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6/6 - 6/13/2005
1) RUSSIA: NEW GREEN PARTY SET UP IN
RUSSIA
2) RUSSIA: RUSSIAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS CREATE NEW GREEN
PARTY
3) NEW ZEALAND: GREENS TAKE AIM AT PETERS, BRASH AT
UNOFFICIAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCH
4) NEW ZEALAND: PETERS SAYS GREEN PARTY HAS 'SOLD OUT'
5) FRANCE: GREEN PARTY EU PARLIAMENT CHIEF SAYS FRENCH,
DUTCH GOVERNMENTS SHOWED NO COMMITMENT TO EU CONSTITUTION
6) IRELAND: CARLOW COUNCIL TO VOTE ON DISPUTED BIKES BAN
7) NEW ZEALAND: GREENS' SNAG
8) CANADA: GREEN PARTY LEADER ODDY RUNNING AS INDEPENDENT
IN CHESTER- ST. MARGARETS
9) PENNSYLVANIA: ADAMS GREEN PARTY UNVEILS SLATE OF
CANDIDATES
10) ENGLAND: 'WE ARE THE ONLY PARTY WHOSE POLICIES JOIN
UP' ; GREEN PARTY CO-PRINCIPAL SPEAKER KEITH TAYLOR TALKS TO MATTHEW
TEMPEST ABOUT VOTER FRUSTRATION, CLIMATE CHANGE AND ECONOMIC
EFFICIENCY.
11) ENGLAND: GREENS DEAL KEEPS LONDON COUNCIL TAX RISES
DOWN
12) AUSTRALIA: AUSTRALIA DISTANT ON BID FOR ASYLUM; CASE
ON CHINESE ENVOY STIRS ANGER
13) NEW ZEALAND: MENINGITIS JABS SAFE, SAYS MINISTRY
14) ENGLAND: BRITAIN - GREENS DENOUNCE BUSH;
15) ENGLAND: BRITAIN - LUCAS PRESSES FOR COMPLETE BAN ON
WHALING;
16) GERMANY: TV SHOW DEPICTS 9/11 AS BUSH PLOT
17) NEW ZEALAND: GREENS TO CAMPAIGN FOR OVERSEAS VOTES
18) IRELAND: FAMILY REJECT MCDOWELL CLAIMS ON
RESPONSIBILITY;
19) NEW ZEALAND: RIGHT WORDS, WRONG TUNE
20) NEW ZEALAND: RED TIDE MUST STOP _ FITZSIMONS
21) POLAND: POLISH GAYS MARCH DESPITE BAN BY WARSAW
MAYOR
1) Interfax news agency via BBC Monitoring Former
Soviet Union - Political; June 5, 2005
RUSSIA: NEW GREEN PARTY SET UP IN RUSSIA
Moscow, 5 June-- A political party called "The Russian Union of
Greens (Green Russia)" has been set up at a congress in the town
of Korolev near Moscow.
Interfax was told by the president of the Centre for Environmental
Policy, Aleksey Yablokov, that delegates are currently discussing the
statutes and programme of the party.
He added that it is expected that the congress will elect the party
leadership. "I will be putting myself forward for the leadership
of the party, and it is likely that my deputies will be the activist
from the Bellona environmental organization, Aleskandr Nikitin, the
head of the Moscow Environmental Union, Andrey Frolov, and the leader
of the Saratov Green movement, Olga Pitsunova," Yablokov said.
[The Russian Union of Greens (Green Russia) hopes to emulate the
achievements of its counterpart in Germany, Aleksey Yablokov, has told
Russian external TV service NTV Mir.
"We know that we will not be in the majority, but we could become
a key partner without whom it is impossible to take decisions, just as
is the case in Germany. The party there is relatively small - they
have just 12 or 15 per cent - but no decisions can be taken without
them. We want to emulate this," Yablokov was shown saying on NTV
Mir's 0900 gmt bulletin on 5 June.]
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2) Associated Press Worldstream; June 5, 2005
RUSSIA: RUSSIAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS CREATE NEW GREEN PARTY
MOSCOW -- Environmentalists from across Russia gathered in Moscow
Sunday for the founding congress of a new Green Party.
Delegates voted on the leadership and founding charter of the new
party - to be called Green Russia. Organizers said the party would be
the first real political organization for environmentalists in the
country.
"We understand that we of course will not receive a majority of
votes," said Alexei Yablokov, head of the Environmental Policies
Center and former presidential adviser. "But we can become a key
partner without which it will be impossible to pass legislation, just
like they have in Germany."
Alexander Nikitin, a former naval officer who co-authored a report on
environmental dangers in Russia's northern submarine fleet, was
expected to be among the party's new leadership.
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3) The Press (Christchurch, New Zealand); June 6, 2005
NEW ZEALAND: GREENS TAKE AIM AT PETERS, BRASH AT UNOFFICIAL
CAMPAIGN LAUNCH
The shadow of New Zealand First leader Winston Peters loomed large in
the weekend over the Green Party's annual conference in Christchurch.
