Newspaper bullies destroy people's lives!

The Daily Terrorist: Newspaper Bullies!

NSW: Who's policing corporate media? Have police the means to prosecute them? Have you been a victim of newspaper abuse? Please make a comment and send your complaint to the Daily Terrorist, the police and ATTORNEY GENERAL Bob Debus!

NEW legislation should be targeting paperbullies not cyberbullies.

After police said they had no means of prosecuting the creator of a malicious website about Hurlstone Agricultural High.

But have police ever targeted the Daily Terror about their malicious website? And have police the means to prosecute them? And have you been abused by pro government News Papers or the Corporate Media?

I bet lots of you have, but it seems the authorities just want to strike down any opposition to themselves on the net - sounds more like it, and their story, about cyberabuse, AND NOT NEWSPAPER ABUSE, is just the sort of platform they need to place a blanket ban on anything they don't like on the net!

The Daily Terrorist: " has learned Attorney-General Bob Debus will pursue cyberbullying legislation - either at a state level or with the Commonwealth - to keep the Crimes Act relevant to the internet age.

Statements made on the Throwstones website ended the career of teacher Greg Frawley, defamed other teachers and racially slurred students."

GKCNN: And even though they have 'learned' they're still asking on the bottom of their article in today's Daily Terror. Have you been a victim - so they can run another 100 stories? But I know lots of victims of Newspaper abuse! So what's being done about that? ZIP!

And it makes you wonder if the 'boy' had a reason for his protest doesn't it? But you're not going to get it from the terror.

ALLEGEDLY, police have identified an embittered former male student as responsible for the allegations that damaged the selective high school.

What was he embittered about? Can we get the other side of the story?

The Daily Terrorist: "Documents show Macquarie Fields police told the Department of Education and Training last December they could not charge the individual as "no criminal offence was able to be identified".

Reports and pages from the website, obtained under Freedom of Information, reveal the depth of the hurt inflicted by the cyber-bullying incident.

GKCNN: But nothing about the abuse inflicted on the student?

The Daily Terrorist: "As well as hurtful accusations, the Throwstones site included crude caricatures of teaching staff.

Because the 'perpetrator' was neither a present student or a departmental employee, there were no other avenues of disciplinary action.

GKCNN: So how do we know he's a perpetrator? He hasn't been charged with any offence? Nor has he been found guilty of any crime? How about the Daily Terrorist's allegations about other people? Who incidentally run the National Newspaper slandering people with false and misleading allegations everyday?

The Daily Terrorist: "Mr Frawley -- accused on the Throwstones website of being a child molester -- claims vital evidence from the police investigation has not been made public. The allegations have cost Mr Frawley, 57, his career at the elite selective high school. He says he cannot enter a school again because his confidence has been shattered. It is almost a year since Mr Frawley and several other teachers at Hurlstone Agricultural High School fell victim to the 'malicious' students' website."

But the teacher's involved did nothing; the 'boy' just hates school right? Wrong!

The Daily Terrorist: "It said two teachers should be "executed", accused some of paedophilia and one of stealing. Mr Frawley said he had been "stained with the worst social stigma of all".

GKCNN: From a boy? Not unlike the Daily Terrorist either! And something an embittered boy would say, no doubt!

The Daily Terrorist: "He claims education bosses did not move quickly enough to shut the website. But the department says it was closed as soon as it was discovered."

GKCNN: So what's the problem? Why the new legislation now - if they had the 'power' to close it down, and did close it down, already?

Do they want to lock the boy up? In a jail? To 'teach' him another lesson?

The Daily Terrorist: "Education Minister Carmel Tebutt last week sent a letter to Mr Debus, a copy of which has been obtained by The Daily Terrorist, seeking help with "the emerging problem of cyberbullying".

GKCNN: BUT REALLY SEEKING HELP TO CLOSE DOWN THE OPPOSITION ONLINE! AND CERTAINLY NOT SEEKING HELP WITH THE CURRENT PROBLEM OF 'NEWSPAPER-BULLYING'. THEY CAN'T EVEN LIE STRAIGHT!

