The Sydney Morning Herald du lieu suivant : Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • 1

first home deposit of summer flpyf Wt 111 "L8 8 I 3' hL? tt 1 1 111 jpr" 1 COLUMN 8 Republic: first a postal vote Half-elected half-appointed People's Convention to proceed late this year Voluntary postal ballot costing about $25 million to determine convention delegates Convention will consider the republic and other constitutional issues Sitting politicians banned from standing for election Government will run a "balanced" public information campaign in the run-up to the convention Details convention size voting system agenda to be decided CATHERINE Giraud a French law student living in North Bondi had just finished her PhD thesis and was planning to print it out on Sunday to send it off to the Sorbonne Thieves beat her however: her portable computer was stolen on Saturday A distraught Mile Giraud holds out a small hope: her computer is different from its Anglo-Saxon siblings Has anyone spotted a Compaq 486 notebook with a French keyboard? The top row of letters begins AZERTY instead of the familiar QWERTY AN Orange reader sympathised with the plight of flood-plagued northern NSW when she saw this in a headline in her central and western edition of Sunday would devalue the process "It is meant to be a serious consideration of a proposed Constitutional change not an optional popularity contest akin to television's Logies" he said The Australian Republican Movement said it would run endorsed candidates in every State and Territory in the mid-year ballot But its chairman Mr Malcolm Turnbull said his organisation still believed all delegates should be elected Failing that steps should be taken to ensure the Government did not "stack" appointed delegates PAGE 14: Editorial ence for the existing constitutional monarchy describing himself as "certainly not Australia's leading republican" and stating: "I do not believe that any republican system of government can deliver more stable or more effective government than the present Constitution "In other words I do not believe that the present system of government is flawed" Mr Howard also stressed his determination not to allow the republican debate to dominate the Government's agenda this year With the first day of Parliament featuring exchanges over unemployment and inflation he said: "I still being worked on the Government favours a postal ballot to cut the estimated S55 million cost of a conventional national poll by some $30 million according to Cabinet figures The decision comes amid moves by some Liberals to dump compulsory voting But Mr Howard told the party-room the decision should not be seen as a precedent and senior Government figures played down any suggestion of a strategy to overhaul electoral law saying it would not get through the Senate The Opposition leader Mr Beazley said the voluntary vote gauge national support However other Coalition MPs expressed concern about the cost the risk of ballot tampering and the danger that the convention would end up rivalling the Parliament as a political forum While the technical details are say through the House to the Australian people that I and the members of the Government do not regard this issue as being anywhere near the importance of the other issues that have been the subject of question and comment in the House so far The Howard announcement followed the endorsement by the Coalition party-room of Cabinet's decision to proceed with the convention There was limited opposition with only one MP saying the Government should proceed directly to a plebiscite to at the weekend: at the weekend: i if Ryan revolution puts women seat of power AN Eastwood reader told his By MICHAEL MILLETT Political Correspondent The Federal Government will resort to a historic voluntary postal vote to select delegates for its People's Convention on the republic with the Prime Minister yesterday relegating the constitutional debate to a lower-order political issue Outlining the Government's plans in Parliament Mr Howard said he would "honour in full" his election commitment to stage a half-elected half-appointed convention to discuss the republic and other constitutional issues But he made clear his prefer- How Lib Senator's affair turned ugly By GEOFF KITNEY 1 Canberra Bureau Chief and ALICIA LARRIERA NSW Liberal Senator Bob Woods who is quitting politics has revealed that he is involved in a bitter personal dispute including allegations of harassment and an application for an apprehended violence order Senator Woods 49 has confirmed that a woman against whom he has laid a complaint with Special Branch police for harassment of himself and his family has applied for an AVO to be taken out against him The woman Ms Roxanne Cameron is a member of the staff of another Liberal MP the member for North Sydney Mr Joe Hockey Ms Cameron who is in her late 20s has claimed she had a long-term relationship