May 22, 2010

Queensland cops suspended from duty

SunshineCoastDaily.com.au

TWO Sunshine Coast police officers were suspended yesterday.

A senior sergeant, believed to be from the Coast, was relieved from operational duty for alleged "inappropriate access and use of service information" between January and April.

The Ethical Standards Command was reported to be investigating.

Earlier an off-duty sergeant was also stood down after a traffic accident at the Caloundra Road-Bruce Highway intersection.

The officer, believed to be from Redcliffe, was taken to Nambour General Hospital after the single-vehicle crash about 2.30am. He was treated for minor injuries.

A Police Media spokesman said he was being investigated after being over the legal blood alcohol limit.

Australian Government Pornography Ban: Travellers red-faced over new customs questioning

News.com.au

Airport

New powers allow customs officials to search travellers
arriving in Australia for pornography.

  • Customs search travellers for porn
  • Changes to rules were "sneaked through"
  • Inquiry into the changes demanded

POWERS allowing customs officials to search travellers arriving in Australia for pornography have been labelled as "sneaky" and an "invasion of privacy".

The first question on custom's Incoming Passenger Cards has been changed to ask people if they are carrying pornography. 

Those answering "yes" will have their material examined by customs officials.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said the change was made late last year because the term "pornography" was more recognisable to travellers than the term "objectionable material".

Objectionable material is material that is highly offensive and includes child pornography, bestiality, explicit sexual violence, and graphic degradation.

The spokesman said the "express reference" to pornography was intended to make travellers aware that some forms of pornography were illegal to bring into Australia.

The spokesperson also said that the change was aimed to increase the chance of intercepting illegal porn.

However Sex Party President Fiona Patten says the change was "sneaked through" by the Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O'Connor.

"How can the Minister call this monstrous invasion of people's privacy and the criminalisation of hundreds of thousands of people who will answer 'no' to this question out of embarrassment, a 'minor' or 'machinery' change?" Ms Patten said.

Ms Patten also questioned whether these searches are appropriate and demanded an inquiry into the change.

"Is it fair that customs officers rummage through someone's luggage and pull out a legal men's magazine or a lesbian journal in front of their children or their mother-in-law?" Ms Patten said.

"If you and your partner have filmed or photographed yourselves making love in an exotic destination or even taking a bath, you will have to answer 'yes' to the question or you will be breaking the law."

Ms Patten said that many travellers will be embarrassed by having their pornography searched.

"How can the Minister call this monstrous invasion of people's privacy and the criminalisation of hundreds of thousands of people who will answer 'no' to this question out of embarrassment, a 'minor' or 'machinery' change?"

Mr O'Connor could not be reached for comment.

Australian Unions say workplaces still not family friendly

ABC.net.au

High  pressure: Ms Burrow says the push toward casual work has led to workers  feeling stressed

High pressure: Ms Burrow says the push toward
casual work has led to workers feeling stressed.


Trade unions say new figures show its a myth that working hours in Australia are becoming more family friendly.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says there has been a decline in the number of workers negotiating their own hours, from 40 per cent three years ago to around 30 per cent now.

The figures show 58 per cent of workers have no choice when they start or finish work, which is almost unchanged from the previous research three years ago.

Australian Council of Trade Unions president, Sharan Burrow, has told Saturday AM that despite promises from both sides of politics, workplace flexibility has not changed.

"These figures actually show the enormous difficulty that Australians have managing certainty, and therefore work and family balance," she said.

Ms Burrow says the global financial crisis undermined rights for workers, particularly casual and part-time workers.

"Many people gave up working time so that they could manage to keep their jobs, but of course to assist their employers to stay afloat," she said.

"Unions, of course, were part of those discussions. But what it did is embed an uncertainty and particularly a casualisation that we've seen increasingly become the pattern - particularly for women - now become embedded for more men.

"So overall the labour market simply expanded that two-tiered level of uncertainty: secure jobs in full time work, but little say over hours, and at the other end of the spectrum, terrible uncertainty where you couldn't predict the hours that you would be working in any one week, you couldn't organise childcare.

"We really do need to look at our labour market because it's not productive to have that level of uncertainty in our economy."

Ms Burrow says the push toward casual work has led to workers feeling stressed.

"[Employers] believe that having casual workers - people who are at their beck and call, who have no certainty of working time - that that's a good thing for business," she said.

"But over time, it's actually a terrible thing because people end up very stressed.

"They end up not having the same loyalty to businesses that you have if you have that certain working life."

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally sorry for sex scandal comments

ABC.net.au

NSW  premier Kristina Keneally speaks to media during a press conference in  Sydney on April 16, 2010.

There are reports that Ms Keneally's preferences
in yesterday's emergency cabinet reshuffle were
overruled by faction leaders Joe Tripodi and Eddie Obeid.


The New South Wales Premier has apologised to former transport minister David Campbell for describing the situation that led to his resignation as "unforgivable".

David Campbell resigned on Thursday night shortly before commercial television aired footage of him leaving a gay sex club in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

At a media conference yesterday, Kristina Keneally said it was "unforgivable" that Mr Campbell had lived with the secret and misrepresented himself to his wife, community and colleagues.

But today at a Sydney Writer's Festival forum on forgiveness, she apologised to Mr Campbell for using that word.

"It is not unforgivable what he did," she said.

"It is unacceptable to lie but it is equally unacceptable to live in a community where your sexuality is not accepted.

"That is an extraordinarily difficult circumstance that he was in."

Mr Campbell's resignation forced Ms Keneally to make emergency cabinet reshuffles, which have led to criticisms she is at the mercy of Labor powerbrokers.

There are reports that Ms Keneally's preferences in yesterday's emergency cabinet reshuffle were overruled by faction leaders Joe Tripodi and Eddie Obeid.

Yesterday, John Robertson was sworn in as Roads Minister, and David Borger has taken on the transport portfolio.

Paul Lynch has taken over Mr Robertson's responsibilities for Industrial Relations, Commerce and Energy and Public Sector Reform, and Peter Primrose has moved to Ageing and Disability Services.

The Minister for Environment and Climate Change Frank Sartor was reportedly the Premier's first preference to become the new Transport Minister.

But he says those reports are false.

"I was not seeking to do transport in fact the opposite is true," he said.

"I've got a lot of unfinished business in environment - that's where I wanted to stay.

"She's respected my wishes, it's as simple as that. There was no other conspiracy about this matter."

The New South Wales Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, says there have been too many reshuffles within the party which is the reason nothing gets done.

"Every time there is a ministerial reshuffle, of which there have been too many under Labor, it sees decisions deferred, it sees decisions delayed, it sees services that should have been delivered to areas like Penrith and other parts of the state, not delivered," he said.

"That's the public cost of the scandals, the reshuffles that surround this state Labor Government."

Mr Robertson is planning to mark his first day as Transport minister by catching a train in inner Sydney later this morning.

He is expected to ride from Redfern to Central station where he will face the media.

Australia's politicians grounded by Prime Minister as election looms

BrisbaneTimes.com.au

THE Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, risks presiding over Australia's big day at the Shanghai World Expo all by herself after the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, told his ministers to cool their travel plans because of the federal election.

Ms Bryce is scheduled to launch ''Australia Day'' at the expo on July 6 but ministers have been told to stay at home.

The edict extends even to the Tourism and Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson, who has declined an invitation to visit the expo in conjunction with a Liquid National Gas forum in Shanghai in July.

The reasons are given in a letter from the Australia-China Natural Gas Technology Partnership Fund, through which the invitation was extended.

