What About A Fair Go For This Man?

The Age

Wednesday July 11, 2007

WHY couldn't the Indian doctor held for questioning for a week have his passport taken from him and be released, reporting to the police twice a day instead of being held in the hope that something may justify the detention?

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's comment that the doctor was in a hurry to leave the country was uncalled for. It implies he must have done something wrong and therefore his continued detention is warranted. Mr Ruddock should follow Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty's advice and allow the man the presumption of innocence until there is evidence to charge him.

If this man is finally released without charge, the ham-fisted way this case has been handled by the Government will see his life ruined, and the tragedy is he will not even be given an apology for the treatment the Government and the media have meted out to him. A fair go doesn't apply to non-white Australians when it comes to John Howard's war on terror.

Dallas Fraser, Mudgeeraba, Qld

Another Hicks

LAST week Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said that Dr Mohammed Haneef was helping police with their investigations, and that no charges had been laid.

This week - and still no charges - Ruddock now engages in some lawyer-speak by stating that Dr Haneef appeared to be attempting to leave the country with great speed.

Ruddock has the luxury of a public forum to arouse suspicion of Haneef's guilt before the proper procedures of investigation have run their course. If he is guilty, this will be brought to light without the meddling of the Attorney-General.

Unfortunately, Haneef won't have this luxury. Like David Hicks, he may not be able to tell his side of the story until after the federal election.

Justin Avery, Brunswick

Hypocrites and Hippocrates

SAY what you like about these Muslim doctors who took the Hippocratic oath to save lives, then took them, but where was the similar discussion about the hypocrisy of the three avowed Christian leaders of the "coalition of the willing" who did exactly the opposite to what Jesus preached. Do not kill. Do not bear false witness. Do not covet your neighbour's oil.

Gordon Drennan, Burton, SA

Do-gooders or feel-gooders

LIVE Earth may have been 24-hours of world-class entertainment, and supposedly, if nothing else, it drew attention to the critical state of the world's environment.

But I find it difficult to believe that anyone in the First World motivated and wealthy enough to attend one of the concerts, or watch them on television, was not aware of the dire outcomes associated with global warming and pollution. "OK, no harm done," I hear you saying, but I disagree. On a conscious level an attendee or vicarious attendee might honestly believe they actually contributed to improving the environment. Furthermore, this kind of showy yet specious environmentalism widens the divide between First World countries and those Second and Third World countries that we are desperately trying to persuade to sacrifice GDP for the world's sake.

What possible lead can they take from an event costing millions? It seems to me that to effectively help the environment, inhabitants of the First World should curb our consumerism and spend our wealth on developing sustainable resources.

Dan Watt, Richmond

Land grab

ANYONE who believes that the Federal Government will return control of Aboriginal lands to the indigenous communities after five years is deluding themselves. This is the Government that has already stolen oil income from the East Timorese and that will pay one indigenous community just $12 million for using its territory as a uranium dump for decades.

Liz Morris, Wodonga

Bombers in paradise

MUSLIM suicide bombers kill both Muslims and non-Muslims. So what happens when the bombers meet their victims in paradise? Might it be that only the murderers are welcome in paradise? If a female bomber or a homosexual male bomber arrives in paradise, are they rewarded with appropriately sexed virgins? Also, do the virgins have any say in the matter? Maybe some expert on paradise can clarify this important issue?

Ken Jones, Glenlyon

Cut before we run

NOW that support for the disastrous war in Iraq is wavering, even inside the ranks of the Republican Party ("Bush aides push for Iraq retreat", The Age, 10/7), perhaps it is time to accept that Iraq should be broken up and absorbed into the surrounding countries, particularly Iran, Syria and Turkey. Areas with a predominant Shiite population should be absorbed into Iran; those with a predominant Sunni population should become part of Syria; and Kurdish areas could become part of Turkey (or maybe part of a separate state of Kurdistan). The UN should oversee the redrawing of national boundaries, the distribution of Iraqi oil reserves, and the peaceful relocation of Iraqi citizens.

The world is just going to have to learn that the President of the USA is just that - he is not the democratically elected "President of the World".

Paul Fullerton, Camberwell

More than an ally

ONE of two key reasons given for Australia's participation in the invasion of Iraq by Shaun Carney (The Age, 9/7) is his claim of the "consequences for the Australian-American alliance: the Government judged that Australia's relationship with the United States would be damaged, possibly severely, if it did not join George Bush on his great military adventure".

Why is it that Australia, almost alone among the staunch US allies, regarded participation in the invasion as so important for its alliance? Why was Canada able to decline such participation? While it is clear that the US would have very much appreciated the involvement of its neighbour and close friend, the Canadians felt it was in their national interest to avoid such folly. As far as I am aware, they still enjoy a very close relationship with the US, not having suffered any dire consequences for their decision.

If Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan - indeed most of America's allies - were able to avoid the initial conflict, why was Australia's interest so very different? The same question can be asked of the reasons for Australia "staying the course" when other US allies have gone home.

Naham Warhaft, Armadale

US fears the euro

JUDY Bamberger (Letters, 10/7) thinks our lifestyle and love for oil to burn in our cars caused the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, Saddam was quite willing to sell Iraq's oil to the world, but he wanted to be paid in euros. That did not suit the US, the land that wants to be in control and goes on printing its dollars, backed only by military might. So, I suggest that Judy think again and have a look at a few documents (available on the net) originating from the people in power in Washington, who long before the war - yes, even before G. W. became President - suggested that the US must be in control of energy resources around the world, especially in the Middle East.

H. H. Boeker, Wyoming, NSW

Battle of the housing bulge

JOHN Roskam's critique of Melbourne 2030 (Opinion, 4/7) was ill-founded. He blames housing unaffordability on "state governments (doing) everything in their power to restrict the building of new homes in new areas". Yet Royce Millar (The Age, 30/6) reports that 61 per cent of new housing is in the growth corridors - twice what it should be according to Melbourne 2030. Developers are gobbling up too much of the growth corridor land that is supposed to last until 2030. Government needs rather to tighten controls on the density and spread of new housing to make the land supply last.

Housing unaffordability is more probably caused by developers indulging in what Planning Minister Madden describes as housing obesity, building McMansions on large blocks for empty-nesters while their children raise families in units built on their parents' old suburban blocks.

Rosemary West, Edithvale

The right to know

DR CHRISTOFF on climate change (The Age, 9/7) sounds like a religious zealot telling me not to read Richard Dawkins. I'll watch The Great Global Warming Swindle to learn what other scientists think. Please don't try to burn my books before I read them, Dr Christoff.

Danny O'Neill, Narre Warren South

Enlightenment for all

I ENJOYED the ABC's documentary on Sunday night about Ali, the young Australian-Lebanese lad involved in the Cronulla riots who walked the Kokoda Track and found it a positive and enlightening experience. I do look forward to the similar documentary on some of the Anglo-Australians similarly involved having gone to Lebanon and helped in the rebuilding of that country.

Mike Harris, Richmond

Time to pay for baby

IT IS time for a government-funded national system of paid maternity leave.

Australia is one of the last developed countries in the world without a national scheme of paid leave for new parents. If countries like India, Sweden and the UK can offer paid maternity leave, why should Australian mothers miss out?

The community is far ahead of our political leaders on this issue. Businesses and families across the country are crying out for a reality check on work and family-life balance.

Last month the Greens and Democrats co-sponsored a call on the Federal Parliament to support in-principle paid maternity leave. Disappointingly, this notion of support for families was voted down by the Liberal, Labor and Family First parties. How is that putting families first? Juggling work and child care may seem big news within the corridors of Parliament, but it is a reality for many Australian families.

Sarah Hanson-Young, Adelaide

Put heat on bad parents

THE Federal Government's recent proposal to defer social security payments to families that do not ensure that their children attend school has a lot of merit. Properly administered, it will help school attendance, reduce illiteracy and should help to reduce the violent behaviour of the ethnic gangs reported with depressing regularity by the press.

Psychologists seem to link the latter with feelings of alienation, boredom, etc by these children and the lack of supervision by their parents. In my opinion the best way to assimilate is at school, which from the primary level will teach them to socialise with children from different backgrounds, and become citizens we will all be proud of.

Chris Dollman, Traralgon

Beauty despite the beasts

I HAVE just returned from a blissful three-week holiday in Bali, a destination I enjoy every year and will continue to enjoy in future. Why Bali? It's beautiful, its people are welcoming, it's nurturing and culturally richer than any other place I've travelled. What's more, it gives me a more wonderful holiday for my money than anywhere else. I avoid the parts of Bali that have been damaged by terrorism. I am sorry that the Australian Government's "reminder" (not upgraded) travel warning is deterring people like Natalie Fisher (Letters, 10/7) and wonder about the timing of this warning. Experience demonstrates our Government uses fear to its own ends in seeking re-election.

The Balinese implore us to tell our friends how welcome and how needed they are to support the tourism that has become their lifeblood. Go to Ubud, Ahmed, Nusa Lembongan . . . anywhere but Kuta, and perhaps keep away from London or Glasgow, Madrid or New York.

Diana Greentree, Highlands

The bigger picture

I AGREE with Louise Page (The Age, 9/7) in her assessment about the lack of effective protest regarding the impending channel dredging but am not surprised. People are usually only concerned with what they perceive to be directly affecting them and don't see the bigger picture.

Don Owen, Hawthorn East

© 2007 The Age

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