So this is what all those police helicopters were doing overhead today. 🙁
Melbourne’s CBD is in lockdown after a gunman killed one person and wounded two more in a rush-hour shooting this morning. The shooting happened at about 8:20am on the corner of Flinders Lane and Williams Street. Witnesses said the shooter opened fire at almost point-blank range after two men tried to stop him from dragging a woman into a taxi.
linux.conf.au 2008 Call For Presentations
linux.conf.au isn’t just a Linux conference. It is a technical conference about Free Software, held annually in Australasia. We invite submissions on any Free Software related subject; from Linux and the BSDs to OpenOffice.org, from networking to audio-visual magic, from deep hacks to Creative Commons.
** Please feel free to forward this email to any group **
** or individual who you feel might be interested. **
Important dates
Presentations being accepted
You can submit a 50 minute talk proposal, or a 2 or 4 hour tutorial proposal: tutorials are interactive and involve more audience participation. All presentations must be related to Free and Open Source Software.
How to submit
Please see http://linux.conf.au/presentations for more information on the types of presentations we’re looking for and full details of how to submit a proposal. You can even submit a video pitch!
About linux.conf.au
linux.conf.au (http://linux.conf.au/) is Australia’s annual technical conference about Free Software. Fun, informal and seriously technical, linux.conf.au draws together Free and Open Source Software developers from across the world. It will be held from January 28th to February 2nd, 2008 at The University of Melbourne.
About Linux Australia
Linux Australia (http://www.linux.org.au/) is the peak body for Linux User Groups (LUGs) around Australia, and as such represents approximately 5000 Australian Linux users and developers. Linux Australia facilitates the organisation of this international Free Software conference in a different Australasian city each year.
So now you can’t criticise bad, expensive food and service ?
The Court of Appeal agreed, finding that it was defamatory to say the food was unpalatable and the service bad.
It appears that only Justice Kirby had any common sense, saying that the jury was far more likely to know what the community standards were than the judges, saying:
Astonishing as it may seem, judges may occasionally lack a sense of irony or humour
Or even common sense, in this case..
From the decision, handed down on June 3rd 1995.
The common law of this country would perpetuate injustice if it were to continue to embrace the enlarged notion of terra nullius and to persist in characterizing the indigenous inhabitants of the Australian colonies as people too low in the scale of social organization to be acknowledged as possessing rights and interests in land. Moreover, to reject the theory that the Crown acquired absolute beneficial ownership of land is to bring the law into conformity with Australian history.
The dispossession of the indigenous inhabitants of Australia was not worked by a transfer of beneficial ownership when sovereignty was acquired by the Crown, but by the recurrent exercise of a paramount power to exclude the indigenous inhabitants from their traditional lands as colonial settlement expanded and land was granted to the colonists. Dispossession is attributable not to a failure of native title to survive the acquisition of sovereignty, but to its subsequent extinction by a paramount power.
There is a summary of the (very long) decision at Wikipedia and a news report on the anniversary at the ABC.
An ABC news report called “Climate report: record temperatures, not enough rain” says that:
The warmest May on record in the eastern states of the country will be the subject of a special climate statement to be released by the Bureau of Meteorology on Monday.
The eastern states of Australia have had temperatures about 2-3C above normal for the start of the year, and the Bureau of Meteorology’s head of climate analysis (Dr David Jones) said:
“If you look at Victoria, for example, there has been almost no frost despite the fact here we are at the start of winter,” he said. “That’s really almost an unheard of phenomena.”
Whilst we have had some rain recently the fact that the ground is so dry just means it’s getting sucked straight in without making it to rivers, or reservoirs..
There are two significant anniversaries in the equal rights battle for the indigenous peoples of Australia this weekend.
For those outside of Australia this may be a difficult fact to comprehend, but today, Sunday 27th May, is the 40th anniversary of the 1967 national referendum to remove the two sections of the Australian Consitution that discriminated against Indigenous Australians.
Saturday, 26th May, was the 10th anniversary of the release of “Bringing them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families” which dealt with the forced removal of indigenous children from their parents from the first days of colonisation through to the present day.
On the 9th July 1900 the UK Parliament passed the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Wikipedia page) which removed the power of the Federal Parliament to legislate on behalf of the indigenous peoples, saying that the Parliament could pass laws for:
The people of any race, other than the Aboriginal race in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws
It also prohibited the indigenous peoples from being counted in any census, Section 127 “Aborigines not to be counted in reckoning population” saying:
In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted.
