Forget the tests, bottles are for holding the wine

NZ: Restaurateurs don't have the best of reputations when it comes to staff relations, and plans to humiliate employees by making them pee in a bottle to check for drug use are hardly going to improve things.

At the very least I would have expected one of the bosses to have set an example and volunteered to go first. After all, the last story I read involving the evils of drugs in restaurants concerned not a lowly wait-person, but top Auckland restaurateur Philip Sturm's appeal against his conviction for stupefying young male customers with drugs, then having his evil way with them.

Of course there's something richly ironic about the Restaurant Association chief executive, Neville Waldren, who represents purveyors of dangerous drugs like alcohol and tobacco, coming on all sanctimonious because the hired help might get their jollies in other ways.

No doubt there is a nationwide problem with the drug P (methamphetamine). But claiming the answer is to test the urine of all hospitality workers is about as daft as America's decision to finger-print transit passengers like New Zealand MP Keith Locke at Los Angeles Airport to stop terrorists flying planes into the sides of New York buildings.

What is happening is another attempt by Big Brother to pry into our private lives. It should be nipped in the bud. A good start would be a customer boycott of any restaurant that tries to introduce it.

Questions also need to be asked about the touting for business by the Government-owned Institute of Environmental Science and Research, which provided the alarmist statistics being used by Mr Waldren to justify the testing, and is to be the testing agency.

Where ESR gets the figure that 40 per cent of the workforce has tried illegal drugs at least once over the past 12 months is anyone's guess.

It's perhaps worth recalling that a year ago, an ESR scientist told the Employment Court considering Air New Zealand's plan to drug test workers that drugs were found in 22 per cent of urine samples of randomly selected workers at 50 firms over two years.

A few days later, she said the true figure was only 9 per cent. For all I know, ESR has sales staff on the road knocking at every industry in the Yellow Pages with its scaremongery. They might even be with my editor as I write this, trying to convince him of the dangers of substance-crazed columnists in charge of keyboards.

In times past, I've worked on papers when, on occasion, several of the news staff would have failed a snap breathalyser test, and a damn fine product we turned out too. These days, a test on me would find nothing more incriminating than the remnants of the previous night's medicinal red wine or three.

But they wouldn't, because I would refuse to take the test. Perhaps if I drove a jumbo jet or a Stagecoach bus, I could accept the safety rationale behind random drug testing.

But driving a desk, as I do, or pouring a glass of wine, as hospitality staff do, then forget it. What's in my urine is my business, not my boss's and certainly not that of Big Brother ESR, which also maintains the police DNA databases.

I'm in good company. In essence, my stand is what the Employment Court ruled this year in the Air New Zealand case. Random drug testing of employees was unacceptable except in "safety sensitive" situations.

It's not as though the testing is very accurate in tracking down the drug users. Alcohol disappears from the system within 24 hours. P, cocaine and LSD last from one to five days. Marijuana, the most benign of the drugs, lingers longest, up to 10 days for casual users and up to four weeks for regulars.

ESR would be a more useful public servant if, instead of touting miracle cures, it concentrated on its crime fighting activities.

We read of drug trials being delayed for months because ESR hasn't the staff to analyse the evidence. That's what they should be doing, not holding bottles for waiters to pee into.

By Brian Rudman posted 14 October 04

Related:

The drugs industry and its watchdog: a relationship too close for comfort? It would appear to be a happy and satisfying relationship. "Our priorities are aligned," says one document. There have been "notable successes" says another, citing "another example" of where the two sides "cooperated well". In business partners, this would seem to indicate a harmony of views. The documents obtained however, relate to meetings between the drug industry and the watchdog body set up by government to police it.

Drugs licensing flaws exposed
Special report: Pfizer advised on how to get antidepressant approved by member of body deciding on application.

Big Pharma snared by net
What if ants could turn the microscopes on the scientists studying them and, after beady-eyed surveillance, demand a revolution in their scrutinisers' accustomed ways?

Prozac must have suicide warning
All antidepressant drugs must carry the strongest possible public warning that they could cause children to harm themselves or commit suicide, US authorities said yesterday in a landmark ruling which has repercussions for the whole class of drugs.

Aspartame, medication and prison mental health
Justice Health and Corrective Services under 'Duty of Care' provide a lethal cocktail to its prisoners' by way of a so-called sweetener! This on its own is considered a lethal cocktail!

Medical trials of cannabis show positive results
Research could soon show that cannabis could be a helpful long-term treatment for multiple sclerosis sufferers. Patients who took part in a 15-week study - published in the Lancet last year - went on to try the effectiveness of the banned drug, [herb], for a 52-week course, John Zajicek of the Peninsula medical school told the British Association science festival which ended in Exeter.

NT activists await Supreme Court decision
Four human rights activists facing jail for a protest in the Northern Territory Parliament now face a tense wait for an appeal decision against the conviction to be handed down by the NT Supreme Court. The group were protesting against the Labor Government's "drug house" legislation and continued racism in the Northern Territory.

