Cannabis

In his attack on Liberal Party anti-drugs policy, Gary Meyerhoff (Write On, GLW #656) contends that “despite claims by some mental health professionals that some pre-existing mental illnesses can be exacerbated or 'brought on’ by marijuana use, the evidence that supports this is extremely dubious”. I fear this is an instance of sloppy arguments serving a good cause.

While the level of psychiatric illness caused or exacerbated by cannabis is greatly exaggerated by many psychiatrists and politicians, not least John Howard in his recent COAG speech, this does not mean that the negative health effects of the drug are always “negligible”.

Gary mentions a study that shows the overall prevalence of schizophrenia has not increased in Australia over 30 years, despite a large increase in marijuana use. But this only proves that there is no simple causal link between the two. Recent Australian reviews of the issue (such as in the latest issue of the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry) suggest the picture is much more complex than this.

Cannabis use is part of a dynamic set of risk factors that can contribute to various mental disorders. In the case of drug-induced psychosis or cannabis withdrawal syndrome, the connection is obvious. But in mood disorders and schizophrenia it is an additive in a complex web of causation. In particular, there is compelling evidence that heavy use of marijuana can affect the brain during key stages of adolescent development, when it is most vulnerable to environmental insults (whether chemical, psychological or social).

None of this is to suggest that anything other than decriminalisation and safe legal supply are sensible policies. But they need to be accompanied by honest discussion of both benefits and risks — something made more difficult by the polarised debate engendered by the current regime of criminal sanctions.

Dr Tad Tietze
Alexandria, NSW

This letter to the editor was published in the March 15, 2006 edition of the Green Left Weekly newspaper.

Darwin gets seditious

More than 40 people gathered at the “Let’s get seditious” forum at Groove Cafe on January 28, to hear from speakers challenging the federal Coalition government’s new anti-sedition laws.

Anti-war campaigner Emma King spoke about the history of sedition laws and their use in Australia, explaining how the broadening of the definition of sedition will widen the scope for the targeting of anti-war and other political activists.

A range of local activists contributed their seditious ideas to the forum, including long-time solidarity activist Rob Wesley Smith, who described PM John Howard in colourful language before burning a letter bearing Howard’s signature.

Socialist Alliance member Jon Lamb argued that the real intention behind the new laws is to “break solidarity” in the face of growing attacks on working people and the poor. He pointed out the increasing disparity of wealth in Australia, with the average CEO now earning 63 times the average worker’s wage. “Today, 51 of the leading CEO’s in the country have an average weekly salary of $65,000”, Lamb told the forum. He pointed out that the Howard government’s new industrial relations laws “are about increasing the disparity between ordinary workers and those who exploit them”.

Gary Meyerhoff from the Network Against Prohibition spoke about the Northern Territory sedition laws, which were used to convict activists who held a peaceful protest in the NT parliament against repressive drug laws in 2002. He spoke of the connection between the “war on drugs” and the “war on terror” — both of which are aimed at creating a “climate of fear”.

The forum also heard from Stuart Highway, who was recently released from Berrimah prison where he served a three-month sentence for a conviction arising from a drug law reform protest. He spoke of the inhumane treatment of prisoners as a form of control of the broader community. “They’ve already got a totalitarian regime”, he said. “It’s called prison, where they’ve been refining the methods of control and thought control for centuries. They treat prisoners like animals.”

Anti-war activist Karen Davies highlighted the 2003 amendments to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (Safeguards) Act, which criminalise the communication of information that could “prejudice the physical security of nuclear material, or an associated item”. Davies pointed out that this would make it a crime to plan protests against the shipment of nuclear materials such as radioactive waste from the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney.

This article, written by Kathy Newnam, was published in the Green Left Weekly on Wednesday, February 8, 2006.

Thoughts for the condemned

TACK METTA spends a troubled night thinking of an execution hundreds of kilometres away

THE RINGING tone of a passing remark echoes in your ear: 'Spare a thought for your brother…'

Your mind doesn't stop to ponder the source of the words; rather it does a fast forward and focuses on the words 'spare a thought…'

Like the vibrations of a tuning fork tapering off towards total silence, the attention of your mind lingers on the sound as it does a balancing act on the thin line between wakefulness and sleep.

The night is hot and humid, abuzz with mosquitoes as they buzz around the room in excited eagerness to sting, a behaviour perhaps prompted by the new rains.

Instructions from the mind tell you the night is ripe for tossing and turning and a slumber that would afford you no rest at all tonight.

A small part of your mind interprets that to mean that this rest will be the type that enables you to close you eyes and drift off into the early phases of rapid eye movement (REM), but which fails miserably to stop the mind from shutting off altogether and sinking into oblivion - the final phase of REM, as it were.

The grim thought of death lingered, or more precisely wafted like a mist in front of your mind's eye, as if mocking you.

You will your mind to rid its confines of the macabre thoughts but in the process, a small part of your mind intensifies the scenario and a face takes shape in the darkness. With its formation comes the static of squeaky voices and somber music, the latter sounding more like a dirge.

It seems you were not only sparing a thought for your brother but more, living a part of him.

The thought had come upon you at work yesterday when you read the headline and the news:

SINGAPORE, Nov 30 AFP - Singapore's prime minister has dismissed calls to save a young Australian drug runner from imminent hanging despite condemnation from international human rights groups.

As the deadline for Nguyen Tuong Van's execution on Friday draws near, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made it clear the city-state would go ahead with the hanging.

Lee, currently in Europe, told French newspaper Le Figaro that the death penalty "is necessary and is part of the criminal justice system," rejecting claims that executing people for non-violent crimes is out of date and inhuman.

"We also think that drug trafficking is a crime that deserves the death penalty.

The evil inflicted on thousands of people with drug trafficking demands that we must tackle the source by punishing the traffickers rather than trying to pick up the pieces afterwards," he said. "It's a law which is approved of by Singapore's inhabitants and which allows us to reduce the drug problem."

By last night, Nguyen, a Vietnamese-born Australian citizen would have gone through the last rites and by the time you read about this morning, Nguyen would have already paid the ultimate price for drug trafficking.

