Saturday, 3 January 2009

Fear ever present but future not so Bleak, Weekend Australian, 3 January, 2009.

Fear ever present but future not so Bleak

Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 03 Jan 2009: 8.
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For The Australian and The Weekend Australian's cartoonist Bill Leak, the idea for today's cartoon came right on schedule -- at 10.30am yesterday, just before the paper's morning news conference.
"The doctors have warned me that I will discover I can't do things I have always taken for granted," Leak said. "I live in quiet expectation of finding out what those things are. It is awful. It is a fear something is going to be taken away."
Leak still looks at ease as he sketches rapidly. "The drawing is pure pleasure," he said. "But cartoons are more than just about drawing, they are visual concepts.

A CARTOONIST'S working day is divided into two halves -- pre-idea and post-idea. Once the concept comes to mind, the rest is comparatively easy.
For The Australian and The Weekend Australian's cartoonist Bill Leak, the idea for today's cartoon came right on schedule -- at 10.30am yesterday, just before the paper's morning news conference.
What makes today's cartoon remarkable is that 11 weeks ago Leak was lying in a coma in Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital. He had landed on his head after falling from a balcony while feeding parrots during a party at the NSW central coast property of adman JohnSingleton.
His brain was swollen and there were concerns for his life. Even if he survived the two operations he underwent to remove a blood clot, no one knew whether Leak would ever be able to draw again.
"Having the idea was such a relief, a moment of pure joy," he said yesterday.
After the idea came to him he followed what has become normal practice -- bouncing it off someone he trusts. In this case it was a popular blogger for The Australian, Jack The Insider.
Jack liked the idea: a brain-damaged cartoonist, in a Rip Van Winkle moment, complaining that the world no longer made sense. Thecricket team regarded as the world's best only three months ago was in disarray, while, counter-intuitively, the Government was urging people to prepare for tough economic times by spending as much as they could.
Leak said that among the most disturbing aspects of his brain injury were the hallucinations that left him with vivid recollections of things that never happened.
In hospital he would complain bitterly about the raucous conduct of the old lady in the bed next to him, yet she was unconscious thewhole time.
When he regained consciousness after four days, he refused to believe he had been in an accident. For a start, he could distinctly remember submitting his regular cartoons.
When, after several weeks, he finally got home from hospital the first thing he did was check his computer -- and sure enough the last cartoon to be published was on October 18, the day of his fall. With Wall Street crashing, it showed Marx and Lenin celebrating theend of capitalism while reading The Age.
"The doctors have warned me that I will discover I can't do things I have always taken for granted," Leak said. "I live in quiet expectation of finding out what those things are. It is awful. It is a fear something is going to be taken away."
Leak still looks at ease as he sketches rapidly. "The drawing is pure pleasure," he said. "But cartoons are more than just about drawing, they are visual concepts.
"Coming up with the idea is the most difficult part. I've been afraid of the possibility that I wouldn't be able to concentrate long enough and hard enough. I was so happy when the idea came."
Leak's view -- Page 14
For an extended interview
with Bill Leak go to www.theaustralian.com.au
Credit: John Stapleton
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Original Copy, Bill Leak Story, written in car on way back, The Australian, 3 January, 2009.







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Friday, 2 January 2009

Grin and bear it: private schools lift fees The Australian 2 January 2009 Additional Reporting