''The minister's office has advised that the minister is unlikely to be able to attend Shanghai Expo due to Australia's electoral cycle and, as a consequence, the Australian Prime Minister is limiting ministerial travel during this period.''

The Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, and the Trade Minister, Simon Crean, have already visited the expo which runs from May 1 until October 31.

The Herald understands that Mr Crean is agitating for the travel ban to be lifted and ministers be allowed to attend the expo in June and July, especially those with trade-related portfolios.

''No one has been given a leave pass yet,'' a source said.

Mr Ferguson's priority is to stay at home and lead the behind-the-scenes negotiations on the government's controversial mining tax.

Mr Rudd's edict does not necessarily indicate a winter poll as it is not unusual for MPs' travel to be limited in the months before an election.

John Howard limited most ministers' travel 15 months before the November 2007 election, including his own.

Mr Rudd has been accused of excessive travel by the opposition.

This calendar year, the Prime Minister has not been overseas and his only scheduled trip is a quick visit to Canada in late June for the two-day Group of 20 leaders' meeting.

The government is pulling out all the stops to salvage its primary vote which is well below 40 per cent.

While a winter election could not be ruled out, a senior source said it would be madness to call it while the primary vote was so low.

A Morgan Poll released yesterday shows the government's fortunes remain flat with Labor just ahead on a two-party-preferred basis by 50.5 per cent to 49.5 per cent.

That is a swing of 2 percentage points against Labor since the last election, enough for it to lose office if an election were held now.

Queensland cancer "quack" loses appeal

SunshineCoastDaily.com.au

The Sunshine  Coast Daily

NAMBOUR man Darryl Peter Jones, who claimed he could cure cancer with diet and exercise, has had his appeal against a court order shutting down his business dismissed.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission won an interim injunction in March against Mr Jones, the founder of The Darryl Jones Health Resolution Centre.

The injunction stopped Mr Jones from promoting his treatments without first obtaining written medical or scientific advice in support of his treatment from a registered medical practitioner.

Before it was shut down, Mr Jones' website advertised a cancer treatment program involving an exercise regime, vitamin B17, faith and the restriction of glucose in the diet.

The ACCC alleges Mr Jones' medical treatment claims are misleading or deceptive.

The appeal was dismissed in the Federal Court of Australia on May 18 by Justice Berna Collier.

Mr Jones and the ACCC will now appear before Justice John Logan in the Brisbane Federal Court of Australia for a directions hearing.

 

Leanne Holland corpse images remain on Dutch website

BrisbaneTimes.com.au

Murdered Goodna schoolgirl Leanne Holland.

Murdered Goodna schoolgirl
Leanne Holland.

Police have yet to track the source of disturbing crime scene images of a murdered 12-year-old girl that have been posted online.

Queensland Attorney-General Cameron Dick said police have also failed to have the images removed from the Dutch website.

brisbanetimes.com.au this week revealed that three images portraying the half-naked corpse of Leanne Holland, who was murdered in Goodna, west of Brisbane, in 1991, are on the website.

"The government is greatly concerned about the matter," Mr Dick said today.

"Obviously the pictures have been broadly released over time. Defence lawyers could have had it; someone in the justice system could have had access."

The Crime and Misconduct Commission yesterday announced an inquiry into how the photos were released and police are investigating if posting them is against Queensland law.

Mr Dick said it was imperative victims' rights and their families' rights were protected and images of crime scenes or murders needed to be strictly controlled.

"We need to look at, broadly, what happens to those images in courts and it's something I am keen to do," he said.

"We need to respect victims, victims' families and they are afforded protection from the system.

"We have to make sure we have an open justice system and make sure we protect victims' rights as well."

He said he had not seen the images and had not contacted the family of Leanne Holland, whose murder is shrouded in controversy and mystery.

Graham Stafford, the former boyfriend of Leanne's sister, spent 15 years in jail for her murder.

His conviction was quashed on Christmas Eve last year and no one since has been charged with her murder.

Police have since launched their own review into the investigation of the murder.

"Clearly the Holland family in particular has gone through a fairly significant ordeal," Mr Dick said.

"In a sense I want to respect their privacy.

"There is a public interest to ensure these things are pursued."

Gold Coast Mystery: Killer virus strikes stingrays at Sea World

A MYSTERY disease killing north Queensland's iconic gropers has been found in stingrays at Sea World on the Gold Coast.

Four gropers have died over the past week from bacterial septicaemia. The bacteria also caused the deaths of nine stingrays at Sea World last year.

The killer disease spread to the southeast site via the capture of a wild stingray from Cairns.

Sea World marine services director Trevor Long said the aquarium had bought a stingray off a licensed collector and later noticed it had grown a lump on its head.

"We took samples and sent them to a pathology lab," he said. "The results came back that it had this bacteria."

With fears the disease might spread, samples were sent to Biosecurity Queensland which has a taskforce looking into the groper deaths and a specialist fisheries vet was engaged from Melbourne.

"There was a lot we didn't know at the time and we hoped that at least we could help unfold the situation with the DPI people," he said.

Staff first tried a bath on the animals and then treated them with a vaccine which prevented further infection.

Because of fears that Sea World might accidentally introduce the disease into the wild, all its water discharges were chlorinated then treated again to protect the Gold Coast Broadwater. Mr Long said the disease remained a concern, noting that gropers often lived in harbours and under jetties in close proximity to human habitation and run-off.

It is thought more than 60 gropers have died between Mackay and the Daintree River since 2007.

The outbreak is the first in Australia. In February Fisheries Department vet Ian Anderson said the bacteria also had caused large-scale fish kills in mullet, bluefish, striped bass and sea trout in the US, Kuwait and Israel.

Police union boss Ian Leavers' radical solution: Lock offenders up in the watchouse overnight to teach them a lesson

CourierMail.com.au

Ian Leavers

LESSONS: Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers.

QUEENSLAND'S powerful police union wants more offenders to be locked up when they are arrested to teach them a lesson.

It will seek to change existing laws which allow suspects to be sent on their way after being issued with notices to appear in court.

Union president Ian Leavers said more people needed to see the inside of a watchhouse.

"Perhaps a little time to contemplate life with the clang of the cell door ringing in their ears could be just the ticket to steer some wayward young folk back on track," he said.

The union will use its position on a State Government's review panel of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act to argue for the changes.

Mr Leavers said the notice-to-appear system, introduced in 1998, had contributed to a "generation of people who think unlawful behaviour has little or no consequences".

The current law means virtually anyone picked up by police who is not judged to be an immediate public danger can be released with a notice to appear. Even serious and violent crimes can be dealt with in this way.

Alleged sex offenders can be immediately released if they are not considered a bail risk or a threat to the public.

The controversial call comes after criticism of police over the watchhouse death of Palm Island man Cameron Doomadgee in 2004, but also at a time of growing public concern over alcohol and drug-related violence.

An investigation by The Courier-Mail last year found drunkenness and drug-related charges were among the most common reasons people were held in watchhouses. The investigation revealed about a quarter of the state's crime was alcohol-related, and a dozen glassing victims were turning up at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital every weekend.

The call has been condemned by civil libertarians, youth advocates and sections of the legal community.

The Queensland Police Service said it could not comment until Monday.

The Queensland Law Society has expressed concern, with spokesman Ken Mackenzie saying punishment was a matter for the courts to decide.

"In many cases, a custodial penalty would not be considered appropriate by the courts, so it would be inappropriate for police to say 'we do think this needs a taste of jail and we're going to give it to you'."

Youth Advocacy Centre director Rosslyn Munro said there was no evidence that locking people up taught them a lesson.

