Galloway: Cry for social change

"The only way to make poverty history is to make the G8 history.(snip) Some of the most dangerous men in the world are in Gleneagles Hotel this week. They are responsible not only for the renewed and terrifying drive to war that characterises the start of the 21st century. They also preside over a system that is itself the biggest killer in the world.(snip)

You can't make poverty history by writing off some of the debt of some of the countries in Africa and pretending you have made up for centuries of exploitation and injustice."

To: intellectually curious

Subject: George Galloway - Battle cry for radical change

What do sweatshop workers in Bangladesh have in common with the people who work in your local supermarket? More than you might think, writes George Galloway, Respect MP The only way to make poverty history is to make the G8 history. I don't mean simply the annual jamboree for the leaders of the world's richest and most powerful states. I mean the whole nexus of exploitation and privilege that the G8 and its attendant institutions represent.

They are a gigantic siphon sucking up vast quantities of wealth from the poor - whether they live in the poorest countries or in the G8 states themselves. The G8 is not the solution - it is the problem.

Some of the most dangerous men in the world are in Gleneagles Hotel this week. They are responsible not only for the renewed and terrifying drive to war that characterises the start of the 21st century. They also preside over a system that is itself the biggest killer in the world.

Why does a child in Africa die every three seconds of preventable causes? Why did the tsunami last Christmas devastate so much of south and south east Asia? Because the people there are poor. There is no other reason. And why are they poor? It's because a tiny number of people standing at the head of the multinational corporations that bestraddle the globe are obscenely rich.

Not enough

We assembled in Edinburgh, London and many other places at the weekend to make poverty history. But it's not enough.

You can't get slim by eating low fat chocolate - it has to be part of a calorie controlled diet. You can't make poverty history by writing off some of the debt of some of the countries in Africa and pretending you have made up for centuries of exploitation and injustice.

Most countries in Africa are not included in even the limited debt reduction plan. Those that are included are being told they will have to privatise, deregulate and turn further towards the neo- liberal policies that are impoverishing them if they are to qualify.

Most of the world's poor don't live in Africa. They've been scandalously disregarded this week.

More than half the world lives on less than $2 a day. Cows in western Europe are subsidised by $2.40 a day. Add to that the cost of feeding the cow, and it comes to $6.40 a day. It's a similar picture in the US.

Tony Blair and George Bush are pushing for free trade because they know that it favours the already wealthy. Forcing people in the poorest countries to open up to the world market means accelerating the conveyor belt that transfers wealth into the hands of the multinational corporations.

What does this mean in real human terms? I went to Bangladesh this year and visited a sweatshop. There were hundreds of workers, mainly girls of 15 and 16, sleeping in quadruple bunk beds in the sweatshop compound.

They work from 6am to 7pm, six days a week, for 60p a day. Most of them do not leave the compound. Tesco jeans What were they making? Tesco jeans. They made hundreds of pairs every day for Tesco, which made £2,000 million profit last year selling things that other people make.

How are their profits that huge? Through the exploitation of workers in Britain, the exploitation of suppliers at the lowest margin and the exploitation of workers abroad, like in the sweatshops in Bangladesh.

Poverty at home and poverty abroad are connected - there is no separation. The hard pressed worker in a Tesco supermarket or depot, deprived of the basic right to sick pay, may not be on the edge of starvation - but they share a common bond with the girl in the sweatshop in Bangladesh.

Did Tesco behave illegally? No. What they are doing is their duty - to maximise profits for shareholders. They are behaving like upstanding capitalists.

In fact, shoring up their power means turning to far more direct methods of killing people. War and capitalism are interlinked. We are unlucky to live under two of the worst leaders in the world - the messianic, fundamentalist Tony Blair... and George Bush. But that isn't the reason for war. War comes from capitalism.

There are five Arabian Gulf countries containing vast amounts of oil, which is very important to the US. It has 4 percent of the world's population but consumes 25 percent of its energy.

Puppet presidents

That oil is too valuable to be left to Johnny Foreigner. Puppet presidents and corrupt kings might fall to leaders who would kick the US out, oppose Israel and use their money to develop their own countries.

They might also stop buying the West's arms. In September the arms dealers will be coming to an arms fair in east London.

They'll sell weapons to dictators who in future our government might oppose, and send British soldiers to fight and die against weapons sold by British arms companies and paid for by the British taxpayer under the export credit guarantee department.

In the old days you had plain, naked imperialism. We went in and took everything we could carry. In Africa we took people too, in holds of ships to become slaves.

Then there came a time when the colonies said, "We want to become independent and free." Now we are returning to the colonies we were driven out of. The most significant of these is Iraq.

We cannot go on like this. We have to change course, not only abroad, but also at home. For the same disastrous policies are being inflicted on people here in Britain.

It is possible

Take something as fundamental as housing. Constituents are coming to my surgery in Tower Hamlets every week with appalling problems of overcrowding, unfit conditions and endless waiting lists.

The neo-liberal answer from the government and local council is to privatise what is left of the council housing stock. The ineluctable result will be tenants made more insecure and more exploited as they are put at the mercy of private companies.

That will make it easier for millionaires in the City and Canary Wharf to get their hands on the land and housing, completing a process of social cleansing of the East End. What's modern about that? What's Labour about that? This year marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Within a few years this country built a vast number of council houses to make good the destruction of the Blitz and end the slum conditions of the 1930s.

Now, with the country much richer, why isn't it possible to have just such a building programme today? Of course it's possible. Just as it's possible to have a minimum wage set at the European decency threshold.

To accomplish any of this we need two things. The very fact that the issue of world poverty has been put on the agenda of the G8 summit meeting at all is testimony to the tremendous movement to oppose corporate globalisation and war we have built over the last six years.

Unaccountable figures

There are those who want to derail this movement, to blunt its radical edge, take it off the streets and transform it into a handful of unaccountable figures seeking crumbs from the rich and powerful on behalf of the mass of suffering people in the world.

That way lies disaster. No good has ever come of supplicating the likes of Bush and Blair. Progress has only ever come through the mass of people struggling for it.

Confronted with just such pressures to demobilise at the critical moment of the black civil rights movement in the 1960s, MartinLuther King said the key thing was "to keep the movement moving". We should heed those words today.

The second thing people are crying out for in Britain is political representatives who are of the movement and who seek to crack the neo-liberal consensus of the main parties.

I've just been part of an immensely successful speaking tour organised by the Respect party. We held some of the biggest political meetings for many years in towns, cities and at union conferences.

At each there was tremendous enthusiasm for what Respect has to say. The rallies helped breathe life into dozens of local campaigns and the G8 mobilisation.

They were also a significant step forward towards our goal of mounting a major challenge at next May's council elections. In shaking up the cosy political consensus at the general election, Respect has added to the sense of revolt in Britain.

We have drawn together pensioner activists, students, immigrant communities, trade unionists, anti-debt campaigners, anti-war activists -people who have been shut out of official politics.

We are a work in progress and we are a vehicle for radical change. The most pressing problem we have is that we are not big enough.

You can do something about that.

Respect website

By G. Galloway posted 9 July 05

Related:

The Secret Rulers of the World - New Link

• 1. The Secret Rulers of the World - Present/Past
• 2. The Secret Rulers of the World - Only the Start
• 3. Secret Rulers of the World - Profiting from 9/11
• 4. Secret Rulers of the World - Hidden Empire
• 5. The Secret Rulers of the World - Vatican Hoarding
• 6. The Secret Rulers of the World - Amen Pharaohs
• 7. Secret Rulers of the World - Forbidden Link
• 8. Secret Rulers of the World - Oceans of Blood
• 9. The Secret Rulers of the World - The Queen
• 10. The Secret Rulers of the World - King of Kings
• 11. Secret Rulers of the World - The Empire
• 12.The Secret Rulers of the World - The Cult of Amen
• 13. The Secret Rulers of the World - Committee of 300
• 14. The Secret Rulers of the World - Rothschild
• 15. The Secret Rulers of the World - New World Order
• 16. The Secret Rulers of the World - Freemasonry
• 17. The Secret Rulers of the World - Money Control
• 18. Secret Rulers of the World - Credit Monopoly
• 19. The Secret Rulers of the World - Bush Nazis
• 20. The Secret Rulers of the World - Palestine Israel
• 21. The Secret Rulers of the World - The Butchers
• 22. Secret Rulers of the World - The Asses of Evil
• 23. Secret Rulers of the World - Drug Running
• 24. The Secret Rulers of the World - War on Terror
• 25. The Secret Rulers of the World - Iraqi Dates
• 26. The Secret Rulers of the World - The AntiChrist
• 27. The Secret Rulers of the World - Enslavement
• 28. The Secret Rulers of the World - Tax Enslavement
• 29. The Secret Rulers of the World - The Power
• The Fabian Society, the Freemasonry and the Beehive
• The Fabian Society: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
• The Round Table: World Overview & Control
• Tavistock Institute: Global Mind Control
• Zeitgeist, The Movie - Remastered

UK false flag: where the bombers struck
The London transport system was coping with the peak of the morning rush hour when the coordinated terror attack the capital had feared became reality.

