TONY ABBOTT FLEES AS CRAIG THOMSON VOTES WITH COALITION

Matt Johnston, AAP & Bushranger, Mikiverse Politics 

From:Herald Sun 

May 30, 2012

• Tony Abbott

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ABBOTT'S MAD DASH

Watch Opposition leader Tony Abbott make a run for the parliamentary doors after Craig Thomson voted with the Opposition for the first time.

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FEDERAL OPPOSITION LEADER TONY ABBOTT AT THE GRAND HYATT IN MELBOURNE A FEW DAYS AGO. PICTURE: STUART MCEVOY HERALD SUN

The extraordinary scene, captured on television cameras, came as the Government moved to "gag" shadow treasurer Joe Hockey, who was addressing a suspension motion regarding the Commonwealth debt ceiling.

The Hansard record shows Mr Abbott voting alongside Mr Thomson on the initial gag motion, despite the Opposition Leader's vow never to accept the MP's "tainted vote”.

Deputy Speaker Anna Burke had already ordered the parliamentary chamber doors to be locked to count MPs' votes.

But on three subsequent motions the Liberal leader was allowed to leave the chamber and did not record a vote.

Mr Thomson is sitting on the cross-bench as an Independent MP after dissociating himself from the ALP while investigations into his tenure at the Health Services Union continue.

The NSW MP was found by Fair Work Australia to have misused his union credit card, including to pay for prostitutes, but has emphatically denied the findings. 

Despite vowing never to accept Mr Thomson’s vote, Mr Abbott was caught out and was unable to leave the chamber.

"Abbott actually tried to sprint out of the room for the first division,'' said one observer.

"The doors were locked before he got out. He started to walk back but they reopened to let him out.''

PICTURES COURTESY OF CHANNEL 7.

But the Coalition withdrew one of its own MPs from the vote, meaning that Mr Thomson’s vote was effectively negated.

Manager of Opposition Business Christopher Pyne stood to the side of the chamber to avoid being included in the vote.

The move by Mr Thomson is unlikely to signal a switch to Mr Abbott, but caused uproar in Parliament.

Mr Abbott accused Labor and Mr Thomson of manufacturing a stunt.

"It was obviously a stunt orchestrated between Craig Thomson, (Leader of the House) Anthony Albanese and the government," he told reporters in Canberra after the vote, adding journalists had been alerted in advance that it was about to take place.

"As soon as it became apparent the government was pulling this stunt Christopher Pyne and I absented ourselves from the chamber.”

The Opposition Leader vowed that the Coalition would absent one of its MPs whenever Mr Thomson chose to vote with the opposition - just as the Howard Government did when it received the support of former Labor senator Mal Colston.

"I call on Julia Gillard to do the same," he said.

Mr Thomson told AAP he did not speak to any Labor MP regarding how he planned to vote on the gag motions.

"It is complete rubbish," he said of Mr Abbott's accusation.

"I didn't call for the suspension of standing orders and I didn't know the government was going to move gag motions.

"I was in a meeting of the economics committee when it happened."

Later, Mr Abbott vowed not to be stymied by the Gillard Government trying to "Abbott proof" its legislation.

The Opposition Leader told a Minerals Council lunch in Canberra the Gillard Government was trying to put in place measures to stop the next elected government changing its laws.
Not ‘our’ laws, ‘their’ laws, which apply to them. 

He admitted some policies would be "difficult to undo" but he vowed he would keep his promises.

Mr Abbott said his concerns related to the carbon tax and mining tax that he has pledged to scrap. He said he would also reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner, change workplace relations and cut red tape.

- with Phillip Hudson, Malcolm Farr

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/tony-abbott-flees-as-independent-craig-thomson-votes-for-coalition/story-fn7x8me2-1226373704679

SMART MOUTH GUARDS WILL KNOW EFFECTS OF CONCUSSION

• Jay Clark 
• From:Herald Sun 
• February 29, 2012

Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld says mouth guards that measured impacts to the head could lead to a significant breakthrough.Source: Herald Sun

ONE of Australia's top neurosurgeons says new mouth guards with in-built computer chips could unlock the answers to the long-term effects of concussion.

As experts debate the issue of head knocks in sport, Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld said $150 mouth guards that measured impacts to the head could lead to a significant breakthrough.

