Saturday, 24 December 2005

Police prepared as beachgoers urged to return, Weekend Australian, 24 December, 2005.

Police prepared as beachgoers urged to return: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 24 Dec 2005: 8.
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AN extra 800 police officers will work Sydney's beaches this weekend despite assurances from politicians and police that the worst of the Cronulla race riots is now over.
In a separate case, two 17-year-olds allegedly involved in a violent incident at Cronulla train station were granted bail under tight conditions.
In further developments, two more people were charged for allegedly sending offensive and inciting text messages in the days following the Cronulla riots.
AN extra 800 police officers will work Sydney's beaches this weekend despite assurances from politicians and police that the worst of the Cronulla race riots is now over.
Latest figures released by the police yesterday show there have been 289 arrests, 501 charges, 15 vehicles seized and 42 mobile phones confiscated in the police operation to control the violence.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma, who has urged people to return to the beaches, will tour trouble spots today and receive a police briefing on preparations for the Christmas weekend and the week leading up to the New Year.
There were a number of court appearances yesterday relating to the Cronulla riots that erupted on December 11 and subsequent revenge attacks.
A 24-year-old unemployed father from Sydney's west, Hadi Khawaja, was refused bail after being charged with malicious damage.
Police allege he was involved in an incident with a 17-year-old male during which the flag from the Brighton-le-Sands RSL was retrieved from the roof of the building and burned in front of a crowd of 150 men of Middle Eastern appearance.
It is alleged that Mr Khawaja said he was doing it to take revenge "for Cronulla".
Police believe that "with the current climate in the south of Sydney, the accused may well attempt to incite further acts of violence in the area if allowed bail".
In a separate case, two 17-year-olds allegedly involved in a violent incident at Cronulla train station were granted bail under tight conditions.
The incident came amid racial unrest at Cronulla, in which a crowd of 5000 turned on anyone who appeared to be of Middle Eastern origin.
The Bidura Children's Court was shown a seven-minute video in which a youngster could be seen standing on a train seat.
Crown prosecutor Gary Charlesworth said it was clear the teenager had been involved in violent behaviour.
"The young person joined this assembly ... this abhorrent, horrendous attack within the train carriage," he told the court.
In further developments, two more people were charged for allegedly sending offensive and inciting text messages in the days following the Cronulla riots.
A 17-year-old girl will be officially cautioned, while a 25-year- old man was charged after sending two different text messages 42 times urging people to meet at Cronulla beach last weekend.
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Friday, 23 December 2005

Charges over riot messages, The Australian, 23 December, 2005.

