The Hugog

Maybe banking on a winner

2006-11-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

By Hardluck Harry,
Former Crikey racing analyst*

Picking the Melbourne Cup winner is easy. Just take your formguide and run a line through the 18 horses that can't win.

Then take a box trifecta with the rest.

Picking the past three winners has been easier than usual - the Mighty Mare Makybe Diva picked herself, and the great odds on offer in 2003-05 were like robbing the bookies.

This year, the six horse who can win select themselves. They are, in order:

No 23 Maybe Better,
No 4 Tawqeet (or Torquay, as Bruce MacAveney insists on calling him. What is this, a thoroughbred or a beach house?)
No 24 Efficient
No 12 Pop Rock
No 13 Zipping
No 1 Yeats

All the rest are running for second place.

The Brian Mayfield-Smith four year-old Maybe Better showed with his past two slashing victories that he is ready to win the Cup. Maybe Better ticks all the boxes. He is:

*A lightweight horse who's beaten the handicapper and is coming into the race in great form;
*Drawn barrier three
*Trained by a master who won't run him unless he's 100% happy with him;
*Unlike the foreign raiders, we *know* he's in form and not backing up from a hard Caulfield Cup run like the Japanese raiders, or a 3-month spell like the Europeans;
*Drops a massive seven kilos from his impressive SAAB Quality win on Saturday;

And most importantly: he has great *tactical speed*.

The Cup is now a quality handicap. No longer can you just front up with a two-mile grinders and hope to outstay them all.

A Cup winner now has to have both stamina and speed.

Go onto the Net and check out Maybe Better's Coongy Handicap win at Caulfied three weeks ago. It was awesome. He came from near last and had them beaten in a flash.
He went past that highly-rated Kiwi King of Ashford like he was standing still.

Which is why I also rate Lloyd Williams' 3 y-o, Efficient, the best Derby winner in the past 20 years. A galloper with a paralysing burst of speed at the end; he will be gobbling up the leaders at the clock tower, with 49kg on his back. He drops 6.5 kilos tomorrow from his effortless Derby win on Saturday.

If he gets a cheap run form his great barrier, he can nearly win.

The Times Tell All:

My raceday clocker, Maurice the Magician, tells me that on Saturday, Maybe Better ran the 2500m three seconds faster than Efficent in the Derby. But Efficient, with a slower overall time, ran home faster in all sectionals except one - so it's hard to separate the two.

OUTSIDERS:
You are just about guaranteed to get an outsider running a placing. My longshot outsiders are:

*The lightly raced European horse Glistening;
*The two Kiwi horses No 16 Kerry O'Reilly and No 21 Mandela - both ran slashing Cup trials last week in the Geelong Cup;
*The second Japanese horse, No 2 Delta Blues
*And Lloyd William's third horse, No 8 Activation.
Lloyd's a battler - a bit short of a buck - and wouldn't it be lovely if he cornered the market and got himself the Cup trifecta?

Not.

History says that Lloyd's Derby winner Efficient can't win - but he looks very mature and runs on easily.

He will run well - but he won't beat the winner.

And the final plank in the Maybe Better chain of evidence?

The past four Cup winners have had two names, and started with the letter 'M'...

2002: Media Puzzle
2003: Makybe Diva
2004: Makybe Diva
2005: Makybe Diva
2006: Maybe Better.

It just fits!

HUGO SAYS:
*Wow, that's quite a comprehensive analysis there from Hardluck, who was sacked by pleasant-but-conservative new Crikey owner Eric Beecher in February for "putting noses out of joint" in the Federal Parliament. Good luck tomorrow!

Aussie soldiers in massive Iraq ambush

2006-09-27T03:03:00.000-07:00

Sasha Uzunov reports:

Australian soldiers from the Townsville unit 2RAR have killed up to 20 Iraqi insurgents after they were forced to fight their way out of an ambush with up to 150 insurgents yesterday. Soldiers from Alpha Company 2RAR are callling it the biggest shoot-out since Vietnam.

No Australians suffered casualties. Australian soldiers were on a routine patrol, north of their base Camp Smithy, in a town called Samawah. Soldiers were travelling in three Bushmaster vehicles when they were fired upon by RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenades).

One participant said that he saw hundreds of bullet rounds flying past him. "One Sergeant was being fired at and miracalously the bullets kept landing at his feet," the soldier said. "Another soldier was hit by an RPG round and we fought he was killed but luckily the RPG round hit a mud wall which absorbed the impact."

2RAR soldiers contacted me to tell their side of the story in case it was ignored and highlight inadequate equipment. Soldiers complained that the Bushmaster vehicles did not have adequate armour. The insurgents are believed to have numbered at least 150, 20 od whom were killed.

One soldier said he managed to look inside a building where the shots were coming from. "I saw at least a hundred or so bad guys inside and it was like a Christmas tree, with so much lights and flashes from the Kalashnikov rifles and RPGs going off."

United States Air Force jets F16s were called to provide bombing runs on the insurgents but were called off by Australian commanders on the spot for fear of Australian soldiers being too close. The ambush was intense and lasted about 20 minutes with the Australians withdrawing safely back to base.

The insurgents were well armed and well trained and they had well prepapred defensive positions when they ambushed the Australians near a swamp and raliway track. There were many Iraqi civilians near the place of combat but the Australians were disciplined and held their fire.

Copyright 2006, Sasha Uzunov

Sasha Uzunov is a freelance photo journalist and former Australian soldier.

Ezequiel Trumper for PM

2006-09-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

I've found a man who can represent us all – he carries the delightful name Ezequiel Trumper, and he speaks with passion about the issues that should unite us all. Check out his brilliant analysis of the Howard-Beazley "Aussies values debate" in New Matilda today.

You'll need to subscribe, but it's worth the $88. Trumper co-hosts a daily news and current affairs show on Australia's only 24/7 Spanish-speaking radio station. It's called Radio Austral and it has a largely working-class audience across Sydney – and the voices on his show are far removed from the Alan Jones' "struggle street" audience.