Research points to corporate journalists alcohol-schizophrenia link
New research has revealed more evidence of a link between corporate media journalists and schizophrenia. A national conference beginning in Melbourne today will examine international studies about the issue.

Fremantle police at centre of missing cannabis claims
One sunny day I was riding my bike, and smokin' a joint, 'cause that's what I like. A police man stopped me and began to stare and he said "hey sonny, whatcha smokin' there?"

Canadian PM pledges to decriminalise marijuana
Prime Minister Paul Martin has pledged to reintroduce legislation this year to decriminalise the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana.

Don't bash us on Saturday
Human rights activists in Darwin are concerned for their safety and the safety of the public at this week's Network Against Prohibition (NAP) Community Smoke-In for Human Rights.

Heroin: Hazy logic dictates a painful prohibition
Between moments of pungent humour, The Barbarian Invasions is a confronting movie. Facing a painful death to cancer, Remy, a self-described "socialist, hedonist lecher", accepts Montreal's crumbling, cramped public health system as his left-wing fate.

Port Lincoln Mayor has lost the plot!
Controversial Port Lincoln Mayor Peter Davis has called for drug addicts to be given a lethal injection to cut rising illicit drug use on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.

Sign, sign everywhere a sign
The Syringe Festival was first held in Darwin in August 2002. The event, organised by the Network Against Prohibition was held as a protest against the Territory's new "drug house" laws that came into effect on August 1 last year, as well as a celebration of drug culture.

QANTAS pooping on people?
Ten unions are involved in the campaign against the program. They say they do not oppose drug and alcohol testing to prevent and determine impairment, but they are concerned that the trial will force workers to reveal use of prescription medicines or over-the-counter drugs.

NSW Ombudsman to probe police 'move-on' powers
Concerns have been raised that police may be unfairly targeting young people. The audit is part of a review of the extra powers officers were given to help tackle the illegal drug trade in Cabramatta in south-west Sydney.

Drug law blamed for hep C epidemic
THE federal Government's conservative tough-on-drugs policies have triggered an explosion in hepatitis C infections, a secret health department report has found.

Jail trade in 'sex for favours'
Professor Harding found evidence of bullying and standover tactics at the jail, often associated with the distribution of illegal drugs.

CWA wants pot legalised
PERCEIVED as the height of conservatism, the Country Women's Association has had a reputation for baking and handicrafts until now. The organisation yesterday confirmed it is seeking to have cannabis legalised for health reasons. A recommendation to be put forward to the annual meeting in May calls for the legalisation of the drug for the treatment of terminally ill patients.

The Thai Drug Users' Network is a group of individuals who use or have used drugs We have come together to respond to the deplorable health and human rights situation of drug users in our country, and in particular the current climate of fear caused by the extrajudicial killing of people allegedly involved with drugs.

Another lethal party drug article...
This is another lethal party drug article by the Daily Telegraph's (DT)'s Super Crime Buster Division, but I'll try to straighten it out a bit so you can understand it.

Poison Ivy: Drugs and Substances
Everything is a drug love, money, vegemite, and honey so why the hang up on coke? Things go better with Coke. at least that's what we're told each and every day by advertising. [?] So why the big hang up on alcohol, amphetamines, cigarettes, marijuana, speed, ecstasy and cocaine?

Police selling drugs? Bikies selling drugs? Pharmacies prescribing drugs Of course there will be criticism when you cross that thin blue line! You have to realise how the government itself has been corrupted because of the drug scene and the money involved.

Drug rehabilitation: Threats, threats and more threats!
But a spokesperson for Citizens Against Being Forced Mr Ihave Amind Ofmyown said, "Major Watters is John Howard's adviser because he's a bully. Citizens make their own decisions about what is best for them and if you don't like that step down."

MPs told of police corruption
Corruption and mismanagement are still entrenched in the NSW Police, and problems at the highest levels are "whitewashed", according to evidence given yesterday to a federal parliamentary committee.

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by their mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found.

Tobacco, alcohol top the drug abuse toll
Tobacco and alcohol accounted for 83 per cent of the cost of drug abuse in Australia, dwarfing the financial impact of illegal drugs, a Commonwealth Government report has found.

NSW police cracked up on antisocial behaviour
Hundreds of extra police will be on the streets of Sydney from this afternoon as part of a major blitz on crime and activities as "antisocial behaviour" says the ABC online last Fri 24 May 2002.

Alcohol pickles your brain
The only two social drugs the Government sanction are cigarettes and alcohol as legal, yet they cause the most damage." He said.

The No Sweat Sneaker

The No Sweat Sneaker, produced in a 100% union factory in Jakarta is finally here.