You did not just spare him a thought; you gave it plenty of thought. You thought of his own thoughts as the clock ticked away; you thought of the effort or lack of it to save him from the gallows; you thought of his family and the individual thoughts of the family members before and after, especially those of the mother who was about to lose her son; you thought of the efforts made by leaders and concerned individuals and organizations to save Nguyen from the gallows and you thought of all the arguments for and against the decision to hang Nguyen.

As an afterthought, you thought about the thoughts of Nguyen and his twin brother - whether their thoughts were the same and on the same wavelength and whether they were identical or otherwise and if one's death would make a difference on the life of the other.

Nguyen, acted as a mule for a drug smuggling syndicate to earn the money to pay for his twin brother's legal fees over a drug abuse case.

The thought you spared developed into a multiplicity of emotions and debate on a highly sensitive subject.

Be that as it may, at the end of the anxiety, stress and emotions that befit such occasions, you aren't the only one sparing a thought for the condemned.

Melbourne Indymedia, a website produced by grassroots media makers offering non-corporate coverage of struggles, actions and celebrations filed a number of people's thoughts on the issues.

Here's an edited thought of Darwin-based freelance journalist Gary Meyerhoff:
"I remember back when I was eleven years old. I was at a friend's place and like most Australian homes the television was blaring constantly in the background. I vividly remember stopping to watch a report that Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers had been executed and I remember a horrible feeling as I tried to make sense of what had just happened.

Barlow and Chambers were hanged in Malaysia on July 07, 1986 for the alleged trafficking of 141.9g of heroin. Back then, I didn't really know what heroin was, but I knew who Barlow and Chambers were.

The Australian media lapped up the Barlow and Chambers case, using it to sell more and more newspapers and to increase the ratings on their news and current affairs programmes. Once the executions were carried out the Australian news barons dropped the story as quickly as the two young Australians had dropped through the trapdoor in Pudu Prison.

Almost 20 years after the deaths of Barlow and Chambers, Nguyen Tuong Van, on his first trip overseas from Australia, was arrested at Singapore airport. Police alleged that Nguyen was in possession of 400g of heroin. A Singapore court sentenced him to death for this crime in March 2004…"

One thought that crops up in Meyerhoffs' mind is whether race has a lot to do with developments surrounding Nguyen's situation:

"Brian Chambers, Kevin Barlow, Schapelle Corby and Chris Packer (Australians getting on the wrong side of the law in Asia), all have one thing in common. They are all white Australians. Nguyen Tuong Van is an Australian of Vietnamese origin. Australia's predominantly white journalists (and our white Prime Minister) have written him off as just another Viet boy dealing smack, just like they write-off the residents of the Block in Redfern and Cabramatta in Sydney.

During a recent visit to Singapore, Australian Prime Minister John Howard held a meeting with his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong where he put forward a half-hearted request for clemency. Mr Howard told the Melbourne Age; "I believe there's a very good case for clemency but people must understand that the laws of Singapore are well known and I think we'll leave it at that."

Responding to the Age reporters question on whether the execution of Nguyen would have an impact on bilateral relations between the two countries, Howard said: "Look, I think we have to keep a balance here."

Meyerhoff interpreted this to mean: "What Howard was saying was that Australia's military relationship with Singapore is worth more to us economically than Nguyen Tuong Van.

If Nguyen was called Barry and he was from Vaucluse or Sydney's North Shore, Howard would be doing everything in his power to stop the hanging.
Singapore has executed more than four hundred people since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, giving Singapore the dubious distinction of having the highest execution rate in the world relative to population.

Robert McNab thinks Nguyen was trying to import "white death" into Australia . "Nguyen deserves no sympathy. Let's just hope his death will serve as a reminder to others who want to deal in drugs. If only Australia would adopt some of Singapore's laws…"

J. Marchese disagree: "Open your eyes Mr McNab ... it's always the small fish that get executed. The corrupt big fish in political and law enforcement establishments never ever get caught, and never ever get executed. Wake up and smell the roses!"

Priscilla Choi, a freelence journalist and Catholic perhaps has the last words: "I don't agree in the killing of another human being through execution or terrorism. For God's sake this person is only a boy who was put in a bad situation. CAN YOU NOT IMAGINE WHAT HE IS GOING THROUGH?"

One thought is that Nguyen since March 2004 knew he was going to meet his Maker. Up to some weeks ago, he knew exactly when.

And you wonder if that is an advantage over billions who know not exactly when the time will come "like a thief in the dark".

He has been judged my men and penalized accordingly to the laws of the land. It does remind you of a similar incident that happened some 2000 years ago.
Be that as it may, we have all been reminded often enough that you only go around once in life and after that, the judgment.

This article was published in the Papua New Guinean newspaper, The National, sometime in December 2005.

Protester fined $300 for abusing the police

A FORMER reporter and Charles Darwin University teacher has been fined for abusing police at a drug law protest.

Robert Paul Inder-Smith, 46, pleaded guilty in Darwin Magistrates Court on Monday to disorderly behaviour in a public place.

The court heard the former Litchfield Times reporter and university teacher, now a part-time respite carer, had been protesting against the NT Government's new drug house laws in Darwin's Raintree Park in October 2002.

He and other members of the Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition (NAP) were using a "multi-user smoking device" in the city park when police arrived to break up the protest.

Summary prosecutor Tim Smith said police noticed the protesters had gathered around a large bucket with hoses in it.

"There was greenish liquid in the container and green vegetable matter gave off the smell of cannabis."

Mr SMith said Inder-Smith had intervened when protesters were arrested by police, telling them to "f... off".

He had stood between police and protesters and tried to stop the police taking the protesters to a police car.

Magistrate Daynor Trigg convicted Inder-Smith and fined him $300.

The court heard Inder-Smith was appealing against his conviction for invading the NT Parliament in May 2002 before the full cout of the NT Supreme Court.

Inder-Smith was among NAP members who burst into parliament when they thought the "drug house" Bill was being debated.

