Friday, 23 August 2002

Big birds and a charm farm, The Australian, 23 August, 2002.

Big birds and a charm farm: [1 Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 23 Aug 2002: 27.

Abstract

About 50km from Adelaide, on the southern slopes of the Adelaide Hills, lies Emu Retreat. At the southern end of the MacLaren Vale wine-growing area, the property was part of Judy and Malcolm Dispain's retirement plans.

The original 1850s house was falling down when the Dispains came along. They did everything they could to preserve what was left of the house, which was built of mud and straw, with a thatch roof. It is now a comfortable studio.

Colette Hunt of Weston Raine & Horne at McLaren Vale, said a property of the quality of Emu Retreat would cost well over $1 million near Sydney. The Dispains are asking just under $500,000.

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* Rural property

SEA-CHANGERS are discovering that the further from the big smoke you get, the better the bargains.

It was originally settled in the 1850s. The Adelaide couple bought it in 1994.

"It's a very spiritual place," said Mrs Dispain. "It has a cathedral type of feeling. We have put a lot of loving effort into it. It's that type of place."

Emu Retreat was first occupied by a Scottish family. The 2.3ha property is surrounded by grape and olive farms.

It is a secluded farm and cottage complex, with bed and breakfast approval.

There are stone walls, slate flagstones, restored brick paving, plenty of sheds, a wood lot and splendid fireplaces. The kitchen cupboards are made from old fence posts, and the chook run provides plenty of eggs.

There is a room in the old 1880s cottage where, traditionally, babies were born.

Now that it is for sale, the Dispains say, a number of people with old connections to the property have shown up.

The 1880s farmhouse has been been fully renovated.

The Dispains planted hundreds of trees, including spotted gums and casuarinas.

As well, there is a 30-tree orchard, with apricot, quince, almond and walnut trees.

No agricultural chemicals have been used on the property, which has solar hot water and water recycling.

"We liked the place the moment we saw it," said Mr Dispain. "Our aim was to retire there, but because of grandchildren and so on, it has become a bit impractical."

Colette Hunt of Weston Raine & Horne at McLaren Vale, said a property of the quality of Emu Retreat would cost well over $1 million near Sydney. The Dispains are asking just under $500,000.

"People from Sydney and Melbourne are coming this way because of the great differences in prices."

The Dispains' 10 pet emus come with the property.

Illustration

Caption: Inviting:Emu Retreat at Willunga has approval for a B&B; Photo: Photo

Greig a Generation Xer with a cause, The Australian, 23 August, 2002.

Greig a Generation Xer with a cause: [2 Edition]

John Stapleton, Colleen Egan. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 23 Aug 2002: 2.

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Born in Fremantle, Senator [Brian Greig] grew up in the small fishing village of Lancelin, two hours north of Perth, where his father worked as a professional crayfisher. At 13 he went to boarding school in Perth before studying teaching at Murdoch University.

As late as last year, Senator Greig willingly took the brunt of anti-gay vitriol during his home state's debate on homosexual law reform.

Senator Greig has always been a close and supportive ally of Natasha Stott Despoja.

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HIS portfolio responsibilities include justice, information technology, fisheries and transport -- but Brian Greig is best known as the Democrats' spokesman on gay and lesbian issues.

The 36-year-old interim Democrats leader is seen as a classic member of Generation X. After just three years in parliament he has become the second gay leader of a major Australian political party, behind the Greens' Bob Brown, and lives in Perth with Keith, his partner of 16 years.

In his inaugural speech to federal parliament, Senator Greig, a former ALP staffer, said he had known he was gay since the age of 12.

"This has profoundly influenced my life and given me personal insight into intolerance, prejudice and the hatred that I might not otherwise have experienced," he said.

Senator Greig said that as a young man he found coming to terms with his sexuality an alienating and lonely experience.

"I wish someone older than me, and wiser than me, had taken me aside and said, `You're all right kid. You can grow up to be a doctor or a teacher just like anyone else. You are not sick or crazy or evil. Most of all though, you can love and be loved without hating yourself for it'."

Born in Fremantle, Senator Greig grew up in the small fishing village of Lancelin, two hours north of Perth, where his father worked as a professional crayfisher. At 13 he went to boarding school in Perth before studying teaching at Murdoch University.

