JUNE 2005
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Wednesday, 29th June,2005
DOUGLAS WOOD FOLLOW UP INTERVIEW
In his television interview and press conference in the last few days, Douglas Wood spoke of his two Iraqi colleagues - Fares *** and Adel *** - who were killed, presumably, because of their association with Wood. While his rescue was being understandably celebrated, we've heard practically nothing from or about the families of the two dead Iraqis. We've contacted both families in Baghdad to try and get their side of the story. And yesterday, with the help of SBS translator Dalia Matar, George Negus spoke to Haider, the 28-year-old son of Faris, Douglas Wood's assistant and friend.
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Wednesday, 29th June,2005
AMERICA'S ARMY
With public support for the war in Iraq plummeting of late, President George Bush today pleaded with the country and his military forces to "stay the course" in Iraq and Afghanistan. But with US casualties rising daily, the task of persuading Americans to sign up is becoming increasingly difficult. For the fourth month in a row, the army has fallen well short of its recruitment targets. The result is that they're turning to some pretty unconventional methods to persuade young Americans to do it for Uncle Sam.
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Wednesday, 29th June,2005
ROB STARY INTERVIEW
Following raids on homes in both Sydney and Melbourne last week and again this week, a serious political debate has taken off in this country about the extraordinary powers currently held by the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation in the so-called fight against terrorism.
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As we speak, ASIO's legislative powers are under review. The Howard Government has already indicated it wants to scrap the sunset clause in the act and retain the sweeping powers given to ASIO in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the US back in 2001. As the debate hots up, on the heels of leaked newspaper stories about the two-city raids, former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has warned that Australia could be losing its democratic values. Other critics have gone even further, describing ASIO's powers as the beginning of an era of totalitarianism.
In response, Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has consistently refused, as he puts it, to either confirm or deny details of the raids. He points out that no charges have been laid, despite leaks about specific terrorist targets. So what is all the fuss? Are the ASIO powers justified or is it a case of the cure being more dangerous than the disease? Earlier this evening, George Negus talked from Datelines Melbourne studio with lawyer Rob Stary, who represents people targeted in the recent raids. -
Wednesday, 29th June,2005
BACK TO VIETNAM
Australian veterans are returning to Vietnam for the first time, 30 years after the end of the war. For many of them, the decades since have failed to erase the trauma and the feelings of guilt over the death and destruction they caused. For some, over the years, things have actually become worse. Dateline's renowned cinematographer, David Brill, travelled back to Vietnam with the vets. David filmed much of the war and still carries the odd bit of psychological scar tissue himself.
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Wednesday, 22nd June,2005
FIJI DESECRATION
Back in the year 2000 when that Speight-led coup ousted the then-Fijian PM, Mahendra Chaudhry, once again that island nation was divided along racial and religious lines. Most Indo-Fijians are Muslim or Hindu while their Polynesian compatriots are Christians. Since the coup, attacks against Fiji's many places of worship have become almost commonplace, most of them against Hindu temples, but also mosques and churches as well. With national elections due next year, that desecration rate is increasing, amid concern that unscrupulous Fijian politicians- surprise, surprise - might be tempted to stir up religious animosity to achieve their political ambitions. Chris Hammer reports.
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Wednesday, 22nd June,2005
SHEIKH TAJ EL-DIN AL-HILALY INTERVIEW
Dateline has decided to postpone tonight's announced profile of Thai Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra, to bring you a one on one interview with Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilaly. Until now, the role of the Sydney-based Sheikh in the effort to secure the safe release of hostage Douglas Wood has been - to say the least - confusing, even obscure. Opinion on the part the Sheikh played ranges wildly, from crucial to irrelevant.
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Douglas Wood himself says he has never heard of him. That said, the Federal Government has praised what they called his tremendous efforts. Nick Warner, the Head of Australia's Emergency Response team in Baghdad says the 64-year-old Sheikh displayed "extraordinary courage" walking the streets of the dangerous Red Zone in the violence-ridden Iraqi capital for two weeks trying to contact Douglas Wood's captors.
So what is the Sheikh's version of events? What role does he claim to have played? When he agreed to be interviewed at his suburban home in south-western Sydney, the Dateline crew and George Negus had no idea of the "post-Douglas Wood release" drama that would unfold before our cameras. -
Wednesday, 22nd June,2005
SLEDGEHAMMER POLITICS
In George Orwell's classic novel '1984', a central theme was the absolute control of information through the Ministry of Truth - a misnomer, if ever there was one. In a contemporary reality twist, control of information has become an integral part of the response of Western Governments to the so-called war on terror. They've all introduced laws that not only restrict long-cherished civil liberties, but also impose sanctions against reporting issues deemed to threaten national security.
