd in Hindi.
He said India should be at the forefront of international pressure against the interim regime in Fiji to ensure the restoration of democracy.
Thursday, August 17, 2000 - Fiji Village
The Bose Levu Vakaturaga will hold a special meeting at the end of this month to consider terms of reference on the Constitutional Review Committee.
Meanwhile, BLV Secretary Asesela Sadole says the chiefs had given their submission to the ACP delegation at Boron House on Tuesday. The BLV briefed the ACP on the events of the last few months and recommended how the current situation should be addressed.
The ACP delegation who are here on a fact finding mission are expected to leave our shores this weekend
Australia has moved to minimise the potential of Fiji citizens of questionable character bypassing Australia visa requirements.
The Immigration minister there, Philip Ruddock says this basically means all Fiji citizens will need a visa to travel to Australia even if to transit to a third country. Under Australia's migration laws, people who apply for a visa must satisfy Australia's character requirements before a visa to travel can be issued.
Fiji tourism pioneer Dan Costello has launched a new $2.5 million foil assisted catamaran for inter-island services.
Costello who owns the Beachcomber Island resort and Cruises launched the new 20 metre 150 seat luxury vessel in New Zealand last Saturday. " Lagilagi" was launched by the Maori Queen.
Costello believes Fiji's tourism industry will bounce back because despite the challenges in its way, Fiji was and is a great holiday destination.
The New Zealand has partially lifted the travel advisory on Fiji.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry there, has specified that there has been some improvement in the security situation in Fiji and that the interim Government has been taking steps to enforce order and control in many parts of the country.
The Travel Advisory recommends areas to travel include the western parts of Viti Levu which they believe is relatively calm. However the New Zealand Government still advise their nationals to maintain a level of caution and security awareness.
Deposed Prime Minister , Mahendra Chaudhry has arrived in India. Although he is there on a a private visit, the Hindustani Times reports that the Government there would accord him the status of a visiting premier.
Chaudhry is expected to call on the Indian President and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The Hindustani Times also reports that Chaudhry will visit his ancestral village in Hariyana.
The Magistrate's Court may have to wait on a High Court ruling before it decides on whether George Speight and his associates should be granted amnesty.
DPP lawyers lodged an appeal with the High Court against a ruling by the Chief Magistrate Salesi Temo regarding the granting of amnesty to Isoa Karawa Raceva, a George Speight suporter.
Karawa who was charged for possession of firearms had his case dismissed by the Chief Magistrate on the grounds that the alleged crime was covered by the Immunity Decree. However, the State lawyers have now challenged the validity of the decree.
Meanwhile, Chief Magistrate Salesi Temo will give his ruling tomorrow on whether he will disqualify himself from hearing Speight and his 16 associates case or transfer Joji Bakoso's trial to another resident Magistrate.
Bakoso, who is charged with the hostage takers, is a close relative of Chief Magistrate Salesi Temo.
Police are investigating an incident where 22 rounds of live ammunitions were found in a car. The incident was reported to police by the owner of the car who allegedly saw someone drop the parcel into her car.
The incident which occurred around 9am yesterday has ben confirmed by Police spokes-person Inspector Sera Bernard.
" So she made her complaints to police and police discovered 22 live rounds of point 22 ammunitions in the parcel , so Police are continuing their investigation and are trying to confirm as to who is the owner of the parcel."
Two Monasavu farmers were last night arrested by the Fiji Military Forces patrol after they were found with rifles
The two men were armed with riffles believed to be part of the missing RFMF arms.
Military spokesperson Lt Semi Koroi confirmed the arrest adding nine other youths were also arrested. They are believed to have been transporting rations and medications for the escapees.
Those arrested are on their way to Suva for further questioning.
The ACP delegation made up of Pacific Island Foreign Affairs Ministers are currently meeting with the Interim PM and Cabinet at the government buildings.
The ACP group who are in the country on a fact finding mission are expected to visit the parliament complex tomorrow.They will also look at shops damaged in the riots during the insurrections before they depart on the weekend.
According to spokesperson Paula Kunabuli the special delegation are expected to give their report to the ACP who will then advise the European Union and other International bodies.
Bail application for
Dimuri deferred
Thursday, August 17, 2000
6.00 pm
One of George Speight's supporters Ratu Josefa Dimuri who appeared in court early this week has been remanded in custodyafter the magistrate deferred a decision on whether to release him on bail.
Dimuri was the former Information Minister in the Rabuka government. He was one of the rebels involved in the takeover of the Sukanaivalu Barracks in Labasa.
