Melbourne tells itself: 'We're the best' | Travel News | News.com.au * Melbourne voted most liveable city - poll
* Victorians 'envy of the rest of Australia'
* 'Sydney used to be ahead, but not anymore'
VICTORIANS were the "envy" of other Australians and Melbourne was the most liveable capital city in Australia by a "long, long way", Premier John Brumby said.
The Herald Sun reports a new Roy Morgan poll of 1200 Australians showed Melbourne was more liveable than Sydney and other Australian capital cities.
Mr Brumby trumpeted the results at a major economics conference at the University of Melbourne today.
He said the survey, which was commissioned by the Victorian Government and carried out in June, showed every Victorian should get credit for their willingness to get involved in large-scale events.
“This research shows we are the envy of the rest of Australia,” Mr Brumby said.
"What it shows is that we have got the liveability edge, whether you are talking about arts, whether you are talking about sport, whether you are talking about... romance.
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* Reader's Comments: Melbourne tells itself: 'We're the best'NEWS.com.au,
* Melbourne the best city in AustraliaHerald Sun, 5 Nov 2009
* Funding boost for regional healthHerald Sun, 16 Sep 2009
* A Venice of the southHerald Sun, 12 Sep 2009
* Our best of the bestAdelaide Now, 21 Jun 2009
“If you go back to the 1990s that was very different, where Sydney was miles ahead in all of these areas.''
He resisted the temptation to take a swipe at the other states, however, saying they still had “great cities”.
“I think we are lucky in Australia, we have got great cities," he said.
"What this story says is that all of the work that has gone on (in Victoria) building events, building the arts, building sport... the vibrancy of our nightlife, cafes and streetwalks and so on, all of these things come together and just give us an edge in Melbourne."
Read more about Australia's Most Liveable City at the Herald Sun
[Jurnal Perempuan] Migrant workers: Have we done our part? - Inbox - Yahoo! MailAnother Indonesian migrant worker has died of torture at the hands of her Malaysian employer. The torture and mistreatment that led to the tragic death of Muni Binti Bani is yet another sorry tale that adorns the pages of history of Indonesian overseas workers.
Lured by the dream of improving their lives and those of their loved ones, and driven by their own precarious poverty, our fellow Indonesians brave even such cruel tales to sweat and toil on Malaysian land.
While condemning this inhuman act, committed by a certain Malaysian individual, and demanding Malaysian authorities take whatever measures possible to punish the culprit of such a heinous crime are absolutely important, we must not, however, lose sight of, or forget, our corporate responsibility. It is high time the government and the Indonesian people face up to our responsibilities and get our act together.
The very existence of Indonesian overseas workers in Malaysia, whether they work legally or illegally, can be traced back to the socioeconomic conditions of what I would call "vocational pockets of overseas workers" i.e. regions that are socially and economically challenged such as East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province.
Just a few weeks ago, the Malaysian authorities sent back hundreds of illegal workers, of whom more than one fifth hail from the province of NTT. This sheer number alone and their province of origin reveal one salient reality: The lack of economic opportunities and/or high unemployment that ultimately results in the high number of illegal workers.
In other words, the rampant poverty and high unemployment rate in the region contribute significantly to the rise in cases of illegal workers. After all, who, in his or her right mind, would bother to go all the way to Malaysia if that person was blissfully content and economically robust at home?
Thus addressing the issue of economic opportunities and improving the socioeconomic conditions of such regions are of paramount importance and must become the priority of the government if we are to face the problem of migrant workers squarely. Furthermore, equally important is for the government and its partners - such as NGOs and other people of goodwill, to have constant education and proper training for the younger generation in the regions, most targeted by often aggressive recruiters.
Poverty and high unemployment among the youth, coupled with their illiteracy often makes them an easy target for unscrupulous recruiters, who often aggressively sell the nobility of working in Malaysia. In most cases, young people will be lured with often unrealistic stories of people who are said to have been successful in Malaysia.