Distributed in Australia & New Zealand by ESP P/L, a business long involved in marketing environmentally friendly products, No Sweat sneakers are the world's most revolutionary sneaker. Okay they may look like a Converse All-Star copy, but these sneakers come with a feature that no other sneaker in history has ever had.

Each shoebox contains a detailed fact sheet that tells consumers exactly what wages and benefits that the union workers who produced the sneakers get paid. ESP P/L has challenged Nike and Reebok to do the same.

"If the people behind a little business like No Sweat can do this and make a profit, there's no reason why the Nikes and Reeboks of this world also can't," said ESP's Nick Savaidis.

"We hope every sneaker/sports shoe brand in the world will imitate this innovation. In fact, we dare them to!" "The shoes are produced at a union shop in Jakarta, Indonesia. The workers, represented by the SMTP, receive a benefit and pay package starting at some 785,000 rupiah per month. That's almost 30% above minimum wage in Indonesia, with 100% health care for employees and 80% coverage for family members. Plus a pension! Additional benefits include things less common in a western collective labour agreement, like a 30 litre a month rice allowance".

In the USA, No Sweat's co-founder, Jeff Ballinger said, "It's time for Nike to come clean with consumers. They've had 10 years to fix this problem and have spent all kinds of money assuring consumers that they have. Let's see what they've got.

All they need to do is put it in the shoebox".Ballinger wrote the original expose of Nike for Harper's Magazine in 1992.

While working in Indonesia for the AFL-CIO, he discovered one excellent union shop, producing shoes primarily for the local market. Twelve years later, that factory has became the source for No Sweat's new sneaker.

The fair trade sneaker comes at a fair price too. At $60 a pair, the No Sweat Sneaker is a competitive alternative to the Nike owned Converse All-Star as well as to any other sneaker or skateboard shoe in the market place. "It's not rocket science", said No Sweat's operations manager Anne O'Loughlin, who just returned from Jakarta after inspecting the union shop in person, "You give everyone--workers, consumers and investors--a fair share. Then you do it again the next day. Is there really any other sustainable business model?"

By William Keats posted 24 September 04

Related:

"Sew-in" in Athens to highlight problems faced by sportswear workers
Athens, August 10, 2004: The Play Fair at the Olympics campaign staged an action in Athens on the eve of the opening of the Olympic games in solidarity with sportswear workers worldwide.

Mossad agents Killing Oz Tourists Steal their Identity to use in terror opps

The fugitive Israeli Mossad intelligence agent Zev Barkan has been dealing with Asian criminal gangs to obtain Australian and other passports stolen from Australians Killed in Asia, a New Zealand security official has said.

Barkan has been named by New Zealand authorities as the kingpin in a passport scam for which two Israelis with Australian links were jailed for six months last week in Auckland.

One of the jailed men, Eli Cara, 50, had his rented home in Turramurra raided by ASIO, [an Australian terrorist organisation], in March. A short time later, he was arrested in New Zealand.

The New Zealand Government has named Barkan, Cara and the other convicted man, Uriel Kelman, as Mossad agents. Barkan fled New Zealand before police swooped.

There are reports that Barkan, allegedly using a fraudulent Canadian passport, has since made visits to North Korea.

The New Zealand official, who has intelligence connections in Asia, said Barkan was connected to an 'Israeli terrorist cell operating out of Thailand'.

"He goes to Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Thailand and deals with gangs that he pays to kill tourists steal their Identity papers passports, most just disappear or their deaths have been reported as accidents, drownings and such, they like to throw their victims off the side of tour boats" said a New Zealand security official Barkan is mostly interested in passports and identity documents, there have been a number of Australian killed for their passports."

Intelligence analysts in New Zealand believe Barkan, a former navy diver in the Israeli IOF, was trying to secure a clean passports for use in Israeli terrorist operations in the region.

Barkan had grown up in Washington as Zev Bruckenstein, where his father was director of religious studies at a synagogue.

A New Zealand security official says his services have uncovered an Israeli operation to create al-Qaeda cells in Thailand. The security official in Thailand said Israeli terrorist are posing as operatives of al-Qaeda.

Over the past nine months we have been investigating eight cases, 11 people informed us of this Israeli operation, asking Thai Landers to join al-Qaeda. One email had, [allegedly], even been signed by the al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, a New Zealand official said. [?]

A New Zealand official said his services had traced back to Israel the phone calls and emails - purportedly from Germany and Lebanon and Pakistan. We investigated the origin of those calls and found out they all came from Israel.

The people the Israelis tried to recruit were then given stolen Australian documents, and received money and weapons. The money was provided by Israel directly to the recruits or was transferred from bank accounts in Jerusalem or Israel, said the New Zealand official.

By Harald Gib 19 July 04

Related:

Indonesian Election: Australia $48 Million?
The threat from terror groups and failed states means Australia needs a high-tech, rapid deployment defence force, the defence minister says. Err.. The threat from terror groups like the, CIA, Mossad, TNI, M-16-15, ASIO etc, and failed states means Australian's need a high-tech, rapid deployment 'Reverse Surveillance Community' to combat State sanctioned terror, false flag operations, illegal and degrading wars, torture and crimes against humanity, the community says.

