The Howard Government proposes to deepen Australia-Japan relations with a bilateral security agreement for new military and security co-operation between the former World War II enemies. The proposal was advanced by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer during his recent talks inTokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the likely next prime minister, Shinzo Abe. In an interview with The Weekend Australian this week, Mr Downer said Australia-Japan security ties were undergoing "a complete transformation".

Cabinet's National Security Committee has recently approved a submission by Mr Downer on a negotiating framework to advance Australia-Japan bilateral ties. The proposed agreement is not an ANZUS-type treaty but similar to the agreement the Howard Government now seeks with Indonesia. Mr Downer did not rule out joint exercises in Australia with Japanese Self Defence Force troops but drew a distinction with the "aggressive military training" the ADF undertook with the US military. "We talked about a security agreement during my recent visit," Mr Downer said. "This was by far the best trip I have had to Japan as Foreign Minister. We are now seeing a complete change in Japan's attitudes to where they were previously. We believe a security agreement is something to explore."

The upshot is that the agreement is being negotiated by officials from both countries. As part of his campaign for office, Mr Abe, a nationalist supportive of the US alliance and critical of China, has called for Japan to adopt closer strategic ties with Australia and India. Mr Downer was also upbeat about the prospects for a bilateral free trade agreement between Australia and Japan.

Source

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Two current articles below

Little improvement at Queensland Health despite increased funding

Queensland public hospitals are continuing to report insufficient staff numbers, staff fatigue and reduced and restricted services, says leaked internal Queensland Health documents. The documents, dated July 21, not only identify current shortages being experienced in public hospitals, but predict these will continue into next year. In response to questions about likely future impact of current employment status and vacancies, hospital administrators have written "lack of physicians is compromising surgery; service unsustainable in current form; insufficient medical officers to support ongoing total services and sustain safe roster; and significant fatigue of core staff". Another question asking whether shortages of medical staff are anticipated in January 2007 finds that little improvement is expected.

At the beginning of the year, Premier Peter Beattie said he would quit his job by the end of the year if the crisis affecting the state's hospitals was not fixed. This pledge was later withdrawn by Mr Beattie, who in March declared his Government had "turned the corner" in its efforts and had "made very significant advances".

Health Minister Stephen Robertson said yesterday the figures, contained in minutes and attachments to Queensland Health's Central Area Medical Workforce Advisory Group, were "in line with what the Government has been saying publicly for months". "We continue to recruit aggressively, but we need more doctors as there are several vacancies that still exist. That is why the Premier and I led two separate overseas recruitment drives this year," Mr Robertson said. "Latest figures show there are 4863 doctors in our public health system - that is an increase of 311 on June 2005. "As our recruitment efforts progress, we continue to target the key medical vacancies that exist in our hospital such as emergency medicine, mental health, obstetrics and surgical specialties."

Deputy Coalition Leader and health spokesman Bruce Flegg said the documents were very significant and "remove any doubts that nothing has changed". "Mr Beattie has not fixed the system and continues to cover up the real position," Dr Flegg said. "There is a threat to services across the board because the Government has failed to reform the culture of Queensland Health. It is far too bureaucratic and there is enormously low morale."

Source

One victim of negligent Queensland Health regulators

Jack McDougall thought he was one of the lucky ones after federal Nationals MP De-Anne Kelly's claimed in Parliament that Mackay Base Hospital had allowed a surgeon to undertake operations he was not fit to perform. Mr McDougall, 45, was in pain for almost a year after about 10mm of mesh was left rubbing against his abdominal muscles.

Abdalla Khalafalla performed a double hernia operation on Mr McDougall on February 15 last year. Despite repeated post-op consultations with Dr Khalafalla, during which he was advised to "wait it out", Mr McDougall opted to pay for a private surgeon. "When they went in to do it they saw about 8 to 10mm of mesh was rubbing . . . so they nipped that, pulled the extra mesh out and I was as good as gold," he said. Mr McDougall said he considered himself lucky because his affliction was relatively minor. "Some of the other cases she (Ms Kelly) talked about sounded a lot more serious. It makes you wonder."