"One of the things we wanted to do, but we haven't got the dough to do it yet, is study these things called smart mouth guards," Rosenfeld said.

"They can pick up the force on the head during the game, and record how many hits the player suffered and the angular forces in the head, the linear forces, the acceleration, the deceleration."

The X2IMPACT mouthguards have been developed in the US.

The head of neurosurgery at the Alfred Hospital and Monash University, Rosenfeld said it was unclear if repeated on-field concussions led to depression.

"Yes, concussion might be one element, but there might be 50 other elements in a particular case," he said.

"It might just be because the guy can't play properly, he's not kicking the goals he normally kicks, so he gets depressed.

"You can't make a definite connection there at the moment."

While AFL and NRL chiefs have recently banned concussed players from returning to the field, Rosenfeld said contact sports across the board needed to be more vigilant.

"If a player has got a diagnosis of concussion from a doctor, they need to stop playing until they are fully recovered and that rule is not being completely followed at the moment throughout contact sport," he said.

Mandatory PHOTO ID'S FOR ALL DOMESTIC FLIGHTS IN AIR SECURITY OVERHAUL

Shannon Deery, Herald Sun, & Michael Byers, Editor-In-Chief The Mikiverse, June 16, 2011.

Screening domestic passengers to the same degree as international ones would be costly. Picture: Perth Now PerthNow

PASSENGERS on domestic flights will have to show photo ID before boarding as part of of a proposed overhaul of airport security.

More than a million passengers a year board flights in Australia without passing through security, raising the risk of a terrorist strike. Or, illustrating that terrorism is NOT a problem on Australian Airlines.

Perhaps this is why the foreign-owned Herald Sun chooses NOT to elaborate on their claim that problem free usage of the airlines actually constitutes proof that the so-called "terrorist" risk is higher.

Similar to the last article, this is another fear based article, training you to believe that you are in danger and must give up more of your freedoms. Soon, you and your children WILL be fondled at both legs of your travel.

Thats four gropes on a return trip.

Did you know that when a human experiences fear, other human faculties shut down so that a human can focus on dealing with that fear?

Fear has a long term debilitating effect on humans. It is no 'accident' that so many people are stressed out about the basic human necessities, that they are preyed upon and manipulated by those that profit of your manifested energy.

The recommendation for photo IDs on all domestic flights will be made today by the parliamentary joint committee on law enforcement, Fairfax newspapers report.

The ALP & Liberals are happy to subject you to this inconvenience. They are stealing your rights away from you by getting you to believe that you are in danger from a non-existant threat that they created themselves.

Regional flights have been identified as among the most vulnerable to criminal activity, how? where is the verification of this claim? with pilots and unions raising serious concerns regional aircraft could be used by home-grown terrorists

The Department of Infrastructure and Transport says domestic screening only occurs on flights with the highest security risk, adding that the process is "very expensive (and) could lead to some communities losing air services".

It is understood that Qantas is against mandatory photo IDs for domestic flights. It claims that such a policy would discriminate against those who don't have a driver's licence or passport, such as the elderly or infants. The first well made point in this story.

Fairfax reports that the joint committee found that "the e-ticketing process introduces further vulnerabilities, increasing the opportunity for organised criminal networks to exploit the sector for illicit gain".

Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon said the union was willing to take industrial action if security measures were not improved.

"If people are not being screened prior to getting on a plane, then it is another symptom of what is going wrong with security in the aviation industry," he said.

"We are playing with fire and, if the status quo remains, we are all going to be badly burnt."

I wonder which master Tony is REALLY serving.

Mr Sheldon said 80 per cent of domestic air freight was also unscreened.

EXPERT WARNS LOW WAGES FOR SECURITY STAFF MAKE US VULNERABLE TO ATTACKS

Nick Leys Herald Sun & Michael Byers Editor-In-Chief Mikiverse Politics, June 16, 2011

AP

DETERIORATING employment conditions in the private security industry are leaving us more vulnerable to terrorist attack, a leading security analyst has warned.

Obviously, we, in Australia are more vulnerable to a so-called "terrorist" attack than we were because we've never had a "terrorist" attack, unless of course you are counting the on-going governmental/council/corporate attacks on your freedom.

