Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

There is nothing to beat a morning walk in a beautiful and exotic place. I have seen John Howard walking, very often, by the beautiful Sydney Harbour from Kirribilli to Luna Park and to Lavendar Bay. I have seen him by sidewalk in front of the White House, the great Wall of China, the Forbidden City in Beijing, and get ambushed by the Chaser Boys by the Yarra River or the Howard Ladies who offerred him the Erection (sorry the Election) viagra. Yes, I wish I could walk a mile in his shoes. I still enjoy my walks very much but I have also discovered another way of keeping fit that is just as enjoyable, if not more enjoyable...

I watched Insiders this morning with a friend who works in Parliament House and admired Andren immensely. Upon hearing the tributes from Howaerd and Rudd, and the solemn wish of Canberra' chief personal muckraker journo Glen Milne that we need more decent blokes like Andren in Parliament, she burst into tears. 

Webdiarist Susie Russell emailed me amazing news today which I thought you might like to hear. Yes folks, Vaile has agreed, under questioning from a talk back listener and citizen extraordinaire, to take a lie detector test on AWB!

Most people prepare themselves for disappointment but Margo Kingston put an excessive and dangerous emotional investment in to a Howard defeat (not a Latham victory) in 2004. She put a misplaced faith in to the spontaneous Iraq war protests and in to her online activism. She set herself up for failure. Then she burnt out.

Hi there. I wrote my first letter to the editor this week, published yesterday in the Canberra Times, about the Australian Christian Lobby's attack on the Greens. I did my first door knocking ever last Saturday - oh the pleasure in overcoming that fear - and yesterday I helped advise Kerrie Tucker when she filmed an election ad. The lesson there was not to be so bloody anxious and intense that it rubs off on the candidate! 

Isn't it weird. Amrozi is about to be shot dead as the Indonesian courts decide they can't even look at the nation's Constitutional protection of human rights re the Bali Nine plea not to be shot dead - because they're foreigners. I, for one, will never forgive this government for handing over our bloody stupid, off the rails young people for arrest, knowing Indonesia had the death penalty for such offences. Yet there is silence from Labor. Where is Labor's promise to never ever let this happen again?

"This is about breaking the code of silence that has developed after 11 years of the Howard Government. Access to government information and decision-making are keys to a healthy and vibrant democracy. It also means that members of the community can obtain reasonable access to government records and documents that affect their lives." From Labor's honest politics policy

A decade ago The Greens had a very simple slogan - “No environment no economy”. Today that is even truer. "Ten years ago it was a warning. Now, in 2007; it is a description of our reality. And the farmers, the fishers, the tourism industry workers, the city dwellers on water restrictions – Australians everywhere – know this is true. Without the environment, there is no economy." Bob Brown

In northern NSW local communities are getting increasingly anxious about the effects of logging on their catchments. Recently a court refused to convict several people who had taken direct action to protect their catchment. Now the residents of another valley are preparing for action.

"This election will focus on the showdown between John Howard and Kevin Rudd. But there is another battle looming – the contest for the balance of power in the Senate between Family First and the Greens." Family First Senator Steve Fielding

'I acknowledge that my own journey in arriving at this point has not been without sidetracks and dry gullies.  There have been low points when dialogue between me as Prime Minister and many Indigenous leaders dwindled almost to the point of non-existence.  I fully accept my share of the blame for that. On the night of the 1998 election I publicly committed myself to endeavouring to achieve Reconciliation by the year 2001.  In the end, that did not happen.' John Winston 'whatever it takes' Howard

Michael Kirby explores the interface of consensus and dissent in contemporary Australia In politics, securing consensus is often now essential because of the comparative decline in electoral support for the major political parties.

Hello. Here is the Australian Law Council's statement yesterday on the death penalty debate. The recent history of this issue is very interesting, as is its prominence now. I'll try to write something later. 

"Elections, Parliament, the media, freedom of speech - these can all bethought of just as tools to enable citizens to exerciseaccountability.  Accountability has two components.  First, a target oragent (such as an executive government) has to explain their actionsand the reasons behind them to seekers of accountability (such as thepublic).  Second, there needs to be power to impose sanctions whenthose actions and reasons are considered unsatisfactory.  In theabsence of either of these elements, there is no accountability and nodemocracy." Peter Ellis

"I don’t feel like fluff anymore, I’ve become an activist again.  Joined a group.  Organise public events to really debate the issues.  I speak about the government's lies at every opportunity I get.  I even went to the APEC protests with a group of very respectable women.  I still throw my slippers and I speak out and I vote! We’ll vote the liar out." Christa Schwoebel

The APEC thuggery results from a Labor and Liberal conspiracy to destroy our civil liberties and give police untrammelled power to serve political ends. I've been warning of this on Webdiary for many years. We saw with Haneef that now, police and/or government lawyers are prepared to lie under oath to the Courts to get their way. And the NSW Labor Government's disgrace started long before Iemma.Have a look at the start of the rot, under Bob Carr, in 2002, when Howard was revving up his 'terror' laws.

