Struggling farmers to get federal loans

Struggling farmers will be offered concessional loans under a federal government package. Source: AAP

FARMERS struggling with debt will be offered concessional loans under a federal government package Treasurer Wayne Swan says will help secure their long-term future.

The Farm Finance package will provide $60 million in loans for each state and the Northern Territory, over two years, to help farmers restructure their debts.

Extra rural financial counsellors will be hired to work with agricultural businesses, while a tax relief deposit scheme will be overhauled, including raising the off-farm income threshold to $100,000.

The assistance will be announced by Mr Swan and Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig in Townsville on Saturday afternoon.

The assistance package follows a rural finance roundtable held in October last year, convened by Mr Swan, who said he had been concerned to hear how farmers had been hit by the high Australian dollar and depreciating land values.

"These are big issues for our farmers and mean many of our farming businesses find themselves moving towards a negative equity situation," Mr Swan said in a statement on Saturday.

"The package we will announce today will provide relief to those viable farmers struggling with finance issues and will help secure their long-term future."

Senator Ludwig said the high dollar and falling land values had made it hard for viable farmers to manage their debts.

"Farm Finance will help lighten the load for farmers today and strengthen the foundation of Australian agriculture for the future," Senator Ludwig said in a statement.

"While there is no silver bullet solution, Farm Finance addresses the critical issues we have heard first hand from farmers in sensible and constructive way."

The federal announcement comes just days after the Western Australian government detailed a $7.8 million emergency aid package for 400 farmers facing financial ruin in that state's eastern Wheatbelt region.

The WA Farmers Federation welcomed the measures, but complained the package did not address the potential long-term future of the industry.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Smithfield shootings spark reprisal fears

POLICE say there could be violent reprisals in Sydney's west after four men were gunned down in what is believed to be an attack by a rival group.

The men, aged between 20 and 25, were shot outside a Smithfield residence just after 8pm (AEST) on Friday.

About 15 bullet holes were found in a garage door at the property.

The victims were currently undergoing surgery on Saturday for non-life threatening injuries, including gunshot wounds to the stomach and leg.

Police have said the shooting was targeted, but have ruled out any links to outlaw bikie gangs.

Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Arthur Katsogiannis said the shooting "relates to a conflict between groups which are known to police".

He said police were worried about reprisal action in the wake of the shooting.

"Certainly, we're concerned about retaliations," Mr Katsogiannis told reporters on Saturday.

"We'll be working very, very closely with the local area command investigators to ensure that we target those areas and individuals.

"We know who the individuals are in these groups."

Police were investigating the possibility that the incident could be linked to another shooting in the area on April 22, Mr Katsogiannis said.

He said a silver Holden Commodore was seen fleeing the scene shortly after the shots were fired on Friday night.

Police would be reviewing CCTV footage of the bullet-sprayed house.

Police hadn't yet spoken to any of the injured men, Mr Katsogiannis said.

The incident is one of seven shootings across the state in the past six days.

Mr Katsogiannis said he couldn't remember many worse weeks for crime in NSW.

"It's certainly one of the worst crime weeks we've had on record, it's very, very unfortunate in that respect," he said.

"Maybe it's the full moon, I don't know."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

NSW man shot in knee with BB gun

A MAN shot in the knee after objecting to remarks made to his girlfriend was wounded by a BB gun, police say.

Police said the 21-year-old man told them he was shot in the knee about 9.30pm (AEST) on Friday while walking with his girlfriend along Victoria Street East in Burwood, in Sydney's inner west.

The man said he was shot after objecting to remarks made to his 19-year-old girlfriend by a group of men.

After the shooting, the victim's girlfriend drove him to hospital.

Assistant Police Commissioner Arthur Katsogiannis said on Saturday that the victim was shot with a BB gun - a type of air rifle.

Police say they're looking for four men described as being of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance.

The victim was expected to have surgery on Saturday.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Patel to stand trial for GBH

Former surgeon Jayant Patel will face court in Queensland for the grievous bodily harm of a patient. Source: AAP

FORMER surgeon Jayant Patel will stand trial in Queensland for the grievous bodily harm of a patient in 2004.

Patel, who has pleaded not guilty and has been granted bail, was not in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday for the review of his case.