During summer breaks he worked as a deckhand on his father's boat, while at the same time campaigning against the mining of local sand dunes.

In the mid to late 1980s, he was active in student politics, helping to re-establish the National Union of Students.

His activism continued throughout the 1990s as he campaigned for gay law reform, and helped set up the Australian Council for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

As late as last year, Senator Greig willingly took the brunt of anti-gay vitriol during his home state's debate on homosexual law reform.

He served as an electorate officer and researcher to nine members of parliament, including three Labor Opposition leaders, before becoming disillusioned with the ALP.

Senator Greig has always been a close and supportive ally of Natasha Stott Despoja.

Wednesday, 21 August 2002

Decision to stand aside lauded - CHURCH IN CRISIS, The Australian, 21 August, 2002.

Decision to stand aside lauded - CHURCH IN CRISIS: [2 Edition]

Thea Williams, Monica Videnieks, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 21 Aug 2002: 4.

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THE Catholic Church official who drafted the document setting out procedures to deal with sex abuse allegations last night described George Pell's decision to stand aside as a "very good signal".

Monsignor David Cappo, Vicar-General of the Adelaide Archdiocese, said Dr Pell's action signalled he was "submitting himself to the church's policy".

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, who replaced Dr Pell after he was appointed to the Sydney Archdiocese, offered Dr Pell full support.

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THE Catholic Church official who drafted the document setting out procedures to deal with sex abuse allegations last night described George Pell's decision to stand aside as a "very good signal".

Monsignor David Cappo, Vicar-General of the Adelaide Archdiocese, said Dr Pell's action signalled he was "submitting himself to the church's policy".

Monsignor Cappo drafted the church's Towards Healing document setting out procedures to deal with sex abuse allegations.

"This will be a very important test of credibility of the church's policy," Monsignor Cappo said.

The complaint against Dr Pell is the first time an Australian Catholic archbishop has faced sex abuse allegations.

Monsignor Cappo said it would be preferable for the complainant to take the allegation to the police, which the complainant had resisted.

"It would be the best option for the police to investigate these matters. In the public mind that would be seen as the most appropriate way to deal with the matter," he said.

Catholic Church sex abuse victim Michael Santamaria -- whose allegations against a Catholic priest were substantiated by an internal church investigation three years ago -- agreed that the complainant should go to police.

"I would just encourage the person who has complained to take it to the police, they are the best people to deal with it," Mr Santamaria said.

Religious leaders expressed shock and sadness at the allegations against Dr Pell.

But Broken Rites, a support group for victims of sexual abuse by the clergy, said the allegations reinforced its calls for a royal commission into church sex abuse scandals.

"It's a very big problem, and more importantly the victims need to be listened to, they need some sort of restitution to bring about healing," Victorian Broken Rites spokeswoman Chris Mac Isaac said.

A spokeswoman at the Vatican Press Office in Rome said the office would not comment.

In Australia, the Anglican, Uniting and Catholic churches expressed dismay.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, who replaced Dr Pell after he was appointed to the Sydney Archdiocese, offered Dr Pell full support.

"Justice will now be best served by a speedy completion of the process of inquiry by Mr Alec Southwell QC," Archbishop Hart said.

A spokesman for Anglican Primate Peter Carnley, who could not be contacted, said Dr Carnley was likely to be reluctant to comment for fear of casting a "moral stance on other's misfortune".

George Pell's CV

Born June 8, 1941.

Educated St Patrick's College and Corpus College, Victoria; Lucientiate in theology, Urban University Rome; PhD in church history, Oxford University; Masters in education, Monash University.

Assistant priest in parishes of Swan Hill, 1971; Ballarat East, 1973-83.

1981-84 principal, Institute of Catholic Education.

Member of Vatican Congregation of Doctrine of Faith; consultor to Vatican Council for Family; president of Australian Catholic University.

1991-95 Vatican Council for Justice and Peace.

1988-97 chairman Caritas Australia.

1987-96 Auxiliary Bishop Melbourne.

1996 Archbishop of Melbourne.

2001 Sydney Archbishop.

Monday, 19 August 2002

Marriage Strike, Dads On The Air, 19 August, 2002.

Friday, 16 August 2002

Trend to big farms likely to continue, The Australian, 16 August, 2002.

Trend to big farms likely to continue: [1 Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 16 Aug 2002: 26.