Terry O'Gorman from the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties said there were too many people being taken to watchhouses by police.

"Police are abusing their discretion and watchhousing people unjustifiably," he said.

Queensland's State schools teach outdated curriculum

STATE schools have been caught teaching an outdated and inappropriate curriculum, with no checks and balances in place to stop them.

The damning finding is just one of several shortcomings in the Education Department uncovered by Queensland's Auditor-General in a report this week.

The report also found gaping holes in the way the department was using student result data, and a lack of training for teachers and principals on how to analyse NAPLAN results.

The department is also accused of failing to ensure teachers get effective feedback on classroom performance.

The report comes despite the State and Federal governments spending hundreds of millions of dollars on initiatives to improve Queensland students' poor literacy and numeracy results on the national tests.

The audit found some classes were being taught a curriculum dating from the mid-1990s.

"Despite two major curriculum reforms in 1998 and 2005, some of the mathematics and English plans at the schools visited had not been revised . . . since 1995," the report says.

A Queensland Studies Authority spokesman said schools had been required to implement the 2008 syllabus, but it was up to the department to deal with schools that didn't.

Opposition education spokesman Bruce Flegg said the curriculum findings were "frightening".

"It raises the question as to whether students in the affected schools have been disadvantaged compared to other schools," Dr Flegg said.

Education director-general Julie Grantham and Minister Geoff Wilson were quick to point out that only 12 schools were reviewed in the audit.

But the Auditor-General said his methodology provided "a sound basis for the audit conclusions", with an electronic survey also sent to 150 schools.

Ms Grantham said progress had been made since the audit.

"Were the audit to happen today, it would find positive progress around all of the recommendations including curriculum," she said.

Mr Wilson said the Auditor-General had confirmed the Government was on track with its education reforms.

Pool firm backs new Queensland legislation

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au

A ROCKHAMPTON pool expert has backed the introduction of legislation that will give Queensland the toughest regime in the country.

Introduced this week, the new laws include increased pool inspection powers and require the issue of a safety certificate before a house with a pool can be sold or leased.

Craig Gibbs, franchisee of Poolwerx Rockhampton and Yeppoon, said his company was 100% behind the amendments.

"They're long overdue. Poolwerx are one of the front runners of this program and are very heavily aligned with the Royal Life Saving Society."

Mr Gibbs said the laws were necessary due to consumer complacency.

"The consumer is complacent when it comes to safety around the pool. If they don't have children they think it doesn't apply to them."

Queensland Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe said pool inspections for the sale or lease of a house would come in on December 1 and would cost between $90 and $130.

"Under the amendments, owners of regulated pools will be required to ensure their pools are registered. An offence will apply to owners who fail to do so."

Mr Hinchcliffe also said the new laws were in response to the high number of children drowning in Queensland.

"Last year eight children under the age of four drowned in Queensland pools," he said.

Google News: First playable Google doodle marks 30 years of Pac-Man

BrisbaneTimes.com.au

Internet giant Google marked the 30th birthday of Pac-Man by featuring the classic arcade videogame in the first-ever playable doodle on its home page.

Web users who opened Google's homepage after 1500 GMT Friday -- which is midnight in Japan, where Pac-Man was born -- were greeted by a small-scale Pac-man game set around a barely discernible "Google" in the middle of the game's colourful maze.

The game designed by Toru Iwatani was first released by Japan-based Namco into arcades on May 22, 1980.

The Google doodle Pac-Man comes complete with the arcade game's trademark music and sound effects, and an "Insert Coin" button where Google's "I'm feeling lucky" button usually is.

But even though Pac-Man grew to become the best-selling coin-operated game in history, the Google doodle was decidedly less popular with Internet users.

"WHAT IS WITH THE ANNOYING PACMAN AUDIO PLAYING ON YOUR SEARCH PAGE TODAY?" wrote one of more than 200 visitors to Google's help page, most of whom were complaining about the Pac-Man doodle.

"Have you guys been hacked? I thought I had contracted a virus," wrote another.

Most of the messages contained too many expletives to repeat.

Other online comments were more charitable, but wondered about the effect the doodle on productivity.

"All the game details are spot-on, right down to the impulse to ignore work, friends, familiy and play for hours," wrote Lance Ulanoff of PCMag.

The playable Pac-Man doodle will stay on Google for 48 hours.

...................................................................
Go live to Google Pac-Man: 
Google.com.au

Michael Johnson's woes continue: LNP to pursue expelled Queensland MP's cash

TheAustralian.com.au

QUEENSLAND'S Liberal National Party will try to claw back funds raised by expelled federal MP Michael Johnson.

The LNP sought legal advice on whether it had a claim on electoral-related accounts held by Mr Johnson, as well as cash raised by the not-for-profit organisation he founded to fund his international travel.

While the funds of Mr Johnson's Australia China Development Association were determined by the LNP's lawyers to be off-limits to the party, president Bruce McIver said yesterday other accounts identified as being associated with the member for the electorate of Ryan, in Brisbane's west, would be targeted.

"We'll be looking to take over all LNP funds," Mr McIver said. But he said the LNP would not be referring the fund-raising irregularities that caused it to dump the three-term MP from his marginal Brisbane seat to the police or other agencies.

The merged conservative party was "drawing a line in the sand and moving on", though it would co-operate with authorities if needed.

Tony Abbott expressed regret yesterday that Mr Johnson had been shown the door.

"I feel sorry for Michael but he's done the wrong thing by the Liberal National Party and he's paid an appropriate price," the Opposition Leader said.

The LNP executive expelled Mr Johnson on Thursday after finding he had brought the party into disrepute and engaged in "conduct severely harmful" to its best interests. This followed revelations by The Australian that Mr Johnson had tried to gain a $12m commission for brokering a coal export deal in 2008.

Mr McIver rejected Mr Johnson's claim he would "easily win" a legal challenge against his expulsion on the basis that some executive members were absent from Thursday's meeting. He said the meeting was legally constituted.

The ACDA was set up by Mr Johnson five years ago to encourage economic co-operation between the two nations and has funded some of his extensive overseas travel. Funding came from donations or commissions he brokered for introducing business leaders and making deals, a practice he has described as "unorthodox but legal".

Accountancy firm CKG Partners, which did the books for the association at its Asian Business section in Brisbane, yesterday said it was no longer the registered office or the client of ACDA.

Labor sources acknowledge Mr Johnson has a strong personal following in his suburban seat, and say privately he could still poll in double figures as an independent. This improves Labor's strong changes of taking the once blue-ribbon conservative seat, now held by Mr Johnson with a slender 1.1 per cent margin, and will put enormous pressure on the LNP candidate who replaces him.

Brisbane City Councillor Jane Prentice is considered the LNP's frontrunner for now.

Queen-in-waiting: Will Julia Gillard be Australia's next Prime Minister

TheAge.com.au

SHE is the ''Next Big Thing''. Kevin Rudd's deputy is riding a wave of popularity as the PM's approval has slid, making the cool-as-a-cucumber, voter-friendly Julia Gillard look ever better by comparison. And the contrast is a gift to a media that just loves a leadership story.

No wonder, when former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke ran into caucus chairman Daryl Melham at Canberra airport a week ago, he was all ears to hear about Julia. The assessment Melham gave Hawke was right: there's no chance of Gillard taking over the leadership before the election.

As for next term - assuming a Labor win - anything could happen. Rudd could move on during that term, or be moved on. On the other hand, Rudd's current low should be put in context. At times in his first term, John Howard looked dreadful. In 1998, one commentator wrote that if Howard lost a significant number of seats that would immediately put his leadership under severe pressure. He lost a swag of seats; his leadership strengthened.

