What the papers say today: Thursday, February 17, 2000.

AAP General News (Australia)
02-17-2000
What the papers say today: Thursday, February 17, 2000.

SYDNEY, Feb 17 AAP - Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid is far craftier than appearances
would suggest and he is the best hope to bring stability to the country The Canberra Times
said today.

It said his final about-face when he dismissed former military chief and cabinet minister
General Wiranto was a part of a subtle drama and not merely erraticism.

The paper said the Indonesian people and Australia will have to give the president
benefit of the doubt of his ability as he remains the best hope of brining genuine financial
and social stability to the country.

"Most heartingly, the signs are that President Wahid has managed to attract the tolerance
of the Indonesian military, at least for the time being," it said.

The federal government can and should overturn mandatory sentencing laws in the Northern
Territory and should look at doing the same in Western Australia said The Sydney Morning
Herald today.

It said even though Attorney-General, Mr Williams had urged the two states to revise
their laws this will not be enough.

The papers said WA and NT's right to make these laws was important but not enough to
close off the grave questions of such draconian rules.

"The question needs to be asked why, for example, South Australia and Queensland, both
with significant Aboriginal populations, including remote area communities, do not find
it necessary to resort to the blunt instrument of mandatory sentencing," it said.

The OIC are right in landing the responsibility of Sydney's Olympic image problems
with the SOCOG and telling them they must work hard to overcome their troubled image
The Australian said today.

It said International Olympic Committee Vice-President, Dick Pound, said SOCOG had
to shake their siege mentality.

"Just over 200 days remains until the opening of the Olympics. Of course we wish to
display our nation to advantage and celebrate the talents of our athletes."

"But SOCOG is wrong if it assumes that the desire to keep up appearances is sufficient
to prevent the public and media from demanding answers when things go wrong it," said
the paper.

It's a fine thing that State Premier Bob Carr is concerned about the problem with medium-density
housing in the state's large cities said The Daily Telegraph today.

It said Mr Carr complained our streetscapes compare most poorly with the pleasant vistas
achieved in some European cities such as Paris and Zurich.

"It's a fine thing that Mr Carr is concerned about this issue, as are many other Sydneysiders.

Yet critics might accuse him and his government of having been complicit in creating the
problem of urban eyesores in the first place."

"In short, it is now up to Mr Carr and his planning department to fix the problem,"

said the paper.

Thanks to a botched attempt by the NSW Law Society, it looks as if the system for disciplining
lawyers in that state is about to undergo some long-overdue spring cleaning said The Australian
Financial review today.

It said the NSW attorney-general is about to establish an independent inquiry by the
NSW Law Reform Commission that will probably result in some significant changes to the
NSW Legal Profession Act.

It said the latest figures on complaint-handling from the Law Society show that the
society's one-year clean-up rate for complaints is going backwards.

"This is a shocking performance. But it would be unfair to hold the Law Society entirely
responsible.

"The law that is administered by the society is also partly to blame," said the paper.

The Howard Government's refusal to exempt tampons from the GST is logical but also
means it is shooting itself in the foot, the Adelaide Advertiser said.

"There is no logical argument for an exemption on tampons which could not be applied
to, say, cosmetics and razor blades. Where do you draw the line?" it said.

But it said politics is about more than logic and rationally sound policy.

"Prime Minister John Howard and his colleagues are ... breeding resentment in the manner
of a medical researcher with a Petri dish, the kind of resentment which can sway that
simple stroke of pen or pencil at the ballot box.

"The Government is in enough trouble as it is without, as it were, looking at its foot,
taking aim and pressing the trigger," said the paper.

Queensland State Liberal Leader David Watson's sacking of Bruce Davidson from his front
bench for disloyalty did not answer the problems Davidson raised nor the more important
questions he did not mention The Courier-Mail said today.

The editorial said disciplining Mr Davidson was no great victory for Dr Watson, who
remains leader of the Liberal Party for the time being.

"Striking down minor rebellions is one thing. Unfortunately, DR Watson has yet to display
any leadership," the paper said.

It is small wonder building industry disputes are so hard to settle in Victoria, given
the reaction of both the unions and employers to an attack on a union official, the Herald
Sun said.

"Both sides levelled unsubstantiated accusations against each other within hours of
the attack on Colin Reddy by a masked man with a baseball bat," it said.

It is a depressing measure of the deplorable state of relations in the key industry.

The editorial said Premier Steve Bracks sensibly cautioned both parties that they should
not assume the attack was related to the current dispute.

CFMEU secretary Martin Kingham reacted in the worst possible way to an attack on a
CFMEU shop steward by blaming the Master Builders Association of Victoria, The Age said.

There is a history of violence and intimidation in the building industry from which
neither employers nor unions have been immune.

"That history, however, merely means people might believe scurrilous suggestions; it
does not make the suggestions any less scurrilous," said the paper.

Building workers and employers have signalled their intention to use strikes and lockouts
in the dispute.

"The atmosphere is inflammatory enough, and does not need to be made worse by the invasion
of offices and the breaking up of meetings," it said.

AAP bdn

KEYWORD: EDITORIALS

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.