Crispin Hull

Men are worse off than women in several health and other aspects of life, an Australian Bureau of Statistics book on women inadvertently reveals.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics book Women in Australia published last week pointed to widespread economic and social disadvantage for women. In doing so, however, it showed (an admittedly much narrower) range of areas where men are worse off.

More women own their home outright than men and in some areas of health men are worse off than women.
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The ACT Government agreed yesterday to an inquiry into what was described in the Legislative Assembly as a development with “”a smell” involving departmental and developer “”mates”.

The allegations about a proposed development in Torrens Street, Braddon, by Bobundra Pty Ltd and the ACT Housing Trust were put by Independent MLA Michael Moore. The Minister for Environment, Land and Planning, Bill Wood, said there had to be an inquiry to give an opportunity to those individuals named by Mr Moore to clear their names.

Mr Wood said he did not want to pre-empt the inquiry, but he was confident it would show the integrity of the system.
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The Canberra Conservation Council expressed “”grave disquiet” yesterday at the terms of the inquiry into a North Canberra development announced on Tuesday.

The president of the council, Jacqueline Rees, said the inquiry time of less than four weeks was far too short, given that no-one had yet been named to do it, and its terms of reference too imprecise.

The council was concerned about the sloppiness in attitude to meeting the Better Cities criteria with the development.
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The Prime Minister, Paul Keating, came face to face with indigenous people in New Zealand _ literally. It was part of the traditional Maori greeting.

He is also coming face to face with the question of native land title in Australia. While in New Zealand at the weekend he said legislation would underpin the Mabo decision, but in co-operation with the states.

Co-operation with the states is not only the courteous thing to do; it is in fact essential. Legally and constitutionally, the Commonwealth cannot act alone in dealing with Mabo, at least not satisfactorily.
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The Australian Government should go as far as possible in meeting sweeping Aboriginal demands over Mabo because it will only face litigation if it does not, according to departmental advice.

The departmental advice for ministers on the Government’s Mabo committee was obtained by The Canberra Times yesterday. It comes after Aboriginal groups met the Prime Minister, Paul Keating, on Tuesday and presented a list of demands. They were not made public at the time.

The demands include a veto over any new grants (by sale or lease) of Crown land in Australia and recognition in the Constitution of Aboriginal prior ownership.
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THE new Territory Plan brought presented to the ACT Legislative Assembly is a commendable piece of work. It is not only a sound basis for future development of the non-national parts of the territory but it also a significant milestone in the maturing process of self-government.

Self-government has been roundly derided in the past four years and the derision has been supplied with ample ammunition. That ammunition has ranged from the ludicrous electoral process and the Sun-Ripened Warm Tomato party to the Speaker being bitten by a monkey in Thailand. After this week’s plan, that nonsense can surely be put behind us.

The plan was the product of a committee comprising Labor’s David Lamont (chair) and Annette Ellis, Liberals Trevor Kaine (deputy chair) and Tony de Domenico and Independent Helen Szuty. Politically differences (internal and external) were obviously put aside to come up with a plan for Canberra.
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THE Federal Attorney-General, Michael Lavarch, appears to be a brave man. The Malaysian prince and chauvinist judges aside, he has now called for uniform national defamation laws. Good luck.

Defamation law reform is like the road to hell: paved with good intentions. An Australian Law Reform Commission attempt faltered in the mid-1980s. In 1990 an eastern-states attempt begun by the Queensland Attorney-General, Dean Wells and the then NSW Attorney-General, John Dowd, has faltered.

Mr Lavach’s call makes sense. He said all the obvious things that people have being saying for two decades without anything being done. The absence of a uniform law made it “”very difficult” for the media, he said. Australia had a national media and should have national laws. It was strange that a statement could results in a damages payout in one state and be allowed in another.
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THE issues paper published this week by the Republic Advisory Committee makes two things plain. The first is that any change to a republic cannot be achieved merely by crossing out the words “”Queen” and “”Governor-General” and inserting “”President”. It is more complex than that. The second is that given that it is a complex matter, the Federal Opposition better stop its internal bickering and get involved in the process.

The issues paper is a clearly written statement of the minimalist dilemma. At present the Governor-General is, in effect, appointed and dismissible by the Prime Minister. The Governor-General has wide stated powers: to appoint and dismiss ministers, including the Prime Minister and to dissolve the House of Representatives an call elections. But those powers are exercised according to unstated conventions. Moreover, if the Governor-General looks like over-stepping the mark, he or she can be dismissed by the Prime Minister. If you have a President selected and approved by some other method (such as by Parliament or directly by the people) and dismissible only by some other method (such as Parliamentary vote), then the powers of the President are exercised from a higher platform than the Governor-General. If, in the pursuit of minimalism, the powers of the Head of State are left as is, then by default the President would get very wide powers indeed, and have a firmer base upon which to exercise them. That firmer base would be the mandate obtained by whatever the head of state’s election process is and by the security of tenure obtained from the more onerous process of the head of state’s dimissal.
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Claims and insurance premiums for lawyers’ professional negligence are rising sharply, according to figures published yesterday.

One of the main reasons appears to be financially tough times causing people to seek a scapegoat and more lawyers advising people to sue other lawyers.

Often solicitors are being sued after financial institutions seek to sell up a house. People say the witnessing solicitor did not explain the documents. Women, particularly, are saying that at the time mortgage documents were signed, “”the solicitor spoke only to my husband, virtually ignoring me”.
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