Rudd has fallen from his false, stratospheric poll heights and he mightn't be much loved in the caucus. But Labor MPs are still behind him, and remain grateful that he brought them from the wilderness. Despite Gillard's Next Big Thing surge, this week's Galaxy poll had Rudd leading Gillard 45-34 per cent, and in the Newspoll, he led 45-40 per cent. The headline grabber was the change in Newspoll, where in February Rudd had led Gillard 57-32 per cent.

Rudd's longevity will depend on a combination of how he does at the election, his performance later and whether he wants to serve out a full second term (which, of course, he has formally committed to).

There is now, however, virtual unanimity in Labor that Gillard has the status of heir-apparent, a position that always carries risk as well as advantages. The fact she has become the unchallenged queen-in-waiting is notable in itself. A deal between the Gillard and Rudd forces, in which Gillard delivered substantial numbers, brought Rudd to leadership in 2006, with her as deputy. In government, the kitchen cabinet of Rudd, Gillard, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner runs the show. Gillard, who in opposition failed to get the shadow treasurer post, is part of all the big economic decisions. Years ago, in opposition days, Swan was seen as a possible future leader, and Tanner was also in those lists of aspirants. Neither is seen as possible successor to Rudd. Apparently without lifting a finger except to perform well, Gillard is the only one left climbing the higher rungs of the leadership ladder.

For a long time, people said she was unlikely to ever become leader because she was from the Left (specifically, the soft left sub-group). She would not be acceptable to the crucial NSW Right, so the argument went. But she has transcended the Left or, more accurately, elevated above the fray. One Labor source says: ''She's close to everybody. She works between the factions, between the fractions. She builds relationships - she's the first person on the phone if you're going through trouble.''

The NSW Right, which backed Rudd, won't be trying to ease him out any time soon. When there is a transition, it would look for a smooth one - and Gillard would be acceptable as successor. Mark Arbib, NSW Right power broker, is Gillard's junior minister, a useful juxtapositioning, and her chief of staff is Amanda Lampe, who used to work for Bob Carr.

As the Next Big Thing, Gillard's best strategy is to sit tight, serve Rudd faithfully, do well in her own right, and build her reputation as the good communicator. This strategy fits well with her character and style. Her record is one of strong loyalty to her various leaders over the years.

Previous heirs-apparent (Paul Keating, Peter Costello) privately bagged their leaders, and the stories circulated. There are no such tales of Gillard being critical of Rudd. It's true that one or two Labor sources cast Gillard as ready to pounce on the leadership if any opportunity presented, but there is no evidence to back this claim.

Rudd is said to completely trust her. One observer of Rudd says: ''I don't get a sense he sees her as a threat.'' But, ''unlike Costello, Julia has the balls to tap him on the shoulder if he needs to go.''

Whatever she might think about the future, Gillard does seem totally focused on the present. When her biographer, Jacqueline Kent, attended a function in Melbourne with her last year, a woman in the audience told Gillard she was looking forward to her being Australia's first female PM. Gillard said to Kent later it was really nice that people wanted a woman PM and admitted she was flattered they thought it should be her. But she lamented that they didn't look at what she was doing now.

If Gillard knows that patience is her best ally, she must equally be aware that being the Next Big Thing can also be dangerous, especially for political golden girls. Carmen Lawrence was the Next Big Thing, seeming likely to become Australia's first female deputy PM, an honour that later went to Gillard. Cheryl Kernot was another golden girl who fell. Others, like Liberal deputy leader Julie Bishop, have hit a ceiling - in her case, because she didn't prove good enough to make the final jump to leadership. Gillard does not appear to have flaws that would undermine her, and she has heaps of talent and support. But politics is an unpredictable life, where wolf eats wolf - and that's just on your own side.

Gillard herself deals with the recurring leadership questions by colourful hyperbole; the tactic itself ensures her words get attention. This week, the grab ran all day when she said: ''There's more chance of me becoming the full-forward for the Dogs than there is of any change in the Labor party.'' Her other formulations have been equally quotable. ''You may as well ask me, am I anticipating a trip to Mars''; ''I think there's more chance of me going round-the-world sailing solo a dozen times than this chatter in the media becoming anything more than that'' (this before the welcome-home for teen Jessica Watson); ''[If] Steven Spielberg rang me from Hollywood and asked me to star opposite Brad Pitt in a movie, would I do it? Well, I'd be a little bit tempted but you know what, I don't reckon Steven Spielberg is going to give me a call.''

Put together the quotes and the pattern is significant. She doesn't try to kill the speculation by smothering it with a bland blanket. Each quote has startling imagery; they're funny, can't be criticised as undermining Rudd, but add to her lustre. She almost plays with her situation, which invites the media (especially the cartoonists) to do so too.

All the talk is always about Gillard succeeding Rudd as PM. Of course if Tony Abbott won, she would almost automatically immediately become opposition leader. (One presumes she wouldn't do a Costello and decline the job.)

Despite the crafted leadership jokes, Kent (whose The Making of Julia Gillard was published last year) believes Gillard has changed in the several years she has been observing her. ''She's stiffened up. She's become a little more distanced, a little more formal, and much more on-message''. Kent, who says Gillard doesn't need much sleep, is extremely focused and knows what's important, is one of the few who is not sure ''whether she does want to be prime minister''.

As the government struggles in a low patch, Gillard shows Rudd up as a message machine. In contrast to his convoluted style, she gets her lines across sharply and cleanly.

Bruce Hawker, of Hawker Britton lobbying and political consultancy firm, encapsulates why Gillard is such an attractive political commodity. ''What you see with her is what you get. She's a plain speaker, a good communicator, a friendly face and voice in politics, and quite charming. It's a very rare combination.'' She makes her political kills deftly, but ''she's not out there slicing the opposition with a hacksaw'', Hawker says. As well, ''she's completely unflappable''.

In her job as Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and Social Inclusion, Gillard has a huge workload. The schools building program has brought her under political fire, but despite a plethora of problem cases, the program did not fall into the disaster category; it came out of the Auditor-General's report relatively lightly, and is likely to be a plus at the election because its spending is everywhere. Gillard has not lost much skin from the criticisms.

But despite overseeing big education programs (and having a deep interest in the content of her portfolio - she once wanted to be a teacher) and the move from WorkChoices to the Fair Work system, Gillard still has to fully define herself in broader policy terms. Quite how a Gillard prime ministership would look, and how it would differ from the Rudd one, is hard to say. As is how the Next Big Thing would go in meeting the expectations that would have built up by the time she became The One.

iPad finally hits Australian shelves

DailyTelegraph.com.au

Apple iPad tablet

Apple of their eye ... the iPad.

IT'S been hailed as the future of computing, with more than one million US sales in the first month of its release.

Now it is Australia's turn to be be gripped by iPad fever, with Apple's latest device finally hitting stores next Friday after a one-month delay.

The device is a touchscreen tablet computer that bridges the gap between the smartphone and the laptop.

Since the iPad went on sale in the US on April 3, it has been a runaway success. More than 500,000 units were sold in in the first week and the iPad hit the million mark after just 28 days - a milestone the original iPhone took 74 days to reach in 2007.

Many Australians eager to get their hands on the iPad took advantage of the strong Australian dollar to import one during the US launch.

At one point iPads, which were then valued at $A800, were being sold for as much as $A2000 on eBay in the days and weeks following the US launch.

