The Week

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday July 24, 2004

Edited by Alan Kennedy

?EDITORIALS

Blair's bloom long gone

All the bright promise. All those high hopes. Ten years to the day since Tony Blair was acclaimed as Labour's new leader, what is left of them now? According to the latest polls, for example, most voters believe he lied over Iraq. Today, the public is more than ever aware of the vast gap between his rhetoric and everyday reality. Mr Blair may still be in command of his party and ahead in the polls. But he must know that for him it will never be glad confident morning again. London, July 21

Now US puts heat on Iran

Iran now seems to have become the Bush Administration's whipping boy. With the Iraqi misadventure having proved counterproductive, the Bush team needs a new vote-catching punching bag. It is highly unlikely that the Bush Administration will attack Iran - or Syria. With Iraq turning into a Vietnam, not even the most diehard of Bush policymakers would advocate a war on another Muslim country. Nevertheless, the Iran talk will be seen as falling in line with the neo-conservatives' one obsession - the continued demonisation of Muslims. Karachi, July 21

Iraqi meddling

There are only a few differences between the Vichy French regime and the Iraqi Governing Council - both imposed by a foreign aggressor after an unprovoked, legally baseless war - and they make Vichy look good. The Vichy regime did not lecture Sweden on its neutrality, particularly its failure to support the Aryan rejuvenation of a racially infected Europe, as it was believed then. [But] the Iraqi Governing Council had the temerity to take the Philippines Government to task for setting a bad precedent - at the prodding of a US official, Dick Armitage. Manila, July 20

Writing Germany's history

Germany cannot use July 20 [the anniversary of the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler in 1944] to wash itself free of guilt. How frustrating it is to realise how difficult it is to write a history of guilt, especially now that the generation of culprits and victims is scarcely able to participate in such an undertaking any more. This includes the history of the crimes of the Wehrmacht, the Nazi army. But the most shameful chapter in post-Hitler German history is that it took a Hollywood film, Schindler's List, to draw attention to the possibility of using civil disobedience to prevent the extermination of the Jews. Dusseldorf, July 20

?WHAT TO SAY ABOUT: DONALD McGAUCHIE

Donald McGauchie, Reserve Bank board member, Telstra director, former head of the National Farmers' Federation and a leading light in the dock dispute a few years ago, this week took the chairman's job at Telstra.

A wise appointment by the Government or just a job for a mate? That depends on which side of the rottweiler you are standing.

In the Herald Sun, the PM saw him as the best man for the job. "His job is to chair the company with its present ownership and to do that effectively, and I'm sure he will."

Meanwhile, the independent North Queensland MP Bob Katter told Channel Nine that the appointment was "a disgrace".

"Whether it is political or not, it most certainly will bring opprobrium on the Government from country Australia, there's no doubt about that."

The Opposition spokesman on communications, Lindsay Tanner, was not a happy camper either. He told the Herald: "John Howard claims that he wants Telstra run like an ordinary commercial enterprise, but he has engineered the appointment of a chairman who is deeply involved in factional conflict on the Telstra board and whose credentials for running Telstra are political, not commercial."

Tanner also bobbed up in the Townsville Bulletin with the ALP candidate for that area, Anita Phillips, warning that the appointment would lead to a fully privatised Telstra.

"The people of Herbert know that a privatised Telstra will leave town faster than the banks," Tanner said

In The Age, Alan Kohler said McGauchie was "part of the conservative board mutiny that put Bob Mansfield in a rowboat and produced Telstra's new corporate strategy of harvesting money. Telstra, goes the story, had been more sizzle than sausage; but now it's just sausage - a utility that is tightly focused on making cash for shareholders and is now chaired by a farmer and managed by a physicist. The board and institutions are in control; Ziggy Switkowski got to keep his job ... just."

Liz Knight, in the Herald, said McGauchie was "one of the longest-serving Telstra board members and, therefore, had an intimate understanding of all aspects of the business".

"The trouble with being a long-term director is that he was there when many of the poorer decisions were made by the board and management, not the least of which was the disastrous multibillion-dollar foray into Hong Kong and Richard Li's PCCW."

The Australian, in an editorial, was lukewarm: "On the basis of his previous experience, chairing such a huge organisation will be a challenge for Mr McGauchie, one perhaps better suited to a more senior business leader, such as recently retired Wesfarmers' chief executive Michael Chaney."

It wondered if perhaps his job was just to get the privatisation of Telstra through a hostile Senate.

"He now must work to ensure that his successor as chair of a completely privatised phone company is selected on the basis of his business ability alone."

