Hawke Labor had its immigration 'issues'

BACK in the mid-1980s the Labor government of Bob Hawke had immigration problems almost to be envied by Labor of 2013.

Asylum seekers arriving by boat were not a problem - because there weren't any.

The Human Rights Commission actually favoured holding illegal immigrants in immigration detention centres, albeit as an alternative to jails.

And the illegal immigrants were mostly visa overstayers, of whom about a third departed of their own accord. Another third left under immigration department supervision with the rest, just under a third, deported.

Cabinet papers for 1984 and 1985, released by the National Archives of Australia, show then immigration minister Chris Hurford was concerned that the system of processing those seeking to become permanent residents was outmoded and becoming increasingly unworkable.

Applicants were appearing at the rate of 10,000 a year, with appeals by those rejected producing backlogs of a year or more.

Hurford said administrative law sought to establish safeguards against arbitrary exercise of discretion by officials. In the peculiar field of immigration, delay worked to the benefit of the applicant.

"These safeguards have been abused so that administration has now become a nightmare, both in terms of frustration of government and the resources consumed," he said.

Hurford cited the recent case of a man who arrived without a passport or visa. The man admitted he had deliberately disposed of his passport and was refused entry at the airport.

Previously he sought and was refused a visa three times overseas.

His appeals occupied a Federal Court judge for a week and then the full Federal Court for another two days.

"The plain fact is that adverse decisions involve more time and resources than favourable ones," the minister lamented.

Hurford recommended change to immigration laws to penalise those who did the wrong thing, removing review rights, other than through the High Court.

Hurford also proposed special immigration appeal adjudicators who would sit alone in hearing cases. Those seeking leave to appeal would have no automatic right to remain in Australia pending the outcome.

The minister said the determination of refugee status was another major area of concern because of its political delicacy.

He recommended that power to decide on these cases should remain with him, acting on advice of the refugee status determination committee.

Hurford had other concerns. Australia's immigration detention centres were strained and he needed better facilities and more staff.

By 2013 standards, this wasn't much of a problem.

Now there are more than 5000 people in immigration detention facilities. In 1985, the three detention centres in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth had a combined capacity of 170.

They all were visa overstayers awaiting deportation with an average stay under a fortnight.

Hurford conceded the illegal immigrant population, estimated at 50,000, was increasing. It was estimated 30,000 a year became illegal immigrants but about half left or regularised their status.

The long-term illegal immigrant population was estimated around 15,000.

Hurford said the Human Rights Commission had recommended significant improvements in conditions at the detention centres which the government was implementing.

In a review of the Migration Act in May 1985, the commission recommended that the practice of holding illegal immigrants and deportees in jails should cease forthwith and the immigration detention centres be used instead.

Boats carrying asylum seekers from Indo-China started arriving in 1976 and ended in 1981, with none at all arriving until the second wave began in 1989-90.

That prompted Labor to introduce the controversial policy of mandatory detention in 1992.

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Hawke Labor set about reform with zeal

ALMOST three decades on, the Hawke-Keating government of the mid 1980s still retains its reputation as a reformist administration.

So what was it actually like to be there in those heady days?

Susan Ryan, a minister in the government, recalls there was a sense of history at play.

"We did from the beginning have a sense that it was a big opportunity for us as a Labor government to do big things," she told reporters at the launch of the cabinet papers for 1984-85.

"Some of our ministers had been in the Whitlam government and had been quite scarred by the short and tumultuous term of that government."

Ryan was senator for the Australian Capital Territory from 1975-87. Following Labor's election in 1983, she became minister for education and youth affairs and minister assisting the prime minister for the status of women.

She quit federal politics in December 1987 and is currently the inaugural age discrimination commissioner with the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Bob Hawke led Labor to victory in March 1983, ousting the coalition government of Malcolm Fraser.

Often referred to as a man-of-the-people, Hawke entered 1984 with a spectacularly high approval rating of 70 per cent, facing Andrew Peacock who headed a fractious coalition.

Labor's healthy lead in the opinion polls - 54-40 per cent - is something its modern-day counterpart can only dream about.