The Daily Terrorist: "While police apparently identified a person as being responsible, they determined [prosecution] was not possible," Ms Tebbutt wrote. Ms Tebbutt sought advice on law reform, including amending the Commonwealth Criminal Code and determining if telecommunications laws required revision."

MORE SLANDER SO YOU CAN HATE THE YOUNG BOY AND IMPLORE THE NEW LEGISLATION -YIPEE! ATTACKING EVERYONE ELSE ON THE NET FOR THE SAKE OF A BOY'S LEARNING CURVE! ORWELLIAN!

The Daily Terrorist: "The website purports to be about Throwstones Agricultural High School in Berlin, Germany, in the time of the Nazis.'

It carries detailed allegations about teachers with names parodying those at Hurlstone. "Please do not e-mail me telling me they are mighty similar to alleged incidents at Hurlstone Agricultural HS in Australia, because they are not," the website read.

The website was viewed by students at school and teachers complained of sniping remarks based on the content. The documents show the principal reported the site to the department's information technology directorate helpdesk on July 27, 2004.

The website continued to be accessible outside the school until August 30."

GKCNN: But it was not until two days later that the school's internet provider blocked access within the school."

Well there you go, 'see' they did have the 'power' and now they want more? WHAT FOR?

What ARE they going to do next - lock the young boy up in prison for his learning curve so he can learn some really bad habits?

Have you been a victim of newspaper abuse?

Don't go to the Daily Terror they won't really let you "Have your Say" they say what they want!

By BRUCE DINGLE and KELVIN BASSETT HOUND 14 June 05

Related:

Is this our most dangerous Newspaper?
The Daily Terrorist should be managed with manacles and flown into Siberia via a jumbo jet tomorrow amid fears government fascists may attempt to use them again on someone else.

Lying and bullshitting the same thing
Australia: The Un-Australian Newspaper: "AS well as all the bullshit in politics, there's even more in our metaphoric and colloquial language. Bullshit is the subject of serious philosophical inquiry in a little book called On Bullshit, published by the 'highly respected' Princeton University Press. To the surprise and delight of the author, it's stampeding out of bookshops all over the world."

Murdoch's war on truth in war reporting
People who remain to be convinced that cross-media laws are important to maintaining the fabric of our democracy need look no further than today's page one of The Daily Telegraph.

Rene Rivkin beaten to death by Media and Judge!
RENE Rivkin committed suicide last Sunday; after he was nearly beaten to death by the mainstream media and the Judge who sentenced him, which no doubt had an impact on his marriage, after 32 years.

Community: Daily Telegraph, you're out of "touch"
This morning the Daily Telegraph has reported that, "judges and Magistrates are out of touch on every crime and penalties should be increased." Turn up for the books? The Daily Telegraph's paid a NSW prisoner $3,000 to go into the prison while doing weekend detention to take a picture of Renee Rivkin. Police failed to lay any charges against the Terror's reporter.

Daily Terror rolled-over for Howard's war games
The DAILY TERROR is suspected of being the source of the news this morning that Willie Brigitte is a terrorist and that Sydney faces a bomb attack.

"If I Could Turn Back Time" Daily Terror, CH/7
THE real cause of last month's violent Redfern riots was the death of teenager Thomas "TJ" Hickey but perhaps only one element of the racism, harassment and bullying by the New South Wales police force and in this case Redfern police at the Block.

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.

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.

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.

Daily Telegraph asked to pay Jim's Legal Bill
A man has pleaded guilty in a Sydney court to smuggling a mobile phone into Silverwater jail, which was then used to take photographs of convicted insider trader Rene Rivkin.

Review of the Mental Health Act 1990

Indigenous Social Justice Association & Justice Action Mental Health Act Review Submission.

Indigenous Social Justice Association & Justice Action Mental Health Act Privacy/Carers Submission.