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Over the past 40 years, the number of commercial farms in Australia has almost halved, from around 200,000 in 1961 to just over 100,000 in 2001. At the same time, the average area of land operated by these broadacre farms has increased almost 50 per cent from 2800ha to about 4100.

The number of farms purchasing or leasing additional land in 2000- 01 has increased to its highest level since ABARE started surveying broadacre farms in 1977. Not just larger farms are expanding. ABARE survey data indicates farms of all sizes are acquiring land. The extra land typically represents expansion of 13 per cent to 30 per cent of the farm's size.

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* Rural

GET big, get tough or die -- that's what farmers were told in the 1980s. However, with government forecasts suggesting that weaker prices and lower returns will lead to tough times, questions are being asked about whether or not the "get big or get out" rule is still appropriate.

But the country is littered with tragic tales of families who lost everything after following advice from government bureaucracies, aided and abetted by free-wheeling banks.

In a recent paper, "Get Big or Get Out: Is the mantra still appropriate for the new century", statisticians at the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics note that many Australian farmers who chose to get bigger, buying the farm next door or otherwise expanding their operations, were caught by astronomically high interest rates and falling grain prices. Many farms were left with high debt, low equity and poor debt-servicing capacity.

"It was the beginning of the end for some of these businesses," it notes. "Many of the debt problems faced by farm business in the 1990s originated from farm expansion in the 1980s."

But ABARE executive director Brian Fisher said the trend towards larger farms was likely to continue.

"The largest third of commercial farm businesses have consistently achieved higher rates of return to capital than the smallest third, with the gap between them having increased over the past decade," he said.

During 2000-01, a record number of beef producers acquired more land and expanded their enterprises. The beef industry has been a star, with last financial year's farm cash income for beef producers estimated to have increased 36 per cent on the previous year.

Peter Martin, co-author of the paper "Get Big or Get Out", said the increasing size of farms did not mean the death of the family farm, with 99 per cent of farms family owned.

"It is not the being big that sends you broke. It is the getting there," he said.

Chief executive of NSW Farmers Jonathan McKeown called for a change to the Trade Practices Act to allow smaller properties to bargain collectively, presently illegal as being a so-called collusion on price. The move would make the vast majority of smaller operators who sustained farming communities more viable.

Wednesday, 14 August 2002

Questions for Larry Anthony over the Child Support Agency and related Death Toll, The Australian, 14 August, 2002.

The direct link between the ruthless bureaucratic harassment of separated fathers by the Australian Child Support Agency remains one of the greatest scandals of Australian public administration. Concerned about the female vote and saddled with an administration bred on cultural Marxism, successive politicians have done nothing about it. This was part of an exercise to establish whether the claim by men's groups that three fathers a day were dying as a result of the CSA was true or false. After almost a year, including FOI requests, it finally emerged that 12 of CSA's clients were dying every day, about 2.5 times what you would expect in a similar aged cohort in the broader community. I had a great deal of trouble interesting the paper in this story, who did not in any way wish to face the ire of the women's movement or be seen to be un-progressive, a bit of a joke for a newspaper regularly lampooned as "right wing". The project eventually morphed into this front page story:

https://thejournalismofjohnstapleton.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/child-agency-ignored-threats-p1.html

Monday, 12 August 2002

The Amazing Success of Dads In Distress, with Tony Miller, Dads On The Air, 12 August, 2002.

Wednesday, 7 August 2002

The Child Support Agency, Death toll, Draft, The Australian, 7 August, 2002.

I had a great deal of difficulty interesting the paper in this story.
Ultimately it morphed into a front page story on the CSA ignoring clients who rang them up threatening suicide.

Child Support Agency Death Toll, The Australian, 7 August, 2002.

This story eventually morphed into this front page story:

https://thejournalismofjohnstapleton.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/child-agency-ignored-threats-p1.html

There were many drafts along the way:

https://thejournalismofjohnstapleton.blogspot.com.au/2002/02/the-child-support-agency-disastrously.html

The link between the Australian Child Support Agency and the high death rates and poor outcomes for separated parents, most particularly but not always fathers, is undeniable.

The CSA remains a disgrace to the Australian Public Service.

Monday, 5 August 2002

Our web site is under construction, Dads On The Air, 5 August, 2002.

Friday, 2 August 2002

Parkes. Member John Cobb. The Australian Political Almanac, 2002/ .

