Wednesday, 27 December 2006

Fahey's daughter dies in crash The Australian 27 December 2006. Page One.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/faheys-daughter-dies-in-crash/story-e6frg6nf-1111112743339

Fahey's daughter dies in crash

  • JOHN STAPLETON AND JAMES MADDEN
  • THE AUSTRALIAN
  • DECEMBER 27, 2006 12:00AM

Deputy National News Editor
Sydney
A DAUGHTER of former NSW Liberal premier John Fahey has been killed after being thrown from her car in an early-morning road accident.
Tiffany Fahey, 27, a mother of two, was killed on Sydney's M5 southwestern motorway shortly after 3am yesterday when her blue Ford Laser hatchback swerved and rolled several times near the Moorebank toll booths.
It is understood Ms Fahey, who recently completed a nursing qualification, had suffered from personal problems and that her two children were in the care of Mr Fahey and his wife Colleen.
The death toll on the nation's roads over the Christmas period had reached 25 last night, one more than during the same period last year.
Melanie Fahey, 31, home from the US for the holidays, spoke on behalf of her family last night.
"It's a tragedy," she was reported as saying. "Another young life lost due to the roads.
"My parents are devastated, besides themselves. It's absolutely awful. You read about it being somebody else, you don't read about it being yourself."
Tiffany had been returning to her home at Camden, on Sydney's southwestern outskirts, after "a great day" at a family get-together at her aunt's Sydney house, Melanie said.
Mr Fahey, 61, and his wife were driven to Sydney yesterday from their home near Bowral, in the NSW southern highlands. Mr Fahey identified the body at Glebe morgue.
After leaving NSW politics following the Coalition's defeat at the 1995 state election, Mr Fahey entered federal politics and served as finance minister in the Howard Government. He retired in 2001 in the midst of a battle with lung cancer.
He is currently chairman of Connector Motorways, the builder and operator of Sydney's new 3.6km Lane Cove Tunnel, which is due to open in February.
Ms Fahey was found by a passing motorist lying on the edge of the southbound lane of the motorway. She had suffered head injuries. The motorist called police and ambulance, but resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful and she died at the scene.
NSW Coalition justice spokesman Chris Hartcher, who worked with Mr Fahey when he was premier between 1992 and 1995, said last night he had last seen Ms Fahey when she was at high school and described her as a "lovely young girl".
"This is absolutely devastating," Mr Hartcher said.
The Faheys have two other children, Melanie, 32, and Matthew, 36.
Across Australia, seven people died on Christmas Day - four in Victoria, two in South Australia and one in Western Australia. This was one more than on Christmas Day last year.
So far this holiday period, eight people have died on NSW roads, six in Victoria, five in Queensland and two in each of South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.
The latest tragedy occurred in Western Australia on the Eyre Highway, about 108km east of Norseman late yesterday, when a truck driver was killed in an accident involving a prime mover and two trailers. The driver, whose name was not released, is believed to be from Mandurah, south of Perth.
Two people died in separate accidents on Victorian roads on Christmas night. Police say a woman was killed when her car flipped near Meredith, west of Melbourne. A man died when his motorcycle collided with another vehicle at Kyneton, northwest of Melbourne.
However, homicide police last night were investigating whether the collision was deliberate amid speculation the victim was riding a stolen motorcycle.
Police confirmed the bike that Dennis George Yannopoulos, 35, was riding belonged to the family of the other driver. Mr Yannopoulos died at the scene after he was dragged more than 20m along Piper Street.
The driver of the other vehicle was uninjured. He was questioned by police yesterday morning but released without charge.
The rain brought slippery conditions to Brisbane roads yesterday, causing more than a dozen accidents, but no fatalities.
In one two-hour period, police recorded more than six nose-to-tail accidents on the Ipswich motorway, causing some minor traffic delays.
Yesterday afternoon, a six-car pile-up closed one lane on the Gateway motorway at Eight Mile Plains, but motorists involved escaped with minor injuries.
A Brisbane police spokeswoman said: "We are urging motorists to drive to the current conditions and leave enough room between their car and the car in front to be able to stop in the wet and slippery road conditions that we are currently experiencing."

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Boxing Day adds to $33bn festive splurge, The Australian, 27 December, 2006.