Malnutrition strikes 1 in 3 Africans: UN
One in three Africans suffers from malnutrition and a total of 852 million people in the world suffer from hunger, the United Nations says in a new report.

Howard off to US, UK - part 5
PART-5- PRIME minister john hoWARd will meet US president george w buSHIT, British prime minister tony blair and queen 'imperialism' herself during a 10-day visit to the United States and the UK next month.

Annan urges UN members to 'make poverty history'
World governments must embrace a broad strategy ranging from trade and debt forgiveness to handing out mosquito netting to "make poverty history", United Nations chief Kofi Annan says.


UN Dialogue among Civilizations
This roundtable is a contribution to the UN Dialogue among Civilizations project that began in September 2000. At the first round table debate on Dialogue among Civilizations, Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN stated that, cultural diversity - in his opinion - is not only the basis for the Dialogue among Civilizations, but also the reality that makes dialogue necessary, since the perception of diversity as a threat is the very seed of war. [The role of religion in creating a culture of peace and moving on from a culture of fear.]

Kenya faces hunger crisis
The United Nations is appealing for help for up to 2 million people facing hunger in Kenya.

Blair apologises to Guildford Four family

Gerry Conlon, who was jailed for the Guildford pub bombings of 1974, then released after 15 years having had his conviction quashed, outside parliament with his family.

Tony Blair today apologised to the 11 people wrongfully imprisoned for the IRA bomb attacks in Guildford and Woolwich in 1974.

"I am very sorry that they were subject to such an ordeal and injustice," he told members of the Conlon and Maguire families.

"That is why I am making this apology today - they deserve to be completely and publicly exonerated."

Mr Blair had been expected to make the apology in the House of Commons in reply to a question from the nationalist MP Eddie McGrady.

However, the Speaker, Michael Martin, decided not call the Social Democratic and Labour MP to speak during question time.

Arriving at Westminster this morning, Gerry Conlon called on Mr Blair to remove the "stain on the character of British justice" by apologising for his wrongful imprisonment.

Gerry Conlon was one of four people - the others being Paddy Armstrong, Paul Hill and Carole Richardson - arrested in 1974 and wrongfully jailed for an IRA bomb attack on the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford. The blast killed five people - four soldiers and a civilian.

The four prisoners became known as the Guildford Four.

Gerry Conlon's father and members of Annie Maguire's family were also later arrested and jailed for the attack and other bombings in Woolwich, south-east London following confessions extracted by the police that allegedly identified them as being involved.

Relatives of Mr Conlon and his father, Guiseppe, have been seeking a public apology for the miscarriage of justice after a letter from the British government to the SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, privately acknowledged the wrong done to the family. Guiseppe Conlon, who had a history of bronchial problems, died in prison while serving his sentence, in January 1980.

In October 1989 the court of appeal quashed the sentences of the Guildford Four after doubts were raised about the police evidence.

In June 1991, the court of appeal also overturned the sentences on the Maguires and Guiseppe Conlon.

The case was brought to international attention through the Oscar-nominated film In the Name of the Father, starring Daniel Day Lewis as Gerry Conlon and Pete Postlethwaite as Guiseppe.

Day Lewis and the director of In the Name of the Father, Jim Sheridan, have joined thousands of people who have signed a petition on behalf of the Conlon family in recent weeks seeking official recognition from the government that they were innocent.

The Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, and Mr Durkan lobbied Mr Blair in Downing Street meetings last week.

Last month, the Northern Ireland secretary, Paul Murphy, signalled that the prime minister would make a public apology to the Conlons.

By just Us posted 10 February 05

The injustices and the truth that everybody should know....

We all know today money is justice if anyone has no money they cannot have justice.

My name is Houssam Minkara, like to share with you a secret which will enlighten your conscience so you can share with everyone the reality we all facing, and will help everyone to choose and make the right choice. We all must remember everything happening and we must not let money or time make us forget. No matter what your profession is either you are poor or rich you can not escape the injustice in the long run.

Throughout history in every country in the world, there are stories of abuse, injuries and torture; today we say that we are sorry for what ever happened in the past while new stories in the making, future generations will say that they are sorry. Let me tell you a series of events that happened to me in Australia, and what is going to happen in the near future to all of us if we are not careful or careless.

In October 1979, I was working for Pirreli Cables when I sustained an injury and underwent many treatments, including an operation. It's been 25 years of injustice, pain, intimidation, harassment, bad treatment even threats. What has happened to me is quite bizarre. The Insurance Company (National Employers Mutual General Insurance) was in liquidation and ran by (Insurance Guarantee Fund) their lawyers (Hunt & Hunt solicitor) and ( N.W. Aussel Solicitors ) and their notorious ways of "psychological warfare" which include relying on "extensions of time" which leads to "psychological disorders" such as anxiety, stress ,gastrointestinal, ulcers, atherosclerotic even cancer, which I have suffered and that sort of treatment is inhumane.

In the mean time they drove me into bankruptcy. They treated me like a criminal fighting my case from 1979 to 1996, when I had three days of hearing Justice Mcinerenery was a senile.

I don't think he understood what we were talking about because he was napping that's how I lost my case. But he mentioned that he did not understand the witness. We went to High Court and the judges think that its not an error by law.

I believe that it was a negligent case and it was an error by law, as we know money talks and bullshit walks. We all know today money is justice if anyone has no money they cannot have justice.

I ask every Australian to give his opinion if any judge who does not understand any aspect of any particular case then that is an error at law. Therefore we should voice our your opinion to the parliament that judges should have a regard for the law.

Just like others I waited my time to get housing commission accommodation, but when I broke up with my ex they changed the premises to her name, like I don't exist and they left me homeless? I applied for priority housing twice, I might have to wait another "10 ten years"...As we all can see government employers have been trained to brush us off, we cannot find somebody who listen anymore?

I bought a computer from (ARC Computers) I placed an order for particular parts to be fitted into the computer, I found out later that the parts to be fitted were different from the ones I ordered. I went to fair trading and the registrar dismissed the case on the grounds that he didn't know anything about computers.

Shortly thereafter, early in the morning I woke up with severe pain, the ambulance took me to Canterbury Hospital they gave me a large injection of morphine my blood pressure dropped. I thought I was going to die. Firstly I thought the conspiracy is against me only but later I understood how the game works; now I have been directly affected and for everyone else who may be affected in the future.

As you see the injustice will continue not just for me only, but for all of us, we are all spiritually related and we share many lives, because we are the past and the present and the future but every life we come back as a different individual and programmed differently with a different ideology no matter where we were born in this world.

The Free Trade Agreement is part of the devils plan:

The injustice and the abuse will be waiting for us all unless we wake up and unite and speak out against the fools all over the world killing each other. The devil relies on divisions and blindness and looks at everything happening nationality and internationally and the transformation of the devil tightens his grip around earth.

We call it Globalization or the New World Order, while he is deceiving and bribing everyone and many people in high positions are serving the devil, he created terrorism to reach his goals. Look at Australia today the transformation into the American system and this will kill everything Australian, and we will be called the united states of Australia. Look at how the states run by labor governments are run today?

But we cannot see any difference to the other criminals and the corruption and rip off is widespread. I must say beware of overseas companies they are supported by our government, just look at what we are doing and think about what we are gaining. We all need justice and equality lets all hold hands and let our politician know that we are not suckers before it's too late.