Dimuri has denied charges of unlawful assembly, consorting with people carrying arms, unlawful use of motor vehicle and inciting mutiny.
He is being held in custody at the Labasa Police Station until next Tuesday when magistrate Maika Nakora will rule on the bail application.
The state prosecutor said mutiny is a serious offence and the penalty is life imprisonment.
He claimed that Dimuri is a member of the rebel group and that properties from police and army barracks stolen during the take over has not been recovered.
The state says if he is released on bail potential witnesses could be interfered with.
Arms used by the rebel group are still at large.
The state said it had made arrangements for Ratu Josefa to be transferred to Nukulau Island to join George Speight and his men.
Defence lawyer Harry Robinson speaking in favour of bail said the offences are minor and that Dimuri is the sole bread winner in the family.
Robinson said Dimuri is not a soldier and would not know about the missing firearms.
Reddy resigns
Thursday, August 17, 2000
Fiji Court of Appeal president and former National Federation Party leader Jai Ram Reddy has resigned five months after taking up his position.
In a statement, Reddy said he found it difficult to continue in his position after the elected government had been evicted from office by force of arms.
He said the 1997 Constitution was abrogated and those in authority have vowed not to bring it back.
It has personally been a matter of deep concern and sorrow, he said, as he was very involved in the evolution and final passage of the 1997 Constitution by Parliament.
He said this had consequences for the democratic system of
government he and others had worked very hard to achieve.
Savua to go on leave
Thursday, August 17, 2000
6.00 pm
Fiji Police Commissioner, Isikia Savua, will either be suspended or put on leave pending investigations on his alleged involvement in the overthrow of the Mahendra Chaudhry government on May 19.
The Public Service Commission says process have been put in place to appoint a judicial tribunal to investigate the matter, which would mean Savua would have to go on leave, Fiji TV One reported tonight.
Savua was widely criticised for his lack of leadership during the crisis. He went to a police commissioner's conference in Vanuatu at a time when the rebels were overtaking police stations in some parts of the country, and his men were subjected to violence and being held hostage.
He was also criticised for the lack of police action during the riots and looting in Suva.
Savua had called a press conference today to clear the issue but postponed it saying he had been instructed not to say anything on the matter as official investigations were starting.
Aust relaxes travel
advisory
Thursday, August 17, 2000
Australia has relaxed its travel advisory for Fiji, potentially opening the door for Australians visit Fiji.
The move will be a boost for the troubled tourism industry as Australia is Fiji's largest source of tourists.
An earlier advisory asking Australian citizens to defer all travel to Fiji has been withdrawn.
Coalition sues Ratu Mara
Thursday, August 17, 2000
A WRIT has been filed in the Lautoka High Court challenging Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's decision to dissolve Parliament.
And it insists that the 1997 Constitution has not been lawfully removed.
It claims that Army Commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama acted beyond his jurisdiction and that Ratu Josefa Iloilo is an unlawful President.
The writ was filed on Tuesday by members of the deposed People's Coalition government particularly former assistant minister for Fijian Affairs Ratu Isireli Vuibau and parliamentarians Deo Narayan and Doctor Gunasagaran Gounder.
It cites as defendants Ratu Sir Kamisese (as the President at the time), Fiji Military Forces Commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo (as current President), the Attorney General and the Chief Justice Sir Timoci Tuivaga.
The writ declares that Ratu Sir Kamisese acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally to prorogue parliament.
It argues that Ratu Sir Kamisese was wrong in "holding" that Mahendra Chaudhry was unable to perform his duties.
Therefore, the writ said, he should not have appointed an acting prime minister. On May 27, Ratu Sir Kamisese announced the appointment of Tevita Momoedonu as acting Prime Minister under Section 106 (1) of the 1997 Constitution.
Mr Momoedonu later resigned making way for the President to prorogue parliament for six months.
The plaintiffs claim that
The writ said Sir Timoci "failed to take steps in the interest of administration of justice to retain the existence of the Supreme Court of Fiji".
The plaintiffs also sought the court to declare that they were entitled to full renumeration emoluments and other benefits as ministers and parliamentarians.
They are also claiming compensation for their wrongful capture and arrest during their 59 days of captivity at the parliament complex.
Fiji's Daily Post
US supports Fiji's return
to democracy
Thursday, August 17, 2000
United States secretary of State Madeleine Albright in a letter to deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry says the US government will continue to support efforts to restore constitutional government in Fiji.
