Monday, 28 July 2008

Charity has its heart in the right place, The Australian, 28 July, 2008. Picture Alan Pryke.






Charity has its heart in the right place

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 28 July 2008: 5.
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One morning in September 2000, having returned to Israel after a stint of world travel, he went to a job interview in the plush offices of one of the country's leading law firms. In the afternoon he went for an interview in the rundown apartment at Holon, near Tel Aviv, which served as the offices of the charity Save A Child's Heart.
Organisers claim the saving of Iraqi and Palestinian children in a Jewish hospital is a classic example of what Save A Child's Heart is all about.
"The more Israeli and Palestinian doctors work together, the better it is for the Palestinian health system. Save A Child's Heart is about saving the lives of children, but also about developing the medical capacity of poorer countries, and building connections, breaking down walls and stereotypes.

EIGHT years ago Simon Fisher was torn between two futures. His background as a corporate lawyer had groomed him for a high-flying role in the business world. But his heart sang a different tune.
One morning in September 2000, having returned to Israel after a stint of world travel, he went to a job interview in the plush offices of one of the country's leading law firms. In the afternoon he went for an interview in the rundown apartment at Holon, near Tel Aviv, which served as the offices of the charity Save A Child's Heart.
By the end of the interview he was sitting on the floor helping volunteers pack medical supplies into boxes.
Now the charity's chief executive, he spent yesterday organising a photographic exhibition in Sydney featuring some of the 2000 children who have had their lives saved as a result of the charity's work throughout the developing world.
Save A Child's Heart, founded by the visionary American surgeon Amram Cohen, promotes life-saving heart surgery for kids born with heart defects, both by bringing them toIsrael and by working with local heart specialists in more than 30 countries.
More than half of the patients are Muslim, and the fact Jewish doctors are saving the lives of Islamic children, including hundreds of Palestinians, has been thesubject of much controversy.
Some 70 gravely ill Iraqi children have undergone surgery in an Israeli government hospital, the Wolfson Medical Centre, while the families themselves are often forced to keep secret how their children were saved.
Organisers claim the saving of Iraqi and Palestinian children in a Jewish hospital is a classic example of what Save A Child's Heart is all about.
"Every Tuesday we have a clinic for Palestinian children brought from Gaza on the West Bank," Mr Fisher said.
"The more Israeli and Palestinian doctors work together, the better it is for the Palestinian health system. Save A Child's Heart is about saving the lives of children, but also about developing the medical capacity of poorer countries, and building connections, breaking down walls and stereotypes.
"Sometimes we can have Israeli, Iraqi, African and Palestinian parents all in the same waiting room. Through the suffering of their children they grow more tolerant and learn to know one another."
The charity is being sponsored by the Israeli Government to send copies of the photographic exhibition around the world. The portraits are of wide-eyed, scared and very sick children in the lead-up to the surgery. And then the results.
"One of the most amazing things is how speedy their recovery is. They are often up and about, laughing and happy, within two or three days."
While here, Mr Fisher hopes to show the photographs in a number of hospitals and establish a support group, Friends of Save A Child's Heart.
To offer assistance: www.saveachildsheart.org
Credit: John Stapleton
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Saturday, 26 July 2008

Farmers on dam site fight for memories - CLIMATE CHALLENGE, Weekend Australian, 26 July, 2008. Picture Sam Mooy.


Farmers on dam site fight for memories - CLIMATE CHALLENGE

Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 July 2008: 12.
Critics call it the "Orkopoulos Dam", after former Hunter state Labor MP and convicted pedophile Milton Orkopoulos, whose arrest embarrassed the NSW Government.
He doesn't care how much money he is offered. "I am devastated," he said. "I have told them they will never have enough money to buy this place. It is irreplaceable. There is a lot of history here. It was a happy place; not any more."
"The term `think of all the money' makes my blood boil," she said. "We want our land, our home, our roots, our memories. To be told all you have worked for in the past and all you have laid out for the future is to be taken from you without justification is truly demoralising."

