Crispin Hull

The courtroom drama holds a large place in Anglo-Saxon culture. Other countries do not have anything quite like it. The French have their dramas with crimes of high passion, but there is a presumption that the ends will be tidied up in a matter-of-fact way by the judicial system. In continental Europe, the drama ends before the courtroom door; in Anglo-Saxon countries the drama is set there.

The Anglo-Saxon courtroom provides drama’s most important ingredient _ uncertainty. What will happen? “”How to you find the accused? Guilty or Not Guilty.” “”Do you find for the plaintiff or the defendant?” The dramatic tension comes because the audience knows the case can equally go one way or the other. And whole plot lines have been very easily built around courtroom verdicts because the truth can just as easily be something quite different from the verdict or can coincide with it. There would be no dramatic point if verdicts are routinely right. Anglo-Saxon law, therefore provides plenty of material for both the writer or film-maker of fiction and non-fiction.

All this dramatic material and entertainment would be lost if we were silly enough to change the fundamentals of our law so that it was more predictable and that verdicts coincided with the truth more often. Have no fear, when the Federal Government brings down its response this month (MARCH) to the report of the Access to Justice advisory committee, there is no danger it will do anything to take away this fruitful source of dramatic material. The masterful public-relations con job that the common law has perpetrated on Anglo-Saxon societies for more than 100 years has been far too effective for that. The greater the lie and the more often you repeat it the more likely it is to be believed. Under “”our system” it is better that 10 guilty go free than one innocent person gets convicted.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_lawass”

The first newspaper to go on the Internet in Australia began its venture last week, and it should pose some thought for the major newspapers. The Employment Post is to become the first newspaper to go on to the Internet, according to the newspaper’s founder Kosta Nikas. The paper has already lodged its jobs section _ of about 350 jobs _ on the Net. It will go on every Tuesday and will include a selection of Commonwealth Employment Service jobs that the paper usually carries. Editorial matter will follow in the next few weeks. Access is http://www.world.net/emp-post/ That gives you the home page and you can click through from there or do text searches. The paper version will continue as usual.

Mr Nikas hopes the jobs advertised on the Net would not only be in the science and computing fields. He says Net users would pass on information to family members and friends not on the Net. The nascent service may be a sign of things to come, but at present there are not enough Net users to make it competitive with the major newspapers. There are perhaps as many as 500,000 Internet users in Australia _ about 3 per cent of the population. Many of these would get access through work. About 6 per cent of households have computers with modems in Australia. It is hard to tell how many of those are on Internet. On the other hand, the typical metro Saturday newspaper gets into perhaps two-thirds of households, and presumably all of households where there are serious job-seekers. The access costs for receivers are not really an issue because the cover price of newspapers and the cost of a phone call and connection time to the Net are both very modest. The real question is the cost to advertisers and the effectiveness of the advertisements.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_jobsnet”

The Federal Government’s spending on information technology _ now at $2 billion a year _ needs major changes to improve efficiency and to help Australian industry and exports, according to a report published yesterday.

The report of the Information Technology Review Group found there was no overall summary of IT used by the Government _ so it prepared one. The Government is the largest IT buyer in Australia and 65 per cent of the processing power is in Canberra. The Government owns about 100,000 PCs _ about two for every three public servants. The report found inconsistencies between departments; a lack of business sense and flexibility in purchasing; and a failure to take advantage of economies of scale. It recommended a whole-of-government approach headed by a Chief Information Officer in the Department of Finance advised by a high-level consultative body. It had 32 recommendations, most dealing with co-ordination and developing common approaches by agencies. The recommendations included: Widespread use of single points of access (electronic shops) by clients to various agency services, with appropriate privacy protection. Use of compatible systems on the desktop. It noted, for example, there were 26 e-mail systems in the government. A whole-of-government plan to make best use of new technologies and to make use of pooled demand for databases (with privacy protections). A whole-of-government agreement with unions to cover transfer of staff to the private sector where there are out-sourcing agreements. A review of contract staff _ restricting them to meet specific skill shortages. More cross-agency activity. Shorter processes for tendering by the private-sector for government IT purchases.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_itgovt”

Every Saturday three newspapers get dumped in my driveway. Together they contain at least 10 million words and cost about $4. To download that from the Internet, if it were available, it would take nearly 24 hours and cost _ depending on your provider _ anything up to $500. That is presuming you have $3000 worth of computer gear. Re the information superhighway, perhaps it is time to take a Bex and have a good lie down. The Internet is regarded as the precursor for the information superhighway that is _ we are told _ going to change our lives. There are about 5480 million non-users of the Internet throughout the world and about 17,950,000 non-users in Australia. Some of these may be wondering what the fuss is about, what the Internet is, what they are missing out on, and will it ever affect their lives.

