What Australian newspapers say on Tuesday, December 9, 2008

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2008
What Australian newspapers say on Tuesday, December 9, 2008

SYDNEY, Dec 9 AAP - Australia has no moral obligation to go it alone on an emissions
reduction target, The Australian says in its editorial today.

The government's climate change adviser has recommended Australia aim for cuts in the
nation's emissions by 2020 of 5 to 25 per cent, depending on the scope of the international
agreement. This sensible, flexible approach is appropriate.

Professor Ross Garnaut acknowledges agreement on emissions reductions will be more
difficult than arms control or free trade; it is probable the Copenhagen conference a
year away will be unable to agree on firm emissions reduction commitments.

"In such an event, neither side of Australian politics, more conscious than ever of
the need to protect jobs in uncertain economic times, would advocate deep cuts to carbon
emissions," the newspaper says. "The scheme put in place would be one readily adaptable
to a global response whenever it eventuated. Until then, flexibility remains the key."

The Sydney Morning Herald says its series about the NSW prison system is revealing
the price of successive election-time law-and-order auctions in the state.

The NSW prison population has risen in leaps and bounds but the resources available
for rehabilitation have not. Most prisoners leave jail poorly equipped for life outside,
and can easily reoffend.

A large number have mental illnesses and are not getting treated outside. Likewise,
many with heroin addiction are not covered by methadone treatment. Moreover, the prisons
are crime academies, preparing inmates for a life-long profession.

There is no sign our politicians can free themselves from the "tough on crime" and
"lock them up" slogans that are their chief response to the crime wave mostly caused by
drug and alcohol abuse.

This pointless repetition of a cycle of crime and jail is wasteful and damaging, the
newspaper says. "It is time to rethink the treatment of criminals, and for politicians
to end their facile approach to a serious problem."

Sydney's The Daily Telegraph says incredibly, some train journeys from the Central
Coast to Sydney were faster in 1960 than are their equivalent rides today.

Back then, eight years before NSW premier Nathan Rees was even born, it took just 70
minutes to travel from Gosford to Central.

Now, following timetable and station changes, some trips will take up to 94 minutes
- around the same time it takes to fly from Sydney to Melbourne.

That rail is becoming less attractive over time should concern more the whole state,
the newspaper says.

"Our transport system is such a shambles that it would improve if it went backwards.

Melbourne's Herald Sun says the grief felt by marathon runner Kerryn McCann's family
when she died from breast cancer "has become a sense of national loss".

McCann won the hearts of millions when she stopped to hug her daughter and ran a victory
lap with her son following her win at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, but her greatest
victory was as a mother.

Kerryn McCann was pregnant when diagnosed with cancer, but refused to have chemotherapy
until after her third baby - Cooper, now 14 months old - was born. She risked her life
to protect a life to come, the newspaper says.

"That must be an even greater example of an unassailable character than the marathon
triumph she shared with her older children. Mum had won again."

Melbourne's The Age says the world has a duty to rescue the people of Zimbabwe who
are trapped in Robert Mugabe's "criminal, failed state".

The opposition has been brutally oppressed and it is estimated half the people will
soon need food aid.

"One in four Zimbabweans has fled. Those left behind are trapped in a nightmare of
oppression, disease and starvation as a result of the collapse of governance and the economy."

Now a cholera outbreak threatens Zimbabwe and neighbouring South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.

Australia and other nations that can help must provide food and medical aid speedily,
the newspaper says.

"At the same time, Australia and like-minded nations should exert maximum diplomatic
pressure to bring the matter to the UN security council in order to authorise intervention
in accord with the responsibility to protect populations from crimes against humanity."

Brisbane's The Courier-Mail says the coalition rebellion in the Senate is the tip of
the iceberg for Malcolm Turnbull.

The two occasions last week when four Nationals senators (and the second time, two
Liberals as well) crossed the floor to vote against coalition leadership positions were
a sharp reminder that there is a line which, when crossed, sparks dissent within conservative
ranks.

The first issue, tax concessions for carbon sinks, was a matter of principle for the
Nationals, not a unanimous position within their party.

The second was about an article of faith for Nationals and non-metropolitan Liberals
- the quarantining of more than $2 billion for rural and regional communications.

Mr Turnbull and the Liberals should accept there will be dissent by Nationals senators
and find ways to explain, accommodate and manage it, the newspaper says.

"The real problem for Mr Turnbull is that his own moderate politics could bring these
matters to a head more often. If Mr Turnbull and his fellow Liberals cannot manage that
issue, the price will be much dearer than the few bad headlines of the past week."

AAP jrd/rs

KEYWORD: EDITORIALS

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