It is alleged he unnecessarily removed the colon of patient Ian Vowles, 65, while a director of surgery at Bundaberg Base Hospital.

Prosecutors will claim Mr Vowles' bowel showed no sign of cancer when the surgeon decided to operate, causing ongoing health complications to the patient.

The defence team will apply to poll prospective jurors for potential bias against Patel, who has been subject to significant publicity since his arrest in 2008.

The judge set September 23 for the hearing, which will run for up to 15 days.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Building workers' march in Vic to go ahead

Grocon CEO Daniel Grollo says incidents such as Melbourne's fatal wall collapse can sometimes occur. Source: AAP

THE union representing building workers says a march to the site of Melbourne's triple fatal wall collapse will go ahead, amid accusations it is trying to score political points.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine and the building industry have urged the CFMEU to call off Tuesday's protest, condemning the use of the wall in a political campaign.

But Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) Victorian secretary John Setka, who helped clear the rubble when three pedestrians were killed last month, denies it is politicising the tragedy.

"People are condemning us for moving a resolution wanting to make authorities a bit more proactive on safety," he said.

"I just hope Denis Napthine and some of these people writing this stuff and calling it disgusting - I just hope these people never have to witness and go through what we went through that afternoon, because I'll never forget."

The march begins at Trades Hall and will proceed to the Swanston Street site of last month's tragedy for a minute's silence as a sign of respect, without chanting, Mr Setka said.

It will head to Grocon's Emporium site where a crane operator was killed earlier this year for another minute's silence before moving on to WorkSafe.

Dr Napthine urged the CFMEU to call off the protest, saying it should not pre-empt investigations into the incident.

"The use of the tragic circumstances of the collapse of the wall in a political or union-based campaign is absolutely disgusting: it disgusts me, it disgusts Victorians," he said.

Master Builders Association of Victoria executive director Brian Welch said the protest was inappropriate and the union should focus instead on taking part in investigations into the incident.

However, Mr Setka says the union fears WorkSafe and the state and local government are covering up the tragedy.

"Our understanding is that WorkSafe have not even formally spoken to Grocon yet - how disgusting is that?"

He accused authorities of not coming out strongly enough after the incident to ensure it will never be repeated.

The City of Melbourne says no permit was issued for an advertising board fixed to the brick wall by Grocon.

Grocon CEO Daniel Grollo defended Grocon's safety record, saying construction sites are risky environments.

He told the Nine Network the union was politicising safety to justify an illegal, military-style campaign.

WorkSafe, which has up to two years to decide whether to prosecute, would not comment on the investigation.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Elderly WA woman fined over fatal crash

AN elderly Perth woman banned from driving for life after causing the death of a man will be haunted with memories of the accident for the rest of her days, her son says.

Mary Bolgia, 82, has been convicted by a jury of dangerous driving causing the death of Jean-Pierre McEvoy, 71, outside a service station in February last year.

He died in hospital a month later from injuries sustained in the accident.

In handing down the disqualification period and a $5000 fine in Perth's District Court on Friday, Judge Jeremy Curthoys accepted that Bolgia had been driving slowly when she struck Mr McEvoy but then panicked and accelerated.

He said it had been a "harrowing" experience for her and she was a low risk of reoffending.

Bolgia had co-operated with police and immediately surrendered her driver's licence, which demonstrated her remorse, the judge said.

"It falls, despite the tragic consequences, at the lower end of dangerous driving causing death," Judge Curthoys said.

He said his sentence did not take into consideration the value of Mr McEvoy's life.

Outside court, Bolgia's son Loyd (Loyd) told reporters the case had taken a toll on his mother, who had lost 5kg in the past few days.

Mr Bolgia said he was grateful that the judge was sympathetic to his mother's situation and accepted that it was an accident.

"Someone has died, which is tragic," he said.

"She's going to have to live with that for the rest of her life, basically, and maybe that was punishment enough for her."

Mr Bolgia said his mother had never been in a traffic accident before and was now catching the bus to get around and visit her Alzheimer's-affected husband, who was being cared for in a home.

He said she would never recover from the trauma of the memory of the accident.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Honour the Anzacs every day, urges WA

AUSTRALIANS have been urged to show the Anzac spirit of mateship and national pride every day, and not just once a year during the veterans march in Perth.

