Monday 31 December 2007

Aussies row in trans-Tasman glory, The Australian, 31 December, 2007.

Aussies row to trans-Tasman glory: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 31 Dec 2007: 5.
Organiser of the successful rowing trip, serial adventurer [Steven Gates], 39, who advertised for people to join him after having the boat specially designed in The Netherlands, said they were "completely exhausted" and only functioning at all thanks to "lots of painkillers". "The fact that everyone is still walking today is testimony to some of the drugs in our medical kit," he said.
"It was hard, scary and intense," Gates said. "It has been an epic. We are elated to be back on dry land."
The most positive of the four, physical education teacher and surfboat champion Macready, 25, described the experience as "absolutely brilliant". "I thought it would break me mentally, but it didn't," she said.

Full Text

Look who's in Sydney for the fireworks, The Australian, 31 December, 2007.

Look who's in Sydney for the fireworks: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 31 Dec 2007: 5.
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"Hey, Ruddy" and "Good on ya, [KEVIN Rudd]", locals shouted when they realised they had unexpectedly come face-to-face with their newest neighbours.
While much of the rest of the country has adopted a "wait and see" approach to Mr Rudd's prime ministership, he and his wife easily won over the staff at Garfish. "They were really good, just normal people," one waitress said. Another described Mr Rudd as "nice and polite, just a very lovely guy".
Now ensconced beside the harbour, the Rudds may have finally discovered the ultimate truth of Sydney life, as so aptly described by David Williamson in his play Emerald City: "No-one in Sydney ever wastes time debating the meaning of life -- it's getting yourself a water frontage. People devote a lifetime to the quest."

Saturday 1 December 2007

Rudd on a mission for homeless, Weekend Australian, 1 December, 2007. Page One.

Rudd on a mission for homeless: [1 All-round Country Edition]

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"We really have to roll up our sleeves here," he said on ABC radio yesterday. "The turn-away rate for people who are in all sorts of distress arriving at a homeless shelter, where seven out of 10 are turned away because there's simply no room at the inn, we've got to do a lot better than that."
"People in Australia still tend to see a typical homeless person as a middle-aged man with an alcohol problem, but the reality is very different," Tony Keenan, chief executive of Hanover Welfare Services tells The Weekend Australian. "The single largest group accessing our services are children. The largest group of homeless young people are women, and homeless families are a huge issue."
Mission Australia's Lincoln Hopper, in charge of Roma House, the shelter [Kevin Rudd] visited in Brisbane in June, said Rudd had "given the nation an historic opportunity to end homelessness".

Wednesday 28 November 2007

Bernie Banton The Australian 28 November 2007

28 NOVEMBER 2007
John Stapleton
Bernie would be up in heaven, looking down at all the tributes and smiling, his widow Karen said yesterday.
The day after Bernie Banton's death his family gathered for the launch of the Bernie Banton Centre, a new Asbestos Diseases Research Institute on the campus of Concord Hospital in Sydney's north west. His four sons, Adam, 33, Brent, 30, Chris, 26 and Dean, 17, were all in attendance.
His grandson, nine-year-old Jack, formally turned the first clod on the site with a specially engraved shovel. He declared the occasion ``cool''.
Bernie would have wanted them all there, Karen Banton said. She said it would have been very difficult to leave his bedside for the launch of the centre if he had still been alive.
``God is in control, even the fact that it is Asbestos Awareness Week,'' she said. ``Having the centre named after him is very fitting. Yesterday was a very sad day. Now Bernie is up there smiling on it all. I am sure he is up there now revelling in all the tributes and having a good time.''
His tearful eldest son Adam said: ``I am so proud of dad, he was a champion, let alone the public, he was the best dad for us. He would have been proud today.''
Workers at the site formed a guard of honour for the family.
Karen Banton said the tribute from the incoming Prime Minister to Bernie on the night of the election ``was beautiful''.
``We did tell him there was a new Prime Minister,'' she said. ``He was very touched. The whole family was touched.''
She said the family wanted to thank everyone for their tributes, cards and messages; and went on to pay a special tribute to the nurses at Concord who had seen Bernie through some of his worst days.
``It has been really special,'' she said. ``It is an awful way to die. It is hard to describe how shocking it is. It is really a terrible, terrible way to die.''
His younger brother Bruce Banton said the family hoped the centre would help in the research for a cure to the disease that has killed so many people. He attacked James Hardie as being twisted in their approach. ``Not one of these people have stood by the bedside of someone who is suffering,'' he said.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma said the Bernie Banton Centre was a major advance in the battle to alleviate suffering and discover solutions for victims of asbestos related disease. ``With 350 people diagnosed in NSW each year, there are thousands of others who do not yet know that asbestos related disease will claim their lives,'' he said.
Internationally renowned asbestos diseases researcher Professor Nico van Zandwijk from the Netherlands has been appointed the Institute's inaugural director. He said the centre would allow research that was closely linked to patient care. ``We hope to pave the way for a better future, there is so much unmet need, it is my honour to be pushing this whole area of science forward,'' he said.
Professor van Zandwijk said at this point only a tiny minority of sufferers were ever cured. ``I would like to avoid false hope, but it is possible,'' he said.

Monday 26 November 2007

Libs lose points with fake flyers - ELECTION 2007, The Australian, 26 November, 2007.

Libs lose points with fake flyers - ELECTION 2007: STATE OF THE NATION: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 Nov 2007: 8.
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Treasurer Peter Costello said today the leaflets scandal was an "isolated, stupid thing in one seat" but added: "The blanket coverage just squeezed the oxygen out of any other message."
Asked if the Lindsay scandal was partly responsible for the Liberals' poor showing in NSW, and across the country, state Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell said it "might have contributed to the defeat".
Despite a spirited local campaign, Liberal member Kerry Bartlett, one of the "Class of 96", lost the historic seat of Macquarie to former NSW attorney-general Bob Debus after a redistribution fundamentally altered the nature of the seat.

Shooting manhunt, The Australian, 26 November, 2007.

Shooting manhunt: [3 All-round Metro Edition]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 Nov 2007: 14.
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Just before 9.30pm on Saturday, the two men allegedly became involved in an argument outside a house at Lassiter Avenue, in Woonona. The victim, a coalminer, was shot in the chest and died at the scene.