No sooner had visiting Australian Green Senator Kerry Nettle warned
party members that "the bigger the Greens grow, the more the
attacks we face", than the attacks began.
However, they came from the Greens -- led off by party co-leader Rod
Donald -- and they were targeted squarely at Peters, National leader
Don Brash and, to a lesser extent, United Future's Peter Dunne.
Underlying these attacks was recent polling suggesting that Peters --
rather than the Greens -- would hold the balance of power, as he had
previously in 1996.
Donald demonised Peters and Brash, likening them to a latter-day Rob
Muldoon and Roger Douglas, respectively.
Ironically, he could then say that "we are committed to clean
politics because we want to focus on substance rather than
sleaze".
The conference -- billed by Donald as an unofficial campaign launch --
gave glimpses of how the Greens are striving to increase their vote
share to become a viable coalition partner.
One tactic is to portray Labour as having become tired in Government,
and having made too many concessions to the Centre-Right.
"Labour certainly needs a decent helping of Greens to freshen up
its stale diet and tarnished image," is how Donald put it.
Fitzsimons argued that, despite Labour and National being neck and
neck in the latest poll, the election would be decided by the support
for the third-party coalition options.
Donald also warned that a party vote for Labour, rather than the
Greens, could lead to Labour being dependent on NZ First.
Also evident at the conference was a drive to diversify the party's
support base and emphasise points of difference with Labour.
The focus on employment law and social justice suggests that the party
is accentuating its broader Centre-Left credentials, hoping to appeal
to former Alliance supporters and Labour Left-wingers.
Former Alliance leader Laila Harre was undoubtedly not joking when she
quipped that "it is so good that so many of my former Alliance
comrades have found safe haven here".
Harre and Council of Trade Union president Ross Wilson attended the
conference and were unstinting in their praise for the Greens' voting
record in support of worker-friendly legislation.
Both made it clear that they wanted Labour to form a coalition with
the Greens, not NZ First.
However, this emphasis on social justice issues could force the party
to make a decision on its direction.
"The party is at a crossroads. There is confusion in the minds of
voters as to what the party represents," said retiring MP Ian
Ewen-Street.
Fitzsimons did not accept this view.
Nor was Ewen-Street prepared to elaborate.
It appears, however, that he was referring to the party's original
environmental focus compared to the broader agenda evident at the
conference.
Students are another target audience for the Greens.
The party's student loan policy has been warmly received by the New
Zealand University Students' Association.
It is also an important point of policy difference as the Greens
portray themselves as compatible with Labour, but with their own
brand, and an antidote to any moves to the Right by Labour.
Nor are the Greens prepared to surrender the 10 per cent share of the
party vote in Maori seats which they got in 2002.
With some polls suggesting that this support has leaked to the Maori
Party, Fitzsimons issued a call to split vote.
"You can get two MPs for the price of one this election,"
she advised Maori voters.
They could get a staunch local candidate, presumably from the Maori
Party -- although Fitzsimons did not specify this -- with the
electorate vote. Then Maori voters could use their party vote to
reward the Greens for their environmental credentials and for their
opposition to the Government's foreshore legislation.
Greens' conference -- A11
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4) The New Zealand Herald; June 7, 2005
NEW ZEALAND: PETERS SAYS GREEN PARTY HAS 'SOLD OUT'
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says Green Party attacks on
him are the actions of a low-polling party which has sold out its
principles.
Greens co-leader Rod Donald attacked Mr Peters at the party's weekend
conference, describing him as a "snake-oil merchant" and the
"ugly face of New Zealand politics".
He said Mr Peters' proposed "flying squad" which would
search for potentially risky immigrants "echoes Hitler's
Germany".
The attacks came as part of a series of speeches condemning the
prospect of a National-NZ First coalition.
However, Mr Peters yesterday described Mr Donald as "a man who's
obsessed with being in Cabinet and will sell any principle down the
drain".
"They [the Greens] are going off to political oblivion. They
don't actually stand for anything and won't stand up for
anything," he said on the Paul Holmes television show last night.
He said Green Party members had rung his office apologising for Mr
Donald's attacks on him.
"They think it's a disgrace, they believe that they've forgotten
their great, serious environmental cause which I think is important in
this country," Mr Peters said.
Mr Peters' poll ratings and those of New Zealand First have increased
in the past few months, partly after a series of revelations made
under Parliamentary privilege about Iraqis in New Zealand who were
allegedly linked to Saddam Hussein's regime.
He said the proposed "flying squads" would be made up of New
Zealanders from all ethnic backgrounds.
" After all, my informants on many of these issues come from
these backgrounds," he said.
Mr Donald and fellow co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons made several
criticisms of both Mr Peters and National Party leader Don Brash at
the Greens' conference.
The scenario Mr Donald painted in his speech was of a
"bleak" future under a National/NZ First government.
