Sunday, 10 May 2009

Little Coffins, The Australian, 10 May, 2009.

John Stapleton
FOR four-year-old Jake Aden Winter there was a little pale blue coffin with a beautifully painted wooden image of Bob the Builder attached to one end.
For three-year-old Kasey Rose Winter there was a pale pink coffin decorated with love-hearts, butterfly stickers and ``My Little Pony'' toys.
A sombre crowd of more than 700 people crammed the St Joseph's church at East Maitland yesterday for the joint funeral of the Winter family.
The family was found dead by a relative at their semi-rural home at Oakhampton Heights near Maitland in NSW eleven days ago. Police believe Mrs Sally Winter, 32, used a rifle to kill her children and her husband Stephen, also 32, before turning the gun on herself.
The families of both Mr and Mrs Winter had been very close and they appeared united in grief during the dignified service.
As the hymn ``Come As You Are'' played and the coffins were carried through to the front of the church Presiding Priest Father Brian Mascord asked everyone to stand ``as we give them back to Christ''.
As holy water was sprinkled on the four coffins Father Mascord intoned: ``In the waters of baptism Stephen, Sally, Jake and Kasey died with Christ and rose with him to new life.'' The congregation rejoined: ``May they now share eternal life with him in glory.'' Crucifixes, bibles and palls were ritualistically placed on the coffins, and Paschal candles, symbolising the resurrection, were lit.
A joint statement from the families was read out, detailing the lives of the family members. Stephen Winter's love of his grandparents farm as a boy, feeding cows, collecting eggs and trying to ride pigs was recorded, as was his occupation as a ``decent mechanic''. Mother Sally was described as a ``fun loving child'' who often organised the entertainment at family gatherings and determinedly pursued a career in nursing.
Father Mascot recalled how the two had met while still at school and ``shared a love of the outdoors'' which saw the pair taking trips out West, to the beach and to a family farm. He told of the birth of the children and how they were quickly taught ``the art of fishing and enjoyed many camping trips with their mom and dad''.
The statement recalled the family's  love of rural life, with the kangaroos that dotted their property coming to the backdoor to be fed by the kids. ``It didn't take much to see the light that shone through their eyes. They brought so much joy into our lives. They left us with so many happy memories, too many to reflect on today. They will live on in our hearts forever.''
A traditionally upbeat children's church song was also played: ``God loves you and I love you and that is the way it should be. You can be happy and I can be happy and that is the way it should be.''
The funeral service was followed by a private cremation and a wake.
Speaking to reporters outside the funeral investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Humphrey said his deepest sympathy went out to the family. He said police were ``very satisfied'' with the progress of their inquiries, although it could be some months before the investigation was finalised. ``It has been a horrible job from the start,'' he said.
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Friday, 8 May 2009

Coroner lambasts inept triple-O, The Australian, 8 May, 2009.