He and two other NAP members - Gary Meyerhoff and Stuart Highway are appealing against their convictions.

This article, written by Eric Tlozek, was published in the Northern Territory News on Wednesday, November 16, 2005.

Chroming not the issue

I would like to congratulate Gary Meyerhoff for his very well researched, comprehensive, no holes bared article on chroming (NIT, October 27, 2005).

After reading about the issue in the mainstream media I was angered to see Opal fuel being offered as the panacea.

No analysis of what is driving our Indigenous brothers and sisters to take such desperate measures, no mention of the third world like conditions - only suggestions on bandaid fixes that just happen to make money for multinational corporations and help remove a blatant in your face contradiction (the growing gapbetween the haves and have-nots) from within our wealthy country.

Gary Meyerhoff's expertise and opinion expressed in the article has obviously been drawn from many years of experience working on the ground in this area and his views deserves careful consideration by everyone especially our politicians, the mainstream media and some writers of this paper.

It's a shame it hasn't been published more widely.

Well done and congratulations for expressing what so many of us already knew but could not put into words so eloquently.

Gary Harper
Bundoora, Vic

This letter to the editor written by Gary Harper of Bundoora in Victoria was published in the National Indigenous Times on Thursday, November 10, 2005.

Dangerous precedent

In GLW #646 you reported that I received a 14-day sentence for contempt of court to “intimidate” Network Against Prohibition (Northern Territory) members. I was actually given a $40 fine for contempt — the 14 days I served was for a trumped-up assault-police charge along with a $100 fine for resist-police relating to the smoke-in for which Stuart Highway is serving three months jail.

I was also fined $340 for trespass during an occupation of NT Chief Minister Clair Martin’s electoral office. Gary Meyerhoff was given a suspended sentence for this incident, however he was found guilty of “business invasion” — a charge with a maximum seven-year sentence and in the same legislation as “home invasion”. While this legislation was clearly aimed at armed robbery when it was introduced, it has so far only been used against NAP members in relation to two peaceful occupations (the previous business-invasion charges were either dropped or found not guilty).

Meyerhoff’s conviction sets a dangerous precedent for future use of this legislation against activists involved in peaceful civil-disobedience.

If you would like to support Stuart, please send him letters of solidarity at Stuart Highway, Darwin Correctional Centre, PO Box 1407, NT 0801.

Ema Corro
via email

This letter to the editor, written by Ema Corro, was published in the Green Left Weekly on Wednesday, November 2, 2005.

NT Government attacks freedom of speech

On October 19 veteran human rights and social justice campaigner Stuart Highway was sentenced to 8 months jail for his involvement in a Community smoke-in held at Darwin in October 2002.

The Smoke-in had been organised by the drug law-reform group the Network Against Prohibition (NAP), of which Mr Highway is a founding member. NAP formed to oppose the Martin Government’s ‘drug house’ legislation.

The ‘drug house’ legislation, labelled as draconian by many, gave police the power to affix a 1.2 metre-high fluorescent green sign to your front fence or door, declaring your home to be a ‘drug premises’.

No criminal conviction is required and no charges have to be laid for your home to be labelled a 'drug premises'.

Billed as a family event, the smoke-in turned sour after it was interrupted by members of the NT Police.

Highway and three other NAP members, Michael Barry, Nicolette Burrows and Gary Meyerhoff were indicted on charges of unlawful damage to police vehicles.

Unrepresented, Highway went through the ordeal of a trial by jury and was found guilty and was sentenced to eight months jail, suspended after serving three months.

During his sentencing submissions, Highway told Justice Trevor Riley: “We’ve always maintained the NT Government is the guilty party with their ‘drug house’ laws, not the members of the Network Against Prohibition.”

Mr Highway was supported in court by a group of NAP supporters including Margot Laughton, grandmother and first victim of Clare Martin’s draconian ‘drug house’ legislation.

Barry and Burrows were each sentenced to 5 months wholly suspended. Meyerhoff currently has pneumonia and avoided trial on that basis. He will face a trial by jury at a later date. In the previous week, he received a five-month suspended sentence for occupying the electorate office of NT Chief Minister Clare Martin on August 1, 2002, the day the ‘drug house’ laws came into force.

NAP activist Fiona Clarke vowed that the NAP campaign against the 'drug house' laws and other human rights abuses in the NT would continue.

“This is all part of the ongoing targeting of NAP members because of their political beliefs, and the ongoing criminalisation of dissent in Australia,” said Ms Clarke.

NAP members have been subject to more than 130 criminal charges since the group’s formation in March 2002.

The organisation continues to hold regular Smoke-ins in Darwin's Raintree Park, the next such event being held on November 12.

This article was published in the Delirra, the newspaper of the Charles Darwin University Student's Union on Monday, October 24, 2005.

Call to reduce defence ties with Singapore to halt execution

Melbourne: Australia's Network Against Prohibition wants the Australian government to reduce defence ties with Singapore in an effort to save the life of Vietnamese-Australian Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, who faces exeuction in the city-state's Changi jail within ten days after his plea for clemency was rejected.

"We should immediately break all ties with the Singapore military and stop training Singapore pilots, says the association's spokesman, Gary Meyerhoff.

"Our navy should give Singapore a wide berth until further notice.

"Surely the life of this young Australian is more important than a few joint military training exercises."

Van, who was arrested in Singapore while trying to smuggle heroin from Viet Nam to Australia, says he was carrying the narcotic to pay off gambling debts for his twin brother.

He is to be hanged despite his cooperation with the Singapore and Australian police.

Amnesty International says Singapore has executed more than 420 people have been executed there since 1991 - the highest per capita execution rate in the world.


This article was published in the Southeast Asian Times on Monday, October 24, 2005.

Crowded jail saga

I REFER to Gary Meyerhoff's letter "Toyne must go" (Northern Territory News, September 16).

You have been completely misinformed with your comment that Berrimah Prison has been overcrowded for months - it has been that way for years.

Back in the days when Fannie Bay Jail was operational, overcrowding and short-staffing were out of control. Prison officers went on strike to get a fence put up after it was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy. They also went on strike to get cell blocks rebuilt after the blocks were damaged by Cyclone Tracy.