Boxing Day adds to $33bn festive splurge: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 27 Dec 2006: 5.
CROWDS in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne made it almost impossible to move about as some of the nation's biggest retailers experienced record Boxing Day sales.
Huge crowds squeezed into Melbourne shopping mecca Chadstone during the first hour of trading. Police had to close the Middle Road entrance to the shopping centre carpark. Centre manager Stephen Dewaele said about 5000 shoppers were through the doors by 8am.
Jennifer Marshall, 31, a Sydney school teacher, began queueing up outside DJs in Sydney shortly after six. "The crowds weren't too bad early but by 9am they were unbearable," she said.

Full Text

CROWDS in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne made it almost impossible to move about as some of the nation's biggest retailers experienced record Boxing Day sales.
People began queueing outside David Jones's stores in central Sydney before 6am, and the crowds continued to swell throughout the day.
Myer's Pitt Street Mall store was forced to close its doors for half an hour, just after noon, to reduce the crush.
There were similar stories in Brisbane and Melbourne, while state laws kept large department stores closed across much of the rest of the country.
In Adelaide, major retailers including Target, Big W and Portmans opened their doors at midnight. In Perth, with the city shut down, shoppers were forced to cool their heels until today.
Australians are expected to spend $33 billion on a record festive- season splurge.
Huge crowds squeezed into Melbourne shopping mecca Chadstone during the first hour of trading. Police had to close the Middle Road entrance to the shopping centre carpark. Centre manager Stephen Dewaele said about 5000 shoppers were through the doors by 8am.
"Crowds have been definitely up on last year's 100,000," Mr Dewaele said.
Rain did not deter shoppers in Brisbane as hundreds of people lined up outside stores before opening time. Security guards were posted at the Myer city store's escalators to ensure customers boarded in single file, after more than 60,000 customers filed through the doors.
Australian National Retailers Association chief executive Margy Osmond said sales had been strong around the country.
She said the general expectation of a reduction in activity because of high petrol prices, interest rate rises and the drought had not come to pass.
David Jones group general manager Paul Zahra said they had four times their normal staff in the Sydney stores.
"The response has been phenomenal," he said. "We saw a million customers through our stores nationally last week alone and that is a record." He said the stores were so packed they had been forced to introduce crowd-control measures for the safety of staff and customers.
Jennifer Marshall, 31, a Sydney school teacher, began queueing up outside DJs in Sydney shortly after six. "The crowds weren't too bad early but by 9am they were unbearable," she said.
Department stores have flagged Nintendo's new Wii as the outstanding performer in the 2006 Christmas video game contest. The Wii has proved a surprise hit worldwide, attracting a new breed of players by opting for physical games that make use of its wireless remote control.
Crowds also packed cinemas yesterday as children rushed to see the homegrown animated penguin musical Happy Feet.
Business -- Page 20
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Tuesday, 26 December 2006

Icy weather takes holiday toll to 20, The Australian, 26 December, 2006.

