Thursday 31 January 2008

Police cop a serve as crime falls, The Australian, 31 January, 2008.

Police cop a serve as crime falls: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 31 Jan 2008: 4.
Nationally there were 5400 break-ins or attempted break-ins per 100,000 households in 2005, down from 7400 per 100,000 households in 2002 and 7600 in 1998. There were 370 victims of robbery per 100,000 in 2005, down from 600 in 2002.
Equally dramatic has been the 36.9 per cent fall in the number of victims of motor vehicle theft per 100,000 over the four years from 2002 to 2006. Nationally, 37.5 per cent of prisoners released in 2004-05 returned to prison within two years, a decline from 39.1 per cent in 2002-03.
"Property crime rates kept on falling even after the availability and quality of heroin stabililised around 2002-03," Dr [Don Weatherburn] said.

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SUBSTANTIAL falls in property crime have done nothing to boost the standing of police in the community -- in fact their success has coincided with an increase in dissatisfaction.
The falls have consolidated declines over the past five years, attributed by experts to an improving economy and a national shortage of heroin.
But none of the good statistical news has comforted the general population. The number of people claiming they were satisfied or very satisfied with the police fell from 74.6 per cent in 2005-06 to 68.9 per cent in 2006-07. The number of people who believe that police treat people fairly and equally has also declined.
Along with decreases in robberies and home break-ins, there has been a dramatic fall in the number of cars being stolen, according to the Productivity Commission's report on government services.
Residents are feeling safer in their own neighbourhoods, and commuters are also feeling safer on public transport. Harsher sentencing across most jurisdictions has meant many repeat offenders have been locked up, further freeing up police to concentrate on crime.
Nationally there were 5400 break-ins or attempted break-ins per 100,000 households in 2005, down from 7400 per 100,000 households in 2002 and 7600 in 1998. There were 370 victims of robbery per 100,000 in 2005, down from 600 in 2002.
Overall, there were 6200 household victims of property crime per 100,000 in 2005, a dramatic fall from 8900 in 2002, the time of the previous survey. There was a fall in the rate of household victims of property crime in all states.
Equally dramatic has been the 36.9 per cent fall in the number of victims of motor vehicle theft per 100,000 over the four years from 2002 to 2006. Nationally, 37.5 per cent of prisoners released in 2004-05 returned to prison within two years, a decline from 39.1 per cent in 2002-03.
Director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research Dr Don Weatherburn said a heroin shortage kicked off the drop in property crime from Christmas 2000, and there has been a steady fall ever since.
He said the two principal factors behind the drop had been an improving economy and a shortage of heroin, meaning fewer addicts being driven to crime to support their habits.
"Property crime rates kept on falling even after the availability and quality of heroin stabililised around 2002-03," Dr Weatherburn said.
"The thing that kept the rates coming down after that was the economy. Real average weekly earnings were rising, long-term unemployment falling and those two things had a big effect on your burglary rate -- which is a classic young person's crime."
Dr Weatherburn said the relatively high dissatisfaction rates with police despite dramatic improvements in crime rates was because most people did not believe crime was dropping.
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Tuesday 29 January 2008

Triffids return, nine years after the music died, The Australian, 17 January, 2008.