Coroner lambasts inept triple-0

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 08 May 2009: 3.
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NSW Deputy Coroner Carl Milovanovich noted that not once did any of the three women from the NSW Ambulance Service who took the dying boy's repeated calls even ask his name. There was no explanation as to why the last person to speak to him alive, operator Stacey Dickens, put [David Iredale] on hold twice. Ms Dickens admitted to the inquest she did not have her mind on the job.
The coroner said: "I confess that I was astonished that at no time after the death of David Iredale or any time leading up to the commencement of this inquest, did the Ambulance Service of NSW conduct an appropriate review and/or analysis of their performance in the circumstances leading to David's death.
He said the operators had paid little regard to what David was saying and the "relentless focus of all the call-takers" on establishing an address rather than trying to help someone so obviously lost in the bush was "astonishing".
THE heartless and incompetent conduct of the triple-0 operators who were the last people to speak to 17-year-old David Iredale before he died of dehydration while bushwalking with friends in the Blue Mountains has provoked calls for a comprehensive review of the service.
The elite private school Sydney Grammar, which David attended, also came in for criticism as the findings of the four-week inquest into David's death were handed down yesterday.
David became separated from his friends while on a trek for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards in 2006.
NSW Deputy Coroner Carl Milovanovich noted that not once did any of the three women from the NSW Ambulance Service who took the dying boy's repeated calls even ask his name. There was no explanation as to why the last person to speak to him alive, operator Stacey Dickens, put David on hold twice. Ms Dickens admitted to the inquest she did not have her mind on the job.
The coroner said: "I confess that I was astonished that at no time after the death of David Iredale or any time leading up to the commencement of this inquest, did the Ambulance Service of NSW conduct an appropriate review and/or analysis of their performance in the circumstances leading to David's death.
"It remains astonishing that a person can ring triple-0 ambulance on five occasions and, there being no satisfactory outcome, that some form of review would not be undertaken."
NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca said the Government would accept all the recommendations of the inquest and establish a working party to address deficiencies in the emergency call service.
Mr Milovanovich recommended call-takers be trained to show empathy to distressed callers and that a multi-agency working party review the operation and management of triple-0 emergency call centres. The working conditions of operators, including 12-hour shifts with minimal breaks, should also be reviewed, as should their lack of paramedic training.
The inadequate technology being used by emergency services was also exposed by the inquest. Mr Milovanovich said it took four days for the Ambulance Service to locate and download David's calls and copy them to a CD.
Police then had to send a car from the Blue Mountains to collect the data. The possibility of transferring triple-0 voice grabs via email to search-and-rescue workers with local knowledge should be examined.
He has also recommended a review of the limitations of the existing software and database system, including the inability of the triple-0 computer system to recognise repeat incoming calls, such as from David.
He said the operators had paid little regard to what David was saying and the "relentless focus of all the call-takers" on establishing an address rather than trying to help someone so obviously lost in the bush was "astonishing".
David's parents, Stephen and Mary Anne Iredale, left the court while the coroner read on to the record the shocking details of the operators' performance.
The coroner appeared emotional as he read his findings, and said the case pulled at the heartstrings.
Addressing the family at the conclusion of his findings, he said he had the greatest admiration for them. "You have displayed poise, dignity and composure in the face of unimaginable loss," he said.
"I hope in some small way this inquest recognises the many achievements of David's young life. I hope that his death was not in vain and that changes will be made to avoid another family going through what you have gone through."
Afterwards, on the steps of the court, Dr Iredale thanked the coroner and said the family appreciated the apologies from the Ambulance Service and Sydney Grammar. "We hope that risks of this sort of event happening again will be much lower," he said.
Credit: John Stapleton
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Saturday, 2 May 2009

Bugs to listen in on wildlife's most wanted, Weekend Australian, 2 May, 2009.

Bugs to listen in on wildlife's most wanted

Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 02 May 2009: 9.
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"Ornithologists have been searching for the night parrot for years, but it is just so rare the chance of being in the right place at the right time is very small," Dr [Elizabeth Tasker] said. "It may turn out not to be extinct; and these units are our best chance to find out whether it has survived."
Dr Tasker said the technology had great potential to be used across a range of species, particularly birds and frogs because of their distinctive calls. The even rarer eastern bristlebird, said to look and behave more like a bush rat than a bird, is likely to be the next bird researchers look for.
Leonie Gale, chief executive of the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife, said the technology could revolutionise the way threatened species were monitored, located and protected. "Australia will lose many species in the next 30 years; this is a remote management tool for threatened species which could help stop that happening," she said.
FINDING a rare critter in the Australian bush can be a tricky business.
Very few people, bird watchers included, have ever seen the eastern ground parrot. Shy and elusive, the ground-dwelling birds are found in dense thickets of bush along the eastern seaboard, making their tunnels and nests in the undergrowth.
Similarly, the giant burrowing frog can be extremely hard to track down. Only a handful exist and they inhabit rocky ridges, and emerge only after rain.
But in a development that has potentially wide-ranging implications, scientists have developed technology that will allow them to map the numbers and location of some of Australia's most obscure wildlife.
The findings could help locate rare species or settle disputes between conservationists and developers about whether a threatened frog or bird exists on a particular site.
Elizabeth Tasker, from the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, is pioneering the use of a new machine known as the song meter. It is a passive listening device that can be left in the bush for months at a time and programmed to record at specific times of the day.
Software being developed at the University of Wollongong will allow signals from multiple song meters to be combined to help locate animals.
By placing several of the devices in an area, the data can be triangulated to identify an animal's exact location.
The Barren Grounds Nature Reserve on the Illawarra escarpment, south of Sydney, is one of the only places where the eastern ground parrots, which resemble giant green budgerigars, are found. It is also the site of the first pilot study.
The project, known as the Automated Acoustic Monitoring of Threatened Fauna study, is being funded by a charity, the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife.
Ultimately the technology could have many different uses, including expanding the hunt for the mysterious night parrot of central Australia, which is feared extinct.
"Ornithologists have been searching for the night parrot for years, but it is just so rare the chance of being in the right place at the right time is very small," Dr Tasker said. "It may turn out not to be extinct; and these units are our best chance to find out whether it has survived."
Dr Tasker said the technology had great potential to be used across a range of species, particularly birds and frogs because of their distinctive calls. The even rarer eastern bristlebird, said to look and behave more like a bush rat than a bird, is likely to be the next bird researchers look for.
Leonie Gale, chief executive of the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife, said the technology could revolutionise the way threatened species were monitored, located and protected. "Australia will lose many species in the next 30 years; this is a remote management tool for threatened species which could help stop that happening," she said.
Credit: John Stapleton
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Thursday, 30 April 2009