The Courier-Mail tried to contact Dr Khalafalla yesterday, but a Queensland Health spokeswoman said he was still "too upset" to speak publicly about the matter. But Craig Margetts, the district executive director of medical services, said the hospital had responded correctly to concerns raised by Dr Khalafalla's peers. Dr Margetts said the situation in Mackay was far removed from that of Jayant Patel in Bundaberg. "There are a number of differences (to the Patel case), the first and probably most important difference is that Dr Khalafalla himself has been very co-operative and has been working very strongly with us in terms of making sure that his range of practices are limited to very safe procedures," he said.

Dr Margetts said he was not aware of any problems with Dr Khalafalla's competence before he arrived in Mackay. Bundaberg Patients Support Group founder Beryl Crosby yesterday urged patients to come forward with their experiences at Mackay Base Hospital.

Source

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Embattled judge Marcus Einfeld has reneged on a promise to identify who was behind the wheel of his speeding car - and blamed police inaction for the silence. Despite earlier claiming the announcement of the "actual driver" was imminent, Mr Einfeld's legal team yesterday refused to reveal that person's identity. The silence comes after Mr Einfeld gave three different versions as to who was driving the 67-year-old's silver Lexus when it was clocked at 60km/h in a 50km/h zone at Mosman on January 8 this year.

Barrister Winston Terracini SC yesterday said Mr Einfeld's legal team had not been contacted by NSW Police's State Crime Command. He said this prevented the disclosure of the person he had earlier claimed had been driving Mr Einfeld's speeding car. "In light of what Police Minister (Carl) Scully announced yesterday, we will fully co-operate with any inquiry," Mr Terracini told The Saturday Daily Telegraph. "As soon as the police contact us - we feel that it's far better that we release any information to them (rather than the media)."

On Thursday, Mr Terracini said he had been in contact with "a person in the US". "(We) hope to be in a position in the next few days to reveal the details of the actual driver," the senior barrister said. Mr Einfeld flew back into Sydney from a speaking engagement in Adelaide yesterday afternoon and headed directly for a meeting with his legal advisers.

As controversy mounted with the release of the ex-federal court judge's shocking driving record, police who will interview Mr Einfeld about his controversial evidence would not reveal the status of their investigation. State Crime Command operations manager Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Dein refused to answer a series of questions posed by The Saturday Daily Telegraph about the inquiry. "There is a current investigation being conducted by the State Crime Command. We will not be commenting on the investigation at the moment," he said.

It is understood detectives plan to interview Mr Einfeld next week about the controversial evidence he gave to the Downing Centre Local Court on Monday to beat a a $77 speeding fine. Mr Einfeld told the court he had been in Forster on the day of the offence and that he had loaned his car to Professor Teresa Brennan. The Daily Telegraph had learned Florida-based Professor Brennan died in January 2003 - three years before the speeding offence.

Mr Einfeld then claimed he had loaned his car to a second Professor Brennan - with the first name of Terese or Therese - who had died this year, also in a car accident. He later claimed he had given his car to a third person, who he refused to name. Mr Einfeld continued his silence yesterday, with calls to his mobile phone going unanswered. The respected human rights activist was also uncontactable through his city offices. "We haven't seen him all day," a spokeswoman said.

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How vulnerable you are if you don't understand how English spelling works. Last week, the venerable Justice Peter McClellan of the NSW Supreme Court was caught by the poor spelling of another. He was quoted in another daily newspaper: "The most troubling aspect of memory - be it a child's memory or an adult's - may be its venerability to suggestion."

I am sure he said no such thing. Venerability is another word for venerable, "commanding respect in virtue of years and high personal qualities" (Oxford English Dictionary). Our language has enjoyed this word unchanged since 1480. It comes from the Latin venerare, to reverence, worship. In light of extensive research and experience, the word hardly applies to memory.

Much more likely, McClellan said vulnerable, from the Latin, vulnus, or wound. Today, as in 1605, the word means "open to attack or injury", including physical or non-physical wounds (OED). Vulnerability makes sense when talking about memory. Vulnerable is a word that has survived since 1605, unscathed until recently when English speakers have found it too demanding to pronounce correctly. Instead of vul-ner-a-ble, with the accent on the first syllable, it has become vun-er-a-ble. I cringe every time I hear this solecism (from the Greek, speaking incorrectly). Swallowing the L before an N or M and then pronouncing a doubled N or M is a common shift, as in salmon, which has become accepted as correct English.

