Fed: Liberal MP describes UN as fantasy indulgent theme park

AAP General News (Australia)
08-30-2000
Fed: Liberal MP describes UN as fantasy indulgent theme park

CANBERRA, Aug 30 AAP - Liberal MP Andrew Thomson today launched a scathing attack on
the United Nations human rights headquarters, describing it as a theme park for indulging
the fantasies of advocate groups.

The federal government announced yesterday it would veto nearly all visits by UN human
rights investigators in response to critical findings about Australia's treatment of Aborigines
and asylum seekers.

Mr Thomson, chairman of federal parliament's treaties committee, said one visit to
the UN human rights operation at Geneva had been enough to convince him it was useless.

"Really they struck me as just a theme park for indulging the fantasies of the global
NGO (non-government organisation) guilt movement," he told the ABC.

"That's really what got them going, just hearing these unrepresentative NGOs heap abuse
on gold-plated democracies like Australia."

Mr Thomson said the UN also appeared to be confused about its role.

"They're in a hell of a mess there, they don't have enough money or staff to run the
place properly, they don't understand their role, they don't know whether they're a political
outfit or a legal outfit," he said.

Fellow Liberal Alan Ferguson, who chairs an inquiry into Australia's relationship with
the UN, said he would defend Australia's position to UN officials during a three-month
stint at its New York base.

"I'm quite sure it will be an issue that's raised because the United Nations goes into
committee work in October and November and one of the six main committees (of) the United
Nations deals with treaty obligations," he said.

United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson has warned Australia against
being over defensive and told the government not to get carried away in its opposition
to the UN system.

AAP kmh/arb

KEYWORD: UN AUST MPS

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2000
SA: Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

ADELAIDE, April 15 AAP - Conspiracy theories still surround the sinking of the Titanic
in the Atlantic ocean on this day, 88 years ago.

President of the SS Titanic and Steamship Society of Australasia, Mark Kasperski, said
the theories have been around for a while and claim that the Titanic didn't sink at all.

"The conspiracy theory says the Titanic and the Olympic were switched before the Titanic
sailed," he said.

Mr Kasperski said there were a number of questions surrounding the ship that lies at
the bottom of the ocean.

The Titanic was painted black whereas her sister ship, the Olympic, was painted grey.

"There appears to be grey paint on the wreck of the Titanic," Mr Kasperski said.

Mr Kasperski has written an interactive CD-ROM about the Titanic and is about to publish
a new book on the conspiracy theories surrounding the ship.

"The CD is the world's largest collection of Titanic material on one source," he said.

The society has about 300 members across Australia who come together for the anniversary
and will host a gala dinner in Adelaide to mark the date, with guests coming from around
Australia and overseas.

AAP nc/as

KEYWORD: TITANIC

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: No relaxation on smutty language, says ABA

AAP General News (Australia)
01-20-2000
Fed: No relaxation on smutty language, says ABA

The Australian Broadcasting Authority says the rules on offensive language on commercial
television haven't been relaxed, despite a 60 Minutes segment on the F-word.

ABA chairman DAVID FLINT says the media watchdog is concerned about reports suggesting
it's eased rules on the use of coarse and offensive language on commercial TV, in particular
the use of the F-word in early evenings.

He says the context in which coarse and offensive words are used and the likely audience
of the program are important factors.

Professor FLINT says the …

FED: ADF remains on standby despite peaceful ballot

AAP General News (Australia)
08-31-1999
FED: ADF remains on standby despite peaceful ballot



done



Thousands of Australian Defence Force personnel remain on standby today to head to East
Timor, despite yesterday's peaceful autonomy ballot.

Around 90 per cent of East Timor's eligible voters took part in the ballot, with only one
minor incident reported - a far better result than predicted.

Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman LAURIE BRERETON, a frequent critic of the lack of
armed peacekeepers for the ballot, says the vote was truly historic.

Foreign Minister ALEXANDER DOWNER says reports from observers are very encouraging.

But the ADF is taking no chances, with Black Hawk helicopters, a high-speed catamaran and
C130 Hercules aircraft remaining on stand by in Darwin to evacuate Australians and others if
violence erupts in the wake of the vote.

