Dingo bytes

Primary schools around the country protested in 2000 against 
school books not being exempt from the GST. As a result the 
Howard Government introduced funding for primary schools to buy 
new books for their libraries. The Grants to Primary School 
Libraries program had the proviso that the new books be written 
by Australian authors or be published in Australia. During the 
four years each school bought an average of 350 books, worth a 
total of $45 million. Now Education Minister Brendan Nelson has 
refused to extend the program. Said one teacher/ librarian, "The 
GST is still there, we still need to buy books for our schools, 
but we're not getting that allowance. And during the four years 
the price of books has gone up. It's going to be tough."

* * *

Private means unaccountable, and so it was that Tara Anglican 
School for Girls in Sydney was being sued by a student's parents 
for allegedly failing to provide adequate care during a school 
trip to Italy in 2001 where the teenager said she was pack raped. 
The school last week suddenly decided to settle out of court. And 
no wonder. It was a disgrace from beginning to end. Beginning 
with the legal representative for the school who in court told 
the girl she had "led the boys on, flirted and encouraged them". 
He introduced a series of recent surveillance photos of her in a 
public place (who took them?), questioning whether her self-
esteem had been affected when she was able "to sit on a bar stool 
with a skirt as short as that." Back in Sydney, after the trip, 
the girl was reportedly ordered to write out a statement saying 
she wouldn't return to the school. The principal arranged for her 
to do her final examines in a room by herself.

* * *

ALP policy has been backsliding since the elections. It now 
endorses the Government's plans to strip back EBAs; supports the 
plan to remove all tariffs on textiles, clothing and footwear; 
has thrown away its list of rich private schools that were to 
have their funding reduced; will back government moves to 
increase the private health insurance rebate for older people; 
and do an about turn on its promise for an inquiry into an $800 
million jobs fund for Tasmanian forests. They must have sore 
bottoms.

* * *

CAPITALIST HOG OF THE WEEK: is telecommunications parasite Optus. 
Known for its anti-union stance and ruthless treatment of its 
workforce, it is less well known for its role in the trade of 
pornography. Until last week in the NSW Supreme Court that is. In 
a deal with telcos from Vanuatu to the USA it turned out that 
Optus's "Yes" advertising logo has a double meaning. Porn 
merchants have been serving graphic sex photos and videos through 
its Australian data computer centres. Optus refused to comment.