Triffids return, nine years after the music died: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 17 Jan 2008: 3.
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Keyboardist Jill Birt said getting back together had felt immediately right. "Life takes unexpected turns, and [David McComb]'s deteriorating health was the turn that ended the Triffids. It just gives me an absolute buzz to be up there doing it. We realised that it's such great fun playing together and we still enjoy each other's company."
"The Triffids' real place in our history is yet to be worked out, but we are all here because the music was so powerful."
1986: Release of seminal album, Born Sandy Devotional, with its signature song, Wide Open Road. Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly says of it: "There's a lot of loneliness there. In a lot of the songs, some guy's somewhere in a lonely place, by himself." TheGuardian names it as one of the 10 best albums ever recorded
THIRTY years after a generation was first haunted by the vast and intense lyricism of the Triffids' music, the band will tonight reunite in a tribute to its late musical maestro.
The turbulent romanticism of albums Treeless Plain, Born Sandy Devotional and The Black Swan matched perfectly not only theAustralian landscape but the spirit of the 1980s.
Now, nine years after the death of lead singer and songwriter David McComb from heart complications, the five remaining Triffids, along with 10 other musicians, have reunited at the Sydney Festival to celebrate his songs in a series of concerts opening tonight.
Guitarist Graham Lee, the driving force behind the reunification, said that for a long time none of the Triffids could come to terms with McComb's death.
"I couldn't even listen to the music and I know people who are still like that," he said.
"But then we realised the best memorial to David would be to do the songs. He always wanted them to be covered. The songs are how he is best remembered."
The now middle-aged band members were just teenagers when the band formed in 1978. Most of them now work in straight professions - - such as law, teaching and architecture -- and have children of their own. Those children have been startled to discover their parents were once rock idols hailed by musical cognoscenti as one of the world's best bands.
The performance, called A Secret in the Shape of a Song, includes classics such as Wide Open Road and Bury Me Deep In Love, as well as the first performances of unreleased works from McComb's later years.
Everyone involved appears intensely aware they are creating history. Two film crews will be recording the event: one for a documentary by Steve Levett and another for a feature-length bio- pic on the life of McComb, which has the working title of Love In Bright Landscapes.
Keyboardist Jill Birt said getting back together had felt immediately right. "Life takes unexpected turns, and David's deteriorating health was the turn that ended the Triffids. It just gives me an absolute buzz to be up there doing it. We realised that it's such great fun playing together and we still enjoy each other's company."
McComb's violinist brother Robert said they had settled quickly back into the songs, which in their original forms had been heavily worked and detailed in their construction.
"It wasn't as if we improvised in the first place," he said.
"The Triffids' real place in our history is yet to be worked out, but we are all here because the music was so powerful."
GROWTH OF A LEGEND
Formed in Perth in 1978 by David McComb
1983: Debut vinyl release Treeless Plain
1984: Raining Pleasure released
1985: Declared by New Musical Express to be the year of The Triffids
1986: Release of seminal album, Born Sandy Devotional, with its signature song, Wide Open Road. Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly says of it: "There's a lot of loneliness there. In a lot of the songs, some guy's somewhere in a lonely place, by himself." TheGuardian names it as one of the 10 best albums ever recorded
1986: In The Pines released
1987: Calenture, including the hit Bury Me Deep In Love, released
1989: The Black Swan album released
1990: Live album release, Stockholm
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Monday 28 January 2008

Paddy McGuiness, Original copy, The Australian, 28 January, 2008.



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McGuiness, voice of dissent, dies, 69: 28 January, 2008

McGuinness, voice of dissent, dies, 69: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 28 Jan 2008: 6.
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"Paddy was always passionately interested in ideas," Mr [Greg Lindsay] said. "He was one of the great Australians; dying on Australia Day was very fitting."
Peter Coleman, former editor of Quadrant, described [McGuinness] as "a terrific editor to work with, courageous and imaginative". "He published articles no one else would," Coleman said.
Author and new Quadrant editor Keith Windschuttle said of McGuinness: "He had a very strong eye for cant, humbug, hypocrisy and people who clothed the incoherence of their ideas in obfuscatory language. When he became editor of Quadrant in late 1997, he declared one of his targets would be postmodernism, which was then the main intellectual infection in our humanity departments of our universities. Within five years, postmodernism was dead."

