UPDATE: TUESDAY 16 OCTOBER 2007

Dear friends,

Events are moving very quickly. As some aspects are confidential (due to legal toings and froings) you'll forgive me if I'm not specific at this time in those areas. Watch this space!

Here's what I think can be published here:

1. Dawn is very low, depressed, reclusive: as is perfectly understandable. I have not spoken to her in the last couple of weeks, but last week my wife Jan met her briefly, and yesterday we sent her flowers. Please pray for her.

2. The bankruptcy processes are proceeding: papers came to Dawn's (Legal Aid) lawyer in the past couple of days. A key question at the moment is: 'What further legal options are there, if any?' I'll keep you posted.

3. A small group has been formed by those of us close to Dawn to support her at this time. We met last Friday night (without Dawn, who was too ill) to update each other, and study alternative options for Dawn.

4. Even if lawyers/'hard men' like Philip Ruddock and Mal Brough (see the last blog entry) seem to think that the 'due litigation process' has to continue irrespective of the fact that we are dealing here with a real, live, breathing/crying human being, I reckon all our pollies and wannabe pollies at this election-time ought to be appraised of the manifest injustice being meted out to Dawn by the cold judicial process. (And Coalition propaganda wants us to be afraid of the 'hard men' in the Union left! How hypocritical!).

I'm a swinging voter: the bane of party politicians and pollsters. I vote for issues and people of perceived integrity. But this time I'm campaigning to vote out the Howard Government. I have five friends in the House of Reps and the Senate, and they have been unable to persuade their cold hard colleagues who are running with this bankruptcy action to desist. So I visited the local Labor Party candidate's office yesterday (first time I've ever done anything like that), and had a good talk with Mike Symon's campaign manager, promising help to get him elected in this marginal seat of Deakin. I've corresponded and lunched with the sitting Liberal Member (Phil Barresi), and also met personally with Kevin Andrews (Immigration): they did all they could, but unfortunately nothing changed.

Kevin Rudd, in his first speech as leader, vowed to reassert values of equity, sustainability, and compassion.

Let's give him and his colleagues a chance to prove it!

Over to you all to do what you can: as Julian Burnside QC has written (see his quote on this Blog): let's tell the world about this government's shabby behaviour towards an innocent person.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Rowland Croucher

FINALLY... SOMETHING FROM MAL BROUGH

I've just posted on to the Dawn Rowan Documents Blog the only response I've heard of by Mal Brough to Dawn's dire situation. If you read it carefully, you'll note how cold and legalistic it is. Again, our point is that something can be technically 'legal' but at the same time be unjust and immoral. And Dawn disputes the idea that the Commonwealth made any meaningful attempt to settle out of court.

Here's an informed response from Bob Moles, a legal expert in the area of miscarriages of justice, and author of A State of Injustice who has followed this case closely. It is reproduced here with his permission:

I find the response by the Minister to be particularly disappointing.

It fails to have regard to the equity, justice and substantial merits of the case which were all in favour of Dawn Rowan.

It is particularly disappointing that the Minister refers to the duty to act as a "model litigant".

If regard had been had to that issue from the outset, this matter would never have occurred, and Ms Rowan's reputation would never have been put in question.

Let me know if you require something more,

Best wishes to all,

Bob

Dr Robert N Moles
Networked Knowledge
http://netk.net.au


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