Grin and bear it: private schools lift fees

THE cost of a private school education will soar this year, with some of the nation's top schools increasing their tuition fees at a time when household budgets are tightening.
Despite receiving $28 billion from the federal Government over the next four years, private schools are raising their fees by an average of 7 to 8 per cent, andby as much as 14 per cent in some cases.
The most expensive school in the nation is Geelong Grammar in Victoria, which this year will charge parents almost $29,000 for a Year 12 student.
The fee of $28,886 is a rise of 8per cent on last year and comes on top of about $200,000 the school raised last year from parents and the community in its "annual giving" fundraising effort.
The schools charging the highest fees are independent schools, mostly Anglican, in NSW and Victoria.
Many of the elite schools in those states are charging more than $20,000 a year in Year 12.
Schools blame the fee rises on increases in teachers' salaries, which account for 65 to 80 per cent of a school's costs, and increased paperwork as a result of greater accountability and information demanded by the federal Government.
While firm numbers on whether fees have affected enrolments are not yet available, anecdotally parents are reporting that the tough economic climate is causing them to reconsider.
Having already noticed a drift from the private system to public schools, Kate Cooper, principal of Mosman Public School in the heart of Sydney's wealthy north shore, told The Australian yesterday that she expected the movement to grow this year, partly as a result of the global financial crisis.
"If the chips are down, you are going to make a decision about value for money, and I don't believe parents are getting value for money in the private system," Ms Cooper said.
However, many parents who send their children to private schools are not prepared to cut costs by taking their children out of them.
Roxanne Gorman, who pays $40,000 a year to send her two daughters to private schools, said she would not skimp on the cost of her children's education.
Ms Gorman, 44, from Sydney's eastern suburbs, sends her daughter Neve Campbell, 13, to SCEGGS Darlinghurst, and her other daughter, Constance Campbell, 15, to The McDonald College, a performing arts school in the city's inner west.
Having recently divorced, Ms Gorman said that despite the fee hike, she was not prepared to opt for the public system. "It's hard yards for me, but I think it would be too turbulent on the girls to pull them out," said Ms Gorman, who is a financial adviser.
Ms Gorman, who was educated at public schools, said there was a perception that government schools were underfunded and offered inferior schooling, whereas private schools such as SCEGGS offered better conditions.
"The class sizes are smaller and the standard of education is better," she said. "Whatever your child's strengths are, the teachers are capable of drawing it out and improving on it."
Not all schools have revealed their 2009 school fees, but among the highest charging is Ascham, a girls' school in Sydney's eastern suburbs, which will increase fees by 7 per cent to $24,600 for Year 12 students this year. The inner-Sydney girls' school SCEGGS Darlinghurst is not far behind, charging $24,413 in Year 12, an 8 per cent rise.
In Melbourne, Lauristone Girls School in the eastern suburb of Armadale has one of the largest increases, 14 per cent, to $21,980. Parents with teenagers at Trinity Grammar School, a boys' school in Kew in eastern Melbourne, face an 11per cent fee rise to $19,240 in Year 12, said to be the biggest jump there in a decade.
Schools charging more than $20,000 this year for students entering Year 12 in Sydney include PLC Croydon and Newington in the inner west; The King's School in the west; Saint Andrew's Cathedral School and Sydney Grammar School in the CBD; Cranbrook, Reddam House, Ascham, SCEGGS Darlinghurst in the east; and SCECGS Redlands, Ravenswood and PLC Pymble in the north.
In Victoria, schools charging annual fees of more than $20,000 include Melbourne Grammar and Melbourne Girls Grammar in the city; St Catherine's, Scotch College and Hailebury in the east; and Geelong Grammar.
In Queensland, independent schools expect fee rises of an average 4 per cent, with the highest fees charged at Brisbane Girls Grammar of $14,980 and the Anglican Church Grammar School of $14,140 in Year 12.
In Western Australia, fees are touted to break the $17,000 mark for the first time, with Christ Church Grammar charging $17,560 and MLC at Claremont just above $17,000. The Hale School at Wembley Downs will charge $16,500 and St Hilda's Anglican School at Mosman Park $16,100. In South Australia, the most expensive fees for Year 12 are at Prince Alfred College at $15,117, St Peter's Girls School at $14,860 and Pulteney Grammar at $14,610. Schools blame the fee rises on increases in teachers' salaries.
Government teachers in WA and Victoria won large pay rises this year, which influences the amount paid in the private sector. Victorian teachers at the top of the scale receive an extra $10,000, with an annual salary of $75,500, while beginning teachers were given a pay rise of $5000 to $51,184.
On average, About 60 per cent of an independent school's income is garnered from parents, with the federal Government providing 30 per cent and state and territory governments 10 per cent.
Additional reporting: John Stapleton
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Grin and bear it: private schools lift fees, The Australian, 2 January, 2009. Additional reporting. Page One.