Residents of the Perth capital gathered in record numbers to honour veterans and present day diggers, with 50,000 gathering for the dawn service at Kings Park and even more then lining the streets of the city as hundreds of veterans marched.

Modern-day digger Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Willis, whose grandfather Robert Lowson was one of the original Anzacs to land at Gallipoli in 1915, led WA's main Anzac day march on a new route and with a new focus.

Vietnam veteran, former state and federal politician and now RSL WA president Graham Edwards said in his address the best way to honour the sacrifice of servicemen and women down the years was to live by their code every day.

"Perhaps we ought to better honour our Anzacs in our daily lives with those same qualities of humour, honour, sacrifice, mateship and a fair go for all," Mr Edwards said.

"Indeed if those same qualities were practised by all of us, including our nation's political, corporate and civic leaders, then we could give surely give truth and meaning to the saying - we will remember them."

Lt Col Willis said his pride at being able to lead the march was tempered with a realisation the Anzac tradition needed work to survive.

"The world and Australia have changed," Lt Col Willis said.

"But I'm sure those challenges can be met and the RSL can deliver like it did for my grandfather's generation."

WA governor Malcolm McCusker echoed the sentiment, saying Anzac day was about more than just the landing at Gallipoli in 1915 - it was about all wars that Australia had fought in and the people who gave their lives for the cause of freedom.

"To them we owe an enormous debt. A debt that we must never forget and which we must try to pay in our daily lives," he said.

Mr McCusker also paid tribute to the Aboriginal servicemen who were only in recent times acknowledged, as well as nurses and others who helped the wounded.

Young onlooker Maggie Wormold, 17, who had travelled from Busselton to attend the march, said she felt her generation was determined to retain the memories of the sacrifices of older Australians.

"It is important we never forget what they did in the last century, and what our forces are doing today," she said.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Don't glorify Anzacs, warns Tas governor

IMAGES of terrified soldiers who had "pissed in their own pants" have been used by Tasmania's governor to implore Australians not to glorify war on Anzac day.

Governor Peter Underwood says the country needs to remember the realities of conflict as the centenary of Anzac day approaches.

He has used a graphic description of an evacuation by a Vietnam War helicopter crewman to make his point.

The crewman describes soldiers being pushed out of an overcrowded chopper so it can take off and escape enemy fire.

He writes those being abandoned were so afraid "some had even pissed in their own pants".

Mr Underwood says Australia is in danger of overlooking the brutal reality of war as the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing approaches in 2015.

"That is what war is really like and, with respect to those who have a different view, I say that is how we should tell it to our children," he said.

The governor said the "real heroes" of war were those who fought in fear because their country needed them.

"They deserve honouring and remembering as they struggled to overcome the terror and do their duty: not the mythical tall, lean, bronzed and laconic Anzac, enthusiastically and unflinchingly carrying the torch of freedom in the face of murderous enemy fire," he said.

"Australia needs to drop the sentimental myths that Anzac day has attracted.

"The soldiers of Gallipoli must be respectfully, but realistically honoured and each of us must remain resolute about peace."

Tasmanian RSL president and Vietnam veteran Chris Munday hailed the speech, but acknowledged some would find it controversial.

"That was the best speech I ever heard in my life," Mr Munday told AAP.

"That gentleman told the truth.

"It's bloody horrible."

Thousands of marchers and onlookers crowded the Hobart Cenotaph for the city's official wreath-laying service.

Earlier, more than 5000 attended the city's dawn service.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

NT diggers praise Anzac Day youth turnout

VETERANS of World War II and more recent battles were overjoyed to see the crowds of young people who turned out for Darwin's Anzac Day.

"I am impressed by all the young people here," said 94-year-old WWII veteran Ted Milliken.

Lieutenant Milliken, who was too frail to march and was driven along the parade route, said seeing them line the streets made him happy.

He served aboard a ship in the Pacific during the war and while it was a "bit hairy", his vessel had never come under direct attack.

"I just got lucky," he said.

Air Surveillance Officer Rachel Boyles, aged 24, who served in Afghanistan with the Air Force in 2008 and 2009, praised the large turnout of people at Darwin's dawn service and Anzac Parade.

