Monday, 30 May 2005

Workers say new IR laws a threat, The Australian, 30 May, 2005.

Workers say new IR laws a threat: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 30 May 2005: 4.
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ACTU secretary Greg Combet released a survey of 600 employees which showed 72 per cent were opposed to the removal of unfair dismissal laws for businesses employing up to 100 people.
"The federal Government's changes to industrial relations laws will destroy the award system, limit the ability of workers to collectively bargain, abolish unfair dismissal protection for nearly 4million people, weaken the Industrial Relations Commission and hold down minimum wages," Mr Combet said.
"This attack on Australian workers and unions is at complete odds with the expectations of the Australian public," Mr Combet said.
MOST Australians believe the Howard Government's proposed workplace reforms are unfair to workers and a major win for big business, the union movement said yesterday.
ACTU secretary Greg Combet released a survey of 600 employees which showed 72 per cent were opposed to the removal of unfair dismissal laws for businesses employing up to 100 people.
The survey, by Melbourne company MarketMetrics Research, found 60 per cent of Australians believe the new industrial relations laws flagged last week would be bad for the average worker.
"The federal Government's changes to industrial relations laws will destroy the award system, limit the ability of workers to collectively bargain, abolish unfair dismissal protection for nearly 4million people, weaken the Industrial Relations Commission and hold down minimum wages," Mr Combet said.
The survey found 64 per cent of Australian workers believe the changes would reduce job security, 62 per cent believe their wages will be reduced under the new regime and 69 per cent feel the laws will create greater fear in the workplace.
"This attack on Australian workers and unions is at complete odds with the expectations of the Australian public," Mr Combet said.
"Australian workers are currently struggling to keep their heads above water and these changes will only serve to make life harder for them."
The ACTU said the union movement would oppose the laws every step of the way, with a week of protest action around the country planned to begin next Tuesday.
He said the union movement's biggest challenge was to ensure the public understood the disastrous consequences of the proposed changes, and to ensure the Government understood the extent of the opposition.
Mr Combet said the new laws would throw workers into "the law of the jungle" and the ACTU was likely to go ahead with a High Court challenge. A general strike was not out of the question.
"We're going to make sure John Howard pays a political price for this," he said.
"The changes will allow people's living standards to be driven down. It's an absolute farce for the federal Government to try and spin these new laws as anything other than cowering to the pressure of big business. Our polling shows that people do not believe theGovernment and that Howard has over-stepped the mark."
But Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Hendy said employers would not be intimidated by threats of a national strike and would support the Government's industrial relations package.
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Political gods-in-waiting appeal to the party faithful, The Australian, 30 May, 2005.

Political gods-in-waiting appeal to the party faithful: [1 All-round Country Edition]

John Stapleton, Samantha Maiden. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 30 May 2005: 4.
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TONY Abbott said the ALP and the nation's political life would be a whole lot better if Labor had a few more Christians in it. And Kevin Rudd accused the Howard Government of ignoring basic Christian values in its approach to unfair dismissal and other workplace reforms.
Mr Abbott said he hoped the Opposition's foreign affairs spokesman could attract more Christians into the ALP, which could be unsympathetic to people of faith.
Earlier, Mr Rudd told The Australian he believed the Howard Government's radical agenda to exempt all businesses employing 100 staff or less from unfair dismissal laws was against the teachings of Christianity.
TONY Abbott said the ALP and the nation's political life would be a whole lot better if Labor had a few more Christians in it. And Kevin Rudd accused the Howard Government of ignoring basic Christian values in its approach to unfair dismissal and other workplace reforms.
The Liberal and Labor parties' two most prominent Christian advocates yesterday used the same forum -- the Wesley Mission in Sydney -- to call on God to make their political opponents see sense.
Speaking at a service to mark the 100th anniversary of the mission's occupation of its Pitt Street site, the Health Minister said he was pleased the Wesley Mission had managed to attract Mr Rudd to speak.
Mr Abbott said he hoped the Opposition's foreign affairs spokesman could attract more Christians into the ALP, which could be unsympathetic to people of faith.
"It would be a better party and Australia would have a better polity," Mr Abbott said.
"One of the disappointing things about the contemporary ALP is that some of its traditional strengths are not what they were. I think it would be good for the ALP if there was room for more people with faith."
Mr Rudd, at a separate service, told the audience that Christians should take a stand in pushing for just laws for families in theworkplace.
"Christianity can never be divorced from social responsibility and social action," he said.
In that context, Mr Rudd believes the devoutly Catholic Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews has some "questions to answer".
Earlier, Mr Rudd told The Australian he believed the Howard Government's radical agenda to exempt all businesses employing 100 staff or less from unfair dismissal laws was against the teachings of Christianity.
"I believe if you look at the body of Christian social teaching, including the relevant papal encyclicals, it's pretty clear that the Church historically has not been on the side of pushing wages down and working conditions down," Mr Rudd said.
"People like Kevin Andrews have some questions on that score. It's all very fine and dandy for the Howard Government to wrap itself inthe veneer of Christ when it politically suits them, but to then quietly ignore some fundamental tenets of Christian social teaching, including on labour laws, when it doesn't suit."
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Thursday, 26 May 2005