Pre-orders opened on May 10, with early customers given a May 28 delivery date. Others pre-ordering after that date have been advised of a June 7 delivery.

And customers will be able to buy an iPad in person from the Apple Store on May 28, with a starting price of $629 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version.

One Australian user who couldn't wait to get his hands on it was NSW Australian of the Year Jon Dee.

The environmentalist and Planet Ark founder, now Do Something managing director, has been a long-time fan of the tablet computer format: "I've been using tablet PCs for over 10 years and have been waiting for Apple to bring out a tablet so there was no way that I was going to wait any longer than I needed to."

"The iPad can be turned on instantly and you can immediately be typing up your ideas. You can't do that with normal computers."

Mr Dee laughed off the initial criticisms of the device when it was announced in January.

"If someone says to you that it's just a big iPhone, it's obvious that they haven't tried it yet," he said.

"This device is the tipping point that will mainstream the use of tablet devices in the home and business.

"What surprises me is how heavily I'm using it already.

"When it comes to the iPad versus my normal laptop, I'm now using the iPad 70 per cent of the time."

Another reason for Mr Dee's early iPad purchase was to see if his new book Sustainable Growth would work on the device. "Sensis just put out the print version, but we wanted to make sure that people can also read it free on their iPads," he said.

Catholic Church Modernisation: New Mass translates to more traditional Catholicism

TheAustralian.com.au

A NEW translation of the mass soon to be celebrated by more than 100 million English-speaking Catholics reaches back to church tradition, replacing the more colloquial and dumbed-down liturgy that was adopted by the Vatican 40 years ago.

The Weekend Australian today provides an exclusive and comprehensive preview of the changes, which are the biggest revision since Pope Paul VI approved the current Roman Missal in 1969 after the Second Vatican Council. In style, the new translation of the mass is reverential and traditional, restoring emphasis on the transcendent and the sacred, and replacing words such as "happy" with "blessed" and phrases such as "this is" with "behold".

It revives a classical style of liturgical language rarely heard for 40 years, using such words and phrases as: oblation, implore, consubstantial, serene and kindly countenance, spotless victim, divine majesty, holy and venerable, and "command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high".

Cardinal George Pell said the new mass had a "different cadence" to the translation of the Roman Missal that two generations of Australian Catholics grew up with, and which was a "bit dumbed-down".

"The previous translators seemed a bit embarrassed to refer to angels, sacrifice and perpetual virginity," Australia's senior Catholic cleric said.

"They went softly on sin and redemption."

The new translation places a heavier emphasis on Christ's sacrifice and underlines the dependence of individuals on God. In one of the most controversial changes, the words of the consecration in the mass specify that Christ shed his blood "for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins", rather than "for all" as the present translation puts it.

Cardinal Pell said the change reflected the official Latin version of the Roman Missal, and although Christ died for everybody, this would remind worshippers of the need for personal repentance.

In the creed, the faithful will now say "I believe" rather than "we believe", emphasising the importance of personal belief.

Most of the changes are in the parts of the mass said by priests, with changes in the laity's responses deliberately kept to a minimum to avoid confusion.

A new Latin edition of the missal was published under Pope John Paul II in 2002, and the next step was to produce authentic vernacular translations.

After a major education program that will start later this year and is already under way for priests in some dioceses, the new translation is likely to be introduced from Pentecost Sunday in June next year.

Several DVDs have already been produced to explain the changes across the English-speaking Catholic world.

The translation, which has taken more than eight years to prepare, was written by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, which is chaired by Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds in northern England.

The project was guided and overseen by the Vox Clara (clear voice) committee of cardinals and bishops from the US, Canada, Britain, Ireland, India, Africa and the Caribbean.

Vox Clara was chaired by Cardinal Pell.

Canberra's Archbishop Mark Coleridge also played an important role in the translation, chairing the editorial committee of the commission.

In secular terms, the new mass is a triumph of tradition and intellectual rigour over post-modernism. Leading Australian theologian Tracey Rowland, of Melbourne's John Paul II Institute, said that after 40 years of "liturgy wars", it would put paid to what Pope Benedict refers to as "parish tea-party liturgy".

Professor Rowland, author of Ratzinger's Faith: the Theology of Pope Benedict XVI, said the new translation was "theo-centric liturgy", focused on the worship of God, rather than "self-centric liturgy", focused on community celebration of the parish, the Year 7 class, or the netball team.

She said the new translation of the mass was close to Pope Benedict's heart.

"He has complained about 'sacro-pop' and 'emotional primitivism' in liturgy, and said everything associated with the Eucharist must be marked by beauty."

Professor Rowland said the new translation was in accord with the Church's 1963 text Constitution on the Scared Liturgy. That instruction called for the rites of the mass, which dated back to the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century, to be simplified with "due care being taken to preserve their substance" so that "devout and active participation by the faithful may be more easily achieved".

Professor Rowland said the Second Vatican Council's call for renewal was widely misinterpreted in the 1960s, with pushes from some for outlandish changes that were never envisaged at the council.

In 1966, for example, an article in a prominent Jesuit magazine in the US called for Catholic worship to employ "the language of the Beatles".

"The new translation of the missal settles the issue," Professor Rowland said.

"I'm not surprised it has taken almost nine years. They had to get it right, and they have."

Super incentive for elderly to keep working

TheAustralian.com.au

OLDER Australians would be given limited access to their superannuation while working part-time or casually as an incentive to keep them in the workforce longer, and pensioners would be able to keep more of their welfare payments if they increased their working hours under radical policy changes being developed by the Coalition.

If Tony Abbott were to win government, older workers would also be offered lower marginal tax rates to stay in their jobs as a partial solution to the demographic time bomb of a steadily ageing population.

Sources say the idea of allowing older people to spend superannuation while still doing some work is radical and breaks with a long-standing policy that does not allow workers to gain access to their super until they are fully retired.

The policy idea has not yet gone to shadow cabinet but has strong support within the party.

The policy is designed both to appeal to older voters who were once rusted on to John Howard and to deal with the worsening national skills shortage.

The Coalition wants to lure back the older voters who switched to Kevin Rudd at the last election. It believes many are now disillusioned with Labor.

The proposal is also part of the Coalition's attempt to cast itself as the party for productivity.

The opposition is at pains to paint Labor as depending on immigration to boost the workforce and fill the skills gap.

The Coalition argues that it would use this plan to keep older people in the workforce while getting mothers back to work with its paid parental leave policy to solve Australia's productivity and workforce problems without increasing immigration.

Under current rules, people can gain access to superannuation once they have reached the minimum age set by law and have permanently retired from the workforce, unless there are exceptional circumstances. This minimum age, which is 55 for people born before June 1960, is known as the "preservation age".

National Seniors chief executive Michael O'Neil said superannuation must be more flexible to reflect the changes in ageing.

"We need to be flexible in the way we approach employment. If superannuation (can be made) available, it might give more incentive for work, but it must be available under some conditions," Mr O'Neil said.

"The current practices do not reflect the way ageing has changed. Too much thinking is around a controlled environment; we need to be prepared to be more flexible."

The Coalition's Treasury spokesman, Joe Hockey, told the National Press Club this week that the Coalition would deliver a significant workforce participation policy in the lead-up to the election, and providing incentives to older workers would be at its centre.

Treasury secretary Ken Henry has suggested cutting taxes would make a bigger difference to the number of older workers remaining in the workforce than it would for people of prime working age, who were likely to stay employed in any case. "Older people are less likely to be in the workforce because they retire or work fewer hours," he said.