"It is really good to see the younger generation getting involved," she said.

Among the 3000-strong crowd who attended the dawn service in the city, many were of school age.

Fifteen-year-old Geoffrey King said it was his dream to join the air force one day.

"I have attended every dawn service since I was four," he said.

Earlier Bill Buckley, vice-president of the Darwin RSL, said in his speech that Alec Campbell, the last Australian veteran of the Gallipoli campaign, had warned Australians to never to glorify the event.

"It was a terrible fiasco, a total failure and best forgotten," Mr Buckley quoted him as saying. Mr Campbell died in 2002 aged 103.

Darwin turned on a cloudless morning and warm temperatures as the service was held overlooking Darwin Harbour under a full moon.

Members of the armed forces of Australia and the United States - which has a contingent of marines stationed in Darwin - laid wreaths at the cenotaph.

David Alford, 49, an ex-navy seaman, said he came to show respect for his country.

"I think this is a very important celebration of our proud history," Mr Alford said.

Military Police officer David Bates, who recently served in Afghanistan, said it was good to be in Darwin after the desolation he had seen overseas.

Lance Corporal Sean Starling was one of hundreds who lined Darwin's streets on Thursday to watch the Anzac Day parade, although he prefers not to march himself.

He served in Oruzgan province in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011.

"It is important to show support for the old diggers," he said.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Positive results from face transplants

FACE transplant surgeries are delivering positive results with few setbacks, a leading surgeon says.

Boston surgeon Dr Julian Pribaz led the team that performed the first full facial transplant in the US and also gave the American woman mauled by an out-of-control chimpanzee her new face.

Dr Pribaz says progress in the highly experimental discipline has been positive, with few setbacks and failures.

Outcomes from complicated "restoration" facial transplants were far superior to the reconstructive surgeries that had been performed in the past, he said.

"If you're taking bits and pieces of your back, your belly and legs it's never going to look anything like what it used it look like," Dr Pribaz told AAP.

"Whereas the possibility of actually taking something that God made, more or less, someone else's face and transferring that, totally changes the game plan and the outcome.

"That's a new potential way of thinking."

He said face transplants were still in the experimental phase, but the results were encouraging.

"It's very early on, it's not mainstream," he said.

"If you're doing an experiment you've got to expect that there may be some failures and problems on the way.

"Fortunately there haven't been too many of those and the results thus far have been fairly positive."

Dr Pribaz's team at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston has performed five face transplants.

The first was a full face transplant for a man who suffered severe electrical burns that left him with extreme facial injuries.

Dr Pribaz said many people who are candidates for this type of procedure have been living with their problems for years.

"To look normal, even human, is an amazing experience," he said.

Dr Pribaz is in Melbourne to deliver a lecture on the new concepts that have evolved around face surgery at a plastic surgery conference.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Canada train plot suspects reject charges

Two men accused of plotting with al-Qaeda to derail a passenger train in Canada appeared in court. Source: AAP

TWO foreign nationals arrested on suspicion of what police say was an al-Qaeda-backed plot to derail a Canadian passenger train have rejected the charges as they made their first court appearances.

Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, were arrested on Monday for allegedly planning to carry out an attack on a Via Rail train in the Toronto area.

The pair have been charged with conspiring to carry out an attack and conspiring with a terrorist group to murder persons, though very few details about the alleged plot have been revealed.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the suspects were "receiving support from al-Qaeda elements located in Iran" - a claim quickly rejected by Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as "truly ridiculous".

Esseghaier, in a Montreal courtroom, and Jaser, through his lawyer after a hearing in Toronto, both said on Tuesday they were distressed over what they described as unfounded allegations made against them. Neither man entered a formal plea.

Jaser "is in shock and disbelief", his lawyer John Norris told reporters outside the courthouse, adding: "He intends to defend himself vigorously against these charges."

Norris also accused authorities of "demonising" the two suspects and questioned the timing of their arrests on the heels of last week's deadly bomb attacks in Boston and as Canadian MPs consider new anti-terror measures.

"It's surprising," he said.

In Toronto, Jaser's defence team was granted a ban on publishing any evidence from the proceedings, and a bail hearing was set for May 23.