McClellan may well have pronounced the word correctly but was heard incorrectly. A typo coming up as a spelling error may have provoked the wrong correction. If the reporter, or the editor, or the spellcheck had thought about or included the roots of words, all the information was there to make the meaningful choice. Attention to spelling really does matter, and using the building blocks of our language to say what we mean and mean what we say is not only fascinating but empowering.

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The Howard Government will hire an extra 3000 soldiers to reinforce the army as it fights a growing number of campaigns around the world. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson will next week ask his cabinet colleagues to approve the expansion as a matter of urgency. He will also seek approval to completely overhaul the methods used to hire troops and their pay and conditions in a bid to attract new members and to keep those already in uniform. It is understood the extra troops will be based at either Townsville or Darwin.

More than 4200 military personnel, or 8 per cent of the 51,000 strong force, will be posted overseas by November. That will include 2000 in East Timor, 1400 in Iraq and the Gulf and 650 in Afghanistan. In addition, more than 430 Ausralian federal and state police are also working in overseas trouble spots.

A total of 1500 soldiers will be hired as part of the program to "harden" the army and up to 2000 further soldiers will be recruited to fill operational shortfalls. Dr Nelson, who has taken direct responsibility for recruiting, wants a complete overhaul of the system used to hire military personnel. Extra pay is only part of the equation and according to well placed sources other issues such as longer postings, educational facilities, spouse employment and more relaxed health requirements will also be implemented. "We are very busy and one of the things that I'm looking at, along with the Prime Minister at the moment, is the size of the Australian Defence Force and whether we need to increase it, but I can assure you that we still have additional troops to send to our region or our borders or other parts of the world if we need to do it," Dr Nelson said.

The army has an infantry company on permanent 24 hours' notice to move, with another on a week's notice. About 10 per cent of the army's 25,000 personnel are deployed offshore. Given that 10 per cent will replace them and another 10 per cent are getting ready, that means 30 per cent of the nation's Diggers are tied up with offshore deployments

Source

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For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Page. If this blog or any other of my blogs cease to be updatable, or are difficult to access, go here to locate a mirror site for it. Email me (John Ray) here. RSS site feed: http://www.blognow.com.au/rss.php?u=libertas

Two current articles below from Queensland and two from Victoria

MP accuses Egyptian surgeon

North Queensland hospital has been accused of allowing an incompetent surgeon to perform unauthorised operations, with dangerous consequences for a host of patients. In a case certain to draw comparisons with Bundaberg's Jayant Patel affair, it has been alleged that an Egyptian-trained surgeon, known only last night as Dr Khalifallah, performed operations at Mackay Base Hospital against expert advice.

Federal Nationals MP DeAnne Kelly told Federal Parliament last night that Dr Khalifallah was employed by Queensland Health in 2004 and by July last year the hospital's credentiality committee determined he must be supervised during all major surgery. "Within four weeks he undertook three major surgical cases without supervision, with complications arising," she said. Ms Kelly said that in one case the removal of a bowel tumour resulted in faecal matter entering the intestinal cavity.

In November last year, the hospital wrote to Dr Khalifallah directing him to cease performing elective abdominal surgery altogether and emergency abdominal surgery unless he had consulted superiors. Ms Kelly said duty of care to patients was overlooked because the hospital reversed its position out of fear that Dr Khalifallah would lose his job. Earlier this year, Ms Kelly said the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons contacted the hospital again, listing a host of operating and clinical errors.

The cases detailed included: botched keyhole surgery; performing a procedure in a ward which should have been done in an operating theatre; wrongly ordering "no further visiting" for a patient, who subsequently - after intervention from staff - required five to six operations; claiming a cow kicking a patient was the cause of post-operative complications and tampering with surgical notes to "cover up" that he had operated alone.

Despite being backed by the hospital's director of surgery Raad Almehdi to return to full duties, Dr Chris Perry from the college wrote to the hospital on July 19 this year warning of serious concerns about Dr Khalifallah. A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson last night said: "We are aware of the case and appropriate undertakings have been put in place. The doctor is working under close supervision by senior doctors and he has been on restricted practice since February."

