A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration has confirmed there is a major disturbanceat the centre.
She says police and fire brigade crews are at the scene.
AAP RTV arb/ds
KEYWORD: DETENTION VILLAWOOD 2 SYDNEY (REOPENS)
SYDNEY, Aug 22 AAP - Natasha Stott Despoja's successor as leader must restore the AustralianDemocrats to their roots as a progressive and effective balance-of-power force that candeal constructively with governments, The Australian newspaper says today.
Its editorial says the Democrats can only hope to recover credibility by acceptingthe right of senators to speak out on policy issues, and take a middle ground in the nationalinterest.
"On so many issues, Senator (Aden) Ridgway has shown himself to be a pragmatist. Othersin the party share his approach.
"For their own good, the Democrat membership should heed the lessons of the Stott Despojaexperiment - offering new politics doesn't mean throwing out the old ones."
The Daily Telegraph says Senator Stott Despoja's demise as leader is a victory forpragmatism and could be a breakthrough for the government.
"The post-Stott Despoja Democrats are certain to be more keen to negotiate on legislationand participate in the framing of new laws," its editorial says.
"They are less likely to see obstruction as a suitable end in itself, and will notequate being sidelined with being effective."
The paper says the new Democrat approach of seeking concessions and compromises willrequire the government to offer the same.
The Herald Sun says the Democrats have a fight on their hands to regain the distinctiveidentity they lost under Senator Stott Despoja's leadership.
The party's young leader could have hung onto her job had she sought a vote of confidencefrom rank-and-file Democrat members, the editorial says.
"But at what cost? She would have led a divided party, unsure of where it should bein the political spectrum.
"To survive, they must be neither right, left nor Green, but offer a check and a balanceagainst excesses by other parties," the newspaper says.
The Australian Financial Review says if the Democrats are to endure, its members mustgive their parliamentary representatives more discretion.
"Legislators must try to reconcile their principles and those of the party with thegovernment's agenda," its editorial says.
"Binding them too tightly, as the major parties have found, can lead to disaster."
However, the newspaper says the impracticality of the party's unique structure is amajor stumbling block.
The Advertiser's editorial says the Democrats' credibility as an effective third forcein national politics seems irretrievably lost.
"Senator Natasha Stott Despoja should have taken a much firmer line with the dissidentsfrom the outset over the defection of Senator Meg Lees and then the recalcitrance of Senator(Andrew) Murray.
"When these quarrelsome Democrats again offer themselves for election ... they willbe reminded ... that they have joined the long list of minority parties who have becomepolitical footnotes," the Advertiser says.
The Sydney Morning Herald says there are potential difficulties with the Catholic Church'sinquiry into allegations of sexual abuse against Sydney Catholic Archbishop George Pell.
The paper's editorial says it lacks the power of a royal commission or a judicial inquirybacked by parliament to compel witnesses.
"It will not be a public inquiry. Its essential task will to be decide between theword of Dr Pell and that of his accuser.
"How far it will be able to test what they say against the evidence of other potentialwitnesses is not clear."
The newspaper says everyone will wish for a clear and credible finding from the inquiry'sadjudicator, Alec Southwell, QC.
The Age's editorial says the accusation of sexual abuse against Australia's most prominentCatholic is a profoundly serious episode in Church history.
The onus is on the Church to investigate the claims involving Dr Pell because the manmaking the allegation has chosen not to go to the police, the paper says.
"The inquiry process must proceed without interference or undue influence.
"It behooves all concerned to ensure that the inquiry is fair, comprehensive and conclusive."
The Brisbane Courier-Mail says six years ago, when he was the Catholic Archbishop ofMelbourne, Dr Pell established a ground-breaking system to deal with complaints againstpriests of sexual misconduct.
The newspaper says as Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Pell now finds himself in the role of the accused.
"Two months ago a man approached the church claiming he had been molested 40 yearsago as a 12-year old in a tent at a holiday camp in Victoria by a man he called `Big George',who he now believed to be Archbishop Pell.
"If there was shown to be any substance in the allegation, the impact on the CatholicChurch in Australia would be devastating."
AAP pw
KEYWORD: EDITORIALS
By Charisse Ede
MELBOURNE, April 12 AAP - Australian youth would remove the GST, change the refugeeintake and fix poverty if they were prime minister for a day, according to a Labor Partyreport launched today.
Most young Australians also were more interested in sport than politics and their greatestworry was school work, the report said.
The report, A Snapshot of Youth 2002, was compiled from a Labor Party survey of 2,000young Australians.
The young people were asked to state their main interests and worries, what they enjoyeddoing the most and what they would do if they were Prime Minister for a day.
In keeping with Australia's sporting image, most respondents nominated sport as boththeir main interest and their greatest enjoyment.
But almost a third of people said schoolwork was their biggest worry, followed by theirfamilies and parents, and crime and safety issues.
Abolishing the GST was the stand-out response to being prime minister for a day, withalmost nine per cent nominating it as the first thing they would do.
On another topical issue, some said they would increase Australia's refugee intake,while a smaller number said they would reduce it or expel the refugees.
"I would build more skate parks and bike jumps and since I've taken John Howard's jobI would send him to Afghanistan and he would not be allowed to enter the country," an11-year-old Victorian boy told the survey.
A 16-year-old Western Australian boy said: "I would make the world a more safer placeto live in and no violence to continue in the world and get Osama!".
Labor spokeswoman for children and youth, Nicola Roxon, said the report's findingswould be used to develop the party's federal policies.
Ms Roxon made a number of recommendations for specific party policies, including reassessingthe financial pressures on young people.
She said Labor must examine the adequacy and eligibility of the youth allowance, particularlythe independence test, youth wages and the impact of the GST.
"Given the heavy interest in sport and the identification of the need for further facilities,Labor needs to investigate a proactive role in this area," she said.
The report was launched at the Scienceworks museum in Melbourne as part of National Youth Week.
Labor leader Simon Crean said the survey was a good way for young people to get theirviews across to politicians.
AAP ce/clr/
KEYWORD: YOUTH LABOR
The Australia Day Council of NSW says country, freedom, spirit, unity, mateship andhumour are the ingredients which make Australia a great country.
Council chair BARRIE UNSWORTH says everyone should celebrate January 26 with prideand think about what Australia Day means to them.
The former NSW premier says Australia Day -- to him -- is the opportunity to reflecton the nation's common citizenship.
He says all Australians share the common bond of citizenship, irrespective of wherethey've come …