In Montreal, meanwhile, Esseghaier told Judge Pierre Labelle that the accusations were unfounded, but he was quickly cut off by the judge, who ordered the matter transferred to the Toronto court.

The RCMP told a press conference on Monday that the suspects had been under surveillance since last August, and were observed monitoring railways.

Police, however, emphasised there had been "no imminent threat".

The suspects' plans were "not based on their ethnic origins but on an ideology", RCMP Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said.

According to local media, authorities had first been alerted to the suspects by a Toronto imam who noticed one of the men trying to spread extremist propaganda.

Malizia said the suspects had received "direction and guidance" from al-Qaeda operatives in Iran, but emphasised the plot was not "state-sponsored".

Iran is a Shi'ite Muslim majority nation, while al-Qaeda is made up of Sunni Muslims who consider Shi'ites to be heretics.

The two sides, according to a former Canadian envoy to Tehran, John Mundy, are "natural antagonists".

"If it turns out al-Qaeda is now able to operate from an Iranian base (to strike western targets), that would be very new. That's something new and it has implications for us and the United States," he told the Ottawa Citizen.

The National Post reported that Esseghaier was born in Tunisia and identified Jaser as a Palestinian with United Arab Emirates citizenship.

Norris said Jaser is a Canadian permanent resident who has lived in this country for 20 years, and in that time has developed "very deep roots here".

On Esseghaier's LinkedIn profile, the 30-year-old presented himself as a Tunisian engineer who was a PhD student at Quebec's INRS University since November 2010.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cairns casino expects more Chinese

REEF Casino Trust expects the number of Chinese tourists visiting Cairns to rise, which the company says will benefit the Cairns casino.

Reef owns the Cairns casino.

"The Chinese tourist market for Cairns is expected to continue to grow," Reef Hotel Casino chief executive Allan Tan told shareholders at Reef's annual general meeting in Cairns on Wednesday.

"This will have a positive impact on our casino."

More Chinese tourists have been visiting Cairns since direct flights from China to Cairns started in October 2012.

Part of the Cairns casino's strategy is to attract more Chinese tourists, especially to play table games.

To this end, Reef says it has been focusing on providing the right gaming products, service, and having "the best and largest" Chinese restaurant in Cairns.

Mr Tan said that in the first quarter of the 2013 calendar year, the casino had experienced its best yet Chinese new year tourist season, which had had a positive effect on table gaming.

He also said the local and domestic gaming markets were holding up despite challenging economic conditions.

But conference activity at the hotel was soft, reflecting general economic uncertainty.

Units in Reef Casino Trust were five cents higher at $2.55 at 1412 AEST.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld mayor in race for Joyce's Senate seat

A LIBERAL National Party preselection battle is brewing over who will fill Barnaby Joyce's shoes as a Queensland senator.

Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown has put forward his name to replace Senator Joyce, who is contesting the House of Representatives seat of New England.

Former NSW MP Larry Anthony is also tipped to run for the Senate seat, as well as former LNP treasurer Barry O'Sullivan.

Mr Brown, who joined the LNP only last week, has served in local government for 24 years and will lobby for preselection on his credentials as a local politician.

He sits on Queensland's GasFields Commission set up by the state government to improve relations between farmers and the coal seam gas industry.

He has welcomed coal seam gas and mining development on the Western Downs, but says he'll fight to ensure miners are held to account.

"If you speak to the energy sector I'm terribly green. If you speak to the Greens, I'm terribly brown," he told AAP.

The new Senate candidate will be decided by the LNP's state council on May 25 in Mackay.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Coalition wants wealthy to donate more

THE federal coalition plans to revive a body to encourage community philanthropy among Australia's wealthy if it wins the next election.

Opposition families spokesman Kevin Andrews on Tuesday flagged the proposal to re-establish the former Howard government's community business partnership within six months of winning government.

"The partnership ... will encourage prominent Australians from the business and community sectors to work together for the benefit of the community," he told the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney.

Mr Andrews noted philanthropic and charity contributions had tapered off in the years following the global financial crisis.

The coalition's deregulation taskforce, led by Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos, would investigate ways to cut red tape for charities.

Mr Andrews reiterated the coalition's intention to dump the government's national charity and not-for-profit sector regulator.