On August 3, Penguin's publisher Bob Sessions rang me with a shock request - could I update Not Happy, John! in three weeks? Huh? I said I could if my old Webdiary friend and collaborator Jack Robertson  agreed to come on board. He did, and the book goes to the printer this week. So, it's hardly in my personal interest for Howard to resign before the election. The book is a critique of his government, sure, but John Howard is the symbol of that government. And then there's the title! My guess is that he'll stay on. What's yours?

Later I saw another old lady asking police if she could go to David Jones.  They told her it would be always there and it would be best if she went home. Kindly old ladies being discouraged from David Jones?  That's not the Australia I grew up in!  I saw the reassuring sign that "it costs no more to shop at David Jones" but security guards blocked me from leaving via the Elizabeth Street doors.  How bizarre.

7 August 2005 Margo update:  Janet Albrechtsen has joined Bolt -  see 'Pass baton to Costello'. Last weekend's Newspoll was a shocker for the government, and speculation is rife that next week Howard will either call an election or stand down. The Chaser proved that the emperor has no clothes - eerily reminiscent of the Bush visit to Canberra in 2003, when security waved what looked like a camera in without a security check and the AFP dressed civilians up to look like cops. Howard is about appearances, not reality.

The latest update from the Democratic Audit program at ANU on how our democracy is working, including 'Be honest, Minister!' Restoring faith in government in Australia

It seems incongruous that constant warnings about the terrorist threat should lead to APEC staging itself in the very place most likely to be a magnet for such acts. However, APEC has good reason for not meeting on some tropical island. Far from seeking to avoid the week long APEC chaos diary, the event seems to have a fetish with securing these set pieces. As I shall argue here, APEC serves the cause of military urbanism.

'In a landmark decision, handed down on 30 August 2007, the High Court has upheld the fundamental human right to vote, finding that the Howard Government had acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally in imposing a blanket ban denying prisoners the vote.' 

Susan Kiefel's appointment as a High Court judge is great for Australia, and one decision of Ruddock I not only applaud, but do so with gusto. Maybe after all his terrible deeds over the last decade he wants to leave something special in place as his career nears its end. I'm reminded of Paul Keating's appointment of Michael Kirby to the High Court just before he lost office. I met Justice Kiefel in the early 1980's in Brisbane, when she was a junior barrister and I was an articled clerk briefing her on a case. She told me then that Tony Fitzgerald had personally mentored her when she worked as a secretary in his chambers, convincing her that she talented enough to finish year 12 and take the bar exam.

Just seen the Network Ten news here in Queensland. I believe that Peter Beattie is single handedly destroying Labor's chances of winning office at the federal election.

The watchdog organisation Aidwatch has released a report today which found that Australian aid money has been used in Iraq to rework the country to suit international corporations. Our Foreign Minister's response was to brand Aidwatch an extremist organisation.

"Never has there been a more prescient time for Australia, as one of the world’s most stable democracies, to protect and secure its future by redoubling its commitment to the traditions, values and institutions that have made this nation what it is today. These civic values are fundamental to the successful existence of a liberal democracy and we should never forget that they are principles to be cherished and protected." Kevin Andrews!

Webdiary has done a bit of work on bad and allegedly corruptly procured development over the years. This is an issue that brings people together now matter who they vote for.

Call me naive, but I’m hoping Barack Obama becomes the fourty-fourth American president. He’s no political saviour, but he could point us in a better direction.

I also acknowledge that one of my officers put two errors of fact before the court.  The first related to the SIM card and was based on a misunderstanding of the facts.  The second related to the residence of Dr Haneef in the UK and was based on incorrect material provided by the AFP.  The prosecution is of course under a duty to inform the court promptly of any errors that are made in submissions to the court.  The hearing in which these errors were made was determined in Dr Haneef’s favour and when the errors were recognised it was decided to correct them when the matter was next before the court.

When Vivian Alvarez was found in the Philipines the information of this 33 was already public, so Amanda Vanstone launched an inquiry into the possible illegal detentions of other Australians, or worse other deportations.   247 cases were then sent to the Ombudsman. The most chilling case was the case of LP, an Australian citizen child incarcerated for 149 days as “a visitor to his mother”. Just a guest of the minister in a regime of brutal detention that was utterly illegal. No-one bothered to ascertain if the reality was that the child was a citizen.