"It's a choice between a Labour/Green government, which believes
in compassion, diversity and tolerance and has a strong social and
environmental conscience, and a National/NZ First government which
stands for divisiveness, intolerance, bigotry and ignoring the poor to
give tax cuts to the rich," Mr Donald said.
The Greens want to work with Labour, as the party made clear at its
weekend conference. It has said it will not go into coalition with
National under any circumstances.
A National Business Review poll released on Friday had National edging
in front of Labour, and NZ First support at 11.6 per cent. It had the
Greens on 5.4 per cent.
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5) Associated Press Worldstream; June 7, 2005
FRANCE: GREEN PARTY EU PARLIAMENT CHIEF SAYS FRENCH, DUTCH
GOVERNMENTS SHOWED NO COMMITMENT TO EU CONSTITUTION
STRASBOURG -- The leader of the Greens in the European Parliament
launched a scathing attack on France and the Netherlands on Tuesday,
saying their governments showed no commitment to the EU Constitution
despite pledging to ratify it.
"The French and Dutch government didn't commit themselves to the
constitution or committed themselves too late," Daniel Cohn-Bendit
said. "But they can't go back - they've already pledged to ratify
it. The text exists, it's not going to be suddenly filed somewhere in
the European library."
Government leaders of all 25 EU nations signed the constitution last
October in Rome, but the French and Dutch rejected it in referendums
last week.
Cohn-Bendit, a staunch supporter of the constitution, said the French
public debate was biased and aimed against the government and
President Jacques Chirac.
"Had Chirac said: 'If you vote 'yes', I'll quit', we would've
won," Cohn-Bendit said.
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6) The Irish Times; June 7, 2005
IRELAND: CARLOW COUNCIL TO VOTE ON DISPUTED BIKES BAN
by Paul Cullen
Carlow County Council is to vote next week on a controversial proposal
to ban quad bikes and other off-road vehicles from upland areas.
With other councils closely watching proceedings in Carlow, a vote in
favour of a ban is likely to lead to restrictions in many other
mountain areas.
Walkers, environmentalists and other opponents of quads and scrambler
motorbikes say they cause erosion, damage archaeological sites and
frighten animals.
Nonetheless, the use of such vehicles for leisure purposes is
increasing. Some farmers also use quads to reach sheep in upland
areas.
Carlow County Council has already rejected two proposals from its
strategic policy committee to ban off-road vehicles from the
Blackstairs mountains.
However, next Monday's meeting is expected to approve the latest draft
of the proposed bylaw, which will also affect mountain bikes.
Green Party deputy leader Mary White, who proposed the original bylaw
two years ago, said mountainous areas of Co Carlow had been
"completely destroyed" by quads.
"A very fragile peat environment is under attack. The peat breaks
down under the effect of the erosion, and water run-off causes further
damage to the bog and to the roads." Ms White said the proposed
bylaw was supported by farmers as well as walkers. Exemptions will
apply to farmers using off-road vehicles in their work.
Labour's Cllr Michael Meaney said claims of widespread erosion were
"a lot of hype".
"There's absolutely no need for it. We already have enough rules
and regulations. Besides, it won't work. Who is there to police
it?" Mr Meaney said the original proposal had been watered down
so much that it was now "meaningless".
The original proposal required farmers using quads to have a permit,
renewable every three years. However, this requirement has been
removed.
The Mountaineering Council of Ireland, which has welcomed the
proposal, wants other local authorities to follow the example of Louth,
which introduced restrictions on off-road vehicles in the Cooley
Mountains two years ago.
The MCI is also seeking resources to police the ban and the
designation of areas for use by quads, scrambling bikes and
four-wheel-drive vehicles.
In Carlow, the controversy is fuelled by rivalry between Ms White and
Mr Meaney, who both represent Borris on the council.
Yesterday Mr Meaney accused the Greens of trying to gain attention
from the issue and claimed Ms White had "an insatiable appetite
for publicity".
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7) The Press (Christchurch, New Zealand); June 7, 2005
NEW ZEALAND: GREENS' SNAG
If there wasn't a sense of deja vu at the Green Party's annual
conference at the weekend, there should have been. Several months
before the 2002 general election, the implosion of the Alliance made
it seem a safe bet that the Greens would be Labour's coalition partner
of choice. But the Greens' hopes of wielding real power were destroyed
by the genetic engineering issue. This election they have also
harboured fond hopes of graduating from being one of a number of
issue- by-issue support helpers for the Government into a full-fledged
coalition partner, with the rewards of policy and office-holding this
would entail. Unfortunately, lying in their way is an obstacle called
Winston Peters.
Peters, surely one of the shrewdest campaigners around, has made a
familiar pre-election surge in the polls. Combine this with National's
erosion of Labour's poll supremacy and there are two uncomfortable
scenarios for the Greens. The first is that Labour will have to form a
coalition with New Zealand First. The other is that any vestige of a
Centre-Left government would be removed by Peters opting for National
as his coalition partner.