Icy weather takes holiday toll to 20: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 Dec 2006: 3.
Show highlighting
NSW has recorded seven fatalities, the highest number of any state, after a 17-year-old female passenger died in an accident near Newcastle. The teenager, from Kilaben Bay, was in the front passenger seat when the car hit a tree at Brightwaters. She died in hospital at about 10am.
A 24-year-old P-plate driver died on Christmas Eve when his car hit a power pole in Sydney's southwest. Another 17-year-old P- plater was also killed on Christmas Eve when his car left a road in Sydney's northwest and smashed into a power pole.
A short time later, a 24-year-old man died when his bike and a car collided west of Brisbane. Police said the Bundamba man was riding along Collingwood Drive in the Ipswich suburb of Collingwood Park at about 12.45pm when the vehicles crashed. The motorcyclist died at the scene.
THREE deaths in Victoria yesterday took the national road toll for the holiday season to 20, with treacherous weather -- including black ice -- believed to have been a factor in the fatalities.
A woman in her 50s died at Nar Nar Good in outer Melbourne at about 6am after her vehicle hit black ice, causing her to lose control and plough into a road barrier.
A 21-year-old driver was killed at Berwick in Victoria when he lost control of his car on the Princes Highway and hit a pylon. He died at the scene, while two of his passengers suffered serious injuries and were transported to hospital.
A 27-year-old man was also killed at Cannons Creek when he lost control of his car and hit a tree in the early hours.
Victorian authorities had hoped there would not be a repeat of Christmas Day last year when five people died on the state's roads.
NSW has recorded seven fatalities, the highest number of any state, after a 17-year-old female passenger died in an accident near Newcastle. The teenager, from Kilaben Bay, was in the front passenger seat when the car hit a tree at Brightwaters. She died in hospital at about 10am.
The driver of the car remains in hospital in a serious condition.
The second-largest number of fatalities was in Queensland where five people have died, followed by Victoria with four.
There were two dead in Tasmania and South Australia, while Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT remained fatality free.
National road toll figures for the festive season are calculated for the period from December 22 to January 5.
Last year, 67 people died during the period, which was 18 higher than the previous year.
The toll is so far running equal to last year when 20 people had also died by Christmas night.
In NSW, police revealed half of the deaths in the Christmas period involved young drivers. This will add to the pressure for tougher licensing requirements following a series of multiple road fatalities involving young people.
A 24-year-old P-plate driver died on Christmas Eve when his car hit a power pole in Sydney's southwest. Another 17-year-old P- plater was also killed on Christmas Eve when his car left a road in Sydney's northwest and smashed into a power pole.
A 21-year-old unlicensed driver has been charged over the death of a four-month-old baby girl in a crash in Sydney's west on December 23. The man was driving a four-wheel-drive when it crashed into the back of a van, killing the girl secured in a baby capsule on the van's rear seat.
In Queensland, two people died in motorbike accidents.
A 39-year-old Cairns man was killed when his motorcycle and a rented sedan collided on the Kennedy Highway in Mareeba shortly after midday.
A short time later, a 24-year-old man died when his bike and a car collided west of Brisbane. Police said the Bundamba man was riding along Collingwood Drive in the Ipswich suburb of Collingwood Park at about 12.45pm when the vehicles crashed. The motorcyclist died at the scene.
Another Queensland death involved an off-duty policewoman who ran over and killed a 23-year-old man walking along the middle of an unlit section of road at Lowood, west of Brisbane on Friday.
Acting Superintendent Rob McCall from the State Traffic Support Branch said there had been 330 fatalities in Queensland for the year, the highest since 1996.
While there had been a population increase, police were unsure what had caused the increase.
"Concerns continue to be drink driving, speeding, fatigue and failure to wear seat belts," he said. "There have been some shocking accidents involving young people and they need to realise if they are out partying and the driver is intoxicated they should speak up rather than become a victim."
----- FATALITIES -----
The Christmas-New Year road toll as of last night
NSW ... 7
Qld ...... 5
Vic ...... 4
SA ...... 2
Tas ...... 2
WA ..... 0
ACT ..... 0
NT ....... 0
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Amid the Embers The Australian 26 December 2006. Page One. Additional Reporting


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/amid-the-embers-no-one-dreamed-of-a-white-christmas/story-e6frg6nf-1111112739509