Many Australians who died in hospitals all over Australia from derelict policies and the many people who could not afford justice were divided in Australia. Prime Minister John Howard has blood on his hands, but he is still the caretaker Prime Minister? I also ask the NSW Premier Bob Carr to take some action to support workers who have been affected by greedy companies.

International Human Rights Day 10th December:

On October 9th we should decide our fate by voting with regards to human rights and dignity. I would ask everyone of you as a sign of solidarity to be fully committed to International Human Rights Day which is the 10th of December every year.

This day brings awareness to others of the possibility that the loss of our basic human rights and justice may also affect them somewhere down the track. The Government should act without hesitation to restore justice and help people in need and ensure we live in as just and equitably sustainable community as there can possibly be.

Please copy this and past on or give it to your family and friends.
Contact: Houssam Minkara E-mail Freedom_55_au@yahoo.com.au

by Houssam Minkara, 27 September, 2004

Australian government selling us out!

The Federal Opposition says it now has proof the Government has been "playing politics" with the US free trade agreement (FTA), [Free Raid Agreement (FRA)], after the Trade Minister Mark Vaile admitted the future of the deal will not be affected by a change in government.

Related:

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Crean slaps down Costello's 'incompetent' tax analysis
The Federal Labor Party says Treasurer Peter Costello has egg on his face after making wrong allegations that Labor's tax and family policy is under-funded by $700 million.

Wentworth voters turn to the Greens: poll
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Labor slams GST windfall figures
The Federal Opposition says the latest figures on GST revenue confirm the Howard Government is the highest taxing government in history. The Government has revealed revenue raised by the tax is $2.9 billion greater than forecast.

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A report on housing assistance has found that one of the biggest work disincentives for unemployed renters and public housing tenants is the cost of public transport.

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Democrats call for improved accountability
Democrats' Senator Andrew Murray says reform of the rules governing political donations and politicians' salaries is needed, as well as measures to help whistleblowers in the public service.

FIGHT UNEMPLOYMENT!
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Mark Latham's, token gestures for older unemployed
StandUp appreciates the fact that Mark Latham is concerned about older unemployed people. His specialist job network proposal aimed at older people might provide a bit of assistance.

Department of Housing Tenants
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Govts failing homeless, ACOSS says
The Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) says many homeless people are being refused shelter because support services are not properly funded to cope with demand.

Work for the dole failure for two thirds
"The study provides strong support for our view that 'Work for the Dole' is a "cruel hoax" that fails to truly help jobseekers." ACOSS President Andrew McCallum.

Bonus prompts baby talk, principal says
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Government ignoring housing crisis: ACOSS
There are 100,000 homeless people nationwide and one third of those are children. The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) says low-income families are facing a crisis in affordable housing that the Federal Government is choosing to ignore.

Youth welfare system unfair: ACOSS
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is warning urgent action is needed to fix youth poverty and disincentives for the unemployed to improve their job prospects.

Australia: Private job network agency blues
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Work for the dole? $10.00?
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ACOSS urges C'wealth to invest in families
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Tax cuts wrong way to help battlers: ACOSS
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) says the Budgets fails to deliver anything for low and middle income Australians.

Public housing on a precipice
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Shoplifting increased by 7.5 per cent last year, making it the only major crime category to register a significant increase in 2002, crime statistics show. "It's a chain reaction kind of thing. No payments, more crime. More crime, more cops. More cops, more harassment. It goes back to the bloody payments, basically," he said.

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Robin Egan
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The congress has declared Townsville racist..

The Mayor of Townsville, in north Queensland, has dismissed accusations the city is racist. The National Indigenous Human Rights Congress says Townsville authorities are condoning racial hatred.

The congress' director, Errol Wyles, says Indigenous youth are being targeted in racially motivated hit and run attacks and he has likened the situation to genocide.

"Our kids are being killed on the streets, our families are crying out for help, we're not getting any help from the government and people are getting away with all these injustices," he said.

The congress has declared Townsville racist.

But Mayor Tony Mooney says the claims are outlandish and untrue. "I thought it was April Fools Day when I read those comments, they're just laughable and we are not a racist city," he said.

The National Indigenous Human Rights Congress will hold a rally in Townsville next month.

By John Howard 27 August 04

Related:

"MESSAGE STICK" NEWSLETTER:
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Whitewash over Hickey's death
The New South Wales coroner has cleared police of any responsibility for the death of Aboriginal teenager Thomas 'TJ' Hickey.

Governments urged to change race hate laws
The Ethnic Communities Council of Australia is calling on the state and federal governments to amend racial vilification laws in response to a reported race hate campaign at Newcastle University.

Prisoner's right to vote attacked again!
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Labor to request Senate inquiry into ATSIC's future
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The Young Man From Kamilaroi
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Australia an unfair nation, say young and all!

Young people and older people think Australia is undemocratic and unfair. Young people cite their teachers as having the greatest influence on their political thinking, according to a provocative new national survey funded by the Government. 

Older people cite "injustice" amongst other things as a "bent legal system" favouring hi profiled superstars, corporations and politicians.

Some examples:

- Bulldogs alleged rapists not named?

- Football player bashed police in Maroubra and walks from the local court?

- TJ followed but not pursued to his death?

- Woman let off after running someone down in her car while using a mobile phone on the north shore but man living in the western suburbs sent to jail for two years for running into woman on a push bike?

- Bob Carr: At risk children left behind in NSW?

- Bob Carr in contempt of the ICAC?

- NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet unless they terminate their visit?

- The Terrorist Act locking up innocent people?

- Prisoner's right to vote attacked again?

- Howard's 120 Million election advertising blitz? And many more.....

Fewer than 55 per cent of young people surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that "Australia is a democratic country".

And only 52 per cent said they had been taught about citizenship at school.

At one Sydney school, Year 10 students did not know what democracy meant and some students said that Australia was not a republic so it could not be a democracy.

And many participants in focus groups said they had gained their understanding of the rights of citizenship from American television.

The National Youth Affairs Research Scheme report was carried out by a private consulting firm for the Government between 2002 and December of 2003 to record the perceptions of about 800 youths aged 12 to 15 of citizenship and democracy.

Teachers were rated the most trustworthy source of political information, with 75 per cent, followed by family at 73 per cent.

The media was trusted by 36 per cent and politicians were the least trustworthy sources of political information at 34 per cent.

Patricia Karvelas: "A spokesman for conservative think-tank the Institute of Public Affairs, Alan Moran, said the survey results were alarming.

"It probably reflects more adversely on Australia's education system than on the reality of the Australian political system," he said.

He said it could be because teachers had the most influence on young people's political opinions that so many young people thought Australia undemocratic.

Just Us: But what a lot of rubbish how many brain cells has this conservative think-tank got? "Alarming" yes but not for the reasons stated by the "conservative think-tank".

It probably reflects more adversely on Australia's dictator, [war criminal], John Howard because that's the reality of the 'Australian political system' at the moment.

Australian Education Union president Pat Byrne said the fact that so many young people thought Australia undemocratic was probably because they had experienced instances of injustice.

"it could be that students' experiences within their own lives is teaching show them that democratic processes are not always used," she said.

Ms Byrne said teachers did not teach that Australia was an undemocratic country.

By Patricia Karvelas and Just Us 20 August 04

SKIPPY: It could be the lies that the Howard government has managed to introduce to the Australian fabric like it's normal. How do you trust someone who lies to you?

SO PUT YOUR LEFT FOOT FORWARD THIS FEDERAL ELECTION "WITHOUT FEAR" AND VOTE 1 THE GREENS AND 2 THE DEMOCRATS "THE LIE DETECTORS".

TO LIVE WITHOUT DEMOCRACY AND IN FEAR IS A LIFE THAT'S NOT "FAIR DINKUM" MATE! AND ONLY HALF LIVED.

Written and authorised by the community.

Related:

HOWARD'S LIE DETECTOR TEST: CHILDREN OVERBOARD AFFAIR
Prime Minister John Howard says voters will decide whether he has told the truth about the children overboard incident.

Whitewash over Hickey's death
The New South Wales coroner has cleared police of any responsibility for the death of Aboriginal teenager Thomas 'TJ' Hickey.

NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet
The New South Wales Government has introduced several initiatives to stop contraband getting into prisons they said last Friday. But under the guise of "stricter rules" the department had also introduced banning all visitors including children from using the toilet unless they terminate their visit at any NSW prison after using the toilet.