Because they were so short-staffed, rostered days-off were unheard of, to get a day off an officer had to call in sick.

Prison officers had to go on strike for four days in order to get extra staff, after four days management turned up with eight new officers, two were overnight transfers from the police force.

It was an undisputed fact that the NT Government needed a new prison but it didn't happen until a camera was smuggled into Fannie Bay Jail and photographs were taken of the appalling conditions of prisoners.

They were sent to a Human Rights Organisation that forced the CLP Government to build a new prison, otherwise Berrimah Prison would not exist today.

On the day that Berrimah became operational they were 30 beds short, storerooms had to be stripped out and turned into dormitories with portable toilets.

Over the years, workshops and hobby rooms have all been stripped and turned into dormitories.

A.G. Piper
Winnellie

This letter to the editor, by A.G. Piper of Winnellie was published in the Northern Territory News on Friday, October 21, 2005.

Policing powers

I often agree with Gary Meyerhoff’s views regarding the decriminalisation of drugs, but this time he is off the track (Letters, August 6).

He seems to be saying people should conform and do what they are told, leave the thinking to us, but if you can’t take the “new order”, then “hasta la vista, baby, you’re off the program”.

The police have a perfect and legitimate right to express discomfort with their inevitable embroilment in the equally inevitable backlash against the “socially divisive legislation” we speak of.

Rather than ignore the issue and let the public perception be “the cops will just uphold the law and hassle and heavy any protesters because that’s what their bosses want”, the police association has chosen to remind the legislators of their responsibilities to the electorate, that they are there to enact policies that have a mandate from their citizens, and that they should not assume the police will jump each time they whistle, and that while police acknowledge there must be loyalty as an employee, there is also a concurrent obligation and duty and duty to themselves and to their fellow human beings.

I believe the police, like the military, have a right to express opinions and feelings like these – history has repeatedly shown that many despotic regimes have been overthrown by the uprising of the people with the police and military on their side.

A counter argument may be the numerous police states and military dictatorships around the world, but the point I wish to make is that this is not their world – we elected them to represent us, and the NT police have as much right, and are as duty-bound, as the rest of us, to safeguard our country from tyranny and anarchy.

The people truly united in the interest of just and humane government are an awesome force – and every unpopular government’s nightmare.

Maurice Bishop
Leanyer

This letter to the editor was published in the Northern Territory News on Tuesday, August 16, 2005.

Premier deserves a medal for war on drugs

GARY Meyerhoff (Letters, 29/7) has missed the entire point of the danger of drugs and shows evidence of an appalling memory, not unlike those who are severely affected by marijuana and other illicit drug use.

Bob Carr's record on protecting the community from the harm, the devastation, the damage and havoc, indeed the other adverse consequences of using illicit drugs is a mixed one. The NSW Government under his leadership is to be congratulated for its efforts to prevent the use of cannabis, and at times some successes against an insidious substance responsible for enormous devastation of young people's lives. The police force has had some success reducing supplies of illicit drugs, but also has at times turned its head in the other direction and failed the community by not properly enforcing the laws they have a duty to enforce and to protect the people accordingly.

There can never be any good excuse not to enforce such laws. It is however most unfortunate that the NSW Government, in Bob Carr's time, accepted poor advice to establish the illegal drug use room to incubate and prolong illicit drug use in Kings Cross rather than use those resources and resolve to help addicts get off drugs of addiction.

Lets hope the next Premier moves forward to helping addicts off drugs towards recovery rather than leaving them stuck on the end of a needle to be manipulated by drug dealers. Far better to help them with recovery and ongoing rehabilitation treatment.

Working together for prevention, treatment and elimination of drug abuse.

Michael D. Robinson
Executive Director,
Drug Free Australia Ltd

This letter to the editor was published in the Australian on Monday August 1, 2005.

Let’s give our candidates a thorough exam

ONE of the fascinating things about living in a free democracy is how hard our politicians work to tell us nothing about themselves.

For most $100,000-plus jobs, you need a pretty impressive CV, but to be elected to run the Territory, all you need is a photo of yourself draped over the party leader and a million sizzling sausages.

I’d like to suggest that all candidates sit a written Parliamentary entrance exam during each election campaign, with results available before the poll. I’ve thought of a few sample questions.

PLEASE write your name and address (note – you may not ask for assistance with this question).

PLEASE justify why you are a fit and proper person to represent your electorate (100 words or less).

IF you don’t live in your target electorate, please: (a) explain your choice of electorate (note – references to “party strategy,” etc., are not acceptable; (b) underline the correct response: I may (i) vote for myself, (ii) may not vote for myself, (iii) am not enrolled to vote.

COMPLETE this famous quotation: “__________ ___________ can serve two masters.” Discuss how this may relate to your future work ethic.

UNDERLINE the person who most closely matches your own experiences with and attitudes towards drugs: (a) Pope Benedict XVI; (b) Bill Clinton; (c) (Network Against Prohibition’s) Gary Meyerhoff.

YOU are being harassed by a journalist. Would you: (a) say “no comment”; (b) wrap a microphone cord around his neck; (c) head butt him; or (d) punch him? Explain your choice.

USE the words “poofter”, “Nazi”, and “do-gooder” in a sentence of 15 words or less. Now suggest some equivalent phrases that may be used outside Parliament.

WHEN in office, you discover that your own financial management skills are not ideal. Would you: (a) pawn the office microwave; (b) raise your salary while instructing Territorians to tighten their belts; or (c) step aside while a property rezoning is made to your advantage? Explain your choice.

IMAGINE that as a Member of Parliament you are asked to comment on a controversial under-age pregnancy case. Outline your answer, with reference to the Convention on the Rights of the child.

IMAGINE that you are receiving a visit from the Greek Patriarch. Would you: (a) give him a Toyota; (b) display your historical knowledge by rabbiting on about the fourth Crusade; (c) mock his accent; or (d) other?

Andrew Tupper
Wulagi

This leter to the editor was published in the Northern Territory News on Monday June 6, 2005.