Hours after Federal Andrew Robb released his Citizenship Testing Discussion Paper, he invited his audience to respond. Here's a taste:

So now they want me to sit a test in English. They didn't give a damn about my English when they brought me here in the 1970s. I was brought here to clean their toilets, wipe off their s**t, and now they want me to sit a bloody test...I can tell you where they can shove their test and their values...

And:

This is not the Australia that I knew. This is not the Australia I fell in love with. I fell in love with a country which showed solidarity, compassion, understanding...Now this is neofascism. I saw this before in Chile. Pinochet was born ahead of his time.

And:

Values? What Australian values? The values of what? Beer? What is so Australian about democracy? About respect for the law? I know more about democracy and the law than they do — I actually had to FIGHT for those values. And they have the gall to pretend that we should learn from them about their 'values'? About compassion? How can these people preach 'compassion' when they showed none in the past...look at what they did to the Aborigines, look at what they did to the refugees...What values are they talking about?

Trumper's analysis of the "Australian values" debate is a pearler. What's more, his name is redolant of what helped make Australia unique.

Ezequiel Trumper; a combination of the Biblical flood of immigrants who built our nation and rescued it from white picket fence suburbia - and the cricketer who embodied the notion of grace and fair play on the field.

A true multicultural Aussie, he was born in Argentina, and is a dual New Zealand and Australian citizen. To make things more confusing for everybody, he is also Jewish. Now, Ezequiel, if you only had some Koorie heritage, you'd be the complete Aussie and it’d be compulsory to elect you to parliament.

Together with pieces on the same subject by Emma Dawson and another expose by dashing SBS correspondent John Martinkus on the truth behind the East Timor coup, the latest New Matilda makes great reading.

Anwar Ibrahim: building bridges

2006-07-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

“I like my politicians with a dose of humour,” explains John Button as he sits down next to us to hear former Malaysian Deputy PM, Anwar Ibrahim, lecture us on democracy at Melbourne University.

The laughter lines around former Senator Button’s familiar face remind us that he’s one of those rare politicians with brains and a hearty sense of the absurd. How badly we need his like in the parliament - but it’s hard to see a “gentleman politician” like Button, or Fred Daly or John Gorton getting elected in a 21st century political landscape flattened by party drones, pollsters and Howard apparatchiks.

Still, it’s a good enough reason to be here on a cold Friday night to listen to the man thrown into jail for six years by a recalcitrant Mahatir Mohamad, and who now is being touted as either a future Malaysian PM or the next UN Secretary-General, depending whose blog you believe.

Anwar Ibrahim is here to speak on ‘Islam and Democracy’ – and he starts by gently mocking his hosts at the University for a little latent Islamophobia: “I wonder if we’d all be turning up to attend a forum entitled ‘Christianity and Democracy?’, or ‘Judaism and Democracy?’” he ponders. “Unlikely.”

He reminds us that Turkey and Indonesia are two Islamic countries whose democracies have yet to be taken over by the fundamentalists. His message: There is enough wriggle room in Islamic practice to allow for the fundamental cornerstones of democracy, institutions like protection of liberty and freedom of the press.

Anwar’s theme; the qualities of humility, tolerance and sensitivity are needed as never before if we are to raise above the sloganeering and jaundice our political age. And Anwar has had plenty of practice in the politics of walking on eggshells in a multiethnic Islamic state with a history of religious and political unrest.

After a wide-ranging address, it’s time for questions: a Malaysian student wants to know what he’d do about Christian missionaries converting Muslims. It’s a hot topic back home. “I don’t want to sound like a politician…” begins Anwar, launching into a non-answer, albeit an elegant one. The thrust; while he acknowledges Malaysia as an Islamic state, he believes in freedom of religious expression. But as to “reports of Chrisitian missionaries proselytizing…and seeking to use financial incentives to convert Muslims” – that’s another matter.

Anwar carefully manages to walk both sides of the street, but the headscarfed student is unimpressed. She wants stronger words, but doesn’t get them. “Is it important to win the argument, or win the battle?” he asks, seeking patience. “I’d say, it’s to win the battle, and the war.”

Or as that old scandal-sheet publisher, HL Mencken, put it: “We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.”

An old foe, Mahatir Mohamad, has been in the news lately, attacking his successor, Abdullah Badawi. The nominal issue is PM Badawi’s decision to scrap Mahatir’s mad plan to build a bridge between Singapore and Malaysia, but the power struggle runs deeper. Anwar’s solution is elegant: “Maybe a bridge half-way across might please everybody.” As to the noisy re-emergence of Mahatir as his protégé Badawi’s greatest critic: “I am a democrat. I say, let him speak. The more he does, the better for us.”

We wanted to ask this question: “How can your weapons of humility, tolerance and sensitivity challenge the prevailing political tool: fear?” But the man’s popular, and we didn’t get a chance.

Still, his answer to our favourite question came close. Our questioner stated: “I’ve been trying to do the right thing as a practising Muslim. I educate my children at the local school, and on the weekend they go to religious class. I participate in our democracy - the problem at the moment is that democracy is sold as the solution, but in practice it’s far from perfect. How do we resolve this dilemma?”

His response: Hang in there. Muslims need to engage with the wider community - and that means with mainstream Australia, with those radicals seeking to distort the faith for their own means, and with hard-line conservatives who seek to isolate Muslims for their own political agenda; fewer ghettoes, more tolerance.

That’s no half-way bridge. As Mencken observed: “Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right...”

Will the war flush out Mokbel?

2006-07-20T05:36:00.000-07:00

The chaos that is Lebanon may be about to throw up another unintended victim.
Australian drug lord Tony Mokbel, who is believed to be in hiding in Lebanon, may be trying to leave that country, speculates defence writer Sasha Uzunov.