The letter dated August 11 and signed by Ronald McCullen, deputy chief of mission on Albright's behalf, expressed agreement with Chaudhry that all friends Fiji of need to work together towards returning Fiji to democracy.
"We have been in close and regular contact with our allies on the best means to this end," Albright said. She said her spokesman has been directed to condemn the overthrow of democracy in Fiji at every opportunity.
"Two public statements have been issued calling for a return to lawful, constitutional government in Fiji." In addition, the US security assistance programme has been suspended until she was satisfied that constitutional government in Fiji has been restored, she added.
Expressing her disturbance at the ordeal that he and his son Rajendra were put through as hostages for nearly two months, Albright said she was pleased that Chaudhry and other members of his government were finally released.
"I was also encouraged to hear of the arrest of the George Speight, who led this repugnant and criminal act," she said.
Bye, bye dad
Thursday, August 17, 2000
A RED rose from Claire Weleilakeba signified her love for her fallen hero Private Joela Dranicevuga Weleilakeba who was buried at the Vatuwaqa cemetry yesterday.
In a gloomy Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of relatives and friends accompanied her with her four children on their last journey together that was concluded with a full military burial.
The Raiwai Methodist Church in Suva was jam packed and mourners spilt on to the outside.
Also at the service were the Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, Commodore Frank Bainimarama and scores of top military, police an navy officers.
Draped in the Fiji flag, Private Weleilakeba's coffin was carried from the church by his comrades before being transported to the cemetry where mourners were sombrely awaiting his arrival.
Fiji's Daily Post
Adi Kuini arrives home
Thursday, August 17, 2000
DEPOSED deputy Prime Minister Adi Kuini Speed arrives in the country today after nearly nine months in Australia.
Adi Kuini left for Canberra Royal Hospital late November last year to undergo surgery after injuring her spine in a fall.
She underwent extensive surgery while admitted in Canberra.
The injury left her partially paralysed but she has now fully recovered.
Fiji's Daily Post
Baba slams forum response
to crisis
Thursday, August 17, 2000
THE deposed People's Coalition government yesterday lashed out at the South Pacific Forum's inability to respond to the crisis in Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tupeni Baba told an African, Caribbean and Pacific delegation yesterday that the forum does not have any mechanisms for dealing with armed overthrow of governments in the region.
Dr Baba said they were aware the forum had wanted to help in resolving the Fiji crisis.
"The forum does not have the capacity to deal with and respond to questions of constitutional reform, promotion of peace building interventions and managing conflict through constitutional provisions and constitutionally sanctioned public policy in divided societies.
"The Forum's incapacity in these areas has been demonstrated time and again, through its failure to respond to the Bougainville crisis which was at a great cost to the Papua New Guinea economy and its inability in the recent crisis in the Solomon Islands and now in Fiji.
"While the Forum Foreign Ministers have recommended capacity building in these areas, it will take a number of years for the forum itself to built up capacity and set its own mechanisms like the European Union.
"Accordingly, while we welcome the initiative of the forum, it is clear that the present crisis in Fiji will have to be dealt with through other mechanisms and procedures."
Fiji's Daily Post
Call to justify interm
cabinet
Thursday, August 17, 2000
THE Citizens Constitutional Forum has told the fact finding mission sent to Fiji by the European Union/Africa, Carribean and the Pacific, that the two to three year term of the interim administration cannot be justified.
The Forum's executive director Reverend Akuila Yabaki said the administration does not have a legal mandate to do what it implemented or intends to propose because it was un-elected.
The CCF also renewed its call for a Government of National Unity (GNU) based on the 1997 Constitution as the most appropriate government to lead Fiji out of the present crisis.
"A GNU will be morally and legally in a justifiable position to ask the international community to lift the sanctions against Fiji and therefore make it unnecessary for the EU-ACP group to invoke section 366(a) which could inevitably lead to the suspension of the Sugar Protocol," he said.
Fiji's Daily Post
Return to democracy,
coalition tells delegation
Thursday, August 17, 2000
THE deposed People's Coalition Government has called on the African Caribbean Pacific ministerial delegation visiting the country to promote Fiji's swift return to democracy.
The call was made by former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tupeni Baba and five other former ministers of the Chaudhry government in a meeting with the ACP delegation in Suva yesterday.
"If full restoration of democracy is not heeded, then the EU-ACP should formally suspend the application of the Lome Convention to Fiji," Dr Baba said in the submission.
"We believe that this course of action would be entirely consistent with the EU-ACP Charter.
"We also believe that this is in the long-term interests of democracy and justice in Fiji," he said.