Scapegoat Hambali's brother denies terrorism link
An Indonesian student on trial for terrorism, [scapegoat for the Coalition of the Killing's resource war's in the Middle East], has denied links to a bloody terror campaign allegedly waged by his elder brother Hambali, saying anything he had done was only to help out his sibling.

Kevin Rudd: PM stirs terrorist hornets
Rudd: THE great lie of the 2001 election campaign was children overboard. The great lie of the 2004 election campaign is Iraq.

US issue new Indonesia travel warning to terrify Australia?
The United States has issued a new warning against travel to the world's most populous Muslim nation, saying the, [US demon], Al Qaeda-linked, [US demon], Jemaah Islamiah group may use the upcoming presidential election to conduct attacks.

FLASHBACK: BALI BOMBINGS? HOWARD'S ELECTION CAMPAIGNS?
Indonesian terror warnings on the eve of a federal election are nothing new to Australians. This week's terror campaign by the, [war criminal], John Howard government and its corporate media allies.

Fahrenheit 9/11: Cannes ends in controversy
Moore's film - about the, [war criminal], George Bush presidency and its response to, [US reichstag, call to arms, false flag], 9/11 and the subsequent, [resource], wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - pulls no punches in depicting George W. as a duplicitous buffoon.

Infidels! God is great! Part 2: Abu Bakar Bashir
Supporters are anxious Bashir leave jail on Friday and they failed to block Bashir interview.

US to keep military ties with Indonesia
War criminal, US President, George W Bush says America plans to resume cooperation with Indonesia's armed forces. But America, East Timor, Bali, and Australian complicity have something in common with the 'Indonesian armed forces' and the fallout was the TNI's East Timor's massacre in 1999 and the CIA's false flag, call to arms Bali bombing in 2002, believe it or not.

The Daily Propaganda: Bali bombings could have been worse?
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner, Mick Keelty, says the bombs that killed 88 Australians in Bali could have done a lot more damage if they had been built differently.

JI propaganda expert earns $200,000 a year: GI Joe
Chain of command goes something like this: George Bush, CIA, FBI, Megawati Sukarnoputri, TNI, John Howard, Alexanda Downer, ASIO, Australian army, war, spending, vote Liberal? No Support Groups, No Organisations, No Hospitals, No Education, Excommunication, Lies, Propaganda, and Postcards from Prison, if you don't agree. Oh! Without a lawyer of course.

Signs of the Times: Aggressive Scepticism
If anyone has known a schizophrenic then you may also know that it is because of some sound or picture that invaded their thoughts which sent them mad. So possibly, any invasion of my time with self, a time to integrate past experiences could send someone mad. However if there is no interference with our own thoughts and ideas we sometimes choose to write down our conclusions and share our ideas with others socially.

Pilger said White House knew Saddam was no threat
Australian investigative journalist John Pilger says he has evidence the war against Iraq was based on a lie which could cost George W Bush and Tony Blair their jobs and bring Prime Minister John Howard down with them.

Civil Liabilities: Howard's diversity? I had a dream?
The war criminal, Prime Minister, John Howard, who only yesterday was claiming he was showing diversity has stepped up pressure on the states to support plans to increase the war criminal, Federal Attorney-General's powers to ban terrorist organisations, [scapegoats and patsies for the Coalition of the Killing's illegal and degrading resource wars in the Middle East.]

Megawati has made no effort to explain state terror
While Indonesia has actively allegedly cooperated in the war on terror [the Coalition of the Killing's resource wars in the Middle East], since last October's [CIA, call to arms, false flag], Bali bombings, sceptic propaganda experts have said it needed to go further and tackle the problem of military teachings in Government departments.

Three jailed for robbing jewellery shop! To fund Bali bombings?
Three men who robbed an Indonesian gold shop to help fund last year's Bali bombings have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms. Separate Indonesian courts have found Abdul Rauf, Andi Hidayat and Junaedi guilty of conducting last year's heist, along with two other accomplices.

Infidels! God is great!:Abu Bakar Bashir
[Patsy for the CIA, false flag, call to arms, Bali Bombings, to bolster support and to quell dissent for the Coalition of the Killing's resource wars in the Middle East.]

GI, CIA, TNI, MI6, MOSSAD, AFP, ASIO, Howard, divided: Australian experts GI, CIA, TNI, MI6, MOSSAD, AFP, ASIO, has descended into a disparate collection of cells working at cross-purposes, with deep divisions on strategy and no clear leader except to say the Indonesian Military could be involved, senior Australian counter-propaganda police believe.