Once the youths have been convinced by such tantalizing but unrealistic stories -no matter how false they are - they will soon pack their belongings and follow blindly wherever their recruiters tell them to go. Hence there were cases wherein a group of young people agreed to be shipped to Malaysia, even when they had no proper documents such as passports and entry visas.
What is, therefore, crucial is for the government agencies to shed light on this innocence among youngsters and eradicate the unjust recruitment practices which are often carried out by no one else but our fellow Indonesians. The government should build partnership with NGOs, civic and religious leaders in this empowering process in order that it may effectively reach the people in far-flung areas of Indonesia.
But what is also important is for these young fellows to know the right procedures or regulations and their fundamental rights as human beings and workers. Thus there is a need to educate our youngsters, particularly in these vocational pockets, about the rules and regulations pertaining to working abroad. This will ensure not only they understand the work and immigration regulations, but also equips them with the knowledge which will make them less vulnerable to unjust recruitment practices.
Furthermore, there is a need for the government to introduce tough regulations that bind recruitment agencies vis-*-vis consistent follow-ups and performance evaluations. The recruitment agency must be made to agree on their responsibilities that include providing their potential recruits with the right information, transparency in their wage policy and practices, and the accountability of the agencies in ensuring the well-being of their recruits, i.e. the migrant workers. This prerequisite in the establishment of a recruitment agency will provide the government with the necessary control of recruitment agencies, for the benefit of the migrant workers.
There have been many cases - in fact, too many already - where our fellow Indonesians have been subject to mistreatment and even death. We may blame others for all of these. But we should also ask ourselves if we have done our best to empower our fellow Indonesians.
The writer is chairman of the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) committee of the CICM, an international religious missionary institute.
'Boats not the reason' for Labor poll hit | National Breaking News | News.com.auLABOR backbencher Maxine McKew doesn't believe a hit in the polls is the result of the Government's controversial handling of the asylum seeker debate.
She thinks the latest Newspoll, which recorded a seven percentage point swing against the Rudd government on Tuesday, might just be an anomaly.
"It's an odd poll," she said.
"Yes, there has been a large swing in the primary vote to the Liberals ... but almost no shift in the prime minister's personal approval rating.
"That's quite odd if this is all about what the prime minister has been saying about tough and humane (border protection policy)."
She's awaiting the next Newspoll out next fortnight.
But opposition frontbencher Joe Hockey maintains the government has lost its way on border protection, particularly in the case of the Oceanic Viking.
"There's an Australian vessel floating north of Australia that is effectively a floating three-star resort," he said.
"Compared to Indonesia and some of the camps in Indonesia, these people do not want to get off the boat.
Related Coverage
"We need to get a solution out of that."
Indonesian officials are expected to decide tomorrow whether to allow Australia more time to persuade the 78 asylum seekers off the boat.
Security clearance for the vessel to remain in Indonesia expires tomorrow night, with no word yet on an extension.
"Kevin Rudd said he had an Indonesian solution, he said two weeks ago that he had solved the matter, (but) the matter is still unsolved," Mr Hockey said.
"Sooner or later he has to make a hard decision."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd insists Oceanic Viking refugees are Indonesia's problem | World News | News.com.au * Australia "not responsible" for boatpeople
* Rudd says Indonesia requested the pick up
* Sri Lankans enter 19th day on board
KEVIN Rudd is digging in over the stand-off with 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers refusing to leave an Australian Customs ship, insisting they are Indonesia's problem.
Indonesia is expected to extend a deadline for the removal of the group from the Oceanic Viking as the showdown intensifies.
Mr Rudd was emphatic that the group would not be taken to Christmas Island - declaring they were picked up in Indonesian waters following a request from Jakarta, the Herald Sun reports.
But their refusal to disembark continued to prompt Indon officials to argue the ball was in Australia's court.
As the Sri Lankans enter their 19th day aboard the Oceanic Viking, the cost to taxpayers of keeping the vessel away from its normal duties patrolling the Southern Ocean is now estimated at close to $1.5 million.