Push for indigenous housing scheme rescue

TheAustralian.com.au

THE federal government has quietly - but radically - shifted the boundaries of the $672 million Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program, conceding that its plan to build 750 houses in 16 remote Northern Territory communities will require significant additional investment.

With only 11 houses completed during the program's first 2 1/2 years, The Weekend Australian has undertaken a detailed analysis of the progress under the nation's largest single investment in remote housing.

A confidential document detailing progress under the SIHIP reveals that only seven of the 16 communities that were to receive 750 new houses among them have signed long-term leases with the federal government.

Those seven communities - Nguiu, Groote Eylandt townships, Wadeye, Maningrida, Gunbalanya and Galiwinku, as well as the Alice Springs town camps, - are set to receive 629 houses by 2013.

A further nine communities - Ngukurr, Numbulwar, Gapuwiyak, Milingimbi, Ramingining and Yirrkala in Arnhem Land, and Yuendemu, Hermannsburg and Lajamanu in central Australia - are yet to sign the long-term leases, which give security of tenure for housing investment.

Their housing packages are currently "unallocated", according to a confidential progress report on the SIHIP given to a Northern Territory committee, the Council of Territory Co-operation.

The delay for these towns is more serious because they are among an elite group of communities nominated by the NT government to be "growth towns".

The Territory growth towns policy - supposed to lift infrastructure standards in remote indigenous ghetto towns to that of similar-sized regional country towns elsewhere in Australia - was yesterday savaged by the former Labor minister who had championed it.

Former NT indigenous affairs minister Alison Anderson labelled the growth town policy a sham that had been hurriedly announced by Paul Henderson's government with scant funding attached.

"I launched it for Henderson without knowing the figures," said Ms Anderson, now an independent MP. "We just launched the policy without real dollar figures attached to it."

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has moved to reassure the nine communities, which make up some of the NT's largest remote "hub" communities, they will not miss out on their fair share of the remote housing pie by having to share 129 houses.

Centres such as Wadeye will receive 105 houses on their own.

A spokeswoman for Ms Macklin said yesterday SIHIP would deliver on its targets to build

750 new houses, as well as

carry out 230 rebuilds and 2500 refurbishments.

"The program remains on track to deliver on the SIHIP targets over the period to 2013 within the $672m budget," she said.

But the federal government has conceded it will need to dip further into the $5.5 billion National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing - which includes the SIHIP as the "first tranche of funding" - to pay for further housing in the nine communities yet to sign long-term leases. The NT has been allocated $1.7bn, over 10 years, out of the $5.5bn national partnership agreement.

"This national partnership funding will deliver new and refurbished housing in the NT over and above the SIHIP targets of 750 new houses, 230 rebuilds and 2500 refurbishments," Ms Macklin's office said yesterday.

"This will enable the governments to capitalise on economies of scale and other efficiencies associated with large-scale building works. Packages of works will be allocated progressively, community by community, as leases are finalised and preparatory planning in the communities has been undertaken."

Fixing remote housing is a key plank of the federal government's ambitious bid to close the gap in life expectancy between black and white Australia within a generation. Ms Macklin has staked much of her political capital on the attainment of long-term leases that underpin secure investment in housing and infrastructure.

But the slow and excessively bureaucratic progress of the SIHIP - attacked as a bonanza for consultants - has dogged the government for the past year.

The Weekend Australian first highlighted the widespread wastage and bureaucratic red tape that was strangling the SIHIP in July last year, when it was revealed that as little as 30 per cent of the housing funds would be spent on bricks and mortar.

After weeks of revelations that the program was seriously off-track, Ms Macklin ordered a review of the program, which found that after a $43m spend, not one house had been built.

Lease negotiations are proving challenging for the federal and NT governments, which are insisting long-term leases be signed in remote communities before a sod is turned on building works.

Several communities have given their "in principle" agreement to leases but there is bitter division over the land handover.

Former NT Labor indigenous affairs minister Alison Anderson, now an independent, yesterday backed the communities that were holding out on signing leases.

"These communities are taking the step of not signing on the dotted line for any kind of leasing on their land until they know exactly what injection of funds will be going to their communities," Ms Anderson said.

Greens pick Patricia Petersen for Blair

QT.com.au

AFTER weeks of rumours, Dr Patricia Petersen has been endorsed as the Greens candidate for Blair.

Dr Petersen was initially running as an independent, before sounding out the LNP party and finally the Greens party.

"It has not been a decision I have taken lightly," Dr Petersen said.

"I considered this move to the Greens extremely carefully.

"Taking my time to reflect on what is right for the electorate will pay off for everyone.

"The Greens have reassured me they are attracted to me as a candidate because I am honest and have demonstrated integrity in relation to my views."

Dr Petersen will run against sitting Labor MP Shayne Neumann and an LNP candidate from a regional council.

Australian Republic: Turnbull an absent friend at republican relaunch

SMH.com.au

IT'S time, say a host of luminaries of the left, including the former prime minister Bob Hawke, to relaunch the movement for an Australian republic.

More than 10 years after the November 6, 1999, referendum, the NSW branch of the Australian Republican Movement last night hosted its first major fundraiser in several years at Sydney's IMAX Theatre, where Mr Hawke gave the keynote address.

The $130-a-head, sold-out event was attended by more than 200 people, including the Hawke government education minister Susan Ryan, the federal Labor MP Bob Debus, and the former president of the NSW Legislative Assembly, Meredith Bergmann.

The movement's former chairman, Malcolm Turnbull, was notably absent.

A spokesman said Mr Turnbull had a previous engagement but he intended to meet someone from the movement next week in Canberra.

The movement's chairman, Mike Keating, said tickets for the event sold out quicker than expected and organisers were surprised by the interest from younger Australians.

''This would suggest the momentum for a republic has begun again,'' Mr Keating said.

''Ten years on there are more Australian citizens interested in the issue … and more younger people interested in the issue again, so we feel we've got enough support from both sides of politics to encourage the government of the day to put the issue firmly on the agenda.''

He said he believed the process to organise another referendum could take as little as 12 months.

May 21, 2010

Queensland beef sizzles with Russian chefs

Media Release

Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Rural and Regional Queensland

The Honourable Tim Mulherin

21/05/2010

Queensland beef sizzles with Russian chefs

21 May 2010

A visit to Queensland by chefs from some of Moscow's most exclusive restaurants has showcased the quality of Australia's beef to entice Russian restaurateurs and consumers.

Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Rural and Regional Queensland Tim Mulherin said the visit was an important opportunity to build direct relationships between Queensland suppliers and consumers.

"Bringing the Russian chefs to Queensland was an opportunity for our meat industry to demonstrate Australia's food safety and quality controls," Mr Mulherin said.

"The Russian chefs gained an understanding of our cattle-raising conditions, processing facilities, different cuts of meat and how to prepare them.

"Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) hosted the delegation and collaborated with local meat exporters and Trade Queensland to organise the program including visits to meat processing and packing facilities.

"The chefs were also introduced to Queensland seafood, fruit and vegetables, and visited Queensland's first-class training facilities for commercial cookery, butchery and hospitality."

Mr Mulherin said Australian beef is highly sought after in the high end restaurant sector in Russia.

"Market research by MLA has found a number of chefs in Russia have a preference for Australian beef, rating it higher in its taste attributes compared to US product," he said.

"Our beef also has an outstanding clean and green image among consumers.

"Queensland Chef David Pugh joined Trade Queensland at a dinner held to demonstrate Queensland beef cooked to perfection in a variety of ways.

"Mr Sergey Yushin, Chief Executive of the Russian National Meat Association, and an advocate for Australian beef, also attended.