"The Australian government, in particular the Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, should request Israeli help to snatch and grab Mokbel. Israeli Commandos or the intelligence service The Mossad are excellent at doing these kind of operations."

"Or better still why not send in the Australian SAS to do the job. Effective government control in Lebanon has ceased, why not use the Israeli's expertise on the ground?"

Excellent questions. Wouldn't it be ironic if the Israelis did what the might of Australia's police forces failed to do and captured the cunning crim on the run. Still, they'd be happy if he came back to face the music - not to mention his sister-in-law, left holding the million-dollar bail posting.

Lord Downer the diplomat

2006-07-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

SBS correspondent John Martinkus stands out from the herd for his coverage of the East Timor crisis - his recent pieces for NewMatilda and the SMH shed light on the murky background of events that saw last week's removal of PM Marí Alkatiri.

But if this was a very Australian coup, our Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, hasn't been following the script. In a recent private conversation with East Timor's new Prime Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, Downer told Horta that "the Timorese are little people who needed to grow up..." Downer's haughty comments were relayed to Timor watcher, freelance journalist Sasha Uzunov, who writes:

"There's no real love between Downer and Ramos Horta, despite the media reports about a close working relationship. Downer, according to my sources, read Ramos Horta the riot act and played the part of the bully. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Ramos Horta is cleverly playing the role of submissive in an attempt to manipulate Downer. Not a good start to a close working relationship."

God and mammon

2006-06-27T21:54:00.000-07:00

The usual suspects have latched onto Rupert Murdoch's declaration this week that that we must be careful of 1.2 billion Muslims in every nation on earth because their faith "supercedes any sense of nationalism wherever they go."

Where to start? Let's begin by quoting that dangerous reactionary tract of the Christian religion, the Bible: "Render unto Cæsar what is Cæsar's, and render unto God what is God's." That was Jesus talking.

While some declare this a clarion call for the seperation of church and state, surely Christians would ask: if we rendered unto God all the things that belong to God, there would be nothing left for Cæsar.

Food for thought when powerful media moguls whose own influence sweeps across the continents start taking swipes at religion. And let's not get started about Matthew: "No one can serve two masters...You cannot serve God and mammon."

Coonan plugs the porn dam

2006-06-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

John Griffiths' online news service, The Concat, has the best analysis today of the Government's plans to save us from Innernet porn.

He writes:

Commonications Minister Senator Coonan has released a package of measures intended to keep the kiddies safe on the internet. $93.3 million of that will go on the Government paying for filtering software for parents too cheap to protect their own children.

I look forward to this principle being applied to cars, with the Government paying for safety capsules and whatnot. On this principle can we expect free health care for all the children too?

On the other hand if it's enough to stop the crazies who want Australia to be disconnected from the global internet, for fear of smut addled young minds, then I suppose it's a smallish price to pay.

Check it out here.

Cash-for-pollies scandal

2006-06-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Check out The SMH today for my Heckler piece on the Press Gallery's innovative fundraising tactics: cash-for-pollies.

The gallery's running a charity online auction as part of its annual Midwinter Ball at Parliament's great hall tonight. The Herald didn't run the link to the auction, so check it out here and place a bid.

Fancy cocktails at the Lodge, followed by a day at the cricket with John Howard? Or a round of golf with Mark Vaile; a hearty dinner with Kim Beazley, maybe, or a walk in the forest with Bob Brown? It could be all yours, courtesy of the gallery and corporate sponsors.

I took a gentle sledge at the notion of journalists organising the social diaries of politicians in my piece, but I hope they raise a motza tonight. Jean Kittson will MC tonight's event, and we trust she'll have the skewers out for guest speakers John Howard and Kim Beazley.

The gallery's choir, the House Howlers, will tackle the politicians' group, the Parliamentary Poets, led by Peter Garrett, in a sing-off - the winner will take all the cudos.

In the lead-up to tonight's event, I'll be setting the scene with Canberra radio 2CCC's Mike Welsh just after the 5.30 news.

Laurie Schwab, soccer visionary

2006-06-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

Sasha Uzunov writes:

In all the hoopla surrounding the rising success of Australian soccer, the media has forgotten the late but great Laurie Schwab, former soccer writer for Melbourne newspaper, The Age, whose life was cut short by cancer ten years ago.

He was a visionary and pasionate in his campaign to raise the profile of Australian soccer. I believe Laurie, the son of German immigrants, should be on par with the late Johnny Warren, former Socceroos captain and SBS TV commentator.

I began my journalism career as a soccer writer in 1985 when Laurie gave me my start on the now defunct but legendary soccer newspaper, Soccer Action (David Syme publications), a member of Fairfax stable of publications. Laurie subsequently took on senior editorial roles in Fairfax suburban newspapers while keeping a firm commitment to soccer.

Laurie would have loved the success of the A league and the performance of the Socceroos. It's through the hard work of people like him that Australian soccer is finally outgrowing its provincial roots and succeeding on the world stage.

On ya bike Osama!

2006-06-07T01:25:00.000-07:00

Independent photojournalist Sasha Uzunov writes:

Not content with making mayhem using car and truck bombs, the Iraqi resistence movement has taken to using peddle power against Western forces. The US and Australian military in Iraq are now concerned at the use of bicycle bombs against its troops and civilians.

I was contacted this week by concerned soldiers serving in Iraq. They heard on the grapevine that I was interviewed by Derryn Hinch on radio 3AW last week about Australian soldiers in Timor being denied the use of their mobile phones. So they have tipped me off about concerns in Iraq.

The fear is that copycat terrorists in Europe, or Australia could also use the bike bomb, capitalising on its apparently innocuous nature. A bike bomb would not be regarded as suspicious if left at railway stations, shopping centres or anywhere else here in Australia, unlike a bag or package.

Soldiers have told me that the explosives are hidden inside the bike pump or water bottle and even in the front night light on the handle bars.