Despite this enviable electoral support, Labor wasn't on easy street, Ryan recalls.

The economy wasn't performing well. Unemployment and inflation were being pushed up by rising wages designed to cover cost-of-living pressures. Despite a floating dollar that prompted a rapid devaluation, the nation's balance of trade was bad and getting worse.

On the back of Hawke's popularity and dissatisfaction with the coalition, Labor had romped home at the 1983 election. It expected the December 1984 ballot to be a rerun, but that's not how it turned out.

Hawke was distracted by personal anguish having learned his daughter Rosslyn was addicted to heroin. As well, Peacock performed better than most pundits had expected.

"We did get back quite well, but it was a quite scary episode," Ryan said.

"However, we did not pull back at all on our program of reform and it did not make us more risk averse or more cautious."

The biggest challenge was the need to reform the tax system.

Ryan said cabinet discussion of tax reform was one of the most exciting periods of her time in politics.

"The discussions sometimes went all night," she said.

"They were at a very high level of intensity because there were lots of diverse views."

Ryan said she was swayed to the merits of Keating's Option C - a goods and services tax set at 12.5 per cent on everything, compensated by improvements in welfare benefits and pensions.

"Keating really led the charge and really instructed us all.

"He was at his best. He was fantastic. He explained all of these complex things. He'd be very dramatic, he would always stand up, his arms would be flailing around, he'd draw graphs and diagrams about what would happen."

Ryan found the then treasurer's argument totally persuasive, saying he educated the cabinet and the community about how the tax system worked and why it had to be reformed.

"He even educated those highly-educated members of the cabinet who were Rhodes scholars and the like, excepting, of course, prime minister Hawke, a Rhodes scholar who of course did know as much as Paul did about it."

A high point for Ryan was achieving progress on affirmative action at a time when few women held senior positions in the workforce.

Despite vehement opposition and dire predictions that the Sex Discrimination Act would destroy family life, Christianity and much more more, it was implemented without a significant struggle.

Ryan's low point was the reintroduction of university fees, a significant backtrack on the former Whitlam government which abolished tertiary fees in 1974.

Her "unreconstructed Whitlamite position" on fees was not shared in cabinet.

"The economic rationalists considered my position to be that not only of a dinosaur, but an innumerate dinosaur," she said.

Ryan said the government decided not to proceed with a plan to impose a $1400 fee at that time, but, once started, the debate about fees never went away.

"I won a couple of battles in the following two years. I lost the war."

In 1987, "some innocent little thing" called the administration charge ($250 for all tertiary students) was introduced.

"It was the thin edge of the wedge."

Subsequently, education minister John Dawkins oversaw the introduction of the Higher Education Contributions Scheme which still operates to this day.

Ryan said Whitlam's policy of ending university fees had allowed many women, who had left school at 15 or 17 and who never contemplated going to university because of the cost, to gain professional qualifications as mature-age students.

Whitlam still gets letters from women saying "if I hadn't been able to go to university my life would have been unlivable, but I got these professional qualifications".

"There was an important social impact," Ryan said.

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Fireworks light up foreshore at Gold Coast

CARTOON superheroes shone on a highrise wall as fireworks lit up the beachfront for the New Year's Eve curtain-raiser at Surfers Paradise.

Thousands of revellers took in the 9pm (AEST) show, a precursor to the main event at midnight which is billed as one of the biggest fireworks displays in Queensland for New Year's celebrations.

Organisers went with a superheroes theme for this year's family party, hoping to encourage children to attend as their favourite superhero and several little Spidermen and Supermen could be seen among the crowd.

Projected images of superheroes such as the Phantom and Batman were displayed on a highrise building adjacent to the beach as the fireworks display began.

"It's going to be a big year, bring on 2013," Coomera resident Steve Hoffmann, who brought his wife and son to the display, told AAP.

The event was one of several held up and down the Gold Coast while other centres in Queensland also lit up with their family-friendly displays.

The main event at Brisbane's South Bank had to be delayed by 10 minutes due to a helicopter needing the airspace above the Brisbane river to deliver a patient to nearby hospital but after that it was all systems go.

