THERE is sadly no truth in the reported exchange between Kevin Rudd and suitably impressed residents at a whistle-stop in the northern deserts of Oz.
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GOOD morning. According to a southern correspondent, the new PM while addressing the small gathering made reference to the stolen generation; he was interrupted by a resident who assured him that the local inhabitants knew nothing about any stolen generator.
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WE’RE happy to see the larrikin sense of humour persists in the oh-so- sophisticated, high-heeled, martini-doused canyons of contemporary Oz. Good old Henry Lawson and A B Patterson and the pink Bulletin … what would the poets and their occasional publisher make of Australian cities today?
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PERHAPS the visiting prime minister could be persuaded to pass on to Foreign Affairs Secretary Pepson his concern at the cavalier manner in which Oz applications for work and student visas are handled by PNG Migration. Mr Rudd might have a tad more clout than the average foreign citizen banging at the doors of PNG’s consulates, high commissions and embassies in order to take up approved employment contracts or study at PNG universities.
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AT the same time, DFAT in Australia, that wonderful acronym that stands for their foreign affairs and trade department, should lighten up over a host of PNG-Australian issues, such as seasonal work for our people, entry to Oz for critical medical purposes – 24 hours delay waiting for paper work could be a death sentence – and elderly family members seeking to visit their offspring.
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IN fact, a little more flexibility and a lot less tub-thumping and retreating behind iron-clad regulatory barricades wouldn’t be a bad idea all round.
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READER Graym Hawthorne is first respondent to our invitation to comment on the morality of newspapers printing pictures of dead alleged criminals following shoot-outs with police. Graym says: “My view is that persons who opt to commit crimes against law abiding citizens, especially when they’re of a violent nature, take the risk of photographic exposure. Whether they’re dead or seriously injured, is for me an irrelevance. It’s their decision to commit the crime.” Thanks Graym – deenesenolis@hotmail.com is the address – send your thoughts to us now. Cheers!
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- Dee Nesenolis