False flag Bali bombings: An eye for an eye or blind toothless people?
Terrorists ALLEGED by the Daily Terror, 7 August 03, have claimed responsibility for the Jakarta bombing and are alleged to have sent a chilling warning that they will kill more Westerners if Bali bomber Amrozi is sentenced to death today.

GI killers uncovered
GI has cordial flavours ranging from Raspberry all the way down to Tropical Pineapple and a new generation of drinkers have joined the ranks.

Evidence emerges of proposed Four Corners base in Bali
Parody: More evidence has emerged that the ABC terrorist network believed to have been behind the propaganda in Australia has tried to set up a long-term base in Bali.

Australian Terror cell here long before Bali
The Australian terrorist Captain Cook infiltrated Australia years before the Bali bombings in which 202 people perished. Aboriginal people attempted to remember Captain Cook not as a founding father but as a harbinger of dispossession and death, a sign of white amnesia. Another anniversary year-used to mark two hundred years since Cook had journeyed along the east coast of Australia and, for some people, discovered a continent.

NSW police confirm don't use the phone to talk about terrorism!
The New South Wales Police Service has confirmed it is using phone taps and other forms of electronic surveillance to monitor suspected terrorist activity [ ? To monitor potential scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's illegal and degrading resource wars in the Middle East.]

Australia: Terrorising you in secret
Suspected terrorists [scapegoats and patsies for the Coalition of the Killing's resource wars in the Middle East] will be tried in secret under new laws to be introduced by the Federal Government.

NSW Police Force may get 'special powers'
Civil libertarians are questioning the need for further anti-terrorism laws, which will be announced in the New South Wales Parliament on Tuesday.

Evidence that Howard was complicit in CIA, false flag, call to arms, Bali bombings War criminal John Howard was complicit in the call to arms - false flag operation - Bali bombings - instigated by the CIA - and the Coalition of the Killing - to bolster support - and quell dissent for their illegal and degrading resource wars in the Middle East.

War criminal Howard high-jacks HRCA to 'legitimise killing'
The Human Rights Council of Australia (HRCA) says it fears Prime Minister John Howard's comments in support of the execution of [CIA operative] Osama bin Laden show his eagerness to overturn three decades of national opposition to the death penalty.

State terror units caused the terror!
The level of suspicion and surveillance created by the [US false flag operation and call to arms] Bali bombings, created by [ the Coalition of the Killing and Australian's complicity to go to war on Iraq] means that all Australian's suffer the loss of their human rights, civil rights and their democratic rights, as well as those Australian's who lost their life in Bali.

Al-Qa'ida or poor people without hope?
Anyone contemplating war without a UN sanction is nothing more than a common criminal and not acting in accordance with the law. Isn't Richardson the head of ASIO? A law enforcement agency? Al-Qa'ida is a Coalition of the Killing demon made up by the CIA. These people are just scapegoats, patsies, and peasants."

Red paper classes Australia as terrorist suspects
Australia's old foreign policy red paper says Australians have become targets because their own government is being run by war criminals that are complicit in state terror, torture, murder, occupation and genocide.

Australia backs CIA Reichstag, Downer's propaganda
The Foreign Affairs Minister says the latest message from Osama bin Laden is worrying. [Just plain rubbish!]

UK Reid, Blair and the reichstag London threat!
The nature of the [alleged] terrorist threat to London is on the scale of the [USA false flag] September 11 attacks in the United States, the chairman of Britain's governing Labour Party said.

Bin Laden calls? CIA blind man's bluff!
A [US propaganda, fear-mongering] taped message purportedly from Osama bin Laden has warned Arab nations against supporting a war against Iraq but has branded Saddam Hussein an infidel.

Civil and Democratic Islam websites communicating?
THE internet is becoming a virtual forum for people exchanges, with many sites specifically targeting Australia to stop the racial hate followers, and plan to continue to communicate with each other. Fantastic!

Middle Eastern: Specific Legislation
"If there is a target person the police would have powers in relation to that type of person," Mr Costa said. Asked what he meant by "type of person", Mr Costa said: "The example that's been given is if there's a description of somebody, an identikit photograph released by Interpol or other agencies ... these powers may well be exercised on that type of person."

Howard defends terror alert
Prime Minister John Howard says the Federal Government would not have issued a terror alert if it had not come from a credible source. (America?) Speaking for the first time since the Government revealed the warning, Mr Howard says he wants people to be more careful, but not to stop living. [As long as they don't go dancing in Bali? And sure we'll all be depressed for as long as John Howard and Bob Carr say so.]

Carr backs Fed Govt's terror alert
New South Wales Premier Bob Carr has defended the Federal Government's decision to issue a warning to Australians about a possible terrorist attack in Australia.

NSW Police Force may get 'special powers'
Civil libertarians are questioning the need for further anti-terrorism laws, which will be announced in the New South Wales Parliament on Tuesday.