Governments urged to change race hate laws
The Ethnic Communities Council of Australia is calling on the state and federal governments to amend racial vilification laws in response to a reported race hate campaign at Newcastle University.

Prisoner's right to vote attacked again!
Prisoner's right to vote attacked again! Tell Labor not to support the bill!

US-Australian 'Free Raid Agreement' and Labor's Ploy?
Allegedly speculation is rife in political circles about whether the Senate will follow the lead of the US Congress, and approve a 'free trade deal' [? Free Raid Deal], with the United States?

PM Howard Morally Bankrupt
Prime Minister, [war criminal], John Howard insists the war on Iraq was justified despite his British counterpart, [war criminal], Tony Blair's concession that weapons of mass destruction might never be found.

War on terrorism' could take a generation: Downer?
Foreign Affairs Minister, [war criminal], Alexander Downer has launched the Government's terrorism white paper, [? scapegoat and patsy white paper], saying the "war", [the Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East], could take a generation.

Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel?
Well praise the Lord the light is Hell bent here on Peter Costello, treasurer of the Howard Government who now has his own "flock" of onward Christian Soldiers.

PM, Carr attacked as judge pulls plug
In November 2002, as chairman of the International Commission of Jurists, he told a Senate inquiry "it is patently clear" that proposed anti-terrorism legislation "is aimed at Muslims". His submission said the new laws would be "subverting [liberty] more effectively than terrorism could ever do".

He was an undercover agent for the blues
He was my journalist, he was working undercover. The fellow knew all of the moves.... He really had me romping, bare footing stomping. He just kept igniting my fuse....

Mamdouh Habib: Taunted and Tortured!
Four Corners [Walls]: Terrorist - or Taunted by the Australian Defence Force who sacked him as a cleaning contractor? Who is Mamdouh Habib? And why was he harassed by the Australian Federal Police? Then tagged and labelled as a spy? Why was he vilified by the community? When he fled to Pakistan how did he end up being tortured in Egypt? And how did he end up at Guantanamo prison camp reserved for the men America calls "the worst of the worst.

Bad diplomatic policy?
The Howard Government splurges $120 million-plus in a pre-election advertising blitz. Be "alert and alarmed"

Australia's "GITMO" System
Australia's "GITMO" System In June 2002 on the PM program on ABC radio, PHILIP RUDDOCK is quoted as saying: "Well, let me just say, detention centres are not prisons. They are administrative detention.

Failure to condemn prison abuse risks lives: Kenny
The Australian lawyer representing Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks has joined calls for the Prime Minister to condemn interrogation techniques being used at the prison camp.

Labor to request Senate inquiry into ATSIC's future
The Federal Opposition has announced it will call for a Senate inquiry into the Government's plan to abolish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).

Dictatorship under the Crimes Act?
Attorney General Phillip Ruddock said yesterday under the Crimes Act Izhar Ul Haque committed a crime.

Gang-rape, police, disparity and the law..
The young woman and her friend have told police they met the players in Coffs Harbour on the evening after the Bulldogs played a trial match there and went back to the team's hotel with them.

States to cooperate on school curriculums but social skills don't rate? What is Civics and Citizenship Education? Civics and Citizenship Education focuses on What it means to be a citizen of Australia. NOT WHAT IT MEANS TO RESPECT A CITIZEN OF AUSTRALIA. How our system of government works. HERE ARE THE RULES! How Australian democracy evolved, and How to take part in the public affairs of Australia. NOT HOW TO RELATE AND HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICT. Civics and Citizenship will be the first teaching program for 2003 developed as part of The Australian's resource program for schools. The program provides teachers and students the opportunity to examine and discuss a variety of issues relating to civics and citizenship, including:

Emotions: Reverse-engineered

LIKING, is the emotion that initiates and maintains an altruistic partnership. It is, roughly, a willingness to offer someone a favour, and is directed to those who appear willing to offer favours back. We like people who are nice to us, and we are nice to people whom we like.

ANGER, protects a person whose niceness has left her vulnerable to being cheated. When the exploitation is discovered, the person classifies the offending act as unjust and experiences indignation and a desire to respond with moralistic aggression: punishing the cheater by severing the relationship and sometimes hurting him. Many psychologists have remarked that anger has moral overtones; almost all anger is righteous anger. Furious people feel they are aggrieved and must redress an injustice.

GRATITUDE, calibrates the desire to reciprocate according to the costs and benefits of the original act. We are grateful to people when their favour helps us a lot and has cost them a lot.

SYMPATHY, the desire to help those in need, may be an emotion for earning gratitude. If people are most grateful when they most need the favour, a person in need is an opportunity to make an altruistic act go farthest.

GUILT, can rack a cheater who is in danger of being found out. H.L. Mencken defined conscience as "the inner voice which warns us that someone might be looking." If the victim responds by cutting off all future aid, the cheater will have paid dearly. He has an interest in preventing the rupture by making up for the misdeed and keeping it from happening again. People feel guilty about private transgressions because they may become public; confessing a sin before it is discovered is evidence of sincerity and gives the victim better grounds to maintain the relationship.

SHAME, the reaction to a transgression after it has been discovered, evokes a public display of contrition, no doubt for the same reason.

Reverse-engineered by Robert Trivers, from How The Mind Works, Stephen Pinker, 1997 (pp405-406)

by Robert Trivers posted 13 February 04

Related:

The Free-Rider
Cosmides and her colleague John Tooby have argued that the human mind is specially adapted for detecting social cheats - that is, people who do not fulfill their social obligations or abide by the rules that society has evolved to enable it to function smoothly.

Experts: The Prisoner's Dilemma
[One] reason we are so-so scientists is that our brains were shaped for fitness [to the peopled environment], not for truth. Sometimes the truth is adaptive, but sometimes it is not. Conflicts of interest are inherent to the human condition, and we are apt to want our version of the truth, rather than the truth itself, to prevail.

Ron Woodham my faithful Commissioner?
The Departments have all the senior legal staff, they have the brightest minds in the country and others who are willing to get their hands dirty to get the job done. They have the law and legislation which they can do with as they will, and a budget to blow your minds!

Sentencing: Violent crime and practical outcomes
It's about just deserts, time to stop and reflect, to gain insight into your offending behaviour, to learn more ideas, retribution for the victims, and to set an example for the community.

The Nagle Report 25 years on
On 25 February 2004 the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales and the Centre for Health Research in Criminal Justice will be co-hosting a seminar to celebrate the Nagle Royal Commission. The seminar will be held in Parliament House, Macquarie Street Sydney, from 5.00pm. Entry will be free, but seating will be limited.

Peter Breen MP attacked by the terror
Bob Carr's attack on Mr Breen who is currently under investigation by the ICAC for allegedly misusing his parliamentary entitlements was clearly whipped up by Carr and this sort of attack has become the norm when people have opposed the Carr government in the past.

Practicably Perfect
Do you remember your first driving lesson? You were to steer as close to the curb when parking 'practicably' not perfectly or practically. Why? Because we are not as perfect as Premier Bob Carr wants to be seen. The degree of our mistakes depends on our experience and reflects on our upbringing and sometimes the lack of it.

Defining JA Mentoring
Mentoring is not a new concept. Justice Action graduated its first class of Mentors in December 2003. A good idea has legs of its own, and so the concept of one-on-one support for vulnerable people finding their way in society is now being taken seriously.

Call for royal commission into NSW prison health system
Mr Tony Ross a social justice activist said yesterday that a royal commission into the health system in NSW should be wide reaching to ensure that the Corrections Health Service, [Prisons Health Service], is also exposed because of reported widespread cover ups in the prisons health system.

Folbigg, convicted until proven innocent
Disturbing similarities between the case of Kathleen Folbigg and that of Sally Clark (nb. Other Meadows cases Trupti Patel, Angela Cannings, Donna Anthony, Margaret Smith, Julie Ferris, Maxine Robinson) using "Meadows law" one cot death is tragic, two suspicious, three murder."

CONS COMMIT CRIMES IN HASTE, NOW CAN REPENT AT LAWTEY Yes some peasants were out of work, hungry and desperate and had to find a way to feed their families, as they were not born with silver spoons in their mouths, Lord. They just robbed from the rich and gave to poor.