It is a good time to ask such questions because the Federal Government’s Broadband Services Expert Group has just reported and it makes recommendations about how these non-users’ taxes might be spent to make them users either of the Internet or some super-charged version of it. Before looking at the future, let’s ask what is the state of things now? What is the Internet and how does it work. Picture your own computer, or if you don’t have one, picture your own filing cabinet. There are three drawers: private, restricted and public; or three directories: private, restricted and public. Your computer is attached to, say, five or six phone lines; or the handles on your filing cabinet drawers are in the street.

Anyone with the right phone number and computer can dial in or wander past and look inside the public files and take copies of documents (or pictures or sound tapes) within them. They cannot alter any file. Some people have passwords to get into the restricted files. Once again, they cannot alter them. However, they can add a file at any time. Now pictures thousands of these computers or filing cabinets. Some of them are very large. Let’s call them sites. Some of the sites are so large they need someone to look after the files _ chucking away old, useless or offensive files so that the computer or filing cabinet does not overflow.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_internet”

Democracy was spread in small piles on tables throughout the counting room. They were like piles of exam papers at the end of school term. Careers in the hands of the markers. Usually the failed students return to school to repeat, but in this exam things are different. The students who pass, return to school _ the Legislative Assembly _ with joy. At the counting room yesterday exam papers were being sorted into merit order.

Animated election commission staff flicked papers like old-time bank staff counted notes while less animated but more mentally agitated scrutineers attempt to glean how their candidate is doing. Candidates are not allowed in the counting room _ perhaps they will make nuisances of themselves. So their scrutineers _ usually staffers or patient spouses _ with mobile phones relay the news. With the Hare-Clark system there are more permutations than Tattslotto. “”If Evans is excluded before Main and her preferences flow through the third Green and divide, say, 60-40 your way . . . .” The conversation trails away. At the other end of phone a career is in the balance.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_harecolumn”

The ACT Leader of the Opposition, Rosemary Follett, sailed very close to the wind on radio yesterday on naming the person involved in a sexual-harassment case contrary to a court order. Not that it matters much, practically, because half of Canberra knows who it is. Ms Follett said she was disappointed that the Chief Minister, Kate Carnell, had included him in her ministry. That narrows it to three: Tony De Domenico, Gary Humphries and Bill Stefaniak (in alphabetical order). She said NSW Premier John Fahey had done the right thing with the Terry Griffith case last year because he had moved to disendorse him as a Liberal candidate and had said he would not have him in the Ministry until the case had been dealt with. In the ACT, however, the alleged harasser has, according to Ms Follett, been sworn into the Ministry and should not have been. Is there an inconsistency? Not really, the two cases are different. In the NSW case, half a dozen women came forward with complaints about Terry Griffith. Statements he made himself about his personality gave rise to at least an apprehension that his conduct might approach sexual harassment. In the ACT case, there was only one complainant. Moreover, the timing of the complaint was consistent with a political motive.

It was made immediately before an election and without enough time for the appropriate commission to deal with it _ even though the conduct giving rise to the complaint occurred some time before. If the harasser were to be stood aside pending the case, he would have lost his political career because of the supervening election. Now, it may be this timing has an explanation. None the less, under the Follett view anyone accused of sexual harassment should stand aside until the case is heard. If that happens just before an election, it means the ruin of a career. It means also that anyone wanting to stir up political strife can put up a case of harassment on the flimsiest, or no, evidence. This would become more prevalent if it was normal procedure for those accused to be stood down.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_harass”

Used computers are becoming as big a waste menace as used cars. Cars make be bigger so take more space in landfill sites, but they take about 15 years to get to the scrapheap. Computers take only two years. In the US they are getting to be an equivalent weight. Peter Harris, president of the Society of Computers and the Law Inc, is going to do something about it. Earlier this month he announced the beginning of the society’s greening technology project. Harris said there were many organisations and needy individuals who would be happy with the sort of technology being throw out. The could upgrade from nothing to something. And the stuff being thrown out was in its day cutting edge.

