Saturday, February 16, 2002

Boat children fallout remains the main story.

article below from http://www.lobby.org.au/p-lobby/main/briefing/render_single_item?pid=342

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Boat children.

1. The Australian reports John Howard has urged public servants to tell the "whole truth" to a Senate inquiry into how false claims about children being thrown overboard were made during the election campaign.
2. The Age reports public servants and defence personnel involved in the children-overboard affair will be instructed to provide their version of events to a Senate inquiry - but former defence minister Peter Reith is resisting attempts to force him to appear.
3. Melbourne's Herald Sun reports John Howard has given the green light for his most senior public servant Max "the Axe" Moore-Wilton to tell what he knew about the children-overboard affair.
4. The Age reports Prime Minister John Howard yesterday refused to apologise over the children-overboard scandal as he hit back at critics who, he said, were playing "fast and loose" with his reputation.
5. Brisbane's Courier Mail reports former defence minister Peter Reith has refused to reveal when he learned asylum seekers had not thrown children into the sea or when he informed Prime Minister John Howard the story was a fake.
6. The Canberra Times reports in the midst of the political storm surrounding the ''children overboard'' affair and the interception of signals to and from the Tampa, the Secretary of the Department of Defence, Allan Hawke, has moved some pieces on the intelligence chessboard.
7. The Sydney Morning Herald reports a senior defence official last night broke his silence on the "children overboard" affair to lambast the office of former defence minister Peter Reith, insisting he clearly advised it that the Government's claims were false.
8. The ABC reports One of Australia's most experienced senior public servants says he is sceptical about the Prime Minister's claims that he knew nothing of the revelations within his department that there was no evidence in the children overboard affair.
9. The West Australian reports the boat people accused of throwing their children overboard could get the chance to tell their story at a Senate inquiry next week. WA Senator Peter Cook, said evidence from asylum seekers was the one thing missing from the two reports tabled in Parliament this week.