Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

Released on Tuesday and apparently ignored by the media, this statement sums up the problems that Halliburton has stirred up for itself here:

[extract]

The ACTU calls on the Prime Minister to intervene in Australia's immigration program to guarantee that temporary work visas are not being abused amid reports that employers are rorting the system by importing low-paid foreign workers to fill job vacancies that should be filled by Australians.

ACTU President Sharan Burrow said today:

"There is mounting evidence that the Federal Government's migrant worker system is out of control - leading to both the abuse of foreign workers and Australians being denied job opportunities.

There are stories of workers from Indonesia and the Philippines being underpaid, overworked and abused while working in Australia under these temporary work visas.

Immigration Minister Vanstone admitted yesterday that her Department is currently investigating allegations that US Vice President Dick Cheney's former company Halliburton imported Indonesian workers to dig ditches for its gas extraction operations in the South Australian desert.

Newspaper reports state the Indonesians worked 12 hour shifts for 80 days without a break and were paid little more than they would earn in Indonesia while being housed in poor conditions at a Halliburton work camp in the Cooper Basin late last year. (Adelaide Advertiser 13-14/2/2006)

The case of the Indonesian workers in the SA outback follows other recent examples of abuses of the Government's migration program

Senator Vanstone will need to look after Halliburton. They're the quickest way to generate a globally-competitive population increase.

I'm extrapolating from the story in tomorrow's Australian:

[extract]

IMMIGRATION Minister Amanda Vanstone has rejected claims construction company Halliburton Australia exploited Indonesian workers hired to work in the South Australian desert.

The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper reported that the company, a subsidiary of US giant Halliburton, had paid the Indonesians as little as $40 a day.

The newspaper said Australian co-workers had claimed the Indonesians, who were digging ditches in the outback, were made to work 80 days straight and were given poor accommodation.

The Muslim men were also served meals laced with pork, it was claimed.

In a statement today, Senator Vanstone said four Indonesian workers employed at the Cooper Basin gas operation were receiving appropriate payment for their work.

"I have been advised by my department, which has checked with the sponsor - Halliburton Australia - that the men were in fact being paid an appropriate salary," Senator Vanstone said.

"Reports that the overseas workers were only being paid $40 and $80 per day are grossly inaccurate.

"I'm told these figures are in fact day bonuses, which were being paid in addition to the men’s' salaries."

Is Vanstone authenticating the accuracy of her information, or will she leave it alone so that she has a loophole at the inquiry?

Halliburton Australia has a major part of South Australian business activities. Its Adelaide office was fomerly the company's global headquarters for infrastructure.

Under the trading name of KBR it is employed by the State government and local councils. It has been involved in construction of the Port River Expressway and has proposed a development project for Lake Alexandrina.

Halliburton is also employed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to carry out international aid contracts on Australia's behalf, and has many defence industry contracts.

In South Australia's outback, Halliburton has been flouting Australia's industrial relations laws by employing foreigners at wage levels inappropriate to Australian ethics.

By referring the Advertiser's questions to its head office in Houston it has revealed where its South Australian activities are truly conducted from.

On evidence of such a flagrant violation of Australian trust, the ethics involved in all the company's interaction with all levels of government in South Australia must now be called into question. If companies such as Halliburton want to play in Australia, they must learn to play by Aussie rules.

Given the Australian Government's avoidance and denial of knowledge of Australian bribes paid to the Saddam government of Iraq, it is highly unlikely there will be an Australian probe into Halliburton's questionable activities.

As Halliburton Australia is a wholly owned US subsidiary its activities in Australia could be subjected to a probe by the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

No probs, Richard. At first I thought I'd been stood up (!), but it soon became obvious that you've been well occupied. (I wonder sometimes if you sleep at all!) I was going to need to do a fair bit of thinking together clarifying aims and ground rules etc anyway - not things to be done in a hurry, I think.

I've appreciated the work you've been doing following the AWB scandal. In fact, the job you and Craig did on Follow the big money was a triumph - a better summary than anything I'd seen anywhere. You are right to concentrate on that, I think, although the news from Project Safecom today about ASIO's questioning of an activist's intentions straight after a 30 hour flight from Ireland is concerning.