Full Text


THERE will be water as far as the eye can see. If the NSW Government has its way, the picturesque hills in the Upper Hunter will soon be islands in a reservoir the size of Sydney Harbour, while dairy farms dating back to the 1800s will be deep under water.
The $400 million Tillegra Dam, with its 80m-high walls, has been controversial since it was announced by NSW Premier Morris Iemma in 2006.
Environmentalists, including the No Tillegra Dam Group and Save the Williams River Coalition, have queued to condemn the project.
Dozens of families, threatened with compulsory acquisition, have sold up. Only 10 remain.
Protesters claim families have been bullied into selling and the dam is unnecessary, environmentally damaging and has been brought in only to distract attention from Mr Iemma's political problems.
Critics call it the "Orkopoulos Dam", after former Hunter state Labor MP and convicted pedophile Milton Orkopoulos, whose arrest embarrassed the NSW Government.
The Moores, whose ancestors are all buried in the local Quartpot cemetery, are one of the last families left.
Jim Moore, 69, who has been a dairy farmer on the family property, Brownmore, all his life, is anguished over whether to leave his parents' and grandparents' remains in the cemetery.
He doesn't care how much money he is offered. "I am devastated," he said. "I have told them they will never have enough money to buy this place. It is irreplaceable. There is a lot of history here. It was a happy place; not any more."
Mr Moore's daughter, Carol Pasenow, said many failed to understand the locals' bond to the land.
"The term `think of all the money' makes my blood boil," she said. "We want our land, our home, our roots, our memories. To be told all you have worked for in the past and all you have laid out for the future is to be taken from you without justification is truly demoralising."
No Tillegra Dam group chairwoman Sally Corbett said the dam had already had severe social and economic impacts.
Geologist and engineer Graham Holt, who lives locally, said the Tillegra Dam site was riddled with active fault lines. "Dams are out of fashion for a very good reason: they do not encourage the wise use of water, they are environmentally and socially destructive, and they are expensive," he said.
A spokesman for the Total Environment Centre, Leigh Martin, said there was no justification for building the dam. He said colonies of platypus, native fish species and a scarce fresh water mussel would all be lost.
"The NSW Government has used ministerial directives to block the public examination of the necessity of the dam," he said.
Project Manager Nicole Holmes said the dam would drought-proof the Lower Hunter. An environmental assessment is due within two months.
A spokeswoman for NSW Water Minister Nathan Rees said the dam was part of an election commitment.
Credit: John Stapleton
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Monday, 21 July 2008

Cop who gave hat to Pope dies, The Australian, 21 July, 2008.

Cop who gave hat to Pope dies - PAPAL VISIT SPECIAL

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 21 July 2008: 9.
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It had been the policeman's dream to see the Pope on a never-realised visit to the Vatican in Rome. Instead, he met the Pope in person, but he was too sick to get up from his ambulance stretcher.
"Someone must have spoken to the Pope about ([Gary Hill]) wanting to give him a hat, and after the Pope blessed Gary, I saw him look at Gary's police hat and he must have thought, `This is the hat they wanted to give me'," Superintendent Bruce Lyons, a friend, said.
THE gravely ill NSW policeman who managed to give his police hat to the Pope during a personal audience passed away yesterday morning.
Senior Constable Gary Hill, 53, was near death from cancer last Wednesday when colleagues arranged for a meeting with the Pope before the official start of the World Youth Day celebrations.
It had been the policeman's dream to see the Pope on a never-realised visit to the Vatican in Rome. Instead, he met the Pope in person, but he was too sick to get up from his ambulance stretcher.
Although he and friends had taken Akubra hats as presents for the Pope, defying a security ban by hiding them under a blanket, it was the policeman's own hat that the pontiff donned.
Yesterday, colleagues remembered Constable Hill as a model policeman and a staunch Catholic.
At their meeting, the Pope blessed Constable Hill, gave him a set of rosary beads, stroked his arm and assured him God would take care of him.
"Someone must have spoken to the Pope about (Gary) wanting to give him a hat, and after the Pope blessed Gary, I saw him look at Gary's police hat and he must have thought, `This is the hat they wanted to give me'," Superintendent Bruce Lyons, a friend, said.
"Gary felt very honoured, even though he was on a stretcher. I am sure his faith gave him strength to battle on through his illness."
Constable Hill is survived by his wife, Julie.
A funeral with full police honours is expected to be held on the NSW north coast later this week.
Credit: John Stapleton
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Saturday, 12 July 2008

Jacka name soldiers on to serve country, The Australian, 24 July, 2008.




Jacka name soldiers on to serve country

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 24 July 2008: 7.
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Mr Jacka's Certificate of Enlistment, which he received after a short ceremony at army recruiting offices in western Sydney, pledged allegiance to the Queen and declared he would "loyally and faithfully serve".
Australia's official war historian Charles Bean described Jacka's feat at the Somme as "the most dramatic and effective act of individual audacity" in the history of the Australian army.
Early last century, recruiting posters showed Jacka holding a rifle above the message: "Show the Enemy what Australian Sporting Men Can Do."

