Mood:  not sure

These misreports were at 12 noon and World Today bulletin in these two respects:

1. The evidence to the court from two senior police especially Chief Superintindent Steve John Cullen, Commander of the Riot and Public Order Squad, amounted to a POSSIBILITY of violence. It was NOT ever submitted there was a PROBABILITY of violence.

Rather the issues of public risk appear to be around a POSSIBILITY  of a splinter group might seek to hijack the event.

Whether this is being said outside the court to the media by the police/govt spin doctors is uncertain, but it wasn't the evidence in the court attended for 4 hours this morning by this writer, and as a trained solicitor observer.

2. The change in protest march route was caused by the police and not a back down on the intention of the Stop Bush Coalition to march into Martin Place.  The police barrier at the corner of King and George St was only advised by the NSW police in the last day (4th Sept) to the protest group Stop Bush Coalition. This police barrier across King and George IS THE CAUSE OF THE CHANGE IN ROUTE. The judge admitted this morning he has no power to rule on that barrier given the new police APEC legislation. There is thus no pre emptive buckle by the protest march organisers. Once they became aware that the Supreme Court had no power to decide on the legality of the police barrier at King and George St under "extraordinary, unprecedented" APEC police powers, Bainbridge and others decided to march to the barrier "hold speeches and disperse from there". This apparently is to highlight their intention to take the protest march past the highly "symbolic" US Consulate and War Memorial to protest agaisnt the Iraq War now thwarted by oppressive laws.

Apart from these important clarifications note also

A. The barrister for the NSW Police Commissioner thus applied for a second different order of the court to prohibit this new march route to the King/George St barrier. This will be decided on at 2pm today.

B. In police evidence it was admitted in court that there was no evidence of any of the 30 odd groups including Greens, teachers, others have any involvement in violent tactics. In this sense the organisers and the 30 affiliated groups came out of the hearing this morning smelling like a bunch of roses in terms of their own character and commitment to peaceful protest.

C. In submissions on the so called potential for crowd crush at the King/George St crush the judge noted the crowd estimates are anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 which affects his assessment. In submissions by barrister Bozic for Council for Civil Liberties acting for Bainbridge, it was pointed out there would be plenty of warning at the start of the march of a halt at King and George, also plenty of points of egress at Park St, Market St and west along King St toward Darling Harbour. The Barrister for Police argued inter alia that the Hilton Hotel is a declared APEC area in George St along the route.

D. It seems very likely to this writer that the police commissioner will get their order against the second march proposal to the King/George St barrier. But as the barrister for the Police said, the commissioner even today would take an application for a march from Town Hall along Park St to Hyde Park in some fashion.

We suspect this is what is likely to happen but time will tell sometime after 2pm.

Posted by editor at 2:36 PM NZT

Updated: Wednesday, 5 September 2007 3:23 PM NZT

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Mood:  not sure

Today The Australian carries a worrying story about up to 9 missing rocket launchers on page 1 of The Australian here: John Lyons: Just who has missing weapons?

Only SAM's editor wrote abou this very real worry for all Australians of whatever pursuasion back in May 07 here:

"Tuesday, 22 May 2007

Missing rocket launchers still at large in
lead up to APEC in Sydney?
Mood: don't ask
Topic:
legal

 This is a press release we noticed today from the legal authorities posted on
Melbourne Indy Media a few days ago relating to a high profile mainstream media
report in early April 2007:

 

Further
charges over stolen rocket launchers This is a
joint Media Release between the AFP and NSW Police.

As a result this report from the Murdoch press around the same story

 

 

Bail refused over
alleged rocket launcher theft | NEWS.com.au states:

 

"TWO Sydney men, including an Australian army captain, have been
refused bail after being charged with the theft of 10 army rocket launchers.

 

 

.....Mr Collins said only one anti-tank rocket launcher has been
recovered by police. He said extensive searches had been carried out in
bushland for the missing seven weapons, but their whereabouts were unknown.

 

 

......Police said the missing rocket launchers had been taken
into account in security preparations for the APEC summit in Sydney in
September."

 

 

The individual posting on Melbourne Indy Media states there is no update on
the police website and speculates that this means the "seven" rocket launchers
are still at large.

 

We find this state of affairs very scary including for innocent peaceful
protesters who might be at risk.

........."