Alan Kennedy

DRUGS SPORT IN THE DOCK

Alex Brown,

The Sydney Morning Herald, July 22

Standing at the scene of her greatest triumph, Cathy Freeman looked across the Telstra Stadium turf, stiffened slightly and declared her uncertainty over whether Australia would take a drug-free Olympic squad to Athens. Freeman, whose 400-metre triumph at the Sydney Olympics was nominated as Telstra Stadium's greatest moment, said she would remain uneasy until she was "standing face-to-face to with [Australia's athletes], looking them in the eye and have them explain to me about what the hell's going on". Swimming great Dawn Fraser also re-entered the drug debate yesterday, claiming Australian athletes would be taunted by rivals in Athens following recent drug scandals involving weightlifters and cyclists.

Report

Herald Sun, July 21

A spokesman for sprint cyclist Ben Kersten (pictured, left) has suggested a race-off between his charge and Sean Eadie (pictured, right) for the final spot on the Athens Olympics team. Cycling Australia announced it would renominate Eadie for the Australian Olympic team, withdrawing Kersten's nomination. The decision followed a direction from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to Cycling Australia to reconsider its nominations after Eadie was cleared at a CAS hearing on Monday of an anti-doping infraction.

Editorial

The Australian, July 22

Late last week Athletics Australia refused to release information on a doping inquiry to the Australian Olympic Committee because the AOC refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Whatever the motivation, secret inquiries always look suspect. They make it impossible for sporting associations to answer the obvious question. If they are tough on drugs and play no favourites, why do they hush everything up? And by ducking and diving on drug allegations, administrators make their sports look grubby. This is hardly an image we need if we are to rely on sportspeople as role models for a nation where childhood obesity is an election issue. All Australians will cheer on our athletes in Athens. But we would be able to shout a lot more loudly if we knew our peak sports bodies were not just tough on drugs, as they claim to be, but were prepared to protect the reputations of their members by ensuring drug cheating charges are answered openly.

ISRAEL FRENCH DISCONNECTION

Aluf Benn

Haaretz, July 20

A diplomatic crisis has erupted between France and Israel over the call by Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, for French Jews to immigrate to Israel because of "wild anti-Semitism" in France. An outraged President Jacques Chirac responded by having his office inform Jerusalem on Monday that Sharon would not be welcome in Paris right now. This message was mainly a show of displeasure, since no visit is planned.

Editorial

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, July 21

Despite the rise of anti-Semitism in France there is no doubt that Jews in Paris, Marseille and Lyon are safer there than they would be in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. The fact that Sharon does not hold back from open controversy with Jewish communities in the diaspora shows how seriously his Government views the situation in France.

Editorial

The Luxemburger Wort, July 21

Sharon is pursuing several goals. First, he wants to contain France's influence because it is too pro-Palestinian. Second, Sharon dreams of a million Jews moving to Israel from all over the world. But where would all these Jews come from? There are 200,000 Jews in Argentina and 600,000 in France. France logically offers the most obvious reservoir of Jews in order to carry out Sharon's dreams for Israel.

Editorial

Le Monde, July 20

Yes, France was slow to recognise the gravity of the problem of increasing anti-Semitic acts. But it has taken measures to combat this scourge, measures which Mr Sharon acknowledges. The Israeli Prime Minister's remarks will be difficult for the French to dismiss. The image has been set, in the United States as in Israel, of an anti-Semitic country at the heart of Europe. What really lies behind Mr Sharon's comments is his desire to exclude Europe from the Middle East peace process. In Israel's eyes, France is at the forefront of Europe's pro-Arab policy.

Editorial

Jerusalem Post, July 22

In 2002 Chirac insisted there was no anti-Semitism in France. Now he and his ministers are beginning to admit that they have a serious problem. Instead of preaching to Israel, the French should get down to dealing with their home-grown intifada in which French Jews are the primary targets and French Muslims the primary aggressors. Sharon's words might be unacceptable in the world of polite diplomacy but he was only carrying out his most basic duty as the leader of the Jewish state. We only wish Chirac would carry out his basic duties with as much forthrightness.

?QUOTES

And here we come, of course, to the conundrum, the problem, the Kafkaesque confusion. What to do? The problem is yours, but it is also mine. I ask that in judging me you consider all the good that I have done.

Martha Stewart's plea to the judge sentencing her over her involvement in an insider trading scam. She got five months.

I made a decision to bring our troops home a few days early in order to save the life of de la Cruz. I do not regret my decision.

The Philippines President, Gloria Arroyo, sticking to her guns.

The bottom line is we are not interested in Tony Abbott's personal assault.