Charges over riot messages: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Dan Box, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 23 Dec 2005: 6.
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A 33-YEAR-OLD man has become the first person to be charged for inciting racial violence by forwarding text messages in the aftermath of the Sydney race riots.
Former Cronulla Sharks captain Andrew Ettingshausen is one of several high-profile sportspeople recruited for the NSW government- funded, $250,000 print and radio tourism campaign designed to promote Sydney's beach suburbs as safe for everyone.
The campaign also will feature swimmer Susie Maroney, Sydney Swans star Nick Davis, retired Cronulla Sharks prop Jason Stevens and former Wallaby Mark Ella. "These measures will attract residents and visitors back to the beach and help businesses turn things around," Mr [David Campbell] said.
A 33-YEAR-OLD man has become the first person to be charged for inciting racial violence by forwarding text messages in the aftermath of the Sydney race riots.
The man, from Matraville in Sydney's east, was arrested on Wednesday night and taken to Maroubra police station for questioning.
He was granted bail and is due to appear in Waverley Local Court on February 1, where police will allege he forwarded two text messages calling for people to meet at two Sydney beaches last Sunday.
He was charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence, as well as one count of printing, publishing to incite or urging the commission of a crime. The charges carry a jail term of up to three years.
A spokeswoman for NSW police said officers were hopeful of making more arrests relating to the distribution of text messages concerning the riots.
"We are still carrying out extensive inquiries relating to the forwarding of messages and there is still a large volume of information that we are still investigating," she said.
Police believe a huge number of text messages inciting people to violence were sent in the days before and after the December 11 riots.
While police have been working closely with telecommunication companies to identify the source and content of those messages, many businesses typically keep such data for only a few days before it is deleted.
A spokesman for the Australian Communication and Media Authority said there was no legal requirement for companies to keep this data. Under a 2004 amendment to the Telecommunications (Interception) Act, police do not need an interception warrant to access text messages held by carrier companies.
New anti-terror legislation, rushed through NSW parliament in response to the Cronulla violence, also gives police powers to search and confiscate mobile phones.
A teenager will appear at Bidura Children's Court today in relation to a violent attack aboard a train on the day of the Cronulla riot.
The 17-year-old, who faces charges of riot and affray, is the fifth person to be charged over the attack on two males inside a train carriage at Cronulla station.
NSW Minister for Small Businesses David Campbell was at Cronulla yesterday to launch the Government's Back to Business campaign, which aims to kickstart the local economy.
Former Cronulla Sharks captain Andrew Ettingshausen is one of several high-profile sportspeople recruited for the NSW government- funded, $250,000 print and radio tourism campaign designed to promote Sydney's beach suburbs as safe for everyone.
The campaign also will feature swimmer Susie Maroney, Sydney Swans star Nick Davis, retired Cronulla Sharks prop Jason Stevens and former Wallaby Mark Ella. "These measures will attract residents and visitors back to the beach and help businesses turn things around," Mr Campbell said.
A strong police presence will, however, be maintained at popular beaches after several days of unrest and revenge attacks in Sydney's south last week.
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Thursday, 22 December 2005

Drug victim's dad 'predicted' violent death, The Australian, 22 December, 2005.

Drug victim's dad `predicted' violent death: [1 All-round Country Edition]

John Stapleton, Tracy Ong. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 22 Dec 2005: 5.
[Tony Vincent Jr.] patriarch Tony Sr faces trial next July on charges including making false statements. Tony Jr is in jail for supplying drugs, as is Shamus Vincent. Jamieson Vincent faces sentencing for supplying drugs.

Full Text

THE father of a man found dead in a western Sydney drain always knew his son would meet a violent end.
Max Gibson, aged 30 when he died, was a close friend of Sydney's notorious Vincent family.
He disappeared on the second day of a trial in which he was facing arson charges. His wallet had been found at the scene of the fire, along with a shoe belonging to Tony Vincent Jr. It was alleged he and Tony Vincent Jr had been involved in the arson attack on a house in the upmarket suburb of Woollahra that property developer Jim Byrnes was in the process of buying.
Gibson's body was found in March 2001 in a drain in the inner- west suburb of Marrickville. Police initially thought he had died of an overdose but now believe he was murdered with a "hot shot" of heroin.
Gibson's father, Max Gibson Sr, told Glebe Coroners Court yesterday he had repeatedly warned his son he was mixing with the wrong people. "I told him he was going to die. I tried to impress on him that his life was at stake. I knew all along that was going to be the final result."
Mr Gibson said he had repeatedly asked his son: "Do you know how easy it is for them to knock someone like you off?"
Vincent patriarch Tony Sr faces trial next July on charges including making false statements. Tony Jr is in jail for supplying drugs, as is Shamus Vincent. Jamieson Vincent faces sentencing for supplying drugs.
Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge adjourned the inquest until April.
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Wednesday, 21 December 2005

Leopard cubs arrive after a spot of bother, The Australian, 21 December, 2005.