The midnight spectacular is expected to draw 80,000 people to the riverbank at South Bank with laser light shows and fireworks that launch underwater among the highlights.

"We've been working on a few surprises," Skylighter Fireworks director Max Brunner told Brisbanetimes.com.

"All I can say is that this year will be the biggest display a Brisbane New Year's Eve has ever had."

Public transport is being offered free of charge to revellers in Queensland's south-east from 9pm (AEST) until 5.30am (AEST) on New Year's Day.

Up in Queensland's north, torrential rain did little to dampen spirits as the early fireworks show along Cairns's esplanade went off as scheduled.

The heavy rain appears to have headed south leaving clear skies at midnight for revellers in Cairns and Townsville, though other centres such as Mackay and Bowen could face a damp start to 2013.

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European stocks mixed on last day of year

EUROPEAN stock markets diverged on Monday, the final trading day of 2012 amid fading hopes of a deal to avert the US "fiscal cliff" of sharp tax hikes and spending cuts.

The London and Paris markets were operating for only half a day, resulting in thin trading volumes, while the Frankfurt DAX 30 closed for the year on Friday, with Germany's main index gaining 29 per cent in value during 2012.

Frankfurt soared over the course of the year after staging a sustained rally in late 2012 on eurozone debt progress and fresh stimulus moves by the US Federal Reserve, analysts said.

In late morning deals on Monday, London's benchmark FTSE 100 was down 0.40 per cent at 5,901.7 points, having risen almost six per cent over the year.

The Paris CAC 40 was showing a gain of 0.38 per cent to 3,633.96 points, having won 15 per cent in 2012.

Madrid has lost more than five per cent since January while Milan has climbed eight per cent, as Spain and Italy battle with national debt strains.

"Despite signs of economic strength in China ... the mood in the markets is rather subdued - all because of the fiscal cliff impasse across the pond," said Gekko Global Markets trader Anita Paluch, explaining Monday's trading performance.

In foreign exchange deals, the euro fell to $US1.3194 from $US1.3217 late in New York on Friday. Gold prices rose to $US1,666.80 an ounce on the London Bullion Market from $US1,657.50 on Friday.

The single currency has risen by about 2.0 per cent in value against the dollar in 2012.

"Given that this time last year, markets were factoring in a euro bust-up and Greek exiting from the eurozone club by end of 2012, the year actually has seen equities and the euro put on a respectable show," Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at ETX Capital trading group, told AFP.

"European corporates aren't doing too bad either - cash rich in many cases as they hoarded money during the worst of the crisis. This means they will have to put that money to work in 2013, whether its through share buybacks, mergers and acquisitions or increasing dividends.

"At the same time, valuations are cheap and the increase in risk appetite this year has been favourable for cyclical stocks like banks, miners, autos and industrials. So looking to 2013, we should see a sense of normality return to markets as 2012 was still a bit of a rollercoaster," Siddiqi added.

Over in Washington, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill ended Sunday without reaching a compromise over a deficit-cutting budget that would be less painful than the deep spending cuts and tax hikes due to start taking effect on Tuesday.

Back in Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that her country's economy, the continent's biggest, would experience a harder time next year than in 2012 and cautioned too that the eurozone debt crisis was far from over.

In her annual New Year address, Merkel said: "In fact, the economic environment next year will not be easier, but more difficult", adding: "The crisis is a long way from being beaten."

Although top exporter Germany has managed to hold up to the crisis fairly well, growth has slowed here as well since the beginning of the year.

In Asia meanwhile, stock markets fell in New Year's Eve-shortened trade. However, there was some bright news out of China, where a survey by HSBC showed manufacturing activity hit a 19-month high in December.

And despite Monday's losses, all the region's stock markets ended the year higher, with Bangkok the standout performer, surging almost 36 per cent, while Shanghai was the weakest, adding less than three per cent over the 12 months.

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Sydney leads New Year's Eve party charge

IT'S the party that starts the world's New Year celebrations and Sydney didn't disappoint yet again.