The industry, which includes security officers working at the country's major airports, is witnessing a mass exodus of experienced and trained guards because of low pay and long hours. Corporations & Governments value profit over everything else including human health, welfare & safety.

Dr Luke Howie, a terrorism and counter-terrorism researcher at Monash University, said guards represent the first line of defence in the event of an attack and should be treated accordingly.

"You can have the best national security and intelligence agencies around, but it doesn't mean anything if a tired and underpaid security guard isn't doing their job and lets someone with a bomb through,'' he said.

"People who are low-paid and bored are hardly going to do a good job -yet corporations and governments are happy to perpetuate boredom and low wages in almost all employment sectors- and from the perspective of counter-terrorism related security, they play a pivotal role.''

The issue will be highlighted today with the launch of a new report, Security Failure: Preventing Another 9/11, by the security union United Voice.

The report finds that guards are better trained and must meet strict licensing requirements than a decade ago, but low pay is forcing them to find work elsewhere.

Howie said standards in the industry were high following the attacks of September 11 and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games but had deteriorated with an increase in sub-contracting and resulting lower wages.

His comments have been supported by convicted whistleblower Allan Kessing, who in 2004 wrote a report critical of airport security that included concerns about underpaid and under-trained security guards.

"I'm disappointed but not surprised to hear nothing has changed,'' he said.

"It is no surprise given that our airports are run privately and profit is the priority.''

Jess Walsh, Victorian Secretary of United Voice, described security guards as `the people standing between us and an unthinkable tragedy.

"Both governments and private clients have demanded more and more of our security officers over the past 10 years, and they have assumed the crucial roles once reserved for the police and defence forces,'' she said.

Essentially this story serves a dual purpose. On the one hand it is the usual tabloid habit of trying to profit via the manipulation of a human base emotion, in this case, fear. On the other hand, it is the manipulation of the situation by the relevant unions for a deserved pay rise.

leysni@hwt.com.au

GILLARD HANDS BACK NT LAND TO OWNERS

AAP June 07, 201
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has capped off the first day of her Northern Territory tour by handing a large parcel of Aboriginal land back to its traditional owners.

Two of the four land parcels - Finke Gorge National Park and Simpson Desert stage 4 - were some of the earliest claims lodged under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.

Ms Gillard gave the deeds, including two belonging to land parcels in the Hermannsburg area, back to their traditional owners at a ceremony in Alice Springs on Tuesday.

The Finke Gorge National Park will be leased back to the Northern Territory for 99 years for use as a national park.

"Traditional owners will have a strong voice in the future management and operation of the park," Ms Gillard said.

"The Central Land Council and traditional owners are working to design community development projects that can be supported with the income received under park leasing arrangements."

Earlier in the day, the prime minister visited a town camp that was slowly being revitalised with new homes and infrastructure.

Ms Gillard acknowledged town camps had become run down.

"(There has been) decades of under-supply, under-investment, overcrowding, squalor and neglect," she told reporters.

"We are seeing the difference around us but there is more to do."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott encouraged Ms Gillard to get away from sanitised town camps and visit those that remained decrepit.

"I do hope that while she is there, she won't just confine herself to official openings and to visiting town camps that may well have been cleaned up especially for her visit," he said from Brisbane.

"I think it's important that she sees the downside of government policy as well as the upside of government policy."

Ms Gillard said she wanted to talk with local elders in Alice Springs about what could be done about reducing the harm caused by alcohol.

Dr John Boffa, spokesman for the People's Alcohol Action Coalition and a medical officer with the Central Australian Aboriginal Health Congress, said raising the price of cheap wine so it was the same as beer could reduce child neglect and indigenous violence.

"We want it (cheap wine) set at the price of beer, which is about $1.20 a standard drink," he told ABC Radio.

"If we can get rid of cheap wine and shift all the heavy drinkers, particularly young people, to beer, that will make a very big difference."

Ms Gillard heads to the Gove Peninsula, in the northeastern corner of Arnhem Land, tomorrow.

CHILDREN'S BOOK 'LILLY' ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO MURDER POLICE

Wayne Flower From: Herald Sun May 17, 2011

UPDATE 9.39am: THE group behind a children's book that endorses killing police officers say several school have expressed interest in it.

And Chief Commissioner Simon Overland says police can't do anything to stop the twisted book being shopped around schools.