When Johnny comes marching home again: 'hoorah hoorah'
Posted on the Resistance web page Bronwyn Powell, an organiser of the youth-led mobilisation told Green Left weekly that "in the face of attacks on civil liberties, it is unfortunate that some union officials have felt they need to submit. It could set a negative precedent for upholding the hard-won right to demonstrate in the street."

Give peace a chance
PIERS AKERMAN DT 28 Nov 02: JUSTICE John Dowd should be removed from the bench. His crime? Stupidity. In a breath-taking display of hand-wringing sanctimonious morality, Dowd has condemned the State and Federal Governments' anti-terrorism measures, claiming they erode rights and give encouragement to oppressive regimes.

The scavengers of terror
The NSW Government is to introduce increased police powers bill. Legislation giving New South Wales police special powers to deal with an emergency terrorist situation [emergency scapegoat situation] will be introduced into the New South Wales Parliament today.

Democrats call for more accountability in NSW Govt

The New South Wales Democrats are calling for more accountability in the state Government.

The Democrats have accused the NSW Government of running a planning system more at home in a totalitarian system than a democracy.

Democrats upper house MP, Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, made the accusation while launching a policy calling for more accountability in state government.

The Democrats have launched a five-point plan which they say would end government secrecy, ban lucrative consultancies for departing ministers, overhaul politician's entitlements, protect whistleblowers and ensure government jobs are awarded on merit.

Dr Chesterfield-Evans says the state planning system is open to corruption because governments are morally obliged to make decisions which benefit political donors.

"Obviously if someone merely takes money and they say 'this won't influence my decision,' that is not inherently corrupt," Dr Chesterfield-Evans said.

"But of course it puts the person in a morally-obliged position to the donor.

"They then have difficulty saying 'no' and I think it also means that the wealthy get access to the Minister as they're giving the money at those donor functions.

"The model I want is the New Zealand model where the government has to prove that a document has to be kept secret.

"In other words all documents are... instead of them being all secret unless you prise one out with Freedom of Information, it's the other way around: all documents are public unless you apply to have it kept secret.

The Democrats are fielding a total of 75 candidates in the New South Wales Election - 56 in the Legislative Assembly and 19 in the Legislative Council.

By Keepthe Bastards Honest 10 March 03

THE ELEPHANT: I remember! You don't have to be a mouse to know that people who investigate themselves like police are always going to be bias and corrupt. The Government is the problem!

Related:

NSW Election 2003: VOTE 1 DEMOCRATS
The Democrats have watched with concern as both of the major parties support more and more legislation that puts more and more people in prisons. It is very easy for politicians to be tough on crime but it is harder to for them to explain to develop solutions to crime. Talkback radio and populist media driven opinion polls that show that the public approves of imprisonment.This comes from the notions that:

NSW ELECTION 2003: VOTE 1 GREENS
Drug law reform: The Greens are proud to have the most progressive policy of any party on drug law reform. Our Drugs and Harm Minimisation Policy is available in full from The NSW Greens, as are all our policies.

The Breen Machine - Reform The Legal System Party
For the past four years, Reform the Legal System has promoted human rights in the new South Wales Parliament. Our most significant achievement is the legislation, passed late last year, to require all bills introduced into the Parliament to be checked for breaches of human rights.

PM lost in space! Pre-emptive Strikes & Star Wars Defence!!
War criminal PM backs missile defence investigation but he is not on his own. Bob Carr dubbed Darth Vader after draconian laws were introduced in NSW following John Howard's threats to strike first and ask questions later.

Constitution, politics, police and prison corruption

Carr appeal is rotten
NSW voters believe the Carr Labor Government has performed bad on crime and public safety and done a poor job in health and hospitals, people can see it with their own eyes.

NSW Election 2003: The Sale of Justice
NSW Young Lawyers' Criminal Law & Human Rights Committees, however, have been concerned about the civil rights trade-offs that both major parties have been proposing (or, in the case of the Government, implementing) prior to the election.

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.

Abolition of 800 year old double jeopardy law a crime
The 800-year-old rule prevents a person who's acquitted of a criminal charge from ever being re-tried for that offense.

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.

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.

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".

Demolishing Democracy
How Bob Carr, [ the Coalition of the Killing,] and Bin Laden gave birth to the NSW police state. The [CIA false flag ]Bali bombings could not have come at a 'better time' for [the Coalition of the Killing and] Bob Carr and his project to bring an end to Westminster democracy in NSW.

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.

The community questions ICAC's slagging and fobbing you off?
The ICAC, Commissions, Ombudsman, Police Integrity Commission (PIC), and numerous Tribunals etc, are all arms of government set up as an insurance police for the government's 3 or 4 year election terms. In short they'll be out of office by the time you may be lucky enough to have your matter heard.

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 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.

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.

Who is bad?
Super Rat? M5? M11? K8? N2? So I trust that some people who, with the photos and guns guessed that a jury would quickly establish a case against a profiled person whom, you just had a picture and a history of. Common knowledge? The government knew their victims would take the blame. Not just chess in court, 'moving around the pieces', but 'putting false evidence, or not enough evidence before the jury."

