FED: What the newspapers say - Friday April 23

AAP General News (Australia)
04-23-2004
FED: What the newspapers say - Friday April 23

SYDNEY, April 23 AAP - Cricketer Stuart MacGill's announcement that he was unavailable
for selection on the Zimbabwe tour on moral grounds is the focus of three major metropolitan
newspapers today.

The Australian newspaper says there may be better bowlers than MacGill, but "whether
there is anyone with a keener sense of right and wrong, and the courage to act on it,
is now less certain".

The newspaper says that even if the tour does go ahead, the strike by 15 Zimbabwean
players means Australia will be playing against second stringers.

"The fact that Cricket Australia presses on in these circumstances is explained, though
not excused, by a threatened $2.74 million fine from the ICC," the newspaper says.

But it asks how to explain the International Cricket Council's decision, and calls
for Zimbabwe - already suspended from the Commonwealth as a result of the racist and oppressive
policies of dictator Robert Mugabe - to also be suspended from "the Commonwealth game".

Sydney's Daily Telegraph says MacGill's decision is one for which he "deserves unqualified
respect".

The newspaper also welcomes Cricket Australia's assurance that MacGill's decision will
not be held against him when it comes to future team selections.

"Because in this country - unlike Zimbabwe - we guarantee the rights of individuals
to take such stands free of the threat of reprisal."

Melbourne's Herald Sun also praises MacGill, pointing at that at the age of 33, his
decision of conscience may have ended the leg spin bowler's test career.

"His voice cuts through the clamour of commercial and other interests which will determine
whether the Zimbabwe tour goes ahead," the newspaper says.

"Sometimes acting on our conscience is the only way to go."

The Australian Financial Review examines International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts,
which include good economic weather signs for Australia.

"The main danger is we'll take growth for granted and ease the foot off the reform
pedal," the AFR says.

"This has already been happening.

"It's wrong because we have to stay nimble to exploit the opportunities in our region
and ride the occasional bumps that developing economies dish out.

"If we do that, we can better sustain our prosperity and spread it wider in the community."

The Adelaide Advertiser says state and federal governments need to work together to
improve Australia's health system.

"(South Australian) health minister Lea Stevens is at the pointy end of a problem which
only ever seems to worsen. There are too many patients and too little money," the editorial
said.

"This is almost certain to come up at the state health ministers' round-table in Canberra
today because Treasurer Peter Costello has money."

"But, in an election year, can the Labor health ministers persuade the Liberal federal
government not to deal the money out in tax cuts?"

The Age says Indonesian presidential candidate General Wiranto must clear his name
of crimes against humanity in East Timor of which he is accused.

"If, as General Wiranto himself claims, he is not guilty of any crimes against humanity,
then he can clear the air simply by submitting to examination by the Dili court," the
editorial says.

"That was a point that Mr Downer could have made without necessarily being seen to
be meddling in Indonesia's internal affairs.

"As it stands, in the event that General Wiranto is elected as president, dealings
between Indonesia, East Timor, Australia and the United States are likely to be awkward
indeed."

The Sydney Morning Herald says Premier Bob Carr's pledge to develop and implement
a Sydneywide metropolitan strategy is a case of "about time".

"Without it, Sydney cannot thrive. Our livability, sustainability, and cost of doing
business are already compromised," the newspaper says.

It says the Labor Government's survival depends on innovative funding approaches to
the city's infrastructure and development problems.

And it concludes that the strategy will be the "crucial test" of Infrastructure and
Planning Minister Craig Knowles as well as "a measure of the Carr machine's ability to
retrieve lost reputation".

AAP tma e

KEYWORD: EDITORIALS

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