We also wrote about a real worry for public safety which again has nothing to do with usual public protest, and that is the petrol tanker scenario, with an accident like this one in Rockdale some 5 years back literally melting the tanker in half

Police setting APEC pre publicity tone is a
self fulfilling prophesy of aggressive clashes and ignores real
threats
Mood: not sure
Topic:
legal

Picture: Truck accident in Rockdale about 5 years ago.
Images taken by this writer as a local resident/witness. If one looks closely at
the top image you can see a truck has flipped onto its side and is being lifted
about a metre aloft with wheels at right angle to the ground. It looks strange
because the heat of the fuel fire has literallly vaporised half the metal tank
on the trailer. No one was killed in this accident which in itself must have
been a minor miracle. There were some people sleeping in the burnt buildings
nearby at the time of the one vehicle accident at a sharp corner just before the
rail bridge.

 

Note this pre publicity by the police and their captured political
representatives in State Government in the press today:

APEC
gets tough on protesters | The Daily Telegraph

This writer spent 2 years on Bondi Safety Committee 1996-97 as an elected
local councillor and we learned to never let the police set the tone of pre
event publicity. The principle looks the same today even as big as the APEC
conference will be in Sydney in September 2007.

Police inevitably predict aggressive clashes with the public and suggest
criminal behaviour by protesters which is the police paradigm and in fact what
they plan for. This has the effect of promoting their own importance and budget
in a highly convenient fashion for the bureaucracy. It is also self
fulfilling prophesy because the minute number actually looking for sport at the
police expense take it as an invitation to come on down and box on.

In a sense they all get what they want at the expense of the broader public.
But there is a much more serious aspect of distraction from real risk profile
for such an event.

What worries this writer most is not loud ferals, even pushy ones,
or mindless street violence. And certainly not organised recognised non govt
groups who never want the reputation for violence. What worries me, and should
worry everyone not least Big Media and Govt:

1. is those 7 or so missing rocket launchers reported in the Murdoch
press and media release of the federal/NSW police. Still missing?

2. Canberra is set up for gatherings away from the largest centre of
population, not just for one offs like APEC, but to avoid opportunistic coups
via a big rally taking over the parliament house (theoretically possible in
Sydney of 4M but not Canberra).

3. Is Howard secretly hoping there will be an attack to get votes in a
patriotic fervour?

4. The petrol tanker scenario. See these pics above of a truck accident
in Rockdale 5 years back we locals of the time witnessed - large volumes of
fuel and a spark can destroy anything, including melt the tanker in half, like
a hot knife through butter. That's scary.

None of these are protester related, marbles or stuff like that. Those
are so marginal and in truth this writer has never ever witnessed that
in 15 years of ngo activity as God is my witness, 6 or so arrests for peaceful
protest without conviction, and solicitor now. That said, we don't like seeing
anyone get hurt, democracy activists police or anyone. For moral reasons but
also quite practical - draconian blow back by the system. Gandhi is my way even
if we can't be a saint like him.

We were quite surprised indeed to read the quite calm and brutal article in
the Herald recently on the history of lethal attacks on political
leaders. This was suggestive of activity way beyond the aims or objectives of
the local ngo movement I've known this last 15 years in Sydney. Here is the
reference, and we had to wonder how responsible the article was but here it is
anyway relying on the Herald as precedent:

Gunning
for democracy works, just don't miss - Opinion - smh.com.au

Posted by editor at 4:36 PM NZT

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Mood:  quizzical

Is he here at Sydney Town Hall ticking off Deputy Lord Mayor Cr Chris Harris who wants to 'cage him' according to a certain banner proposal?

Is he in the office of his US Citizen 'Kane' Murdoch checking the latest attack front pager about a group smaller than a football team that no one has ever heard of, which apparently costs $300M to deal with?

Maybe he's over at Rupert's rival Fairfax trying to shake their tree a bit after that nasty Alan Ramsey column on Saturday? I mean what a curmudgeon....

Maybe he went in to tell those disgruntled  Greenpeace, Caritas and other civil society groups [pdf link] they can stick their NGO media room on the ground floor of the Labor Council building in Sussex St?

Doggone it, where is the varmint? Centrepoint Tower or World Tower? Or maybe he's pondering community and sustainability somewhere with Microsoft, and Thales defence industry corporation named on the APEC flags down at Darling Harbour tourist precinct?

Is he taking a tour in a cheuffer driven Mercedes here, contemplating why we don't have the death penalty like Texas?

Quack quack, where is George the lame duck President? Everyone is waiting, some will offer bouquets some the unvarnished truth.

NSW Treasurer Michael Costa said on ABC radio this afternoon 'we are not about stopping peaceful protests'. Amen to that. There's plenty to worry about in this world.

