The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 1

rift iWifi mil flP No. 49,975 FIRST PUBLISHED 1831 90c A I ii yos ion is. ri vjsiiuiuj HI ft. vunong mmv MAX PRESNELL DARREN BEADMAN PAGE 38 fi 1 i vgiiF 1 hhi3Hh iEgi mm up mm msmm m-. webs MMHIlJ urx 111 VS.

k. 1 iCII MONDAYj I kjIILvIH IfC -rJ lUJI 'IflliLJii I ilOlM LES CARLYON if 5 rni iimm PM lniii 1 'I'll I w- tX. i 1 1 r- 5 it: I I Ml v. I i if. i -r I iM-B lilt: rr Otr fir i "i 1 x- By JODIE BROUGH and DAVID HUMPHRIES The Prime Minister yesterday promised a crackdown on drug bosses, unveiling an $87.5 million, three-year strategy including increased law enforcement, private treatment clinics and antidrug education for schoolchildren.

The funding partly replaces Budget cuts in the past two years, with $43.8 million to be spent on reducing the supply of drugs into Australia. It includes $15.5 million for the Federal Police for 54 extra investigators, following the loss of about 100 staff in the past year. The new agents would form three "strike teams" to target drug syndicates, Mr Howard said. A further $29.8 million goes to rehabilitation and medical research, while a "rigorous" $14 million education campaign will teach young people they should have "zero tolerance" of drugs. Launching the package in Sydney, Mr Howard promised that the three-pronged strategy would be an "integrated and effective national effort" against drugs.

More measures would be announced after consultation with the Premiers this week. "Every parent lives in fear of luiimMf" W-f i totv---'. 71 About $4 million would be spent on research into treatments focusing on abstinence, while an extra $1.3 million would fund non-heroin treatment trials already under way in several States. The ACT Chief Minister, Mrs Kate Carnell, whose heroin trial helped force Mr Howard's response on drugs, said it was an "important first step" to draw up a national plan. Major law enforcement commitments include $7.5 million to increase Customs inspections of shipping containers in Sydney, which had been limited by Budget cuts, and $7.3 million to improve computer systems.

Another $6.7 million will be spent on surveillance in the Torres Strait, with a police base to be established on Thursday Island and three new high-speed Customs boats. The Premier, Mr Carr, expressed disappointment at the proposals, saying: "After years of cutting States' programs, a last-minute restoration for a publicity-grabbing exercise like this will do only limited good." PAGE 6: Analysis, other reports. says Ben, 17 only one lapse, taking a drug vial from a surgery. "I was very lucky to be able to stay here in the Program for Adolescent Life Management at the Ted Noffs Foundation," he said. His goal is to remain free from drugs and find a part-time job while he studies psychology.

ANTHONY HOY 7 v. i if' i 1 1 3 iim ralr-i-irtri-iriirtiriinillMiftrliTfci fi -Mil mi Don't treat us as outcasts, Two dead in suicide pact by accused pedophiles By LES KENNEDY Two men are dead and a third is critically ill after an apparent suicide pact linked to NSW investigations into an alleged pedophile ring of youth workers. NSW police were last night helping Queensland detectives formally identify the three men, all youth workers, who were found yesterday in a car parked in bushland near Esk, 70 kilometres north-west of Brisbane. Police sources confirmed that two of the men had been charged last week by the NSW Police Child Protection Enforcement Agency (CPEA) with child sex offences at Armidale in the New England district It was not clear whether they were the two who died. One of the two charged men is an employee of the NSW Health Department at Armidale.

The third man in the car was wanted by CPEA detectives for questioning in relation to similar allegations in the Northern Tablelands region. The ages of the men have not been released. Police said the car was found by chance about 6 am at Wivenhoe Dam, near Kipper Creek. They impounded a hose found at the site. Two of the men were pronounced dead at the scene and the third was taken by helicopter to Royal Brisbane Hospital where he was in a critical condition in intensive care last night The head of the Health Department, Mr Mick Reid, confirmed last night that one of the men was an employee, but rejected reports that all three worked for the department He said that several employees of the department had been sacked after checks on criminal records for child sex offences, and some prospective employees had been refused jobs for similar reasons.

"The department is very distressed at the allegations made and has taken steps to assist the children," he said. The Deputy Premier and Minister for Health, Dr Ref-shauge, said: "We have the most extensive checks of new and prospective employees and now we're starting on existing employees." Mr Reid said a team of sexual assault counsellors from outside Armidale were put on standby on Saturday and that he and other senior health officials would travel to the city today to assist the New England Area Health Service in the actions it was taking over the allegations of a pedophile ring. The discovery of the car followed raids by CPEA officers on homes in Armidale on Thursday and Friday last week which led to the arrest and charging of two of the men on child sex offences. During the raids, police seized computer tape records allegedly containing child pornography and a juvenile was taken from the care of one of the men. One of the men, who was involved in looking after teenagers who were homeless or at risk, was charged with aggravated indecent assault The second man was charged with six counts of homosexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 16.

