The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 1

ajr JJWDAY 26 MAY 1997 90c TODAY'S BONUS SECTIONS MONEY SPORTS MONDAY Growing up after the firos In defence of the fashion industry OPINION Izzy Aspor King of Ten BUSINESS 143rd tr No. 44,289 Guess who won I in the I wost -r--J SPORT 'if 0 METRO Tim stall- fw race tialks legal services, referring to community anger over wasted funding; allegations of rorts, and a lack of progress in Aboriginal affairs despite federal spending of $1 billion a year. The Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Senator John Herron, said yesterday: "I believe that Pauline Hanson reflects some of the. public's disenchantment with this situation." While the ATSIC board had been planning a review of its forward, simply by a word that acknowledges that this happened, that these are the facts, that this happened in Australia," Mr Dodson told the Ten Network's Meet the Press program. "There's no question about having guilt associated with that, it's about the responsibility for the activities that this nation has caused to the indigenous people and as the responsible leadership, they've got to take that." on the eve of the Australian Reconciliation Convention comes on top of divisions with black Australia over responses to the High Court's Wik decision and the report on stolen Aboriginal children, due to be tabled in Parliament this week.

The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, is due to address the convention this morning and will come under intense pressure to offer an apology on behalf of the nation for the past practice of stealing Aboriginal children from their families. But Senator Herron yesterday played down the prospect, telling reporters in Canberra: "I don't think you've got to put all the weight on one word apology." The chairman of the Reconciliation Council, Mr Pat Dod-son, said yesterday that Mr Howard had a "tremendous opportunity" at the convention. "This is a great moment, this is a great chance, this is an opportunity where we can go individuals. "How do you compensate them for this level of loss?" he asked. "It might well be people that want some assistance for decent headstones for their families or a way of finding out where their mothers came from or their fathers or their country Mr Dodson is expected to light a candle in remembrance of the stolen children and call for a minute's silence while Mr Howard is present.

PAGE A4: More reports. Senator Herron said the Government would consider today its response to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's report on stolen children, which he did not believe would be substantially different from the Government's submission to the commission. The submission appeared to rule out compensation. Mr Dodson said yesterday that compensation need not be in the form of big payouts to Fire kills 130 in Indonesian election riots ail i- SrtW1 4 By LOUISE WILLIAMS, Indonesia correspondent, Jakarta, Sunday Rescue workers said today they had found at least 130 bodies in the debris of a shopping complex gutted after Indonesian security forces lost control during riots in the port city of Banjarmasin. "So far 130 bodies have been found.

There are still many more," said one rescue worker. The worst election campaign rioting in recent memory erupted in the South Kalimantan provincial capital on Friday, during the final day of campaigning before next Thursday's general elections. At least 100 people were being treated in four Banjarmasin hospitals for stab wounds or burn injuries, the official Antara newsagency said. Eight shopping centres, 130 houses, 21 cars, 60 motorcycles and three hotels were burnt in the rioting and four government buildings were damaged, it quoted police as saying. It did not mention any damage to churches but witnesses said at least seven churches were looted, burnt or stoned.

The rioting broke out after clashes between supporters of the ruling Golkar party and the rival Muslim-oriented United Development Party. Rescue workers said most of the bodies were found piled up near the exits of the first two floors of the four-storey Mitra Plaza shopping and cinema complex. One rescue worker said the dead were all looters who were afraid to emerge when troops and police arrived to quell the riot. "There were no employees of the shops among them," he said. operations, Senator Herron said that in addition to a review of the ATSIC Act sought by ATSIC, "we'll probably broaden it to review whether ATSIC is achieving what it is supposed to An attack on the accountability of ATSIC early last year marked the beginning of the Howard Government's aggressive political approach to the Aboriginal affairs portfolio after it won office.

The Government's move to revive the accountability debate Ms iMT: vw rUkJkttkM closely connected with Mr Newman through the former Geelong start appearances on The Footy Show, reported last night that Mr Newman was helping his companion, Ms Leonle Jones, 23, park In his garage when the car rolled forward and crushed his leg. i By LAURA TINGLE, chief political correspondent, Canberra The' Federal Government has set a hostile tone for today's historic Reconciliation Convention by dismissing calls for an apology to Aborigines "stolen" from their families. The Government also announced sweeping reviews of the nation's main indigenous body, ATSIC, and Aboriginal A law to test the fisdom of Solomon By BETT1NA ARNDT The anonymous Mrs soon to be Immortalised as the wife In- versus a case destined to. rewrite the rule books In family law wants to move with her two daughters from north Queensland to central Victoria. The federal Attorney-General, Mr Daryl Williams, wants to stop her, setting the stage for the first real test of the family Law Reform Act aim of promoting shared parenting after divorce.