Graham Kennedy: A final audience of two friends, The Australian, 26 May, 2005.



A final audience of two friends: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 May 2005: 4.
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A few others kept in touch -- Stuart Wagstaff, Bert Newton, John Mangos, the Melbourne journalist Jim Murphy, performer Toni Lamond and his biographer Graeme Blundell.
It was Brown, queen of Australian comedy from the days of The Mavis Bramston Show and The Naked Vicar Show, who was Graham Kennedy's last audience beyond the nurses who cared for him.
Both [Brown] and [Tony Sattler] insisted Kennedy was not a hermit, as so often described, but simply a man who liked his own company and didn't like crowds. They both described a man who was often very happy, and great company. "If you have five good friends, you are a lucky person, and Graham had that," Brown said.
AT the end, the man who had entertained millions really only had an audience of two: his dear show business friends of 40 years, Noeline Brown and her husband Tony Sattler.
A few others kept in touch -- Stuart Wagstaff, Bert Newton, John Mangos, the Melbourne journalist Jim Murphy, performer Toni Lamond and his biographer Graeme Blundell.
But it was Brown, queen of Australian comedy from the days of The Mavis Bramston Show and The Naked Vicar Show, who was Graham Kennedy's last audience beyond the nurses who cared for him.
Brown, who will next week launch her book Long-Term Memoir, in which she describes first meeting "The King" in the mid-1960s, spent five hours with him on Tuesday as he slipped in and out of consciousness.
Although Kennedy's memory had been bad in the past couple of years and he often didn't recognise people, Brown said he knew she was there.
When she told him she thought she heard him whisper "scotch whisky", he responded indignantly: "Certainly not, gin and tonic!"
"He was very ill," she recalled of his last day. "He really was in a lot of pain. His lungs were full of water, his legs were hurting, his back was hurting, he had lost a lot of weight. He was just skin and bones, and his bones were hurting."
Once, as he woke up, she asked if he would like some ice-cream. "That would be f...ing great," he responded.
Even though in his final days his audience had shrunk, he was forever the performer. "There was a sense in which he was always on," Brown said. "Even when he was unconscious, a trigger word would wake him, would bring out the performer in him. I suppose we were his final audience."
She said a couple of years ago they had thought he was going to slip away and had even planned his memorial. But he had rallied and this time she thought he would rally again. "But at 4.30am, he surprised us once again," she said, the tears welling up. "We've got nothing planned this time."
Both Brown and Sattler insisted Kennedy was not a hermit, as so often described, but simply a man who liked his own company and didn't like crowds. They both described a man who was often very happy, and great company. "If you have five good friends, you are a lucky person, and Graham had that," Brown said.
LIFE AND CAREER
*1934: Graham Cyril Kennedy born in Melbourne's East St Kilda on February 15 to Syd, a handyman, and Molly
* To 1949: Attended Caulfield North Central School and Melbourne Boys High School
* 1950: Has first taste of showbusiness as a teenager on radio station Greater 3UZ
* October 1953: First publicity profile in Listener-In
* May 6, 1957: Television debut on GTV-9 variety show In Melbourne Tonight (which goes national in 1960 as The Graham Kennedy Show).
Goes on to host IMT for 13 years (1957-59, 1963-69). Beginning of lifelong association with Nine.
* 1958: Collects first of many Logie awards
* 1960: Fronts The Graham Kennedy Show for two years.
* 1966: Stars as himself in film They're A Weird Mob
* 1972-75: The Graham Kennedy Show
* 1973: Stint hosting for Bill Peach on This Day Tonight.
* 1974: Announcement on TGKS of ultimately short-lived `engagement' to singer Lana Cantrell gives one of its biggest rating nights.
* 1975: Again stars as himself in The Box
* 1976: Appears in film of David Williamson's Don's Party
* 1977: Hosts comic celebrity quiz show Blankety Blanks
* 1979: Stars in movie The Odd Angry Shot
* 1979: Crowned king of Melbourne's Moomba Festival
* 1980: Acclaimed performance in film of Williamson's The Club
* 1984: Run hosting 11AM for Channel 7, one of his few breaks from Nine.
* 1984: Appears in film The Killing Fields
* 1987: Last film appearance in Travelling North
* 1988-89: Hosts news-talk show Graham Kennedy: Coast to Coast
* 1990: Last television hosting job, fronting Australia's Funniest Home Video Show
* 1990: Gradually moves home base to property Canyonleigh near Bowral in NSW Southern Highlands. Stays as virtual recluse for rest of his life, seeing a few friends only.
* 1996: Last interview, with biographer Graeme Blundell
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Wednesday, 25 May 2005