Robyn, I'm sorry I haven't talked to you... this AWB thing is sucking in my mind!!

Let's hang for a little, and see if the US calls a Senate Inquiry into AWB USA. What a chain of worms this would set off! If we're lucky an investigation by the US Department of Justice into foreign corrupt practices by its corporate citizens in Australia is very close at hand. The investigation's first stop after the AWB (to vindicate the US wheat trade stance) will be Halliburton / KBR. Manipulation of tendering processes, bribing of local businessmen... all such concepts would be needful of exoneration.

At the rate events are unravelling, this could take place in weeks, maybe while Parkin's Australian court case is being reported by Newsweek.

By then the Howard cabinet will wish they'd never heard the name Scott Parkin, let alone introduced him to the Australian public.

It's definitely time for a beer. And, I'm beginning to think, patience.

(Mind you, Valentine's Day is sooo tempting...)

Perhaps we should send all of them forget-me-nots!

Fiona: An excellent idea, Robyn. Mixed with love-lies-bleeding? But...definitely not heart's ease.

In labelling Scott Parkin, a person of seemingly good if determined character, as a threat to national security without specifying how he is a threat, ASIO has made the boundary to acceptable behaviour in Australia much less clear in people's minds. As the boundary shifts with the new anti-terror laws (or does it?), the illegal in the area of political activism is no longer easily understood. In my opinion that is a dangerous situation which must be corrected. Since ASIO will not clarify what made Parkin's behaviour unacceptable, it would seem testing of the limits is necessary to find out where they are.

Coretta Scott King died today. That fact alone makes me want to commit to some sort of action which honours the legacy of her work for civil rights. And I would love to learn more about Ghandhi, King and NVDA (and even Halliburton), and to work with other 'Diarists.

However, I'm naturally cautious until I'm sure of my ground, and this "Peanut Butter Revolution" will be quite an undertaking in whatever form it ends up. I'll sleep on it and ring you at the pub, Richard.

Since the former Soviet republics and satellites have taken all the good colour words, and since the only Australian analogy that I can think of for “velvet” is crimplene (thank you, Dame Edna), it is important to consider carefully the word or words that best characterise the forthcoming (if not imminent) Oz revolution. It seems to me, Richard, Robyn, Bryan, and John Henry Calvinist, that you are on a winner with peanut butter (whether smooth or crunchy). And honey.

However, Richard’s notion of letting a thousand flowers bloom in Canberra also has its merits. I have carefully considered what offerings would be most appropriate in this galère, and now make the following suggestions, taking it from the top:

John Howard: a bunch of Honesty – preferably dried, for the better display of the pieces of silver.

Philip Ruddock: a newly-opened blossom of the Dead Horse arum lily, with the hope that he enjoys the fragrance.

Amanda Vanstone: a bouquet of Venus Fly-trap, for pedagogical purposes.

And last, but not least,

Kim Beasley: tulips (need I say more?)

I've had this on file since last year, and this seem like a good time to post it. It's the ins and outs of protesting at the Halliburton Headquarters by the folks who have been doggedly making their point. These protest diaries are from Edward Cranswick:

Graham Smith has organized a protest against Halliburton/KBR that we (he and I and a third man who participated on three occasions) have conducted from 4:30-5:30 PM on Thursday afternoons over the past two months. The general scheme has been to put up a banner outside of the KBR building at 186 Greenhill Road, Adelaide, and hand out leaflets to cars that stop for the lights.

On the first day we protested, I handed a leaflet to police car waiting along the median strip for the light -- it was accepted without comment -- but a few minutes later, a large and angry police officer stopped on his motorbike and got in my face, telling me that standing on the median strip handing out leaflets was illegal and that I had to move along. I did, but a few minutes after he left, I returned and have not heard from the police myself since then.

When I went to Canberra for a week, Graham mounted the protest alone and immediately received more police attention, leading to the postponement of the protest for about a month. Below is his summary of his interaction with the police and local municipal authorities about the protest:

*************************************

Greenhill Road median strip is a large grassed area separating east and westbound traffic. Banner set up on area seven metres by fifty metres. Banner 10 by 1 metres.