The authors - members of a heavy metal band - defended the book's perverse content, saying it will "provoke discussion" among impressionable children.

Band spokeswoman Sarah Dobbs said 17 schools across four states had expressed interest in the book - even thought it has not yet been approved by the Classification Board.

Ms Dobbs said it was important to contradict the message given to children of "wildly unrealistic stereotypes of police-as-superheroes" and to encourage scepticism of law-and-order policies.

"We find it surprising and saddening that despite these reports (of police violence), there are still almost constant public calls for more police officers to be deployed, and for police to be granted ever-broader powers over their fellow Australians," Ms Dobbs said.

The picture book, titled Lilly, tells the story of a little girl whose friends are racially vilified, tortured and shot by police, prompting her to murder a police officer resembling Mr Overland.

Mr Overland said police command had been aware of the book from "a little while ago’’ and looked at what it could do.

"There’s not anything we can do to stop it. I think the book will speak for itself,’’ Mr Overland told radio station MTR.

Education Minister Martin Dixon said there was no chance the book would be added to the curriculum.

"This material is highly offensive and absolutely disgraceful," he said. "It has no place in Victorian schools or the broader community.

"Victorian parents do not want their children exposed to obscene and violent material and I believe principals will not tolerate it being circulated in our schools."

But Ms Dobbs defended the book.

"The basis of Lilly is the idea that the simplified stories we're told as children can affect the way we later perceive the world as adults," she wrote in a letter to schools.

The book depicts police as violent monsters who:

BEAT a dark-skinned boy on the ground with batons.

ELECTROCUTE a little girl who is looking after a sick friend at a park.

SHOOT dead a boy named Tyler because he misses his dad.

Lilly, the "hero" of the book, saves the day by shooting "Simon Overkill" in the head, releasing a rainbow and doves from his skull.

Victoria Police declined to comment, but Police Association secretary Sen-Sgt Greg Davies dismissed the book as a bad joke.

"These twisted morons can sit around their marijuana-fuelled campfire telling each other their twisted tales, collecting the dole from the rest of us and leave our children to be reared by their parents," he said.

The book states: "All depictions of police brutality are taken from real events, reported by the media."

Ms Dobbs told the Herald Sun by email she expected schools to welcome the book into curriculums.

"We've already been in contact with many political studies, English, media and communications teachers keen to look at the issues raised in Lilly," she wrote.

ARMY BACKS SOLDIER WHO ASSAULTED HIS TEENAGE DAUGHTER

Joe Hildebrand From: The Daily Telegraph April 14, 2011
A DRUNKEN army corporal who indecently assaulted his teenage daughter while she was staying at his ADF-subsidised house could be welcomed back into the military, officers told a court.

In the latest scandal to emerge about the behaviour of Defence Force personnel, the soldier attempted to have sex with his 14-year-old daughter after drinking heavily at a club in March 2009.

He approached her naked after she got out of the shower and pushed her on to a bed.

He only stopped the assault after neighbours - including an Army captain and an Army psychologist - heard screams and came to the house.

Yet two Army officers told the District Court in Sydney that if the soldier received a suspended sentence the Army would welcome him back.

"He is a very valued member of the Australian Army. Two officers have spoken very highly of him and have made it clear that his services are very much required by the Army," Judge Michael Finnane found.
"Both officers are of the opinion that, if he is not sent to jail, the Army will retain him."

While Judge Finnane - considered a tough sentencer - refused to suspend the whole sentence, he did impose just two years in a minimum-security prison out of a maximum 10-year sentence for the offence, citing "special circumstances".

"This is a solitary offence committed by a man who has never previously committed any offence and who is unlikely ever to commit any offence again," he ruled.

"Furthermore, the Army needs him and wants to deploy him in foreign places."

None of the parties can be identified for legal reasons.

The man confronted his daughter, nude himself, after she emerged from the shower with a towel on. He then:

* PHYSICALLY assaulted her by pushing her on to a bed;

* ASSAULTED her by holding her down; and

* ASSAULTED her by putting his hand over her mouth.

"The indecent assault came from his being naked, pulling a towel from her and reducing her to nakedness and getting on the bed on top of her," Judge Finnane found.

"When she screamed and he heard neighbours calling out, he let her go. She was shaken, but not physically harmed."

