Thursday 20th March 1997
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Issues - The banking system under the spotlight. The state of affairs in Papua New Guinea (PNG) deteriorated dramatically yesterday as we predicted. Sacked defence force commander Jerry Singirok called Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan a liar who had misled the people over the use of the mercenaries.
Sir Julius took a major step backwards in admitting that his goverment's decision to use mercenaries on Bougainville could have been "100% wrong". Almost half of the South African mercenaries are expected to leave the island today on a plane to Singapore.
But yesterday violence and anarchy, for the first time since independence, came to the streets of Port Moresby, PNGs capital, as looters stripped shops of their contents in the Taurama district.
Singirok speaking publicly about his fall out with Chan said, "I have put national issues first and I was already prepared for the consequences of my removal or relocation as the commander of the defence forces.
"When the Prime Minister came out and totally denied that Sandline people (the mercenaries) will go to Bougainville, that was totally incorrect."
Sir Julius was under intense pressure yesterday with about 90% of the PNG defence force at the main military base at Port Moresby signing a petition calling on him to resign.
Chan said, "In hindsight it could have been 100% wrong that we made it (the decision to contract the mercenaries) taking into account the consequences, the events that have taken (place) in the last 12 months."
The looting spread through Port Moresby with gunfire and teargas terrorising the capital of this peaceful nation after thousands of PNG citizens took to the streets demanding the resignation of Sir Julius Chan.
Last night predictions were that the looting and violence would take a turn for the worse today.
Yesterday a personal emissary, acting on behalf of Australian Prime Minister John Howard, left for PNG for urgent talks with Sir Julius Chan.
In December the House of Representatives voted 88-35 to support the private Bill.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Shane Stone virtually conceded defeat yesterday agreeing that the Andrews Bill was likely to succeed.
"There is seething outrage in the territory over this attack on the rights of territorians," Stone said in Alice Springs.
The Bill attacks the rights of people in the Australian protectorates including those on Norfolk Island and the Australian Capital Territory.
The people of Norfolk Island, a tax haven, are particularly independent and divorced from the Australian "scene". The island has its own stamps, has been considering introducing its own currency - and it is no secret that it would like to break away from the hold of the Australian Federal Parliament.
The Deputy Speaker of the island, Monica Anderson, told me earlier today that there was particular concern amongst the island's residents that Senator Mal Colston might be appointed Governor after he resigned from the Senate.
Extensive political commentary and links can be found on Palmer's Australian Politics page.
Dear Sir,
Concerning the article written by your correspondent at the Royal Commission to investigate the Existence or otherwise of Australia's Indigenous Peoples I am writing to you to protest in the strongest terms about the inferences contained therein.
The inference in your otherwise fairly reported article was that I, Sir Les Patterson, former Minister of Culture (not Arts as wrongly stated in your report) in the Whitlam Government, was making myself out to be an aboriginal person for the sole purpose of making land claims. This is a cruel and hurtful suggestion.
I will have you know that my mother Agatha Patterson (formerly Agatha Yunnifungus of the Mungulu tribe) has photographs showing me at the age of 3 walking around the streets of Moonee Ponds stark naked. I was also an avid finger-painter at the local school which proves my aboriginality fairly conclusively. Furthermore the racist swine police of this state actually arrested me when I was 19 years of age for walking around the Melbourne University Womens College in exactly the same state. They obviously hate people of our race and the fact that we walk around without clothes is to them an invitation to harrass us. To us the act of walking around naked is something that brings us closer to our real spirit. The police work very hard to keep us from practicing our aboriginality. We aboriginals love children. We like to look at them and receive their young unfettered spiritual vibrations. Accordingly we sometimes go to the local school playgrounds to watch them. The police are worried that the children might be affected by being near us so they spread these rumours about our clothing and the reasons for it. We wear raincoats over our nakedness in case it rains. When we see the sun or a glimpse of clear sky we open our raincoats to the sun or sky so that our bodies may be in tune with the spirituality of the sun and/or sky.
Even in my former position as Minister for Culture I was regularly seen on park benches around Melbourne holding a ceremonial nonga to my lips. A nonga is an object that cannot be seen by a white man so we usually hide it in a brown paper bag. Many aboriginals use the nonga in public to recharge their spirits. Unfortunately the police and media have suggested that the brown paper bag does not contain the nonga but some form of alcoholic beverage. This is of course a typical racist lie.
I have spoken to my good friend Yungbooli Unipungoo (formerly known in the white community as Bruno Grollo) who is making a claim for the land around Toorak on behalf of the Grollonu tribe of which he sadly is the only surviving member and we are deciding whether or not to take action against your electronic rag for casting aspersions against us and our people. If you were to print a full and formal apology together with a selection of aboriginal poems written by me then I would consider withdrawing my proposed legal action.
Yours Sincerely,
Sir Les Patterson
I'm proud to belong to Ipswich.
Phyllis Knox, Tivoli
Carmody said the tax office would be seeking additional information from the 100 recipients of the second questionnaire sent last month.
He also said that the ATO would ask the Federal Government for new laws to close off tax loopholes for the rich and said that the current exercise would be evaluated to see whether the 17 page document should be used to target other wealthy individuals whose tax payments failed to match their wealth.
News Corporation shares continued to face a rocky road following the Heritage Media Corporation deal which is to be funded by the issuing of preferential shares.
Yesterday the ordinary shares lost another 24 cents to fall to US$6.12 and the preferential shares lost 14 cents to dive to US$5.06.
Now it doesn't take a genius to realise that a few days more along this rocky road and the whole group could implode if its capitalisation value falls below its debts.
Have a great day.
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