Schapellism – the new racism?

Cancelling holidays to Bali. Refusing to buy Indonesian products. Asserting they will never return to Indonesia. Insisting that they will never donate to another disaster appeal to aid Indonesia. Many Australians have chosen to show their support for Schapelle Corby by what could be seen as discriminating against the Indonesian people. Some argue that the national outrage over the Corby case means Australians are belittling Indonesia’s ability to conduct a fair trial. Others say the Bali boycotts are a form of positive support for Corby. Whether it is positive support for Corby or being racist the issue has been an important feature of the landmark trial.

Found last October with 4.1kg of marijuana in her body board bag at Denpasar airport after flying from Sydney, 27-year-old Queenslander Schapelle Corby has become a household name. Months down the track and after one of the most highly publicised court cases in Australian history, Corby is now in Kerobokan Prison in Denpasar, serving 20 years after the Indonesian court found her guilty of drug smuggling. The Corby trial has outraged and affected many Australians.

A recent Channel Nine poll showed 92 per cent of people to respond believe Corby is innocent – and in the lead-up to her trial, Australians rallied to help her in various ways. However, freelance journalist, youth worker and co-founder of the Darwin-based drug law-reform organisation, Network Against Prohibition Gary Meyerhoff has written about Corby’s trial and says many Australians are being racist. “I think the outrage is symptomatic of the inherent racism in Australian society,” Meyerhoff said. He said Australia was not in a position to comment on the workings of Indonesia’s court system. “Our own legal system is an absolute shambles, with more Australians incarcerated than ever before,” he said. “The Indonesian courts are… no more incompetent than Australian courts. No country has the right to interfere in another’s legal system.”

But others disagree that some Australians are being bigoted. The Bulletin journalist and Walkley Award winner Paul Toohey is one of them. His story “Busted” about the Corby trial graced the front page of the May 3 issue of the The Bulletin. “The death penalty exists in Indonesia for all people, whether they are pretty or ugly,” Toohey said. “However, part of the sympathy generated for Corby that comes from within Australia is because she’s pretty and white, no doubt. But particularly because people think she’s innocent.” Australians were entitled to comment on how other countries ran their justice systems.

Before the court delivered its final verdict, Corby’s cousin Melissa Younger organised a Support Schapelle fundraiser at the Claremont Hotel to cover the Corby family’s accommodation expenses in Bali. Younger visited her cousin in prison three weeks ago. Since then she has met many Corby supporters. “I have heard a lot of people saying that is Schapelle is found guilty, they won’t go back to Indonesia,” Younger said. “That’s up to people themselves. I love Indonesia myself – I think Bali’s a beautiful place and the Balinese people are beautiful.”

In the lead-up to the trial, a survey by travel industry electronic publication Travel Daily found 70 per cent of 180 travel agents said they would boycott promotion of Bali if Corby was found guilty. Nurse Kerri Green was at the Claremont Hotel Support Schapelle fundraiser. “A lot of nurses who would usually go over to Bali for their holidays are boycotting trips to Indonesia,” she said.

Corby support comes in various forms. Web designer Rebecca McGavin said she was touched by Corby’s story and wanted to help. She created a website that sells T-shirts, hats, bumper stickers and other merchandise bearing the logo “Free Schapelle” to raise funds for the Corby family’s visit to Indonesia. McGavin said many people had told her they were choosing to support Corby in ways other than buying merchandise. “Everyday Australians are outraged, putting off travel to Indonesia and telling me they won’t support Indonesia or its products,” McGavin said.

The outrage could mean the Australian public are belittling the ability of the Indonesians to conduct a fair court case.

“Of course there will be some people who don’t respect the Indonesian judicial system, but I would hope that the majority of Australians respect other cultures,” McGavin said. “The drug traffickers who put the drugs in Schapelle’s bag are the ones Australians should be directing their anger at, not the Indonesian people – who, after all, are just trying someone through their judicial system.”

McGavin said most people had a lack of understanding about their own court system, let alone the legal systems of other countries. “I am involved in a web-ring of other Schapelle supporters and we have made it very clear that we respect the Indonesian people and their legal system and mean no disrespect to Indonesia, their culture or their people,” she said. “We just want to get Schapelle out of prison for a crime we believe she did not commit.”

Some people say there is no discrimination in Australia at all in regards to the Corby case. Melbourne-based Alan Singer has been running a log on the internet based on Corby’s plight since March 16. His site, Headhunter, is visited by more than 1400 people per day. One of the latest entries consists of Singer’s reply to an inquiry from the Western Independent. When asked if he believes the public outrage in Australia over the Corby case is subconsciously linked to discrimination, Singer disagrees. “Australians are not a racist people by nature – we are not free of racism but our people and our culture are generally, inclusive, tolerant and accepting of other races,” he said. He said many people believe it was unfair that Corby has been sentenced when Australian tourists are a big source of income for Indonesia. “There are literally tens of thousands of people who have said they will now never travel to Bali or buy Indonesian goods, or donate to another “tsunami appeal” for aid to Indonesia,” he said.

Singer was concerned before the verdict that the public support for Corby could adversely affect the outcome. “There is a real risk that the wrong type of public outcry, that is offensive to Indonesia or judges, could potentially influence the outcome in a negative manner.”

Wisnu Nugroho is a US-based Indonesian man who posted an entry on Singer’s website regarding his latest comments on the Corby trial. In it Nugroho said he disagreed with Singer’s comment that Australians were not belittling the Indonesians’ ability to conduct a proper trial. “I can’t help but notice the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) hints of racism here, not to mention arrogance. The idea that we should abandon the procedures of our developing legal system just because Australians have ‘give so much’ is plain arrogant and offensive,” Nugroho said.

Founder of fundraising organisation Save Schapelle Corby Anthony Zorbas said many Australians said they would never again travel to Bali – not always purely out of support for Corby, but because of fear of finding themselves in her situation.