The former ministers said in their submission that the EU-ACP should take decisive and principled action aimed at firmly up holding the essential elements of the Lome Convention.
The group who were ousted in the May 19 coup said the application of the 336(a) Procedure of the Lome convention would ensure the road to democracy in Fiji is genuinely inclusive and attempts to rebuild democracy will be through consensus building within the framework of the 1997 Constitution.
"The Coalition very much hopes that at the conclusion of the visit, the ACP delegation will demonstrate a firm and decisive commitment to promote Fiji's swift return to democracy, the rule of law and constitutional government in our country.
"We are gratified that Procedure 366(a) of the Convention has been activated and consultations initiated as a consequence.
"If at the end of the consultation period, the international calls for full restoration of the constitutional government have not been heeded, we request that the European Union formally suspended the application of Lome Convention with the EU-ACP charter.
"We also believe that this is the long term interest of democracy and justice in Fiji."
The members of the deposed government that made the submissions included Poseci Bune, Anand Singh, Pratap Chand, Krishna Dutt and Anup Kumar.
"We believe that this can only be done through the appointment of a Government of National Unity and the reinstatement of the 1997 Constitution.
"We do not believe that democracy can be restored by unlawful Interim Administration that is itself a product of the unlawful overthrow of democratic government".
Fiji's Daily Post
Aussies cautioned over
Fiji security
Thursday, August 17, 2000
AUSTRALIANS living in Fiji have been asked to maintain high levels of personal security and to monitor developments that might affect their safety.
Public Relations Officer for the Australian High Commission in Suva Dennis Rounds, said "While the security in Fiji has improved recently, the situation in Fiji remains uncertain".
Mr Rounds said that while every care has been taken in preparing the travel advice, neither the Australian Government nor its agents or employees including any member of Australia's consular staff abroad, can accept liability for any injury, loss or damage.
"Australians are advised to avoid travel to the island of Vanua Levu and to take advice from local authorities before visiting areas of Viti Levu," Mr Rounds said.
"Incidents of lawlessness continue in these areas despite general improvements in the security situation."
Mr Rounds said though Suva remains calm following the appearance in court of George Speight and some of his supporters, there remains the possibility of civil disorder as a result of further proceedings against the rebels.
Australians have been further advised to stay clear of any public gatherings associated with this proceedings.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government has given a notice to their Suva embassy in Suva about the partial lifting of the travel ban advising Japanese citizens against travelling to Fiji.
Minister Consular Goto Akra said the government felt that there has been significant changes in the political crisis in Fiji.
"They have said it is safe to travel to the Western and Central parts of Viti Levu and the Provinces of Ba, Nadroga, Navosa, Serua, the Yasawa and Mamanuca group, and Beqa island," he said.
Mr Akra said visiting other parts of the country was still being discouraged.
Fiji's Daily Post
Inquiry into funds starts
Thursday, August 17, 2000
THE Auditor General's office has started interviewing people about the operation of the Prime Minister's Special Project Account.
Auditor General Eroni Vatuloka would not reveal the names of people already questioned but said "a couple of people have already been interviewed."
Mr Vatuloka said he would be in a better position to comment after deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry is interviewed.
Mr Vatuloka did not confirm nor deny whether Interim Prime Laisenia Qarase was one of those interviewed.
When questioned about the presence of Mr Qarase in his office, Mr Vatuloka said "it was a courtesy call".
Mr Chaudhry in his defence last week said the construction of the bure which was also the Tui Ba, Ratu Sakiusa Nagagavoka's meeting house at Sorokoba village was nothing sinister.
Mr Chaudhry said Tui Ba had approached him last year for assistance because the chiefly meeting hall in Sorokoba was in a state of disrepair.
He said tax payers' money was not used.
Instead money from a private donor was used.
Mr Chaudhry said the Interim Administration will have to do a lot better than just a witch-hunt to discredit his government.
Fiji's Daily Post
Three rebels give up
Thursday, August 17, 2000
Three rebels have given themselves up to the army this week.
This is after a joint military and police operation combed the upper Monasavu area and Naitasiri Province.
The rebels were members of the crack Counter Revolutionary Warfare unit.
The three are Serupepeli Dakai, Peni Naduniwai and Eparama Ravulo.
The rebels would be detained at the Nabua Queen Elizabeth Barracks awaiting a special court martial hearing.
Five soldiers are still on the run and include martial arts expert Jonasa Tonawai, Viliame Sokiveta, Toni Celesiga, Apenisa Ravutuqia and Tevita Poese.