This explains the venom of Green co-leader Rod Donald's attack on
Peters, whom he described as Muldoonist and representing the ugly face
of New Zealand politics. The savage attack suggests that the Greens
are adopting a harder-edged and more pragmatic political style. So too
does the greater emphasis being placed by the Greens on social justice
and a broader Centre-Left agenda, appealing to students with their
big-spending tertiary education policy, and the union movement. But
this effort to widen the Greens' support base carries with it a risk.
It could alienate supporters for whom the party's appeal lay in its
environmental emphasis and image of being above petty politicking.
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8) The Halifax Daily News (Nova Scotia); June 7, 2005
CANADA: GREEN PARTY LEADER ODDY RUNNING AS INDEPENDENT IN CHESTER-
ST. MARGARETS
by Brian Flinn
The interim leader of the Nova Scotia Green Party will be on the
ballot for the Chester-St. Margarets byelection, but the party's name
won't be.
Michael Oddy said the Greens want to set up riding associations in
each of the province's 52 constituencies before the next general
election and become an official party.
For now, he will run as an independent.
Oddy ran for the Green Party in Halifax in the last federal election,
picking up five per cent of the vote.
A teacher at Sir John A. Macdonald High School and a resident of Fox
Point, Lunenburg Co., he said he will campaign for a light rail system
on the South Shore and other improvements to public transit to prepare
for declining oil reserves and future increases in transportation
costs.
bflinn@hfxnews.ca
GRAPHIC: Michael Oddy
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9) The Evening Sun (Hanover, PA); June 7, 2005
PENNSYLVANIA: ADAMS GREEN PARTY UNVEILS SLATE OF CANDIDATES
by Charles Schillinger
A record number of Adams County Green Party candidates plan to seek
seats in this year's election, and two intend to run for spots on
Gettysburg Borough Council.
In a couple of cases, the Green Party candidates are adding
competition to previously uncontested elections, said Thom Marti, a
member of the political committee for the Adams County Green Party.
"In Pennsylvania, we have a one-party system," he said in
announcing the party's six candidates for 2005. "The Republicans
run in the country; the Democrats run in cities - and the people are
not given a choice. So we become the choice."
Marty Qually, a municipal administrator, joins the 1st Ward race for
Gettysburg council.
Two individuals were already running for that spot, including Democrat
Michael Birkner and Republican Carie Matijevic, who earned a place on
the November ballot through a write-in campaign.
Jake Schindel, co-owner of the Ragged Edge Coffee House on
Chambersburg Street in Gettysburg, is giving an incumbent competition
in Gettysburg's 2nd Ward . He faces off with councilwoman Caroline
Smith in November.
In the Bermudian Springs School District, two Republicans and one
Democrat are seeking two Region III school board posts. Green Party
nominee Chuck Steel, a computing specialist at Dickinson College,
becomes the fourth name on that list. Region III candidates must live
in Reading Township.
And what was an uncontested race for four positions on the Gettysburg
school board became competitive when Courtney Wege of the Green Party
joined the ballot. She is an assistant director of admissions at
Gettysburg College.
Ballot petition requirements on the local level are not as strict as
the state level, which makes running in a municipal election more
appealing, Marti said.
For instance, a Green Party candidate might be required to obtain
30,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot for a state government
post. But someone wanting to run for borough council in Arendtsville
might be required to get as few as 10 signatures.
"There's no doubt the Green Party and other minor parties are
often pushed to the side by big-party politics," Marti said about
the requirements on the state level.
But at the local level, he said the party is doing well.
In 2000, the party had 15 members in Adams County. In 2004, there were
162 registered. And only two candidates ran under the Green Party
ticket in 2002, while races this year attracted six.
"They're starting to realize we're here, we offer an
option," Marti said.
The Green Party emphasizes grassroot campaigns and local control, he
said, while topping its agenda with the need for smart growth rather
than sprawl and better water quality.
Also running under the Green Party ticket is Robert Klunk, a homebound
instructor, hoping to win a spot on Arendtsville council. Klunk won
the Democratic nomination as well and is the only candidate for the
three open seats on the council.
Green Party nominee Derf Maitland, owner of Reader's Cafe in Hanover,
will be the only candidate on the November ballot for Union Township
auditor.
Contact Charles Schillinger at cschillinger@eveningsun.com.
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10) Guardian Unlimited; April 12, 2005
ENGLAND: 'WE ARE THE ONLY PARTY WHOSE POLICIES JOIN UP' ; GREEN
PARTY CO-PRINCIPAL SPEAKER KEITH TAYLOR TALKS TO MATTHEW TEMPEST ABOUT
VOTER FRUSTRATION, CLIMATE CHANGE AND ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY.
The Green party, who launched their manifesto today, are pinning their
hopes of a Westminster breakthrough on new party co-principal speaker
Keith Taylor. The city councillor is standing for the Brighton
Pavilion seat against Labour's David Lepper, and pulled in the Green's
biggest vote - 10% - at the 2001 general election.