"It has become yet another great big new bureaucracy," he added.

A coalition government would instead set up an small independent organisation to represent charity interests to government.

The body would liaise with federal, state and territory governments on developing a new, common financial and other reporting standard.

This would stop the practice of charities having to prepare multiple reports each year for different funding and regulatory bodies.

He also said charities in Britain had morphed into "quasi government organisations" with more than 25,000 charities in the Britain receiving more than three-quarters of their funding from governments.

"There is a danger that government can seduce community groups into becoming its mouthpiece," Mr Andrews added.

"When the civil sector accepts this arrangement, it effectively has lost its independence."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

US man shoots dead girlfriend, 3 others

A MAN has fatally shot his live-in girlfriend at an apartment south of Seattle and then killed three other people.

The dead included a 62-year-old neighbour who told others to call police and retreated inside his unit before the gunman broke down the door with a shotgun and opened fire.

The 27-year-old suspect was later shot and killed in a parking lot by responding officers.

"We believe this is a domestic-violence homicide," Federal Way Police Chief Brian Wilson said at a news conference.

Wilson said investigators believed the shooter may also have been trying to kill witnesses, KOMO-TV reported.

Police encountered a chaotic situation in Federal Way on Sunday night when they responded to reports of gunshots.

The suspect confronted arriving officers with a shotgun in a stairwell then fled to the parking lot after officers fired at him, Wilson said.

He was killed on the ground while reaching for a handgun, Wilson said.

"This is one of the most dangerous ... calls for law enforcement to respond to," Wilson said of the active shooter situation.

A King County medical examiner's spokeswoman said the identities of the dead were not expected to be released until Tuesday afternoon.

Wilson said the victims included the suspect's 25-year-old girlfriend, and three men, including the 62-year-old neighbour. The other men were 24 and 46.

Police were still piecing together information but believe the suspect shot his girlfriend in their apartment, then killed the two younger men after he left the unit.

Wilson said the 62-year-old man heard the commotion from another apartment, went outside to investigate and urged others to call authorities.

The man returned to his residence before he was shot and killed, the chief said.

Police said the gunman used the shotgun to fire on the man's door to gain entry.

It did not appear the older man knew the shooter, police said.

Authorities received the first reports of suspicious circumstances about 9:35 pm Sunday.

"When officers arrived there were still shots being fired," said police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock.

A total of eight officers fired their weapons, Schrock said.

All have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard policy in such situations, as the investigation continues.

Wilson said the suspect, who had a valid concealed weapons permit, had no criminal history.

However, he had been involved in two prior domestic violence calls in Federal Way and Seattle, Wilson said.

Both incidents were verbal in nature and no arrests were made, Wilson said.

Federal Way is about 30 kilometres south of Seattle.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Church culture helped abuse go undetected

CHILDREN complaining of sex abuse were rarely believed and sometimes punished under a culture in church and community organisations that helped the crime go undetected, Melbourne's Anglican archbishop says.

Archbishop Philip Freier said an unwillingness to face up to difficult and shameful things had created opportunities for people who wanted to breach the trust of children to do so.

Since the 1950s the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne has received 46 complaints of child sex abuse, the majority of which were perpetrated by the clergy, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry heard on Monday.

Twenty-six of these allegations were received after 2002.

"As you look backwards you can see broadly as a culture we've not readily listened to children when they've made complaints," Dr Freier told the inquiry.

"There have been opportunities for people who wanted to breach the trust of children to do that and often for children's accounts of that trust being broken, being disbelieved.

"Some were even punished for having raised a question about the conduct of an adult."

He said this was the case for many community organisations not just churches.

Dr Freier said the church had strived to ensure all priests were made aware of their responsibilities but acknowledged in the past there had been gaps in the system.

"We've always had high expectations and I expect that as a culture, churches generally, and community organisations have not had the necessary checks and balances," Dr Freier said.

However the Anglican Church's requirement that allegations of criminal misconduct be reported to police only applies to contemporaneous complaints.

Dr Freier said in the cases of historic abuse the church encouraged people to work with a solicitor.

He acknowledged the church's responsibility to report, but said they didn't want to risk "revictimising" the complainant.