Australian prisoners numbers have increased by 50% over past 10 years In the past 10 years, the prisoner population in Australia increased by nearly 50% from 15,866 in 1993 to 23,555 in 2003, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This increase has exceeded the 15% growth in the Australian adult population in the same period.

Pat Horan released from jail today
Patrick Horan is set to be released from Long Bay jail today after serving 18 years for manslaughter, after shooting dead father-of-two Constable Paul Quinn.

NSW Police Association wants sentencing powers?
NSW Police Association president Ian Ball said Inspector Borland now feared for his safety because of a 63 year old man being released from prison after doing a quick 18 for manslaughter.

Release Pat Horan for a just community
The release from jail of a prisoner was contrary to the NSW government's wishes, Premier Bob Carr said today. The NSW Parole Board today decided 63-year-old Patrick Horan could be released from jail next week after serving nearly 18 years jail for manslaughter for shooting 25-year-old constable Paul Quinn at Perthville, near Bathurst, on March 30, 1986.

Conditions in the HRMU
Justice Action is trying to obtain documents on behalf of prisoners held in the Goulburn High Risk Management Unit (HRMU) from the Federal Attorney General's Department, Corrective Services Minister's Conference regarding the process described below, in which the Standard Guidelines for Corrections in Australia were adopted. This documentation will help explain the justification for the conditions in the HRMU.

Man wrongly imprisoned awarded $1m
A Sydney man who was acquitted of murder has won more than $1 million in damages for wrongful arrest and imprisonment. The New South Wales Supreme Court has agreed with Garry Raymond Nye's said that the charge was maliciously laid.

Forensic Hospital at Long Bay
NSW should reject the government decision to set up a secure forensic hospital at Long Bay - or in any place where it can be influenced by the Department of Corrective Services (DCS) (or probably Corrections Health Service (CHS) for that matter).

NSW leaves nation behind in rate and cost of jailing people
NSW not only has the most prisoners of any Australian state but also has the most violent prisoners, among the highest rates of recidivism and an increasingly expensive prison system, a Auditor-General's report says.

HRMU Solitary Confinement And Stopping Violence
I refer to your article on the (HRMU) HIGH RISK MANAGEMENT UNIT AT GOULBURN, TOTAL ABUSE OF POWER:

Database clears up crimes but not used to clear up miscarriages?
NSW Police Minister John Watkins said at the launch of a Sydney conference of international forensic experts meeting to mark 100 years of fingerprinting in NSW.

But there are Keys!
Charles Dickens said, "Life is a secret and you haven't got the key." "And you never will have."

NSW PRISONS: A TOTAL ABUSE OF POWER
We the inmates, [prisoners], at the High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn Correctional Centre, would like to ask you for help in receiving equal treatment and opportunities as other inmates, [prisoners], throughout the system. As we are told that we are not in a segregation units, [solitary confinement units], but we are treated as though we are in one.

Should Pauline Hanson have gone to gaol in the first place?: Carmen Lawrence For example, the cost of running the NSW prison system is over $530 million each year and rising. In addition, the government spends around $90 million per year on building and maintaining prisons.

WHEN THE PUNISHMENT IS THE CRIME AND PLANTING THE SEED
The brutality and savagery at Grafton jail that went on for 34 years with people getting their legs and arms broken running the gauntlet through a line of prison guards with batons. Some of those prisoners who were sent to jail for non-violence and punished went on to commit some of the most heinous crimes of the century.

WHY WE SHOULD OPPOSE HOME DETENTION
The ACT Government has drafted a new Bill to implement Home Detention This very discriminatory type of sentence also punishes the family. It is questionable that it has been successful anywhere it has been tried.

Justice Kirby concerned at self-representation
High Court judge Michael Kirby says Australia's justice system is weakened by the increasing number of people representing themselves in court. Justice Kirby says he agrees with One Nation founder Pauline Hanson's concerns about the high cost of legal advice.

A veil of secrecy makes justice in jail a different kind from court justice
Although Queensland courts mete out justice, that justice ends at the gates of the Queensland prisons system where a bureaucratic and politically expedient doctrine of "out of sight - out of mind" takes control.

Hanson: I no longer support mandatory sentencing
One Nation Party founder Pauline Hanson has revealed she contemplated suicide while serving an 11-week jail term in Brisbane. Miss Hanson told about her time in jail and her future plans.

A Question of Innocence
Minister Chris Ellison: Yes we’re watching the progress of this project in NSW with great interest. This has been raised at the Standing Committee of Attorneys General and a working group is looking at this very question. I think we have to have a considered response to this proposal and on a national basis, we would need to have the cooperation of the states and territories.

Children of Prisoners' Support Group
Children of Prisoner's welcomes Ann Symonds as our first Patron at this years AGM and screening of "The Space in Between" video , and will have a visual display to demonstrate the invisible population of children effected by parental incarceration.

REMAND PRISONER BAIL REFUSED, THEN SHOT AND KILLED IN CUSTODY A Melbourne court has been told a prisoner was shot dead as he tried to escape from a hospital. The Melbourne Magistrates Court has been told remand prisoner Garry Whyte was receiving treatment at St Vincent's hospital in May last year, when he tried to escape.

NSW Corrections Health Service: Response
Prisoner: MRRC Long Bay: Corrective Health Services [Prison Health Service] in NSW fares only slightly better than CHS in the US. Force often takes the place of real medical care and custodial staff [guards] in fact must approve all CHS medical decisions.

Solitary Confinement: Our very own Alcatraz
Solitary confinement only makes prisoners more violent and inhumane, writes convicted armed robber Bernie Matthews. They were countless. Grafton floggings were routine and didn't require a reason. Everything at Grafton was routine a mindless, never-ending routine of isolation and solitary confinement that was punctuated by a screw's baton, boot or fist. The prison system called it rehabilitation.

Postcard Bandit' no postcard bandit: ABC TV
The ABC's Australian Story broke the news last night that political prisoner Brendan Abbott sent no postcards. None!

The Sentencing (crime of murder) and parole reform act 2003
We wish for each and every prisoner to be brought in front of a Judge to have closure on their sentences, a fixed non-parole period on an individual basis, to give these people a chance to be able to rehabilitate and to stop them being used as Political Prisoners.

Prisoners as citizens and duty of care
For a long time now most learned people have been aware of the book Prisoners as Citizens. The Victorian Opposition is outraged at a confidential payout won by a prisoner injured while playing table tennis at the Melbourne Remand Centre because they can't afford the book?

Supporters doubt PM's efforts to release Habib, Hicks
The supporters of two Australian detainees [prisoners] being held [tortured] by the United States at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba say they draw no comfort from [war criminal], Prime Minister John Howard raising the men's plight with [war criminal], US President George W Bush.

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research: Aboriginal Crime
In 2001 more than forty percent of the Aboriginal male population aged 20-24 in NSW appeared before a NSW court charged with a criminal offence. One in ten Aboriginal males in NSW aged 20-24 received a prison sentence.

Long Bay: Corrections Health Services in NSW prisons
Firstly, to call the Prison Health Service a Corrections Health Services is the first identified mistake. Nice names don't take the place of the type of service, they only attempt to cover up for a bad service, when the service is out the door....

Home detention for people who make mistakes
LEARNERS are getting home detention sentences by the State Government diverting people from the anti-social prison system.

MULTICULTURAL SISTERS INSIDE
Sisters Inside is a community organisation that works with women in prison, pre and post release. We challenge the injustices that impact on women in prison, their children and families.

NSW Terrorist Minister leads the way
New South Wales is hosting a two-day conference of state and territory prisons ministers on how to detain terrorists [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East.]

MENTAL ILLNESS AMONG NEW SOUTH WALES PRISONERS
Anecdotal evidence from staff working in the New South Wales correctional system [prison system] has always suggested a high prevalence of mental illness among the prisoner population.

Yatala Labour Prison Adelaide Going Backwoods: response
Thank you and your team for your support. I have been trying to write you back. However the person has now stopped me from using the computers and education centre and the typewriter has been broken.

On the treatment of prisoners at the NSW HRMU
Prisoners sister's letter from her brother: Following our phone conversation some weeks ago I would like to set out a few points on the treatment of prisoners in the High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn (Super Max) (Guantanamo Bay).