Mr Williams Is championing before the full court new laws that threaten to keep Mrs from pursuing her dream a move with her children to a new. state, where her Dance awaits her. Mr In his north Queensland office, knows the case may be his last chance to stop his two daughters, aged 12 and. Jrom being moved more than 2300 kilometres away. The petty details of his failed marriage have become the setting for a mighty dash between a determined Government and a defensive court.

Relocation has always been one of the toughest calls for Family Court Judges. Twenty years ago, when the court was established, children's well-being was seen as Inexorably bound up with their mothers welfare, so the court usually granted women custody and freedom to move wherever they liked, taking their children with them. In the shadow of this law, It became common for women to use moving as a means of getting away from former husbands a big factor In the large numbers of children losing contact with their fathers after divorce. Gradually, the Family Court moved to Impose some constraints, using the best Interests of the child as the primary principle to weigh up pros and cons of the move and seeking good reasons rather than simply a desire to frustrate contact. still great weight was given to the custodial parent right to get on with their life.

So relocation was destined to be a critical test for the new reform bill introduced by Parliament In late 1995, to try to promote shared parenting after divorce. A new set of principles was Introduced, emphasising the right of children to know and be cared for by both parents and to have regular contact with both. Via a paper given at the fam- Sr law conference In March, mdoch university law lecturer, Ms Usa Young, reported that In eight of 10 recent West-era Australian relocation cases, the residential (custodial) parent was permitted to snare. Similar trends appear elWhere. Moat Judges have bean refusing to grasp the nettle, Waiting for the full court to fsjoi the Isstie.

Tfsat moment has arrived. Mrs have had the llsfartusis to be the Brat to bit ths-fall court with post- TTTH 6 WW I 80 Wool Safeguard Wiring 3 Heat Controls Made in Australia ii hi 1 If 4 1 I I) Mark Taylor ponders his future as he leaves Kennington Oval. national since last November. He still has time and matches on this tour to recapture form and poise and he remains the best captain of the best Test team. All he has to do is to make runs.

SPORTS MONDAY: Report. 1 20j Firs victim: A young boy salvages what charred possessions he can from the burnt ruins of his Banjarmasin neighborhood after it caught fire when rioters set alight a protestant church. It was the last day of Indonesia! official election campaign. Picture: reuter Earlier, police in Banjarmasin confirmed that 79 people had died in rioting, Antara reported today. "It just seems every time we get a new report the news gets worse the real extent of the violence is just coming to light now," said one Banjarmasin resident, contacted by phone today.

Opposing political factions rampaged through the town, forcing a Cabinet member to flee his burning hotel as they destroyed churches, homes, offices and shops. The Indonesian-language Suara Pembaruan newspaper reported "anarchy" in the town of about one million people until troop reinforcements arrived late on Friday night. Antara said police had received dozen of missing-persons reports and that the evacuation of the bodies inside the department store might not be possible until tomorrow because of the fire's heat. A curfew was imposed and power and phone lines cut, meaning news of the riot did not reach Jakarta until the weekend. Security forces there were conducting their own clean-up operations after serious outbursts of violence on Friday evening.

The local military commander called on Banjarmasin residents to stay calm and not to leave their homes after 8pm. He said the riot was "well-planned and controlled" by a "third but refrained from identifying who was to blame. The-Banjarmasin riot represents an alarming escalation of the political violence that has flared across Indonesia and Continued: PAGE A10 ft 'V Taylor dropped after series loss Newman feeling a little run down By ANDREA CARSON Sam Newman has been in the wars again. The football and television personality is this morning recovering in hospital from surgery to repair a broken leg and ankle after being knocked down by his own car. It is understood Mr Newman and a female companion were returning to his Brighton home about midnight.

Details are murky, but it is understood that his friend was at the wheel of his car when the accident occurred. As speculation swirled about Mr Newmans latest mishap, there were reports from rest-dents that the accident happened in Victoria Street, where the entrance to his garage is located. A resident reported hearing a male scream just before midnight. put Channel Nine, which is By GREG BAUM, London, Sunday Mark Taylor was. left out of the Australian cricket team for the last one-dayer against England.

He was not dropped as captain, just rested as a batsman. Taylor said last night that he thought he was hitting the ball as well as the Waugh twins, and that a big score was "just around the Perhaps he believed it, but the selectors he Is one dropped him. If it was any other captain at any other time, nothing more would be thought of it. Australia has a big squad on a long tour and rotation Is Important, The series was no longer alive, and Matthew Elliott badly needed a hit But Taylor has been in a batting slump so long and deep that he has kept his place in the side only because he is its captain. He has not made a half-century In a Test for almost 18 months, and in a one-day inter- 1 i 'tt 't tut fnfttj,.