"The Russian chefs were pleased to be able to talk directly with the Queensland chef and compare and contrast food service trends, as well as input prices for quality beef."

Trade Minister Stephen Robertson said developing direct relationships with members of the Russian food service sector and Russian National Meat Association will help Queensland companies to build on their relationship with Russian importers.

"Importers in Russia are now able to increase their beef import quotas from Australia thanks to new regulations introduced earlier this year by Russian authorities," Mr Robertson said.

"Australia now has access to the multi-country quota for frozen beef into Russia, which has increased significantly to 448 300 tonnes.

"Russia is the second largest beef importing nation in the world behind the US, and is therefore a key export market for Queensland.

"Queensland currently exports more than half of Australia's meat exports to Russia, valued at around $124 million.

"In 2009 our meat shipments to Russia dropped due to the global financial crisis, but 2010 is expected to make a marked recovery.

"While Australia must compete with South America for market access, there are opportunities for Australia's processing and high end beef products in the medium to longer terms."

Trade Queensland will continue to work with MLA and Queensland red meat exporters to develop market access activities and expand its supply-chain contacts in Russia.

Google Update: Google Wave officially 'opened' in San Francisco

A screenshot of Google's Wave real-time communication tool.

SMH.com.au

A screenshot of Google's Wave real-time communication tool.

Google has opened Wave to the general public after eight months of invitation-only beta testing.

Australia-based Google Wave team chief Lars Rasmussen announced the "opening" at the internet giant's annual developers conference in San Francisco.

"Wave really shines as a place to get work done," he said.

The company has claimed the product developed by the same Sydney team responsible for Google Maps has potential to turn email into a powerful tool for collaborative exchanges and ramp up productivity. But early interest in the product's beta launch quickly cooled off amidst uncertainty on how to use it to its full potential.

Wave merges email, online chat, social networking and "wiki" style group access to web pages or documents. It allows anyone in the exchange to edit documents, add digital content, or comment on others' work at any time.

"You can have 12 people interacting in a Wave at the same time without people talking over each other or stepping on each others' toes," D'Alesandre said.

Google Wave product manager Gregory D'Alesandre made his case late last year that Wave would help "liberate" workers from constraints of old-fashioned ways at firms. 

"We really believe this is a better way to communicate; [it's] where technology is going."

Nicotine patch bonus for quitters of smoking being considered by Federal Government

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au

THE cost of quitting smoking could fall by as much as $112 a month, with the Government considering a subsidy for nicotine patches to benefit the nation's three million smokers.

The patches currently cost smokers trying to quit up to $118 a month. The subsidy would cut the price to $33.40 for general consumers and just $5.40 for pensioners and welfare recipients.

The Government's expert advisory body on medicines, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC), recommended at its March meeting that the Government subsidise nicotine patches.

"The reduction of chronic disease caused by smoking is one key focus of the national health taskforce on prevention," the PBAC said.

The committee said the subsidy should cover a maximum of 12 weeks treatment in a 12-month period.

The Cancer Council, the Heart Foundation, the Australian Council on Smoking and Health and Quit Victoria asked the expert body to subsidise the patches for pensioners and welfare recipients, and patients who could not use subsidised quit smoking medicines.

The call for the subsidy comes as the Federal Government this month imposed a $2.16 hike in the tobacco tax, lifting the price of a pack of cigarettes to more than $15.

Bureaucrats are understood to be negotiating with manufacturers to determine what price the Government would pay for the patches. If the total cost of the subsidy can be brought under $10 million a year Health Minister Nicola Roxon will be able to approve it without seeking Cabinet approval.

The new $5 billion tobacco tax hike is forecast to reduce the number of smokers by 87,000 in the first year.

Many of these people would be relying on aids such as nicotine patches to help them give up.

Smoking results in 15,000 Australian deaths annually.



Queensland Racing Overhaul: Brisbane Racing Club slams new laws

HeraldSun.com.au

Brisbane Racing Club chairman Kevin Dixon fears new laws passed in Queensland parliament on Thursday will be the death knell for racing communities.

Brisbane Racing Club chairman Kevin Dixon fears new laws passed in Queensland parliament on Thursday will be the death knell for racing communities throughout the state.

"There has been no consultation with racing clubs or industry participants, the new law has no accountability and there is no compensation," Dixon said.

"This is not a fight from the Brisbane Racing Club, thousands of people throughout Queensland are up in arms.

"Even the government's own Scrutiny of Legislation Committee report this week highlighted flaw after flaw in the new legislation and clearly states that it will impact on the rights of individuals, employees and current clubs.

"Mark my words, clubs which are at the heartbeat of communities will fold through fund starvation if they don't adhere to the draconian wishes of Racing Queensland."

The laws set up one overarching control body - merging Queensland Racing Ltd, Queensland Harness Racing Ltd and Greyhounds Queensland Ltd - and enable more than $80 million of wagering tax to be returned to the racing industry for capital projects over the next four years, including $300,000 a year for country racing clubs.

However, Dixon said the new legislation had been passed despite his club's repeated calls for Racing Minister Peter Lawlor to consult with stakeholders other than those hand-picked to sit on the new board of Racing Queensland.

"With Minister Lawlor now wiping his hands of the racing industry, who can thoroughbred, harness and greyhound clubs turn to?" Dixon said.

"The total Queensland racing industry and the enormous amount of economic turnover it creates, its assets and its thousands of jobs, should not be controlled by a small unaccountable body who from time to time inhabits Deagon and reports to no-one.

"History tells us that absolute power breeds absolute corruption. This new law gifts absolute power."

Dixon welcomed the Liberal National Party's decision to dismantle the legislation if elected at the next state election.

Australian dollar rebounds off nine-month lows

CourierMail.com.au

THE Australian dollar closed lower after rebounding off nine-month overnight lows to claw back almost two US cents following a recovery on equity markets.

At 1700 AEST, the Australian dollar was trading at $US0.8272/75, down 0.5 per cent from yesterday's close of $US0.8314/16.

Since 0700 AEST yesterday, the local unit traded in a wide range between $US0.8073 and $US0.8367.

Overnight, the local unit bounced off its lowest level since July 20 last year.

"I think it's been the recovery in equity markets,'' Commonwealth Bank currency strategist Richard Grace said.

"They recovered from the lows we saw earlier this morning.

"While they didn't finish in positive territory, they have recovered off their lows.

"That's provided a little bit of a return to risk aversion.''

The local unit initially lost ground on Friday on an unexpected increase in US jobless claims and ongoing concerns about the euro zone debt crisis, depressing investor confidence about global economic recovery.

Investors' sentiment to risk continued to weaken as a rise in US jobless claims added to doubts about European policy makers having unified action to solve the sovereign debt crisis in the region.

"There is still some negative sentiment there,'' Mr Grace said.

While the Australian dollar had recovered somewhat on Friday, there was still considerable uncertainty over Europe, he said.

The Australian share market rebounded at the close today, sharply reversing a three per cent drop in earlier trade amid claims that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) had supported the Australian dollar.

Currency traders said it was unlikely that the RBA had stepped in to support the local currency.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 11.1 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 4,305.4 points, after falling to a low of 4.175.7.

The broader All Ordinaries index fell 16.6 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 4,325.8 points.

Against the euro, the Australian dollar fell 8 per cent below its most recent high of 71.76 euro cents last week.

Mr Grace forecast the local currency would recover a little during the offshore session.

"I'm not anticipating it to recover significantly,'' he said.

"If the US stock market opens up higher, I can see the Aussie moving higher.