Many Australians do not fully understand that the Indonesian justice system is different from Australia’s. Media reports offer different explanations of the Indonesian judicial system that confuse the public. “I believe the Australian outrage has been generated by comparing the Indonesian system of law to the standards we hold in Australia,” Zorbas said. “In doing this, respect has been lost for Indonesia as a whole as it is viewed as an unfair system and a place of limited compassion for people in Schapelle’s situation.”

Ross Tyler is the WA chairman of the Australia-Indonesia Business Council and the former WA government regional director to Indonesia. He was framed for possessing drugs in a Pakistan hotel in 1974 by corrupt officials and drug peddlers. Innocent, he was lucky to be able to negotiate his way out of the situation and says he feels greatly for Corby.

Taylor says both Indonesians and Australians think the Indonesian legal system is not always adequate.

“The Dutch – after 300 years of rule – left the Indonesian people with a poorly constructed and inadequate legal framework from which to work,” Taylor said. “It’s only been in the past two to three years that the Indonesian judiciary has enjoyed some autonomy from government interference – something that Australia has lobbied for over many years. Now are people are demanding we ‘interfere’ in their court system to help Ms Corby. We are therefore in real danger of being seen as very inconsistent in our approach to Indonesia and this is what makes this case so diplomatically difficult.”

Taylor said that while there was a lack of understanding of the Indonesian court system in Australia, he did not think the uproar stemmed from racism: “We are not generally racists in Australia. Arrogant maybe, but not racist. I say arrogant because we are happy for our English-speaking courts to deal with poor Indonesian fishermen and to burn their boats for illegal fishing in our waters. Imagine if Indonesia put political pressure on Australia to go easy on these people. We would tell them to mind their own business – and that is what they are now telling us to do in the Corby case.”

But Rahma Amil, an Indonesian woman who runs a weblog with frequent documentation on the trial proceedings, says otherwise. “Australia is my favourite country after Indonesia, but when I read their comments on my site about the case I feel disappointed,” Amil said. “I think Australians are open-minded in general, but in this case they tend to spread their anger to all Indonesians. It’s not fair… Australia’s actions in boycotting Indonesian products is not the solution – it just makes the situation worse.”

Ray Edwards is a Queensland real estate agent who began an appeal to raise a $1 million reward for information that would lead to Corby’s freedom. When told some Indonesians found it hurtful that Australians were boycotting Indonesia, Edward retaliated. “You tell your Indonesian friends that if they think that’s hurtful you wait until you see how the Australians will react to the hurtful way his ilk have treated us,” Edwards said. He said the only evidence the Indonesian court had was that the drugs were found in Corby’s baggage. “I know that there are people saying that the Indonesian justice system must prevail, and whilst my heart says otherwise I realise that this is the sensible reality,” he said. “It is unfortunate that their justice system differs so much from ours.”

If the boycott of Indonesia continues, it is possible relationships between Australia and Indonesia will be affected. Taylor summarises it. “The stories about Corby and the Bali Nine are much more than just stories about smuggling drugs,” he said. “There is a lot riding on the outcomes of these cases. Either way we are all in for a bumpy ride over the next few weeks.”

This article, written by Maya Anderson, was published in the Curtin University newspaper the "Western Independent" in the June 2005 issue (Volume 3, no.3).

Ex-Grimsby man faces Aussie court

Grimsby-born activist Gary Meyerhoff has become the first person to be successfully prosecuted by Darwin City Council in Australia for putting up a poster without a permit.

Meyerhoff, who holds joint British and Australian citizenship, lost his appeal against the conviction earlier this month in the Northern Territory Supreme Court. He was arrested in August last year when he was caught sticking up posters for a drug-reform festival, having been denied a permit by the council. He was found guilty of the offence in October.

The judge, Justice Stephen Southwood, ordered Meyerhoff to be on good behaviour for 12 months and to appear before the Court of Summary Jurisdiction if called upon to do so during the period of the order.

However he rejected the council's application for costs, referring to the case as "public-interest litigation".

Meyerhoff said: "The permit system merely creates the illusion that a fair and democratic process exists and that we have free speech in Australia. This is all part of the illusion that Australia is a democracy."

The former Enfield Primary School pupil is waiting for a court date for his appeal against a 21-month jail sentence for disrupting the Northern Parliament while in in session in 2002.

This article was published in the Grimsby Evening Telegraph on Wednesday, April 27, 2005.

A big load of drivel

Ian Baume, (Northern Territory News, March 15), is correct about the mindless drivel propagated by Gary Meyerhoff, but I cannot agree with him about the quality of Four Corners documentaries.

I was a fan of Four Corners myself until I saw their treatment of the "Crocodile Dundee" shooting a couple of years ago. I live in that area, and was at the corner of Bynoe Rd at the time, know some of the people involved, and am aware of the real facts of the incident.

On that basis, I'd say that the documentary was as full of drivel as anything Gary Meyerhoff has said.

On another point, Lee Symons (Northern Territory News, March 15), recommends returning junk mail back to the sender.

A mate of mine in Sydney takes that one step further. He glues the junk mail to a length of masonite and mails that, without postage, back to the sender. He reports ideal results.

Name and address withheld by request

This letter to the editor, name and address withheld, was published in the Northern Territory News on Friday March 18, 2005.

Mindless drivel

GARY Meyerhoff, it is a problem fact that long term cannabis use can trigger psychosis. The ABC's Four Corners produces first-class documentaries that are well researched, not like the mindless drivel you come up with.

Pull your head in and grow up.

Ian Baume
Millner

This letter to the editor was published in the Northern Territory News on March 15, 2005.

Aunty slammed

The Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition (NAP) has slammed the ABC over a documentary on the dangers of pot smoking.

NAP spokesperson Gary Meyerhoff said working for the ABC is a lot like smoking dope.

"The harder you suck, the higher you get," he said.

The NAP is having its first smoke-in for 2005 on Saturday at Darwin's Raintree Park.

This article was published in the Northern Territory News on March 9, 2005, in the NT and Beyond column. It has also been archived on napnt.org and by the Media Awareness Project.