Review of the Mental Health Act 1990 - discussion paper

Indigenous Social Justice Association & Justice Action Mental Health Act Review Submission

1. We contend that the wording of the objects unnecessarily contrasts civil and other rights with effectiveness of treatment. It does not have to be a matter of balance, and in fact we suggest that real care is consistent with rights, dignity etc. The use of the word "control" (in this Section and throughout the whole Chapter) repeatedly with neither qualification nor mitigation leads to a strong impression that all people with psychiatric disabilities are always in need of 'policing' and restriction. We disagree totally and consider this to give rise to prejudicial attitudes and actions by the public and professionals related to perceptions and assumptions of dangerousness and lack of capacity.

Indigenous Social Justice Association & Justice Action Mental Health Act Privacy/Carers Submission

According to people with psychiatric disabilities, when a person's mode of thought is associated with an inability to cope within the manner that the society is set up, assistance, if given at all, is grudging, controlling, punitive. You must at least appear to conform, and even when you show complete subjugation, or even 'recover' according to the system's designated pattern, you will remain under suspicion and increased control for the rest of your life. It must be recognised that the patient is the most disempowered person, the one whose input is most likely to be disregarded and put down as a symptom. As such it is necessary to ensure their rights.

There is also a major problem in this society regarding the understanding of the concept of 'interdependence.'. It must be stated that most people with psychiatric disabilities do not have official 'carers', and that care, concern, assistance and advocacy is felt, shown and done by people with psychiatric disability for others close to them who do have similar problems and also for others who have different problems, as others do for them. Broader relationships on community and other levels also show interdependence. The relationship roles mostly acknowledged in society are those of personal independence and self sufficiency with no assistance, or dependence. Within dependent relationships are martyrs, worthy causes and the unworthy. We regard reliance on this analysis and conceptualisation of human relationships to be not spectacularly useful, and it is highly damaging to force such roles upon people, it is denigrating, and it is discriminatory. It is really important to recognise interdependence and to use this concept to ameliorate the conflicting/competing rights concepts and to prevent antagonism. Nothing in the above prevents general discussion, education and facilitating access to resources and organisations aimed at increasing a person's autonomy, and reducing socially constructed disability.

We believe that it is vital to respect the patient as a person. It should never be assumed that the person is incapable of considering a matter, forming an opinion and giving direction regarding the matter. This includes who is privy to information and who may be involved in admission, treatment, and discharge, in terms of Health and non-Health persons and the interaction of the two. There is generally a presumption that any patient with psychiatric disability lacks capacity. This is untrue. It is also untrue that a lack of capacity regarding one issue means that the patient may be regarded as lacking capacity in another or all issues. Issues need to be looked at on a case by case basis. We discuss global conceptions of capacity vs partial in the other submission.

Review of the Mental Health Act 1990 - discussion paper

This title was selected for preservation by the State Library of New South Wales and is archived regularly. The publisher's site may provide more information.

No. 2. The Mental Health Act, 1990 archived 16 Aug 2004
No. 1, Carers and Information Sharing archived 16 Aug 2004

Review of the Mental Health Act 1990
This discussion paper is designed to look at the general terms of the Mental Health Act 1990, focussing on operational and treatment issues. The Paper has separate sections on each Chapter of the Act, and seeks general comments on all aspects of the legislation as well as identifying specific areas where suggestions for reform have arisen in the past, or as part of preliminary consultation on this Paper.

By Justice Action and ISJA posted 17 January 05

Related:

Prison boom will prove a social bust
Hardened criminals are not filling NSW's prisons - the mentally ill and socially disadvantaged are, writes Eileen Baldry.

Isolation, psychiatric treatment and prisoner' control
The 2003 NSW Corrections Health Service (now Justice Health) Report on Mental Illness Among NSW Prisoners states that the 12 month prevalence of any psychiatric disorder in prison is 74%, compared to 22% in the general community, and while this includes substance disorder the high rate cannot be attributed to that alone.

Where the Norm is Not the Norm: HARM-U
In the absence of public policy, this paper is an attempt to shine a light through the rhetoric and test for coherency in the policy and function of NSW’s only supermax prison, the High Risk Management Unit. Its present use will be compared with the ‘vision’ flogged by the Premier and the Department of Corrective Services (the Department) at its inception in 2001.

