Friday 28 April 2006

Detective pays tribute to his slain bikie brother, The Australian, 28 April, 2006.




Detective pays tribute to his slain bikie brother: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 28 Apr 2006: 3.
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Choking back tears, NSW detective Brad Monk paid tribute to one of Australia's most feared bikies, his brother Rodney "Hooks" Monk, head of Sydney's downtown chapter of the Bandidos.
Monk, 31, was killed last Thursday night in an alley in East Sydney, allegedly by a fellow gang member as part of a vicious power struggle within the group. Theonly suspect, former Bandido's sergeant-at-arms Russell Oldham, has been missing ever since. The Bandidos are known as a law unto themselves and a police source told The Australian yesterday that Oldham may already have been killed in revenge.
In an emotional eulogy at St Gerard's church in the northwest Sydney suburb of Carlingford yesterday, Detective Inspector Monk said Rodney had to quickly toughen up as a kid, with two older brothers constantly "kicking at his ankles".

Monday 24 April 2006

Jimmy Sharman's Boxing Troupe The Last Round, The Australian, April, 2006.

John Stapleton
TREVOR Christian remembers Jimmy Sharman's ``a pound a round'' boxing tent as the catalyst for many aboriginal men's pathway out of poverty, including his own.
Christian, who went on to become Australian junior middle weight champion, was only nine when he first had a go in the famous tent, a feature of country and city shows for most of last century. He is amongst the many colleagues coming out to pay tribute to Jimmy Sharman, who passed away on Monday in Sydney at the age of 94.
``A pound a round'' was Sharman's famous cry as he spruiked outside Jimmy Sharman's Boxing troupe, originally set up by his father. For every round the punters survived in the ring with one of Sharman's boxers, they got paid a pound. The crowds loved it.
Jimmy Sharman died at St Vincent's Hospice in Sydney on Monday at the age of 94.
``He created a lot of opportunities for aboriginal boxers,'' Christian said. ``Sharman was a key for aboriginal people to get out of poverty and get into the world. He would get young men off the missions or aboriginal reserves and take them travelling all around Australia with his boxing tent. Anyone who showed potential, the big trainers in the cities would take them up.''
Amongst those who owed their starts to Sharman were Jack Hassan, former lightweight champion of Australia, Johnny Jarratt, bantam weight champion and Ron Richards, regarded as one of the greatest aboriginal fighters we have ever had.
Arthur Tunstall, Secretary of the NSW Amateur Boxing Association for the past 60 years, said many good boxers came out of Sharman's tent. ``He would challenge anybody in the audience, `right oh young fella, you look pretty fit'. Being country kids they would have a bit of a go. It was always a great attraction in side show alley. He did a great deal to promote boxing before the wowsers in government got in and declared it a dangerous sport.''
Photographer Ernie McQuillan, whose father was a boxing trainer and who knew Sharman well, described him as a charming man who brought a lot of boxers to the fore. ``He helped a lot of people, especially aboriginal boys, he would give them jobs and pay them as well,'' he said. ``I remember him at the Sydney Showground, he would be singing out to the crowd, `a pound a round'. The tent was packed practically every session.''
 Features PX.

Saturday 22 April 2006

Hart claims spurned, Weekend Australian, 22 April, 2006.

Hart claims spurned: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, JohnWeekend Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 22 Apr 2006: 10.
Broken Hill Mayor Ron Page, a close friend of the family, could not confirm the allegations but said he was aware that a number of agents were selling Hart's work overseas. He said the family was now recalling much of that work back from overseas.

Full Text

Wednesday 19 April 2006

Leslie welcomed back on catwalk, The Australian, 19 April, 2006.

Leslie welcomed back on catwalk: [G Vic First Edition 2]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 19 Apr 2006: 5.
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CONVICTED drug user and Muslim convert Michelle Leslie made a triumphant return to the catwalk last night as the final model in the much heralded Azzollini 2006-07 spring-summer swimwear collection.
Organisers clearly wanted to make a strong statement that, despite being found guilty of possession of the drug ecstasy in Bali, Leslie was back in the fashion fold. Closing the show with a smile, she hugged both of the label's designers.
Leslie was freed from Bali's Kerobokan prison in November after serving three months' jail.

