Deconstructing the Australian Broadcasting Commission
by peptide Monday, May 7 2007, 1:05pm
national /
social/political /
opinion/analysis
The once public Australian broadcaster (ABC) is proving to be a brazen propaganda medium for the government. The latest overt propaganda issuing from ‘our’ ABC is clearly designed to soften public resistance to biometric and other intrusive forms of identification. Senator Stott Despoja is currently debating the uses and abuses of an identification smartcard in the Senate. With that debate in progress and unresolved we now witness BIOMETRIC ID ‘softening’ techniques by the ‘public’ broadcaster, ‘our’ ABC:
May 8, 2007. 8:36am (AEST)
Aussies back tougher anti-terrorist steps for airportsFrom the header, which should read, ‘Some (very few) Aussies back tougher ..’ to the vested interest that commissioned the ‘survey,’ a security company named UNISYS, the ‘report’ reeks of contrived advertising or political propaganda! Note the carefully constructed question of the poll/survey, “ .. what people would be willing to do,” as opposed to the following example question, ‘would you condone the use of intrusive forms of biometric identification, centralised data bases that would be accessed by various bureaus, government departments, private industry and others you wouldn’t dream of sharing personal information with?’
A new Australian survey has found overwhelming support for stricter anti-terrorism measures for air travel.
More than 98 per cent of the respondents to the Newspoll survey believe the aviation industry needs to tighten baggage screening and identity checks for passengers, or place greater restrictions on cars and non-travellers at airports.
Andrew Barkly from the security company UNISYS, which commissioned the survey, says the findings reflect a heightened concern on security and a willingness to act.
"When we asked a question about what people would be willing to do, we were surprised to see that people would be willing to provide a biometric identifier - like a fingerprint," he said.
Meanwhile, a record number of international air travellers visited Australia last year.
The Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics has released its aviation statistics for 2006, showing nearly 21.5 million passengers travelled through Australia.
That is an increase of 3 per cent compared to the previous year.
Qantas had the largest share of the market with 28 per cent, followed by Singapore Airlines with 11 per cent and Air New Zealand with 9 per cent.
Almost half of the passengers travelled through Sydney Airport.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1916835.htm