Grin and bear it: private schools lift fees

Ferrari, Justine, Lex Hall, Additional Reporting John Stapleton, The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 02 Jan 2009: 1.
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Not all schools have revealed their 2009 school fees, but among the highest charging is Ascham, a girls' school in Sydney's eastern suburbs, which will increase fees by 7 per cent to $24,600 for Year 12 students this year. The inner-Sydney girls' school SCEGGS Darlinghurst is not far behind, charging $24,413 in Year 12, an 8 per cent rise.
Schools charging more than $20,000 this year for students entering Year 12 in Sydney include PLC Croydon and Newington in the inner west; The King's School in the west; Saint Andrew's Cathedral School and Sydney Grammar School in the CBD; Cranbrook, Reddam House, Ascham, SCEGGS Darlinghurst in the east; and SCECGS Redlands, Ravenswood and PLC Pymble in the north.
In Western Australia, fees are touted to break the $17,000 mark for the first time, with Christ Church Grammar charging $17,560 and MLC at Claremont just above $17,000. The Hale School at Wembley Downs will charge $16,500 and St Hilda's Anglican School at Mosman Park $16,100. In South Australia, the most expensive fees for Year 12 are at Prince Alfred College at $15,117, St Peter's Girls School at $14,860 and Pulteney Grammar at $14,610. Schools blame the fee rises on increases in teachers' salaries.
THE cost of a private school education will soar this year, with some of the nation's top schools increasing their tuition fees at atime when household budgets are tightening.
Despite receiving $28 billion from the federal Government over the next four years, private schools are raising their fees by an average of 7 to 8 per cent, andby as much as 14 per cent in some cases.
The most expensive school in the nation is Geelong Grammar in Victoria, which this year will charge parents almost $29,000 for a Year 12 student.
The fee of $28,886 is a rise of 8per cent on last year and comes on top of about $200,000 the school raised last year from parents and the community in its "annual giving" fundraising effort.
The schools charging the highest fees are independent schools, mostly Anglican, in NSW and Victoria.
Many of the elite schools in those states are charging more than $20,000 a year in Year 12.
Schools blame the fee rises on increases in teachers' salaries, which account for 65 to 80 per cent of a school's costs, and increased paperwork as a result of greater accountability and information demanded by the federal Government.
While firm numbers on whether fees have affected enrolments are not yet available, anecdotally parents are reporting that the tough economic climate is causing them to reconsider.
Having already noticed a drift from the private system to public schools, Kate Cooper, principal of Mosman Public School in the heart of Sydney's wealthy north shore, told The Australian yesterday that she expected the movement to grow this year, partly as a result of the global financial crisis.
"If the chips are down, you are going to make a decision about value for money, and I don't believe parents are getting value for money in the private system," Ms Cooper said.
However, many parents who send their children to private schools are not prepared to cut costs by taking their children out of them.
Roxanne Gorman, who pays $40,000 a year to send her two daughters to private schools, said she would not skimp on the cost of her children's education.
Ms Gorman, 44, from Sydney's eastern suburbs, sends her daughter Neve Campbell, 13, to SCEGGS Darlinghurst, and her other daughter, Constance Campbell, 15, to The McDonald College, a performing arts school in the city's inner west.
Having recently divorced, Ms
Continued -- Page 4
From Page 1
Gorman said that despite the fee hike, she was not prepared to opt for the public system. "It's hard yards for me, but I think it would be too turbulent on the girls to pull them out," said Ms Gorman, who is a financial adviser.
Ms Gorman, who was educated at public schools, said there was a perception that government schools were underfunded and offered inferior schooling, whereas private schools such as SCEGGS offered better conditions.
"The class sizes are smaller and the standard of education is better," she said. "Whatever your child's strengths are, the teachers are capable of drawing it out and improving on it."
Not all schools have revealed their 2009 school fees, but among the highest charging is Ascham, a girls' school in Sydney's eastern suburbs, which will increase fees by 7 per cent to $24,600 for Year 12 students this year. The inner-Sydney girls' school SCEGGS Darlinghurst is not far behind, charging $24,413 in Year 12, an 8 per cent rise.
In Melbourne, Lauristone Girls School in the eastern suburb of Armadale has one of the largest increases, 14 per cent, to $21,980. Parents with teenagers at Trinity Grammar School, a boys' school in Kew in eastern Melbourne, face an 11per cent fee rise to $19,240 in Year 12, said to be the biggest jump there in a decade.
Schools charging more than $20,000 this year for students entering Year 12 in Sydney include PLC Croydon and Newington in the inner west; The King's School in the west; Saint Andrew's Cathedral School and Sydney Grammar School in the CBD; Cranbrook, Reddam House, Ascham, SCEGGS Darlinghurst in the east; and SCECGS Redlands, Ravenswood and PLC Pymble in the north.
In Victoria, schools charging annual fees of more than $20,000 include Melbourne Grammar and Melbourne Girls Grammar in the city; St Catherine's, Scotch College and Hailebury in the east; and Geelong Grammar.
In Queensland, independent schools expect fee rises of an average 4 per cent, with the highest fees charged at Brisbane Girls Grammar of $14,980 and theAnglican Church Grammar School of $14,140 in Year 12.
In Western Australia, fees are touted to break the $17,000 mark for the first time, with Christ Church Grammar charging $17,560 and MLC at Claremont just above $17,000. The Hale School at Wembley Downs will charge $16,500 and St Hilda's Anglican School at Mosman Park $16,100. In South Australia, the most expensive fees for Year 12 are at Prince Alfred College at $15,117, St Peter's Girls School at $14,860 and Pulteney Grammar at $14,610. Schools blame the fee rises on increases in teachers' salaries.
Government teachers in WA and Victoria won large pay rises this year, which influences the amount paid in the private sector. Victorian teachers at the top of the scale receive an extra $10,000, with an annual salary of $75,500, while beginning teachers were given a pay rise of $5000 to $51,184.
On average, About 60 per cent of an independent school's income is garnered from parents, with the federal Government providing 30 per cent and state and territory governments 10 per cent.
Credit: Justine Ferrari, Lex Hall, Additional reporting: John Stapleton
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Party rolls on as New Year dawns, The Australian, 2 January, 2009.