Hugo says: The bike bomb is not an unheard of phenomenon. The Washington Post reports today that a Greek leftist group is claiming responsibility for last month's bicyle bomb attack on Greece's Culture Minister George Voulgarakis. That attack failed. But in Iraq, it can be fairly assumed, the assailants are more determined to wreak havoc.

The Kovco crackdown: Army bans soldier phones

2006-05-31T00:02:00.000-07:00

It seems the paranoia gripping the defence force has reached our forces in Timor. Australian soldiers serving in East Timor have had their mobile phones confiscated by the hierachy in a knee-jerk response to the recent Kovco scandal in Iraq, according to independent defence writer Sasha Uzunov.

On previous missions, soldiers have been permitted to use mobile phones during off-duty hours to contact family back in Australia. But the fear is soldiers will be able to relay information back to relatives if any major incident were to occur in East Timor.

"Several family members of serving personnel have contacted me with their concerns," Sasha told The Hugog today. "They have my trust because I'm a journalist and a former Australian soldier."

But it appears our soldiers serving in the latest regional troublespot do not enjoy the trust of the military. This, of course, is the same defence establishment that managed to screw up just about every aspect of the aftermath of Jake Kovco's death last month.

Instead of confiscating phones from the troops on the ground, maybe the military hierachy should be taking a good look at itself. Or would this be too hard?

Sasha Uzunov is a freelance photo journalist who has worked for the British and Canadian media in the Balkans and Iraq. He has been published in the major Australian newspapers as well as appearing on television and radio providing perspective on defence and security issues.

Costello brings in the cash

2006-05-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

It was a little too early in the day for the meeeja - but this morning's 500 Club Liberal fundraiser breakfast featuring Peter Costello at Melbourne's Crown Palladium ballroom was worth getting up on a frosty winter's morning for.

The Treasurer attracted more than 1000 paying guests, delivering a commanding oration that reeked of ambition.

Former Coles Myer and Fosters boss, and current chairman of the Australian Sports Commision, Peter Bartels, was MC - and he welcomed his friend the Treasurer warmly. As might a man whose organisation was one of the big winners from Tuesday's Budget; the ASC got an extra $55 million.

Founded in 1982, the 500 Club is, in its own words "the largest, most infuential and most successful supporter group of the Liberal Party in Australia." At $1100 a year, membership's for the Top End of town, and the Sports Commission has demonstrated how very astute having a 500 Club leader and friend of the Treausurer at the helm can be.

Lucky guests were given a showbag featuring a selection of Budget documents, a mouse mat and cap and sports socks from property developers Bensons. The event was also a key fundraiser for Costello's local fundraising arm, the Higgins 200 Club, which charges members $300 a year to schmooze with like-minded businesspeople, with this promise: "Of course it isn't possible to place a value on the network of contacts you will make."

200 Club coordinator, Gail Wallman, looked delighted with the turn-up to the event. And the event wasn't solely a Liberal affair: we spotted Law Council president John Cain Jr listening attentively. And Wallman ensured the grassroots were being nurtured carefully, too. Some 100 invited private school students were sprinkled through the crowd, though not a public student was to be seen.

How much did the function raise? Well, Brendan Nelson charged $200+ a head for his Budget night function at Parliament House. At $200 a head, Costello has tipped up to a cool $200,000 into Liberal coffers.

That is the power of incumbency.

Gruesome Twosome:

New Liberal leader Ted Baillieu strolling into the function slapping backs with one John Dorman Elliott. Big Jack is just shameless, swapping banter with Ted and exclaiming: "Jeez, hope it's not bacon and eggs again!" After a wooden and unconvincing start to his job, is it really wise for the Party's Great White Hope to be seen schmoozing with a dodgy businessman like Elliott?

The Concat - a new media perspective

2006-05-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

It's time to welcome a new independent voice to the media scene! The Concatenate is an online news service that updates breaking stories throughout the day and - most importantly - critically analyses who's making news and why.

It's the brainchild of John Griffiths, a longtime Press Gallery denizen and a founder of The Riot Act who's taken his blogging and news gathering skills and put them together (Concatenated them!) to produce a smart and lively service for savvy media consumers.

And it's online now, making its debut with a sterling coverage of this week's Budget. A disclosure: I'm contributing to The Concat because I've seen John in action in his previous role as a news and information manager in the Press Gallery for information broker Capital Monitor - and been impressed by his astute understanding of the political process and the news business.

This country desperately needs fresh and independent sources of news. The Concat is a welcome arrival, and during May you can get a free subscription. Check it out here.

Hiding behind the uniform

2006-05-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

by Sasha Uzunov

Veterans Affairs Minister, Bruce Billson, recently announced appointments to the council of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. These people are entrusted with safeguarding our national military heritage. One of those named is former newspaperman, Les Carlyon, author of the hugely successful and crituically acclaimed book Gallipoli.

Carlyon, born 1942, is a media legend and an institution. He has been showered with honours and awards as a journalist, author and newspaper editor. Les is quoted in the media as an expert on the Gallipoli campaign and regularly writes on military issues for the Bulletin.

Yet, considering his enthusiasm for the Anzac legend and now his position as official custodian of our the national ethos, it's suprising he never volunteered for military service in Vietnam in the 1960s.

I've emailed him a number of times asking why he did not, but get no response. As a council member of the AMW he owes an explanation to war veterans.

I believe that if you passionately believe in the AZNAC legend then you need to practice what you preach, volunteer and serve in uniform.

In other words, you have to put your money where your mouth is. The ANZAC legend, forged in blood at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, has become a popular topic for some of our leading authors. The notion of mateship, compassion, and courage under adversity resonates with a younger generation of Australians who are learning about the feats of the Kokoda Track or at Tobruk in World War II or the Battle of Kapyong in Korea or the Battle of Long Tan in Vietnam.

The generation who fought in Vietnam in the 1960s probably had the worst end of the stick. It was a time of questioning, when some of our society began scrutinising and rejecting the very notion of the ANZAC legend.

