Friday, 19 September 2003

Carnley call for diversity, The Australian, 19 September, 2003.

Carnley call for diversity: [3 All-round Metro Edition]

John Stapleton, Vanessa Walker. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 19 Sep 2003: 5.
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Primate Peter Carnley, the Archbishop of Perth, seen as a liberal within the deeply divided church, will be one of 38 primates attending the meeting with theArchbishop of Canterbury to try to avoid a schism in the church.
At a gathering of church members at St Albans at Epping in Sydney's northwest last night, Archbishop Carnley said the crisis meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury should examine the question of the ordination of homosexual priests and the recognition of homosexual relationships, particularly by returning to the original scripture.
THE head of the Australian Anglican Church has denied the worldwide communion is in decline, despite the crisis talks to be held in England next month.
Primate Peter Carnley, the Archbishop of Perth, seen as a liberal within the deeply divided church, will be one of 38 primates attending the meeting with theArchbishop of Canterbury to try to avoid a schism in the church.
Archbishop Carnley came to the evangelical stronghold of Sydney last night to tell the liberal minority they should take the church back for themselves, and renew the tradition of liberality.
He said one reason why the decline in members of the Anglican church was being slowed or reversed was the ordination of women, which was attracting more people to the church.
However, the Sydney diocese does not ordain women, unlike the church in most of the country. The controversial Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, is one of the most vocal opponents in the worldwide communion of the ordination of women and homosexuals.
At a gathering of church members at St Albans at Epping in Sydney's northwest last night, Archbishop Carnley said the crisis meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury should examine the question of the ordination of homosexual priests and the recognition of homosexual relationships, particularly by returning to the original scripture.
He said it was important for church people to concentrate on what united them and to act to establish "a hierarchy of truths".
This would mean a love of God, a belief in the divinity of Christ and the indivisibility of the spirit bound them together. By understanding this, people could relate to the importance of the appointment of a gay bishop in the US.
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Tuesday, 16 September 2003

I went to kill a Bali bomber, The Australian, 16 September, 2003.

I went to kill a Bali bomber: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 16 Sep 2003: 3.
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Mr [Louie Zervos], from the eastern Sydney suburb of Kingsford, told the program he had written his will and had not expected to return to Australia after themurder. In June outside the Bali court, he held a photograph of smiling girls as Bali bombers Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Imam Samudra were led past. "I just wanted him to see what he did," the Sydney man said at the time.
THE brother of a Bali bombing victim has claimed he travelled to the island to kill one of the bombers during the trials.
"The courtroom -- well I tell you straight, I had organised my will and I was going there to kill him," Louie Zervos told the ABC's Four Corners last night. "I got there the day before and I went to kill him.
"I finally got my senses about me and I couldn't really move in anyway, the feds were all over me."
Mr Zervos, from the eastern Sydney suburb of Kingsford, told the program he had written his will and had not expected to return to Australia after the murder. In June outside the Bali court, he held a photograph of smiling girls as Bali bombers Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Imam Samudra were led past. "I just wanted him to see what he did," the Sydney man said at the time.
As Imam Samudra walked past him, the militant extremist shouted that Muslims would "crush Christianity and destroy the people of the cross".
Mr Zervos's sister, Louiza, his cousins Dimmy and Elizabeth Kotronikis, and a friend, Christine Betmalik, were killed in the October 12 Sari Club blast. His cousin Maria Elfes had just married and she and her husband Kosta, who were not in the club when the bomb hit, had taken four of the wedding party on their honeymoon.
Mr Zervos said thoughts about his family and the close attentions of the Australian Federal Police had stopped him from carrying out the plan, but he had remained angry.
"I've become very racist at the moment," he said. "I hate them, I hate them, and I know it's wrong -- I tell myself it's wrong mate."
Mr Zervos said it was proving impossible to move on.
"Some closure takes longer than others," he said. "I've got none. I mean, of course, life goes on, right, but our lives will never ever be the same -- ever."
Bali Bomber seeks leniency -- Page 6
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Monday, 15 September 2003

Hospitals blamed for deaths, The Australian, 15 September, 2003.

Hospitals blamed for deaths: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 15 Sep 2003: 4.
A TEAM of clinical experts has been sent into two southwestern Sydney hospitals by the NSW Health Department after allegations of medical malpractice were linked to several deaths.
NSW Health Minister Morris Iemma has ordered an independent taskforce -- consisting of an administrator and three clinical experts -- to examine the preliminary HCCC report.
"He needs to stop talking about his plans after NSW politics and concentrate on fixing problems with the NSW health system," he said.