Guardian Unlimited spoke to him at today's launch:
This is a platform - of opposition to the war in Iraq, of opposition
to PFI and the privatisation of public services, of action on climate
change - which will clearly appeal to some disgruntled Labour voters.
What do you say to the accusation that any tempted to vote Green will
be wasting their vote unless it's actually in the one seat you have a
chance of winning - namely, yours?
A real wasted vote is a vote for something you don't believe in. Every
single vote we get is a message to Westminster and a message to City
Hall. People are fed up with not being listened to. When you get 2
million people on the streets and they're still ignored, why shouldn't
they be?
Why is so much of your campaigning focused on the Liberal Democrats,
rather than Labour or the Tories?
It's time for a reality check. Charles Kennedy is touring the country
in the most damaging form of transport known to man - aeroplane. The
party claims it has a "green thread" running through its
manifesto, but we have calculated that he is generating 100 tonnes of
carbon emissions campaigning. But that fits with Lib Dem philosophy.
They claim to oppose aviation expansion - until capacity is reached
and they'll build some more runways in the south-east.
Of course, the government itself opposes tax on aviation fuel, has
missed its Kyoto target and missed its carbon emissions target.
I joined the Green party because we are the only party whose policies
join up. Our party thinks about the next 100 years.
Name one policy in particular.
Aviation. There are hidden costs not being passed on. Believe it or
not, it doesn't really cost a tenner to fly to Majorca or wherever.
That's not the real cost. We are responsible for this planet, and the
state we hand it on to our children in.
The only people denying climate change now are the people who are
making their money from burning fossil fuels. They are the corporate
deniers - the same thing we once saw with the denial of a link between
tobacco and lung cancer and a denial of a link between asbestos and
mesothelioma.
Is the party still committed to a goal of 0% economic growth?
There is damage in having a goal of economic growth per se. Whether it
grows or contracts is not the main decider. I prefer
"performance" to "growth". We can have better
efficiency and do more with less.
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11) Guardian Unlimited; February 14, 2005
ENGLAND: GREENS DEAL KEEPS LONDON COUNCIL TAX RISES DOWN
HIGHLIGHT:
London council tax payers face the lowest ever budget increase set by
the mayor, Ken Livingstone, following a controversial deal struck with
the London assembly's Green party, it has been confirmed.
London council tax payers face the lowest ever budget increase set by
the mayor, Ken Livingstone, following a controversial deal struck with
the London assembly's Green party, it was confirmed today.
The final amount to be levied on Londoners as part of their overall
council tax bill will add £13.29 on a Band D household, equivalent
to an extra 26p a week.
But the 5.5% budget increase still exceeds by a small margin the 5%
threshold that the local government minister, Nick Raynsford, has set
to trigger the capping mechanism.
The revised figure, confirmed today at a London assembly meeting which
concluded this lunchtime, is down from an initial 7.2% proposed by Mr
Livingstone in his draft budget, which was presented and rejected by
the assembly at the end of last month.
It follows behind-the-scenes talks with the Green party, which holds
the balance of power, in blocking his final budget proposals for the
next financial year.
With only seven Labour members in the 25-strong assembly following
last year's assembly elections, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat
groups had hoped to garner the support of the minority Veritas and
Green parties to gain the two-thirds majority needed to veto the
mayor's budget and introduce an alternative budget of their own.
But after giving their early support to voting down the mayor's
initial draft budget proposals, the assembly's two Green party members
were courted by Mr Livingstone who agreed to concessions in exchange
for their support for his spending plans to increase neighbourhood
policing teams across London.
The raft of measures in the package include a commitment to make the
production of renewable energy for the Tube a top priority of the new
Climate Change Agency; a new training and skills initiative for green
energy and sustainable construction and a minimum of £20m to be
spent on creating and improving parks and public spaces in London.
The most controversial aspect of the deal surrounds Mr Livingstone's
agreement to set aside £50,000 to support local residents in
presenting their concerns to the Thames Gateway Bridge Inquiry, in
opposition to Transport for London's plans, for which the mayor has
responsibility.
Mr Livingstone is the primary cheerleader for the plan to build the
six-lane bridge, which he sees as crucial to the redevelopment of east
London and the Thames Gateway, while the Greens oppose it on
environmental grounds.
As a result of the deal, Mr Livingstone's budget went through
unamended at the assembly, straight after facing a cross-party motion
of censure from members over his comments made last week to an Evening
Standard reporter whom he compared to a concentration camp guard, for
which he refused to apologise.
He described his budget as "a good deal for Londoners" which
will secure his manifesto pledge to introduce five additional local
policing teams in each London borough.
"The return to beat policing has had a major impact on both crime
and fear of crime in the communities already served by the safer
neighbourhood teams," he said. "The budget confirmed today
guarantees that more and more Londoners will benefit from these
dedicated local policing teams."
Green assembly member Jenny Jones welcomed the "greener,
healthier budget".