Ironically, some of the anti-war protestors back then are now staunch Iraq War supporters -- funny how the times change people. The ANZAC legend does not need to be over-eulogised because it can stand on its own. As a journalist who is paid to be sceptical I believe that the ANZAC ethos does exist. I saw it with my own eyes as an Australian infantry soldier serving in East Timor in 2001.

During a patrol on the border with Indonesia, our section came across four suspected militiamen or possibly smugglers. Three ran away and left behind an old man with a machete who was swinging it wildly, probably out of fear rather than in malice. Our forward scout, a young bloke with the surname of L... but whom I will call Dougy, was right next to the old man and under the rules of engagement could have shot and killed him in self-defence.

Instead Dougy wrestled the man to the ground. We were glad that no blood was spilt that day. In fact Dougy's actions made me so proud of him, as I used to think he was very immature and ahot head. We once had a punch up during a game of touch rugby.

You just do not know how men will react under pressure. Our section commander, a NSW Policeman in civilian life, grabbed the man and threw him across the border and told him with the use of body language not to come across the border again. I wonder if that old man is still alive today? If so, he has Dougy to thank.

Hugo says: Sasha Uzunov has reported from the Balkans and Iraq for newspapers in Australia and the UK and served as an Australian soldier in East Timor. While you may disagree with his thesis that serving your country is a pre-requisite for those who want to represent our military history via the War Memorial, there's no doubt his passion about the subject. It's a perspective that deserves an airing.

Death by Foie Gras

2006-05-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

Vale Richard Carleton. The hard-living hack died on the job yesterday, surrounded by his, er, media friends down at the Beaconsfield mine rescue site. At last night's Logies after-party there were commiserations – and wry observations – from those old enough to remember his greatest hits. Which counted out 80% of the crowd.

It was a bitchy TV awards ceremony, so naturally after the tear-jerking official tributes were over, we remembered the Richard Carleton everyone loved to hate.

We recalled his performance in East Timor during the 1999 elections when, fuelled by a gourmet food hamper, he turned up on polling day to do vox pops with frightened locals as they lined up to vote – while armed TNI glared at them. Undeterred, Carleton asked the locals how they were going to vote, oblivious to the potential threat to their safety.

"Vale Richard - death by foie gras," said one ABC type. "We stuff the goose – and the goose stuffs us."

A life lived full, he will be celebrated long and heartily at his funeral later this week.

Living the Logies

2006-05-07T06:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday night, and we're undercover at television's night of nights - The Logies. Rubbing shoulders with The Ennertainment Industry's glitterati is a tough gig, but someone's got to do it. Here are some highlights:

Dial Eddie: 0434 836 585

The Chaser Boys once published John Howard’s home phone number on the front page of their weekly newspaper. Tonight they trumped it by running what appeared to be the private mobile phone number of someone REALLY important – Eddie McGuire. And during the Logies telecast, for the benefit of 2.1 million viewers on Channel Eddie.

There it is, on top of this post. Go on, call him. Maybe you’re upset at the network’s yo-yo scheduling treatment on ‘ER’ on Wednesday nights? Or you want a return for ‘Burke’s Backyard?’ Or you want a job? Go straight to the top.

OK, it looked like a set-up, and probably was. No doubt Eddie set up a fresh number for the boys for the stunt - but it's worth calling just to get through to the voicemail message.

Molly's Meltdown

The Chaser lads were on fire at tonight’s 50th anniversary bash, arriving on the Red Carpet in a trailer labelled "Naomi's Makeup truck."

Their goal: "borrow" as many Logie statuettes as possible.

Not unlike the handsome statuette I've relieved ABC TV's Tim Palmer of (left). He won the silver Logie for best news report for his work in Aceh after the tsunami, and is tipped as a leading candidate to replace Richard Carleton on 60 Minutes.

The Chaser lads also had their eyes on that perennial scavenger hunt favourite, Molly Meldrum’s cowboy hat.

So when Chaser’s Craig Reucassel snatched the hat from an unsuspecting Meldrum as the stars filed from Crown’s Palladium Ballroom a few minutes after John Wood received his Gold Logie, mayhem ensued.

Molly was most unhappy. Unsteady on his feet, he set off in chase of the Chaser. A bemused observer asked: “who’s that bald bloke chasing the fella carrying Molly Meldrum’s hat?”
But it wasn’t Molly who caught the Chaser Craig – it was Molly’s bouncer. The burly brute confiscated the hat and camera, ripping out the tape. Molly was not mollified, giving the Chaser crew the finger and advising them: "Do yourselves a favour - f*ck off!"

Fortunately, the encounter happened early in the evening. Molly lurched off back to the bar for more free booze, while the Chaser team retrieved more film from the Naomi Robson trailer.
We keenly await their Logies special on Friday night.

Logie lie down

Which blonde starlet collapsed in the ladies at the fag end of after party and couldn’t be moved? She was shuffled out the back in a wheelchair as one of her mates observed: “She’s had too much to drink – or something”.

Vizard Reborn

It was very nice of Channel Eddie to give Steve Vizard a gig on last night’s show. The disgraced funnyman-turned-inside trader appeared with Michael Veitch in his old gay flight attendant character.

It pays to have friends in high places. While Eddie gifted him the airtime, Vizard arrived at the Logies accompanied by another influential high-flyer – state Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger and his wife, Crown marketing queen Anne Peacock.

Jeff – the backdown

2006-05-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Jeff Kennett has enjoyed his 24 hours of attention, and now he is about to announce he will NOT be standing for the State Liberal leadership.

A Kennett comeback was always the longest of longshots, as we pointed out when we broke the story ten weeks ago for New Matilda.

And a few minutes ago, Kennett's protégé Ted Baillieu announced he was standing for the leadership – snuffing out any chance Jeff had of running.

This afternoon, Jeff will release a statement announcing he will not run for the job.

This despite John Howard going on radio this morning lauding Jeff as the best man for the job: "If he is available, he is overwhelmingly the best person to do it."