Leopard cubs arrive after a spot of bother: [6 NSW Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 21 Dec 2005: 6.
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THEY may be the product of a rocky relationship but the 10-week- old snow leopards that made their public debut at Sydney's Taronga Zoo yesterday were showing no signs of stress.
The cubs -- a male and a female -- are the first to be bred in Sydney. [Leon] was transferred to Taronga from Nindorf Zoo in Germany and [Samarra] from Mulhouse Zoo in France to be the Australian zoo's new glamour breeding couple.
Male snow leopards typically have little involvement in the rearing of cubs, prompting zoo staff to separate Samarra and her offspring from Leon.
THEY may be the product of a rocky relationship but the 10-week- old snow leopards that made their public debut at Sydney's Taronga Zoo yesterday were showing no signs of stress.
Under the watchful eye of proud mother Samarra, the two cubs paraded happily before a bank of cameras while father Leon took a back seat in an adjacent enclosure.
The cubs -- a male and a female -- are the first to be bred in Sydney. Leon was transferred to Taronga from Nindorf Zoo in Germany and Samarra from Mulhouse Zoo in France to be the Australian zoo's new glamour breeding couple.
But it took the leopards two years to mate. Taronga chief executive Guy Cooper said yesterday the coupling almost didn't happen and described their early relationship as "like a Franco- Prussian standoff".
"They didn't want a bar of each other," he said. "To have them accept each other is a testament to the zoo staff's animal husbandry skills."
The snow leopard is regarded as the most beautiful of all the cat species because of its spotted grey fur and natural grace.
There are believed to be fewer than 4500 of the cats, which are rated as critically endangered, left in the wild.
A previous pair of snow leopards, which lived at the zoo from 1990 to 2003, failed to produce any offspring as a result of suspected fertility trouble.
In the wild, the animals range across two million square kilometres of some of the harshest terrain: the mountains of Central Asia, including Nepal, Tibet, China and Mongolia.
Snow leopards are hunted for their fur, for body parts used in traditional medicine and because they pose a threat to livestock.
Yesterday, the two cubs, who have yet to be named, took their first public appearance with good cheer. The twins have met their father only through a mesh barrier but zoo staff are happy with the family's progress.
Male snow leopards typically have little involvement in the rearing of cubs, prompting zoo staff to separate Samarra and her offspring from Leon.
Zookeeper Louise Ginmen said the "cute little bundles of fluff" were "extremely playful at this stage of their life".
However, as wild cats they could "get a little bit snarly".
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Monday, 19 December 2005

Fears of a fiery summer ahead, The Australian, 19 December, 2005. Additional reporting.

Fears of a fiery summer ahead: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Christopher Dore, Additional reporting: John Stapleton, Alana Buckley-Carr, Jeremy Roberts, Verity Edwards. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 19 Dec 2005: 5.
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"We anticipate a severe season kicking off around Christmas," NSW Rural Fire Commissioner Phil Koperburg said.
Mr Koperburg said recent rains had lowered the drought-affected areas of NSW from more than 60 per cent to just 25per cent, but at the same time had increased the volume of combustible material available.
On South Australia's Eyre Peninsula the Country Fire Service is facing a volunteer shortage as locals fear civil liability suits in the aftermath of the deadly Black Tuesday bushfires in January. The fires killed nine people -- including two CFS volunteers -- and is the subject of a coronial inquiry in Port Lincoln, where allegations are being heard of failures within the CFS chain of command.

FIREFIGHTERS are bracing for a torrid summer amid fears record high temperatures and strong late winter rains will combine to produce a vegetation powderkeg for bushfires.
Emergency services in most states yesterday warned of a dangerous fire season because of limited opportunities in the lead-up to summer to undertake preventive burn-offs.
At the weekend, firefighters scrambled to extinguish a suspicious scrub fire on the fringes of Melbourne that threatened a number of houses.
"We anticipate a severe season kicking off around Christmas," NSW Rural Fire Commissioner Phil Koperburg said.
Heavy rains in South Australia have triggered widespread grass growth. The grass was expected to become "100 per cent cured", or dry into fuel, in January and February.
Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment said the state was preparing for a "long and trying summer".
A department spokesman said it had been able to treat only half the usual amount of land in its fuel-reduction program.
The NSW Rural Fire Service is predicting a serious grass fire season in the rural parts of the state as early as Christmas, while wetter conditions along thecoast have delayed the onset of the bushfire season until January.
Mr Koperburg said recent rains had lowered the drought-affected areas of NSW from more than 60 per cent to just 25per cent, but at the same time had increased the volume of combustible material available.
"On one hand the rains have delayed the fire season, particularly in forest areas. But at the same time it has given us a potentially very severe fire season in thegrass areas of NSW," he said.
Western Australia is preparing for the worst bushfire season in years. Craig Hynes, the state's Fire and Emergency Services Authority director of country operations, said the late start to summer meant vegetation had more time to grow, increasing the chance of the dry undergrowth fuelling a fire.
On South Australia's Eyre Peninsula the Country Fire Service is facing a volunteer shortage as locals fear civil liability suits in the aftermath of the deadly Black Tuesday bushfires in January. The fires killed nine people -- including two CFS volunteers -- and is the subject of a coronial inquiry in Port Lincoln, where allegations are being heard of failures within the CFS chain of command.
Volunteers firefighters contacted by The Australian said a community backlash over the fires had seriously affected members, many of whom were considering leaving the service.
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Saturday, 17 December 2005