Full Text

A TEAM of clinical experts has been sent into two southwestern Sydney hospitals by the NSW Health Department after allegations of medical malpractice were linked to several deaths.
The damning investigation by the state's Health Care Complaints Commission into Camden and Campbelltown hospitals could trigger damages actions against doctors, nurses and administrators.
The report of the investigation into alleged clinical malpractice at the hospitals was leaked to Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper, embarrassing the NSW Government.
The report highlighted the case of a 41-year-old mother Dawn Alexander, who had recently given birth to her fourth child, being misdiagnosed with the flu and turned away by staff at Campbelltown Hospital. She died of septicaemia three days later.
The paper reported that Macarthur Area Health Service staff, who initially reported more than 100 claims of mismanagement, negligence and patient neglect, claim they have received nothing but victimisation and grief. The HCCC described their claims as "overwhelmingly justified".
The 10-month HCCC investigation found that between 1999 and 2003, at least 17 patients at the two hospitals died as a result of "unsafe, inadequate or questionable care".
The findings also suggest that more than 60 per cent of patients whose treatment was scrutinised were subjected to "unsafe standards" of hospital care.
NSW Health Minister Morris Iemma has ordered an independent taskforce -- consisting of an administrator and three clinical experts -- to examine the preliminary HCCC report.
He said medical staff who had had allegations made against them had been given three to four weeks to respond.
"In 2002, staff from Camden and Campbelltown hospitals raised a number of serious allegations pertaining to clinical care and operational matters at those facilities," he said.
"Given the gravity of those allegations, they were referred to the Health Care Complaints Commission ... for comprehensive investigation."
Mr Iemma said that to comment further on the allegations, before the individuals and organisations involved had had an opportunity to respond, would be a denial of natural justice.
He assured the public that any issues dealt with in the final report, expected within two months, would be responded to "seriously and appropriately".
Asked to respond to allegations that the 17 deaths were just the tip of an iceberg, Mr Iemma said he could not say. "I know there has been a large number of complaints and allegations made," he said.
NSW Opposition Leader John Brogden said Premier Bob Carr needed to take direct responsibility for the shocking state of the two hospitals.
"He needs to stop talking about his plans after NSW politics and concentrate on fixing problems with the NSW health system," he said.
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The Role of Fathers in Child Protection, With Damien HIckman, Sue Price and Geoffrey Greene, Dads On The Air, 15 September, 2003.





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Monday, 8 September 2003

Shattering the Myths, With Dr Sanford Braver, Dads On The Air, 8 September, 2003.






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Saturday, 6 September 2003

ALP's brothel owner charged, Weekend Australian, 6 September, 2003.

ALP's brothel owner charged: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Monica Videnieks, Brendan O'Keefe, Megan Saunders, John Stapleton. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 06 Sep 2003: 6.
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Mr [Neville Hilton] -- president of the ALP's nearby Albion Park branch and the Throsby Federal Electorate Council, junior vice-president of the chamber of commerce and a long-serving Australian Workers Union official -- was the ALP's "man in town".
Almost a year on, the Hilton accusations have exposed the same old troubles between the Left and the Right factions in the Illawarra, and the close nature of Labor's politics in the region. Hilton and his wife Sandra Herbert-Lowe are close friends with Labor hopeful Gino Mandarino and his partner, Ms [Sharon Bird], who recently won a rank-and-file preselection for [Cunningham].
Ms Bird, Mr Mandarino and Ms Herbert-Lowe all worked for former Throsby MP Colin Hollis. Ms Herbert-Lowe now works for federal frontbencher Mark Latham and has denied any involvement in the brothel's operations.
A FORMER senior-ranking Labor Party official was charged last night with employing two children to work as prostitutes in his Port Kembla brothel.
Neville Hilton, 64, who co-owns the Southern Belles escort agency, in the heart of the NSW south coast industrial town, faces two counts of owning and permitting premises for child prostitution, two counts of obtaining benefit from child prostitution and two counts of inciting acts of child prostitution.
He was released on bail and will appear in Port Kembla local court on October 9.
Mr Hilton -- who denies the allegations -- this week resigned from the party and from his deputy vice-presidency with the Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce.
The charges, which carry a possible jail term, relate to claims that a 13-year-old girl and her 14-year-old friend worked at Mr Hilton's Wentworth Street brothel for a period of 10 days last month.
Wentworth Street, by day, is nondescript, lined with boarded shops and dreary pubs. But by night, when the "girls" come out, the street takes on a sleazy and harsh new life.
Allegations that the two young girls ended up working at the brothel has shocked and baffled authorities.
The claims have not only rocked the girls' families, but also the ALP.
Mr Hilton -- president of the ALP's nearby Albion Park branch and the Throsby Federal Electorate Council, junior vice-president of the chamber of commerce and a long-serving Australian Workers Union official -- was the ALP's "man in town".
The allegations have come at a time -- and place -- Labor can least afford.
The working-class Illawarra, once one of the safest electoral regions for Labor -- has bucked at the party it once trusted.
Last October, Labor lost the "unloseable" Cunningham by-election ending the party's 53-year reign in the seat.
Decades of factional warfare, branch-stacking and interference from the unpopular party machine came to a head when Greens candidate Michael Organ rolled Sharon Bird, the unpopular candidate anointed by Sussex Street headquarters.
Almost a year on, the Hilton accusations have exposed the same old troubles between the Left and the Right factions in the Illawarra, and the close nature of Labor's politics in the region. Hilton and his wife Sandra Herbert-Lowe are close friends with Labor hopeful Gino Mandarino and his partner, Ms Bird, who recently won a rank-and-file preselection for Cunningham.
Ms Bird and Mr Mandarino were originally both aligned with the Left faction, but jumped to the Right in order to improve their chances of gaining a seat.
Ms Bird, Mr Mandarino and Ms Herbert-Lowe all worked for former Throsby MP Colin Hollis. Ms Herbert-Lowe now works for federal frontbencher Mark Latham and has denied any involvement in the brothel's operations.
"She does a good job and I don't believe in discriminating against people because of their family connections," Mr Latham said this week.
Premier Bob Carr and NSW party secretary Eric Roozendaal were not so kind.
Mr Hilton was regarded as a key backer and "numbers man" for Mr Mandarino in his ambition to win preselection for Throsby, held by former ACTU president Jennie George.
The shocked families of the two girls at the centre of the allegations said "life has been just bloody awful" since police told them their daughters were embroiled in prostitution.
"It really is your worst nightmare," the 13-year-old's uncle, "Frank", said.
Word count: 558
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Monday, 1 September 2003