Then, on June 12th 1902, the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 (PDF of original) removed the right of all coloured people (except Maoris) to vote, in a section bluntly called “Disqualification of coloured races”, saying:
No aboriginal native of Australia, Asia, Africa or the Islands of the Pacific except New Zealand shall be entitled to have his name placed on an Electoral Roll unless so entitled under section forty-one of the Constitution.
There is a common perception that the 1967 referendum permitted Indigenous Peoples to vote, but that is not the case as the earlier Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 had already extended voluntary enrollment and voting rights to all Aboriginals (a 1949 act included indigenous people who were enrolled at the State level, basically covering SA, VIC and NSW), but it was not made compulsory (as it had been for other Australians since 1924) until 1984. The Australasian Legal Information Institute has a timeline detailing “Legal Developments Affecting Indigenous People” in beta at the moment.
Sadly, this is bittersweet anniversary as the average life expectancy for an indigenous person is still around 17 years less than a settler, according to a recent WHO report. As the primary author on the section for Australia, Dr Lisa Jackson Pulver, told the ABC:
For example, Indigenous babies born today can expect to live only as long as people in Australia 100 years ago.
Australia is now officially the worst wealthy country in the world for Indigenous health. It is a shameful record.
In 1995 the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was written into Australian Law, and section 268.76 of the Australian Criminal Code 1995 defines “War crime – denying a fair trial“, where:
(1) A person (the perpetrator) commits an offence if: (a) the perpetrator deprives one or more persons of a fair and regular trial by denying to the person any of the judicial guarantees referred to in paragraph (b); and (b) the judicial guarantees are those defined in articles 84, 99 and 105 of the Third Geneva Convention and articles 66 and 71 of the Fourth Geneva Convention; and (c) the person or persons are protected under one or more of the Geneva Conventions or under Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions; and (d) the perpetrator knows of, or is reckless as to, the factual circumstances that establish that the person or persons are so protected; and (e) the perpetrator’s conduct takes place in the context of, and is associated with, an international armed conflict.
The penalty for such a war crime is 10 years imprisonment.
In November 2006 a panel of lawyers (( The accompanying press release says “The Opinion has been signed by The Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC (Former Judge Advocate General of the ADF, Honorary Professorial Fellow, Department of Criminology, University of Melbourne); Peter Vickery QC (Special Rapporteur, International Commission of Jurists, Victoria); Professor Hilary Charlesworth (Professor of International Law and Human Rights, ANU); Professor Andrew Byrnes (Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law, UNSW); and Gavan Griffith AO QC (Solicitor-General of Australia 1984 – 97); and Professor Tim McCormack (Australian Red Cross Professor of International Humanitarian Law, University of Melbourne).” )) wrote a 30 page legal opinion (there is also a four page summary) titled “David Hicks – Military Commissions Act 2006 – Compliance with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, the Hamdan Decision and Australian Law” on the first and second military tribunals created by the US government and concluded:
Further, the Replacement Military Commission will contravene the standards for a fair trial under Australian law provided for in the Australian Criminal Code, and counselling or urging a trial to take place before any such Military Commission with the requisite knowledge and intention would constitute a war crime under Division 268 of the Code.
This opinion was delivered by the Law Council of Australia to the Attorney General, Philip Ruddock, to inform him of the nature of the crime that was being committed by the government. To date no action to rectify this appears to have been taken.
Thanks to Tim for the pointer to the letter to the editor of The Age newspaper from one of the reports authors, the Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC, former Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and former Judge Advocate General of the Australian Defence Force.
There has been a magnitude 7.6 8.0 quake near the Solomon Islands. The ABC is reporting that the Bureau of Met has issued a tsunami alert for the Australian Barrier Reef and Willis Islands and that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has also issued an alert.
The centre said it had no confirmed information a tsunami was generated but said authorities should take appropriate action in response to the possibility.
Update 1: The BoM’s tsunami alert says:
Based on the magnitude and location of this earthquake, tsunami could start affecting these locations at the following local time: Willis Island from 0832am 02/04/2007
The Bureau is seeking confirmation that tsunami have been generated. Tsunami Warnings will be issued, if necessary, by the Regional Offices of the Bureau in affected States. People in coastal areas in threatened regions should then listen for further advice from state emergency service authorities.
Update 2: BoM has confirmed that a tsunami was generated, but the only measured height so far was at Honiara in the Solomon Islands with a 15cm zero-to-peak at 7:13am EST.