Tuesday 18 April 2006

Easter Road Toll The Australian 18 April 2006

TUESDAY 18 APRIL:
 John Stapleton
WHILE the national road toll of 21 for the Easter holidays was five less than last year, in NSW the figures almost doubled, sparking a political furore.
NSW was the worst performing state, with nine dead. Queensland saw four dead, with three of the state's deaths involving pedestrians aged over 70. Victoria recorded three dead, South Australia and Western Australia two each and the Northern Territory one.
The ACT and Tasmania were fatality-free.
The national toll hit 21 late on Monday night after an horrendous smash in central NSW left a Queensland man and his son dead. The head-on collision on the Newall Highway near Gilgandra also left the man's wife and another boy in the car seriously injured, along with five members of a family from Orange who were in the other car. Two of the occupants were children with serious head, leg and chest injuries.
Yesterday the NSW government announced a review of driver safety programs after the Newall Highway accident took to the state's death toll to nine, almost double the five deaths for the previous year. Both Premier Morris Iemma and Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal expressed sadness at the toll.
``There isn't a safe level of speeding,'' Mr Iemma said. ``Speed kills.''
NSW Traffic Services Commander John Hartley said 11,299 had been detected speeding over the Easter weekend, a significant increase on previous years. He said he would press for the introduction of speed limiters on all cars when he meets his state counterparts at the Australasian Traffic Policing Forum in Canberra this week. A device reduces the revs of the motor once the speedo hits a designated speed, preventing it going over the limit. Supt Hartley said he believed a top speed of 120kph was a ``reasonable limit'' for cars, but it would take years to introduce.
Roads Minister Mr Roozendal said he would be requesting the Roads and Traffic Authority to work with the NSW police on strategies to further combat speed and fatigue. He said 36 per cent of fatal accidents were caused by one or both factors.
He also expressed concern that despite millions of dollars going into road safety campaigns clearly not everyone was heeding the message.
NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam said the escalating road toll was no surprise to highway patrol police starved of resources. ``Cutbacks in highway patrol is one factor contributing to NSW's high road toll this year,'' he said. ``There is no better deterrent to speeding drivers than seeing a marked highway patrol car.'' He said 182 people had died on NSW roads so far this year, up 27 per cent on the same time last year.

Monday 17 April 2006

Weather can't cross out secular Easter, The Australian, 17 April, 2006.

Weather can't cross out secular Easter: [1 All-round Country Edition]

John Stapleton, Andrew FraserThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 17 Apr 2006: 5.
Mt Buller Ski Lifts general manager Laurie Blampied said 10cm of snow had covered the resort over the weekend, six weeks before the official start of the ski season, and it was still falling. "It's great to be able to provide our guests with snow for Easter," he said.
While skiers celebrated, the surfing enthusiasts were robbed of decent waves. At Bells Beach in Victoria, the sizeable swell that had given professional surfers plenty to play with last week in the Rip Curl Pro surfing event disappeared. The event was postponed until at least Wednesday, when a large swell is expected.

Full Text

Detention plan stir rebel Libs, The Australian, 17 April, 2006. Page One. Additional Reporting.

Detention plans stir rebel Libs: [2 All-round First Edition]

The Government's decision to force all illegal arrivals, including children, who reach mainland Australia by boat into offshore immigration detention centres could sideline reforms introduced in June in response to a backbench revolt led by Liberal MP Petro Georgiou.
Mr Georgiou, who is in a bitter preselection battle to retain his seat of Kooyong in Melbourne, led a campaign last year that saw the Government soften its detention policy, including removing children from detention centres and putting them into community detention.
The Opposition sought to capitalise on the ructions within the Government, with Labor immigration spokesman Tony Burke warning that a range of reforms introduced last year in relation to children and families in detention were under threat. Mr Burke said there was no official classification of the Nauru and Manus Island facilities as detention centres, leaving open the prospect of children being locked up.

Full Text

Thursday 13 April 2006

Scots College Bashing The Australian 13 April 2006

WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL:
John Stapleton
Elizabeth Gosch
A STUDENT from up-market Sydney private school Scots College is fighting for his life in hospital after he and two of his mates were bashed with an iron bar by a group of men in nearby Double Bay on Tuesday night.
Two men _ an 18-year-old from Rushcutters Bay and an 18-year-old from Stanmore _ have been charged over the attack which left two of the schoolboys in a serious condition in hospital and the third with minor injuries.
The Scots College students _ reported as being close friends Hugh Gordon, Richard Vatner and Sebastian Kesby _ are in Year 12 and are believed to have been celebrating the end of pre-trial HSC exams.
Seventeen year old Hugh Gordon suffered a fractured skull in the attack and underwent major life-saving neuro-surgery yesterday at St Vincents Hospital before being transferred to a specialist unit at Concord Hospital. He was in a critical condition yesterday afternoon.
His 16-year-old friend Richard Vatner, who had part of his skull crushed, also underwent surgery yesterday. A St Vincents Hospital spokesman described his condition as stable.
Sebastian Kesby, also 16, suffered minor injuries but was not taken to hospital.
Last night, Rose Bay Police said they had charged two men over the assault.
``Both men were questioned by police and were each charged with two counts of maliciously inflict grievous bodily harm and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm,'' police said.
Bail was refused for both men and they will appear in Sydney's Central Local Court today.
Earlier in the day police said they were baffled by the cause of the attack.
Rose Bay crime manager Detective Inspector Grant Taylor described the attack as vicious and said police could find no motive for the assault on the three local schoolboys.
He said it is believed the assault occurred when a verbal altercation spiralled out of control.
``It's hard to say why this attack took place, it was a vicious attack that appears to be unprovoked,'' Det Insp Taylor said.
``The offenders had no regard for the victims, hitting them with a metal object about the head.'' 

Bashed student fights for life, The Australian, 13 April, 2006.

Bashed student fights for life: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 13 Apr 2006: 2.
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Police said the assault on the Scots College students -- reportedly close friends Hugh Gordon, 17, Richard Vatner and Sebastian Kesby, both 16, -- appeared to have been unprovoked.