with Senator Woods Close friends of Senator Woods confirmed he I MB 1 1 1 BWIKBil ST 1 BE 1 1 1 I 1 1 i -i i i 1 I MB In HI 111 i i 1 I Hbd fipfl I bHbHp wM I EL? 9 I wfl wm V----V- 1L a si JMf1 i SB fcl I wL 1 I I 'i 'J bbbbbbbbbbpB' 'jjl'' BtfSlrBM bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbT 1 bbbW HbbbV M-j Bi I Mbbbc jfl i bL il" Iw uMjm TfcrJ b9 I I pa 'Bv BJA BJ BajU HB I 1 Bh jirffll I i Bfe vdBI Kk 1 1 BW Brw -BBr bBl I IbbI inBH bT JBf1'- BBk I I BB BB bbH BBBB 'mBkV'" BB I flk jH 1 I 1 I 'BPi5fe-i "bbibI mt- ms I I I I a 0 Hbl' I I bbIbb Br 'B te I a wl BBsSSbB hi Wi I ---S ffif (ft5 II I I I family he had spotted the first Easter eggs of the year at Mac-quarie Centre's Big last weekend Oh no said his daughter She'd seen them at a Canberra Wool worths on January 10 A LEWISHAM reader was among passengers ushered aboard a Kendall Airlines twin-engined Saab at the weekend for the Coffs Harbour-Sydney flight The smiling female flight attendant welcomed people aboard then raised the stairs and shut the door There was an expectant pause then the steward realised someone was missing The door was opened the stairs lowered and the pilot got on to a round of applause GOING cheap Tony Hill of Balgowlah wonders how many people have been attracted by a sign outside Hylands shoe store on Victoria Road Rozelle: "Clearance sale kids from $10" THE mystery of the bovine harbour cruise (Column 8 yesterday) is solved Michael Davies general manager of Flagship Charters says he was approached by a TV production company wanting to hire a motor cruiser big enough to take a cow and a film crew Flagship obliged with its boat Free Spirit and the cow boarded near the casino last week Australia sadly is unlikely to see the result: the footage was for a German quiz show ANDREW Mitchell of Killar-ney Heights admires the resourcefulness but not the public spirit of a family of Indian mynahs nesting on a traffic light at the intersection of Millwood Avenue and Lady Game Drive Chatswood West The birds have made the hood cover of the red arrow their home totally obscuring the signal Mr Mitchell says "The red arrow would have kept their nest nice and warm but it wasn't doing much for the traffic" A class act NSW Police Commissioner Mr Peter Ryan yesterday presented his new team of top officers following a controversial purge of upper ranks and women will take half of the most senior jobs Ms Bev Lawson was appointed deputy commissioner of field operations and will be joined by Ms Christine Nixon who will become assistant commissioner in charge of human resources and development The pair will occupy two of the top four positions in the new Police Senior Executive Another women Ms Lola Scott was appointed commander of the mid-western suburbs Pictured behind Mr Ryan are front row I to Ms Nixon Mr Jeff Jarratt Ms Lawson and Mr Clive Small middle row: Mr Terry Collins Mr Ike Ellis Ms Scott Mr Doug Graham and Mr Eric Gollan back row: Mr Bruce Johnston Mr Ken Moroney Mr Mai Brammer Mr Peter Walsh Mr Richard Adams Mr Paul McKinnon Mr Graeme Morgan and Mr Chris Evans PAGE 6: Full report Photograph by nick moir Now Jakarta bans all political meetings Why a suspected drug baron may not face court 1 263 George Street Sydney! Senator Woods had a relationship with Ms Cameron last year after a separation from his wife Senator Woods and his wife have since reconciled In a statement released last night Senator Woods said the application for an AVO "has been taken out by the same person I asked the Special Branch last year to investigate because of continuing harassment against me and my family which included abusive phone calls abusive letters stalking and intimidating my family" "Senator and Mrs Woods welcome this matter coming to court as soon as possible so they can bring an end to this harassment against them and their family" the statement said Ms Cameron told the Herald last night that she could not really comment on the full detail of the allegations but said: "I would have thought that a woman could take a restraining order out to stop this sort of thing happening but it would seem perhaps not" Friends of Ms Cameron said she strongly denied the allegations of harassment Channel Nine news said last night that Ms Cameron had confirmed that she had applied at the District Court in Sydney on Monday for an AVO against Senator Woods The application will be heard next Wednesday Senator Woods also confirmed earlier yesterday that he had been interviewed by Federal Police over allegations of misuse of his parliamentary travel Continued Page 6 Residential Investors You can pay off your Fixed Rate Loan sooner By LOUISE WILLIAMS Herald Correspondent in Jakarta The Indonesian Government has banned all social and political meetings involving large crowds until after the May national elections and Malaysia has moved to close its land border with Indonesia in the face of continuing social unrest The Minister