"This budget process was about securing solid green gains for
London," she said. "We have been successful in accelerating
progress for a cleaner, greener, safer London."
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12) The International Herald Tribune; June 9, 2005
AUSTRALIA: AUSTRALIA DISTANT ON BID FOR ASYLUM; CASE ON CHINESE
ENVOY STIRS ANGER
by Raymond Bonner
SOURCE: The New York Times
CANBERRA -- It might be expected that when a senior Chinese diplomat
expresses a desire to defect to a Western government, bringing claims
of a huge spy network in that country, he would be warmly embraced and
whisked off for secret debriefings.
But that has not been the fate of Chen Yonglin, a 37-year old
political officer at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, who also claims
that Chinese dissidents abroad have been kidnapped and sent home.
Rather than trumpet a prime intelligence catch, the Australian
government has done its best to keep its distance from Chen.
"My spirit is severely distressed for my sin of working for the
unjustified authority in somewhat evil way," Chen wrote to the
Australian authorities on May 26, seeking political asylum for
himself, his wife and his 6-year-old daughter. The two-page letter was
provided to The New York Times by Senator Bob Brown, leader of the
Greens Party, who has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the
government's handling of Chen. ...
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13) The New Zealand Herald; June 10, 2005
NEW ZEALAND: MENINGITIS JABS SAFE, SAYS MINISTRY
The Ministry of Health has rejected accusations that inadequate
clinical trials were carried out on the meningococcal B vaccine before
it was given to New Zealand children.
Green Party MP Sue Kedgley said it was "disturbing" that the
ministry had not done Phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine before
launching its $200 million campaign to vaccinate all those under 20
against meningococcal B.
"The fact that a similar vaccine was fully tested in Norway 15
years ago does not justify introducing a new vaccine targeted at more
than a million children without the proper safety and efficacy
data," Ms Kedgley said.
But Director-General of Health Dr Karen Poutasi said the MeNZB vaccine
had gone through the required clinical trials.
The ministry had relied on anti-body data from Phase 1 and 2 clinical
trials, involving 1703 New Zealanders aged 6 weeks to 19 years.
The data indicated about 75 per cent of those who received three
vaccinations would be protected against meningococcal B....
...Ms Kedgley said she had received feedback from parents that some
schoolchildren had been told they would die if they were not
vaccinated or would not be allowed on school camps.
"It is important that parental choice is not undermined and undue
pressure exerted," she said.
Dr Poutasi said the ministry was working with district health boards
to ensure parents could make an informed choice about whether to
vaccinate.
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14) Morning Star; June 09, 2005
ENGLAND: BRITAIN - GREENS DENOUNCE BUSH
Green Party principal speaker Keith Taylor denounced US President
George Bush as "the world's greatest climate terrorist"
yesterday.
Mr Taylor dismissed the Washington exchanges on green issues between
Prime Minister Tony Blair and Mr Bush as "no more than just a
press stunt."
Leaks before July's G8 summit suggested that Mr Blair was failing to
demand key targets on cutting CO2 emissions or to set a clear
timetable for reduction beyond 2012, complained Mr Taylor.
He accused Mr Blair of "signalling failure in advance,"
instead of trying to "convince the world's greatest climate
terrorist - George Bush - into taking solid action on this
threat."
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15) Morning Star; June 09, 2005
ENGLAND: BRITAIN - LUCAS PRESSES FOR COMPLETE BAN ON WHALING
Green Party Euro-MP Caroline Lucas urged the British government
yesterday to defend a complete ban on all whaling at international
talks on the industry in Seoul, Korea, later this month.
The MEP for South-East England and vice-president of the European
parliament's cross-party animal welfare group, said that the
International Whaling Commission talks came at a "critical"
time, with demand for whale meat on the rise and members set to
discuss a resumption of full-scale commercial whaling.
"The difficulties inherent in killing a large, partially
submerged mammal at sea give rise to severe welfare concerns,"
she said in a letter to Nature, Conservation and Fisheries Minister
Ben Bradshaw.
"There is simply no humane way to kill a whale at sea and the
best way to protect whales is to halt all commercial and scientific
whaling altogether.
"The British delegation to this year's International Whaling
Commission meeting must give strong support to the protection of whale
welfare and oppose any motions that might lead to a resumption of
commercial whaling."
Dr Lucas told Mr Bradshaw that she was concerned that some commission
member nations wanted to see the 20-year-old international moratorium
on full-scale commercial whaling abolished.
She said that proposals to require whalers to collect data on whale
welfare issues would do nothing to actually improve conditions for
whales or protect them and that these proposals must not be used to
justify a resumption of whale killings.
Dr Lucas, who is a vice-president of the Royal Society for the
Protection of Animals, also sent Mr Bradshaw a briefing note on the
welfare implications of whaling.