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* Boatpeople seek talks on futureThe Australian, 4 Nov 2009
* Talks over 'Indonesian solution'The Australian, 3 Nov 2009
* Unions attack PM on asylumThe Australian, 2 Nov 2009
* Asylum-seekers Indonesian linksThe Australian, 1 Nov 2009
* Island asylum centre set to doubleNEWS.com.au, 31 Oct 2009
Indonesian authorities had nominated yesterday as the deadline by which Australia must ensure the Sri Lankans disembark or leave waters off the Indonesian island of Bintan.
It was understood that Australian officials had sought more time to continue negotiations with Indonesian counterparts and the 78 asylum seekers.
The request was expected to be granted as both nations sought to prevent the stand-off escalating into a full-blown diplomatic row.
Indonesian authorities are refusing to use force to get the group to leave the ship and enter an Australian-funded detention centre in Tanjung Pinang.
That was the destination originally scheduled for the 78, who remain determined to reach Australia.
Mr Rudd maintained Australia and Indonesia retained "infinite patience" in finding a breakthrough.
Although he declined to specifically rule out taking the asylum seekers to Christmas Island for processing, the PM left little doubt about his view of Indonesia's obligations under international maritime law.
"These individuals are being processed in the Indonesian port," Mr Rudd said.
"That is at the request of the Indonesians and that is how it's going to continue."
One senior Indonesian official said there was no hope of breaking the deadlock and the vessel should return to Australia.
But other senior officials have indicated an extension will be granted, meaning the stand-off is likely to drag into a third week.
In a written message thrown overboard yesterday, the asylum seekers said customs officials were trying to "push" them back to Indonesia.
"They are giving little bit of food every day and they are not allowed to shower," the message said.
"They are using bad word against us. These giving more painful to our heart."
The Tamils made it clear they do not intend to come ashore in Indonesia.
"We want to resettle to Australia, they told us we must go to Indonesia, but we are not ready to go back to Indonesia.
"This is our final decision.
"If Australian try to force back to Indonesia, we are going close our life in the ocean."
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said the Government's border protection policies had failed.
"That important vessel that should be at sea doing its job, protecting our borders.
"It's just really, you know, a floating hostel off the coast of Indonesia while Kevin Rudd goes around in circles, unable to get a resolution."
Ten Sri Lankan men already in the Tanjun Pinang detention centre yesterday said the long wait to be processed was driving them crazy.
They have been at the centre since it opened in April.
The detention centre is basic and sparse. Blackouts are frequent. The recreation area is little more than a concrete slab, ringed with razor wire.
Inmates don't have access to phones or the internet and cannot contact their families.
"From here we were expecting a good life and a good future. But now we are already getting old," one said.
It can take up to a decade for refugees in Indonesia to be processed and resettled in a third country.
A tanker carrying 27 survivors of the weekend boat tragedy in the Indian Ocean was on its way to Christmas Island last night - as were 16 asylum seekers intercepted on Wednesday north of Darwin.
What happens to your email when you die?
IN a digital world your deepest secrets no longer die with you. Andrew Ramadge reports on what happens to your private emails when you pass away.
REMEMBER that time you poured your heart out in an email to your best friend after one too many glasses of wine?
Or that sexy message from an old lover that made you blush at work?
Well, if you die, your family and others could end up reading them.
Web email services owned by internet giants Google and Microsoft have a policy of keeping your data after you die and letting your next of kin or the executor of your estate access it.
There is no way for users to flag that they don't want this to happen and no recourse under Australia's existing privacy laws.
Related story Click here to read the policies of popular email and social networking sites »
More than one in four Australians uses webmail, with around six and a half million people logging on to one or more of the top three providers Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo! in September, according to Nielsen Online NetView.
Unlike a shoebox in the attic, these services can hold tens of thousands of messages. Accounts with Google's Gmail can hold up to 7GB – or roughly 70,000 emails with a small to medium picture attached to each.