May 19, after 5 weekly rallies two police arrive in a police car, pull up on the median strip and ask me if I have permission to be there... no... gotta go. I say a number of police cars have gone past and one actually stopped on the median strip to ask how long I would be there and left. They then say "maybe there has been a complaint" ... "maybe about distributing leaflets in traffic. Yes I had been doing that on the inside lane when traffic stationary. Where do I get permission? "Perhaps from dept main roads." They ask me for ID I was carrying a drivers license and obediantly gave it to them. They took details and appeared to verify its authenticity and wrote down details. They asked for a leaflet and I gave them , the male, one. I began to pack up and they left.

A number of letters were written to obtain permission to rally every Thursday for an unspecified period. There are three organisations for the median strip, north and south side of Greenhill Road: Transport SA, Adelaide city Council, Unley City Council.

Transport SA would not "support" a rally or banner on median strip... "distracts motorists". "There will be a prang."

Adelaide city council would not allow a 10 by 1 metre banner "week after week". It was all a bit vague. Maybe you can have a little banner. "This is public land." Cannot be done.

Unley city council said you do not need a permit for this sort of thing. It is public land so go ahead. If you cause "offence" then more consideration may be required.

June 23 resume rally with 10 by 1 metre banner by footpath on Unley council side of Greenhill Road and two effigies and replica of U.S flag on northern Adelaide city council side. Nothing on median strip...Edward distributing leaflets. Graham distributing leaflets from northern side, walking along gutter and offering leaflets to passenger side of stationary traffic. Forty or so were handed out in this way. Police stop and tell me there has been a complaint about me handing out leaflets in traffic. I say I have been walking up the gutter and handing out leaflets in that way. On no occasion (not even once) did I venture into traffic this afternoon so there were no grounds for complaint (bike riders yes). The policeman said "Oh" and that I was to make sure I don't go out into traffic. I do not intend to under any circumstances and that I could carry on. It was finish up time so we went home.

A lot of bureaucratic confusion over a couple of protesters, wouldn't you say? I can guess where the complaint came from.

When No-War protested there in 2004 a passerby approached me and asked what we were doing. After I explained he asked "Is this new information? Why has nobody complained about this before/?" He wasn't really listening to the answer, as he was requesting the SBS reporter to turn her camera away from them. He then went back into the KBR building, from whence he came.

We know from Edward and Graham that one bordering council permits a median strip protest, and that the other only "doesn't support it", so I'd reckon that right in the middle of Greenhill Road would be the place to stage an event.

We might need the paperwork for when Halliburton sools the police onto us.

Robyn, given the past and present international locus of that office (foreign aid central, Asia Pacific central, global infrastructure central) Greenhill Road would indeed be the ideal place for such a workshop, and Bryan would be the one to do it.  It's public land, the police had no objections last time we were there (actually we were handing out flyers from the median strip), so problems shouldn't arise.

Actually, there's been a fellow named Edward Cranswick down there for the last two years, who, with a few No War supporters has been incessantly handing out flyers directing motorists to my blog on Your Democracy .

 Being our home town, and knowing a few folks, generating a reasonable number of attendees wouldn't be a problem.  Forty $5 admissions would cover Mr Law's airfare.

We can hand out sandwiches to motorists with an attached note explaining why. 

Logistically much more simple, and It would serve to demonstrate the same point.  If we do it before the March State election it would be a double-edged sword.  I know a couple of polllies who might be interested in attending.

Hamish has my phone number, or you can get to me through the pub.  We should talk soon.
 

Richard, while I'm happy to pack sandwiches for a trip to Canberra (depending on the date), I don't agree that "Conducting such an exercise in such a manner would create a clear message, in one way or the other".

If the CIFA file was NOT used to deport Parkin, then the success of a peanut butter action will prove nothing except that peaceful demonstrations which garner little media attention are still possible in Australia.

What might be more interesting would be to test whether the teaching of NVDA is still permissable, and get Bryan Law down to conduct a similar workshop (or someone else who is not so busy dealing with the consequences of recent efforts) - perhaps in the parklands across from the Halliburton office on Greenhill Rd in Adelaide!

Robyn Clothier: "After Scott Parkin’s experience of Australia, we can only assume that all organisers of protests and teachers of protest techniques, if not all protesters, can legally be subjected to the same sort of treatment that Scott received."

