What the butler saw

Lots of things happening in our part of the world, and none of it good.

The others of the so called Bali Nine are up for sentencing today. Yesterday, Lawrence and Rush were sentenced to life for drug trafficking. Ringleaders Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 24, could be sentenced to death for their involvement. It must be especially disappointing for Lawrence who expected 20 years, after co-operating with police and testifying against her fellow accused. They're best hope now is that the Federal Government get moving on the prisoner exchange program.

In associated news, Do Hyung Lee, 25, accused of recruiting drug mules for the Indonesia-Australia run, has been released on bail. It's alleged he has links to the Bali Nine. It would be nice if we could exchange this one for, say, Schapelle Corby.

Liberal MP Danna Vale has gone way, way out on a limb by suggesting that Australians are "aborting themselves out of existence" and run the risk of "becoming a Muslim nation in 50 years." The plan is to have authority for the use of abortion drug RU486 remain with parliament. Last week, the Senate voted to strip the Health Minister, Tony Abbott of the responsibility of RU486 and hand it to the Therapeutic Drugs Administration. If amendments are passed, it would mean parliament would ultimately be responsible for the drug and debate its veto or its use. Ms Vale has upset the Muslims with this call, and her colleagues have taken a swift side step. It's bad enough that the use of an abortion drug is a highly contentious issue, but assuming a result fifty years down the track is really out there. It's not as if we are allowing Muslims only to immigrate, for fuck's sake!
And using the current sensitivities surrounding Muslims is reprehensible!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, more allegations of interference in decisions at government level, this time with the Greenhouse policy. Former scientists at Australia’s premier research organisation, the Commonwealth Scientific and I Research Organisation (CSIRO) have stated publicly that they were censored in their comments about greenhouse emission if their views did not reflect government policy.

As with the scandal involving the Australian Wheat Board, I have to suggest cronyism and obsequiousness being the culprits. The government cannot comment on issues its’ senior public servants fail to inform them of. If managers are trying to protect their own turf by denying any knowledge of the situation, or leaking documents that they kept, but did not pass on, then the public service is as amoral and unethical as it has been accused of.

With the AWB, the organisation at the centre of payments to Hussein’s regime, the contracts under question were approved by the United Nations. Again, did the AWB know, before the contract was approved know that the Jordanian trucking company was a front for Hussein? If the United Nations thought it was okay, why doesn’t the Federal Opposition? It still comes down to what the Board was told by its on the ground representatives. And AWB aint talkin'.

I don't blame them. The media hype and Opposition accusations are outrageous. Nothing has been proven, no evidence presented; only heresay and verballing of the Board. They are, rightly, going to wait until the Cole inquiry is over before making any statement.

Anything else will undermine the company and the United Nations (conveniently forgotten in all this). No doubt when the results are released, there will be an 'outrcry' no matter the result from opposing factions.

Who knows what the butler saw? He aint talking either.