Labor frontbencher Kevin Rudd's response to allegations that the Health Minister, Tony Abbott, had groped a woman years ago. The matter went to court and the charges were dropped.

The cigars came out. The flags came out. Boy, you put away your slide rule. For about 24 hours there were people stumbling out there on the road. That was just a tremendous party.

Norman Chaffee, who worked on NASA's spacecraft propulsion system, at the party marking the 35th anniversary of man landing on the moon.

America is a safer place. Four more years and America will be safer and the world will be more peaceful.

President George Bush on the campaign trail.

No, I cannot say the world is safer today than it was two, three years ago.

The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

I am looking like an airhead, like a frivolous, wanton, extravagant woman at the expense of the poor. I am made to look like a cheap flirt, flirting with all the men of the world.

Imelda Marcos, former Philippines' first lady, complaining about a new documentary about her life.

?THE NATION

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Water torture

Nearly half of Perth households could pay more for water and the Water Corporation could charge more in the dry months as the result of an inquiry into price structures. The inquiry has investigated price structures and tariff levels of Western Australia's three water monopolies - the Water Corporation and the Bunbury and Busselton water boards - and found that Perth households pay the highest water bills in the country.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Who's paying the freight?

Very little international container freight is being transported on the new Adelaide-Darwin railway line. The railway operator, FreightLink, has transported only about 4000 tonnes so far. But the Port of Darwin trade development manager, Gary Scanlon, says operations are still in their infancy.

NSW

New cop shop

The NSW Government is calling for tenders to fit out the new $6 million Redfern police station. The new station is to occupy seven floors of the former TNT Towers building and is expected to be ready early next year.

ACT

Bad look

Canberra's image as a tourist destination is taking a battering around the world because of the controversial Googong Dam kangaroo cull. An internet search revealed almost 2000 news reports in more than 40 countries on the cull of the 800 eastern grey kangaroos, which the ACT Government says is needed to protect water quality in the dam, Canberra's main water source. Environmental and animal-welfare websites are calling for tourists to boycott Canberra.

VICTORIA

Insulting words prove expensive

A woman who claims she was sacked because she was too fat has won her bid for compensation. Deborah Hill, who weighs 120 kg, was awarded $2500 for the hurt, humiliation, loss of dignity, pain and suffering caused when she was fired from a Ringwood accommodation unit for the elderly and disabled. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard Ms Hill's former employer, Marc Noel, instructed a senior colleague to sack her because she was "too fat".

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

River in trouble

Excessive levels of phosphates, fecal matter, salinity and turbidity in the River Murray have been identified in a comprehensive scientific survey by 37 schools from Victoria to the river's mouth. Young people from the state have presented their findings to parliamentarians and called for action by regulators.

QUEENSLAND

Not so good oil

The Texan investor who earlier this year pounced on the struggling Stuart shale oil plant near Gladstone is to close it down with the loss of 100 jobs. Queensland Energy Resources Ltd, controlled by Austin-based Sandefer Capital Partners, says that operations at the so-called "Stage one demonstration plant" - which cost $360 million to build in the late 1990s - will be "wound down" from about September through to November. QERL employs about 140 people.

TASMANIA

Bill not welcome

State Liberal and Labor politicians have told an interstate senator to butt out of the aerial spray controversy. The NSW Liberal senator Bill Heffernan has been attacked by both major parties for criticising chemical use in forestry. The state Liberal leader, Rene Hidding, and federal Labor MPs Michelle O'Byrne and Dick Adams said Heffernan should stay out of Tasmanian politics.

?THE FALLOUT

Fish fight back: A man fishing off the Georgia coast in the United States was injured after a 14-kilogram barracuda jumped into his boat and bit him. WFTV Georgia reports that the Coast Guard said the 65-year-old man, was on a chartered fishing boat when the fish - which wasn't hooked - just leapt from the water into the boat. The man was treated at hospital for a serious cut on his finger.

Military madness: US servicemen and women are being offered free plastic surgery, including breast enlargements. The New Yorker magazine reports that members of all four branches of the military and their families can get facelifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose jobs for free.

Reality television: Dozens of actors in a Croatian soap opera, Villa Maria, have been arrested during filming after police mistook them for car thieves. Police arrested the cast members in the northern village of Pregrada when officers saw a number of cars being driven without number plates. The officers did not recognise the actors. They were released hours later when a leading actress, Ksenija Pajic, was finally identified.

Stamp of disapproval: Canada's postal service says it is not amused by a pet store's dog biscuits shaped like postal workers. Canadian Post has convinced the chain to stop carrying the Bark Bars. The service's media manager says it is not funny when its workers are attacked.

© 2004 Sydney Morning Herald

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