Party rolls on as New Year dawns

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 02 Jan 2009: 3.
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"It's a good feeling to be able to come here each year, reflect, tick off last year's resolutions and think of some new ones," Ms [Randal Huntington] said.
Assistant Commissioner Catherine Burn said: "The arrest figures are a positive result when you consider the numbers of people celebrating the New Year in Sydney's CBD, as well as in suburbs throughout the metro area."
"It was the quietest New Year's Eve and New Year's Day celebrations on record," Mr [Gary Jamieson] said.
TENS of thousands of people across the country continued to celebrate the end of 2008 long past dawn yesterday, flocking to Australia's famous beaches or gathering in parks and hotels to keep the party spirit alive.
From Bondi Beach in Sydney to Cottesloe Beach in Perth, and at thousands of locations in between, the country's most committed revellers greeted the first sunrise of 2009 with varying degrees of enthusiasm after a night of fun.
But there were also plenty of people who woke refreshed and ready to take on the new year.
Escaping the stifling heat yesterday, Sarsha and Randal Huntington stole a moment together to reflect on resolutions on the Kangaroo Point cliffs in Brisbane.
It is an annual pilgrimage for the couple, each of whom owns their own companies and rides mountain bikes for Australia.
For Ms Huntington, eating healthily and being patient with her husband's children were high on her list.
And Mr Huntington's aim was to build the couple's dream home they had been planning for years.
"It's a good feeling to be able to come here each year, reflect, tick off last year's resolutions and think of some new ones," Ms Huntington said.
The first day of the year offered up a mixed bag, with Perth sweltering through temperatures of 37C -- its hottest New Year's Day in 11 years -- while snow fell in the Tasmanian mountains and the state shivered through temperatures significantly below average.
Fashionistas, serious punters and others who were just after a good time braved hangovers and soaring temperatures yesterday to take part in the first major racing event of the year, the Perth Cup.
An abundance of hats, cleavage and fake tans was on show when at least 22,000 punters packed into Ascot racecourse to enjoy a day of frivolity, with perhaps a bit of betting on the side.
Annemiek Munro matched her outfit to a pink and black parasol, which she said kept her cool in the sweltering conditions.
"I came prepared," she said.
Victorians and South Australians also experienced cooler weather yesterday, with tops of 20C in Melbourne and 24C in Adelaide. But both cities can look forward to warmer days, joining Perth with 30C-plus temperatures by the weekend.
For hundreds of revellers facing the harsh light of day yesterday morning, their hangovers were worsened by police charges.
While authorities in all states praised the public for their good behaviour on New Year's Eve, arrest figures were high, reflecting a more hardline approach against anti-social behaviour from police.
In NSW, senior police said the majority of partygoers had behaved responsibly, but more than 70 people were charged with offences including drug possession, offensive conduct, assaulting police, resisting arrest and possessing illegal fireworks.
Authorities estimated that as many as 1.5 million people lined Sydney Harbour to watch the fireworks display.
Assistant Commissioner Catherine Burn said: "The arrest figures are a positive result when you consider the numbers of people celebrating the New Year in Sydney's CBD, as well as in suburbs throughout the metro area."
Queensland police said crowds were generally well-behaved. However, scores of people were arrested and a teenager was allegedly gang-raped. The 17-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by four men about 8.30pm near the hub of Brisbane's celebrations in South Bank, where up to 90,000 people had gathered.
Victoria welcomed the new year with a policing paradox -- double the number of offences yet no trouble to speak of.
Assistant Commissioner Gary Jamieson said that, in contrast to previous years, there had not been "a single incident of note of riotous behaviour" in the state.
This was despite an estimated 500,000 people lining the Yarra for the midnight fireworks show.
"It was the quietest New Year's Eve and New Year's Day celebrations on record," Mr Jamieson said.
In Western Australia, Acting Inspector Graham Clifford said there were no major problems with violence or anti-social behaviour.
In South Australia, unseasonably cool temperatures kept a lid on outdoor celebrations, which attracted about 100,000 people.
For more pictures of New Year celebrations, go to www.theaustralian.com.au
Credit: John Stapleton, Sarah Elks, Additional reporting: Debbie Guest, Nicolas Perpitch, Chip Le Grand and Jamie Walker
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Thursday, 1 January 2009

