Monday, 3 July 2006

Calls to axe Big Brother over smut, The Australian, 3 July, 2006.

Calls to axe Big Brother over smut: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Kerry Murphy, John Stapleton, Additional reporting: Lisa McNamara. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 03 July 2006: 3.
Show highlighting
Contestant Ashley, real name Michael Cox, 20, and 21-year-old John, real name Michael Bric, climbed into the bed of 22-year-old Camilla Halliwell. Boxer short-clad Mr Cox pushed his crotch in her face as Mr Bric held her down.
Last Friday, Big Brother: Adults Only was stopped by Ten after complaints from Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce about behaviour which has included the telecast of unisex nude showering scenes.
* 2005: Australian housemate Michael Farnsworth was massaging the shoulders of another housemate when he rubbed his penis in her hair without her knowledge. The footage breached the MA classification of Big Brother Uncut.
POLITICIANS and family groups yesterday called on the Ten Network to axe Big Brother after two contestants were thrown off thereality show for sexual misconduct, only a week after its Adults Only version was pulled.
Queensland police yesterday examined video footage of the incident that aired on the program's live internet site at 4am on Saturday.
Contestant Ashley, real name Michael Cox, 20, and 21-year-old John, real name Michael Bric, climbed into the bed of 22-year-old Camilla Halliwell. Boxer short-clad Mr Cox pushed his crotch in her face as Mr Bric held her down.
Police questioned Ms Halliwell yesterday but did not receive a formal complaint and ruled out a criminal investigation.
Last Friday, Big Brother: Adults Only was stopped by Ten after complaints from Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce about behaviour which has included the telecast of unisex nude showering scenes.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan said yesterday she would ask the broadcasting regulator to determine whether the footage had breached any code of conduct. "I want to make it very clear as a parent and a minister that this is very serious," Senator Coonan said.
She confirmed she had contacted Ten chief executive John McAlpine, who had assured her the footage would not be played or promoted.
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley also criticised the show.
"If my advice is worth anything to the folk who run Channel Ten, and how they choose to conduct themselves is their business, I'd say, `Make this Big Brother the last'," he said.
Family First senator Steve Fielding said the show should be axed, asking: "How many more warnings before action is taken? How many more sleazy incidents do we need before this show is evicted?"
Victorian Family Council secretary Bill Muehlenberg said the show should be axed immediately, but believed some at Ten would be "rubbing their hands in glee" at the publicity.
But Hermann Bric, the father of Michael, described the incident as a "beat-up" used for publicity by Big Brother, with the show's production company telling him not to speak publicly about the allegations.
"There was Friday night games and there was alcohol involved and there was some different opinions and things got out of hand," Mr Bric said. "Obviously they were playing up for the cameras. It was actually extremely mild and it was all fun. He said everyone was laughing."
Last night on the show, Ms Halliwell said the incident was "just in fun".
"I wasn't offended as such but I did think they took it a little bit too far," she said. "But, you know, we laughed it off.
"I think as soon as I said enough's enough, it stopped. I've known these guys for a while and we were just mucking around."
Sydney university associate professor Catharine Lumby, an adviser to the show last year, said the protocols she drafted with NSW Rape Crisis Centre manager Karen Willis for handling a situation such as Saturday's had been followed.
"They've made very clear that this is completely unacceptable behaviour," she said.
BIG BOTHER
Big Brother has led to controversy worldwide
* 2001: A martial arts expert on the Portuguese edition was expelled after kicking a female housemate in the stomach.
* 2001: A housemate was removed from the US edition after holding a knife to the throat of the housemate he was kissing and asking, "Would you get mad if I just killed you?".
* 2003: On discovering his ex would be in the US house, a contestant was removed after he started trashing furniture.
* 2004: Security guards went into the British house when a fight erupted after two contestants, who had been part of a fake eviction, re-entered the house.
* 2005: Australian housemate Michael Farnsworth was massaging the shoulders of another housemate when he rubbed his penis in her hair without her knowledge. The footage breached the MA classification of Big Brother Uncut.
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, 30 June 2006

Indonesia helps AFP bust drug syndicate, The Australian, 30 June, 2006.

