Correct node title:
An important message from the Prime Minister
Details below w/u.
Sent to each and every Australian household in February 2003 following an intensive media blitz with respected Channel 9 anchorman, Steve Liebman.
(Australian Coat of Arms)
Prime Minister
Canberra
Dear fellow Australian
I am writing to you because I believe you and your family should know more about some key issues affecting the security of our country and how we can all play a part in protecting our way of life.
It is a sad fact that since the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in New York and Washington, and particularly since the terrorist atrocity in Bali when eighty-eight Australians were killed and many seriously injured, we live in a more dangerous world.
We have to take necessary steps to protect ourselves, but in doing so, we also need to strike the right balance between sensible precaution and unnecessary alarm.
We can do this best if we are all as well informed as possible about the initiatives being taken to protect our country and how everyone can play their part.
The National Security Campaign and this booklet
By now, you have probably seen or heard the public information campaign encouraging Australians to be alert but not alarmed, and to report suspicious activity to the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400.
This booklet gives you more information about the counter-terrorism measures the government has introduced. Importantly, it includes:
I encourage
you and your
family and
friends to read the booklet and heed the experts' advice.
Protecting Australians
Australia has been at a heightened level of alert since 11 September 2001. However, it is important that we put the heightened level of alert in to perspective - we have strong national security coordination arrangements and our intelligence, law enforcement, defence and emergency services are well prepared to respond to the threat of terrorism.
The government has recently further upgraded Australia's counter-terrorism capacity, including creating specialist police counter-terrorism units, enacting new laws dealing with terrorism and significantly increasing Australian Defence Force's counter-terrorism capability.
We can all play a part
Our ability to respond to terrorism does not depend on governments alone. Time and time again a member of the public, who has noticed something unusual or suspicious in their neighbourhood or workplace and reported it to the police, has prevented a crime from being committed. We now need to take the same approach to terrorism and I ask all Australians to help.
It is not possible to give you a detailed list of everything that might be suspicious. As the experts tell us in the booklet, what amounts to suspicious or unusual activity often depends very much on the circumstances in which it takes place. I encourage you to be aware of what's going on around you and to use your judgement and common sense when something seems out of place. If it doesn't add up, all the National Security Hotline, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All calls to the Hotline will be taken seriously and followed up, and you can remain anonymous if you wish.
Even if the Hotline only receives one or two pieces of information that end up preventing something terrible happening, the Australian community will have made and important contribution to preventing terrorism.
Our community
Australia is a strong and vigorous democracy. We value our individual rights and also respect our obligations to other Australians because we know that only by doing so can our security, prosperity and freedom endure.
Australians respect and understand the many cultures and religions that make up our society. Now, more than ever, we must work together to make sure no religion or section of our community is made to feel a scapegoat because of the actions of a small number of fanatics.
The future
As a people we have traditionally engaged the world optimistically. We are great travellers, whether for work, education or pleasure. Young Australians in particular go overseas in large numbers and we receive many visitors from other countries to our shores. Our open, friendly nature makes us welcome guests and warm hosts. All of us want that to continue
Australians have every reason to be hopeful and optimistic about the future. We are a strong, free, compassionate society - together, we will look out for Australia and protect the way of life we value so highly
Yours sincerely
John Howard
(John Howard)
3 February 2003
Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600
Kalon's aside:
I realise that I have attracted a lot of interest and indeed
flak over the posting of this. I have not and WILL NOT post my
opinion on this node - it is merely here as transcript of a mailout to each and every Australian. Being a huge task as it is, I thought it best to
node for the ages as in one year, five years, a hundred years (!) this will be an important snapshot of
the way we were in 2003. I am flattered by the attention it has brought, and am pleased to see thought-provoking and fair-minded discussion about this issue. There are lots of interesting
softlinks to other nodes,
satires,
counterpoints and even objections to what I have noded here - but it is nothing other than a statement that deserves to be seen by all Australians and interested people, not for its content, but because it is a public announcement from the most influential man in Australia at the time, right or wrong.
Kalon's OTHER aside
This node had it's title changed from "...from the Prime Minister" - it's OFFICAL document title, to "...from the Prime Minister
of Australia" (my emphasis). This was done without my consultation. While I do not really mind, it is still the title of the document. Like a proper book or production name (Think "
Star Trek: The Next Generation", rather than "
The Next Generation" and the whole
Dr. Strangelove debacle) I do believe it has it's place as being country-ambivalent. I understand that OTHER countries have Prime Ministers, and OTHER Prime Ministers may indee make important announcements, but this is the way our country's leader chose to address us, not marginalising us to "look at me, I'm in Australia - a different place, ideology or CLASS of country". To complicate and record for posterity, I have included the dialogue about this node below. I do thank you for reading this far - you are a star for lasting so long!
2003.02.16 at 18:06 dem bones says re An important message from the Prime Minister: Probably "An important message from the Prime Minister of Australia" , then... -
at this point the node had already been changed without my approval. I replied saying ti should be left "as is".
2003.02.16 at 21:24 dem bones says I put it in () for now but I'll talk to people smarter than me (not like it's a real big deal either way) -
STILL changed, with my requests ignored, but dialogue at least entered in to. I asked the other noders to see what they thought...
2003.02.17 at 02:30 Sasha Gabba Hey! says It's fucking stupid. See my title edit request.
2003.02.17 at 03:32 Sasha Gabba Hey! says re An important message from the Prime Minister: I got it back. -
I must have missed it, because it was back to "of Australia", WITHOUT ( )'s by the time I checked.
2003.02.17 at 03:57 dem bones says re An important message from the Prime Minister of Australia: If you could please make a note that the "official title" of the document didn't include the "of Australia" at the beginning of your writeup I think that will solve it. -
I then asked for the title to be changed, as the "official" title is kind of integral to the whole node... am I right?
2003.02.17 at 04:57 Sasha Gabba Hey! says Well, after a big argument with dem bones and an inflamatory node title edit, this is the new title. fucking american dickheads.
2003.02.17 at 05:05 dem bones says re An important message from the Prime Minister of Australia: Yea, but we're not going to do that
(my request for offical document status of node title). Please make a note at the top of your writeup if you feel the title misrepresents the document.
2003.02.17 at 05:06 dem bones says re An important message from the Prime Minister of Australia : I've discussed it with many people and we feel this is the best way to go on an international website. It's certainly not going to be a catastrophe either way but we've decided to go this way. This is based on many years of experience with such titling issues.
2003.02.17 at 05:06 dem bones says re An important message from the Prime Minister of Australia: And we imagine that a Prime Minister of another country may at some point issue an 'important message' ...
2003.02.17 at 10:28 thiyas says re the unrequested name change to the node formally known as An important message from the Prime Minister : Personally, I think it should stand without brackets and without 'of Australia'. In my (quiet) two years on this site, there
appears to be a strong feeling that
namespacing of nodes is bad for the interconnectedness of the database. I feel that adding 'of Australia' is namespacing, albeit of a slightly different form. Reasons I think the namespacing should be removed: (*)More potential readers (soft link surfers) are likely if it does not include an explicit country name; (*)More chance of collision (ie some ::other:: PM having an important message), which we would want to read (Generality in node titles is good for the database!); (*)It ::is:: the title of the letter. Cheers. re nuking and recreating, I think that is a noble but ultimately useless action. If the
powers that be changed it once, they can change it again. (I guess I am also wary of losing my best node :-)
So there you go. I still think it will be more "proper" without the "of Australia", in parentheses or not, but I am not going to push.
Others may think slightly differently, but I do think the proper title
ala ST:TNG and Dr Strangelove holds true here - I can't help it if I live in a fucked country!