The captain and the psychologist who came to the girl's aid found the corporal wearing only underpants and saying he could not remembered what had happened.

Police were called. He pleaded guilty to the charges.

He will be eligible for parole in March 2013.

DIGGERS MESS UP IN MIDDLE EAST

Ian McPhedran From: Herald Sun March 09, 2011

DRINK-driving, drunk on duty, sleeping on the job and accidentally firing a gun are among the offences committed by Australian military personnel in the Middle East in the past two years.

A total of 160 Australians from all three services faced 167 charges of misconduct in the Middle East Area of Operations between January 2009 and February this year.

It reads like something from a training manual under the heading: "What not to do in a war zone".

There were 14 cases of troops being AWOL, 15 instances of unauthorised weapon discharge and five where troops were drunk on duty.

One person was charged with driving a service vehicle while intoxicated.

The offenders include 35 officers.

The figures do not include three commandos who have been charged with manslaughter over the death of five children during a special forces raid in 2009. That case is due in court within weeks.

"Misdemeanors" were not included in the figures. These include matters that were overlooked or downgraded to a warning and "counselling".

The most common charge involved 65 service personnel who failed to comply with a general order.

Such orders cover issues such as dress codes and appearance.

The next most common, but much more serious, offence was disobeying a lawful order -- committed by 27 Australians. Punishment varies from a reprimand to loss of pay and rank.

The most serious cases can result in jail time in the defence force correctional establishment.

Charges are usually heard by a superior officer who can refer them up the command chain.

During the two-year period about 10,000 Australian Defence Force personnel have served in the Middle East, including Afghanistan, navy ships at sea and other bases across the region.

Others charges included prejudicial conduct (16 charged), insubordinate conduct (six), insubordinate language (two), dangerous conduct (two), destruction of service property (two), asleep on guard duty (one), and creating a disturbance (one).

NASA Scientist Dr Richard Hoover claims to have found evidence of alien life

NewsCore From: NewsCore March 06, 2011

While some scientists are excited by the finds, others say more evidence is needed that we have found alien life. File picture Source: Supplied

WE are not alone and alien life forms may have more in common with life on Earth than we had thought, according to a NASA scientist.

The out-of-this-world research by Dr Richard B. Hoover, an astrobiologist with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre, was published in the March edition of the Journal of Cosmology.

In the report, Dr Hoover describes the latest findings in his study of an extremely rare class of meteorites, called CI1 carbonaceous chondrites - only nine such meteorites were known to exist on Earth.

The scientist was convinced that his findings revealed fossil evidence of bacterial life within such meteorites and by extension, suggests we are not alone in the universe.

"I interpret it as indicating that life is more broadly distributed than restricted strictly to the planet Earth," Dr Hoover said.

"This field of study has just barely been touched because quite frankly, a great many scientists would say that this is impossible."

In what he called "a very simple process," Dr Hoover fractured the meteorite stones under a sterile environment before examining the freshly broken surface with the standard tools of the scientist: a scanning electron microscope and a field emission electron scanning microscope, which allowed him to search the stone's surface for evidence of fossil remains.

He found the fossil remains of micro-organisms not so different from ordinary ones found underfoot on Earth.

"The exciting thing is that they are in many cases recognisable and can be associated very closely with the generic species here on earth," Dr Hoover said.

But not all of them. "There are some that are just very strange and don't look like anything that I've been able to identify, and I've shown them to many other experts that have also come up stumped."

Other scientists say the implications of this research were shocking, describing the findings variously as profound, very important and extraordinary.

But Dr David Marais, an astrobiologist with NASA's AMES Research Centre, said he was very cautious about jumping on the bandwagon.

These kinds of claims have been made before, he noted and found to be false.

"It's an extraordinary claim, and thus I'll need extraordinary evidence," he said.

WAYNE SWAN REFUSES TO RULE OUT PETROL TAX IN PROPOSED CARBON TAX

Swan won't give away fuel tax position

Treasurer Wayne Swan has refused to rule a petrol tax in or out of the government's proposed carbon tax.

Mr Swan said it is inappropriate for people to suggest anything is included or excluded from the tax, given that it is still being formulated.

He said Prime Minister Julia Gillard had announced the ``broad architecture'' of a scheme to reduce carbon pollution and to deal with climate change.