As one of the first major cities in the world to welcome in 2013, Sydney has set the standard. Just ask the millions who watched the spectacular display both in person and on the television.

On a warm summer night, an estimated 1.5 million people poured into the city to watch the $6.6 million fireworks display light up the sky - twice - from the harbour foreshore, at Darling Harbour and other vantage points with the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge playing a major part.

Pop princess Kylie Minogue, the event's creative ambassador who chose the theme of Embrace for the celebrations, started the midnight show with the press of a button.

A giant set of red lips in the middle of the harbour bridge counted down to midnight, before the fireworks set off.

A one-of-a-kind sparkling semiquaver - to honour Kylie's 25 years in music - was one of 100,000 individual pyrotechnic creations this year, including brand new koala, octopus and hand images up in lights.

Sydney's skyline exploded in gold, pink, green and blue first at 9pm for the family-oriented curtain raiser and again at midnight.

Colours streamed from four barges situated around the harbour, with gold flashes cascading like tinsel as a gold butterfly-like design lit up the bridge.

"It was all great, amazing," said Lee Whittaker, from Denistone, who brought her kids Mel and Leon with her.

And there are plenty of tourists who come especially for the event.

American Melissa Sjostedt said she had wanted to see the fireworks on the bridge since reading about it in National Geographic 10 years ago.

"Ever since that I've always wanted to see this for real, live, in person," the 30-year-old from Florida told AAP from Dawes Point Reserve.

Mathieu Herman, 30, from New York City, said he'd made the trip to Australia specifically for New Year's Eve.

"I saw it last year on TV and it looked fabulous. I said to myself 'it's something I've just got to do'."

Across the rest of the country, other major cities hosted their own fireworks displays and parties.

More than half a million people filled the Melbourne city centre with live sites at Treasury Gardens, Flagstaff Gardens and the Docklands.

Throughout the evening, free concert at Federation Square had tens of thousands dancing away the remaining hours of 2012.

Irish sisters Emma and Sophie O'Dowd said they couldn't resist the lure of the New Year's lights and sounds, stopping at Yarra Park to see the fireworks light up the MCG on their way to a dance party.

"It's what it's all about. What a beautiful stage you've got here," Sophie, 22, said.

Surfers Paradise hosted one of Queensland's biggest New Year's Eve fireworks displays, with thousands catching a preview at the 9pm (AEST) show.

Organisers went with a superheroes theme for this year's family party, hoping to encourage children to attend as their favourite superhero and several little Spidermen and Supermen could be seen among the crowd.

In Brisbane, crowds were slightly down at South Bank, but there was still plenty of cheer as revellers waited to welcome in midnight.

Perth is partying through a heatwave, while Adelaide tried to encourage less alcohol and more family-friendly events.

Hobart hosted thousands in town for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race and Tasmania's biggest event, The Taste Festival near Salamanca Place.

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Bad brakes cited in Moscow crash landing

RUSSIAN investigators have blamed a defective brake system for a Moscow airport crash that killed five crew members when a plane skidded off the runway and smashed into a highway.

Rescue workers recovered the flight recorders from the four-year-old Tu-204 of tycoon Alexander Lebedev's Red Wings airline late Saturday as Russia began mourning its latest post-Soviet crash fatalities.

"The plane touched down in the proper landing area but for some reason was unable to stop on the strip," Federal Air Transport Agency chief Alexander Neradko said in televised remarks.

"According to preliminary data, the pilots used all the brake systems available on the plane," an unidentified investigator told the Interfax news agency.

"But for some reason, the aircraft failed to stop and continued moving" down the runway. "Most likely, the cause was defective reverse engines or brakes."

Red Wings said a flight attendant died of her injuries on Sunday to bring the toll to five. Three others were recovering in a stable condition.

Greater loss of life was averted only because the 210-seat liner was empty except for the eight crew returning from a charter flight to the Czech Republic.

Mobile phone footage of the accident posted online showed chunks of debris hurtling over the highway and crashing into cars whose drivers had to swerve and make emergency stops.