Source

Intensive care shortage in Queensland

The Queensland Government has conceded that hospital intensive care units had too many patients and not enough beds in the state's southeast on Monday night. Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg yesterday quizzed the Government in Parliament over claims that after 8pm Monday not one intensive care unit bed was available in any ward south of Nambour on the Sunshine Coast. Mr Springborg said patients on life-support systems were put in corridors and ambulances were put on bypass. "Minister, if that is the present situation in our hospitals, isn't there going to be a major crisis when the flu season strikes in earnest and what will happen if a major incident occurs?" Mr Springborg asked.

Health Minister Stephen Robertson said he had been advised that only two patients in the whole of southeast Queensland could not immediately access a hospital intensive care bed. But he said it was true that all available staffed ICU beds in both public and private hospitals in southeast Queensland were full on the night. He said the two patients at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital who could not immediately access an ICU bed were kept ventilated and cared for in the emergency department.

Source

Melbourne ambulance service deteriorating

Health Minister Bronwyn Pike is under fire for claiming ambulance emergency response times are on target. The claim comes just weeks after Herald Sun reports highlighting growing delays and a state Budget report that found emergency response targets had been missed by an average of two minutes. Opposition health spokeswoman Helen Shardey accused Ms Pike of misleading Victorians and Parliament. Ambulance Employees Association boss Steve McGhie said all the evidence from paramedics and data seen by the union showed response times were getting worse.

Responding to a question from a government MP on improvements to ambulance services, Ms Pike said Melbourne's ambulance service now ranked among the best in the world. She said money provided had more than doubled to add 652 extra paramedics, 54 extra ambulances and to upgrade and build new ambulance stations. "While caseloads are up -- 64,000 additional emergency services in metropolitan Melbourne and 30,000 extra emergency services in rural areas -- response times are on target," she said.

The May Budget reported that the ambulance response time for 90 per cent of code one emergencies in metropolitan Melbourne was two minutes slower than the 13-minute target for 2004-05 and was expected to be 14 minutes in 2005-06. Statewide, response times were also two minutes slower than the 15-minute target for 2004-05 and were expected to be 16 minutes in 2005-06.

"If the Minister is referring to the past then I'm astounded she is claiming the response times have been on target because clearly they have never been met by this Government," Ms Shardey said. "And if she's referring to this current year she must looking into her crystal ball because we are only six weeks into the current year." A spokesman for Ms Pike said when the impact of lengthy industrial action in 2004-05 was allowed for, the target had been met.

In May the Herald Sun revealed ambulances called to emergencies took at least 20 minutes to respond on more than 900 occasions in Melbourne last year. Documents seen under Freedom of Information revealed Sunbury was the worst-hit suburb, with 60 delays, including one 77-minute wait for a patient with breathing problems. Leaked ambulance figures revealed that just 68 per cent of metropolitan Code One emergency calls were reached within 14 minutes in March, 74 per cent in February and only 72 per cent in January.

Source

Hospital waiting lists in Victoria

Health Minister Bronwyn Pike has attacked the Liberals for using sick people as political pawns -- but conceded the tactic could get them treatment sooner. Her comments came amid growing political controversy over the number of people on hospital waiting lists.

Ms Pike defended the handling of the case involving 11-year-old Georgia Duncan, who suffers a life-threatening illness and is fed through a tube. Georgia's family say they were told she would have to wait from six to 18 months for surgery to improve her mobility, but Labor and the Royal Children's Hospital say she had only been on the waiting list for nine days and would have to wait for up to three months.

Her case has sparked a political row, and Ms Pike accused the Liberals of using Georgia and her family as political pawns -- but then admitted the strategy could help her get treatment sooner. "When people draw public attention and the Government's attention to their particular plight it does give an opportunity, as it does when you go to your doctor, to have a reassessment," Ms Pike said. "We genuinely care that people do have the opportunity to be reassessed if they are in pain."

The Opposition has set up a phone hotline for Victorians who have been left languishing on hospital waiting lists. But Ms Pike said the Liberals are giving false hope to sick people and called on them to release the details of those who had called the hotline. "It's not up to the Opposition to set themselves up as some kind of quasi-triage operation," she said. "I . . . am open and accountable about the fact that our system doesn't always provide the most timely care for some people. "We know we have to improve it. We are committed to improving it . . . but there is a lot more work to be done."

