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BBC Monitoring Quotes From Australian Press 6 Oct 05

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and commentaries published in 6 October editions of Australian newspapers available to BBC Monitoring:

Indonesian anti-terror policy

Sydney's The Daily Telegraph: www.dailytelegraph.com.au "Terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah [JI] is banned by the UN, US, EU and Australia - but not by the Indonesians. Something is clearly wrong. The only place JI's terrorists have successfully carried out their murderous policies is within Indonesia... If the Indonesians seriously want to maintain and grow their fragile democracy and retain the comparative prosperity they have enjoyed in recent times, they have to attack and smash JI with the same ruthlessness that the Coalition led by the US displayed in Afghanistan against the Taleban and is now showing in Iraq against Al-Qa'idah's forces. For make no mistake, as much as Western countries are the target of JI diatribes, Indonesia's leadership, its democratic system and entire way of life, is as much in the sights of these demented Islamist murderers..." (Piers Akerman, columnist) (6)

Indonesian police role

Melbourne's The Age: www.theage.com.au "... It is no more reasonable to have expected Indonesia's police to have predicted and prevented last Saturday's [1 October] attack in Bali than it is to have expected the British police to have foiled the eerily similar walk-up suicide bomb attacks in London in July... In fact, given how unequal their resources are to the challenges before them it can be argued that the Indonesian counter-terrorist police are no less worthy of praise than their British counterparts. Without their many successful arrests and capturing of weapons and explosives, including caches of explosive vests, there would have been many more successful terrorist attacks in Indonesia in the manner of Saturday's attacks in Bali. If there is any to whom blame should be apportioned it is to certain members of the political elite... We need to give credit where credit is due and support where support is needed. There is no simple answer to the threat of pedestrian suicide bomb attacks but if the present situation in Indonesia is difficult it will become truly impossible if the transition to liberal democracy stalls and fails." (Dr Greg Barton, Deakin University) (6)

Prison sentence of Indonesian cleric

Sydney's The Daily Telegraph: www.dailytelegraph.com.au "... In a masterpiece of timing, [Indonesian] prison officials this week recommended another month's reduction for [Abu Bakar] Basyir [convicted of conspiracy in 2002 Bali bombings] to mark the holiday of Id al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. If the recommendation is accepted, Basyir will be free in April... And so much for Australia's diplomatic protests when Basyir's sentence was cut last time... There's one word for it - it's an outrage, and we should be telling the Indonesian government in no uncertain terms just how disgusted we are." (Editorial) (6)

Philippine anti-terror effort

Sydney's The Australian: www.theaustralian.news.com.au "Identifying last Saturday's [1 October] suicide bombers in Bali is obviously essential... But intelligence cannot always save us from anonymous attackers whose names have never appeared on any intelligence agency's watch list. Especially if they trained in safe havens, hidden from Australian and Indonesian eyes... While the Indonesian government is not keen on closing JI [Jemaah Islamiyah] down, lest this somehow offend ordinary Muslims, the nation's elite police and military are obviously committed to catching terrorists. But the situation in the Philippines is not so certain... Manila's military seems unable, or unwilling, to break up these long- established insurgency and terror training networks. The attitude of the Philippines government, cursed with a corrupt civil service and faltering economy, towards terror is also relaxed... This is a war Canberra and Jakarta need help to fight. While the terror track from the Philippines is clear, the bombings will continue." (Editorial) (6)

New Zealand elections

Sydney's The Sydney Morning Herald: www.smh.com.au "Helen Clark has finally claimed victory in New Zealand... However there remains the small matter of creating a working majority in the 121-seat Parliament... Voters' even split in the 17 September election suggests that New Zealand wants a government that takes a more socially conservative and politically central path than Labour has previously offered. Miss Clark will need to add juggling to her already considerable highwire skills." (Editorial) (6)

Reporting of Hurricane Katrina

Sydney's The Sydney Morning Herald: www.smh.com.au "... Today the public hungrily devours beat-ups [reports] of man's inhumanity to man, willing to believe the worst, especially of Americans. There is no essential human goodness in these tales. Only animals and Mother Earth can be good. Hurricane Katrina was the apogee of this meta- narrative... Considering the heat and water shortages in the packed Superdome, the crowd appears to have defied those who expected the worst... In fact there were plenty of tales of human courage, selflessness and heroism... Excessive cynicism is corrosive, although in this case only the gullible would be so ready to believe guilt-evading local officials and blame bogeyman George Bush." (Miranda Devine, columnist) (6)

Australian immigration reform

Sydney's The Sydney Morning Herald: www.smh.com.au "When Andrew Metcalfe replaced Bill Farmer as secretary of the Department of Immigration, he promised a shake-up of the department's culture... But if the government is serious about immigration reform, it needs to revisit the Migration Litigation Reform Bill 2005 to ensure it complements the department's new direction, and to change it so that it effectively deals with the real issues that plague our immigration system... Why is it persisting with this legislation when it goes against recommendations for increased scrutiny and openness?..." (George Newhouse, lawyer) (6)

Sources: As listed

Source: BBC Monitoring Newsfile

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