for Home Affairs Mohammad Yogie ordered all local officials to postpone until after the elections any public activities that could incite social unrest as a new rampage was reported in West Kalimantan the Indonesian-controlled territory on the island of Borneo Troops have been flown to the province sources said The Soeharto Government has already banned outdoor campaigning The campaign period runs from April 27 to May 23 and voters go to the polls on May 29 after a five-day cooling-ofT period The tension surrounding the run-up to the polls does not reflect political rivalry among the candidates but rather the level of frustration of the Indonesian people for whom the election holds no prospect of real political change The election process is rightly restricted and following the ban on candidates from the opposition party of Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri the elections offer no real alternative to the ruling Golkar Party which has fielded a team sprinkled with the wives and children of the ruling political elite The National Human Rights Commission questioned the legality of the new ban saying the Indonesian Constitution guaranteed the freedom of the people to gather In the latest Borneo unrest police said some 5000 Dayak people the mainly Christian indigenous tribes of the island rioted against Muslim immigrants from East Java continuing a violent conflict which began on Christmas Eve last year Malaysia announced that it was closing the border between Continued Page 8 By BERNARD LAGAN Justice Writer A man charged with possessing S5 million worth of heroin which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment stands to be freed from Long Bay jail by the weekend because the Federal Government's cuts to legal aid mean he cannot get a fair trial The case has angered the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Mr Nicholas Cowdery QC who along with a judge has raised the case with the NSW Government citing it as the first example of what may become many abandoned prosecutions because of the Federal Government's $33 million cut to the nation's legal aid budget The NSW Legal Aid Commission brought the funding cuts issue to a spectacular head last week by refusing to pay for the defence of Zoran Udovicic 31 who faces charges of possessing 38 kg of heroin dedmed for supply Udovicic's first trial ended in Sydney a week ago in a hung refused by Judge Luland because he thought Udovicic's financial circumstances might change before his second trial But the judge also said that if Udovicic had not found legal representation by then he would not be able to get a fair trial due to the complexity of his case Mr Cowdery has written to the NSW Attorney-General Mr Shaw about the case because of his fears that the court appears to have little option but to halt the prosecution and free Udovicic on bail Udovicic's lawyers will make another application in Sydney on Friday for him to be immediately freed from jail and the prosecution dropped Mr Cowdery predicted last year that people charged with serious offences who were denied legal aid would make applications for their trials to be dropped on the basis of the High Court's Dietrich ruling which holds that a person facing serious charges cannot be guaranteed a fair trial without legal representation Angered Director of Public Prosecutions Mr Cowdery jury A second trial has been ordered for April but the Legal Aid Commission has said the funding cuts mean it must refuse the defence costs Udovicic's lawyers after hearing that no legal aid funds would be available applied to Judge Luland who sat in the first trial last Friday for Udovicic's to be freed from Long Bay on bail and for the second trial to be stayed because Udovicic had no means of paying for his defence The applications were 95 1 year Special Rate 6 With extra repayments on your Fixed Rate Loan welcome any time Call 131 575 8 ISSN 03 12-6315 Unlimited repayments on the 1 year special up to $5XXW on the 3 year fixed loan New loans only Terms conditions and charges apply Full details available on application 3 year Fixed PHONE INSIDE Classified Index 44 Opinion 15 Crosswords 23 Personal Notices 31 WEATHERT0DAY sydne 17 10 25-Fine' warm t0 ver warm and mostly sunny Light to moderate INTERNET wwwsmhcomau HOME DELIVERY TOMORROW Sydney Fine and very warm to hot maximum of 27 NSW: Very warm to hot with the chance of isolated storms in the south-west otherwise fine DETAILS Page 23 Agenda 11 Editorials 14 Sport 44 Editorial 92822822 Amusements 20-22 Law Notices 41 Stay in Touch 24 Classified Toll Free Arts 1213 $2Lottery6175 20 Television 24 132535 Business 25-30 Obituaries 31 World 8-10 General 9282 2833 southerly winds tending north-east later Liverpool 15 to 29 Richmond 14 to 31 NSW: Fine and warm cooler on the coast Sunrise 620 am Sunset 757 pm Or Bank of Melbourne cuts the cost of banking ACN 007 270 448 (02192823800 312" 9 "770: 631032.