Royal Children's Hospital spokeswoman Julie Webber said Georgia was always listed as a category two patient. "Before this time, Georgia was not on a surgical waiting list and therefore not classified," she said. Opposition health spokeswoman Helen Shardey said Georgia's case was systematic of a public health system in crisis, but she refused to detail what policies the Liberals would put forward.

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For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Page. If this blog or any other of my blogs cease to be updatable, or are difficult to access, go here to locate a mirror site for it. Email me (John Ray) here. RSS site feed: http://www.blognow.com.au/rss.php?u=libertas

Sydney is racist, sexist and backward, according to a British newspaper columnist. The columnists writes that the events of the past week or so - Dean Jones labelling a Muslim a terrorist and Mel Gibson unleashing an anti-Semitic tirade - have done nothing to dispel Britain's perception of Australia as a nation of Sir Les Pattersons.

Evening Standard writer Hannah Pool criticised Australia as homogenous and its national mood as smug. "Forget about popping out to the corner shop and coming back with a feast of Polish bread, Turkish cheese and Indian vegetables," she wrote of Sydney. Pool clearly did not take the time to visit one of the many Italian restaurants in Leichhardt, enjoy a Lebanese kebab, sample the city's plethora of south-east Asian cuisine, or take advantage of the fact that sushi in Sydney is extremely fresh and affordable by London standards.

Further weakening her argument was her admission that she had been to Australia about five years ago with her then boyfriend who was on a business trip. They stayed at the Observatory Hotel near Sydney's CBD and she began to form her opinions after a couple of days.

"Far from being a hip, modern city, I found Sydney racist, sexist and deeply backward," she said. "I couldn't wait to come back home to London. On the journey from Heathrow to Hackney I saw a greater mix of people than I would in a lifetime in Australia." Her views are presented to readers of a newspaper with a circulation of more than 300,000 - many of whom may not have been to Australia to form their own opinion.

More here

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But Howard is cautious about claiming the credit he deserves

Australia's unemployment rate has slipped to a generational low of 4.8 per cent, new figures show. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in work increased 50,000 to almost 10.25 million during July, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.1 percentage point. Total unemployment fell 14,100 to 513,900. The number of people looking for full-time work fell 8,200 to 363,900. The improvement in the jobless rate came even though the participation rate - the number of people looking for work - increased to 65 per cent.

Among the states, unemployment was down in NSW (to 5.1 per cent from 5.4 per cent), Queensland (to 4.5 per cent from 4.6 per cent), Western Australia (to 3.1 per cent from 3.5 per cent), Tasmania (to 6.1 per cent from 6.5 per cent), the Northern Territory (to 4.7 per cent from 5 per cent) and the ACT (to 2.8 per cent from 3.0 per cent). It remained steady in Victoria at 5.1 per cent, while it rose in South Australia (to 5 per cent from 4.7 per cent). Total full-time employment soared by 20,000 positions in WA alone and another 10,000 full-time jobs were created in Victoria.

Low jobless rate shows strength of IR laws: Howard

Prime Minister John Howard said the fall in the unemployment rate showed the strength of the Government's industrial relations laws. Seizing on the figures, which showed an extra 50,000 jobs created in July, Mr Howard said it showed a campaign against the Government's IR changes were simply wrong. "Whilst I'm not at this stage able to claim, and I won't claim, that the new jobs are directly attributable to the abolition of the unfair dismissal laws, it's too early to make that claim," he told reporters.

"It is not however, too early to refute completely on the basis of these figures the outrageous claims that were made by the Labor Party at the time and by the unions at the time, that this new legislation would lead to mass sackings. "We now have unemployment at 4.8 per cent. It's the lowest since August of 1976. It's a wonderful thing that the key social economic indicator in Australia should be so strong."

Mr Howard said the low jobless rate was a reflection of the overall strength of the economy. Mr Howard said he had no more plans for sweeping changes to Australia's industrial relations system. "Don't try and ... suggest to me that I have further industrial relations reforms in mind,'' Mr Howard told reporters. "I regard these industrial relations reforms as very much the needed package and I don't have any more in contemplation so let me make that very clear." His comments come after he announced Human Services Minister Joe Hockey had been appointed to help Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews sell the Government's WorkChoices law.