A minute's silence for Pratt bit production must go on, The Australian, 30 April, 2009. Additional Reporting. Page One.

A minute's silence for Pratt but production must go on

Stewart, Cameron. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 30 Apr 2009: 1.
The billionaire's son then drove to the company's city headquarters and sat in his dad's chair.
Today at 11am, [Visy]'s 5600 employees around the country will observe a minute's silence to mark the passing of their founder, although their machines will stay on because, as Mr Pratt would have said, the business must go on.
"I think it's an appropriate thing to do for someone whose public profile, whose contribution, has been as significant as [Richard Pratt]'s," he said.

Full Text

AT dawn yesterday, barely 12 hours after his father's death, Anthony Pratt drove to Visy's packaging plants in Melbourne and prowled the factory floors alone. It was the same daily routine his father had followed for 40 years.
The billionaire's son then drove to the company's city headquarters and sat in his dad's chair.
The message was clear: Richard Pratt was dead, but the new generation of Pratts were now walking in his shoes, ready to safeguard his legacy and his $5billion paper and packaging empire.
Today at 11am, Visy's 5600 employees around the country will observe a minute's silence to mark the passing of their founder, although their machines will stay on because, as Mr Pratt would have said, the business must go on.
"In keeping with what Richard would most surely want, please ensure production continues unabated during this time -- we could do him no greater honour than to achieve record production tomorrow," Visy employees were told.
At the same time across town, more than 700 people are expected to attend the Kew Synagogue to farewell the businessman and philanthropist who died on Tuesday night.
The traditional Jewish service will be modest compared with the colourful life of the 74-year-old. Mr Pratt will have a simple casket and there will not be any flowers.
The funeral is expected to be attended by leading figures in business, politics, the arts, environment, sport and charity and by many Visy employees.
Kevin Rudd and former NSW premier Bob Carr are expected to attend, as are most of the Carlton football team. Long-time family friend Sam Lipski will deliver the eulogy and two of Mr Pratt's four children, Anthony and Heloise, will also speak.
Plans for the service were made quietly by the family after Mr Pratt was told two weeks ago that his prostate cancer had spread and his death was imminent.
Victorian Premier John Brumby has offered the family a public memorial service in several weeks to recognise Mr Pratt's contribution to the community.
"I think it's an appropriate thing to do for someone whose public profile, whose contribution, has been as significant as Richard Pratt's," he said.
The family was last night considering the Premier's offer.
Mr Pratt died at his Raheen mansion, surrounded by his family, only a day after criminal charges against him for giving false and misleading evidence to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission were withdrawn.
His widow, Jeanne, was believed to have spent yesterday at Raheen with her family, taking condolence calls and making preparations for the funeral of her husband of 47 years.
It was unclear last night whether Mr Pratt's 11-year-old daughter, Paula, whom he fathered with former mistress Shari-lea Hitchcock, would attend the funeral. Paula was with her mother in Sydney yesterday, and Ms Hitchcock declined to make any comment.
The Australian yesterday revealed that Mr Pratt had been re-nominated for an Order of Australia only hours before he died by family friend and lawyer Mark Leibler. Mr Pratt handed back his AO back early last year, fearing he would be stripped of it because of his involvement in a price-fixing scandal with rival Amcor.
No one has been awarded an AO after handing one back, but Mr Pratt's supporters yesterday backed the bid as a way to further restore his reputation.
"Richard Pratt deserves to be recognised for what he's achieved," Mr Lipski said.
______________________________
>> More reports -- Page 6
Credit: Cameron Stewart, Additional reporting: John Stapleton
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Monday, 27 April 2009