And they archive the messages you've written as well as received.
When it comes to deleting the data, Microsoft's Hotmail will remove an account if it is inactive for 270 days, while Gmail leaves the responsibility to the next of kin.
Of the top three providers, only Yahoo! refuses to supply emails to anyone after a user has died. The user's next of kin can ask for the account to be closed, but cannot gain access to it.
A Yahoo! spokesperson said the only exception to this rule would be if the user specified otherwise in their will.
Australian privacy laws do not cover the emerging problem of what happens to your web-based data when you die. The Privacy Act only refers to people who are alive.
On top of that, many of the most popular web services are not covered by local privacy laws because they are based in the US.
The subject has also proved problematic for social networking sites Facebook and MySpace. More than eight million Australians visited one or both of those sites in September, according to Nielsen's figures.
Facebook has recently publicised a feature called memorialisation that lets the family of deceased users keep their profile page online as a virtual tribute.
Turning a profile into a memorial will remove sensitive information from the page and restrict access to the deceased's friends. The family will not be allowed to log in to the account or access private messages, but can request that it be taken down.
MySpace on the other hand says it addresses the issue of family access to sensitive data on a "case by case basis".
A spokesperson for MySpace could not rule out letting a user's next of kin log into their profile – potentially giving them access to private messages.
There is no way for users to tell MySpace that they don't want this to happen, however the site said it was "a good idea that we are exploring".
Read on for a summary of the policies of popular email and social networking sites:
Hotmail
Hotmail has a policy of deleting email accounts if they are not touched for 270 days. If you die, your next of kin would be able to access your account within that period by proving their identity and supplying a death certificate.
A spokesperson said: "Microsoft's policy allows next of kin to gain access to the content of the account of the deceased upon proving their own identity and relationship. Hotmail does not have an option to specify in advance that they do not want the contents of their email accessed by a next of kin."
Gmail
Gmail will also allow the next of kin or executor of estate to apply for access to a deceased user's email account. However, they need more identification than Hotmail. The person would have to prove their own identity and supply a death certificate as well as proof of an email conversation between them and the deceased.
If the deceased user was underage, the next of kin would also have to provide a copy of their birth certificate.
Gmail does not delete the deceased user's account, but says the next of kin could choose to do so after gaining access to it.
Yahoo!
Yahoo! has the strictest policy when it comes to the data of deceased users. The company will let the user's next of kin ask for the account to be closed, but will not give them access to it. It says users who want their emails to be inherited should make arrangements in their will.
A spokesperson said: "The commitment Yahoo! makes to every person who signs up for a Yahoo! Mail account is to treat their email as a private communication and to treat the content of their messages as confidential.
"Internet users who want to be sure their email and other online accounts are accessible to their legal heirs may want to work with their attorneys to plan an offline process for such access as part of their estate planning process."
Facebook
Facebook has a policy called memorialisation that applies to the profiles of deceased users. Once the user's death is confirmed, their profile can be turned into a sort of virtual shrine. When that happens, the profile is locked so no one can log into it and sensitive information (including status updates) is removed.
Family members can determine how the memorial looks and behaves – for example if other people can continue to write on the user's page – but can't log into the profile themselves.
From Facebook's Help page: "Please note that in order to protect the privacy of the deceased user, we cannot provide login information for the account to anyone. We do honour requests from close family members to close the account completely."
MySpace
MySpace has no set policy when it comes to the profiles of deceased users. A spokesperson said: "Given the sensitive nature of deceased member profiles, MySpace handles each incident on a case-by-case basis when notified and will work with families to respect their wishes."
The site says it will not allow anyone to "assume control" of the user's profile, however it won't rule out giving families access to the user's private data. MySpace does not delete profiles after periods of inactivity, but will remove a deceased user's profile at the family's request. A spokesperson said giving users a choice about who can access their data "sounds like a good idea".