It is clear that Jeff has realised, after talking to his wife Felicity, that the obstacles facing a Kennett comeback were insurmountable. As we surmised back then, those barriers were (not exclusively):

*Felicity, has told him she’d leave him if he got into politics again;

*He's just taken over as President of the Hawthorn Football Club (in Melbourne, where football is bigger than politics, this is a high profile job);

*Significant elements of the Liberal Party despise him after his autocratic leadership resulted in the 1999 election loss. They would fight his reinstatement;

*He is recovering from a recent hip replacement and was attacked in a bar owned by his son earlier this month.

The washup? Ted Baillieu emerges as the front-runner for the right to lead the State Liberals to a crushing election loss on 25 November. Albeit faintly damned as only the second-best candidate by the words of the PM this morning.

Jeff's 24-hour splash has unleashed a crowd of demons that echo from his tenure as Premier. The Kennett legacy is still a controversial one. The ghosts have not yet been laid to rest.

And for Jeff Kennett? There's talk of a Federal tilt. And you would have to consider it as very remote a possibility - given the PM's cheeky comments this morning talking up Jeff.

But that was always about making Peter Costello uncomfortable, wasn't it!

Doyle quits - Jeff preens

2006-05-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

Jeff-Jeff-Jeff-Jeff! Does anyone else hear the Jeff Train-a-comin?

Robert Doyle's demise this morning was mercifully brief and understated – but still more like the drowning of a haggard cat than the dignified end of a political career.

So who to take on the seemingly invincible Steve Bracks in the November 26 State Election?

Terry Mulder? Who he? Doyle's recently installed deputy Louise Asher? Or Ted Baillieu? The Planning spokesman's got to overcome the perception he's born to rule, and had been reluctant to challenge in recent months. Because, let's face, it who wants to jump in the State Liberal caboose and lead the train wreck?

And then there's Jeff. Peter Costello confirmed this morning that the party's constitution allowed Kennett to take the leadership without first gaining a seat in Parliament. Or he could nominate for Doyle's now vacant seat of Malvern.

The pros and cons of Kennett taking over are outlined in my piece for New Matilda way back on February 22 when I broke the news that of the concerted moves behind the scenes to install him as Liberal Leader by midyear. You can check it out HERE.

Kennett was in a meeting of AFL presidents this morning in his capacity as Hawthorn president, and not commenting.

Costello gave a hillarious interview with 3AW's Neil Mitchell this morning where he managed to deny influencing events in the State party – the party the Federal Treasurer controls with his mate Michael Kroger.

Oh no, said Costello, "I've been stuck in the Treasury preparing next week's Budget." That hasn't stopped Kroger pulling the levers behind the scenes – and even plotting publicly over coffee this week with deputy leader Louise Asher.

Monday's party room meeting will vote on the leadership. Whether Kennett makes a spectacular comeback will depend, among other factors, on the base fears of the rump of Liberal MPs.

If enough of them see doom for their seat on November 26, the whisper for Jeff may – just may – become a roar.

Rates up - 17 of 21 economists wrong

2006-05-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

The RBA has this morning announced that interest rates are rising .25% to 5.75% - up for the first time since last March.

So there go the goodies in next week's Costello Budget Mk XI. What Costello gives with one hand, the RBA takes out via higher interest with the other. The decision is a sign of a bank that doesn't want to be raising rates after the Budget - and risk provoking a backlash against the Treasurer's next platform to lever himself into the Lodge.

Not only has the bank pre-emptively melted away those anticipated Budget giveaways, they've also snubbed most of the economists lobbying for a continued pause in rates. Bloomberg surveyed 21 economists yesterday - and only four picked the rise.

The mess within Defence

2006-05-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

By Sasha Uzunov,
warrior journalist

Former soldier and freelance journalist Sasha Uzunov has broken major defence stories in recent years. Today, he unveils and analyses the "civil war" racking the Defence Department. Urgent action is needed - and the first head to roll should be Brendan Nelson. Read on:

THE controversy surrounding the cause of death of Private Jake Kovco in Iraq and the subsequent mix up with his coffin is an outrage - a bloody outrage. As a journalist and ex-serviceman who served in East Timor the time has come for me to tell it as is, no holding back.

The Kovco family and the Australian people need to know the truth about the stinking mess within the Defence Department.

The time has come for some tough talking and for heads to roll. The Prime Minister, John Howard, needs to demonstrate once and for all he takes defence issues seriously.

He needs to bring in Mal Brough as Defence Minister immediately. No pussyfooting around this time! Brough is an ex-Army Officer and knows his stuff.

It is time for the amateurs and “desk warriors” to go. I would urge Prime Minister Howard to hire experts like David Horner and Clive Williams, ANU academics who both have combat experience in the Vietnam War.

The mess in which Defence finds itself can be traced back to the 1990s when the Hawke-Keating Labor governments started sending troops on various missions in an attempt to act tough on the world stage after Australia had for a long time retreated since the Vietnam pull-out in 1972.

The rise of the "desk warrior", that is a defence expert without any hands on military experience, is the root cause of the problem.

Desk warriors could not wait to send Australian troops into Rwanda in Africa in 1994 in order to score international brownie points. The mission was a disaster because our troops were undermanned and had crazy rules of engagement, which didn’t allow them to stop the inter-ethnic massacre of rival Hutu-Tutsi tribes.

The ALP government sent Australians sailors to the first Iraq War in 1990-91, of which some ended up suffering from Gulf War syndrome. A civil war - that is those in civilian clothing versus those in uniform - within defence has erupted. This war has been going to this day with disastrous results.

The Kovco scandal is a symptom of the "civil war" raging within the department between desk warriors and those in uniform. There is a disconnect, as each side tries to out-do each other.

This is best demonstrated by Defence Minister Brendan Nelson's performance after Kovco's depth: he has been out of his depth, and showed this clearly with his initial blunder - wrongly explaining Kovco's death.