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Fewer than half of all Year 7 students could identify verbs or adjectives and only 7 per cent could spell "definitely" in a literacy test sat by all NSW students entering high school this year. The results of the English Language and Literacy Assessment, run in March, show that a majority of students have difficulty with spelling, punctuation and grammar. Only 27 per cent of students knew where to put the apostrophe in "children's excitement" and 35 per cent were able to put the apostrophe in "can't".

When asked about the phrase "made Nick's eyes water", only 40 per cent of students identified the word water as a verb and just 44 per cent knew the words "calm", "still" and "unexpected" were adjectives. When given misspelt words to correct, one in four students was able to spell "accommodation", 37 per cent could spell "scaly", 47 per cent could spell "razor" and 53 per cent could spell "paid". But almost one in five students was unable to correct the sentence, "Then Ron and me had lunch", while only 35 per cent corrected "could of" to "could have".

Senior lecturer in the school of languages and linguistics at Melbourne University Jean Mulder said the specific teaching of grammar had been dropped from school curriculums around the nation and the poor literacy results showed that this approach was not working. Dr Mulder designed the English language course in Victoria for Year 11 and 12 students, which teaches grammar as part of a study of literature and language. Dr Mulder said most students who were familiar with grammar had learnt it from studying a second language, where grammar was specifically taught. "It's time to rethink the way grammar and language is taught, but not just simply repeating the traditional grammar approach of being taught by rote," she said. "It needs to be taught in context, by looking at the way words are used, not just their function, and in doing that to be able to name things, like this word is a verb, this word is a noun."

The ELLA program was introduced in 1997 as part of the NSW Government's literacy strategy and is compulsory for all Year 7 students, with a voluntary follow-up test in Year 8 that is normally taken by about 97per cent of students. Students are assessed on their writing, reading and knowledge of language, and are required to write two passages, answer questions after reading a piece, and identify grammatical components, correct spelling and punctuation mistakes. The NSW Education Department said this year's results were "exceptionally good", with the overall results for reading, writing and language combined the best since the test was introduced. In the language assessment, the results were comparable with previous years. The tests are marked within a range of 45 to 120, and the average score this year was 88.8, the same as last year's average and equivalent to the high point of 88.9 in 2004. [Which shows how dumbed-down the testing is]

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About time

The advisory board that allowed rogue surgeon Jayant Patel to operate is now facing multi-million-dollar lawsuits over the treatment of hundreds of patients by a bogus Russian psychiatrist. In the first court case against the Medical Board of Queensland arising out of the so-called Dr Death scandal, three patients of Vincent Berg are seeking damages over his counselling and the medication he prescribed for their conditions. The lawsuits were filed this month. Mr Berg, 54, is undergoing treatment at a psychiatric ward on the Gold Coast.

A teenager who is one of the claimants in the civil action was diagnosed as having a mental condition by Mr Berg during a home visit to his mother. Mother and son have claimed they were prescribed dangerous and inappropriate drugs by Mr Berg, who treated 259 patients during his year's employment at Townsville hospital in 2000.

Despite hospital authorities learning that Mr Berg's Russian qualifications were fake in late 2002, his former patients were informed only through the Morris and Davis inquiries that arose out of the Dr Death scandal. The inquiries heard that authorities took the decision not to tell patients about Mr Berg because they feared it could lead to them stopping their medication and counselling or even attempting suicide. A Queensland Health spokesman said an immediate review was launched of "all of MrBerg's patients that could befound".

The three former patients - one of whom claims she has attempted suicide three times as a result of Mr Berg's treatment and medication - are seeking more than $1 million in damages. It is understood more of Mr Berg's former patients are also considering legal action. Any payouts would come from Queensland Government's insurance fund. The patients have been forced to file the court actions after being excluded from the special mediation process extended to former patients of Dr Patel, who is now living in the US.

Earlier this week, Queensland Attorney-General Linda Lavarch said 86 claims for compensation by patients of Dr Patel had already been settled. Almost three hundred patients are understood to be involved in the out-of-court mediation.