"But it's very difficult to be confident about this in this environment.

"We may see it get back to 85 (US cents) this evening.''

He forecast the local unit would trade between US$0.8100 to US$0.8500.

Australia faces surge in illegal workers


BrisbaneTimes.com.au


The federal government is set to strengthen penalties against the use of illegal workers amid growing evidence of organised and criminal recruitment practices used by some employers.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans today announced a review into penalties facing employers who hire illegal workers following a poor success rate in prosecuting offenders.

The move comes as figures showed more 1271 people were caught working illegally in the agriculture, construction and hospitality sectors in the nine months to March 31.

Senator Evans said the evidence pointed to growing systematic and organised abuse of the system by employers.

"While most Australian employers do the right thing, there is emerging evidence that some are using illegal workers in an organised and criminal way," he said in a statement.

Senator Evans said although authorities were having greater success in detecting illegal workers, little progress had been made in prosecuting employers and labour hire intermediaries.

The review will be conducted by independent legal expert Stephen Howells, who is expected to consult widely with employers, unions and relevant state and commonwealth agencies.

The Howells review will examine the laws and penalties that govern employers, the effectiveness of systems and operations that help them comply with their obligations, and the effect of employer sanctions on business.

It will also look into community understanding and acceptance of the need for an employer sanctions system.

Senator Evans said the review would specifically look at toughening current penalties and the lack of prosecutions against employers.

Massive Court Award: Ex-cop gets half million dollar payout for doing his job


CourierMail.com.au

A FORMER policeman who attended horrific crime scenes, including a home where twin babies, a girl and their mother had their throats slit, has been awarded $753,676 damages.

Barry Doherty had told the New South Wales Supreme Court of a flashback he experienced when he visited friends and put one of their twin babies back in his crib.

"The baby's head went back and the image I received was I was holding one of the (murdered) babies," he said.

"I've run to the bathroom and I have been violently ill."

Mr Doherty, 47, joined the police force in 1985 and spent most of his career working as a crime scene investigation officer until he was medically discharged in November 2007. He sued the State of NSW claiming he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of its negligence.

Yesterday, Justice Derek Price found in favour of Mr Doherty, concluding the state had breached its duty of care to him.

"It was the defendant's duty to take reasonable care to avoid exposing him to unnecessary risks of injury," the judge said.

"A reasonable person in the position of the police force would have taken the precaution of ensuring that the plaintiff's psychological condition was carefully monitored."

But the judge reduced by 35 per cent the award Mr Doherty would have received, because of his own "contributory negligence". The state had argued Mr Doherty actively hid his illness from his employer.

The judge said Mr Doherty had tried to cope for some years but although his nightmares and flashbacks became more frequent, he failed to reveal his psychological problems.

In his evidence, Mr Doherty referred to attending many horrific disaster, accident, suicide and crime scenes.

The judge found his psychological injury began in 1994 after he attended the Wollongong crime scene where Senjzana Valevski and her three children had their throats cut.

One of the "worst scenes" he attended was in relation to the 1998 Wollongong murder of David O'Hearn, who was beheaded and disembowelled.

Other horrific cases included a woman who was bashed beyond recognition, a plane crash where Mr Doherty had to put body parts in individual bags, and a cyclist who was almost cut in half when he was run over by a truck.

Mr Doherty told the judge he particularly struggled with jobs involving children and "I was unlucky to get a number of these during my time".

The judge concluded Mr Doherty suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, "with chronic and severe symptoms and a major depressive disorder".

"I accept that the plaintiff developed distressing and intrusive recollections of major traumatic events," he said.

His condition includes irritability, sleep disturbance, emotional numbing, and an "exaggerated startle response and hyper-vigilance".

Mr Doherty has not worked since being medically discharged and the judge accepted he would never fully recover from his present condition.

Australian Facebook Murder Shock: Family argument before fatal stabbing

A MELBOURNE man has pleaded guilty to murdering his wife in front of their young son after an argument about Facebook.

Ron Felicite fatally stabbed his wife Marie multiple times in the neck in the kitchen of the couple's Narre Warren home in August last year.

Their four-year-old son was in the house and is believed to have witnessed the killing, the Victorian Supreme Court heard.

The previous day, Felicite had argued with his wife about her relationship with a man named Dino, whom she had met on the internet.

The court heard Ms Felicite called police to their home during the argument, but it was determined the situation did not require police action.

Later that day, the couple attended counselling where Ms Felicite said she had feelings for the man she met on the internet and no longer loved Felicite as a husband.

Prior to the stabbing, Felicite confronted his wife about her communication on Facebook with her cousin about Dino.

On Friday, Felicite, 28, pleaded guilty to murdering his wife.

His pre-sentence hearing continues on Monday.


Melbourne Storm NRL case may be heard in July

TheAustralian.com.au

COURT action between the Melbourne Storm and the NRL over salary cap breach penalties could be heard as early as July.

Lawyers for the Storm's independent directors and the NRL appeared in the Victorian Supreme Court for a directions hearing this morning.

The Storm is arguing penalties imposed by the NRL for salary cap breaches, which included the loss of two premierships, were imposed unlawfully.

The NRL's lawyer Tony Meagher SC, told the court the Storm agreed to meet with them in April and conceded there had been salary cap breaches and then agreed to the penalties being imposed.

Mr Meagher asked that Valimanda, a Storm parent company, be involved in the proceedings.

Valimanda is owned by News Limited, publisher of The Australian.

The matter will return to court for a case conference in June.

The court heard any trial over the matter could take place in July or August.

Outside court, NRL solicitor Tony O'Reilly said the organisation would issue a claim to have Valimanda become part of the proceedings.

"What we are doing is Valimanda is one of the two entities that comprise the Melbourne Storm club, they were part of the decision therefore they should be part of the court proceedings,'' he said.

"We have no argument with them. The whole Melbourne Storm club was part of the decision.

"The NRL's decision was imposed on the club as a whole which comprises the two entities, therefore they should be part of the court process, so that everybody is bound.

"They agreed to the process that went on so the NRL obviously believes that they should be here as well.''

O'Reilly believes the case can be resolved before the finals series.

"We would be pretty confident we would be able to get it done in July and that will get it all over a long time before the semi-finals and it will be all sorted out a couple of months ahead,'' he said.

Latte Shock: Big coffee drinkers may have smaller babies according to Dutch study


ABC.net.au


A new Dutch study has found pregnant women who drink lots of coffee every day may have smaller babies.

Researchers in Rotterdam studied women who consumed the caffeine equivalent of six cups of coffee per day during their pregnancy.

They say, on average, their babies were slightly shorter than newborns whose mothers had consumed less caffeine during pregnancy.

The findings have been reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and add to the conflicting body of research on whether caffeine affects foetal growth.

"Caffeine intake seems to affect length growth of the foetus from the first trimester onwards," researcher Rachel Bakker said.

Heavy caffeine consumers also had an increased risk of having a baby who was small for gestational age - smaller than the norm for the baby's sex and the week of pregnancy during which he or she was born.

That finding, however, was based on a small number of babies, and the significance is uncertain.

Of 104 infants born to women with the highest caffeine intakes, seven were small for gestational age.

In this study, Ms Bakker and colleagues at the Erasmus Medical Centre used ultrasound scans to monitor foetal growth over the course of pregnancy in 7,346 women.

At each trimester, the women reported on their usual intake of coffee and tea.

Most women consumed less than the equivalent of four cups of coffee per day at any point in pregnancy, but between 2 and 3 per cent downed six or more cups' worth of caffeine.