The jet split into three pieces and required the temporary shutdown of both the Kiev Highway and Vnukovo - Moscow's third largest airport and the site of a special terminal for Kremlin officials.

Red Wings owner Lebedev - a billionaire famous for his critical view of the Kremlin and his ownership of the London Evening Standard and The Independent in Britain - said the jet had recently passed a meticulous check.

"Plane number 47 had accumulated 8500 flight hours and underwent its last thorough check on November 23," Lebedev said on his Twitter feed.

He also suggested that traffic controllers' initial refusal to authorise landing - requiring the plane to complete several circles over Vnukovo in bad weather - may have been a contributing factor.

"All machinery has its limits, even when it is new," Lebedev wrote.

Russian media said the authorities had concerns about the Tu-204 jet's ability to stop in various weather conditions even before Saturday's crash landing.

They cited a letter sent by the state aviation watchdog Rosaviatsya to the jet's maker on Friday asking about an incident last week in which the engines failed to fire into reverse on landing.

The manoeuvre is required for the plane to slow down quickly upon touchdown.

The russianplanes.net aviation website said the very same jet had suffered an engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing in June 2009.

It said Lebedev's airline had in fact decided not to order any more Tu-204 planes after the 2009 incident because of the engine problems.

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'Syria collapse threatens region'

THE UN envoy for the Syria crisis is warning that further deterioration of conditions in the country could send an unbearable stream of refugees into neighbouring countries.

Speaking Saturday after meeting in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, peace envoy Lakhdar Braihmi said "if you have a panic in Damascus and if you have 1 million people leaving Damascus in a panic, they can go to only two places - Lebanon and Jordan. Neither Lebanon or Jordan can support without breaking 500,000 refugees."

Mr Brahimi said that "If the only alternative is really hell or a political process, then we have got all of us to work ceaselessly for a political process."

Neither official gave indication of significant progress toward resolving the 21-month-old conflict in which an estimated 40,000 people have died.

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Strong interest in apprenticeship program

ALMOST 500 potential apprentices have registered for the Gillard government's Kickstart program since it was launched two weeks ago.

The $57.5 million Kickstart program was designed to create up to 21,000 extra apprenticeships in the construction industry.

Tradies who take on a new apprentice before the end of February will get a bonus $3350 from the commonwealth, tripling the upfront incentive paid to employers in the first year.

Minister for Skills Senator Chris Evans said applications had been received from across the country, with the strongest demand so far in carpentry, plumbing and engineering fabrication.

"This is the perfect opportunity for school leavers in particular to get a head start on a successful and rewarding career in the industry," Senator Evans said.

"We will need more skilled tradespeople in the housing sector as we approach the predicted upturn in 2014 and 2015."

The three east coast mainland states have registered the most interest, with more than 200 potential apprentices applying in Victoria, 112 in NSW and 109 in Queensland.

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FBI releases Marilyn Monroe files

THE FBI has re-issued files it kept on Marilyn Monroe, removing dozens of redactions from entries related to surveillance of the actress for communist ties.

A large section of the files obtained by The Associated Press focuses on Monroe's 1962 trip to Mexico and her emerging friendship with Frederick Vanderbilt Field, who was disinherited from his wealthy family for leftist views.

Field was Monroe's guide on a trip in which she furniture-shopped for her new home.

The AP appealed the redactions in the file as part of a series of stories on the 50th anniversary of Monroe's death in 1962, but the bureau previously said it no longer had access to the files.

The bureau issued a new version after a request for details on the records' locations.

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Film composer Bennett dies aged 76

SIR Richard Rodney Bennett, a British composer, pianist and arranger who was nominated three times for Academy Awards, has died in New York City at age 76.

His publisher Novello & Co said in a statement that Bennett died on Dec. 24 following a brief illness.

He was nominated for Oscars for the scores for Far from the Madding Crowd in 1967, Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971 and Murder on the Orient Express in 1974.

A student of Pierre Boulez in 1957-58, Bennett's work evolved from the avant-garde to a more tonal style. As a pianist, he performed with singer Claire Martin and he recorded music by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen.

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