Amid the embers, no one dreamed of a white Christmas

YES, this is Australia. Snow, and plenty of it, doused the alpine bushfires, transforming the blackened landscape in Victoria's east into a brilliant white.
Christmas revellers - enjoying a sweltering 34C - took to Perth's popular beaches, and holidaymakers in Queensland intent on getting sand between their toes were not disappointed by the muggy 32C.
Melburnians, on the other hand, shrouded by smoke for the past fortnight, had their coldest-ever Christmas Day and were pelted with hail and chilled by biting winds.
Just days after fearing deadly fires would destroy their mountain, residents atop Mt Buller, northeast of Melbourne, were hurling snowballs at each other and shaking their heads in amazement. Likewise, in parts of Tasmania, and Thredbo, in the NSW snow territory, snowmen were the order of the day.
As much as 30mm of snow fell at Mt Baw Baw overnight.
"I've never seen snow fall before in my life, so I thought it would be worth it on Christmas Day just to go up there and have a look," 25-year-old Peter Tuffley said, gripping girlfriend Andrea Innes in the thick snow. "I loved it, it was great."
There is more on the way for Thredbo and Perisher in NSW.
Adelaide shivered through its coldest Christmas Day in 13 years. And Hobart hasn't had a Christmas quite as cold in more than two decades.
And the weather was amiss in Sydney, too, where the traditional backpacker pilgrimage to Bondi was subdued - only about 10,000 of the usual 40,000 plonked themselves down on the famous stretch - because of the cooler temperatures and the early-morning drizzle.
At Perth's Cottesloe Beach, Deb Webb and her group of family and friends were among 10,000 crammed on to the city beaches.
"Same beach, same time, same beer and champagne every year," she said yesterday.
The group gathers at the beach each Christmas morning for champagne and strawberries and nibblies in the sun before heading home for a full festive dinner.
But in Victoria, it was the coldest Christmas Day in 150 years that brought "significant" amounts of snow to Victoria's southern regions, including a 30mm drop at Mount Baw Baw, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
"I don't think I've seen Christmas spirits like this for a long time. Maybe because there's a sigh of relief because of the fire (threat) being dampened for a little bit longer ... everyone is elated," Mt Buller Chalet's Eric Siewart said.
Local Jacqui Whitby said she was "ecstatic" to see snow.
"This is what we all live up here for - for the snow," she told The Australian. "So to have it on Christmas Day, given what we've faced in the last three weeks, is just unbelievable and there's a lot of happy faces around."
Country Fire Authority captain Andrew Kelly said the snow "settled" the fires in the region and gave crew members a rest ahead of more fires expected by the end of the week when temperatures begin to rise again.
"The snow's been unreal, really good for Christmas," he said.
Weatherwatch's Don White said the wet and cool conditions were caused by a low-pressure system in the Tasman pushing up winds from the south across the southeast corner of the country.
"And they're fast-moving, so consequently they don't have a chance to warm up a lot by the time they hit the Australian mainland," he said.
"They bring the snow because there's temperatures low enough to produce snow."
While the cool and wet conditions had all but a few hundred firefighters home for Christmas Day, the longer term forecast is not promising.
The dominant weather patterns, which have created appalling bushfire conditions and made the lives of many farmers so miserable, will persist throughout summer and into early autumn. Mr White said there was not expected to be any major rainfall at least until March.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Ward Rooney said southerly winds were expected to keep the temperatures down in the region until Thursday before a forecast warm change sweeps in and begins to build up into the weekend.
Additional reporting: John Stapleton
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Let the good times roll, The Australian, 26 December, 2006.

Let the good times roll: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 Dec 2006: 3.
Show highlighting
Reflecting the good times, [David Jones]'s major stores in NSW, Victoria and the ACT will open their doors at 7am.
Myer is promising Australia's "biggest stock sale" and many of its stores will also open at 7am and not cease trading until 15 hours later.
THE shopping frenzy, which retailers estimate will top $33 billion this Christmas, continues today with the traditional Boxing Day sales.
Despite successive interest rate rises and higher food prices, it seems little can stop Australians spending big at this time of year.
David Jones group general manager Paul Zahra described consumer sentiment as "very, very positive".
Reflecting the good times, David Jones's major stores in NSW, Victoria and the ACT will open their doors at 7am.
The retailer is expecting tens of thousands of customers to take advantage of what the company is promoting as "huge sales on big- name brands in every department".
Myer is promising Australia's "biggest stock sale" and many of its stores will also open at 7am and not cease trading until 15 hours later.
Online auction site eBay is also expected to do a brisk trade as people dispose of unwanted Christmas presents.
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Friday, 22 December 2006

Bashir to seek compo as court clears him over Bali, The Australian, 22 December, 2006. Additional Reporting. Page One.

Bashir to seek compo as court clears him over Bali: [3 All-round Metro Edition]

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta correspondent, Additional reporting: John Stapleton, Tony Barrass. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 22 Dec 2006: 1.
MUSLIM cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has been cleared of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings, opening the way for the firebrand spiritual leader of regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah to seek compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
The Supreme Court's decision to clear Bashir of involvement in the Bali bombings, which claimed the lives of 202 people, and the 2004 attack on the Jakarta Marriott Hotel, in which 14 people died, has angered, but not surprised relatives of victims.
Bashir founded an Islamic boarding school in the central Java village of Ngruki where key Bali bombers were educated, including death row terrorist Amrozi bin Nurhasyim.