Cool 2008 warms climate debate, The Australian, 1 January, 2009. Page One.

I got more hate mail over these stories, which I was asked to do by a senior editor, than almost anything else I have ever written. The story was just straight reportage. Considering the global warming alarmists, with their billions of dollars in funding were taking up almost all of the available media space and sceptics were routinely ridiculed and howled down, it was ridiculous.
The fact that a straight forward issue like climate was seized upon by political activists and discussion and dissent was routinely shut down by the thuggery of group think has contributed significantly to the poor quality of contemporary debate and the shift to the right.




Cool 2008 warms climate debate

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 01 Jan 2009: 1.
"Since 1990, the Australian annual mean temperature has been warmer than the 1961-1990 average for all but two years, 2008 being one of those years," he said.
"All the reports from the northern hemisphere of record snows and freezing temperatures would suggest that 2008 will follow the predictions and officially be declared the coolest of the century," he said. "But the only thing we can really deduce is that the warming trend from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s appears to have halted."
"The year 2008 may have been colder than the previous seven years, but it was still warmer than most years prior to 1993."

Full Text


WHILE the official figures are not yet in, 2008 is widely tipped to be declared the coolest year of the century.
Whether this is a serious blow to global warming alarmists depends entirely on who you talk to.
Anyone looking for a knockout blow in the global warming debate in 2008 were sorely disappointed.
The weather refused to co-operate, offering mixed messages from record cold temperatures across North America to heatwaves across Europe and the Middle East earlier in the year.
Even in Australia yesterday there were flurries of snow on the highest peaks of a shivering Tasmania, while the north of the country sweltered in above-average temperatures.
A cool 2008 may not fit in with doomsday scenarios of some of the more extreme alarmists. But nor, meteorologists point out, does it prove the contrary, that global warming is a myth.
In Australia this year, on the most recent figures, the average temperature was 22.18C.
Last year it was 22.48C. In 2006 it was 22.28C, and in 2005 22.99C.
Senior meteorologist with the National Meteorological Centre Rod Dickson said that based on data from January to November, 2008 might be the coolest this century but it was still Australia's 15th warmest year in the past 100 years.
"Since 1990, the Australian annual mean temperature has been warmer than the 1961-1990 average for all but two years, 2008 being one of those years," he said.
In Australia overall, 2008 on the most recent date, was 0.37C higher than for the 30-year average to 1990 of 21.81C.
Worldwide, 2008 was expected to be about 0.31C higher than the
Continued -- Page 3
From Page 1
30-year average to 1990, of 14C.
One of Australia's best-known sceptics of man-made global warming, former head of the National Climate Centre William Kininmonth, said the cool year did not fit in with the greenhouse gas theory that suggests the globe should be continuing to warm.
"All the reports from the northern hemisphere of record snows and freezing temperatures would suggest that 2008 will follow the predictions and officially be declared the coolest of the century," he said. "But the only thing we can really deduce is that the warming trend from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s appears to have halted."
Another well-known sceptic, geologist Bob Carter, said critics were jumping on the cold northern hemisphere winter to dismiss global warming, but climate was a long-term phenomenon and there was nothing particularly unusual about present circumstances.
But Don White, of consultancy firm Weatherwatch, said while last year was likely to end up the coolest year this century, this needed to be put into perspective.
"If the same temperatures had occurred in the early 1990s it would have been the warmest ever," he said.
"The year 2008 may have been colder than the previous seven years, but it was still warmer than most years prior to 1993."
Mr White said Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide had well below average rainfall for the calendar year 2008, with just 449mm in Melbourne, compared with an average annual rainfall of 652mm.
Hobart received 407mm in 2008 compared with an average of 618mm. Sydney was also slightly below average at 1083 mm, compared with an average of 1213mm.
Brisbane, Perth and Darwin were all wetter than normal.
Credit: John Stapleton
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