Highway jinks solved by western spaghetti, The Australian, 17 December, 2005.

Highway jinks solved by western spaghetti: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 17 Dec 2005: 4.
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As of last night, it became possible to travel from Baulkham Hills in Sydney's northwest to Canberra without hitting a single traffic light. Motorists faced 48 sets before the construction of the 144 bridges, the movement of more than 15 million tonnes of earth andthe pouring of more than a million tonnes of concrete that made the M7.
The M7, which is expected to improve the traffic flow on the city's other tollways -- the M5, M4 and M2 -- is the first major plank in a 20-year plan known as Auslink, aimed at transforming the much-criticised national highway network.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma, who has suffered in the polls as a result of the public relations disaster of the Cross City Tunnel, dismissed suggestions there were similarities between it and the M7. He described the M7 as an "engineering masterpiece".
TRUCK drivers and holidaymakers travelling from Melbourne to Brisbane will now be able to avoid travelling through Sydney, cutting more than an hour off their journey, after the opening of a $1.5 billion motorway yesterday.
John Howard opened the 40km motorway, which boasts the nation's biggest spaghetti junction, and the Prime Minister declared theM7 a magnificent example of government and private sector co-operation.
As of last night, it became possible to travel from Baulkham Hills in Sydney's northwest to Canberra without hitting a single traffic light. Motorists faced 48 sets before the construction of the 144 bridges, the movement of more than 15 million tonnes of earth andthe pouring of more than a million tonnes of concrete that made the M7.
The M7, which is expected to improve the traffic flow on the city's other tollways -- the M5, M4 and M2 -- is the first major plank in a 20-year plan known as Auslink, aimed at transforming the much-criticised national highway network.
Mr Howard said the M7 would underpin the economic development of western Sydney well into the future, providing fast and efficient freight distribution to emerging industrial zones, and boosting the economies of NSW and the nation.
He said the new motorway was a testament to the spirit of "expansion, renewal and growth ... of western Sydney".
Federal Roads Minister Jim Lloyd said the purpose of Auslink was to get heavy trucks off the local suburban network and encourage industrial development.
Even before the M7 opened, he said, a number of large companies, including Coles and Woolworths, had set up national offices along the transport corridor. "There's going to be a massive change for road-users," Mr Lloyd said.
Westlink general manager Flan Cleary said the M7 would make escaping from Sydney much easier, providing a boost for regional tourism.
"Instead of spending Friday afternoon after work stuck in horrendous traffic just to get to the country, motorists can now get on thehighway and be out of town in no time," he said.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma, who has suffered in the polls as a result of the public relations disaster of the Cross City Tunnel, dismissed suggestions there were similarities between it and the M7. He described the M7 as an "engineering masterpiece".
About 12,500 people worked on the M7, which was completed eight months ahead of schedule. The federal Government provided $356 million towards the $1.5 billion cost.
The builder, Westlink Motorway Ltd, is a consortium backed by the Macquarie Infrastructure Group, Transurban, Leighton Holdingsand Abigroup.
A new highway will speed up interstate travel
QUICK LINK
* Drivers travelling from Melbourne to Brisbane can now avoid central Sydney
* The 40km link joins the M2 in Seven Hills and the M5 south of Liverpool
* It is now possible to travel from Baulkham Hills in Sydney's northwest to Canberra without traffic lights
* Motorists faced 48 sets before the M7 was built
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