“”Many organisations are upgrading their old 386 or 484 computers to Pentiums or their old 68030 and 68040 Macintosh computers to new PowerMac computers,” he said. Russell Tibballs the vice-president of the society said, “”We take the old computers from anyone in the ACT or surrounding areas and pick them up for free. We match the parts, add useful software and test thoroughly. Software provided is either licensed software or freeware public domain software. For example, people disposing of equipment may be changing from say Microsoft Word version 2 to WordPerfect 6.2 or from WordPerfect 4.1 to Microsoft Word 6. In some cases they may be left with surplus licensed software.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_greencom”

It’s the environment, stupid. That must be at least part of the message of yesterday’s Canberra by-election as the Greens Party took 13 per cent of the vote _ the highest Green vote in mainland Australian voting.

It must put Federal Labor in a quandary. If it goes for the economy, stupid, in order to win back the middle ground, it can only further alienate the well-organised Greens Party. It is will not be enough to say that Canberra is somehow different from the rest of Australia _ full of armchair greenies and socialists who work for the Government, because yesterday’s vote showed otherwise _ that a largely public-sector town is capable of turning its back on Labor. True, the Democrats did not field a candidate to split the conservation vote, none the less, the Green vote was impressive. It was up from around 8 and a half per cent in last month’s Assembly election. The Greens candidate, James Warden, said the result was a “”timely and powerful message to Labor supporters”. “”Labor supporters must now tell their party that it must now change tack on its social, economic and environmental policies,” Dr Warden said. Even with a lack-lustre Liberal candidate and a Labor candidate with pro-conservation stand, voters wanted to send a message to the Prime Minister Paul Keating, he said. That message was one of disapproval of its forests policy and environmental policies in general, as well as a message against its economic rationalist approach. Voters had worked out that a pro-conservation Sue Robinson would make no difference on her own.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_green”

Sexual harassment should be treated in a more measured way, according to feminist author Helen Garner. Ms Garner said yesterday that sexual urges could never be legislated out of life, but “”some terrible things could be done in the name of trying”. Ms Garner was speaking after the launch of her new book “”First Stone” which describes the treatment of the former Master of Ormond College, Melbourne University, who was acquitted of sexual assault and later accused of sexual harassment by two students in the early 1990s. Ms Garner’s book said that the punishment given to “”Dr Colin Shepherd” (even if he did it) was grossly out of proportion to the offences _ touching a breast while on a dance floor and saying to another student that she was beautiful and that he had often had indecent thoughts about her and asking to kiss her. His career was ruined. Ms Garner’s book has caused ire from younger and university-based feminists. Ms Garner criticised the refusal by younger feminists to acknowledge gradations; it was thought of as “”ratting on feminism”, but she was not up with the latest feminist theories.

She said theoretical, university feminists did not like a practical person like her on their turf. Older feminists supported her. She quoted one as saying: “”Look, if every bastard who’s ever laid a hand on us were dragged into court, the judicial system of the state would be clogged for years.” Ms Garner said yesterday: “”People are anxious about the way sexual harassment is being treated.” It needed to be treated in a more measured way, without aggressive desires for excessive retribution for minor gropes or unpleasant approaches. “”There is a possibility for sex harassment legislation and structures where everyone can be decently treated, and I hope that is not a naive hope,” she said.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_garner”

Jeff Kennett is on a predatory, competitive prowl _ again. This time he is competing with the ACT to get the Australian headquarters of the French-based company Thomson CSF, which is at present in Canberra. Thomson chose Canberra because it was close to the Civil Aviation Authority, the government organisation it has most dealings with. Kennett wants to tip the balance by giving Thomson a range of incentives, which really amount to freebies, to move to Melbourne. They include lower payroll and land tax and help with infrastructure and training. It is parochialism at its worse.

It may be good for Victoria vis a vis the other states and territories, but it is not good for Australia. The money resulting from Jeff’s freebies will end up in France. Well done, Jeff. It takes competition too far. Competition can result in great efficiencies and it usually results in cheaper, better service for consumers. Now, if those consumers are foreign-owned companies, squeezing the best deal out of state governments, it is hardly of any benefit to Australia and ultimately is self-defeating. This is not being xenophobic. Foreign companies like Thomson provide employment for Australians and improve our standard of living with investment. However, Jeff’s carrot means that a company might relocate, causing disruption to the lives of Canberra-resident Australians currently employed by Thomson or Canberra-resident Australians who have contracts with it. This is done so that the Victorian economy might grow a little. The overall Australian economy loses, however, because the extra profit generated by the tax breaks goes to France.
Continue reading “1995_03_march_forum24”