Monthly Archives: February 2003

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Look what John Howard’s done

Look what John Howard’s done now: Australia was now fourth on the world’s terror attack hit list, with Qantas the most likely target, the country’s leading terror expert said today.
On the good news side, The full bench of the Family Court of Australia today rejected a federal government bid to quash a transsexual marriage.
More from the Age, “Prime Minister John Howard has accused peace demonstrators of giving comfort to Saddam Hussein and harming the chance of a peaceful outcome to the Iraqi crisis.” vs “Mr Howard had given comfort to Saddam Hussein by undermining the UN, [Opposition Leader] Mr Crean said.”

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“Australia has emerged as the

“Australia has emerged as the strongest supporter of America in the international debate on Iraq, telling the United Nations Security Council that it rejects giving weapons inspectors more time to disarm Saddam Hussein.
Australia was the only nation that used yesterday’s special Security Council meeting to declare Iraq in “material breach” of UN resolution 1441, which set up the inspection regime.”
(Age)

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So much for our yobbo

So much for our yobbo images, “Australians are among the lightest smokers and drinkers in the developed world.” (Age)
“Comparing Australian data with figures from other OECD countries, the institute put Australians as the 15th biggest drinkers out of 28 countries.”

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BBC: Prawn fishing ‘plundering seas’

BBC: Prawn fishing ‘plundering seas’
“Trawling for prawns is hugely wasteful, conservationists say, and threatens other marine creatures with devastation.
They say prawn trawlers kill 150,000 marine turtles a year, and also large numbers of seahorses.
They want consumers not to buy prawns until supermarkets can prove they have been caught without harming the environment and local communities.”
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“The report’s main findings include:
* trawlers catch up to 20 kilograms of other species for every one kg of prawns they take
* they are responsible for one-third of the world’s discarded catch, although they produce less than 2% of global seafood
* local fish catches can decline sharply in areas where trawlers operate
* the trawls cause significant damage to seabed life.”
You can sign a petition or write to supermarkets.