"What she said was we will go through detailed discussions about the detailed design, and that's what we're going to do, so it's inappropriate for anybody to be making calculations about a particular item being in when those discussions haven't even been had yet,'' Mr Swan said.

He said details would firm up after months of discussions with the broader community, business, environmental groups and the minor parties.

Mr Swan said "every single dollar'' raised under the tax would be returned to assist individuals, households and business who will be impacted.

He rejected claims by Greens Senator Christine Milne that fuel will be taxed under the scheme.

He said Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was running a scare campaign over the issue.

"He's all opposition and no leadership,'' Mr Swan said.

"There is no cost-free way of dealing with climate change and reducing carbon pollution.

"There's a responsibility on anyone who aspires to lead our country to face up to that, because our future prosperity, jobs in our community, depends upon governments dealing with the long-term challenges.''

KNOX CITY RESIDENTS' REVOLT SHUTS OUT MACCAS

• Mitchell Toy From: Sunday Herald Sun February 27, 2011 12:00AM

More than 600 residents objected to plans for a McDonald's outlet in Knoxfield. Source: HWT Image Library

McDONALD'S has been forced to ditch plans for an outlet in Knoxfield after residents won a David and Goliath court battle to keep the fast-food giant off their turf.

A VCAT ruling this month upheld a decision by Knox City Council to refuse a permit to construct the eatery on the corner of Ferntree Gully and Kathryn roads, ending a 15-month legal battle.

More than 600 residents voiced their objection through a petition to council.

VCAT arbitrator Laurie Hewet ruled the outlet's impact on surrounding properties through increased traffic and late trading hours outweighed the economic benefit it could bring to the area.

"The nature of this site's residential interfaces and its broader residential context ... has led me to conclude that this proposal is not acceptable for this site," Mr Hewet stated.

Knoxfield resident Michael Colling, who led calls to have the junk-food giant banished, said the campaign was not meant to be anti-McDonald's.

"It is clear that the site is too close to residences and has been chosen because of the skate park across the road," Mr Colling said.

"As a youth worker, I have seen young people cross that road and it can be dangerous.

"It would happen far more if the restaurant was there."

But a Facebook group administered by Mr Colling, rallying residents behind the push to have the restaurant barred, said residents feared "bogans in their 'doof doof' cars all hours of the night, rubbish all over the place and the stench of fries and fake meat wafting through our streets."

, with Mr Colling now hoping the site will become a childcare centre or kindergarten.

BALLARAT COMPUTER SCIENTISTS CREATE WEAPON AGAINST INTERNET PIRATES

Mitchell Toy From: Sunday Herald Sun January 30
THE international movie industry has a new weapon against internet pirates - a program written by two Ballarat computer scientists.
PhD student Robert Layton and researcher Prof Paul Watters, of Ballarat University's Internet Commerce Security Laboratory (ICSL), wrote a program that can track illegal downloads through torrent websites.

The program maps the extent of criminal activity and copyright infringement online.

It uses a tagging technique to track files through networks commonly used by movie and music pirates to transfer large files in fragments from multiple users simultaneously.

The project attracted attention from movie giant Village Roadshow, who offered funding to help curb internet copyright infringement.

"We are able to get an idea of what people are downloading through torrent sites, by scraping data from (the sites) about downloads and search terms," Prof Watters said.

"We have found that while many people download copyright infringing material, only about 100 people in the world upload most of the content."

The ICSL works with the Australian Federal Police to stop online sharing of child pornography and other illegal content.

The lab has found the Christopher Nolan-directed sci-fi hit Inception to be the current favourite for movie pirates, followed by Iron Man 2 and Salt.

"We are able to compile a list of common downloads and common search terms through the torrent sites," Mr Layton said.

The research showed movies made up 40 per cent of illegal downloads, followed by TV shows at 30 per cent. Music makes up 17 per cent of downloads, ahead of pornography at 12 per cent.

Mr Layton, who wrote his first commercial computer program at 19, said the project would expose the world of web piracy, previously uncharted by authorities.

JOHN HOWARD HELPED CLINCH IRAQ INVASION GEORGE W BUSH SAYS IN NEW BOOK DECISION POINTS

Carly Crawford, New York From: Herald Sun November 10, 2010

Former US President George W Bush talks with fans while signing copies of his new memoir Decision Points at a book shop in Dallas, Texas. Source: AFP

FORMER US president George W Bush seriously considered John Howard's opinion before deciding to invade Iraq, the most controversial foreign policy decision he made during his eight years in the Oval Office.

