Well, it's Harmony Day - the Australian Government's friendly name for what the UN deems International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Today, across the country, school kids will have been holding hands, and Premiers holding state celebrations. In Sydney, the main event took place at Town Hall, but only a few kilometres away in Redfern, The Lord Mayor Clover Moore was presiding over celebrations in a Town Hall of smaller proportions. The Wire went to Redfern to see how the local community was harmonising.

A web site porporting to represent John Howard recently invited its readers to witness a once in a lifetime speech - The Prime Minister himself apologising for leading Australian forces into the war on Iraq. The speech didn’t make national headlines because it was a hoax. Political commentator, Richard Neville, wrote it, rather than Mr. Howard. Nevertheless, some people at Melbourne IT, the web hosters, and the PM office thought it was an act of fraud, and therefore should be removed at once. Neville is still investigating the real reaons for the shutting down of his spoof website.

The NSW Government is notorious in Australia for is get tough on crime approach. And the latest statement from Premier, Morris Iemma suggests there is no backing away from that stance. He unveiled plans this week for the purchase of a water canon, costing $700,000 to be used in rioting situations, as well as a further increase in policing personnel numbers, estimated to cost an extra $80 million each year. But today a key group representing the welfare sector, the NSW Council of Social Services, says NSW should invest an equal amount of money into preventing crime. Professor Mark Findlay from Sydney Uni’s Centre for Criminology agrees. He and Garry Moor from NCOSS spoke to The Wire. Premier Morris Iemma's office declined to comment.

Human Rights activists have expressed support for a NSW government plan to set up a "charter of rights", which would ensure basic human rights like fair trials and freedom of assembly. NSW Attorney general Bob Debus says he'll put the proposal to cabinet shortly and invite public comment. The charter would mean any proposed legislation would be tested to see if it undermined minimum standards for civil liberties. The NSW suggestion follows similar moves in Victoria and Tasmania, while the Australian Capital Territory already has one. Robin Banks from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre supports a new charter of rights and she spoke to The Wire.

The Australian Democrats have claimed that the federal government’s workplace changes will hurt Australian workers while failing to provide any benefits for the economy. The indictment came as the government unveiled increased details about its workplace regulations over the weekend. They claim the regulations merely provide further detail about the way in which last year’s Workchoices legislation will operate. But trade unions have claimed that the regulations go even further in stripping workers of protection and threatening the existence of unions in Australia. Senator Andrew Murray, Workplace Relations spokesperson for the Australian Democrats, spoke with Tristan Burt about the extent to which the new workplace regulations can be seen as politically motivated.