Posted by editor at 8:31 PM NZT

Updated: Thursday, 6 September 2007 12:23 PM NZT

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Mood:  spacey

We notice

- only 4,000 out of an expected 7,000 APEC visitors are to attend Sydney CBD this week putting a red splash through elite hotel profits.

- Greenpeace activists have been charged with 'malicious damage' (like this writer back in 1999 for red paint on the woodchip pile, no conviction recorded) namely a paint slogan on a coal ship,

- lawyer Cameron Murphy in the Weekend Australian notes police are on a collision course with otherwise peaceful protesters,

- Kerry Chikarovski former Liberal Party leader in NSW says the security is very annoying and "over the top" on ABC radio this morning,

- PM Howard is sledging what he calls 'the mob' on YouTube of whom 250-500,000 protested against his Iraq war in Feb 2003,

- most others lament a wasted $300M on security for a vain ageing prime ministerial junket,

- NGOs have set up an alternative media room representing 20M supporters in APEC countries, and

- legal academic Dale Mills of Human Rights Monitors has 40 legal observers to help keep NSW police honest and non violent.

Meanwhile a 24 hour city watering hole coincidentally not far from APEC flunkies meeting at the Darling Harbour convention centre yesterday Sunday 2nd Sept, is making a strike against dangerous climate change

But drinking was the last thing on the mind of these Asian Australian people in George street in front of Sydney Town Hall

Posted by editor at 2:10 PM NZT

Updated: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 1:42 PM NZT

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Mood:  caffeinated

Picture: Recent press running in Sydney the biggest city and real star of upcoming APEC conference unfolding like a Raymond Chandler epic: Cops, drugs, killers (and that's just the politicians), civil strife promoted by vicious right wing press, helicopters, army bases. God knows what else. But we are struck by the similarities between John Howard (aka Rodent) and Joey Johns fallen star. Both sports tragics, both world beaters in their chosen field, both with serious moral worries. Whereas Joey admits he was a long time recreational drug user on a world class athletic frame, will Howard ever admit that he is a long time liar top performing machine politician?

This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies  in Big Politics and Big Media.

Indeed it’s the tv version monitoring task similar to what Nelson Mandela refers to here in his book Long Walk to Freedom (1994, Abacus) written in Robben Island prison (where he was meant to die like other African resister chiefs of history in the 19C), at page 208

“..newspapers are only a shadow of reality; their information is important to a freedom fighter not because it reveals the truth, but because it discloses the biases and perceptions of both those who produce the paper and those who read it.”

Just substitute ‘Sunday tv political talkie shows’ for "newspapers" in the quote above.

For actual transcripts go to web sites quoted below except with Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.

Media backgrounder 

The irony of the Joey Johns affair is not lost on the Big Meeja or this writer noticing the above mailout top right of the image on doorsteps through the inner city this weekend and costing million$. If Johns has been taking drugs for the last 10 years at the top of his sport, idolised by hundreds of thousands, isn't it a bit late to be doing mailouts? Hasn't the proverbial horse bolted in terms of social integration of drug use, and all that implies with organised crime, destroyed lives, and burden on the health budget? Is PM Howard's drug policies just another lie, another example of authoritarian populism to borrow a phrase from Quentin Dempster of Stateline NSW last Friday night. Education material but actually electioneering material?

Last week were sent these stickers by a confirmed Howard Hater:

As we watch the first of several shows namely Meet the Press with Peter McGauran soft selling his government's 'huge failure' of the Eastern Creek quarrantine system sending the racing industry into meltdown one gets the impression of deep anger in the community at being told bullshit, a culture of avoidance of responsibility for failure.

It seems the Howard Govt have taken the Carr Govt option of $2 billion in advertising over policy substance which always catches up with propagandists in the end, not least little news websites like this one. For instance crikey.com.au last week pointed out that according to the US White House press briefing the official residence of the PM is in Kirribili Sydney. But it's not as Crikey point out.  The official residence of the Australian PM is The Lodge in Canberra and we believe the main reason Howard doesn't use it is because he is now too old to cope with the travel of a PM for a whole big country and prefers to rest in Sydney.

Our advice to critics however is 'beware bites from a cornered rat'. Crikey again, carries last Friday the Morgan Poll with a 4.5% recovery for the Federal Govt back to 41% two party preferred (said to relate to share market correction and Coalitin alleged economic superiority). Similarly we are noting endless govt tv adverts on diverse govt messages, as well as Rugby League charity spin. That's hugely wasteful incumbency taking its corrupt pound of flesh off the taxpayer.

Illustration: Ward O'Neill, Sydney Morning Herald

Meet the Press

Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran eats a sh*t sandwich on equine flu economic disaster for horse industry due to quarantine failure, and refuses an independent inquiry into the same [investigating itself, as per PM interview last Friday].