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16) The Washington Times; June 9, 2005
GERMANY: TV SHOW DEPICTS 9/11 AS BUSH PLOT
by Tom Goeller
Green Party chief demands probe
A fictional crime drama based on the premise that the Bush
administration ordered the September 11 attacks on the World Trade
Center and Washington aired this week on German state television,
prompting the Green Party chairman to call for an investigation.
"I think absolutely nothing of the conspiracy theory that has
been hawked in this series. I hope this particular TV movie will be
discussed very critically at the next supervisory board meeting of ARD
[state television]," said Green Party Chairman Reinhard
Buetikofer, who acknowledged that he had not seen the show.
Sunday night's episode of "Tatort," a popular murder mystery
that has been running on state-run ARD-German television for 35 years,
revolved around a German woman and a man who was killed in her
apartment....
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17) New Zealand Press Association; June 9, 2005
NEW ZEALAND: GREENS TO CAMPAIGN FOR OVERSEAS VOTES
Wellington, June 9 NZPA - The Green Party will again campaign for
overseas votes by standing list candidates in Sydney and London,
co-leader Rod Donald said today.
The Greens won 14.2 percent of the votes cast in the 2002 election by
New Zealanders living overseas.
I believe that our high level of support overseas reflects the fact
that Kiwis living abroad have seen how crowded and polluted cities can
be and so recognise that New Zealand's environment and heritage are
unique,'' Mr Donald said.
For many on their OE, the Green's new tertiary student support policy,
which proposes to wipe one year of a graduate's debt for every year
they work in New Zealand, will have particular resonance.''
The party's Sydney candidate is James Diack. A London candidate will
be announced soon.
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18) Irish News; June 10, 2005
IRELAND: FAMILY REJECT MCDOWELL CLAIMS ON RESPONSIBILITY;
by Michael Brennan,
The minister for justice, Michael McDowell, should offer a personal
apology to the McBrearty family for failing to help them, it was
claimed last night
The Green Party said it was not enough for the family to receive a
state apology for the attempt by gardai to frame them for the death of
cattle dealer Richie Barron.
"Mr McDowell should apologise for resisting at every turn, as
attorney-general, demands for a public inquiry into the McBrearty case
and consistently refusing, as minister for justice, to underwrite the
McBrearty family's legal fees, yet doing so for participants in the
Lindsey Tribunal," justice spokesman Ciaran Cuffe TD said.
Mr Cuffe said there should also be an urgent review of the procedures
for hiring and firing gardai after the Morris Tribunal pointed out
that many of the gardai criticised in its first report were still
serving.
The growing pressure on Mr McDowell comes after he blamed the 'rainbow
coalition' for the scandal....
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19) The Daily News (New Plymouth, New Zealand); June 10, 2005
NEW ZEALAND: RIGHT WORDS, WRONG TUNE
by Chris Trotter
THE Greens, like all parties that seek to change the status quo, face
an uphill struggle when it comes to winning the electorate's trust.
That's because most people put the words "change" and
"threat" into the same cognitive basket. Indeed, it is the
struggle to reduce the threat of change that defines and dominates a
very large chunk of human existence.
Regardless of whether you're a Third World peasant struggling to ward
off the threat of war, famine, pestilence and disease, or a First
World suburbanite striving to avert the threat of redundancy, rising
interest rates, and the spiralling cost of living, any form of change
-- other than a Lotto win -- tends to be greeted with wary scepticism
or outright hostility.
Paradoxically, it was the electorate's weariness of change that
propelled the centre-left into Government at the end of the 1990s. In
a curious reversal of roles, the parties of change were asked to call
a halt to the process of reform, while the parties of the status quo
became identified with the dangers of continuous social and economic
upheaval.
This mood of conservatism was at odds with the Green's political
perspective.
The threats they sought to counter were associated with a very
different kind of change. The greenhouse effect, declining
biodiversity, soil erosion, water pollution, resource depletion and
genetic engineering were changes on a scale that not only threatened
the future of every New Zealand voter, but the survival of every
living organism on the planet.
The huge political challenge confronting the Greens was, first, how to
convince people of the magnitude of the environmental threats bearing
down on them, and second, how to persuade them to accept the
far-reaching changes required to alleviate the danger.
Politically, it demanded a laser-like focus on the key environmental
risks and an absolute refusal to be side-tracked by the perennial
shibboleths of either the old or the new left.
The latter point is of crucial importance. Institutions with a vested
interest in eliminating the Greens as a political threat (principally
the oil, agricultural and biotech industries) pursue a threefold
strategy.
First, minimise (or even deny) the reality of the global environmental
crisis. Second, ridicule the Greens' proposed solutions as being both
unnecessary and unworkable. Third, frighten away potential voters by
characterising the Green Party as radical socialists masquerading as
moderate environmentalists.
Unfortunately, the Greens have been only partially successful in
evading the traps their political enemies have set for them. The
party's staunch stand against genetic engineering threw into sharp
relief the combination of forces ranged against the Green agenda and
proved to be a powerfully educative experience for those participating
in the anti-GE campaign. On other issues, however, the Greens' stance
has proved to be a distraction.