Unlawful arrests of activists

DARWIN — Three members of the Network Against Prohibition — Gary Meyerhoff, Stuart Highway and Robert Inder-Smith — were unlawfully arrested on November 1 for their involvement in a 2002 protest against the NT Labor government’s repressive “drug-house laws”. Along with two others, they were convicted in 2003 and sentenced to 14-21 months’ jail, suspended after five months.

Warrants were issued for their arrest by the Supreme Court on October 4, even though the three were on bail pending appeals against their sentences. The activists were not informed of the hearing, nor that the warrants had been issued.

The police arrived at Meyerhoff’s house at 1am to arrest him. He told the ABC’s Stateline program that he “knew straight away that someone had made a mistake somewhere”, but “had no choice but to get in the back of the van with the police”. It was pouring rain at the time and Meyerhoff was recovering from pneumonia.

The three were taken to the Darwin watch-house, where they were refused phone calls and contact with legal aid. NT police commander Max Pope conceded on Stateline that “they should have been allowed to make that call”.

The activists will launch civil litigation against the NT government.

This article was written by Kathy Newnam and published in the Green Left Weekly on the November 17, 2004.

Bong on

Transcript of Radio Interview on 105.7 ABC Darwin

Richard Margetson: 105.7 ABC Darwin right on five to five, Queensland shops could be banned from selling marijuana paraphernalia, which includes bongs, under the eleventh hour amendments to the government’s new tough tobacco laws. The government there is expecting to adopt changes put forward by the Nationals that would result in a ban on items such as bongs, pipes, cones, all used to smoke cannabis of course.

If that motion goes through, offenders will face hefty penalties of up to ten thousand dollars for buying or selling paraphernalia for illegal use. What would happen if tobacconists couldn’t stock bongs and pipes up here in the Territory, would it really make any difference about the amount of drugs being smoked. We’ve contacted Gary Meyerhoff, he works for the Network Against Prohibition, joins us today, just out of bed I think aren’t you Gary?

Gary Meyerhoff: I just had a bit of siesta Richard.

Richard Margetson: I’m sure you did, what do you think about this one in Queensland?

Gary Meyerhoff: Well it’s a bit of a surprise and a bit of a contradiction as well considering that you know, tobacconists, you know, their going to be stopped from selling these ornaments but their still going to be allowed to sell a deadly poison that we know causes cancer, it’s a bit of a strange one but it seems to be following the line from the United States, I mean they’ve done this in the United States, their shutting down websites that sell bongs and other drug paraphernalia, so it’s sort of part of our transition, I suppose, to being just another state of America.

Richard Margetson: This is something that has been explored in other states before though, the South Australian experience would be one to look at because they have had the most liberal laws, drug laws in the country, especially during the 1980s and they’ve tightened up, especially on things like the sale of paraphernalia

Gary Meyerhoff: And also they were the first to decriminalise cannabis and they’ve taken that status away from hydroponically grown cannabis as well, so, and a lot of this crackdown is actually based on misinformation and propaganda coming out of the drug enforcement agency in the United States, there’s actually, you know, no basis to it. I’m pretty sure Clare Martin is kicking herself today that she never thought of this idea first.

Richard Margetson: Do you ever think that it will come to the Territory, do you think that there is a general belief within the community that the way in which drugs have been sold or allowed to develop as part of our community and specifically through things like the open sale of paraphernalia, do you think that that’s eventually sort of worn thin on the community and there’s a need for change.

Gary Meyerhoff: Not at all, I think out in the community the change that people want is drug law reform. This concern seems to appear only in the minds of, you know, Labor and Liberal government politicians. And all we have here is the, it’s an ongoing process where the state and territory Labor governments are trying to out-do John Howard when it comes to zero tolerance approaches to drug issues, but if you asked your average person on the street, I mean, this is ridiculous, it’s just another stupid law that’s going to have no impact whatsoever except maybe some Tobacconists are going to get busted for selling, you know, these ornaments from the back room.

Richard Margetson: Gary Meyerhoff, thanks for joining us this afternoon you can go back to bed now.

Gary Meyerhoff: No worries, thankyou Richard.

Richard Margetson: Cheers, Gary Meyerhoff from the Network Against Prohibition, in fact we’ll be talking a little more about tobacconists directly after the news because there’s some new action on smoking and health in general from cigarette smoking and a lot of the idea, revolves around the idea of not just cigarette companies but retailers being forced to pay the full cost of smoking related illnesses under a new plan to get people to quit, so it’s not just the illegal drugs, marijuana drugs and cannabis in general, it’s legally available drugs like tobacco which are now coming under the watchful eye of people around the country, we’ll talk about that after the news, so stay with us. Richard Margetson with you through until six on 105.7 ABC Darwin, right now it is new time and that is five o’clock.

This live interview was broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation 105.7 ABC Darwin on November 11, 2004. The presenter was Richard Margetson.

Drug law protesters allege wrongful arrest

TELEVISION PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT

MICHAEL COGGAN: A mistake within the NT's Justice Department led to three Darwin people being wrongly jailed early this week.

The three are members of Network Against Prohibition, an activist group opposed to the NT's drug laws.

They'd been convicted of disrupting Parliament 2.5 years ago and were waiting for an appeal to be decided against their jail sentences.

But court staff overlooked the fact that the three were on bail and issued a warrant for their arrest.

And NT Police have conceded the three should have been able to make a telephone call after their arrest.

Murray McLaughlin reports.

MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: Members of the Network Against Prohibition, or NAP, have a history of complaining against the NT Police.

At their first rally in Darwin over two years ago, NAP leader Gary Meyerhoff was charged with six offences.

The charges were dropped, and the ombudsman later found that police had unlawfully ordered Mr Meyerhoff to stop loitering.

But the ombudsman dismissed complaints that the police used excessive force.

Police say this history doesn't mean that NAP members have been treated differently.

MAX POPE, COMMANDER, DARWIN REGION: Of course they've come to police attention.

But then a lot of people come to police attention.

We don't stack it up against people.

We deal with each individual incident as it occurs.

MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: In May 2002, NAP members took their protests against Labor government drug laws to a new level.