AAP RTV ss/wz/rat

KEYWORD: TIMOR AUST (CANBERRA)

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

QLD: Far north Qld shire willing to take Kosovo refugees

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-1999
QLD: Far north Qld shire willing to take Kosovo refugees

CAIRNS, April 8 AAP - A far north Queensland shire wants to take some of the 4,000 Kosovo
Albanian refugees likely to be relocated to Australia as part of humanitarian efforts in the
Balkans.

Mareeba shire mayor Chris Lewis said the shire was an ideal place to take in some of the
refugees because it had one of the few established Albanian communities in Australia.

He said consultation with the local Albanian community showed there was a lot of
accommodation available in the district, just north-west of Cairns.

"We have our own Albanian Muslim mosque, and accommodation can be provided on the farms in
the area as most have vacant workers' accommodation," Councillor Lewis said.

"Because of the strength of this community, I think they would be accommodated and would
assimilate without too many problems.

"We are a rural-based community, which is where many of the refugees are coming from, and
we are close to an international airport."

Mr Lewis said shires such as Mareeba had a responsibility to help refugees caught in the
middle of the Kosovo crisis.

"We are proud of our multicultural community and proud to acknowledge the contribution
Albanian farmers have made to making our economy as strong as it is," Mr Lewis said.

"We are happy to put our hand up to assist.

"It will be easier for them to assimilate in a place like Mareeba, rather than in army
bases or in the outback somewhere."

AAP dt/jak/sd/pa

KEYWORD: KOSOVO REFUGEES QLD

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

VIC: Esso worker hits out at maintenance cuts

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-1998
VIC: Esso worker hits out at maintenance cuts

MELBOURNE, Dec 21 AAP - An Esso worker today hit out at his employer over cuts in
maintenance and the number of supervisors at the Longford gas plant in eastern Victoria before
September's fatal explosion.

Process technician Stephen Bennett told the Longford Royal Commission how despite an
agreement to maintain the number of shift supervisors, Esso had cut them from two to one.

"We protested, explained our position and Esso wouldn't budge, that's the way it was going
to be," Mr Bennett told the royal commission.

The Longford royal commission is investigating the circumstances surrounding the explosion
at the plant on September 25 which killed two workers and cut gas supplies to the rest of
Victoria for a fortnight.

Mr Bennett said the reduction in supervisors had a major effect on the workload of
employees, who could rarely gain access to the one supervisor on duty.

"We had to be a lot more involved with the maintenance workloads, jobs were slowed down
while we accessed a supervisor ... we weren't happy with the situation at all," he said.

"Previously supervisors had the time available to be able to actually get out into the
operations area itself, checking out equipment, checking out processes, highlight any problems
- they don't have that opportunity to a great extent currently."

Mr Bennett also criticised cutbacks in maintenance, which he said in recent years had been
"fairly noticeably reduced".

"The size of the plant and the equipment has gradually increased without maintenance
numbers being increased accordingly," he said.

He said maintenance had also slipped in the older Gas Plant One, which exploded on
September 25 and killed two people.

"It was very obvious stand-by pumps and other equipment, control systems etc, they haven't
been repaired as quickly as they would have been in the past," Mr Bennett said.

"Equipment is out of service for longer periods than I can recall in the past."

The commission hearing is continuing.

AAP ljm/ra

KEYWORD: GAS LEAD

1998 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED:Report backs better support for retailer=4

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2011
FED:Report backs better support for retailer=4

Mr Shorten said there were many opportunities for online retail.

"The Australian retail industry should not regard the internet as some sort of big
brown snake that has snuck into the kitchen and imperils the future of retail," he said.

"Consumers are shopping online for a whole host of reasons from being value-conscious,
to taking benefit from the high dollar, to looking for range, to frustration from some
bricks and mortar (stores).

"But in all this the government is most mindful of the concerns of small business ...

and we think there are collective solutions to the future of retail."

Mr Shorten said the government would not "take the low road" and advocate an end to
penalty rates or lower wages in the retail sector.

"The reality is retail wages are not high," he said.

"The Australian retail industry does need a skilled staff and having an old-fashioned
debate about cutting someone's wage rate ... surely we are smarter in this country than
just cutting peoples' wages."

AAP pjo/rl/mm

KEYWORD: RETAIL 4 CANBERRA

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.