The Law Council of Australia has released its final report on the military tribunal process that David Hicks faced before being returned to Australia. In the report, author Lex Lasry QC has described the trial process as “shambolic” and the Australian government’s support for the process as “shameful”. It comes as the Australian Government and the Australian Federal Police faced continued scrutiny over the handling of the case of the latest terror suspect Dr Mohamad Haneef. The author of the report, Lex Lasry, the independent observer for the Law Council of Australia in the case of David Hicks, outlined the rationale for releasing the report now, given that David Hicks is home.

The Australia Institute has released a report today claiming high income earners are using low cost private health insurance to avoid the additional medicare levy surcharge whilst still using public services… costing the public system in the process. However the AMA has disputed these claims, and says that low cost cover is better than no cover at all, because it helps to relieve pressure on the public system. Alex Koutts has the story.

The United States’ congress has voted overnight to continue the ban on imports of products from Burma, in recognition of ongoing human rights abuses in that country. The decision aligns itself with the findings of Amnesty International’s latest annual report, which notes that the ruling junta in Burma, also known as Mynmar, continues to commit human rights abuses and crimes against humanity as well as take repressive action against freedom of speech. One insider who knows all about the repressive nature of the regime, which has been in power since 1988, is Maung Muang Kyaw Win, a Burmese journalist who was forced to flee the country in 2005 after authorities threatened to quote “make his wife a widow”. Maung Maung, who now lives in exile in the United States described the situation that journalists faced after the military took over the country in 1988.

The Humane Society International has released figures showing that Japan’s whale hunt last year involved the slaughter of 505 minke whales, 263 of which were pregnant females. One of the three fin whales killed was also pregnant. The figures, based on Japan’s own reports to the international whaling commission, come as the society is recommencing a case against one Japanese commercial fleet, accused of whaling in the waters of the Australian Whaling Sanctuary of Antarctica. Nicola Beynon from the Humane Society International discussed the figures.