Euthenasia: Killing Me Softly, is it possible in Australia? The South Sydney Herald, May, 2005.



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Monday, 23 May 2005

Volcano in Balmain. Son Sam's High School Assignment. Might just have helped him. Circa 2005.




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Friday, 20 May 2005

News put on ice as hail storm pounds city, The Australian, 20 May, 2005.

News put on ice as hail storm pounds city: [2 All-round First Edition]

John Stapleton, Sid Maher. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 20 May 2005: 6.
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A VIOLENT hail storm ripped through central Brisbane last night, blacking out 6500 homes and crippling the ABC's television studios, as heavy swells continued to pound the east coast for the sixth day in succession.
The storm dumped 40mm of rain and centimetres of hail in and around Brisbane, damaging cars and buildings at the ABC television studios in the inner-western suburb of Toowong.
Theresa Rule, from Toowong Village in Brisbane's west, said more than 20 stores in the 150-shop complex were water-damaged after hail blocked drains on a rooftop car park.
A VIOLENT hail storm ripped through central Brisbane last night, blacking out 6500 homes and crippling the ABC's television studios, as heavy swells continued to pound the east coast for the sixth day in succession.
The storm dumped 40mm of rain and centimetres of hail in and around Brisbane, damaging cars and buildings at the ABC television studios in the inner-western suburb of Toowong.
Extensive water damage to the studios forced the network to abandon its 7pm state news bulletin and instead broadcast the Sydney telecast.
A State Emergency Service spokeswoman said 160 calls for assistance were received from people whose houses had been inundated by water or which had suffered roof damage.
The storm swept through from about 5.30pm, gridlocking the city for the next 45 minutes as motorists attempted to escape its wrath during the evening peak hour.
Houses were also damaged at Kedron, Red Hill, Wavell Heights and Bardon.
More than 200 lightning strikes were recorded.
A spokesman for electricity distributor Energex said about 6500 homes lost power in a ring of inner-city suburbs. By 7.30pm, power had been restored to about 2500 customers.
ABC Queensland television news producer Bernard Bowen said the storm struck the Toowong studios as the final touches were being made to the state's evening television news bulletin.
"We had 10 to 15 minutes of fierce wind and the rain was running sideways," he said.
Mr Bowen said the studio's presentation area was hit and damaged by water. "It disabled us as a TV station and we couldn't put thenews to air."
He said it was unknown whether the studio would be back up and running in time for tonight's 7pm news but said every effort would be made to get a bulletin to air.
Theresa Rule, from Toowong Village in Brisbane's west, said more than 20 stores in the 150-shop complex were water-damaged after hail blocked drains on a rooftop car park.
"It was like a snow storm," Ms Rule said. "The streets were covered in hail and all the drains around the village were blocked and started flooding into the centre."
A low-pressure system in the Tasman Sea, causing some of the biggest waves seen in years along the east coast, was last night heading towards New Zealand, with wave heights expected to drop off over the next 24 hours.
All but the most intrepid of surfers stayed on the beach as wave heights peaked at 7m.
There was an average swell of 4m along Sydney's beaches. The famous bombora off Manly beach provided die-hard surfers, including former world champion Barton Lynch, with outstanding conditions on which to ply their craft.
It was ideal for "tow-in" surfing, where surfers are pulled on to the waves by jet skis.
"It is dangerous, absolutely," said Andrew Lye, owner of the Dripping Wet Surf shop at Manly. "It's not for the faint-hearted. People should understand their ability and surf within their limits. In reality, many of them should be sitting on the beach watching."
At Long Reef, on Sydney's northern beaches, dauntless surfers were being towed out to the biggest waves.
Leon "Seal Pup" Barclay, 33, said that yesterday was the first time in four years there was tow-surfing there.
"When it's like this, nobody paddles out there," he said. "It's dangerous, very. We wear life jackets. It's full-on."
Don White, of the Weatherwatch consultancy firm, said the swells from Nowra to Port Macquarie were being fed by a southerly airstream, even though the low was moving towards New Zealand.
He said for average surfers the weekend promised to be perfect. "The distance between the waves will lengthen and the wave height will drop to a safer level of about about two metres."
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Thursday, 19 May 2005

O'Shane back with husband after split, The Australian, 19 May, 2005.