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Fed Govt threatens force over mental health spending!
The Federal Government has threatened to coerce the states and territories to spend more on mental health services.

Deaths in Custody, Police Powers and Mental Illness
The NSW Police Force should not have a role in the psychiatric diagnosis and medication of the public. Police are not medically trained in this speciality.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

Carr Govt dramatic increases in the NSW prisoner pop...
Following the opening of the 500 bed Kempsey prison, and a new 200-bed prison for women at Windsor the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS) and community organisations specialising in the rehabilitation of prisoners, have expressed concern....

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.

At The Ministers Pleasure?
20 people have been recommended for release from Long Bay Prison Hospital yet they are still there.

Government justice not personal justice
Mr Brett Collins of Justice Action said, "Victims should be looked after properly by implementing restorative justice measures and victims should be compensated for their pain and suffering. " However prisoners are entitled to serve their sentences in peace and privacy as well."

Sentencing: Violent crime and practical outcomes
In addition introducing restorative justice programs giving the offender a chance to interact with the offended person if they wish and visa-versa. People are not "dogmatic" therefore should be given a second chance opposed to Life means Life!

Jails-The new asylums?
QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Asylum seekers -- no, not what you think -- but those who are so disillusioned with the current approach of our mental health system that they believe we should go back to the old ways and rebuild the asylums.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN N S W
Ms CLOVER MOORE (Bligh) [4.43 p.m.]: Today I speak about the shocking situation for people with mental illness, and call for urgent government action. There have been calls for reform of mental health services as far back as the 1983 Richmond report, followed by the 1988 Barclay report and the 1993 Burdekin report.

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.

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).

Escape from hell?
A third person has escaped from the Adelaide's Glenside psychiatric hospital as health authorities prepare to begin a second review of security.

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.

Parents on the inside leave children on the edge
Life in jail is an ordeal but it's a much harsher sentence for the child of a prisoner, writes Paola Totaro. 30 July 03

History of trauma dogs sole parents and the government
Australia's sole parents including those who were squarely divided by the Family Court of Australia which include tens of thousands of lone mothers on welfare benefits have experienced rape, physical assault, torture and mental health disorders at some time during their life, a new study shows.

Child detainees 'living in a nightmare', report finds
A report being released today documents disturbing evidence about mental health for children in detention centres.The report is a joint work by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, NSW University and NSW psychiatrists.

The children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

National Mental Health Conference
I attended a National Mental Health Conference Last Monday 21 of June at Canberra ACT. The conference started off with a welcome message from Patrick Dodson.

Schizophrenia: talking may help when drugs don't
About one in every 100 Australians experience schizophrenia at some point in their life, suffering delusions and hallucinations such as hearing voices and believing other people want to harm them. In extreme cases it can lead to suicide.

RIOT ACT READ AGAINST INSPECTION TEAM
The secrecy of the unit holding several people charged with terrorist offences here in Australia was confirmed during an attempted community inspection by a delegation from Justice Action. The delegation comprised four women and two men.

Report recommends freeing child detainees
The Human Rights Commission has found that some children held in Australia's immigration detention centres have been exposed to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

A review of psychiatry, law and politics in Victoria
Neither Bad Nor Mad tells the story of Garry David, a convicted Australian murderer who became famous by sending out threats to the public and descriptions of his extreme self-mutilations to news papers while incarcerated.

Presentation at the Ngo Mental Health Conference
I am James Condren from Justice Action I am a Community Mentor and caseworker. My role is to do prisoner support for those who are in Jail or at risk of going to Jail.

Turning the Tide or Cuckoo's Nest?
In NSW we are currently at a watershed as to how forensic patients in particular and the mentally ill in general will be treated. If we don't strongly register our protest against their objectification now we will later be just railing against a fait accompli.

Attack prompts call for increased mental health funding
The Western Australian Opposition is calling for a review of mental health funding following the weekend attacks on two nurses at Perth's Swan Districts Hospital.