Both were granted bail to appear in Armidale Local Court on December 1. After the Friday raids, police were seeking four other men for questioning in relation to allegations of child abuse in the district The operation, code-named Diamante, is investigating allegations that more than 10 New England children had been sexually abused by youth workers, welfare workers and drug and alcohol counsellors. I The continuing investigation is also examining allegations of child abuse at Coffs Harbour on the mid-North Coast It was quite a day for Ben, a 17-year-old reformed drug user, yesterday when along with his friend Sarah he met the Prime Minister and was able to put his view. It was not so long ago that Ben threatened his victims with syringes and knives during hold-ups. His message to Mr Howard, LULU II 1M CO) GRANT MARSH, in his 80s, was walking home after a day in town, looked at his watch, and tried to correct it The gold winder, only just expensively replaced, popped out onto the grass verge.

He put his Herald down, knelt on it, and started picking around in the grass. Just then a young man came along. Grant explained his problem. "Oh," said the young man, "I was wondering only in Wahroonga would you see a man in a suit weeding his nature strip." Hyacinth Bucket on the North Shore? (They found the winder). VISITING Bilgola Plateau school the other day, Gary Deacon, of Frenchs Forest, found the students were having their photos taken.

Over the PA system came: "Is there anyone in the school wears black size 7 shoes. If so, come down to the photo session or there'll be one less prefect in the school photo." We can guess at the track-shoes drama behind the call. SHOULD your average driver be worked up to an uncontrollable pitch? Castrol, says David Gordon, of Mt Pleasant, has a promotion at service stations. The entry form says the first prize is "serious thrills" with "GREETINGS from frozen Kyiv (Kiev is the Russian version)," e-mails Neil Sullivan, ex-Sydney, now working for Ernst Young in Ukraine. He tells of poor programming on local radio.

"The station had just finished playing Farewell English Rose, and followed with Queen singing Killer QueerC ROGER Henning, of Rozelle, was glad he'd ignored Telstra's urging to pay his account by direct debit against his bank account. His company phone bill should have been $395.75, but when it arrived, he saw Telstra had hit him for 24,271 extra units, for a total of $6,174.75. He sorted it out with Telstra but if he'd been on direct debit, his account would have been nearly $6,000 poorer. JOE EATON, of Viilawood, enjoying a Streets ice-cream at Wisemans Ferry, was telling his companion about the Peters ice-cream made in Spain (Column 8, October 24). "Streets would never do anything like that or would they?" he writes.

"Small print on the packet: Produce of Denmark. Do we make anything in Australia?" An industry source gives us a scoop. When a new product is being test-marketed, it's often made overseas but if it catches on, production switches to Australia. 661 901 http:www.qantas.com.au i the impact of drugs," Mr Howard said. "Our Tough On Drugs strategy provides moral leadership against drugs for our children's sake." The Prime Minister said he knew the scheme would take time to show results but he was "determined to discourage a whole new generation of drug users by the best means "From young people who have been targeted by drug dealers, to their families who have had to rebuild broken lives, illegal drugs have a devastating effect on us all." The Opposition Leader, Mr Beazley, said the package was "a single step after two steps He said $225 million in cuts had been made to law enforcement, drug education and health programs over the past two years.

Mr Howard said $21.5 million would be spent on new non-government treatment facilities, to be awarded to charities and community organisations through a tender system. Priority would be given to areas with the greatest need, with offenders to be diverted from jail to treatment programs. after the Prime Minister signed the back of his shirt, was that the focus of the Government's new drug strategy should be juvenile rehabilitation. "People like me shouldn't be treated as outcasts," he said. "I think I have got something to offer." In July, a judge sent Ben to a detoxification house in western Sydney.

Since then, he has had staunchly defended official verdict that the bloodshed was necessary to suppress a counterrevolutionary rebellion. It is the first time a senior leader has conceded that the deaths of the hundreds, possibly thousands, of demonstrators was heavy-handed and opens the door for a review of the protests, which would pose a serious threat to party leaders, including Premier Li Peng, who were instrumental in orchestrating the crackdown. 3r it Dialogue on drugs Ben, right, and Sarah meet Mr Howard outside the Ted Noffs Foundation yesterday to give their views on juvenile rehabilitation. Photograph by robert pearce Tiananmen may have been a. mistake, Jiang admits is After shuffling, through his -briefing notes, he said: "The, political disturbance that occurred in 1989 seriously dis- rupted social stability and jeop- ardised State security, therefore the Chinese Government had tor take necessary measures to resolve the matter and to ensure that our country enjoyed stability and that our reform and opening up proceeds smoothly." Mr Clinton then took the unusual step of interrupting his "This system should operate from a single terminus in the AAT which would be served by an intercontinental air link from Australia." All environmental, heritage and other impacts of the proposal must be fully evaluated, the report says.