Young buyers wary as panic sets in, The Australian, 27 April, 2009.

Young buyers wary as panic sets in

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 27 Apr 2009: 1.
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"A lot of young people are panic buying, that is what we have found, particularly in the last couple of months," said Mr Brown, 26, an environmental consultant. "We feel a lot of pressure to buy now or lose out on the $21,000."
SQM research managing director Louis Christopher said there was a panicked rush of first-home buyers due to speculation the boost was unlikely to be extended. He said couples such as [Jessica Tompkins] and Lee should wait. "Now is not the time for first-home buyers to rush in. If they wait, demand will dry up and prices will fall," he said. "The first-home buyers grant doesn't help housing affordability at all."
Property analyst Michael Matusik said there were no more first-home buyers in the market than a decade ago and the boost had simply exaggerated prices. "It should be called the vendor's grant," he said. "In the outer suburbs of major capital cities the prices went up between $7000 and $14,000 in a 24-hour period immediately after the announcement. There's anecdotal evidence that it has boosted housing construction, but over the longer term all it has done is bring forward construction."
FIRST-HOME buyers Lee Brown and Jessica Tompkins are desperately saving for their first home. So, at first glance, it seems odd that they are hoping Kevin Rudd does not extend the boost to the first-home owners grant in the coming budget.
But the Sydney couple say that rather than give young investors a much-needed leg-up in the property market, the grants -- which are worth up to $21,000 for those wanting to build a new home -- have driven up prices and created panic among those trying to beat the June 30 cut-off.
Prompted, perhaps, by speculation last week that the boost will not be extended beyond June 30, there was a marked increase in the numbers of people at auctions and home inspections in all capital cities over the weekend, despite the Anzac Day holiday.
Auction clearance rates were significantly higher than last weekend in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.
But while there appears to be a last-minute rush among home buyers, the recently engaged Mr Brown and Ms Tompkins are determined not to get in over their heads.
Since they began house hunting last October -- when Mr Rudd announced the doubling of the $7000 first-home owners grant for established homes, and a tripling for new homes -- the asking price of the house and land package they are interested in has risen by $44,000.
Now they hope prices will fall back to more reasonable levels once the boost ends, as property analysts predict.
"A lot of young people are panic buying, that is what we have found, particularly in the last couple of months," said Mr Brown, 26, an environmental consultant. "We feel a lot of pressure to buy now or lose out on the $21,000."
Ms Tompkins, who works in marketing, said the couple had expected prices to fall as the global financial crisis took its toll.
"We would be better off if they cut the grant because there won't be so many people out there trying to snap up houses," she said.
In Port Melbourne, Ana Laskova, 24, and Dean Pavlickovski, 31, attended an auction for a two-bedroom apartment yesterday, only to watch the property sell for a significantly higher price than they were prepared to pay.
Continued -- Page 4
From Page 1
"We would like to buy given the extra stimulus, but the grant is not going to make the difference in our decision," Mr Pavlickovski said.
The home buyers have joined a queue of experts condemning the scheme as counterproductive and a waste of public funds.
SQM research managing director Louis Christopher said there was a panicked rush of first-home buyers due to speculation the boost was unlikely to be extended. He said couples such as Jessica and Lee should wait. "Now is not the time for first-home buyers to rush in. If they wait, demand will dry up and prices will fall," he said. "The first-home buyers grant doesn't help housing affordability at all."
Critics argue the grant has artificially raised prices for homes under $500,000, pitted investors against first-home buyers and disrupted the rental market. "Thefirst-home buyers grant has been counterproductive, it is yet another public policy gone wrong," said Kevin Lee, head of Smartline Mortgages.
Property analyst Michael Matusik said there were no more first-home buyers in the market than a decade ago and the boost had simply exaggerated prices. "It should be called the vendor's grant," he said. "In the outer suburbs of major capital cities the prices went up between $7000 and $14,000 in a 24-hour period immediately after the announcement. There's anecdotal evidence that it has boosted housing construction, but over the longer term all it has done is bring forward construction."
However, Housing Industry Association senior economist Harley Dale said the tripling of the grant for new dwellings had been highly effective in boosting theproperty market.
"It has done a lot to stimulate the property market and has been especially successful in driving first home buyers to build their own homes," he said.
"In the case of first home buyers who are building new homes it isn't just a situation where demand has been brought forward, demand has actually increased."
Open houses across the country have been inundated with potential first-home buyers eager to jump into the market before the boost is shut down or decreased.
In Melbourne, real estate agents were surprised by the strong turnout over the weekend, as a higher than anticipated numbers of house-hunters braved heavy downpours and blistering winds to attend inspections.
Melbourne real estate agent Craig Stephens said the Prime Minister's hints that the grant would expire had prompted a "massive spike" in numbers attending open-house inspections over the weekend.
Credit: John Stapleton, Sanna Trad
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Friday, 24 April 2009