I was the first Australian journalist to raise the issue that many of our leading media commentators and defence experts do not volunteer for military service, and that this would eventually lead to disaster. The Kovco fiasco means the chickens have now come to roost, sadly.

The irony and hypocrisy is that those very same "respected defence writers" without military service who took umbrage at my scrutiny have now been ringing me wanting background information.

I once asked a "desk warrior" in an email a few years ago why he never served in the military. "If those in uniform can get involved in management civilian roles in weapons acquisitions for the Defence Department, then why not civilians as defence experts," he said.

That to me sounds like tit for tat, rather than civilians working harmoniously hand in hand with those in uniform for the benefit of the nation. It goes to the heart of the problem.

The Kovco family and the Australian people should be putting the heat on the current government - but they should also be asking questions of the Desk Warriors. But don't hold your breath waiting for out media to ask such questions, as it would raise too many embarrassing questions about the so-called highly paid experts.

The Kovco scandal has even reached the Balkans, as Kovco's father, is an ethnic Croat from the Western Bosnian town of Tomislavgrad, according to Sydney based freelance journalist Branko Miletic.

Hugo says: Unlike the Desk Warriors, Sasha Uzunov served two tours in East Timor with the Australian Army, using his experience to report from the Balkans and Iraq. His views are not colored by ideology or political expedience - but by an understanding of what it takes to maintain an effective defence force. Check out his website

Slush funds in paradise

2006-04-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

What Fairfax correspondent Craig Skehan doesn't know about the South Pacific isn't worth writing on a postcard home while sipping a mango daquiri overlooking Bora Bora lagoon. His reporting on the Solomons crisis has been first rate.

Today’s story – written with Russell Skelton – on the Taiwan-funded political slush fund that’s been fuelling corruption, and ultimately conflict, in the islands.

If you haven’t already, read it here and here. Or get out of the house and buy the paper!

Burying the news

2006-04-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

Paranoia Corner: The circumstances of the death and whereabouts of Australia's first military victim of the Iraq War just get more bizarre. Apparently, Private Jake Kovko's body is in transit home once more, while the body of the fellow mistakenly flown to Australia in his place is going back to Bosnia.

And apparently, he didn't kill himself accidentally while cleaning his weapon, the clear impression befuddled Defence Minister Brendan Nelson gave in his Saturday press conference.

All this begs the highly – H-I-G-H-L-Y – cynical question from one Press Gallery operative: What if a certain body was lost on purpose to push out any headlines lingering from yesterday on Medibank/health reform/national ID card?

Now that would REALLY be burying the news.

The Solomons - gunpowder, treason & the plot

2006-04-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

As our Honiara insider, Lukim Iu, predicted here on Friday, Snyder Rini is gone. The Solomon Islands PM stepped down yesterday rather than face defeat on the floor of Parliament. So what next for the Solomons?

Our man in the Solomons, Lukim Iu, continues the story:

Yesterday's events seem to have removed RAMSI from a rather sharp hook - Snyder Rini's resignation and some spectacular allegations in court put its activities into some perspective.

RAMSI had been attracting some flak over the past week for apparently supporting an unpopular government, that of Rini. Its argument is that it was simply supporting the democratic process, not Rini specifically.

The situation has now changed dramatically. Solomon Islanders had been hoping for a real change in government, after suffering from years of official corruption and incompetence. But they took the view that the old guard had, effectively, stolen the election by electing Rini as PM. He is a close associate of the previous PM Kemakeza.

People felt cheated, and that's what the riots were all about.

The torching of Chinatown was something different. It was well planned and carried out very efficiently.

In yesterday's court proceedings it was alleged by the prosecution that another MP, Nelson Ne'e, not only urged rioters to blow up the SI parliament - "dynamite hem parliament" - but threatened to "chop the throats" of five Malaitan politicians if they didn't vote the right way.

Meanwhile another MP, Charles Dausebea, who is also seeking bail, is said to have driven slowly through Chinatown in his green Mitsubishi calling out "go ahead, go ahead, go ahead," to the looters. Both are to find out today if their applications for bail will succeed.

The looting was a disgraceful free-for-all. We had a box seat view of the torching of Chinatown last Tuesday night and saw some of the subsequent looting, which is commonly known here as "shopping." One man I saw had a flat-bed trolley loaded high with his selections.

However, only a relatively small number of people were involved. The full story on these plotters and criminals has still to come out.

The truth, as Ernest said,is never plain and rarely simple. There are deep undercurrents in all of this, and they are just starting to emerge.

Hugo says: Another incisive analysis from our man in Honiara. Two handy resources for keeping up to date with the unfolding SI news are Radio Australia and the local newspaper, The Solomon Star, a publication which seems to have come of age during the crisis, providing timely and relevant coverage.

Inside Indonesia's secret terror campaign

2006-04-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

Death in the shadow of Indonesia: A skull lies in the East Timor jungle at Passabe in this photo by Sasha Uzunov - to its left is a black military-styled belt worn by militia equipped by Indonesia's TNI.

Melbourne journalist Sasha Uzunov is a rare beast; a foreign correspondent with real life military experience - a military and strategic analyst worth listening to. Today, he gives The Hugog an insight on the power play between Australia and Indonesia over West Papua:

The Australian government made the right call in granting political asylum this month to the 42 Papua refugees who fled their Indonesian occupied homeland. Passions are running high in Jakarta; but we should not give in to pressure. We stood firm over East Timor in 1999 and we should do this again.

But the government is wrong in not supporting the right for West Papua's bid for full independence. It would actually be in Australia's long-term strategic interest for smaller friendly states to act as a buffer against the Indonesian military - which has been waging a vendetta against Australia since 1999 because of Timor.

Only now the TNI's tactics have changed. The Indonesian military is giving support to the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah.

Just how many Indonesians agree with their government, or for that matter accept their military's brutal behaviour? If we want a real relationship with Indonesia it should not be based on fear but mutual understanding.