Mild winter puts a spring in our step, The Australian, 1 September, 2003.

Mild winter puts a spring in our step: [1 All-round Country Edition]

John Stapleton, Louise Perry. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 01 Sep 2003: 7.
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At the opposite end of the scale, there have been plenty of smiles from resort operators, with the alpine areas reporting good falls of snow. Yesterday Charlotte Pass in NSW, for example, was recording a snow depth of 155cm.
It was not all good news. A week ago yesterday, gale force winds swept the entire eastern seaboard, creating havoc in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle and widespread flooding and damage everywhere from Tasmania to Queensland. More than 100,000 people were left without power and thousands of houses and cars were damaged.
There are fears there could be at least a minor replay over the coming days, with strong wind warnings for all Victorian coastal waters operating today as a high pressure system moves across the Bight. Strong winds and showers are also expected across the southern half of NSW.
THIS has not been a winter that will go into the record books for being hotter, colder, drier or wetter than any other.
But it has been a winter that has brought joy to everyone from farmers to alpine resort operators.
While the final numbers are yet to be crunched, experts suggest the winter was milder and drier than normal.
Sydney has been basking in warm, sunny days, with thousands flocking to beaches and parks. The thermometer hit a maximum 25C on Saturday, the highest all winter.
The warm conditions were highlighted by an earlier than expected start to the bushfire season, with volunteer firefighters battling nearly 30 fires in southern NSW, including in the Bega Valley.
At the opposite end of the scale, there have been plenty of smiles from resort operators, with the alpine areas reporting good falls of snow. Yesterday Charlotte Pass in NSW, for example, was recording a snow depth of 155cm.
Farmers, too, have had a generally good winter. While some areas remain drought-declared, conditions have improved. Much of thecropping belt across inland NSW had above average rainfall this month, providing a boost to the winter sowing season.
Prospects for spring also look good.
Don White, of the consultancy firm Weatherwatch, says there is now a neutral weather pattern across the Pacific. "We are out of theEl Nino, which brought the drought of the last 18 months, but we haven't moved into a La Nina, which would bring wetter conditions.
"I think spring will bring a few smiles to the farmers' faces."
And farmers aren't the only ones smiling.
As Sydney basked in perfect sunshine yesterday, two-year-old Jay Cleversley was bundled into the car with his parents Alan and Catherine and taken for a drive in the country and a trip to the local flower show.
"Last year he was a bit too young to enjoy springtime and summer but this year he will be able to," said Mr Cleversley. "We are really looking forward to it. We will definitely be able to take him to the park more often now and give him a bit more time to run around and enjoy himself."
But it was not all good news. A week ago yesterday, gale force winds swept the entire eastern seaboard, creating havoc in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle and widespread flooding and damage everywhere from Tasmania to Queensland. More than 100,000 people were left without power and thousands of houses and cars were damaged.
There are fears there could be at least a minor replay over the coming days, with strong wind warnings for all Victorian coastal waters operating today as a high pressure system moves across the Bight. Strong winds and showers are also expected across the southern half of NSW.
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