False flag operations, scapegoats and patsies

State terror units caused the terror!
The level of suspicion and surveillance created by the [US false flag operation and call to arms] Bali bombings, created by [ the Coalition of the Killing and Australian's complicity to go to war on Iraq] means that all Australian's suffer the loss of their human rights, civil rights and their democratic rights, as well as those Australian's who lost their life in Bali.

Middle Eastern: Specific Legislation
"If there is a target person the police would have powers in relation to that type of person," Mr Costa said. Asked what he meant by "type of person", Mr Costa said: "The example that's been given is if there's a description of somebody, an identikit photograph released by Interpol or other agencies ... these powers may well be exercised on that type of person."

Evidence that Howard was complicit in CIA, false flag, call to arms, Bali bombings

Prime Minister John Howard says Australians should remember the Bali bomb attacks if he commits troops to a war against Iraq, as he finishes the final leg of a three-day trip to New Zealand.

[But war criminal John Howard was complicit in the call to arms - false flag operation - Bali bombings - instigated by the CIA - and the Coalition of the Killing - to bolster support - and quell dissent for their illegal and degrading resource wars in the Middle East.]

Howard has laid a wreath at New Zealand's national war memorial.

A lone protester tried to disrupt the ceremony, calling for peace, not war.

While Howard remembered those who gave their lives in war, he said he believes the Australian people will understand if there are casualties in any military conflict against 'Iraq' and 'he linked that to the terrorist bomb attacks' [ CIA false flag operation] in Bali.

[But what link was there in relation to Iraq? Or any other false flag operation elsewhere? Zip! So people should read his statement above as self incriminating.]

Howard: "We lost 88 Australians in Bali because of the wilful act of international terrorism, and we all had to grapple with that, and I will amongst other things be asking the Australian people to bear those circumstances in mind if we become involved in military conflict in Iraq," Howard said.

[Well you sinister, war mongering criminal, you were complicit in all those deaths in Bali and including the 88 Australian citizens. Now you want to blame that on the Iraqi people and kill a few more hundred thousand? Incidentally, exactly what the Bali bombings were meant to do. What? To bolster support for your illegal and degrading war crimes against humanity.]

But Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd says there is no apparent link between the bombings and Iraq.

"So far the Howard Government has failed to produce a single shred of evidence linking Iraq with the terrorist attack on Bali," Mr Rudd said.

"If he has such evidence, he should produce it.

"It seems we're engaged now in an exercise of political management rather than sound policy."

By You Need Soap 10 March 03

Related:

War criminal Howard high-jacks HRCA to 'legitimise killing'
The Human Rights Council of Australia (HRCA) says it fears Prime Minister John Howard's comments in support of the execution of [CIA operative] Osama bin Laden show his eagerness to overturn three decades of national opposition to the death penalty.

PM lost in space! Pre-emptive Strikes & Star Wars Defence!!
War criminal PM backs missile defence investigation but he is not on his own. Bob Carr dubbed Darth Vader after draconian laws were introduced in NSW following John Howard's threats to strike first and ask questions later. [?]

State terror units caused the terror!
The level of suspicion and surveillance created by the [US false flag operation and call to arms] Bali bombings, created by [ the Coalition of the Killing and Australian's complicity to go to war on Iraq] means that all Australian's suffer the loss of their human rights, civil rights and their democratic rights, as well as those Australian's who lost their life in Bali.

Al-Qa'ida or poor people without hope?
Anyone contemplating war without a UN sanction is nothing more than a common criminal and not acting in accordance with the law. Isn't Richardson the head of ASIO? A law enforcement agency? Al-Qa'ida is a Coalition of the Killing demon made up by the CIA. These people are just scapegoats, patsies, and peasants."

Doom gloom and 'Boom' Downer shakes the room?
"Optimism is better and so is 'constructive feedback' because using constructive feedback means that the negatives also have a role in the construction of a nation. In short we have all the time in world to solve problems properly and that is what our leaders should be focusing on when they decide to inform all Australians. Hey what's the rush?" He said.

Hypocrisy not Democracy? No Blood for Oil!
Howard has refused to back down on the threat of war despite hundreds of thousands of Australians rallying against it. The question is why?

Red paper classes Australia as terrorist suspects
Australia's old foreign policy red paper says Australians have become targets because their own government is being run by war criminals that are complicit in state terror, torture, murder, occupation and genocide.

Australia backs CIA Reichstag, Downer's propaganda
The Foreign Affairs Minister says the latest message from Osama bin Laden is worrying. [Just plain rubbish!]

UK Reid, Blair and the reichstag London threat!
The nature of the [alleged] terrorist threat to London is on the scale of the [USA false flag] September 11 attacks in the United States, the chairman of Britain's governing Labour Party said.