Review of Justice Ministers claims about conditions at HRMU
Minister for Justice John Hatzistergos stated on 15 July 2003 concerning the prisoners at the High Risk Management Unit at Goulbourn.[Prisoners held in solitary confinement and tortured endlessly in a Supermax Prison at Goulburn.]

Lithgow Prison: This is no Irish joke!
Allow me to introduce myself to you my name is John Smith I am writing to you for your help in regards to Corrective Services Jail at Lithgow, I am a prisoner at this centre and I am serving a long sentence. I originally came from Ireland a number of years ago.

The Ku Klux Klan and Patrick Horan
The State government has logged objections to Patrick Horan a NSW prisoner's planned release, convicted of the manslaughter of a police officer and seriously wounding another. Justice Minister John Hatzistergos says the NSW Parole Board intends to grant parole to Patrick Francis Horan, who committed the crimes near Bathurst in NSW's central west in 1986.

Lithgow prisoners speak out about rations
Some new issues have arisen today. A senior officer called me to the office, as they usually do to inform me of all new local orders etc concerning prisoners. The deputy governor has cut back funds for stores. Officers have been told they will issue only the following: One Toilet roll per week per prisoner One Toothbrush per month One plastic disposable spoon, fork, knife per day prisoner exchange only.

NSW PRISON CORRUPTION AT THE HRMU
The High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn [Solitary Confinement Supermax, Torture, Gulag,] alleged to have been the first Australian jail of the 21st century and the most secure in the Southern Hemisphere (it was claimed in an article SMH 14 May 2001).

The Daily Telegraph licensed to set up prisoners?
A man who smuggled a mobile phone into a Sydney jail and took pictures of stockbroker Rene Rivkin has been sentenced to 400 hours of community service.

International Prisoners Justice Day 2003
Justice Action, Prisoners Action Group and others celebrated this year's IPJD by visiting Silverwater Jail Complex and talking to the visitors as they went in and came out. We handed out copies of the media release and Framed to the visitors (who took them inside!) and showed our support for prisoners and their families, talking through the loud hailer so prisoners inside would be aware of our presence.

Weak NSW Government suspends Innocence Panel
The DNA evidence panel is under investigation and the New South Wales Innocence Panel's operations have been suspended and a review of how it works ordered.

Is Prison Obsolete?
Eileen is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Work UNSW where she teaches and researches in the areas of social policy and social development. She has been the chief researcher, and has also collaborated on projects and publications regarding prisons, the criminal justice system and women, public and social housing and indigenous matters. She has recently completed major research on ex-prisoners, accommodation and social reintegration. Eileen has been active in using research to argue for policy change in the NSW criminal justice field for some years.

Escape proof but not so the prisoners mind
Fewer prisoners escape from prison these days because they're "cemented in" by materials that do not break and by legislation that can keep prisoners in jail until they die. All new prisons are virtually unbreakable. Built out of products like perspex, concrete and steel that have no flexibility and ensure that the prisoners of today take the full brunt of all Department of Corrective Services institutional failures.

Researching post-release options for Indigenous women exiting Australian prisons :HREOC The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission is researching post-release options for Indigenous women exiting Australian prisons. We are particularly interested in examining the accommodation options available to women upon their release from prison.

Parents on the inside leave children on the edge
They have been dubbed the forgotten generation - the innocent casualties of their parents' crimes. New research shows that in 2001 14,500 NSW children had a parent in jail. And 60,000 NSW children under 16 have experienced the incarceration of a parent, more than half enduring the trauma of separation before they turn five.

New video to create empathy in violent criminals?
Violent offenders in New South Wales prisons will be the audience for a new video put together by the victims of crime group, Enough is Enough, but nothing from the ex-prisoners, support groups, like Justice Action, because they don't rate?

Junee Prison, NSW Parliament and Noble Cause Corruption
I have not been charged with any offence. The first thing I knew was when they (the Intel officer) at Junee had me called to reception. I was then told that I was going to segregation for good order and discipline.

Beyond Bars: Sentencing reform
A spokesperson Dr Tim Anderson said, " The law reform commission was too gutless on this a few years back but re-introducing remissions (perhaps under another name) would be a valuable move best wishes".

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released the National Deaths in Custody Program annual report for 2002 Between January and December 2002, there was a total of 69 deaths in custody in Australia. There were 50 deaths in prison custody and 19 deaths in police custody and custody-related police operations.

Yatala Labour Prison Adelaide Going Backwoods
I'm a prisoner in south Australia (Adelaide), Yatala Labour Prison, I'm 39 years old with only two and a half years spent in the community since the age of 13. I came into the adult prison system in 1985; I was released in 1998 only to re-offend. I'm now doing 30 years with a 16-year non-parole period, as it's truth in sentencing in our state and there is no remission. My release date is 2016.

Inspector General of Corrective Services Debate
Below is our response to Justice Minister Hatzistergos' comments in a debate in Parliament on July 2, 2003 regarding the impending decision about the future of the Inspector General of Corrective Services in NSW.

Hatzistergos: The Daily Telegraph's prison mates
Who convinced a prisoner on periodic detention to take a mobile phone into prison to take a photo of Rene Rivkin? The prisoner said no and contacted the Daily Terror to say no.

PRISONERS OFFER OF RECONCILIATION
Premier Bob Carr, Deputy Premier Andrew Refshauge, Senator Aden Ridgeway, and other community representatives have been invited to receive the message from the men of "The Hole.

Goulburn Solitary Confinement: Midnight Special
If you ever go to Goulburn HRMU yeah, you better walk right, you'd better not breathe and sure thing better not fight. The next thing you know the SCU gonna arrest you and Rotten Ron send you down and you can bet your bottom dollar Lord, you'll be chaingang bound.

Carr defends prison handling of political PRISONER
Bob Carr should be ashamed of himself after giving the prisons Commissioner Rotten Ron Woodham another filthy job setting up Phuong Ngo as one of the most dangerous prisoners in the State.

DCS: Protection gangs? - Ngo exploited in prison
New South Wales prison officials claim to have disbanded a gang in the Lithgow jail set up to protect convicted murderer, Phuong Ngo.

How the QLD Dangerous Prisoners Act failed the first test
What is dangerous? Everyone is dangerous naturally it really depends on how far a person is pushed. Standing on a mountaintop with someone walking you backwoods towards the edge would promote fight or flight and if there is nowhere to fly but over the edge you may choose to respond. When a person breaks the law they lack social skills or are repressed into breaking the law.

Prison rehab programs in 'disarray': Opp
The New South Wales Opposition says rehabilitation in the state's prisons is in disarray. But the states prisons could never rehabilitate in the first place. So how can it be in disarray? The space station as it is known cannot rehabilitate because it's only a dot on the community map, as it were, in relation to how people were raised.

SENTENCING RIVKIN: BRAIN SURGERY OR SUICIDE?
A proper Sentencing Council, such as the one proposed by the Carr Government, would not have sent Rene Rivkin to jail, locked up as a slave in a box.

RESPONSE TO REVIEW OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF PRISONS
Justice Action calls for the retention of the office of Inspector General and a restructure of the legislation making it truly independent.

Old bureaucrats to say whether they felt there should be an effective inspector of bureaucrats?
JA is urgently working on a response to the 31 page review of the position of the Inspector General of Corrective Services position released by the Minister on10/6/03.

High Risk Management Unit (HRMU) INSPECTION
This letter is to request permission for an independent inspection team to examine the 75-cell HRMU at Goulburn Jail. The proposed inspection team consists of specialist doctors, jurists, members of the Corrections Health Service Consumer Council and prisoners representatives.

MJA - BBCD Outbreaks in NSW prisons
Seems some of our friends in & around Corrections Health Service (CHS) were able to take advantage of a couple of recognised cases of needle sharing by HIV positive prisoners to gather data for a study.

Intractables
As an ex-Grafton intractable (1971-1975) and the only living ex-prisoner to have served the longest time inside Katingal (1975-1978) I feel qualified to offer the following personal observations:

Intolerable Conditions of Prisoners at Goulburn's HRMU
We wish to with respect, level a serious complaint against the Chief Executive Officer, Corrections Health Services, Dr Richard Matthews.

SIX YEARS IN HELL - The Sorry Saga of Ivan Robert Milat
This month, May 2003, Ivan Milat will have spent six years in segregation/isolation without any charges, enquiry, or breach of prison rules levelled against him.