Agreed entirely.. this is why I'm proposing a 'test case'.  If a Peanut Butter Protest is allowed to occur, then the activity is one permissible by Australians on Australian soil.

As you say, the grounds that Parkin was advocating violence are plainy unsubstantial, which brings us back to the CIFA file on Parkin's highlighting of Halliburton's overcharging for food in Iraq.

If this file was used to deport Parkin, then the success of a similar action will set a precedent nullifying any possibility of such an action's criminality in Australia. It will be proven that the Government doesn't have a leg to stand on.

On the other hand, if it's disallowed we will have on our hands a 'litmus test' of the status quo of Australian civil liberties.

I've been heavily involved with organising a "Live Music" protest that saw five thousand people gather with dignity at the steps of Adelaide's Parliament... all that is required is that the people involved conduct themselves with decorum.

Conducting such an exercise in such a manner would create a clear message, in one way or the other.

I hate to be the fly in the … peanut butter, Richard, especially after all this "nutty" and fun stuff (sorry, its the best I could come up with!), but I’m not convinced ASIO needed to have Scott Parkin flagged as a person of interest because of the incident in the CIFA file. I am prepared to believe Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Ian Carnell’s conclusions that:

a. ASIO did not have, at the relevant time, information which would have justified recommending against the grant of a visa and took a close interest in Mr Parkin because of information received about his activities once in Australia.

b. There is no evidence or reason to think that ASIO’s security assessment in respect of Mr Parkin was influenced from elsewhere within the Australian Government or by external bodies.

c. The security assessment was based on credible and reliable information and the legislative requirements were met.

As someone who is occasionally “active”, I found this media release which summarises the public portion of Mr Carnell’s report very interesting reading.

The trouble with taking Mr Carnell at his word is this. ASIO chief, Paul O’Sullivan, admitted before a Senate enquiry that Scott Parkin had not been violent in Australia, Ian Carnell states that The Australian’s story about him was wrong in its assertion that Parkin advocated the rolling of marbles under police horses’ hooves, and Parkin himself, and both fellow workshop-presenters and attendees have denied he was advocating violence. So I am also inclined to believe that Parkin was not advocating violence, as violence is usually understood.

Without credible information to the contrary, I am forced to conclude that Parkin was arrested, kept in solitary confinement, deported and charged $11,000 for the privilege because the wording of the legislation governing ASIO’s activities allows its officers to interpret non-violent direct action as “politically motivated violence” (PMV).

See what you think of the following excerpts from Ian Carnell’s report (my emphasis):

The risk to security assessed by ASIO as relevant to Mr Parkin’s case was PMV. PMV is defined in section 4 of the ASIO Act as including:

a) Acts or threats of violence or unlawful harm that are intended or likely to achieve a political objective, whether in Australia or elsewhere, including acts or threats carried on for the purpose of influencing the policy or acts of government, whether in Australia or elsewhere;...

“I should note that "Australian national security" is a concept which covers Australia’s security, defence, international relations and law enforcement interests.

Look also at the following sections from the Attorney-General's Guidelines in relation to ASIO’s performance of their duties:

ASIO's functions are concerned with protection of Australia from PMV, or the carrying out of Australia's responsibilities in relation to such conduct. As such, they are required to be anticipatory in nature. The intelligence that ASIO collects need only be relevant to a risk that such conduct may be engaged in, or to a reasonable apprehension that it is being or has been engaged in...

The threat could be perceived by ASIO rather than declared by the subject of the investigation…”

The unlawful harm could be indirectly caused … (and) could also extend to acts in which the harm is in the result, rather than in the act itself”...

The above considerations apply whether the object of the violence or threat is the government of the Commonwealth, a State or Territory, or the government of a foreign country with which Australia has responsibilities in relation to security matters...

Despite the assurance that “Section 17A of the ASIO Act provides that the Act shall not limit the right of persons to engage in lawful advocacy, protest or dissent and the exercise of that right shall not, by itself, be regarded as prejudicial to security”, I think ASIO officers were able to use wording like the above in the Act and guidelines to interpret Scott Parkin’s teaching as a threat to national security because, as a result of attending his workshops in “spirited protest”, the number of people engaged in active protest may have increased and those protests may have resulted in harm to property or persons, despite his intentions.

