Headlines Monday 29th September

Survey says NSW is racist - let’s see the questions
Piers Akerman
A group called the Anti-Racism Research Project has found that NSW is the most racist state, according to project leader Kevin Dunn of the University of Western Sydney.
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John Howard awarded Medal of Freedom
By Peter Mitchell in Los Angeles
FORMER prime minister John Howard has been awarded the Winston S Churchill Medal of Freedom at a ceremony in Los Angeles.

The American Freedom Alliance, an LA-based think tank, presented Mr Howard with the award for being "a strong ally of the United States".

Asked if he was concerned Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Labor Government would erode the economic fundamentals built up during his 11 years in Australia's top job, Mr Howard replied: "I hope the new government does not in any way squander the inheritance we gave them".

He welcomed the news US President George W Bush and Congressional leaders had agreed on a $US700 billion ($845 billion) rescue plan for the shaky US financial industry. Australia, thanks largely to the policies of his government, was in a healthy position to ride out the economic turmoil in the US, he said.

"Fortunately, the fundamentals of the Australian economy are very strong and those fundamentals were largely created by the former government," Mr Howard said.

"The fact that we have a big surplus and have paid off our debt, that we have low unemployment, we have low inflation, we have a strong banking system, all of those things will work to our favour.

"If Australia were now in debt and were running a big budget deficit, the impact of this would be much greater."
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CALL EYE-PATCHED THROUGH
Tim Blair
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GARBAGE EATEN
Tim Blair
It’s green season:
Tempo went hunting for the Chicagoan who has the lowest carbon footprint.
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SHOW IMPROVES
Tim Blair
Jim Treacher notices some familiar material on Saturday Night Live:
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VOTES NEUTRALISED
Tim Blair
“Hi, I’m Al Gore, and I used to be the next president of the United States.” That’s Al’s standard intro at his lectures about reducing carbon output, for which he continuously flies around the planet.
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WARMING COOLING
Tim Blair
Last year, John Howard was in office and we were all going to be killed by global warming. But in 2008 …
This year, climate change has slipped in ranking from first to fifth most important.
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LATE TO THE DEBATE: CATCHING UP
Tim Blair
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Are Australians really racist?
Alan Jones
The easiest way to silence some poor unsuspecting citizen from saying anything is by calling him a racist. Mind you, it's never racist when dreadful things are said about Anglo-Saxons, but that's another story.

We read today that NSW is supposed be the most racist state in Australia. There's going to be a conference starting in Sydney on Tuesday called Rights, Reconciliation, Respect and Responsibility. And this report will be released there - the first results of a so-called study, Challenging Racism - the Anti-Racism Research Project.

And we're told that high rates of migration meant that on average New South Wales was the least tolerant of all the States and Territories.

So you object to migration and you're a racist?
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18 weeks paid maternity leave to bump off baby bonus
Sarah Wiley & Anil Lambert-Patel
The Rudd government is being urged to fund an 18 week maternity leave scheme, at a cost of $450 million a year.

The productivity commission has handed down its draft report into paid parental leave, and has recommended mothers be given 18 paid weeks leave at the minimum wage of $544 a week - the baby bonus would be scrapped.

Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald says fathers would also be given two weeks paid paternity leave.

“Children will benefit, families will benefit, and Australia will benefit over time.” - Excellent. Employers will pay more, and charges will rise and the government makes a false saving. Everybody has someone to blame. - ed.