Present Australian policy on Antarctic tourism is for ship-based operations and aircraft overflights but the report says there will probably be a desire to establish some on-shore "adventure tourism" operations. "These would best be undertaken away from research sites and would require the availability of at least a summer base. Such a base would need to stand alone and have a significant capacity for search and rescue." The committee has also raised the possibility of leasing to other nations up to two of Australia's bases Mawson and Casey. The third base, Davis, should be retained because of its extensive scientific programs and because it is the most likely Continued Page 2 -r- iBMiwi ill iniiiiftiU'iii-rnii By DAVID LAGUE Herald Correspondent in Beijing China's President Jiang Zemin has admitted the 1989 Tiananmen massacre may have been a mistake. It is an acknowledgement that could have explosive repercussions for the Communist Party leadership.

Mr Jiang's admission on Saturday during his visit to the United States is a dramatic departure from the party's guest to rebuke the Chinese leadership. "On so many issues China is on the right side of history and we welcome it, but on this issue, we believe the policy of the Government is on the wrong side of history," he said. Mr Jiang was a major political winner in the fallout from the protests between April and June 1989, that almost para-Continued Page 11 PAGE 11: Analysis. Qantas Airways Limited A.C.N. 009 Antarctic plan: tourists in, bases out After his speech at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mr Jiang was asked about the decision to send in People's Liberation Army tanks to crush the protesters.

"It goes without saying that, naturally, we may have shortcomings and even make some mistakes in our work. However, we have been working on a constant basis to improve our work." Mr Jiang is the first Chinese Mawson a "radical rethink" of Antarctic policy. "It's the first major rethink since the end of the Cold War Australia's first look since territorial claims gave way to sci-. ence," he said. "But the Government's response to the report will hold environmental considerations paramount" In 1992 ASAC said the leader to visit, the US since the Tiananmen massacre and he has been questioned, lectured and heckled on China's human rights abuses at most of his official engagements since he arrived on October 26.

But until the Harvard speech, he had refused to deviate from his prepared script. Mr Jiang was tackled about Tiananmen at a joint press conference with President Clinton last week. Casey in the 1980s its future establishment of an air link was to be kept under review, but in its latest report it says such a link must be "Australia should develop a light aircraft intra-continental air transportation system in support of scientific research and for dispersing scientists and their support within the AAT Australian Antarctic Territory. By JAMES WOODFORD in Canberra The establishment of an air link with the Antarctic, the phasing out of up to two of Australia's three bases and the possibility of a summer base for tourists are raised in the most radical review of policy for the continent in 50 years. The Federal Government will release today its long-awaited report, Australia's Antarctic Program Beyond 2000.

It proposes the biggest changes to scientific activity in Antarctica since Sir Douglas Mawson pushed for the establishment of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions in 1947. The report, by the Government's Antarctic Science Advisory Committee (ASAC), also proposes radical changes to the driving forces behind Australia's Antarctic presence, reflecting the increased international co-operation since the end of the Cold War. "Potential exists for Australia to co-operate more with its Antarctic neighbours over logistics and supply, for mutual benefit, and to release funds for Mawson's Hut in 1912: the modern base near the historic Building work at hut may be 'phased out' or leased to another nation is also uncertain jr. i the conduct of science," it says, highlighting the savings from sharing shipping costs. But the report does call, for increased involvement in protecting resources such as fish in Australian territory.

A spokesman for the parliamentary secretary responsible for the Antarctic, Senator Ian Macdonald, said the report was i 4 i i Weather today syy 17 to 22. mm with ciouov periods and showers developing. Internet. www.smh.com.au HorE DELIVERY (02)92823800 ISSN 0312-6315 II" I. i TOMORROWSydney Showers INSIDE Business 3943 $2 Lottery 6379 .20 PHONE and the chance of a thunderstorm Crosswords 23 Mails, ..,20 with a maximum of 23.

Classified Index. 54 Education .........14 19 Editorial ..92822822 NSW: Showers persisting with late Amusements 21,22 15 Personal notices .....43 Classified thunderstorms in the east. Arts 16,17 Law notices ......:...20 132535 FULL DETAILS Page 23. Bridge, Chess 20 Letters 18 Television Guide 9282 2833 Liverpool 15 to 23 Richmond 14 to 24. NSW: Thunderstorms in the north-east comer and scattered coastal showers.

Sunrise 5.53 am Sunset 7.25 pm. THE SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA "2 IV.