Panel Maria Hawthorne AAP, John Stanley 2UE.

Nicholson animation is risqué leveraging poll jump after strip club beat up in the News Ltd press

Veteran now retired diplomat Richard Woolcott re Bush visit on APEC.  Notes Rudd voted against Iraq war. Confirmed this recently. Outcomes measure Saddam gone, not the intention of the invasion, Iran is dominant power now, massive destruction there and huge number civilian deaths, huge number of refugees. Very difficult with only bad options to deal with.

At 1989 initial APEC conference held in Canberra only about 12 countries involved, now 21. Pre eminent regional forum Australia participates in – congenial atmosphere, Japan US China and Australia as host. Useful work behind scenes. Plenty of work still to do, says compere Paul Bongiorno looking a bit fitter.

Transcript in due course www.ten.com.au/meetthepress

7 Weekend Sunrise, 8.35-40 am Riley Diary  -

Very good very insightful on Darwin shopping mall walk by John Howard. But first quite moving footage of Aboriginal kids hugging John Howard (even if not deserved?).

Vox pop friendly and hostile, including angry anti uranium protester. Water off ducks back for old veteran Howard, shows him at his toughest really facing his critics which will impress the Right. Quite apparent the less telegenic, ungroomed images were critics and  the friendlies were all so ‘nice looking’. That’s the shallow subliminals.

MR says Penrith mall walk previous week was much friendlier, a marginal.

Very amusing but also problematic footage of Chaser comedian and lithe stripper chasing after Kevin Rudd semi nude (the stripper not Kevvy turning at every chance to get the hell away).

APEC topic in Q and A at end: Climate change only aspirational target prompts compere Andrew.  Iraq surge, body count continuing Bush announcement in the next few says says Riley Riles. Sydney is very disrupted and 'not very free for the leader of the free world' – cute but also fair language, and brave comment.

http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/weekend

Insiders ABC 2

Intro with good images of banners against pulp mill and weak Peter Garrett. Garrett interview from Tasmania, past caught up with the present.

Garrett claims opening of world’s best pulp mill by Visy in Tumut [we know a lot about his project, party in the Commission of Inquiry, totally different project not native forest].

Q&A PG mostly blather, hangs his hat on ALP policy ‘never changed’ [support pulp mill if world’s best practice – demonstrably not re Old Growth feedstock for a start, PG has always been a sleaze back to 1999 Sydney Town Hall meeting when he was at ACF and refused to attend.]

Parades his climate change advocacy, sledges Cousins ill informed.

Says ALP forest policy is a good policy that he supports – but its not a good policy.

Sledges Malcolm Turnbull as fed minister and Tasmanian process [but won’t use word Premier Lennon].

Any difference to Howard? Claims yes, ‘world best practice’ mill.  Big long procedural blather. Argues hand over to Chief Scientist by MT. Pleads for time to see latests documentation.  Claims best independent credible science is most important [but ignores best forest scientists as per their 2004 letter by supporting a pulp mill].

Will documentation MT getting be enough evidence base for PG/ALP? PG hedges on ‘all relevant material’, not all material on the website, always information exists in govt. Giving himself wriggle room. Court appeal in train – claims ALP not fully briefed, all public and other material. Reserve positon.

Moves onto whaling, whether navy intercept in Australian fishing zone. Claims difference actively surveil and monitor. See transcript.

APEC relevant forum on climate change.  Good line MT set bar low on pulp mill and Howard too high on climate change. UN FCC building on Kyoto. Turning up at its funeral? No G8 significant shift by USA. Howard dismissive of UN parallel process. Got to get on to reaching targets not

67% Australians unfavourable view of President Bush not Americans as such. Not a fan of Bush or his policies. Held the world back on climate change and Oz been part of it. Have to liberate the market to get on with it too. Been very obdurate.  If ALP wins you would seek environment. Up to Kevin but would love that job. Find the balance, always be tough, hope to be part of it.

Garrett was impressive hence the leading question about portfolio, but has a lot to answer for over sleazy ALP policy. Jim Middleton refers indeed to “wriggle room”. Akerman notes echo Rudd/Howard based on evidence forthcoming. Meglogenis – let it slide, caretaker position.

Paul Kelly soliloquy: MT critic of mill, Howard barracking for it, and big Liberal Party pressure for, so divided.  Unlikely to decide before election, any delay 100% be due to MT. Thinks MT stronger in Wentworth than most realize [tears for South African Jewery immigrants speech?].