000 workers 'need medical training', The Australian, 24 April, 2009.




000 workers `need medical training'

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 24 Apr 2009: 3.
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David Iredale's family, including his mother, Mary Anne, excused themselves from the courtroom as a doctor gave horrific details of the 17-year-old's final minutes of life in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
Paul Luckin, one of Australia's leading experts in search and rescue and survivability in extreme conditions, told the inquest if the emergency operators had had medical training, they would have recognised the symptoms of severe dehydration David displayed. He said the lack of medical training among call takers was a regrettable fact, "driven I'm sure by the cost".
Dr Luckin said he estimated David had a deficit of 7.5 litres of water when he died. He said that as David's blood pressure dropped to critical levels, oxygen to thebrain had dropped and he had a cardiac arrest.

SEVERELY dehydrated and dying, a boy lost in the bush could have survived had emergency call operators been medically trained and sprung into action immediately, an inquest has been told.
David Iredale's family, including his mother, Mary Anne, excused themselves from the courtroom as a doctor gave horrific details of the 17-year-old's final minutes of life in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
Paul Luckin, one of Australia's leading experts in search and rescue and survivability in extreme conditions, told the inquest if the emergency operators had had medical training, they would have recognised the symptoms of severe dehydration David displayed. He said the lack of medical training among call takers was a regrettable fact, "driven I'm sure by the cost".
David could have been advised to lie with his head downwards to maintain blood flow to the brain as his body shut down, and could have been told to display brightly coloured clothing or equipment visible from a helicopter.
Dr Luckin said search and rescue teams should have sprung into action immediately after he made his first call to operator Laura Meade at 11.57am on December 11, 2006, if there was to have been any chance of him surviving.
He had provided precise details of how he had been on the Mount Solitary walking track and was heading towards the Kedumba River, but much of this detail was not recorded or passed on to police.
Dr Luckin said David would have lapsed into unconsciousness minutes after his final call to the triple-0 ambulance service and would have been dead within thehour at the outside.
During that final call, Stacey Dickens, the last person to speak to David alive, put him on hold twice. She admitted to the inquiry she did not have her mind on the job when taking the call, was abrupt and uncompassionate and, until the inquiry, had no memory of taking his calls.
Dr Luckin said he estimated David had a deficit of 7.5 litres of water when he died. He said that as David's blood pressure dropped to critical levels, oxygen to thebrain had dropped and he had a cardiac arrest.
Dr Luckin also said that if the three teenage boys on the bushwalk, friends from Sydney Grammar School, had stayed at their overnight campsite and told someone they had run out of water, David would have survived until rescued.
The senior ambulance supervisor on the day David called triple-0, Trevor Hinton, who also gave evidence yesterday, became emotional and apologised for not taking notes, properly logging the job or passing on detailed information to police.
The three women who took David's five desperate calls made similar apologies on Wednesday. The inquest resumes on Monday.
Credit: John Stapleton
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