Of the 46 complaints recorded by the church, 12 were reported to police and 20 were not, according to the church's independent director of professional standards, Claire Sargent.

She said the church's policy is to always report current allegations of child sex abuse but not historic allegations.

"If someone has knowledge they are required to report that," Ms Sargent said.

Dr Freier said he wished he could undo the harm that had been done.

"It is unfortunate that we cannot change the past, I wish I could - but I give a real and genuine commitment to enhance the processes and culture of our organisation," he told the inquiry.

"The abuse of children has no place in our society."

Since 2003, there have been 10 financial settlements for child sex abuse totalling $268,000 in the Melbourne diocese.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic discovery provides hope of cancer drug

MELBOURNE scientists have been involved in a discovery they hope will lead to a new cancer drug.

The scientists have created a new chemical compound designed to block a protein that has been linked to poor results in cancer treatment.

They say the development of the compound, called WEHI-539, is a big step towards designing a potential new cancer-fighting drug.

The compound has been developed by experts at Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), with colleagues at American biotechnology firm Genentech.

The death of abnormal cells is important in protecting the body against cancer developing.

But WEHI's Dr Guillaume Lessene said some proteins were acting to keep cancer cells alive.

As a result, the effectiveness of anti-cancer treatments such as chemotherapy are reduced.

"The idea behind the compounds that we've developed ... is that the compounds are basically reinstating the cell death process and therefore kill cancer cells," he said.

Dr Lessene said more development was needed to transform the compound into a drug which could be effective on patients.

"It will lead to a drug that would have efficacy and we think it may have efficacy in solid tumours for example," he said.

"This is a first step towards the drug but there is quite a lot of work to get to that point.

"What is important about it is that particular field of research is really challenging."

The research was published online on Monday in the Nature Chemical Biology journal.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Spending is Labor's budget problem: Abbott

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott says the federal government has a problem with spending rather than revenues, predicting budget deficits stretching out "as far as the eye can see".

Treasurer Wayne Swan revealed on Sunday government revenues would be about $7.5 billion less than forecast at the time of the mid-year budget review released in October.

But Mr Abbott said revenues were $70 billion higher than in the last year of the Howard coalition government, while expenditure was $100 billion higher.

"We certainly have a big budgetary problem," Mr Abbott told reporters in Perth.

"This is a government that can't keep its spending under control."

The Grattan Institute has warned Australia must prepare for more difficult economic times ahead by reducing its overall budget deficit.

The think tank, in a new report, says that Australia faced a "significant risk" of posting deficits of around four per cent of gross domestic product over the next 10 years, requiring governments to find savings measures and tax increases of $60 billion a year.

"What we need is a government which gets expenditure under control ... under this government there are deficits stretching out as far as the eye can see," Mr Abbott said.

"We can't wave a magic wand and solve all the problems that this bad government has created overnight, but surpluses are in our DNA."

He reeled off a number of initiatives proposed by the coalition, including stopping asylum seeker boats, which currently cost taxpayers $6.5 billion of "unnecessary spending".

Mr Abbott reaffirmed the coalition would scrap the school kids bonus and "slim" the public service, and said its version of the national broadbank network was $60 billion cheaper.

He also said there would be a modest reduction in company tax, although the precise amount and timing would be revealed closer to the election.

The coalition would stick with its version of the paid parental leave scheme, funded by a modest levy on larger businesses.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

AG plays down Boston bomber's sheik link

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Mark Dreyfus has played down any potential link between a Sydney sheik and the Boston Marathon bombing suspect killed in a shootout.

US authorities are investigating if Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was a follower of controversial Australian Muslim cleric Sheik Feiz Mohammed.

A YouTube page with the user name Tamerlan Tsarnaev features religious videos, including one by the Sydney-born sheik.

Mr Dreyfus played down the potential link saying the YouTube video was several years old.

"Sheik Feiz Mohammed in recent months, particularly in the later period of last year when there was some quite dramatic demonstrations in Sydney, condemned the use of violence," Mr Dreyfus told Network Ten on Sunday.

The attorney-general said that as a community leader Sheik Mohammed was "certainly" getting behind the government's countering violent-extremism program.

Young men should be "getting out on the sporting field" rather than sitting around talking about jihad, Mr Dreyfus said.