The Bureau of Met has its own Tsunami Alert Site and the alert now says:
TSUNAMI THREAT TO EASTERN AUSTRALIA and Willis and Barrier Reef Islands, Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.
Update 3: The Tsunami alert now includes Tasmania.
TOP PRIORITY
TASMANIA TSUNAMI WARNING
Issued at 9:16am on Monday the 2nd of April 2007
For people in eastern coastal areas of Tasmania.
An earthquake of preliminary magnitude 8.1 occurred at 06:40 am EST near the Solomon islands [8.1S 157.2E] generating a tsunami.
A series of waves associated with this tsunami will impact Eastern Australia today, reaching the Eastern Tasmanian coastline from about 12:30 pm.
Dangerous waves and currents may affect beaches, harbours and rivers for several hours from the time of impact and low-lying coastal areas could be flooded.
The waves can be separated in time by between ten to sixty minutes and the first wave of the series may not be the largest.
People should keep listening to the local media for updated information and
advice and follow instructions and advice from emergency services
This warning will be updated by 11:00 am.
There is also an ABC news report about the tsunami alert that confirms that the Solomon Islands has been hit, though details of any damage are sketchy.
Update 4: There are now alerts online at BoM for NSW, TAS and QLD. The QLD one is encouraging, it now says:
Willis Island Meteorological station reported NO noticable affect of waves at 9am by which time the Tsunami should have passed. They are checking to see if there has been any affect to beaches.
Update 5: The BoM’s reports for QLD are looking better again, Cooktown isn’t showing signs of a destructive tsunami meaning the overall chance of a destructive tsunami is lessened. The NSW warning is still fairly general though.
Update 6: The quake has been revised up to magnitude 8.0.
Update 7: It looks like the Solomon Islands may not have been this lucky, according to the BBC.
“There was 10ft of water rushing through town,” – Harry Wickham, Gizo
Update 8: The USGS has reported mag 5.8, mag 6.4 and mag 6.7 quakes, amongst others, also in the Solomons Island region (though north-west of the 8.0 quake).
Update 9: The QLD alert now says:
TSUNAMI THREAT TO QUEENSLAND and Willis and Barrier Reef Islands has eased. No destructive Tsunami is expected. […] No reports of significant sea level rises have been received from the Northern Tropical Coast of Queensland. Some rises of about 20 to 30cm have been observed.
Update 10: As of 1350 EST the BoM is now saying that the tsunami alert has been cancelled.
Small surges in sea level height and minor abnormal currents have been detected along the Queensland coast.
It’s not as good news in the Solomon Islands though.
The quake, with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale, levelled buildings and damaged a hospital on Gizo Island, north-west of the Solomons capital Honiara, while a tsunami sucked homes into the sea as thousands of panicked residents fled for higher ground.
Wonderful repartee courtesy of David Starkoff.
KIRBY J: By the way, is that the form of the State search warrant? I mean, does it still look like that? It is such a tacky little piece of paper. I mean, if somebody presented you with a piece of paper like that that looks for all the world like the roneoed law school notes that I used to receive 40 years ago, you would not take it seriously. It does not even have the State coat of arms on it.
It continues whimsically in that form, worth a read..
Bad news, many sources are reporting that three people have died in an accident that caused an explosion in the Burnley Tunnel in Melbourne. Traffic around VPAC is very heavy as people are diverted.
Photo Caption: Major incident: Smoke is billowing from the Burnley Tunnel in Melbourne. (ABC News)
The Herald Sun is saying there could be more fatalities (update 3: police later confirmed 3 dead).
VicRoads has information on diversions and a warning that traffic is very heavy and the notice that:
Access to the Latest Traffic and Road Conditions information may be slow or unavailable due to the number of enquiries.
The VicRoads Traffic Viewer is currently alternating between runtime errors and being unreachable.
Update 2:
ABC are reporting that:
Police say there was a pile-up after a vehicle crashed into a broken-down truck, then burst into flames.
Police have said “We don’t even know what type of vehicle is involved in one occasion, it is so badly damaged” and “There are vehicles down there that are literally balls of metal“.
Update 3:
Police have confirmed 3 dead:
The names of the victims have not been released but police say they were a 51-year-old Essendon man who was driving a van, a 37-year-old man from Sandringham who died in his ute, and a 34-year-old man from Sunbury who was killed in his car.