New foreign surgeon scandal in Qld

An overseas-trained doctor is being investigated in Queensland for a series of surgical errors. Source: AAP

TWO hospital chiefs have been sacked over a series of surgical errors by an overseas-trained doctor in Queensland.

It's been revealed a South American surgeon, who completed his undergraduate medical training in Spain, removed the wrong kidney from a patient earlier this year.

It's also alleged he nicked the artery of another patient, who later returned to hospital suffering extensive blood loss.

The case has echoes of the notorious Jayant Patel controversy, which turned the spotlight on the credentials of foreign-trained doctors working in the Queensland health system.

The Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service Board has sacked Rockhampton Hospital's director of surgery, along with the acting executive director of medical services.

Board chairman Charles Ware has told Fairfax radio there's a systemic issue at the hospital.

A broad-ranging review of patient safety systems had been ordered and another review will look at the incidents involving the surgeon.

"These reviews must be thorough and robust and I assure Central Queenslanders they will lead to decisive action that will ensure the safety of our patients," Mr Ware said in a statement.

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg has told parliament four surgical procedures carried out by the doctor are being investigated.

The surgeon had trained in Spain before coming to Australia, where he completed two years of training and became accredited to operate here in 2011.

He's worked in the public health system and in private practice in Australia.

"The Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service Board is confronting issues that arise from an unacceptable and worrying case of failed renal surgery earlier this year," Mr Springborg told parliament.

"An independent inquiry will look at four cases involving the same surgeon stretching back to 2011."

The Health Quality and Complaints Commission has also been asked to investigate the matter and whether there are systemic problems.

Before the minister addressed parliament, Mr Ware told Fairfax there appeared to be six incidents of concern involving the doctor.

"There are only two that have immediate patient impacts," he said.

"One is the case we disclosed last week where the wrong kidney was removed and the second one ... with a patient who was operated on and it would appear that an artery was nicked during surgery."

He said the second patient was recovering after being flown to Brisbane because the Rockhampton hospital lacked the facilities to care for him.

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Qld committee inquiry into MP threat

Queensland's ethics committee will investigate if MP David Gibson was threatened by a rival. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND'S ethics committee will investigate claims a political rival tried to intimidate government MP David Gibson.

Gympie rival Scott Elms a fortnight ago published details about Mr Gibson's past.

Mr Gibson admits he made mistakes and faced unspecified charges in 1999 but no conviction was recorded against him.

Premier Campbell referred the allegations to the Speaker and police on April 23, concerned that there was an attempt threaten or intimidate Mr Gibson.

Speaker Fiona Simpson on Tuesday referred the matter to the Ethics Committee.

"To attempt to influence a member in their conduct by bribes or threats is clearly a contempt," Ms Simpson told parliament.

"Similarly conduct having a tendency to impair a member independence in the future performance of their duties is also a contempt."

When selected as a candidate for the 2006 election, Mr Gibson didn't disclose details about his past.

He says he's suffering a nervous breakdown and won't contest the next state election.

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School chaplains face second challenge

A Queensland father is headed back to the High Court to challenge the school chaplaincy program. Source: AAP

THE federal government's school chaplaincy program has turned into a "half billion dollar behemoth", says the man who's challenging it in the High Court for a second time.

Queensland father of six Ron Williams says the Howard government program has got completely out of control.

"I have a strong objection to the federal government funding the chaplaincy program and that's what this case is about," the Toowoomba jazz musician told reporters outside the court on Tuesday.

"There is no place in public schools for any form of missionaries or evangelists or anything that isn't secular."

Former prime minister John Howard launched the controversial program - which aims to provide guidance to students - in the lead up to the 2007 election.

The High Court upheld Mr Williams' legal challenge against the program in a landmark decision in 2012 - but the Labor government quickly passed fresh legislation to keep it going.

"Here we are - it has become a half billion dollar behemoth," Mr Williams said.

Experts believe the new case could have far-reaching effects for the Commonwealth's ability to fund a range of programs.

A defendant in the case is the Scripture Union of Queensland, which receives funding under an agreement with the Commonwealth then distributes it to Queensland schools to employ chaplains.

Union chief executive Peter James said two studies had found that students, teachers and psychologists all valued the program.

He acknowledged that it had been controversial.

"People are divided on it. But I am not sure that people who are opposed to the program necessarily understand what chaplains do in schools. It's not a clerical role, it's not a theological role - it's a caring role."

The case is listed to run for three days.

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Job ads signal employment growth

FURTHER growth in job advertisement numbers suggests continued improvement in the labour market, but a tough federal budget could damage the employment outlook.

Job ads rose for a fourth consecutive month in April, up 2.2 per cent, figures from ANZ show.

