Past Programs
Immigration - 2005
Riots in France
12/11/2005
The riots that have rocked France for more than a fortnight are showing signs of abating after emergency measures were imposed on the worst-hit areas of the country.
On Tuesday Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin published a decree invoking a 50-year-old law that gave senior government officials the power to impose curfews. These have come into force in more than 30 French towns and cities.
With almost two weeks of rioting and over 1,500 arrests, France hasn't seen this kind of violence since the student uprising of 1968.
Out of all the chaos, one thing is certain, the reasons for such widespread violence across France is much more politically complex that the news headlines suggest.
Immigration Department - what happens next?
04/06/2005
The government has refused to comment on the latest revelations about the Cornelia Rau case, showing that the Immigration Department knew months before she was released that she was an Australian citizen. They point out that the Palmer inquiry will be looking at this and all matters relating to Cornelia Rau's detention - and all the other cases that keep coming forward.
But Cornelia Rau's family want a judicial inquiry. The Labor Party has called for a Royal Commission.
Clearly something needs to happen- but which form of inquiry is most likely to protect citizens from being mistakenly detained or deported? John North says that if the problem within the Immigration Department are deeply entrenched, then a Royal Commission, with its wide powers, is probably the only way to tackle them.