They invaded Parliament House and burst onto the floor of the debating chamber.

The Magistrates Court hearing of charges of disturbing the Legislative Assembly was protracted.

They were finally found guilty in May last year and got jail terms up to 21 months with five months to serve.

Those convictions were confirmed by the Supreme Court in September this year.

But the judge adjourned appeals against the jail sentences.

But court staff made a mistake and last month warrants were signed for the arrest of three NAP members.

Stuart Highway was walking down Progress Drive in Nightcliff on Monday night when police nabbed him.

STUART HIGHWAY, NETWORK AGAINST PROHIBITION: I was coming along here.

I bent down to do up my shoelace and I was watching what the police were doing over here, the paddy wagon with headlights on, and they were hassling half a dozen long grass people and the police saw me and said, "Are you Stuart Highway?

"You've got a warrant."

MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: Robert Inder-Smith was next.

He was working on a computer at home about 11:00pm, when five police officers appeared at his open door.

ROBERT INDER-SMITH, NAP MEMBER: They said "We've got a warrant".

I asked them about what, They told me "Parliament invasion" and they insisted and they basically made it clear that I had to go with them then and there, no phone calls or anything.

MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: Did you try and make a phone call?

ROBERT INDER-SMITH: Yes, I was about to, I picked up the phone but, no refused.

MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: Gary Meyerhoff was in bed at home in Ludmilla around 1:00am that same night when police came to arrest him.

GARY MEYERHOFF, NAP MEMBER: I knew straight away that someone had made a mistake somewhere but I had no choice but to get in the back of the van with the police, despite the fact that I was recovering from pneumonia and it's pouring down with rain.

I had no option.

MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: All three were put into a cell at Darwin Central Police Station where they were denied the chance to telephone a lawyer.

GARY MEYERHOFF: We weren't allowed to contact anyone in the morning, they kept us there till about 8:00am in the morning and I asked to speak to the sheriff from the Supreme Court so that we could explain, he could explain that a mistake has been made here, but they wouldn't allow me to speak to anyone at the Supreme Court

MAX POPE: They should have been allowed to make that call.

The judgement of the person in particular, made a judgement at the time, that it was oneish in the morning, and that a call may not have been fruitful.

In hindsight I'd say that shouldn't have occurred, in accordance with our procedures the people should have been allowed to make a phone call.

MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: The three prisoners were removed to Berrimah jail on Tuesday morning, still protesting that the system had made a mistake.

From Berrimah they were able to make contact with the offices of Legal Aid and the ombudsman, but weren't allowed out on bail till Wednesday evening.

Police say it's not unusual that it took four weeks after the court system signed the warrant for them to arrest the three Parliament invaders.

MAX POPE: Often warrants are, because of the volume, come, and they're just attached to people who they relate to, and it's not until a particular person comes to attention, that the warrant comes to existence.

MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: The NAP members are now planning to complain again to the ombudsman about the NT Police and to sue the NT Government for deprivation of liberty.

This report was broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Stateline program on November 5, 2004. The reporter was Murray McLaughlin. I have amended the title which originally read 'Drug law protester allege wrongful arrest'.

Bill pasting is not a crime!

DARWIN — Human-rights activist Gary Meyerhoff was found guilty in the Darwin Magistrates Court on October 28 bill pasting.

Meyerhoff was charged under a Darwin City Council by-law, which prohibits postering “without a permit”. The council has never issued such a permit and this was the first time that anyone has been charged with the offence.

The court gave Meyerhoff a 6-month, $600 good behaviour bond and he has been ordered to pay costs of $710. He will appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.

This article was written by Kathy Newnam and published in the Green Left Weekly in the November 3, 2004 edition and was also published on Darwin Indymedia on November 1, 2004.

Appeal thrown out

Gary Meyerhoff, the Grimsby-born Australian who burst into the Northern Territory's Parliament to protest about drug laws, has had an appeal against his conviction dismissed.

Mr Meyerhoff, who holds dual citizenship, was sentenced to 21 months in March 2003 after he was found guilty of disrupting the parliament in session on May 14, 2002, as previously reported. About half the Northern Territory's Parliament gave evidence during the trial and the sentence was to be suspended after five months.

But Mr Meyerhoff, who lived in Marshchapel and New Waltham before moving to Australia with his parents when he was nine, appealed against his conviction.

Summing up his reasons for rejecting the appeal, Justice David Angel told Darwin's supreme court that he accepted that the disturbance had been based on "strongly-held views".

"The appellant Meyerhoff was instrumental in founding an association which believes all drugs should be decriminalised and that there should be controlled availability of drugs, including opiates."

Mr Meyerhoff told the Telegraph that he and four others would appeal the sentence.

He said that he expected to be jailed should he lose that appeal.

No date for the sentence appeal hearing has yet been set.

Written by Lisa Parry and published in the Grimsby Evening Telegraph (UK)on 23rd September 2004

Drug law reform activists await appeal outcome

DARWIN — Four human rights activists facing imprisonment for a 2002 protest in the Northern Territory Parliament are awaiting an appeal decision against their conviction. The appellate judge has reserved his judgement after hearing three days of submissions from the defendants.

Gary Meyerhoff, Robert Inder-Smith and Stuart Highway, all members of the Network Against Prohibition, and Mick Lambe, the coordinator of People Against Racism in Aboriginal Homelands, were among a group of nine people who invaded the chamber of the NT Legislative Assembly on May 14, 2002.

The protest was held on the day that the Labor government's repressive “drug house laws” were adopted by the NT Parliament.

After a 16-day trial in the Darwin Magistrates Court in 2002, the activists were sentenced to 14- and 21-month jail terms.

“We’re up against a lot of vested interests”, stated Highway in his appeal on August 30, noting what he believes to be the high level of corruption in the NT police force and justice system. Meyerhoff commented that “ever since the formation of the NAP in 2001, they have hit us will all these charges in the hope that we would leave the territory or go to legal aid and plead guilty, but we're not going anywhere”.

This article was written by Kathy Newnam and published in the Green Left Weekly on September 8, 2004.