In his memoirs, Bush reveals he put serious stock in then Australian leader Howard's position on the contentious 2003 war against tyrant Saddam Hussein.

"Almost every ally I consulted - even staunch advocates of confronting Saddam like Prime Minister John Howard of Australia - told me a UN resolution was essential to winning public support in their countries," he writes in the book Decision Points.

Bush's then US Secretary of State Colin Powell had told him the same thing.

The president went on to seek UN clearance but the world body did not explicitly authorise the war, opting instead to green-light more inspections for nuclear weapons with "serious consequences" for non-compliance. They were always going to invade, with, or without justification of any description.

But the US and its allies, including Britain and Australia, pushed ahead with the use of military force, drawing criticism from some nations.

"I didn't have a lot of faith in the UN," Bush writes.

"The Security Council had passed 16 resolutions against Saddam to no avail."

The 43rd president mounts a passionate defence of the war -The Herald Sun ALWAYS refers to this unjustified invasion as a war even though most politicians, media commentators and public refer to these invasions as invasions. Of course this paper is owned by the American Rupert Murdoch- in his memoirs, which have been released in the US.

Bush makes three references to his friend Howard, including his famous "man of steel" reference.

Bush recounts the January 2009 ceremony in Washington at which he awarded the rare Medal of Freedom to three world leaders - former British PM Tony Blair, Colombian president Alvaro Uribe and Howard.

He recounts the intimate conversations he had with his "courageous" British ally Blair about the war, but mentions Howard and Uribe only in a footnote in the context of the medal. So much for John Coward being a good friend of the American war-criminal and mass murderer.

“At the same ceremony, I presented the Medal of Freedom to Prime Minister John Howard of Australia, who I called a 'man of steel' and to President Alvaro Uribe, the courageous leader of Colombia.”

In the book, Bush also defends his handling of Hurricane Katrina and his response to the September 11 terror attacks -was that because he did as he was told?-, which have been slammed as slow and inadequate.

The retired Texas politician also says he was "damn right" to allow the CIA to use the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding in the interrogation of September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. So I guess it WASN'T Osama Bin Laden after all, except that controversial Melbourne ABC774 radio host John Faine not only said it was Bin Laden, but he then ridiculed a caller into his show that illustrated that Bin Laden isn't wanted by the FBI for 9/11. So, maybe the 9/11 mastermind is whomever is paraded in front of the corporate media by the US et al at any given time to stifle debate on the failing invasion.

There are references to Kevin Rudd or former foreign minister Alexander Downer.

JULIA GILLARD PLOTTED RUDD'S DOWNFALL CLAIMS LIBERAL

Stephen McMahon From: Herald Sun November 10, 2010

Julia Gillard has been accused of plotting Kevin Rudd's downfall. Source: Herald Sun

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has been accused of orchestrating the plot that toppled Kevin Rudd.

Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger says the then deputy leader of the Labor Party told a senior Melbourne businessman a week before the overthrow of Kevin Rudd that a leadership challenge would take place within the next 7 days.

But Labor has long maintained the coup against Mr Rudd was swift and brutal beginning and ending in the 24-hour period of June 23 after a series of meetings between Ms Gillard and right-wing faction bosses Mark Arbib from NSW, Bill Shorten and David Feeney from Victoria, and Don Farrell from South Australia.

At the launch of union heavyweight Paul Howes' book Confessions of a Faceless Man, an inside account of the election, Mr Kroger questioned the truth of the Prime Minister's story.“Julia Gillard told at least one Melbourne businessman the week before the challenge there would be a change of leader in the next week,'' he said.

Mr Kroger admitted he can't prove it.

But he says the information came from a very good sources and Labor was close to business leaders in Victoria.

“The 23rd of June wasn't the first time she knew about it she knew about this in the week before the challenge,'' Mr Kroger said.

After more than 30 years close to the centre of power and a number of leadership challenges in Liberal politics, Mr Kroger said it was impossible to put together a leadership challenge within 24 hours and more time was needed to ensure support for any coup.

A bemused, Mr Howes admitted it was the first he had ever heard about such a plot