Full Text

MUSLIM cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has been cleared of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings, opening the way for the firebrand spiritual leader of regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah to seek compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
In a move that will further outrage relatives of the 88 Australians who died in Bali, Bashir's lawyer last night warned the 68-year-old might also seek money to make up for lost earnings while in jail.
"Thank God, the truth has finally emerged," lawyer Mohammed Assegaf said last night after Indonesia's Supreme Court announced its decision. "Ustad (teacher) Bashir has been cruelly abused. He's had to endure imprisonment for something he didn't do -- that's a breach of his human rights.
"Therefore, the Government has two responsibilities -- to clear his name and to pay compensation. His name has been cleared with this decision, that is for certain."
The Supreme Court's decision to clear Bashir of involvement in the Bali bombings, which claimed the lives of 202 people, and the 2004 attack on the Jakarta Marriott Hotel, in which 14 people died, has angered, but not surprised relatives of victims.
Pat Paltridge, whose 20-year-old son Corey was one of seven players from the Kingsley football club from Western Australia killed in the Bali blasts, said Bashir's legal win was hard to take. "I was ready for something like this because it just kept dragging on with the sentences that got cut and everything," she told The Australian last night. "Christmas is an emotional time of year for us without our boy, I already felt really sad today."
Brian Deegan, whose son Joshua also died in the 2002 bombings, condemned the decision. "People don't understand, it doesn't go away," he said. "The families will find this appalling, a reopening of wounds, a reminder of the tragedy and an interruption to their ability to move forward ... for them it has been a horrific rollercoaster."
Their comments came as the Department of Foreign Affairs warned of potential attacks in Indonesia over Christmas and New Year, just days after a similar statement by the US.
A travel advisory cited a "credible threat" of attacks, possibly on large groups of people, over the holiday period.
Bashir was released from a Jakarta prison in June to wild adulation after serving less than 26 months of a 2 1/2-year sentence imposed n 2004 for terrorism offences, but continued with the Supreme Court appeal in an attempt to prove his innocence.
"He thanks God and says he has glad everything has now been revealed," son Abdurrohim said late yesterday, speaking for the elderly cleric.
"We welcome this decision with great happiness. Hopefully it can become a signal that for all this time, everything was slander from the enemies of Islam who wanted to destroy the image of Indonesian Muslim preachers.
"We're pleased the judges have made their decision according to the facts, and have taken into account nothing that was fabricated."
A Supreme Court spokesman last night confirmed the controversial decision had been reached by a five-judge bench.
Continued -- Page 8
From Page 1 "The appeal has been upheld. It has not been proved that he was involved in the Bali bombings or Marriott bombing," spokesman Djoko Upoyo said.
Mr Assegaf said his client had yet to decide whether he would claim compensation, but that if he did "it would be based on wrongful imprisonment and lost earnings for the time he was in jail".
He refused to predict the amount of such a claim but said "everything would be taken into account" in formulating a demand, which would then be submitted to Justice Minister Hamid Awaluddin.
Bashir founded an Islamic boarding school in the central Java village of Ngruki where key Bali bombers were educated, including death row terrorist Amrozi bin Nurhasyim.
He has expressed contempt for victims of the Bali bombers and their families, saying even after his release from jail that the only way the latter could gain solace was by turning to Islam.
He also advised John Howard to convert to Islam to gain God's forgiveness and avoid going to hell.
Bashir was charged with treason and immigration violations in 2003, but eventually sentenced for 20 months only for providing false identity papers to police.
On his release in 2004 he was immediately rearrested and charged with involvement in the Marriott bombing and with giving his blessing to the Bali bombers.
It was claimed that before they launched their attack in the nightclub district of Kuta, he said to the core group of plotters: "You are the ones in the field -- you know best what todo."
Bashir and Amrozi claimed the conversation never took place.
However, the charges were found proved and Bashir was sentenced to the second jail term.
During his time in Jakarta's Cipinang facility, his status as a hero figure to Islamists across Indonesia rose, with many going out of their way to visit him and hear him preach.
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