Footage of Bush re meeting Rudd. PKelly thinks Rudd will be  friendly but firm to partially withdraw in a negotiated withdraw. [Covert meeting undemocratic] PK is salivating at wanting to be there.

Everyperson segment: 20 -30 year old professionals on environment – very skeptical of Turnbull and Peter Garrett, upcoming APEC should look at climate change coal use of China. Bit of friendly disagreement .

Discussion, Meglo notes govt average on polls is still flat lining at 40% primary vote.

Barry Cassidy and Middleton sledge lack of strategic sense of G8 protesters in Melbourne. [All reflects my paper on civil society groups sleep walking into a law and order trap - big ngo groups have pulled out to do a media room instead as per SMH

"A group of non-government organisations is setting up an alternative media centre instead of throwing its weight behind the protests. The centre will be staffed by Greenpeace, the Climate Action Network Australia, GetUp!, Tearfund, Caritas and the Christian World Service to give an alternative view of the summit."

Home page is http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/

Sunday 9

Coulthard looking into tough story of failed quarantine in equine flu scandal.

Oakes interview Robert McLelland Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister on Iraq mostly. Didn’t see much of it. Drug trade in Afghanistan financing Taliban and Al Qaeda. Competent, stolid persona, some good points about ‘weak’ Downer, agrees on other things.

Feature story on APEC protest and policing story. Dramatic footage of civil strife.

Heavily predictive of violence, lots of emphasis of police powers. Pip Hinman, Kerry Nettle, Police Chief Scipione, MUA rep in hushed tone Warren Smith, Barrister with NSW Civil Liberties Council

Fred Nile, a marginal fringe right winger not worthy of the air time.

............................................

This boosting of the $6 billion security industry as paragons, completely ignores this real Australian experience page 1, Sydney Morning Herald 12th Septemeber 2000 reporting on the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne that year where police thugs hurt protesters, with barracking by big centre right politicians dependent on corporation donations for their power.

which resulted 7 years later in this:

Bracks defends payout to injured demonstrators. 05/03/2007. ABC ...

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks says a decision to payout about $700,000 to demonstrators injured during violent protests six years ago was made based on ...

And the whole feature conspicuously fails to report police agent provocateurs in masks and carrying rocks in Quebec exposed by civil society as also reported by the SMH recently and other quality big media in Canada. That being said the .01% of deranged/egomaniacal protesters who cause violence are no loss to the peaceful protest march expected in their thousands.

.................................

Nice feature story here about cause related wild rockers in their youth, with some profound comments about shallow Australian society:

The Singing Priest
Father Themi was bass player in one of Australia's first pop groups — The Flies. But Themi — then a devout athiest and Marxist — had a vision of God that changed his life. He now works with some of the poorest people in the world, in the slums of Kenya, and he has been inspired by Mother Theresa to build schools, child care centres and teachers' colleges. more

http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/default.asp

Posted by editor at 9:33 AM NZT

Updated: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 8:39 AM NZT

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Mood:  party time!

No spitting, no chewing gum on the footpath, no bikes out of place and no parking in loading zones either?  Everyone with short haircuts except for the forelock to tug? Too bad we are paying with our taxes for their junket.   These pictures taken 29th and 30th August 07 by this writer while distributing leaflets for a public meeting sponsored by green groups and to be held at University of Technology Sydney on Wednesday Sept 12th 07 about the NSW Govt's huge desalination project. The images seem emblematic of Sydney under the yoke of APEC but also the jack boot culture of same: Economic slaves one two three, grow the machine, feed the monster. Make the rich richer and don't question your fate.

Posted by editor at 9:05 AM NZT

Updated: Friday, 31 August 2007 9:20 AM NZT

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Mood:  special

Picture above: South Sydney Herald, no relation to Fairfax publications, circulation 21,000 home delivered, August 2007 cover with Reverends Graham Long, Dorothy McRae McMahon (a writer for SSH) and Andrew Collis all of the South Sydney Uniting Church.

Pictures above: flyer for People's APPEC, supporting groups obscured by photo flash include Aid Watch, Australian Catholic Social Justice Council .....Jubilee Australia ......The Commons Institute....Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA ....etc

Posted by editor at 8:54 AM NZT

Updated: Thursday, 30 August 2007 9:55 AM NZT

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Mood:  chatty

www.wentworthcommunityindependents.org.au/

Declaration: Tees is legal sponsor of this writer as a solicitor for our NSW practicising certificate, otherwise no other political affiliation.

Posted by editor at 11:12 PM NZT

Updated: Wednesday, 29 August 2007 12:19 AM NZT

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