NSW death in custody, false imprisonment, and assault
Knight's case sparked headlines after it emerged that his suicide in John Moroney Correctional Centre [prison] in Sydney on January 22 occurred 18 days after his official release date.

Victorian (Australia) Juvenile Deaths in Custody & Post-Release has just been published on the British Journal of Medicine Quotes (BJM): "The risk of death was nine times higher in male offenders than in the reference Victorian male population. Although the estimate is unstable because of the small number of deaths, female offenders seemed to be about 40 times more likely to die than the reference Victorian female population."

The Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986 Qld
The Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986 (Qld), requires that any person who has committed an offence which is less than 10 years old or which resulted in a prison sentence of more than 30 months, must disclose that offence if requested eg. for employment purposes. If a criminal record is disclosed in a job application, it is unlikely that person will be given the job.

NSW Serious Offenders Review Council
In response to a letter we have received from Mr K C who has said that he is serving 24 years and 10 months commencing on 29/8/1991 with his earliest release date being 28/6/2016 with 4 years parole and full time 28/6/2020. He said that he contacted the Serious Offenders Review Council in writing but received no response.

Justice Action's complaints about ACM to the NSW Ombudsman fell on deaf ears The Federal Government is reviewing allegations that the company it pays to run Australia's detention centres the same company who runs Junee Jail in NSW has fraudulently reduced staffing levels in at least one centre to increase its profits.

Token Parole Board reforms silent on Govt bungle
The Carr governments token reforms of the Parole Board are minimalist and still fail to explain the election cover-up of mismanagement, which contributed to an inmate's [a prisoners] death.

PAROLE BOARD REWARDED? FOR DEADLY MISTAKE
The Justice Minister has released government reforms to the Parole Board following the death of an aboriginal inmate, which was due to a Parole Board error.

Sentencing innovation breaks vicious circle of jail terms
"Three months' jail for one punch in a pub fight is too much," said the victim. The victim's comment counted because he and the offender, Robert Bolt, a Nowra Aborigine, were making history in the first case of circle sentencing, a new way of deciding punishment for indigenous offenders.

Letter from the mother of a prisoner on remand at the High Risk Management Unit Goulburn Correctional Centre I am writing to give you permission to make any inquiries on my behalf as I am invalid pensioner who doesn't drive and been only well enough to travel by train once in 15 months to see my son Scott Simpson. I have enclosed a copy of Scott's letter and also a copy of gaol papers form I have to fill out and wait to see if I'm allowed in to see him. He doesn't get any visits. He is in the Supermax and deprived of any privileges not even legal Aid will fund a solicitor to see him in Goulburn.

WA Jail trade in 'sex for favours'
THE West Australian Government has ordered an inquiry into claims guards at Perth's main women's prison are trading favours for sex, and encouraging inmates to form lesbian relationships.

NSW prisons over-crowded. Gov't orders investigation into death in custody
In January this year, a 23-year-old Aboriginal prisoner was found hanging in his cell in a Sydney jail 18 days after he was due to be released.

Yes Minister: 'Justice Action meets John Hatzistergos Justice Mininster' We have taken a few days to pass this on, as we wanted clarification of the minister's statement about the purposes of imprisonment before publishing it.

Beyond Bars Alliance colleagues
There are certainly problems with the IG's terms of reference and the position is not nearly as strong as it should or could be but it should not be lost it should be strengthened (along the lines of the UK IG of Prisons) to provide an independent voice to the Parliament regarding activities and processes that otherwise happen behind prison walls.

Submissions for Review of Inspector General
There is a very serious attack happening on the office of the NSW Inspector General of Corrective Services. A secret and flawed review is taking place at this moment, and we call upon all individuals and organisations interested in the area to make their views known.

Two thirds of a billion dollars and DCS can't work out what authority they have? "Two thirds of a billion dollars of taxpayers money and the Department of Corrective Services can't work out what authority they have to hold the people who are in jail."

Australia: Private Prisons, Junee NSW
When I got to Junee I was given nothing except bed linen. That's it! No clothing. I had to put my name down for clothing, which they said I could get on Saturday. When I went down to get my clothing on Saturday I was told they had nothing but I was told that I could buy what I wanted on their monthly buy-up. In the mean time I got rashes between my legs from the dirty clothes I had on.

Justice Action meets with new Minister for Justice
John Hatzistergos Minister for Justice is meeting with Brett Collins and Justice Action today at 11:30 a.m.

ARUNTA PHONE SYSTEM: IDC Lithgow Prison
The prisoners of Lithgow Correctional Centre have requested that the Lithgow Inmate Development Committee write to you on their behalf and ask that the phone systems heavy burden upon the prisoners at this institution and their families be reviewed. I will outline the problems.

Health problems denied in prison
Lithgow Correctional Centre (IDC) Inmate Development Committee "Currently there are 72 inmates on the doctors waiting list with only one doctor coming fortnightly and usually on a weekend".

NSW Prisons Inmate Development Committee speaks out
I am writing on behalf of the IDC Inmate Development Committee in area 3, MSPC at Long Bay. Area 3 is where, the Department is congregating minimum-security offenders within maximum-security walls whilst awaiting mandatory programs at Cubit (Sex Offenders Program).

THE GULAG TREATMENT - The Trauma Of Court Appearances When Incarcerated Prisoner transport vehicle 10th January 2003 It's about 4.40am, very darkoutside and although I'm expecting it, it is still intrusive when my dreams are interrupted by the sound of my name, it is the officer checking that I'm awake ready to face the long day ahead.

Sir David Longland Correctional Centre
If it were possible to characterize the term B Block attitude in a modern dictionary, it would read something like "demeanor of inhabitance" or "state of mind or behaviour of occupants".

SIR DAVID LONGLAND CORRECTIONAL CENTRE QLD - CELLS IN B BLOCK The cells in B Block are like no other in any Queensland prison. After Mr. Cooper was severally embarrassed by the Abbott and Co escape on 4th November 1997, he visited B Block and the surrounding grounds. It was that visit, by Cooper, that set in motion a plan (up the ante) to make sure security in B Block would never embarrass him again. It was like closing the gate after the horse has bolted.

Inspector General Ignored On Womens Prison
Four months after a report from the Inspector General on Mulawa Correctional Centre, key recommendations involving safety and welfare of prisoners and staff have been ignored. Kathryn Armstrong (former chair of Inmate Development Committee) and Annabel Walsh, released from Mulawa Womens Prison in February, have produced an independent report confirming the findings of the Inspector General.

Distribution of: 'How to Votes in prisons'?
Justice Action have received information from Andrew Burke of the NSW Greens that they have enquired with the Department of Corrective Services as to the procedure for distributing their How To Votes in prisons in the period before the election.

Getting Justice Wrong DPP make full admissions
Back in May 2001 Nicholas Cowdery QC made an error at law by giving a speech called Getting Justice Wrong at the University of New England, Armidale Thursday, 31 May 2001. Sir Frank Kitto, Lecture now published at the DPP website. At page six, paragraph 3 under the heading:

NSW ELECTION 2003: VOTE 1 GREENS
Inspector-General: The Greens believe that the role of the Inspector-General is crucial to the proper functioning of the prison system. It has never been more important to have a powerful watchdog role than today. Section 3.11 of our Criminal Justice Policy commits the Greens to "strengthening the role of the Inspector-General of Prisons."

Long Bay Prison: The latest inside story
Private food purchases called Buy-Ups that normally take care of the prisoners additional food nutrition in Jail has been changed.

Doing time even harder: 146 prisoners far from home
The United States, however, has detained without trial about 650 men from 43 countries. They include Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, who are held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base as part of the sweep against global terrorism [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's, pre-emptive strikes, occupation and genocide for resources in the Middle East.]

Human Rights 'Framed'
Here is a quick report on our Human Rights Commission approach on Framed (the quarterly magazine of Justice Action) being banned from all NSW prisons. After 42 issues went in.

Prison Privatisation: Death camps looming in NSW
I asked for the identification of the person I was speaking to and was told that I was not entitled to that information. I needed to verify the call and asked for a name or number to register my call because I was asked to get those details by my coordinator.The person refused to identify themselves either by name or number. I asked to be transferred to a senior person and was refused. The person I spoke to then hung up the phone.