Meanwhile, Fairfax Media reports that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has tried to justify the indefinite incarceration of 55 refugees because of adverse security assessments, with allegations of murder plots, militant training and people smuggling.

Asked if there were implications from the Boston bombing on the way the group were processed, Mr Dreyfus said it was important people assessed as refugees were treated humanely by Australia.

"We have acted humanely by setting up, for the first time, a review process so that all of those people ... who have received an adverse security assessment from ASIO can have their cases reviewed," Mr Dreyfus said.

He said that review process had only just gotten underway and was being conducted by former federal court judge Margaret Stone.

Treasurer Wayne Swan is in Washington for official finance talks and says there is "apprehension and fear" in American communities.

"You can feel it as you walk down the streets," he said.

Mr Swan dismissed comments by shadow treasurer Joe Hockey that Australia should be more risk adverse in the way the country processes arrivals.

"I think it's far too early to draw conclusions," Mr Swan said.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fortescue predicts $140 iron ore price

FORTESCUE Metals chief executive Nev Power predicts the iron price will hover between $139 and $140 per tonne in the short term because of low iron ore stocks.

Australia's third largest iron ore miner says the commodity will then trade between $120 to $130 a tonne for the foreseeable future, preventing a repeat of last year's scare when the iron ore price tanked.

"We will have some fluctuations and in the short term I see this sort of price level of $139, $140 a tonne continuing because there are very low iron ore stocks," Mr Power told ABC's Inside Business program on Sunday.

He said steel stocks in China were relatively high but they were not increasing significantly and iron ore stocks were quite low.

"While there is some potential for a correction in steel production, it would only be minor and supply/demand balance is there in iron ore so there aren't the same factors that would create any significant drop in the iron ore price," he said.

He expects China's steel mills to keep producing 2.1 million to 2.2 million tonnes of steel a day.

Six months ago iron ore prices plunged to $US86.70 a tonne, dragging down Fortescue's shares and forcing it to refinance its debt.

Analysts said at the time the company could not repay its massive $12.6 billion in debt at those prices, but it now does not owe any debt until late 2015.

Mr Power also said the construction phase of Australia's mining boom was almost over as West Australian-based companies looked to cheaper alternatives overseas in the wake of Woodside's decision to shelve its onshore gas hub.

"To a large extent most of the construction is complete," Mr Power said.

"Construction costs have increased through Western Australia and Australia and I think we do need to be very careful not to price ourselves out of the market."

He added that globally there was no shortage of raw materials and commodities.

"It is about the ability to develop those projects cost-effectively and competitively and get them to market," Mr Power said.

Fortescue needed to constantly look at ways to improve the cost competitiveness of its projects.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic premier U-turns on outpatient promise

VICTORIAN Premier Denis Napthine is backing away from a key election promise to release the state's outpatient waiting list.

Before winning power in November 2010, the coalition pledged to release the list which has tens-of-thousands of people with referrals from GPs waiting to get into outpatient clinics.

Patients on the list have serious medical issues such as gallstones and potentially cancerous breast lumps.

Dr Napthine on Sunday would not affirm that the coalition would deliver on its promise.

Instead, he referred to hospital data already released. The data details the waiting time for treatment in emergency departments and elective surgery.

"We do release regular information about the performance of our hospitals and health services and we'll continue to do that," Dr Napthine said.

"It is a very comprehensive data set."

In opposition, now Health Minister David Davis attacked the then Labor government for not publishing the outpatient list.

He said tens of thousands of Victorians languished on outpatient waiting lists - some for years - before they even made the queue for surgery.

"In many cases these outpatient lists at our major public hospitals become a waiting list before the waiting list," Mr Davis said five months before the last state election.

"We need to get these lists on the record so that the community can see how long people have to wait and (so) that they can make choices about which hospital they go to, and what options they have available to them."

After becoming health minister, Mr Davis said the government had set up an independent panel of experts, headed by auditor Stuart Alford, to determine the best way to release the data.

Australian Medical Association Victorian president Stephen Parnis was assured last May the release of the outpatient list was imminent.

He said more than halfway through its term the coalition ought to have delivered on its commitment.

AAP mj/arb

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More