Wednesday, June 15, 2005



In the 1990s, it was four to five cases per officer per month. Last I heard, it was around 20, maybe more. Now, doing 20 cases a month can be done if you do things like generic decision records. You can just say, ‘I don’t think this person is a refugee.’ That’s how people get promoted: Whistleblowing DIMIA officer The Immigration Minister has called on a department whistleblower, who says things have gone wrong in "every case" of the department, to come forward Vanstone urges whistleblower to come forward

A former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Charles Rossotti, once said that personnel reform in the federal government must be accompanied by Well-developed measurement systems: serve thy customer

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Live 8, The British Initiative and Victory Over Want
Bob Geldof's campaign for Africa is magnificent and unique. His persistence over a full generation is a measure of his dedication to a great humanitarian cause.

The proposals of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his Treasurer Gordon Brown and their Government also deserve support, both in themselves and in the impact that we hope they will have on the policies of the governments of other highly-developed economies including the United States.
Our aim - the aim of all of us - should be to make these efforts as successful and productive as we possibly can. However, although some of the more prominent proposals, such as cancellation of debt, can be applauded, they will do little, if anything, to reduce poverty or stimulate self-sustaining growth in the recipient countries.


The case for helping the Africans to meet these challenges is unassailable [The federal Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, has expressed alarm at the size of Australia's national debt Nation at 'edge of debt cliff', warns Beazley ; Up to 100 people are likely to be quizzed by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) as part of a major investigation into a $300 million offshore tax evasion scheme 'Wealthy and prominent' face tax evasion quiz ]
• · Citigroup to pay $2 bln in Enron lawsuit ; Richard Grant examines a specific challenge for each of the regulators, and the regulatory strategies they employ to monitor Australia’s corporate sector Australia’s corporate regulators – the ACCC, ASIC and APRA
• · · Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846 while John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946 Czech Amerikan History Lessons ; Report: FBI Had At Least Five Chances To Stop 9/11 Terrorists ; War: The Lethal Custom by Gwynne Dyer Reviewed by Antony Loewenstein: Call to arms could signal calamity
• · · · Who should pay for the children? Shaking up child support ; Charlotte and her three young children scrape by on welfare. The only child support she’s had from her estranged husband is a princely, one-off, $5 Costing the Children
• · · · · Two Chinese men, one a diplomat, and the other a policeman, have requested asylum in Australia, and a third Chinese man, a refugee, confirmed their claims that China persecutes its citizens and spies on them Interview: Kevin Rudd ; Defector Chen Yonglin's story is too intriguing to ignore Dragon's claws; Some of the actions taken by the Federal Government in the case of defecting Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin could be seen as illegal Labor raises legal questions in Chen case ; Australians rally in support of Chinese defectors
• · · · · · None of Sydney's problems are without solutions. And none are unique to this city. Countless cities have found the solutions when they have had the right combination of leadership, will and money... Like the creeping sands of the Gobi Desert, the drought is closing in on Australia's major cities. Like the Gobi desert ; Australia's most important central business district will run out of office space as soon as 2015, but the City of Sydney has a plan to delay the crisis - allowing bigger office blocks. We've reached the city limits ; Save water, drink beer - and make mine a plastic