What the nation s newspapers say, Tuesday 6 April 1999

AAP General News (Australia)
04-06-1999
What the nation s newspapers say, Tuesday 6 April 1999

"In the shadow of one of the largest human catastrophes in modern history", Australia
should open its its "heart" and "evaluate with an open mind" a plea from Albanian Australians
to increase the number of immigration places for Kosovar refugees, the Daily Telegraph says in
its editorial.

Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock has suggested that only 1000 extra places could be
found for Kosovar refugees but that is "unrealistic", the newspaper says.

"It would have been better if he had said nothing," the Telegraph says. "Australia prides
itself on the sanctuary it has offered to people of all races."

Albanian community leaders have suggested 20,000 extra places and it's the duty of the
government to consider this and also to "substantially increase the $2 million it has
allocated in aid", it says.

The Australian too says Mr Ruddock's response to the Kosovo refugee crisis is "niggardly
and over-cautious".

"Mr Ruddock thinks our existing plans are good enough - he is wrong, he should think again
and quickly," the newspaper says. "It is, or should be, inconceivable that Australia would not
provide refugee assistance."

The Sydney Morning Herald too deals with the Kosovo crisis in its editorial but focuses on
the war effort and a possible solution to the conflict.

Although the NATO air strikes in Kosovo is "clearly hurting" the Milosevic regime, it needs
a "war objective" both a military and a diplomatic one which will bring a satisfactory end to
the conflict, the newspaper says in its editorial.

The war with Yugoslavia will be "disastrous" if allowed to run out of control or be lost,
the Herald says.

"At the centre of (any NATO objective) must be the partition of Kosovo," the newspaper
says. "Albanians will not return to a province that remains a part of Yugoslavia, the Serbs
will not suddenly sign away all of their hard-won gains, and NATO cannot go on bombing
Yugoslavia in the hope that something better will turn up."

And although partition would be "messy", it will end the bloodshed, allow Albanian refugees
to go home and even allow Milosevic "to claim something of a victory" albeit a "Pyrrhic" one
(that is, one gained at too great a cost), The Herald says.

"Quite apart from the damage Yugoslavia has sustained during the bombing, Mr Milosevic's
truculence looks set to cost it Montenegro's inclusion in the federation," the newspaper says.

It will be difficult to halt the "scream of political persecution" if the Federal
Government responds to the signals from the Australian Democrats and orders an independent
inquiry into former Prime Minister Paul Keating's piggery investments, the Canberra Times says
in its editorial.

"The electorate has already passed judgement on him," the newspaper says, and given there
have been no allegations of criminal misconduct, it's "better long-term policy to let bygones
be bygones".

Instead, "the Commonwealth should establish s Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards to
oversee issues of the conduct of politicians including monitoring and reporting on issues such
as conflict of interest" etc., the Canberra Times says. "It should not do so around a specific
case - no more a Paul Keating than, say, Warwick Parer.

The Brisbane Courier-Mail editorial says the arguments used by Coalition backbencher
De-Anne Kelly to Senator Brian Harradine to persuade him to vote against the sale of Telstra
are wrong on two counts.

The editorial says the legislation will not lead to the automatic sale of Telstra as the
Government has given a commitment that it will only move beyond 49.9 per cent if particular
service performance is achieved and sufficient guarantees are provided.

"The contention that keeping a majority public shareholding in Telstra will not prevent the
carrier from reaching its full market potential is something that Mrs Kelly cannot justify,"
The Courier-Mail says.

There are times when, for all our theoretically absolute commitment to a free and open
press, we wish these pages could be closed to children. For it is our duty to report the
murder of dolphins, the Adelaide Advertiser says in an editorial.

When these wanton acts of sadism had to be put on our news pages last year following the
attacks on the dolphin group in the Port River, we acknowledged the difficulty of finding the
culprits and proving a case. Those difficulties remain: witness the sickness of the latest
killing of a baby dolphin, the newspaper says.

"Think of the suffering of these creatures, think of the way these vile hoons betray our
children and their faith in people's goodness, and hope they eventually face the judgment of a
disgusted, humane society," it says.

Only a few weeks away from winter and the possibility of further gas restrictions,
Victorians learn that gas cheats may get off scot-free, the Herald Sun says in its editorial.

The bulk of us, who did the right thing and endured cold showers, primitive cooking
facilities and loss of income after Esso's Longford explosion, will be outraged, the newspaper
says.

"The State Government must immediately change the law to ensure beyond any doubt that
future cheats who ignore restrictions on the use of gas (or any other resource that is under
threat) can be dealt with," it said.

The decision by Pymble Ladies College in Sydney to expel nine girls for smoking marijuana
has attracted the full approval of the Prime Minister, John Howard, the Age says in its
editorial.

"I would hope that all schools would take the same attitude," he said. "Because if you have
a black-and-white attitude at that stage I think you are far more likely to yield results."

Drug abuse is not just about crime and punishment. It is about dependence and hopelessness,
about health and wellbeing, about boredom and joblessness, about our failure as a society to
find imaginative and just solutions to a problem that is killing young Australians daily, the
newspaper says.

"There are no black-and-white" solutions, but many shades of grey Mr Howard would well to
explore," the Age says.

Despite its recessed economy, Japan has become one of the most attractive destinations for
stock market investors judging by recent movement in its Nikkei stock market index, The
Australian Financial Review says in its editorial.

But a survey of business conditions there "provided a reality check for the stockmarket
bulls" because it showed that big and small businesses have an increasingly negative outlook,
it says.

Rising unemployment is fuelling soaring savings rates and a corresponding fall in consumer
spending, the Financial Review says.

"The corporate restructuring that is fuelling purchases of Japanese shares is also feeding
a negative cycle of consumer activity that will hold back a sustained private sector recovery
and could rein in the aspirations of the stockmarket bull," it says.

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