Indonesia helps AFP bust drug syndicate: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 30 June 2006: 5.
Show highlighting
A MAJOR drug pipeline between Indonesia and Australia has been disrupted after Australian Federal Police and Indonesian authorities busted the largest pseudoephedrine smuggling syndicate ever uncovered.
The breakthrough in the case came on Monday last week when Customs and the AFP uncovered $22million worth of pseudoephedrine tablets hidden in a shipping container at Port Botany in Sydney that had arrived from Jakarta.
Police suspect the group has imported a total of more than 380kg of pseudoephedrine in at least six importations since February last year. It is estimated thepseudoephedrine imports could have been made into more than 250kg of methamphetamines, with a potential street value of $71million.
A MAJOR drug pipeline between Indonesia and Australia has been disrupted after Australian Federal Police and Indonesian authorities busted the largest pseudoephedrine smuggling syndicate ever uncovered.
Pseudoephedrine, found in many over-the-counter cold and flu medications, is the precursor for methamphetamines including speed and ice.
Authorities say the illegal drugs are widely used by everyone from nightclubbers to students and truck drivers.
The breakthrough in the case came on Monday last week when Customs and the AFP uncovered $22million worth of pseudoephedrine tablets hidden in a shipping container at Port Botany in Sydney that had arrived from Jakarta.
The delivery of the container was monitored and about two million tablets were seized. Four people charged with the importation will appear in Sydney Central Local Court on August 30.
Two Indonesian men suspected of being principal members of the syndicate have been arrested by the Indonesian National Police.
Police suspect the group has imported a total of more than 380kg of pseudoephedrine in at least six importations since February last year. It is estimated thepseudoephedrine imports could have been made into more than 250kg of methamphetamines, with a potential street value of $71million.
AFP national border manager Mike Phelan said co-operation between Indonesia and Australia had been crucial to the success of the operation.
"This operation has resulted in a major cross-border syndicate being dismantled," he said.
"If it wasn't for this co-operation, more pseudoephedrine tablets could have reached Australian shores and been madeinto vast amounts of amphetamine-type substances."
Paul Dillon, information manager for the National Alcohol and Drug Research Centre, said Australia could learn from overseas experience and avoid some of theserious consequences of methamphetamine abuse being seen in the US and elsewhere.
While it was unrealistic to ban pseudoephedrine, because of its legitimate uses, the tightening of sales in pharmacies this year -- consumers must now give their name and address and are limited in the amount they can purchase -- was the way to go.
"We should be concerned about the methamphetamine issue," he said. "While we need to be careful we don't slip into hysteria, there are a small proportion of users who are finding themselves in major difficulty."
Posted by at No comments:

BlueScope cans last tin mill, The Australian, 30 June, 2006

BlueScope cans last tin mill: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Andrew Trounson, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 30 June 2006: 4.
Show highlighting
The mill, the closure of which will result in the loss of 250 jobs, was the only local source of tin plate -- thin rolled steel with a coating of tin. The decision to close will force the country's can manufacturers, Amcor, Visy and NCI, to rely solely on imports.
Mr [Michael Badcock] fears that vegetable processing could eventually go the same way as tin plate and leave Australia wholly dependent on imports. "That is the great danger," he said, warning that once processing was shut down it was unlikely to restart.
BlueScope head of Australian manufacturing Brian Kruger said Australian manufacturers "just can't compete against grocers who import own-brand tinned foodstuffs in preference to Australian tinned produce".
CHEAP imports of canned vegetables were yesterday blamed for the closure of Australia's last tin mill, with farmers warning thenational vegetable industry could go the same way.
BlueScope Steel, the country's biggest steel maker, said it had been forced by rising raw material costs and competition from imports to shut down its 50-year-old tin plate mill at Port Kembla, south of Sydney.
The mill, the closure of which will result in the loss of 250 jobs, was the only local source of tin plate -- thin rolled steel with a coating of tin. The decision to close will force the country's can manufacturers, Amcor, Visy and NCI, to rely solely on imports.
Industry experts say demand for tin cans is falling as consumers increasingly prefer fresh food and manufacturers diversify into new packaging such as plastic and cardboard. The big retailers, Woolworths and Coles Myer, are also agressively expanding their own- brand products, sometimes at the expense of local producers.
And cheap imports of vegetables, particularly EU-subsidised canned Italian tomatoes, are hurting the demand for cans and local canned vegetables.
"This is something that we feared would happen," said Tasmanian vegetable grower Michael Badcock, who chairs the grower body AusVeg.
Mr Badcock said growers and processors were being squeezed by rising imports. "No matter how efficient we are, we just can't compete," he said, blaming EU subsidies and higher costs in Australia for labour, regulation, fertiliser and fuel taxes.
Australia's trade deficit in vegetables has worsened this year to $90 million, compared with $60million at the same stage last year. Imports of processed tomatoes alone are up more than 6 per cent at $44.6 million.
Mr Badcock fears that vegetable processing could eventually go the same way as tin plate and leave Australia wholly dependent on imports. "That is the great danger," he said, warning that once processing was shut down it was unlikely to restart.
News that the mill would be shut was met with stunned silence by workers and claims by the union that the job losses would be an economic disaster for the Illawarra region around Port Kembla and Wollongong.
"Everyone was devastated," veteran line worker Necati Dun, 40, told The Australian after just coming off a 12-hour overnight shift. "There was a total silence, not a good silence."
After 19 years at the mill, during which time he lost his right index finger in an accident, Mr Dun now faces an uncertain future as he seeks to cover a large mortgage and provide for his family. He has two sons, aged 11 and eight. "To take away from them because you are losing your job and not earning the wage you used to, it is a shock," he said.
BlueScope chief executive Kirby Adams was unrepentant. "BlueScope Steel is making tough decisions for volatile times," he said.
BlueScope head of Australian manufacturing Brian Kruger said Australian manufacturers "just can't compete against grocers who import own-brand tinned foodstuffs in preference to Australian tinned produce".
Wayne Phillips, acting Port Kembla branch secretary of the Australian Workers Union, said the looming job losses were "devastating".
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, 26 June 2006

Tradition and romance when Nic wed Keith, 26 June, 2006. The Australian. Page One. Additional Reporting.