When it comes to war and peace, defence and national security, Maori
sovereignty, and the so-called "moral issues" (prostitution,
civil union and drugs) the Greens have made life easy for their
opponents.
Perhaps this is why the Greens' co-leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons, told
the party's annual meeting last Sunday that she was angry.
"Angry that my new grandson will be deprived of so many things I
grew up taking for granted. Angry that so little is being done to turn
the tide. Angry that the media, and especially the political media,
always thinks a few Iraqi immigrants are more dangerous to New Zealand
than our water quality, and who Tom Cruise is in love with this week
is more important than how dirty our rivers are."
It is easy to sympathise with Jeanette's anger, but we should not
excuse it. The news media's sensationalism, along with the conflicting
messages it conveys about the global environmental crisis, are part
and parcel of New Zealand's political ecology. If the Green's have
failed to adapt to its challenges, then that is something they must
address.
News editors respond to stories that have demonstrable public
resonance. If the Greens have failed to generate sufficient noise to
win the air-time and column-centimetres needed to boost their poll
ratings, perhaps it's because they have failed to focus on the issues
most likely to activate the voters' alarms.
Jeanette Fitzsimon's description of the threat to our nation's rivers
made me want to change the way our local authorities regulate the
dairy industry. But her colleague, Rod Donald's attempt to equate the
immigration policies of Winston Peters and NZ First with those of
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party just made me want to change the
channel.
There's a lesson there for both leaders.
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20) The Timaru Herald (New Zealand); June 11, 2005
NEW ZEALAND: RED TIDE MUST STOP _ FITZSIMONS
by Nathan Beaumont
A "red tide of blood and guts" might be seen off the coast
of Pareora for years to come unless the PPCS meat processing plant
changes its waste disposal system, Green Party co-leader Jeanette
Fitzsimons says.
Ms Fitzsimons said the plant had consent to discharge up to 15,000
cubic metres of wastewater a day into the South Pacific.
The consent expires on June 30, and the company had asked to be
allowed to continue using the outfall for at least some of its waste
disposal, she said.
"Meaning the red tide of blood and guts might be seen off the
coast of Pareora for years to come," she said.
The meatworks had bought 250 hectares of land and intended to
discharge its wastewater to that land, but the area was likely to be
barely enough at certain times of the year when wastewater production
is high, she said.
"Presumably that is why they want to still be allowed to dispose
of the waste into the sea."
But PPCS technical services manager Grant Pearson said the company was
taking steps to reduce the discharge into the ocean.
"The company is not alone in this practice," he said.
Discharge into the ocean was common with many coastal plants and local
councils, he said.
"While it looks dramatic, the effluent is predominantly
water."
Tests from the site had shown the discharge had no adverse impact on
ocean life, he said.
Ms Fitzsimons said Environment Canterbury should not allow wastewater
to be discharged into the sea unless it had been treated to such a
level that it was of the same or better quality than when it was
extracted for use.
There were numerous less environmentally damaging options available,
she said.
These included the purchase of a larger piece of land, a large storage
pond that could hold the effluent when it could not be applied to the
land, or a large-scale anaerobic biodigester to kill bacteria in the
waste before it was applied to land.
"It's appalling that this archaic kind of waste disposal is still
being practised. It is something one would expect to have happened in
1905, not 2005."
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21) Agence France Presse - English; June 11, 2005
POLAND: POLISH GAYS MARCH DESPITE BAN BY WARSAW MAYOR
WARSAW -- More than two thousand gays and lesbians defied both a ban
by the mayor of Warsaw and right-wing protesters hurling eggs to mount
a protest march through the streets of the Polish capital on Saturday.
Carrying rainbow-colored flags the protesters were joined by a number
of politicians including Poland's deputy prime minister, Izabela
Jaruga-Nowacka, and two German lawmakers from the Green Party, Claudia
Roth and Volker Beck.
"It is unacceptable and incomprehensible that a demonstration by
any group, whether homosexual, Jewish or Muslim, should be banned in
Poland which is a member of the European Union," Beck told AFP.
"Whether the mayor does or does not like homosexuals, he is
required to honor their fundamental right to protest freely," he
said.
Warsaw's Mayor Lech Kaczynski, a conservative who is a favorite in the
race for Polish president this October, banned the parade on Friday,
claiming that the application to march had not been correctly filed.
But Kaczynski also banned the gay parade last year.
The gays also held a demonstration, which was legal, outside the
parliament building.
There the protesters were greeted by a group of far-right youths who
hurled eggs and shouted insults at the gays calling them
"deviants, pedophiles."
The gays yelled back that the rightwingers were "fascists"
and a line of police officers had to step in to separate the two
groups.
The German Greens lawmakers appealed to Poland's national leaders to
respect homosexual rights.
"The persecution of gays and lesbians is contrary to the
democratic values of Europe," Roth told journalists in Warsaw.
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