TRIBUTES flowed in yesterday from around the world for Padraic "Paddy" McGuinness, a unique character in Australian life and a man who had been central to the country's cultural, journalistic and academic life for more than half a century.
The renowned commentator, journalist and self-proclaimed dissenter, a one-time daily columnist on The Australian, died aged 69 at his Balmain home on Saturday after a struggle with cancer.
McGuinness first came to public attention as a student activist - - his ASIO file is now on the National Archives website -- and was a leading light during the heady days of intellectual ferment in the late 1950s and early 60s that saw the formation of the group known as the Sydney Push.
A baffled ASIO officer who examined the McGuinness file summed him up as "an individualist, a non-conformist and an anti- authoritarian".
Both loved and reviled, always dressed in black faux-clerical garb, schooner in hand and holding court in his many favourite drinking holes across Sydney, McGuinness prided himself on pricking intellectual pretension wherever he found it. His exposure of cant and hypocrisy earned him friends from all sides of the political divide.
Greg Lindsay, founder of think tank The Centre for Independent Studies, argued and drank with McGuinness for 30 years.
"Paddy was always passionately interested in ideas," Mr Lindsay said. "He was one of the great Australians; dying on Australia Day was very fitting."
Most of McGuinness's career was in journalism -- as a columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian and as editor of The Australian Financial Review.
In recent years he was editor of the magazine Quadrant.
Senior columnist with The Australian Frank Devine, who knew McGuinness for 35 years, said: "Paddy was the quintessential independent thinker, scorning humbug and stupidity. He was a bloodthirsty predator among those he identified as members of the chattering classes."
Long-term friend and columnist Jane Fraser said he was a proud man who had intensely disliked showing his vulnerability in his final months.
"He refused to discuss his illness with those close to him and would tell us: `Mind your own bloody business -- and don't send any bloody priests'," Fraser said.
"He had that natural charisma which meant people were always fascinated by him. But he was more than generous with his time, whether you were famous, infamous or the cleaner. He wasn't some big blustering crass thing; he was a very sensitive man."
Peter Coleman, former editor of Quadrant, described McGuinness as "a terrific editor to work with, courageous and imaginative". "He published articles no one else would," Coleman said.
Author and new Quadrant editor Keith Windschuttle said of McGuinness: "He had a very strong eye for cant, humbug, hypocrisy and people who clothed the incoherence of their ideas in obfuscatory language. When he became editor of Quadrant in late 1997, he declared one of his targets would be postmodernism, which was then the main intellectual infection in our humanity departments of our universities. Within five years, postmodernism was dead."
Windschuttle said McGuinness was also one of the few voices brave enough to raise debate about Aborigines and the Stolen Generation at a time when even to question the topic was derided by the Left as immoral.
"He gave a voice to the carers, the workers and the officials whose voices had been deliberately excluded," Windschuttle said.
Professor of Economics at the University of Singapore, Henry Ergas, who first met McGuinness in the 1970s, said: "I will always think of him as a reader over my shoulder, reminding me that ideas are so important they need to be expressed clearly, allowing them to genuinely form part of the great conversation of mankind."
McGuinness's funeral will be held at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney at 2pm on Friday. The two speakers, both former employers, will be Devine and former governor-general and long-term friend Bill Hayden.

Republished here:

PP McGuinness, 'dissenter', dies

MARCH 17, 20099:19PM
By John StapletonTheAustralian
TRIBUTES flowed in yesterday from around the world for Padraic "Paddy" McGuinness, a unique character in Australian life and a man who had been central to the country's cultural, journalistic and academic life for more than half a century.
The renowned commentator, journalist and self-proclaimed dissenter, a one-time daily columnist on The Australian, died aged 69 at his Balmain home on Saturday after a struggle with cancer.
McGuinness first came to public attention as a student activist - his ASIO file is now on the National Archives website - and was a leading light during the heady days of intellectual ferment in the late 1950s and early 60s that saw the formation of the group known as the Sydney Push.
A baffled ASIO officer who examined the McGuinness file summed him up as "an individualist, a non-conformist and an anti-authoritarian".
Both loved and reviled, always dressed in black faux-clerical garb, schooner in hand and holding court in his many favourite drinking holes across Sydney, McGuinness prided himself on pricking intellectual pretension wherever he found it. His exposure of cant and hypocrisy earned him friends from all sides of the political divide.
Greg Lindsay, founder of think tank The Centre for Independent Studies, argued and drank with McGuinness for 30 years.
"Paddy was always passionately interested in ideas," Mr Lindsay said. "He was one of the great Australians; dying on Australia Day was very fitting."
Most of McGuinness's career was in journalism - as a columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian and as editor of The Australian Financial Review.
In recent years he was editor of the magazine Quadrant.
Senior columnist with The Australian Frank Devine, who knew McGuinness for 35 years, said: "Paddy was the quintessential independent thinker, scorning humbug and stupidity. He was a bloodthirsty predator among those he identified as members of the chattering classes."
Long-term friend and columnist Jane Fraser said he was a proud man who had intensely disliked showing his vulnerability in his final months.
"He refused to discuss his illness with those close to him and would tell us: 'Mind your own bloody business - and don't send any bloody priests'," Fraser said.
"He had that natural charisma which meant people were always fascinated by him. But he was more than generous with his time, whether you were famous, infamous or the cleaner. He wasn't some big blustering crass thing; he was a very sensitive man."
Peter Coleman, former editor of Quadrant, described McGuinness as "a terrific editor to work with, courageous and imaginative". "He published articles no one else would," Coleman said.
Author and new Quadrant editor Keith Windschuttle said of McGuinness: "He had a very strong eye for cant, humbug, hypocrisy and people who clothed the incoherence of their ideas in obfuscatory language. When he became editor of Quadrant in late 1997, he declared one of his targets would be postmodernism, which was then the main intellectual infection in our humanity departments of our universities. Within five years, postmodernism was dead."
Windschuttle said McGuinness was also one of the few voices brave enough to raise debate about Aborigines and the Stolen Generation at a time when even to question the topic was derided by the Left as immoral.
"He gave a voice to the carers, the workers and the officials whose voices had been deliberately excluded," Windschuttle said.
Professor of Economics at the University of Singapore, Henry Ergas, who first met McGuinness in the 1970s, said: "I will always think of him as a reader over my shoulder, reminding me that ideas are so important they need to be expressed clearly, allowing them to genuinely form part of the great conversation of mankind."
McGuinness's funeral will be held at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney at 2pm (AEDT) on Friday, The two speakers, both former employers, will be Devine and former governor-general and long-term friend Bill Hayden.
Originally published as PP McGuinness, 'dissenter', dies
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Sunday 27 January 2008