Labour demand had strengthened in 2014, with a rise in hiring intentions suggesting the unemployment rate should be close to its peak at around six per cent or slightly lower, ANZ chief economist Ivan Colhoun said.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.8 per cent in March, down from 6.1 per cent in February.

However, any tax hike in the federal government's May budget could dampen the economic recovery, Mr Colhoun said, which would impact consumer and business confidence.

"The mooted introduction of a temporary deficit reduction levy will impact consumption both directly and indirectly," he said.

"The direct hit to incomes from the tax as is currently suggested will likely trim growth and consumer spending a little this year."

Mr Colhoun said discussion in the media of tighter budget policies was already weighing on consumer confidence.

ANZ's view was that the impact of these factors was likely to keep the recovery in the economy moderate, and interest rates unchanged this year, he said.

ANZ's report showed online job ad number strengthened in April, while newspaper ads declined, but that was likely due to the Easter and Anzac Day holidays, which may have seen some businesses delay their advertising.

Official employment data for April will be released on Thursday.

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Wage cut will cause social problems: ACTU

THE ACTU says recommendations to lower the minimum wage will create an underclass of "working poor". Source: AAP

RECOMMENDATIONS to cut the minimum wage will result in low income earners taking home pay packets equivalent to 1998 levels, the ACTU says.

Its analysis of the commission of audit has found the plan to reduce the minimum wage to 44 per cent of average weekly earnings will leave Australians worse off than workers in Britain and Canada within two to three years.

This will create an underclass of "working poor", the union body says.

"The plan to aggressively drive down the minimum wage would see its real value fall to its 1998 level," the ACTU says.

Audit Commission chairman Tony Shepherd cited the 12.5 per cent youth unemployment rate as one reason minimum wage reform was needed.

ACTU president Ged Kearney said the minimum wage had nothing to do with the federal budget and there was no evidence reducing it would improve employment prospects for young people.

"I do not see how lowering the minimum wage will help youth unemployment," Ms Kearney told reporters on Monday. "It will create more social problems than anything else because people will not be able to meet their costs.

"What sort of government thinks it's a good idea to savagely cut the already unacceptably low wages of the lowest paid workers in the community?"

Melbourne airport cleaner Victor Barrientos said the minimum wage made life hard for his family.

"I have to do two job - one job in the morning, so early, and after my wife and I go to clean a school," Mr Barrientos said.

He said he felt under attack from the government.

Ms Kearney said other recommendations meant people would be paying more for basic services.

"They won't have any public services they can rely on because all the advice being taken by the government is from big business," Ms Kearney said.

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Scientists make bacteria-killing fabric

AN antibacterial fabric which has been shown to kill off two of the world's most infectious and deadly pathogens has been developed by scientists in Melbourne.

Both E.coli and Staphylococcus aureus were shown to die off within 10 minutes of contact with the fabric, which utilises the antibacterial properties of silver.

Potential applications include bandaids and wound dressings, surgical gowns and bed sheets as a hi-tech means to reduce hospital-acquired infections.

"It has been known for the last hundred years that silver is anti-bacterial," explains Associate Professor Vipul Bansal, from RMIT University's School of Applied Sciences.

"Silver metal, when it comes into contact with body fluids, releases silver ions and these ions are actually toxic and have anti-microbial and antibacterial properties.

"Instead of using silver metals, we developed a new material called silver TCNQ which releases these silver ions quite slowly so the antibacterial effect is long-term."

The new material is suited to use as a fabric coating, Assoc Prof Bansal said, and its potency has been found to survive multiple washes.

Ordinary fabric is dipped into a special solution to give it the desired antibacterial properties.

"We have shown that we can do up to one metre in one go with this simple immersion process," Assoc Prof Bansal said.

"We also took one of our old used T-shirts ... dipped it into solution and the whole T-shirt became this material so it is quite an efficient process."

The T-shirt remains off-limits for wear until testing confirms the material has no negative effect on human cells.

The research has been ongoing for a year in collaboration with CSIRO, and a paper describing the new material was recently published in the prestigious journal Advanced Functional Materials.

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Qld police hunt driver after wild chase

A MAN who led Queensland police on a wild car chase is still on the run.

Police say two officers were injured during the dramatic pursuit north of Brisbane on Saturday night.

The driver rammed two police cars trying to escape, ploughing into one of the cars so hard it overturned.

The sergeant inside escaped serious injury but a constable who later chased down one of two men inside the car broke his hand.

The drama began when Sunshine Coast police tried to stop the stolen station wagon at the beachside suburb of Marcoola about 9.15pm.

