FED: What the papers say: Monday, April 26, 1999

AAP General News (Australia)
04-26-1999
FED: What the papers say: Monday, April 26, 1999

SYDNEY, April 26 AAP - Tomorrow's East Timor summit puts Prime Minister John Howard at the
centre of an international issue he has now adopted as his own, The Australian says in its
editorial today.

It says the evidence of the past six months, as the Australian government has shifted
ground on East Timor, is that Mr Howard is conscious the instability in Indonesia has exposed
internal tensions at the highest level of Indonesia's administration of the future of the
province.

The paper says against the background of continued suspicion that the military-backed
militias are still killing East Timor independence supporters, the summit can be seen only as
a way station on the road to securing peace in East Timor.

"But resolution of East Timor's status - greater autonomy within Indonesia, or independence
- cannot be imposed from outside the province: it must reflect the wishes of the East
Timorese."

Brisbane's Courier-Mail says when Mr Howard and Indonesian President B.J. Habibie meet in
Bali tomorrow, the pressing agenda item will be the worsening security situation in East
Timor.

It says the past 18 months have been the most difficult for Indonesia since the 1965
emergency that let to Suharto's rise to power three years later.

"Australia has been a good friend to Indonesia - some argue with a blind eye turned to
human and civil rights abuses - and the heart of Mr Howard's message must be that the
friendship will persist," The Courier-Mail says.

"In the coming months Indonesia will need all the friends it can muster."

The Sydney Morning Herald says NATO has marked its 50th anniversary in subdued fashion,
divided on whether to commit ground troops to the war in Yugoslavia.

The paper says NATO's summit meetings in New York last week showed differences as much as
unity, and its celebrations at the weekend were noticeably low-key.

It says NATO, born 50 years ago when the leaders of the United States and the war-town
nations of western Europe determined to meet the rising threat of the Soviet Union, has a new
role following the collapse of communism.

"As the Kosovo crisis has shown, though, that role is subject to many compromises and
contradictions," the Herald says.

The Age in Melbourne says thousands of older people are isolated and lonely, some receiving
not even as much as a telephone call a week.

The paper says almost one in 10 elderly Australians have contact with other people less
than twice a week.

In recent times, in western youth-oriented societies such as ours, we have tended to forget
how important to the welfare of the community the old have always been, it says.

"It is in our selfish interest to relearn this," it says.

The Adelaide Advertiser says the national council of federal and state education ministers
wants students to have a more comprehensive look at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island
cultures.

The paper says it applauds the move.

"Recognising the legitimacy of Aboriginal studies within the framework of education can
only help to produce a more informed, tolerant society," it says.

Sydney's Daily Telegraph says it's hard for those spared the worst ravages of of Sydney's
hailstorm to understand the trauma felt by many in the eastern and southern suburbs most
affected.

It says in hindsight, it is apparent the government and emergency services underestimated
the scale of the disaster.

"But the priority now should not be seeking scapegoats or apportioning blame.

"Our most important task is to repair the damage and mend the lives of those who are
suffering," the Telegraph says.

Melbourne's Herald Sun says many police have long honoured an unwritten code of not
reporting incidents of misconduct among their own.

The paper says the decision announced this week by the Kennett government to make such
actions punishable by a fine of $1,000 is well overdue.

"It is not un-Australian to dob in criminals," it says. "We expect nothing less of our
police."

AAP ao

KEYWORD: EDITORIALS

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