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In this country, for instance, the ASIO Act brandishes a 5-year jail term and doesn't even need to be formally invoked to be effective. Does this mean that the mere threat of a jail term could be enough to suppress debate on national security issues even when the issue appears to have more to do with Government embarrassment than any real threat to the nation? Thom Cookes reports on one particular disturbing case. -
Wednesday, 15th June,2005
THE REAL PACIFIC SOLUTION
At first glance, it looks like the proverbial "no brainer". Right now, this country is experiencing a serious shortage of unskilled labour. At the same time, next door - as it were - in the Pacific, island nations are floundering as they battle to contend with critically high unemployment, with many islanders desperate for work. A simple solution - proposed by Australian farmers and development agencies and supported by Pacific leaders - is to allow islanders into this country as so-called guest workers - a double bonus that would assist both this country and our Pacific neighbours. If only it was that simple. Here's Dateline's Chris Hammer.
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Wednesday, 15th June,2005
GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF INTERVIEW - 2
Today in Canberra, Prime Minister John Howard co-signed a Memorandum of Understanding on counter-terrorism with the President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf. On last Wednesday's Dateline, the first of what has turned into a two-part interview, was held with the General. Tonight, President Musharraf makes some pretty frank comments about Pakistan's nuclear capability, and is adamant he's a protector of democracy, not a military dictator.
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Wednesday, 15th June,2005
RICARDO SEMLER - BRAZIL'S CARING CAPITALIST
With John Howard proposing radical changes to this country's industrial relations system - a look at a very different system with a very different boss on the other side of the world. In Brazil, on the factory floor and in the office, workers at the SEMCO manufacturing and services conglomerate pretty much call their own shots. Some might call it Anarchic Socialism, maybe others, cutting-edge capitalism - whatever, it's certainly paying financial dividends. Indeed, it's so successful that it's unorthodox "worker participation" approach is being extended to other fields as well. Well you might ask is there anything this bold Brazilian experiment could teach us here in Australia? Imagine if you will, students sacking their teachers! SBS economics correspondent Peter Martin starts his report in exotic Rio.
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Wednesday, 15th June,2005
KEYSAR TRAD INTERVIEW
This evening's late-breaking news that Australian Douglas Wood is alive, safe, hopefully well, and now free in Iraq, after his kidnapping back in May by unknown captors. Joining us in the studio is a spokesman for the Sydney Muslim leader, Sheik al-Hilaly, who earlier had been negotiating Mr Wood's release, Keysar Trad.
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Wednesday, 8th June,2005
THE OBJECTOR
Two years after invading Iraq the US is witnessing declining support for the war at home, including outright opposition from a most unlikely source - its own military ranks. Here's Sophie McNeill.
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Wednesday, 8th June,2005
MOHMED ABBASS - A MISSING AUSTRALIAN
More than six years ago an Australian disappeared at Cairo airport, leaving his wife and young family desperate and destitute. The Australian Government insists they don't know where he is, but two eyewitnesses claim they saw the Australian in an Egyptian prison. Bronwyn Adcock takes up the mystery of this missing Australian.
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Wednesday, 8th June,2005
GENERAL PERVEZ MUSHARRAF INTERVIEW
The President of a teeming Islamic nation of 160-million people, notable these days as a hotbed of sectarian violence, Muslim extremism and as a nursery for international terrorism. George Negus spoke with General Musharraf, the Pakistani head of state, at Army House in Rawalpindi, where, as the country's military chief, the General still resides.
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Wednesday, 1st June,2005
HASSAN JANABI INTERVIEW
Daily, it seems, the deadly war being waged in Iraq by insurgents is directed not only at foreigners, but also the locals, including many trying to rebuild the country's vital services. In many cases, this new infrastructure is being sabotaged as quickly as it's restored. Interestingly, Hassan Janabi - an Iraqi Australian - is at the centre of this crisis.
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Two years ago, Hassan, a water engineer from Sydney, returned to his homeland after 25 years in exile to take on a senior role in rebuilding Iraq's water system. As Hassan began his work, juggling the perils of the job itself, the demands of his American bosses and the needs of the Iraqi people, this program documented his personal mission impossible. Hassan is back home in Australia for a brief respite from all this, and earlier this evening, George Negus chatted with him about his life and work in a country under siege. -
Wednesday, 1st June,2005
INSIDE INDONESIA'S SEX TRADE
With many Australians still reeling from the sentencing of Schapelle Corby, today the Foreign Minister Alexander Downer linked the public anger over the young Australian's conviction to the discovery of a biological agent sent to the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra.
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As shocked as we might be by these things, there are thousands of young women in Indonesia who are being forced to endure appalling treatment, but without attracting the outrage generated by the Corby case. Occasionally, we do get to hear about the scourge that is human trafficking and sexual slavery. But, seldom do we actually get to see inside that nasty world.
Recently, however, Dateline reporter Olivia Rousset did just that. She went undercover in the brothels on the Indonesian island of Batam. What Olivia came back with was a rare and confronting expose of young teenage girls - children, in fact - lured into a life of prostitution. A warning - Olivia's story does include some pretty distressing scenes, and the frank treatment of sexual matters.
Pt 1:
To help 'Lina' and 'Diana', or other children who have been rescued from brothels in Batam, contact:
[mpraibatam@hotmail.com">PRAI (Friends of the Children of Indonesia)m]
To donate money to organisations who work with trafficked women and children in Indonesia, contact:
ECPAT/Childwise
humantrafficking.org
UNIFEMsingapore