Tradition and romance when Nic wed Keith: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Caroline Overington, Additional reporting: Tracy Ong, John Stapleton, Mariko Fritz-Krockow. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 June 2006: 1.
Show highlighting
Actor Nicole Kidman married Queensland-born country singer Keith Urban in a romantic twilight ceremony in Sydney yesterday -- and every detail was just as any little girl might plan it.
Kidman had emerged from her home at Darling Point. She was seated in the back of a cream Rolls Royce, beside her father, Antony Kidman, who looked as wistful and as fiercely proud as any father anywhere.
"You look beautiful," cried one fan. Kidman waved the tips of her fingers through the glass and was gone. She walked down the aisle in her Christian Louboutin heels, on her father's arm, to the sounds of a Sydney Symphony Orchestra quartet.
IT was the wedding of her dreams.
Actor Nicole Kidman married Queensland-born country singer Keith Urban in a romantic twilight ceremony in Sydney yesterday -- and every detail was just as any little girl might plan it.
There was a grand church overlooking the sea, a Rolls Royce, and the family priest presiding.
There was a nervous groom, a walk down the aisle on her father's arm -- and reportedly a tiny moment of tension when the bride stepped gingerly into her exquisite hand-stitched Balenciaga dress and found it didn't quite fit.
Kidman's day started at about 8am, when the personal trainer arrived at her Darling Point mansion.
Make-up was next, then Kidman's hair, which was allowed to spring into its natural curls, instead of being ironed flat.
The dress -- described as romantic, flowing, gorgeous and the "colour of chalk", not white -- had to be altered at the last minute by a local haute couture designer who was rushed to the scene.
Across town at the InterContinental Hotel in Sydney, the groom's family and guests were emerging.
Keith's father, Bob Urban, said he was feeling good, and it must be said he was looking mighty fine in a handlebar moustache and a very Nashville lace-trimmed shirt.
One of Keith's young nieces, Jessica Urban, was asked: "What do you think she'll be wearing?"
"A dress," she innocently replied.
At 4.15pm, six white buses arrived to take the guests to the church.
About the same time, the groom's car -- as befitting a country lad, it was a four-wheel drive -- was spotted by helicopters as it crossed the Harbour Bridge.
At the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel on the grounds of St Patrick's Estate in Manly, the crowd was already gathering.
Ann Lee, 62, of Los Angeles, was perched up high. "The one thing that's interesting is there's no vendors here," she said, surveying thescene. "If this was the US, there'd be Nicole T-shirts, at least. Somebody's missed an opportunity."
The No135 bus to Manly Hospital was allowed to trundle through. At Manly Hospital, just up the road, nurses came out in their uniforms to watch the circus.
"We've told the patients you'll have to take care of yourselves today," joked one. "We're out here for the wedding."
The media amused themselves taking pictures of Lea Cotter of Bateau Bay on the NSW Central Coast, who turned up dressed as a can- can girl, with a red bustier and feathers in her hair. "I've only seen one of her movies -- Moulin Rouge," she said. "But I liked it.'
Across the street from the church, the students of St Paul's Catholic College put up a sign: "To Nicole and Keith, Congratulations."
At 4.25pm, there was a roar from
From Page 1
the crowd as the Boy from Oz, Hugh Jackman, in an open shirt and even wider smile, became the first guest to arrive. He wound down the window and waved, prompting the cold spectators to hoot with delight.
He was rumoured to be early because he was performing, possibly Peter Allen's sentimental Tenterfield Saddler.
Ten minutes later, just as the sun dipped behind the Norfolk Island pines on the beachfront, word swept the crowd: the bride was on the road.
Kidman had emerged from her home at Darling Point. She was seated in the back of a cream Rolls Royce, beside her father, Antony Kidman, who looked as wistful and as fiercely proud as any father anywhere.
Kidman's face was partly obscured by a veil, her lap covered with roses. There was something Princess Diana about it.
She sat and smiled, no doubt with butterflies in here stomach for the long 50-minute crawl over the Harbour Bridge, up Military Road, over the Spit Bridge, past a milk bar with a newspaper billboard out the front: "Nicole nervous about big day."
At 5pm, they flipped the switches on the fairy lights in the trees outside the chapel, all the way up the curved driveway, creating a romantic path to the church door.
When Kidman approached and saw thousands of people waiting for her, she rolled down the window, put her fingers through and waved.
Her smile was enormous. You could see the little girl in her eyes.
As the car crept towards the iron gates, people rushed forward and you could feel the sudden swell of goodwill.
Here was their Nicole, looking pretty and happy, stepping out to take a second chance on love.
"You look beautiful," cried one fan. Kidman waved the tips of her fingers through the glass and was gone. She walked down the aisle in her Christian Louboutin heels, on her father's arm, to the sounds of a Sydney Symphony Orchestra quartet.
In the pews were the glamorous guests: Naomi Watts, the King Kong star; Jackman and actor wife Deborra-Lee Furness; Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann and wife Catherine Martin, and Russell Crowe.
The Kidman family priest, Father Paul Coleman, a Jesuit, preached on the subject of keeping love alive.
"Make time for each other," he said. "Do romantic things together."
And later, Urban was expected to serenade Kidman with one of his best-selling songs. The chapel bells rang at 6.25pm and the couple were married.
Continued -- Page 6
Editorial -- Page 11
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, 22 June 2006