Howard, where's your head at?
How many Australians will convert this fear into Mental Illness?

Jails-The new asylums?
QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Asylum seekers -- no, not what you think -- but those who are so disillusioned with the current approach of our mental health system that they believe we should go back to the old ways and rebuild the asylums.

Cry for help that led to the morgue
According to ABC Radio News the hospital procedures prior to the man below's death (R.I.P.) are to be investigated by someone from CORRECTIONS Health Service (?!). I wonder how the Daily Terror et al got their photographers in the scene so soon...

Escape from hell?
A third person has escaped from the Adelaide's Glenside psychiatric hospital as health authorities prepare to begin a second review of security.

Victim plea for counselling?
The mother of murdered Wagga Wagga woman Janine Balding said she remains a supporter of the death penalty despite one of her daughter's killers pleading his innocence and despite that penalty not being an option in Australia.

Parents on the inside leave children on the edge
The study's author, Simon Quilty, said children and their remaining parent were often unsupported, increasing their vulnerability to mental health problems. "This enormous group of children are born into situations they simply have no control over. This also puts them into family environments which, often by loss of a parent to prison, makes them even more marginalised. "This effectively puts them at far greater risk themselves of becoming involved in some form of criminal activity."

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.

History of trauma dogs sole parents and the government
Australia's sole parents including those who were squarely divided by the Family Court of Australia which include tens of thousands of lone mothers on welfare benefits have experienced rape, physical assault, torture and mental health disorders at some time during their life, a new study shows.

Child detainees 'living in a nightmare', report finds
A report being released today documents disturbing evidence about mental health for children in detention centres.

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 S. I have enclosed a copy of S'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.

Judicial, mental health and police corruption
Ian Kay, who blew the whistle on judicial and police corruption here in Victoria has recently been improperly incarcerated in MAP Prison, Melbourne for doing nothing more than writing a letter of complaint to his local MP. It seems he is one of the first victims of the Australian Government's so-called tough line on terrorists, which in reality is a poorly made smokescreen for stifling dissent and disclosure of malpractice in the government bureaucracy.

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.

Alcohol pickles your brain
Pickle point; a leading professor Dr. Bud said after releasing his report on the problems associated with alcohol.

UK

Winning goals: Rethinking Crime and Punishment
Extracts in this feature are adapted from I Would Rethink Crime and Punishment By...published today by the thinktank Rethinking Crime and Punishment.

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.

The group includes the NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS), the Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes, and academics from the Universities of Sydney, NSW and Western Sydney. It has pledged to try and provide a new balance in the law and order debate, calling for an end to the increasingly "harsh and irrational" policies proposed by both major parties in NSW.

The director of NCOSS, Alan Kirkland, said the group met officially for the first time last year under the banner "Beyond Bars", with the aim of forcing politicians to address the causes of crime.

"We formed because we don't think that NSW can afford another law and order election," he said. "Every small increase in the prison population costs millions of dollars each year, which is money that then cannot be spent on education, health, community services and the very things likely to prevent crime in the longer term.

"We are also trying to take on the myths that underpin this whole debate, such as the myth that crime is always worse than in the past. If you look at the homicide rate, it is the same as or even less than 100 years ago."

The coalition is preparing a series of fact sheets, which it will disseminate via member church and community groups, to provide voters with "a truer story" on crime rates, imprisonment statistics and the efficacy of mandatory sentencing in other jurisdictions.

New fact sheets on policing, victims of crime, mental illness and crime, youth crime and Aboriginal imprisonment are also in train.

Mr Kirkland said the campaign launch, scheduled for February 14, would also aim to provide cost analyses of alternatives to prison, as well as providing a "bigger picture" economic review of the corrective services budget in comparison to portfolios like education, health and community services.

Academic members of the group include Dr Eileen Baldry, of the University of NSW's school of social work and Chris Cuneen, the director of Sydney University's institute of criminology.

Mr Kirkland said the coalition would also provide a critique of the major parties' law and order policies to help voters distinguish between pre-poll promises.