Carnell explains that the 1990 Determination of the Director-General of Security (a classified document) defines the matters that are and are not to be taken into account in relation to security assessments. I found it particularly interesting that he signs off the report with a suggestion that now might be a good time to review that determination.

Meanwhile I think you are right to be concerned that your assessment of the national interest may not concur with ASIO’s. After Scott Parkin’s experience of Australia, we can only assume that all organisers of protests and teachers of protest techniques, if not all protesters, can legally be subjected to the same sort of treatment that Scott received.

But I would be happy to be proved wrong, particularly by a fair and public testing of the evidence in relation to Scott Parkin in a court of law.

Fiona, I've just put a loaf-worth in the freezer for a start.  Remember the bit in Wag The Dog about the campaign to get 'Mericans to  throw their old shoes in public bins to show their support for the "returned soldier"?  In this way we could turn the tactic back on the buggers!

To "say it with flowers" Valentine's Day would be ideal.  Perhaps Senators Brown and Stott-Despoja, both stalwart Parkin supporters, could deliver them for us? Does Margo still reside in Canberra? It would be great if she was involved in this also.

We need a Canberra location to publicise as a sending point... this would also give ASIO somewhere to raid if they decided to pre-intervene. Any Canberra Webdiarists that are game? I'll happily take a bus up to give a hand.

Would Dick Smith donate some peanut butter to the cause? Are there sympathetic bakers somewhere? Should I shut up now?

In the movie, they had a song, conveniently "retrieved" from the Smithsonian for broadcast... any librarians with ideas? Eric Bogle, Jimmy Barnes, the Johns Schumann and Farnham, James Blundell.. would any be prepared to pen the verse?

I will shut up now... but it's Food For Thought.

To His Serene Highness, Prince Pyotr O’Taliban (aka Bombardier extraordinaire), greetings! Et salutations, mon vieux! (No, we won’t do the Sieg Heils today; that might get the Boyz just a teeny teeny bit too …(far) up themselves … and that would NEVER do.)

And to Richard Tonkin, mon ami, vive les sandwiches à beurre d'arachide! As for 6 June 2006 at 6 pip emma (EST) – not to mention the suggested inundation of ce beau Philippe – jolly good wheezes, old fruit. Let’s (as the inimitable Eartha once crooned) do it! (or them, as the case may be).

In the meantime, may I exhort all my stalwart colleagues, compatriots, and co-conspirators, whether in, within, or out of arms, eternal vigilance! (Not to mention sedition, fomentation, rebellion etc., etc., calloo callay…) Remember, be alert … but NOT alarmed!

(Oh, and from Fifi to Peter, woof woof!)

To paraphrase the PM, while reading Peter "is there a behaviour modification program I can take to think like that?" Woodforde's post, my cup of tea paused at my lips... as it spurted out my nose.

This may be an inappropriate time to provide unfamiliar readers with a recap of the Parkin Incident, but what the hell. Guy Rundle's piece on Crikey last year says it best.

[extract] 

Seasoned ASIOlogists are currently having a keen argument about whether the detention of Parkin has been ordered by the government after a request/demand by the US, or whether it is simply a case of the spooks reviving their role as an aggressive political player, directed against the Left. 

There are compelling reasons to think it's the former. Parkin's focus on Halliburton is by now well known, but he's not just any old anti-Halliburton activist – he knows more about the company than pretty much anyone around, and he's been a key organiser of campaigns against their AGMs and HQ in Houston (see Taking Direct Action Against Halliburton). Halliburton is of course more than just a company – it's the company that continues to pay Vice-President Dick Cheney a pension/retainer while he occupies public office.

Halliburton is practically an arm of the government and vice-versa, and it is particularly sensitive at the moment. Why? Hurricane Katrina. Kellogg Brown Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, is in the running for huge contracts to effect the clean-up and reconstruction of New Orleans at a time when it is under the gun for overcharging the US government more than $1 billion for services in Iraq.

If the Bush administration has stepped in to silence Parkin, it's a spectacular own goal for all concerned, since the whole of the Australian public sphere has become a megaphone for Parkin's anti-Halliburton activities. But just because the idea was stupid doesn't mean they didn't do it – it might have been a product of sheer megalomania, or a shot across the bows of activists to show that the administration is going to play dirty in these post-Katrina embattled times.