Instead of pulling over the driver drove into the police car at speed then accelerated away.

The car was spotted later that night at Morayfield, north of Brisbane, and officers managed to puncture its front tyres with road spikes.

But the station wagon kept going and soon after ploughed into the back of a police van, causing the van to roll on its roof.

The out-of-control car finally hit a gutter in a nearby street and came to a stop.

Two men inside tried to get away but one, the passenger, was chased down by a police officer who injured his hand making the arrest.

Police are speaking with a 21-year-old Kallangur man but are still looking for the driver.

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British princes go to Graceland

Fans have gathered in Memphis to spot Princes William and Harry as they attend a friend's wedding. Source: AAP

PRINCE William and Prince Harry toured the home of the King - Elvis, that is - and then went to a friend's wedding during their trip to Tennessee.

Their visit inspired dozens of fans, paparazzi and news media to wait for hours outside the Memphis Hunt and Polo Club for the chance to see royalty. Instead, they saw police and several black sport utility vehicles pull into the club.

For 15-year-old Danny Harp, that was enough. Just being metres from a future king was a dream come true, he said.

"Absolutely blown away. I feel like I waited three years since the wedding to see this in person," said Harp, referring to Prince William and Kate Middleton's ceremony.

Harp drove about 320km from Nashville with his mother and a friend. They waited for the royals for about five hours as he held a small England flag and magazines with Princess Diana and the royal wedding on them.

"I thought I'd rather be here and not see anything than be at home and feel like I missed something," he said.

He did get to see the bride, Lizzy Wilson, drive up in a 1950s-style turquoise Cadillac.

Wilson is the granddaughter of the late Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson. She married London night club owner Guy Pelly.

The royal brothers took a private tour of Graceland, the home of Elvis, on Friday.

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Pedestrian killed in Sydney bus crash

A MAN has died after being trapped under a bus which witnesses say mounted a footpath in Sydney's Haymarket.

Emergency services were called to Hay Street in the inner city around noon on Sunday following reports a pedestrian had been hit by a coach.

Witnesses have told police the bus was travelling west when it veered to the opposite side of the road, mounted the footpath and hit the awning of a restaurant on the corner of Hay Street and Dixon Street.

They say a man was hit by the bus and was trapped under it.

He died at the scene.

Another pedestrian died on Saturday evening when trying to cross a major highway at Parramatta in Sydney's west.

Police say the man was walking south across three lanes of the M4 when he was hit.

About seven other cars then slammed into the back of the two vehicles that struck the man, a police spokeswoman told AAP.

The man died at the scene.

Police aren't sure why the man was trying to cross the elevated highway, which has no footpaths.

The drivers of the cars which hit the man have been taken to hospital for mandatory drug and alcohol testing.

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Confusion over why PM cancelled Bali trip

The federal government won't say why Prime Minister Tony Abbott cancelled a trip to Indonesia. Source: AAP

LABOR is demanding to know why Prime Minister Tony Abbott cancelled a planned trip to Indonesia, accusing him of further straining the relationship with one of Australia's closest neighbours.

Arrangements were being made for Mr Abbott to visit Bali early next week, where he'd been invited by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to attend a regional forum on open government.

But the trip has been put on ice, with speculation an asylum seeker operation underway northeast of Australia could be the reason behind the last-minute decision.

The prime minister's office has not confirmed why the visit was junked just days before the two leaders were expected to meet on the sidelines of the conference.

The invitation was seen as an opportunity to salvage relations damaged after a spying scandal late last year that saw Indonesia suspend high-level co-operation with Australia.

Shadow foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek is calling for answers.

"Rejecting this invitation at this late stage really does put extra strain on the relationship," she told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.

"It's very important that the prime minister discloses the reasons that he's really not going."

It's understood the trip was deemed too politically risky while Australian authorities were in the process of intercepting an asylum seeker vessel heading towards the mainland.

Turning back or towing an asylum seeker boat to Indonesia during the prime minister's visit could have caused embarrassment President Yudhoyono, sources say.

The Australian Greens said Mr Abbott's "cruel" asylum seeker policy had robbed Australia of a real chance to mend ties with Indonesia.

"That's the extent of the embarrassment that Tony Abbott is to Australia both domestically and internationally," Greens leader Christine Milne told reporters in Hobart.

"He's hoist on his own petard."

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said there was nothing unusual or remarkable about the decision to cancel the trip, suggesting the impending budget was the reason.

"The prime minister is obviously very focused on his responsibilities here in Australia, 10 days out from our first budget," he told Sky News on Saturday.

Labor frontbencher Ed Husic rejected this explanation, accusing him of undermining Australia's foreign interests by snubbing Indonesia.

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