ALBERT Jacka is regarded as one of Australia's finest soldiers.
His exploits at Gallipoli and on the Western Front are legendary, and he was the first Australian in World War I to be awarded theVictoria Cross.
Clearly honoured and smiling broadly, his great nephew Simon Jacka, 25, yesterday became the first in the family to join the military since his famous ancestor almost a century ago.
"I am proud to serve the nation as a member of the Australian Defence Force," hesaid.
"Formally joining the army was a proud moment for the family. I am continuing the association between the army and the Jacka name. I believe I have something to offer the Australian community."
Mr Jacka's Certificate of Enlistment, which he received after a short ceremony at army recruiting offices in western Sydney, pledged allegiance to the Queen and declared he would "loyally and faithfully serve".
He joined the Army Reserves, which make up more than a third of the Australian army's fighting force.
Mr Jacka admitted it would be hard to live up to his great uncle's reputation. Yesterday was the 92nd anniversary of the start of theBattle of Pozieres on the Western Front in 1916, in which then Second Lieutenant Jacka led ateam of seven men who took on an 80-strong German unit that had captured dozens of Australians.
He was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery at the Somme, and the Victoria Cross for his exploits at Gallipoli in 1915.
Australia's official war historian Charles Bean described Jacka's feat at the Somme as "the most dramatic and effective act of individual audacity" in the history of the Australian army.
Early last century, recruiting posters showed Jacka holding a rifle above the message: "Show the Enemy what Australian Sporting Men Can Do."
Army recruiters hope the Jacka name still holds the same magic. Warrant Officer Allan Lewis, who interviews potential recruits, said Simon Jacka, like his forebear, would encourage young people to take up a military career.
"I truly believe that to have a young soldier of Jacka's heritage joining defence is a great opportunity," he said.
"The first thing I ask potential recruits is why they want to join the army, and they all say theywant to do something for their country, they want to help Australia.
"We are setting up several new battalions, so there's plenty of opportunities. We are trying to get more people in."
Mr Jacka will continue with his job as a policeman at Narromine in western NSW, but after training will be available to serve with thearmy in Australia and overseas.
Credit: John Stapleton
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Thursday, 10 July 2008

Big stink surfacing over farm emissions, The Daily Post, Rotorua, New Zealand, 10 July, 2008.

Big stink surfacing over farm emissions

Anonymous. The Daily Post [Rotorua, New Zealand] 10 July 2008: A.14.
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"It is just scare tactics," Mr [Mick Keogh] said. "The release of the Garnaut report ... is all carefully stage-managed, beautifully set up so the public will be scared out of their wits."
The NFF has called on the Government to petition for new accounting rules under the Kyoto Protocol to ensure agriculture's sequestration of carbon was acknowledged and its "rigid and short-sighted accounting rules", which emphasised reforestation but ignored pasture growth, were overthrown.
Farmers are critical of the Government's failure to explain how an ETS would work. Chris Griffin, a Victorian dairy farmer, said most of his colleagues had no understanding of what an ETS would entail. "There is not a lot of science out about what impact it could have."_News Ltd

It all boils down to one simple question: will Australia's cows be taxed for burping and farting? John Stapleton reports.
The complex debate about the introduction of an emissions trading scheme to tackle climate change is causing panic amongAustralian farmers.
The release of the Garnaut report last week has only served to increase their fears. Ross Garnaut's report acknowledges the initial difficulties of measuring gas emissions on Australia's 155,000 farms, but says a broad-based scheme should include agriculture at some stage.
The only question now is whether it will be included in the initial 2010 version of the scheme, or introduced at a later date.
Every major farming organisation, including the National Farmers Federation (NFF), the Australian Farm Institute, NSW Farmers and Agforce in Queensland, has expressed alarm over the threat an ETS poses to the A$100 billion sector ($127 billion).
Australia is likely to become the only country in the world other than New Zealand to impose an ETS on agriculture.
Government modelling in New Zealand shows farm profitability plummeting to zero.
Under calculation methods imposed on Australia by the Kyoto Protocol, a fully grown cow is deemed to emit the equivalent of two tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. With 30 million cattle in Australia, that makes cows a major emitter.
Agriculture has been determined by the Department of Climate Change to be responsible for 15.6 per cent of all greenhouse emissions - 90.1 million tonnes a year. Of that, 59.3 million tonnes are estimated to arise from the digestive processes of sheep and cattle.
The Garnaut report shows the ratio of permit costs to the value of agricultural production to be higher than any other sector.
The report also predicts a dramatic decline in the level of Australian agricultural export volumes as a result of climate change.
The executive director of the Australian Farm Institute, Mick Keogh, said the Government's claim that agriculture would suffer a decline because of climate change - when production would at least double by 2050 - had created cynicism.
Far from a potential decline under global warming, Australian research on climate change has shown there would, at worst, be a slowing in the rate of growth.
"It is just scare tactics," Mr Keogh said. "The release of the Garnaut report ... is all carefully stage-managed, beautifully set up so thepublic will be scared out of their wits."
Industry groups have argued that agriculture was dealt with harshly under Kyoto, measuring only emissions and ignoring the fact animals were "alchemists", consuming grass that used up carbon as its prime engine of growth.
The NFF has called on the Government to petition for new accounting rules under the Kyoto Protocol to ensure agriculture's sequestration of carbon was acknowledged and its "rigid and short-sighted accounting rules", which emphasised reforestation but ignored pasture growth, were overthrown.
President David Crombie said a "full and sober analysis of how Australia will be impacted is essential".
NFF chief executive Ben Fargher said agriculture could be "significantly, disproportionately impacted".
"Our farm sector is responsible for 12 per cent of GDP, 1.6 million jobs, $30 billion in exports and 93 per cent of our daily food supply, and it could be devastated if the ETS isn't geared to account for the positive part agriculture plays in the carbon cycle," he said.
Farmers are critical of the Government's failure to explain how an ETS would work. Chris Griffin, a Victorian dairy farmer, said most of his colleagues had no understanding of what an ETS would entail. "There is not a lot of science out about what impact it could have."
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