Ecstasy Seizures The Australian 22 June 2006

JUNE 22
John Stapleton
THE price of the popular party drug ecstasy is set to rise in Sydney after police seized 250,000 ecstasy pills with an estimated street value of $12.5 million.
Police also confiscated two pill presses, used by gangs to manufacture the tablets, as well as 18 kilograms of the amphetamine based powder used to manufacture ecstasy.
The raids took place last weekend at five properties located in the Sydney suburbs of Bondi Junction, Zetland and Coogee.
Two men were arrested after 60 officers monitored the alleged gang's activities for three months.
Reese Gerard Woodgate, 42, of Bondi Junction and Nicholas Jake Barton, 32, of Coogee, were refused bail in Parramatta Local Court on Sunday when they were each charged with supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug. Police expect to make further arrests.
NSW Special Crime Unit Commander, Superintendent Ian Foschollo, said the raids would put a significant dent in the amount of ecstasy available for sale in the city's clubs and was likely to push up the price. ``I think there is no doubt that this has had a major impact on the supply of illicit drugs, and by virtue of that it's going to push the price up,'' he said. ``It's probably a good thing because it takes it out of the reach of the ordinary users out there in the street.''
NSW Commissioner of Police Ken Moroney claimed police had disrupted a major organised crime group involved in the large scale manurfacture and supply of drugs for the Sydney market. He condemned the use of the term ``recreational drug'' to describe ecstasy, which has been popular for more than a decade amongst nightclubbers wanting to stay up dancing all night. The ``love'' drug is also known for its aphrodisiac effects.
``We will continue to use all lawful means at our disposal to eradicate illicit drugs from our society and to identify, investigate and prosecute those criminals who trade in death and harm in the community,'' Commissioner Moroney said.
A recent United Nations report revealed that Australians were the largest per capita users of ecstasy in the world. This is contrary to international trends, which show the drug becoming cheaper and less fashionable in most of the world's capitals.
Australians also pay amongst the highest prices in the world, making this an attractive market for both overseas and domestic suppliers.
Information manager for the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Paul Dillon, said despite some very large seizures in recent years there had been no appreciable impact on the ecstasy market, with no increase in price or decrease in supply. ``This quite clearly shows that there is a tremendously large market,'' he said.
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, 20 June 2006

Sea King Inquiry The Australian 20 June 2006

JUNE 20:
John Stapleton
THE multi-million dollar inquiry into the Sea King disaster which left nine dead on the island of Nias in Indonesia during aid operations in the wake of the Asian tsunami last year has stalled amidst concerns over potential bias.
The inquiry, which raised doubts over the proper maintenance of helicopters within parts of navy, has run for ten months, interviewed 150 witnesses and taken 9,000 pages of evidence.
Suggestions of potential bias have been made against the Board of Inquiry's president Commodore Les Pataky due to positions he has previously held.
Last week counsel for Air Commodore Noel Schmidt, the man who was responsible for the decision not to implement recommendations improving the Sea King's seats, a move which could have saved several lives, raised the potential conflict of interest.
Commander Gerry Purcell, representing Schmidt, argued that there may be a conflict of interest because Commodore Pataky and another member of the board, aviation expert Captain Brett Dowsing, had held senior jobs during the implementation process following on from a Board of Inquiry into the Barmaga helicopter crash on Cape York in 1995 which left one person injured.
Pataky was Chief of Staff at Maritime Command at the time when the recommendations were being implemented or ignored. Dowsing was Fleet Aviation officer during the late 1990s and oversaw aviation operations.
Yesterday counsel assisting the inquiry agreed, recommending to the board of inquiry that the two men stand down.
About 30 relatives of the nine who died showed up at the Sea King Board of Inquiry yesterday. They spent a long and frustrating day listening to legal argument in between a lengthy adjournment.
Commander Jack Rush, counsel representing the families, told the board of inquiry that regrettably they agreed the President and Dowsing had to stand down.
However Commander Sandy Street, representing the former maritime commander Rear Admiral Rowan Moffatt, lamented the potential loss of the knowledge, observations and learning acquired by the two board members over many months.
The inquiry will reconvene this morning to take submissions on whether the Board should continue in its present form, be reconstituted or perservere with only three members.

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)