Bin Laden calls? CIA blind man's bluff!
A [US propaganda, fear-mongering] taped message purportedly from Osama bin Laden has warned Arab nations against supporting a war against Iraq but has branded Saddam Hussein an infidel.

U.S. AMBASSADOR WARNED TO STOP MEDDLING:
The Australian Federal Opposition and Labor Party Leader, Simon Crean, has again warned the U.S. ambassador to stop meddling in Australian politics.

War: Part one The human cost
On the road to Basra, ITV was filming wild dogs as they tore at the corpses of the Iraqi dead. Every few seconds a ravenous beast would rip off a decaying arm and make off with it over the desert in front of us, dead fingers trailing through the sand, the remains of the burned military sleeve flapping in the wind. "Just for the record,'' the cameraman said to me. Of course. Because ITV would never show such footage.

Mandela speaks out against Bush, Blair
Former South African leader Nelson Mandela has lashed out at US President George W Bush's stance on Iraq, saying the US leader has no foresight, and cannot think properly.

All the way with (LPK) Love Peace and Kindness: Dalai Lama
Communication is a two way street. Threats and punishment solve nothing and serve none. In fact it is against the law in most countries to threaten or punish a person.

Hill defends decision to attack Iraq: Step by step?
FEDERAL Defence [War] Minister [Sinister] Robert Hill has defended the government's decision to send troops [ send militia] to the Persian Gulf [ to attack Iraq] in readiness for any [pre-emptive strike that would cause a] conflict with Iraq.

Pleas for peace ring the globe
Anti-war demonstrators turned out in their hundreds of thousands around the world on Saturday to protest against United States military preparations for an invasion of Iraq.

Not too late for Iraq peace, Blix says
But we all know that's rubbish now. The Coalition of the Killing were not seeking WMD in Iraq, they were there for their resource wars. So who gave the 'UN' and Blix the wrong information back then? War criminals!

George Bush's other poodle
John Howard, Australia's PM, is the mouse that roars for America, whipping his country into war fever and paranoia about terrorism within.

US prepares for trade talks with Australia but it's not worth it!
The office of the United States Trade Representative has started formally preparing its negotiating position for the first round of talks on a free trade agreement between Australia and the US.

First strike and you're out!
The ideology of a super loser? John Howard shocks the nation again. A nation who cannot believe Howard's stupidity following his [complicity in the CIA's false flag operation, the Bali bombing.]

UN charter doesn't reflect new self-defence needs: Hill?
The Defence [War] Minister, Robert Hill, says the United Nations' charter needs to be changed to help countries defend themselves against potential threats. [?] [Pre-emptive strikes on soveriegn nation states like Iraq and Afghanistan?]

Australian Propaganda

Middle Eastern: Specific Legislation
"If there is a target person the police would have powers in relation to that type of person," Mr Costa said. Asked what he meant by "type of person", Mr Costa said: "The example that's been given is if there's a description of somebody, an identikit photograph released by Interpol or other agencies ... these powers may well be exercised on that type of person."

Howard defends terror alert
Prime Minister John Howard says the Federal Government would not have issued a terror alert if it had not come from a credible source. (America?) Speaking for the first time since the Government revealed the warning, Mr Howard says he wants people to be more careful, but not to stop living. [As long as they don't go dancing in Bali? And sure we'll all be depressed for as long as John Howard and Bob Carr say so.]

Carr backs Fed Govt's terror alert
New South Wales Premier Bob Carr has defended the Federal Government's decision to issue a warning to Australians about a possible terrorist attack in Australia.

NSW Police Force may get 'special powers'
Civil libertarians are questioning the need for further anti-terrorism laws, which will be announced in the New South Wales Parliament on Tuesday.

When Johnny comes marching home again: 'hoorah hoorah'
Posted on the Resistance web page Bronwyn Powell, an organiser of the youth-led mobilisation told Green Left weekly that "in the face of attacks on civil liberties, it is unfortunate that some union officials have felt they need to submit. It could set a negative precedent for upholding the hard-won right to demonstrate in the street."

Give peace a chance
PIERS AKERMAN DT 28 Nov 02: JUSTICE John Dowd should be removed from the bench. His crime? Stupidity. In a breath-taking display of hand-wringing sanctimonious morality, Dowd has condemned the State and Federal Governments' anti-terrorism measures, claiming they erode rights and give encouragement to oppressive regimes.

The scavengers of terror
The NSW Government is to introduce increased police powers bill. Legislation giving New South Wales police special powers to deal with an emergency terrorist situation [emergency scapegoat situation] will be introduced into the New South Wales Parliament today.

About Protesting &: Corporate media, Ben English and Rachel Morris who spell their names in capitals? [Yes too right! Ordinary people some protesting against the occupation, murder and genocide of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. And you call yourselves reporters? You should hang your head in shame and go get jobs defending those poor innocent people. Shame on you!!!]