What Australia's newspapers say on Wednesday, December 27, 2006

AAP General News (Australia)
12-27-2006
What Australia's newspapers say on Wednesday, December 27, 2006

SYDNEY, December 27 AAP - It's well past time to have mercy on David Hicks, says today's
editorial in the Australian Financial Review.

If Christmas is a time for reflection, says the Review, one of the things Howard government
ministers should reflect on during their break is whether they should change course and
extend some seasonal goodwill and mercy to Hicks.

The Adelaide man has been held at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba since
December 2001.

The Financial Review says that whatever the actions of Hicks, who apparently was detained
with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, he has already effectively served a lengthy sentence
without claims against him having been tested.

His access to legal advice is restricted; even a psychiatrist has been denied him and
the accusations are for crimes of association.

The Fin Review says our closest Western compatriot, the United Kingdom - itself more
directly committed to the battlefield in Iraq - believed the reasonable time for detention
expired two years ago and required its citizens be released to face justice within its
own legal system.

However, says the paper, the Australian government appears stubbornly acquiescent in
renewed US administration attempts to create a military commission to try detainees that
complies with its own constitution.

The Financial Review says it doesn't mean Hicks hasn't been foolish, dangerous or guilty
of acts that resulted in harm to others.

But our system of justice requires that evidence be brought forward in a public hearing
in a recognised court in which prosecution claims can be tested within a reasonable period
and a jury can convict or acquit.



Meanwhile, The Australian newspaper's main editorial asserts that NSW Labor is set
for victory by default in the March state election.

The paper says the latest Newspoll results on voting intentions provide a sobering
measure of the size of the task ahead of the Opposition in the run-up to the poll.

"For Labor Premier Morris Iemma the results must refresh his belief in Santa Clause
and pose the intriguing question: - just how bad must a government be to blow the benefits
of incumbency? the paper asks.

Against the template of recent elections in Queensland and Victoria, the Newspoll results
suggest the NSW Government can expect to cruise home to a comfortable victory in March,
says The Australian.

"Months of scandal and ministerial resignations, culminating in drugs and under-age
sex charges against Aboriginal services minister Milton Orkopoulos, have not been enough
to cut deeply into the Iemma Government's popularity," says The Australian.

"Nor has the poor comparative economic performance of NSW against the other states,
the Bob Carr legacy of neglected state infrastructure and rundown government services,
or the argument that state Labor is fatigued after 11 years in office."

The Australian says the poll results are a terrible indictment on the competence and
performance of the state Opposition.



Under the headline "Planning with a shoval, the Sydney Morning Herald's main editorial
says Sydney's suburbs are changing, as, indeed, they must.

But the way they are being changed leaves much to be desired.

The Herald says that according to the Metropolitan Strategy released a year ago, Sydney
will grow by 1.1 million people by 2031 and will need an extra 640,000 dwellings to house
them all.

Sydney councils are starting to feel the planning squeeze, says the paper, as the State
Government forces them to increase population densities over the next two-and-a-half decades.

"Fundamentally this is the right strategy - Sydney must become a denser city lest it
turn into a wasteful, car-dominated environmental disaster," says the Herald.

"But any increase in density must be planned intelligently, so a more highly concentrated
population does not reduce residents' standards of living.

"The present planning approach, particularly for transport, raises doubts about whether
this will be achieved."



A Sydney Daily Telegraph editorial comments on how interstate people moving to Sydney
are dumbfounded at the city's high cost of living.

Rent, insurance, rates and basically every aspect of life in Sydney are substantially
above levels in other state capitals.

And now migrants from overseas, attracted to Sydney as a first option for their new
lives in Australia, are also realising just how prohibitive is the cost of living.

This year, NSW attracted just a third of the nation's immigrants. A decade ago, that
figure was closer to half.

The Telegraph says it is impossible to ignore high - and rising - costs as an underlying
cause. According to an international study, sydney is now the 16th most expensive city
to live in - up from 25th a year earlier.



Brisbane's Courier Mail says the year is ending with a great deal of turmoil in the
world, while closer to home, Australia has faced challenges in East Timor, Papua New Guinea,
the Solomons and Fiji.

The paper says that along with our commitment to the war on terror, the demanding role
of regional policeman is stretching Australia's military ... and has prompted the Howard
Government to pledge further resources and manpower for the armed forces.

Australia's place in the broader region is good, says Courier.

"We boast sound relations with Indonesia in particular and South East Asia generally.

We are well placed to benefit from the emerging economies of India and China - and have
a key role to play balancing strategic and commercial interests in the latter, especially
as they affect relations with the US.

There is a regional and international effort to curb the nuclear ambitions in North
Korea; and, although the pre-Christmas six-nation talks in Beijing were wordy but insubstantial,
while there is contact there is a chance of progress.

With so many flashpoints around the globe, we can only hope for resolve, common sense
and, when needed, patience.



Meanwhile, Melbourne's Herald Sun says Shane Warne's 700th wicket during the 100th
MCG Test is yet another golden moment in the stadium's history.

"More than just a sporting venue, the G has become the heart and soul of Melbourne
and a place that links generations of Victorians.

"For anyone wondering about the appeal of the MCG, yesterday's Boxing Day Test opening
would have provided all the answers.

"Even on a soggy day, almost 90,000 people made the pilgrimage to Jolimont, creating
a unique atmosphere.

"The many millions of dollars spend on (the) redevelopment has been a sound investment,
as the MCG maintains its preeminence among the world's great sporting venues."



The Age newspaper focuses on Iraq where it says the bones of the dead are piling high,
describing the country as the "charnel house, horribilis".

"Each month 3000 Iraqis are murdered, often kidnapped and tortured, often blown up
by suicide bombs; each month 100 US soldiers die. From the "shock and awe" of the coalition
of the willing's invasion in March 2003 to civil war in 2006."

It was an invasion built on lies of weapons of mass destruction and a false link between
September 11 and al-Qaeda, and the body count is mounting.

"In Australia, Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer have
stoutly defended the government's position to follow the US to Iraq and to remain there.

Yet a growing chorus of disapproval and censure to this position is making itself heard."

While a sudden withdrawal is not the answer to stabilising the country, greater emphasis
is needed on training Iraqis to quash the sectarian violence. Dialogue needs to be opened
with Iraq's neighbours such as Syria and Iran to find an approach to lasting peace.

AAP it/

KEYWORD: EDITORIALS

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