Corrections Victoria and criminal acts: SCS-4\320 UPDATE
You have stated "Section 30 of the Corrections Act 1986 and the Information Privacy Act 2000, restricts the release of confidential information regarding prisoners, I therefore am unable to provide any information regarding this matter."

Death camps looming in Victoria
A letter was received on 15 January 03 from SCS-4\320 a remand prisoner in Victoria's Barwon Prison I later found out that the prisoner was in the Acacia High Security Unit.

Take crime talk beyond the bars:'lobby group'
A coalition of academics, crime experts, welfare and church groups is preparing to launch an intensive pre-election campaign aimed at refocusing the attention of NSW politicians from harsh sentencing reforms to crime prevention strategies.

Six weeks, six months, six years: inmates have little chance of making fresh start More than 15,500 people are released from NSW prisons each year, twice the number of 20 years ago. But new research shows many ex-prisoners find it impossible to reintegrate into society and, months after release, are worse off than before they went to jail.

NSW A-G moves to stop criminals and ex-criminals selling stories
From next month criminals or ex-criminals who try to profit (earn a living for paid work, like writing a book etc..) from their crimes in New South Wales will have the proceeds confiscated.

NSW Govt criticised over criminal justice record
Key criminal justice groups have described the New South Wales Government's record on justice issues as a "disappointing performance".

APPOINTMENT OF KLOK IS: 'DECLARATION OF WAR'
The decision of the Carr government to appoint John Jacob Klok as the new Assistant Commissioner for Corrective Services in charge of security represents a statement of contempt to all those concerned about law and justice in NSW.

Prisoners Representatives Excommunicated
Ron Woodham, Commissioner Corrective Services stated "[this Department] does not recognise Justice Action as an advocate on correctional centre issues." He has ordered a ban on all Justice Action material inside the NSW prison system. This resulted from a request for the approval of the latest edition of Framed (the Magazine of Justice Action) to be distributed throughout NSW prisons as has occurred for the past ten years.

Dept of Corrective Services: Rotten Ron Woodham on the ropes
This is The Freeedom Of Speech and The Press in a goldfish-bowl! Herr Goebells has spoken. Zieg Heil! (Which means, actually: "aim-for health!" incidentally)Apologies for not making meetings ... my first experiences with Woodham (then a -screw-gestapo-minor-with-a-friendly-dog - AND YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS WHEN EVEN HIS DOG DOESN`T LIKE HIM?)

At the Minister's Pleasure The case of Michael Kelly
Michael is caught up in a particularly cruel version of the game of Cat and Mouse. Because he is classified as a forensic patient under the Mental Heath Act of NSW, the Minister for Health is his master, not the Minister for Corrective Services. And the Minister for health will not let him go.

EX-PRISONER UNEMPLOYMENT: SENTENCED FOR LIFE
Name removed by request served time in prison decades ago. Shes still being punished today. According to commonwealth and state legislation, ex-prisoners applying for jobs must declare any conviction that fits into the following categories: less than 10 years old, more than 10 years old but served more than 30 months in prison.

ARE YOU INNOCENT?
The Australian Law Reform Commission had recommended that the Innocence Panel be independent and have the power to investigate alleged miscarriages of justice.

RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:
Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.

Medical records Alex Mitchell's lost world
Perhaps we can get your medical report and spew it around publicly so you can see how it feels. But surely we do not have to go that far. And of course we are law-abiding citizens and I should think it would be enough to remind you of your ethics to report at all.

NSW Department of Corrective Services attack right to privacy
Corrective Services Minister Richard Amery has a problem attacking prisoners right to privacy.It seems to us that a civil society is best served when social justice laws are applied to all people regardless of their circumstances. Once government starts making exceptions which disadvantage certain groups and individuals, such laws are meaningless.

Litigants are drowning: in the High Court
There were so many self represented litigants appearing in the High Court that more than half of its registry staff's time was taken up in dealing with them. The "go it alone" litigants have to take on tasks well above their qualified league causing them stress. This growing problem cannot be left unchecked.

Everyone wants to get out of 'jail' but 'Framed' wants life: Rotten Ron on the ropes On 2 May 2002, Justice Action received a faxed letter from Manager of DCS Operations Support Branch saying that, in his view, articles in Framed edition #42 'lack balance and integrity' and he is therefore 'not prepared to recommend this issue of Framed for placement in to correctional centre libraries.' Prisoners and those concerned about prisoner issues have very few sources of information.

Methadone addicts formed within: 'NSW Prisons'
The New South Wales Opposition has accused the State Government of turning jailed heroin users into Methadone addicts.

Murder charge first for DNA data bank link, but not the same as solving the murder Mass DNA testing of prisoners has [allegedly] led to the first NSW case of a person being charged with a previously unsolved murder as a result of a controversial gene-matching data bank.

Prisoners can prove innocence for $20?
Les Kennedy Daily Telegraph reported today that" Prisoners who believe that DNA will prove they were wrongly convicted will have the chance to prove their innocence for a mere $20 administration fee. The move comes 20 months after NSW inmates were asked to provide DNA for comparison with a databank of DNA from unsolved crime scenes for possible convictions.

NSW opposition pledges review of detention laws
A spokesperson for Justice Action Ms Anal Advice said " NSW Prisons are a sex offence if you have been raped, bashed and squatted down to be strip searched. People should be diverted from going there at all material times".

Civil libertarians condemn planned changes to prisoners' privacy rights The New South Wales Government is using a recent case involving [framed] serial killer Ivan Milat to justify its decision to remove the privacy rights of prisoners. But really just another attack on Ivan Milat from Parliament House.

The punishment: Is the 'crime'
The punishment is the crime according to retired chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Justice Alistair Nicholson. "Smacking a child ought to be seen as assault".

Mr. & Mrs. Mandatory Sentencing
Well congratulations to the bride and groom. Could you please be upstanding and raise your glasses for Mr. And Mrs. Mandatory.

NSW Parliament Bitter Pills To Swallow?
One delusion pill: So people who investigate their own mistakes make sure there was no mistake or someone else made the mistake. Perhaps you're not biased and you will be honest about it.

NSW prisons - primary industry bailed up!
In many quiet regional centres around NSW there is a new primary industry shaping up. It has something to do with Bail but not with bales. The minister for Agriculture Richard Amery who also has the prisons portfolio is now committed to farming prisoners.

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Prison Mind Games-Do they exist?
Directives are given inside the prison system that are not consistent with the law in NSW. And not in the good interests of the health and well being of the prisoners.

The Government is likely to abolish the Inspector General of Corrective Services position The Mulawa inspection report recommendations below strictly illustrate how important he is.

Chronology - A History of Australian Prisons
[Allegedly:] The events that have shaped NSW prisons - from convict days through royal commissions, to the Supermax of today. [I say allegedly because no one should trust Four Corners [Walls], why? Because they spill out the propaganda of the day for the Government, whether it be wrong or right. A government that lies and has no remorse about it.]

Justice Action
Justice Action is a community based organisation of criminal justice activists. We are prisoners, academics, victims of crime, ex-prisoners, lawyers and general community members. We believe that meaningful change depends upon free exchange of information and community responsibility.

Beyond Bars Alliance colleagues
I imagine all of you received Justice Action's email yesterday regarding the position of Inspector General of Corrective Services.

Community Restorative Centre
NSW spends more than half a billion tax dollars a year on prisons. It costs $60,000 to keep someone in maximum security for a year: more than double the minimum wage. CRC looks for and implements better solutions to the high social and economic costs of crime.

Sisters Inside Inc
Sisters Inside Inc. is an independent community organisation, which exists to advocate for the human rights of women in the criminal justice system, and to address gaps in the services available to them. We work alongside women in prison in determining the best way to fulfil these roles.

Smart Justice
Smart Justice does not support any party but calls for investment in prevention, alternatives to custody and initiatives that tackle the causes of crime. It is important to dispel the myths about 'law and order' and promote real solutions to crime and violence.

Shine For Kids
What happens for a young person who has a parent in prison?There are a lot of consequences for children or young people who have a parent in prison. During Groupwork the kids themselves have identified as being:

Children of Prisoners' Support Group
Children of Prisoner's welcomes Ann Symonds as our first Patron at this years AGM and screening of "The Space in Between" video , and will have a visual display to demonstrate the invisible population of children effected by parental incarceration.