Like a beautiful summer, he left fond memories, The Australian, 25 January, 2008.

Like a beautiful summer, he left fond memories: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 25 Jan 2008: 7.
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A senior figure in the Australian church, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, gave a homily and led the Prayers of Intercession. He said this "dear friend and highly respected member of Hunter Valley society" had, like a beautiful summer, left many fond memories of joy and love that would help to overcome the shock and grief since his death.
Senior wine industry figure and friend Bruce Tyrrell called Mr [Trevor Drayton] a man of high intelligence with an inquiring mind, who, because of his gentle, unassuming nature and shy country charm, was "impossible to yell at". He said Mr Drayton had been happier in the past few years than ever before, travelling a great deal and acquiring friends all over the world.


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MORE than a thousand people crammed into St John's Catholic Church in NSW's Cessnock yesterday to farewell Trevor Drayton, a scion of the Hunter Valley wine aristocracy and a driving force in the industry.
Mr Drayton, who died in a massive explosion at the family-owned winery, was honoured with a full traditional Catholic memorial service filled with ceremony, tears and laughter.
A senior figure in the Australian church, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, gave a homily and led the Prayers of Intercession. He said this "dear friend and highly respected member of Hunter Valley society" had, like a beautiful summer, left many fond memories of joy and love that would help to overcome the shock and grief since his death.
"Let us not forget the many wonderful things we have shared and the friendship and strength he brought to so many," Cardinal Cassidy said.
"He was a simple, considerate, generous and loving man at the same time as being highly successful in business and respected in the valley and far beyond."
Bishop of Maitland Michael Malone paid tribute to Mr Drayton's support for the Two Bishops Trust, a program to help the jobless get work in wineries.
Local federal member Joel Fitzgibbon read a statement from the Drayton family that recalled Mr Drayton's typical country childhood and the times shared with his three brothers; his love of fishing and a good laugh.
The Labor MP passed on the sympathies of Kevin Rudd, who he said understood and appreciated the contribution Mr Drayton had made to the wine and tourism industries.
"Farewell mate, you will be missed by very, very many," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
Senior wine industry figure and friend Bruce Tyrrell called Mr Drayton a man of high intelligence with an inquiring mind, who, because of his gentle, unassuming nature and shy country charm, was "impossible to yell at". He said Mr Drayton had been happier in the past few years than ever before, travelling a great deal and acquiring friends all over the world.
"He never boasted about his achievements," Mr Tyrrell said.
"He never pushed himself forward, never went chasing the limelight.
"It was his style to quietly slip into the life of someone who needed assistance and then quietly slip away. He never did anything for public recognition. He was a great bloke who I trusted implicitly."
After the service, as a silent, respectful crowd gathered at the front of the church, his tearful parents watched as the coffin was carried to the hearse by his three brothers and others. As it was loaded into the hearse and the recessional hymn On Eagles' Wings echoed inside the church, two Westpac rescue helicopters flew overhead in a tribute to the contributions Mr Drayton had made to the rescue services and community organisations.
The Draytons have been farming in the Hunter Valley since the 1850s, but during Trevor Drayton's life he saw the area transformed from a picturesque but run-down area to where a checkerboard of multi-million-dollar vineyards dot the land.
The funeral of the other man killed in the blast, boilermaker Edgar Orgo, 57, is at St Paul's Anglican Church, Kurri Kurri, today.
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