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And in Other News...Court attack attackedThe Law Council of Australia has labelled a reported attack on the High Court by the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission as “extraordinary” and “disappointing.” President of the Law Council, John Corcoran said if Senator Steve Hutchins’s comments had been accurately reported, they revealed an “alarming support for unchecked executive powers.” In a speech to the Australian Federal Police Association, Senator Hutchins reportedly accused the High Court of acting with disregard for the interests of public order and justice following a High Court decision on 12 November to disallow the NSW Crime Commission to apply for a restraining order over a person’s assets without first alerting them. Concern over Archives closures The Community and Public Sector Union has written to the Director General of the National Archives, Ross Gibbs, calling for him to reconsider closing State offices in Darwin, Adelaide and Hobart. The CPSU said it was concerned about the impacts of the closures on staff, public services and the archived documents. It said it had met with NAA management to look at alternatives to closing the sites. AFP joins crime centre Australian Federal Police and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security have teamed up to establish a Joint Transnational Crime Centre. The Vietnam-Australia Joint Transnational Crime Centre will facilitate information and intelligence sharing between the countries on illicit drugs, money laundering and child sex tourism. The Centre is expected to open next year and will be located within the Vietnamese General Department of Police Premises in Ho Chi Minh City. Similar Joint Transnational Crime Centres have been established in Cambodia and Columbia. Navy backs boat race The Royal Australian Navy will again sponsor the longest open sea boat race, the George Bass Surfboat Marathon. Head of Navy People and Reputation, Commodore David Letts said the Navy was proud to once again sponsor the George Bass Surfboat Marathon in 2010. “The Navy supports the Australian Surf Rower League and the George Bass Surfboat Marathon because of an alignment of many of the attributes of surf rowing and the Navy itself,” Commodore Letts said. Honour for Director Director of the National Gallery of Australia, Ron Radford has received the French Honour, L’Ordre des Arts et Lettres, for his contribution to Australian arts. The accolade is in recognition of Dr Radford’s significant achievements in his work with the National Gallery and earlier, the Art Gallery of South Australia. Established in 1957, L’Ordre des Arts et Lettres recognises significant contribution to arts and literature or to the propagation of these fields. Dr Radford will be presented with the award at an official decoration ceremony early next year. Shipwrecks for Memorial The Australian War Memorial is to receive all the videos and photographs showing the underwater wrecks of HMAS Sydney II and HSK Kormoran. The Finding Sydney Foundation is donating the data to the AWM to make the 1,400 photographs and 50 hours of film publicly available for future research The Foundation said the AWM was the images’ rightful home as they were the only objective evidence of the result of the battle between the two ships. New safety standards for trailers New safety standards have been introduced to crack down on importers and local manufacturers of unsafe trailers and caravans. Importers and manufactures will now need to comply with a new national code of practice, and face fines of up to $66,000 if they are found to be non-compliant. The new rules apply to all imported and locally produced trailers up to 4.5 tonnes, with further information available from www.infrastructure.gov.au More funding for heritage Australia’s World Heritage sites are to receive additional funding in the latest round of the Caring for our Country program. Over $38 million will be spent on preserving the 17 World Heritage sites, with projects such as eradicating pests on Macquarie Island and protecting the biodiversity of Shark Bay in Western Australia to be undertaken. Other World Heritage places to receive funding include the Gondwana Rainforests, home to 200 rare and threatened plant and animal species, and Willandra Lakes Region in NSW. Museum to buy relics The Australian National Maritime Museum is to purchase the Omai relics – three rare clubs collected during Captain Cook’s second exploration of the Pacific - from the Tobias Furneaux collection. The two Tongan clubs and a Maori whalebone club represent an era of trade between explorers and Pacific indigenous peoples during the 18th Century. The Omai relics are to become a key focus of the Museum’s Exploration and European Settlement collection. 
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