"Most people don't realise, for example, that the rate of imprisonment in NSW is double that of Victoria. We can break out of this cycle ... Surely people do not see Victoria as far more dangerous than NSW just because it locks up fewer people," he said.

Welcome to the Beyond Bars Alliance website

The Beyond Bars Alliance (BBA) is a coalition of community and church organisations, activist groups, academics and individuals with an interest in social justice.

The purpose of the alliance is to promote social justice solutions to a range of criminal justice system issues with a particular focus on finding alternatives to imprisonment. It also aims to dispel common myths about 'law and order'.

The alliance first agreed to come together for the period leading up to the 2003 NSW state election. For a list of the founding members of the Beyond Bars Alliance click here. The BBA continues to attempt to influence public debate, opinion and policy

By Beyond Bars Alliance 30 Jan 03

Related:

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.

Fiona Stanley, the children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

Attempted thong theft costs $560
A man has been fined $500 after appearing in a northern New South Wales court charged with stealing a pair of thongs.

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.

How NSW Dept of Corrective Services spent $800,000 dollars to rehabilitate a Sydney man sentenced to life for second murder! A spokesperson for Justice Action Mr Pro Grams said, "Well it's your money, how would you like it spent? And what do you think about rehabilitation on behalf of the Department of Corruptive Services?

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.

Academic devises scheme for low income earners to pay back fines:
A professor at the Australian National University [another one of John Howard's hand picked losers like Peter Saunders the social services head-kicker has come up with a scheme which could see low income earners pay back criminal fines over a period of time.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Just wipe your arse on Ivan again Minister?
Mr Amery Minister for Corrective services has a problem with finding a toilet roll to wipe his bottom. Justice Action is appalled at the attacks by Amery and others in parliament on Ivan Milat's right to privacy and their attacks on the Privacy Commissioner and his office.

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.

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.

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.

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.]

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.

It estimates that in 1998-99, tobacco accounted for $21 billion, or 60 per cent, of the costs of drugs to individuals, business and government, and alcohol made up $7.5 billion, or 22 per cent.

One of the report's authors, David Collins, a professor of economics at Macquarie University, said that the report had measured, for the first time, the cost of passive smoking to the community.

"A lot of the impact of ... involuntary smoking is on the unborn child, and on children under 14 years - it hits the young very hard because they have no control over their lives," he said.

Measuring hospital bed days, other health care costs and deaths in 1998-99, the report found involuntary smoking cost the community $47 million."Tobacco is still the greatest killer by far and imposes the greatest costs," Professor Collins said.

The cost of fires resulting from smoking was put at $81 million.

"The message from this report is that the costs [of drug use] are so high the potential benefit of a small reduction is substantial," Professor Collins said. "Anti-tobacco programs yield very high rates of return.

The problem of alcohol use was more complex, because it had beneficial as well as damaging effects on drinkers.

"If you reduce alcohol consumption you may reduce the benefits," Professor Collins said. "That said, people should not be encouraged to binge drink. It is moderate, low level consumption that provides the benefit."

The report estimates that in 1998-99, alcohol caused 4286 deaths.

The costs of drug use include both the tangible - crime, policing, cancer, hospital bed days, car accidents, death, fires, loss of productivity, less tax revenue - and the intangible, such as pain and suffering due to illness and death.

The information officer for the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Paul Dillon, said experts had been aware for some time that alcohol and tobacco were the biggest cause of drug-related problems and costs. But there was a vast gap between the reality and public perception.

"People really do perceive that illicit drugs are the major issue ... [and] they don't actually want to acknowledge that their drug of choice is really problematic," he said. "For most Australians those drugs will be legal drugs."

The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association said the report was a wake-up call for all governments to expand drug treatment and prevention programs.

[What about labels warning potential customers and taxpayers of the dangers?]

Professor Collins said the costs contained in the report were conservative calculations, and represented only minimum costs. "The real figures could be much higher."

By Legal Drugs, Health Writer Jan 21 03

THE DUCK: Whatever you do just don't smoke or drink alcohol! QUACK

Related:

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.