POLITICAL ALMANAC JIM LLOYD THE AUSTRALIAN 2002

Picturesque and productive, The Australian, 2 August, 2002

Picturesque and productive: [1 Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 02 Aug 2002: 24.

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The first owners of Swatchfield, the Stevensons, were renowned for the quality of their Clydesdales, which were sold in Dubbo and were one of the bases of the Australian wheat industry prior to mechanisation.

[William Kater] was only two when his father bought Swatchfield in 1936.

He says he remembers his father's determined search for a good quality property. "He had the choice of everything, looked at many and picked Swatchfield," Mr Kater recalls.

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FORTY-five years ago this week, the then Australian cross- country ski champion William Kater met a Swiss girl Rosemarie, also an ardent skier.

Within a short time they were married.

They spent their life together at historic Swatchfield, regarded as one of the best rural properties in NSW.

Now approaching their 70s, they have reluctantly decided to sell, putting the 1027ha property on the market for $4.2 million.

It is the first time since 1936 that the property has been on the market. Swatchfield has only had three owners since it was first settled in the mid-1820s.

Three hours' drive from Sydney on the western side of the Blue Mountains, Swatchfield is not only regarded as a fine agricultural holding but is remarkably picturesque, scattered with stands of trees and sparked in autumn with the yellow glow of poplars.

Descendants of the Stevensons can still be found around Dubbo.

"They bred very good Clydesdales," says William Kater. "The country has the heart in it to breed good constitutioned animals."

William Kater was only two when his father bought Swatchfield in 1936.

He says he remembers his father's determined search for a good quality property. "He had the choice of everything, looked at many and picked Swatchfield," Mr Kater recalls.

It was purchased from the Hackney family, large land owners in the Bathurst Oberon district who had acquired the property during World War I.

And it was William's father Henry who built the Kenneth McConnell- designed five bedroom country homestead. McConnell was the architect of choice for thesquattocracy during the 1920s and 1930s.

It boasts a formal sitting and dining room and a large provincial style manor hall with central stone fireplace. These days it's all centrally heated.

"It is a beautiful homey home," Kater says. "We both love it, it is absolutely charming. That's what makes the heart bleed, to leave it."

The homestead is set in an English garden with mature oaks, elms, birches, poplars, sweeping lawns and attractive stone walls and hedges.

Swatchfield also boasts some of the best trout fishing close to Sydney, with the district's best fishing hole only minutes from the homestead.

The Kater family have always bred egelabra or Spanish merino sheep, and there is a flock on the property.

Mrs Kater has also bred pure white South Suffolk sheep. The traditional South Suffolk has a black face, ears and feet, but the Katers have bred the black out of them, the only such flock in the country.

The lack of black makes the sheep more effective for wool production on top of their traditional role as prime lambs.

There is also a herd of "very good Vern-blood Hereford cattle" on the property, acclimatised and well suited to the country.

All the animals are available for sale.

Although Mr Kater has been running the property on his own -- he says it can be run quite effectively by one 70-year-old gentleman such as himself -- there is ample accommodation if a manager is required.

There is a four-bedroom manager's residence and two other cottages, including a stone cottage dating back to 1863.

"It is a wonderful place, it should make someone who wants to buy it very happy," says Mr Kater sadly.

When pressed as to why he is selling something that obviously brings him so much pleasure, he says, "I don't know how old you are or how you feel at your age, but I'm nearly 70 and ..." He doesn't finish the sentence. He doesn't have to.

Illustration

Caption: Rare opportunity:Swatchfield has only had three owners since it was first settled in the mid-1820s; Photo: Photo

Pages

Friday, 23 August 2002

Big birds and a charm farm: [1 Edition]

Abstract

Full Text

Greig a Generation Xer with a cause: [2 Edition]

Abstract

Full Text

Wednesday, 21 August 2002

Decision to stand aside lauded - CHURCH IN CRISIS: [2 Edition]

Abstract

Full Text

Monday, 19 August 2002

Friday, 16 August 2002

Trend to big farms likely to continue: [1 Edition]

Abstract

Full Text

Wednesday, 14 August 2002

Monday, 12 August 2002

Wednesday, 7 August 2002

Monday, 5 August 2002

Friday, 2 August 2002

Picturesque and productive: [1 Edition]

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