O'Shane back with husband after split: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 19 May 2005: 6.
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A court-imposed 12-month apprehended violence order against Ms O'Shane forbidding her from stalking, assaulting or intimidating Mr [Allan Coles], another woman and two juveniles now appears to be behind the couple.
Mr Coles wrote to police requesting that the charge and an apprehended violence order he took out against her be withdrawn, but the AVO remained regardless. Ms [Pat O'Shane] took leave, but was back hearing cases by last November. She is prevented from hearing domestic violence cases until the AVO against her expires in October.
PROMINENT NSW magistrate Pat O'Shane is back living with her husband Allan Coles.
A court-imposed 12-month apprehended violence order against Ms O'Shane forbidding her from stalking, assaulting or intimidating Mr Coles, another woman and two juveniles now appears to be behind the couple.
"We're back living together," Mr Coles said when contacted by The Australian at the couple's home in Sydney's harbourside Hunters Hill.
"We haven't talked about that for a long time," the 77-year-old said about the AVO.
Last October, Mr Coles dropped an assault charge against Ms O'Shane brought when she allegedly confronted him with a knife on September 17 after discovering he was having an affair.
Ms O'Shane is known for her hardline views on domestic violence.
Mr Coles wrote to police requesting that the charge and an apprehended violence order he took out against her be withdrawn, but the AVO remained regardless. Ms O'Shane took leave, but was back hearing cases by last November. She is prevented from hearing domestic violence cases until the AVO against her expires in October.
In an interview with The Bulletin magazine in February, Ms O'Shane admitted to suffering a breakdown and spending time in a clinic after discovering her husband's infidelity.
But she left open the possibility they might reconcile, saying they were again on speaking terms and she was hoping he might return to her.
"If he doesn't want to come back into the relationship and resume living in the house with me, that's the end of the marriage," she said.
"I'll say fine, write it off to experience. And if he does I'll say good, and work at making it better."
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Wednesday, 18 May 2005

A cure for Cholera. The Australian.2005

Uncertain date.

 John Stapleton
AUSTRALIAN scientists believe they may have discovered a cure for life-threatening bacterial diseases such as cholera in an unusual red seaweed found only off the east coast of Australia.
The compounds, known as furanones, do not kill microbes, as with traditional antibiotics, but simply ``jam'' their ability to communicate and colonise.
Initial laboratory tests at the University of NSW announced yesterday show that furanones stop cholera bacteria from ``switching on''. Disease-causing bacteria rely on what scientists call ``quorum sensing'' to determine when they have invaded in sufficient numbers to overwhelm the body's immune system.
One of the scientists involved, Dr Diane McDougald of UNSW's Department of Biotechnology, said it had only discovered in the past decade that bacteria use a chemical language that allows them to sense whether there are enough of them present to overwhelm the host immune system.
``Only when there is a large enough number of bacterial cells present, do they then start to exhibit virulence traits,'' she said. ``Because furanones don't kill bacteria, there is no selection pressure for them to develop resistance. In  millions of years of evolution no natural resistance has been developed by bacteria to these furanones. These are the first antimicrobials of their type that have been shown to be effective. Many bacteria caused diseases are becoming resistant to antibiotics and are becoming harder and harder to treat.''
Furanones may also offer a cure for antiobiotic resistant super-germs such as golden staph, as well as tuberculosis and food poisoning. The chemical is already being commercially developed to create extended wear contact lenses which do not cause eye infections.
The discovery of furanones has its origins in a conversation between micro-biologists and marine ecologists at the University of NSW over the peculiar properties of the seaweed Delisea pulcrha. Unlike most other seaweeds the small red algae produces a chemical which prevents other organisms attaching to it, giving it a pristine appearance.
A company, Biosignal Ltd, formed in 1999 to market furanones and other so-called ``smart molecules'' developed in Australia, argue that furanones may eventually be used on everything from ship hulls to human teeth. While human trials are yet to begin, news of the early positive results of tests on cholera germs provided to the Australian Stock Exchange sent the share price surging 17% yesterday before it settled back in a day of generally poor results. Human tests on the anti-bacterial contact lenses, with a potential worldwide annual market of more than $1 billion, begin in the new year.
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