But first, some necessary background: an Indonesian Military Policeman warned me seven years ago that some of his military colleagues would seek revenge against Australia for our involvement in liberating East Timor.

Australia led the INTERFET mission in East Timor when that territory voted in a referendum in August 1999 to break away from Indonesia. There was widespread violence as pro-Indonesian militia when on the rampage. Britain and the US also contributed troops to the INTERFET mission.

I met Sergeant Herman, as he wanted to be called, on the East Timor-Indonesian West Timor border, at a place called Motaain on 22 November 1999. I was there with the Australian Defence Force's Media Support Unit (MSU), which was covering a conference between Interfet Commander, Australian General Peter Cosgrove, and his Indonesian counterpart, General Adam Damiri.

While the brass exchanged pleasantries, the rest of us were fraternising with the "Enemy". Sergeant Herman told me he was a Christian from one of the smaller islands of Indonesia and was upset with the Javanese, the Muslim majority who run the country.

Captured Militia weapon: a Soviet designed, Chinese made SKS rifle supplied by the Indonesian forces to the militia. We nicknamed this weapon "lucky" - it has a bullet hole embedded in it.

"When war over in Timor Timur (East Timor), Jakarta will fight secret war using dirty tricks," he said. "There will be bombs, killings, explosion. Tourists will be killed. Buildings, hotels, embassies and churches blown up. No one safe!"

Standing five metres away was SBS TV's correspondent, Heather Paterson. I wanted to tell her about the sensational conversation I had but because I was a serving member in unform I was forbidden to reveal anything to the media. How I regret it. InsteaD, we discussed sleazy Indonesian Generals making sexual advances to female western reporters.

I reported my conversation with Indonesian Army Sergeant to my superior - but we both ended up laughing as we thought the Indonesian MP was trying to soften me up and gain some information out of me.

Comrades in arms: then Australian soldier Sasha Uzunov (left) with Indonesian Sergeant "Herman"...

In hindsight, Sergeant Herman's words are chilling: the bombings in Bali, the Marriott Hotel, and the Australian embassy in 2004 and Bali a second time.

In early October 1999, Townsville-based infantry battalion, 2RAR, was involved in the biggest shootout since Vietnam when they reached the border village of Motaain, near Batugade. Three members of the Indonesian security forces were killed in the contact. It was later revealed the Indonesians had opened fire first.

I arrived in Dili, the capital of East Timor, in late October 1999. I ended up with the MSU by pure luck. I was a journalist in civilian life and when i joined the Australian Army I was allocated to the infantry corps. Somehow I managed to be sent to the Defence Public Affairs Organisation for a few months in Canberra before East Timor erupted.

The main group of MSU was based at the Hotel Tourismo. I was with a sub-section known as CPIC (Combined Public Information Centre) as a clerk, PR assistant, driver, and provided the occasional escort to a senior British Army Officer who travelled the length and breadth of East Timor collecting humanitarian data. He would take me along as his protection because he didn't want to carry a weapon. He needed it. Once, we almost were fired upon by friendly Fretilin independence fighters at a roadblock.

One of my main tasks was to record General Cosgrove's media conferences, transcribe them and them email them back to HQ in Canberra. I aslo had to organise flights in and out of the conflict zone for brave journalists caught in the line of fire - like when Channel Nine reporter Simon Bouda came down with malaria and had to be treated at the military hospital in Dili.

In Dili, CPIC shared its compound with US Special forces troops, known as Green Berets. Every time the media arrived on our doorstep, the Green Berets would rip off their Velcro unit shoulder badges, and pose as army engineers. Only female Australian journalist Sian Powell was suspicious and savvy enough to think something was going on.

I formed a friendship with one of the Green Berets, Sergeant First Class Glen Cohen. He told me that he and his colleagues were not allowed by Washington to leave the confines of Dili because if they were caught in a battle with Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) it would create an international incident.

"This is supposed to be a gunfight between you Aussies and the militia, we're only here officially to help distribute humanitarian aid," he often joked.

Just after Christmas 1999, I escorted Australian freelance photographer Mathew Sleeth to the Oecussi enclave, that little part of East Timor inside West Timor. Sleeth wanted to take some photos of a mass gravesite. We jumped on a patrol with soldiers from 3RAR, the Army's Sydney-based Parachute battalion.

At the village of Passabe, which was only a few metres away from the Indonesian border, we visited the mass grave of 52 Timorese who had been slaughtered by the militia and then buried in shallow graves. When the rains had come, they had exposed bones and bits of clothing.

I remember muttering to myself that I saw a black military-styled belt next to a skull. A 3RAR officer who was close by heard me and came over and told me that it meant nothing; that I should forget what I saw. He seemed nervous at my comments

At the time I found his comment extraordinary. Why would an officer care what I saw? Later, I heard 3RAR's Intelligence Officer, Captain Andrew Plunkett, claim he had been pressured to
underestimate the number of Timorese massacred and downplay the Indonesian Army's involvement.

My first tour finished in January 2000 and I returned to my original unit, 4RAR, which was preparing for its first and my second tour in April 2001, this time as an infantry rifleman.

During pre-deployment training we were openly told that the militia had become active again in the lead up to East Timor's elections in August 2001. We were told that Kopassus troops had masqueraded as militia and had links to the terror group, Jemiaah Islamiah.

I left the Australian Army in April 2002 and returned to journalism. I came forward in August of that same year with my story but no one in the Australian media was interested.

Hugo says: Sasha Uzunov is a freelance journalist who has reported from the Balkans and Iraq for newspapers in the UK and North America and, as you've just read, is a former Australian soldier who served in East Timor. His is the kind of credible, first hand view Australia's policymakers should be heeding. Instead, sadly - and to our detriment - we listen to the myths peddled by civilian desk-soldiers like Paul "Among the Barbarians" Sheehan.

Check out Sasha's website here.