Rudd does a Clinton

Tonight on the 7.30 Report, Prime Ministerial wannabe, Kevin Rudd, created Australia's version of Bill Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman". Following allegations that he visited a New York strip club in a drunken state, his appearance in front of hard-hitting ABC front man, Kerry O'brien, was attempt to make sure the issue disappears quickly. Rudd claims to have had a "cordial" dinner with his two mates. Yeah right! If the truth be known they got smashed off their tit and trash talked their way to the strip joint. And here's where his story gets really clear and really fuzzy all at once. Firstly he says that he'd a fair bit to drink - too much in fact. So much so that, when asked by O'brien whether he could he remember seeing lap dancers, his response was that he couldn't remember seeing anything that you wouldn't see in most Aussie pubs in the past 20 years. Jeez Kev, not sure what pubs you've been going to, but sounds like they're interesting places indeed. Then suddenly his memory gets all vivid again when he reiterates (read: repeat over, and over, and over until the interviewer gets tired and moves on) that he can categorically say that he can recall that absolutely nothing inappropriate whatsoever happened. Nothing? Yes, nothing inappropriate. But if he can't remember the strippers - and let's face it, it was a strip club so they must have been there - how can he know or remember that nothing inappropriate happened? But more interestingly, if nothing inappropriate happened then why did he feel the need to call his wife the next day and confess to his mistake. Surely Kev, if all you'd done is go to the pub and have a few too many drinks, with nothing inappropriate happening then there's really no need for confessionals. Unless, of course, you're not telling us all there is to know.

What are the Federal Police up to?

Well, what a surprise, the Federal Police are now being asked how Doctor Haneef's diary got to read like a who's-who of global terrorism. As usual, the doctor is protesting his innocence, but his reputation is now in tatters. The weekend leak of a suggestion that he was involved in a plot to blow up buildings in Queensland was quickly, and conveniently, rebutted by the Fed's, but not before alarm bells were ringing for the good folk of the sunshine state. In the meantime Doctor Haneef will need a new bladder, after being used a political football for the past few weeks. Where's Labor I hear you ask? Obviously the polls are saying the matter hasn't gained sufficient traction for it to be worthwhile taking a punt (pardon the pun).

Is Haneef to become our next Hicks?

Howard on the back foot over Haneef

What a master stroke. As reported on the ABC's The 7-30 Report this evening, barrister for Doctor Haneef, Steven Kime, has released the transcript of his police interview - with the predictable hand-wringing and tut-tutting from the Prime Minister, Attorney General Phillip Ruddock, and the Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty. All accuse Mr Kime of being variously unethical, working against the chances of Haneef getting a fair trial, and being disrespectful of the legal system. Well if that's not the pot calling the kettle black, it's hard to know what it is. Doctor Haneef has been granted bail by the courts and it was the Immigration Minister, Kevin Andrews who, on hearing this news, cancelled Doctor Haneef's passport. The effect of this is to make Doctor Haneef the highest profile suspect in Australia today, and that makes his chances of receiving a fair trial even more difficult.

It's actions such as these by the Federal government which are showing how far Howard and his colleagues are willing to go to get re-elected - even to the point of manipulating executive powers to prosecute their political ends.

Mohamed Haneef

Walking the dog this morning, I met up with a lady who works with aboriginal communities in the North West of Western Australia. As our dogs played, we got talking about the way the Howard government is handling the problems faced by aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, and her view, quite understandably, was that Howard's solutions are short-sighted and politically motivated. And this lead to a chat about the plight of Doctor Mohamed Haneef. Doctor Haneef has been charged with '"recklessly" supporting a terrorist organisation, with the Australian Federal Police alleging he supported foiled plans to detonate truck bombs in Britain'. If he is proven to be guilty, then he deserves to be punished - terrorism is a despicable, weak, and cowardly crime that has no place in modern society. However, our justice system relies on the presumption of innocence and, at this stage, Doctor Haneef is innocent. Furthermore, the magistrate who heard Doctor Haneef's bail application obviously saw a very different person to the person seen by our immigration minister, Kevin Andrews. In what could quite easily be seen as a political stunt, Mr Andrews revoked Doctor Haneef's visa, resulting in Doctor Haneef's incarceration in an immigration detention centre. How convenient.

Let's not forget that this is an election year. In the 2001 election, Mr Howard sailed home to victory at the helm of the Tampa, and Doctor Haneef is being set up to be Mr Howard's Tampa II. The line will be that we now have a terrorist in custody, someone that could have killed innocent Australians. Just as he did last night on the 7:30 report, Mr Andrews and his Liberal colleagues will be very sketchy when pushed for details about why they've made the decision to revoke his visa. They will hint at his poor character, at the atrocities committed by his second cousin, and the dangers we face - all as a way of drumming up fear that they know full well wins elections.

What will sadly go unchallenged is the manner in which our judicial system has been treated with contempt by those in power. In the context of threats to our society, Doctor Haneef is a tiny risk compared to prostate cancer, depression, youth suicide, and motor neurone disease. But because he represents something that generates so much uncertainty, so much mistrust, and so much fear, he is the unwitting pawn in a political power play that is set to destroy his career and any hope of financial independence for his family. Guilty or innocent, Doctor Haneef and the Australian public deserve more respect than what they're receiving from the Howard government.