Extrapolation of the first sentence of the last paragraph:  if ASIO has stepped in to help the Bush administration silence Parkin, then it is not working for the Australian government.  If the Australian government has stepped in to help ASIO help the Bush administration silence Parkin, then it isn't working for the Australian people.

The second sentence remains the same.

Peter, did you hear about the day that ASIO raided Myer?  They'd heard that Bed Linen was on the third floor.

Mark Ross, with such a surname you'll be familiar with the concept of persecution, pertaining to the Highland Clearances of Scotland?

Local farmers, many Rosses, were told by their church-leaders that being removed from their land to make way for foreign developers was a punishment for the sins of their ancestors. I've been to the church where the Rosses camped while waiting to emigrate, and seen "We are the wicked generation" scrawled in a window.

Five generations later, I'll soon be forced out of my area due to corporately inflated rent increases... sigh.

Actually it all sounds a bit familiar...

A friend of mine used to play bagpipes at the Irish Club, and was amused to find himself in a photo with a DSTO employee that was shown to said employee while questioning association with such a reprobate... these things do happen, even to bagpipers. If photos were being taken at St Paddy's Day Marches ten years ago, they're being taken at No-War protests today.

Well Richard I got that ASIO file thing wrong.

The situation that I was thinking about regarded the time when NSW Police Special Branch were caught keeping files on different folks in Sydney. This was something they were not authorised to do and were, therefore, obliged to disclose the content of the files upon request of the subject.

I remembered my friend telling me the story a few years ago but, obviously, got my police agencies mixed up. Sorry.

For some time, one of my friends and I have included either or both of the phrases "Osama bin Laden" and "Al Quaeda" in every telephone conversation. Perhaps we should extend our activities to our emails. Perhaps we should all adopt this tactic in all forms of communication.

After all, nothing quite like blinding the so-and-so's with too much material.

Yours in subversion.

Well done Richard.

Keeping an eye on Haliburton and Co. in Australia may not be as sexy as pontificating on the latest Middle East developments but, I believe, it has far more relevance for Aussies.

Regarding your ASIO file, although I'm too knackered tonight to go googling the topic, I do believe that you can simply ask ASIO or the federal police to see your file or confirm its existence.

A good friend of mine had the pleasure of pissing off Gareth Evans by telling certain unpopular truths about East Timor and as a result, said friend, believed that he was being checked out by the Feds/ASIO.

I'm fairly sure (but will confirm in the morning) that said friend was able to find out whether there was a file on him or not.

Of course, that was pre-terror law days.

Having mentioned ASIO three...D'oh!, four times... in the same email, I assume there is a red light flashing on a computer screen in some basement in Canberra. Therefore...

I have two dogs, I love peanut butter and the back door is never locked.

Every time I read a piece like this I waiver from either feeling that authorities are completely incompetant and as the writer says, "an intelligence system that can make such a stupid mistake." or thinking there is a political agenda to silence the government's critics and ASIO is happy to assist . Perhaps it's a bit of both. Whatever, but what possible good can any of this do our country?

We've already heard how Bush's efforts in spying upon thousands of Americans yeilding nought but the recourses used must have been astronomical.

Until we have an effective opposition that can get over it's "me too-ism" it will get worse. If Beazley and co insist on being identikits of the government what possible reason is there for anyone to elect them? Howard's been setting the agenda for 10 years and has successfully led the Opposition like sheep. The one man who had the slightest hope of breaking Howard's stranglehold on debate, Mark Latham, was a victim of an intense media hate which works against the best interests of Australians and benefits private business. I doubt any of this will change until we see the backs of Bush, Howard and Blair but we will be feeling the effects for years to come.

In the meantime I hope if people like Richard Tonkin do get hauled in for any reason, they speak up despite the threats they face.

Richard, a bit foolish of you, old son, admiting to having a cat and dog. After all are they not WMD? Just as well you didn't say anything about your dog having a liking for peanut butter for that will really get you in the shit.

ASIO, if you are out there I do not have a cat or a dog, but I like peanut butter.