In the court action, the Medical Board has been accused of failing to check that Mr Berg's qualifications, purportedly from a Russian university, were "true and not forgeries". The Medical Board is charged with checking doctors' qualifications before registering them for practice. A spokeswoman for the board, which is funded by registration fees, declined to comment because the matters were now in "the hands of the insurer". The lawsuit claims that Queensland Health also failed to supervise Mr Berg adequately. Tia Cox, whose firm Connolly Suthers is representing all three alleged victims, declined to comment.

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Long-awaited legislation banning duck and quail hunting was introduced to State Parliament yesterday and hailed as a victory over animal cruelty. It will bring Queensland into line with NSW, Western Australia and the ACT, although the Bill is likely to be stalled by Premier Peter Beattie calling an election as early as next Tuesday.

Activists had hoped the Liberals would also oppose hunting on animal cruelty grounds, thereby isolating Nationals who had opposed a ban. But new Liberal leader Bruce Flegg yesterday joined the Nationals in opposing the legislation. A spokesman said the legislation would be appropriate only if there was a threat to bird populations.

Environment Minister Desley Boyle told Parliament her decision was based mainly on animal welfare grounds, with RSPCA advice that up to 90 per cent of shot ducks suffered slow and painful deaths.

Sporting Shooters Association state president Geoff Jones said Ms Boyle had no scientific evidence to support her position. There had been no consultation and he hoped an election would be called to allow time for the decision to be reviewed, he said.

Ms Boyle said the issue was investigated by the Primary Industries Department animal welfare advisory committee, which found the likely rate of wounding, instead of direct kills, was unacceptable. RSPCA chief executive Mark Townend said the move was an animal welfare breakthrough. "It's not just a victory for animal welfare and conservation; it also proves that ordinary Queenslanders can make their feelings known and that the Government will listen," he said. Wildlife Preservation Society spokesman Des Boyland said he was elated at the win after a three-year battle.

The amendment will not affect the rights of primary producers to shoot ducks under permit to protect crops. Hunting of feral animals such as pigs, deer, foxes and rabbits would continue as it was considered more humane because of the higher number of direct kills. Ms Boyle said there also was a conservation dimension to ending duck shooting because of a drop in bird numbers from land clearing, lost wetlands, the extent of existing shooting and drought.

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Monica Attard says bias is more about the views of the complainers. Not so fast, sister. Not all opinions are equally valid, writes Andrew Bolt.

They can change the hosts of ABC's Media Watch, but they can't change its taxpayer-funded agenda. The show is now hosted by Monica Attard, who follows five Leftist predecessors, and on Monday it did what it always does in our war on Islamist terror. That's right: it ignored or excused a savage media bias that makes the West seem the real villain in this war. Here are examples of that bias from just the past fortnight -- not one of which Media Watch mentioned:

A REUTERS photographer has been sacked for doctoring pictures (one run by the ABC) to make Israeli attacks on Lebanon seem worse than they were.

HARROWING pictures from Qana, bombed by Israel, seem now to have been staged for the newspapers, with the corpse of a dead girl being paraded by several men at several locations.

THE Age gave over part of its opinion page for a piece by a spokesman for the Hezbollah terror group.

CHANNEL 9 reported from a tour of Beirut bomb sites, which a CNN reporter said was a "heavily orchestrated Hezbollah media event" -- and made the very points about civilian casualties Hezbollah wanted made.

But the rankest example of this bias came from Sunday Age columnist Terry Lane. Two Sundays ago Lane wrote he'd seen video evidence of a former "US Army Ranger", Jesse Macbeth, who had "served in Iraq for 16 months" like someone "who joined the SS" and had "orders" to "do whatever it takes in the field to make them (civilians) fear you". Macbeth had said he'd gone into basements during raids to "make sure everything was dead": "Whether they were women or children . . . we had to finish them off." But a quick check on Google confirmed that this anti-war porn was, of course, a hoax. Explained a mortified Lane: "I fell for it because I wanted to believe it." And of course he did. Lane is a Marxist with such loathing for America and its allies that during the Iraq war he wrote: "I want the army of my country, which is engaged in an act of gross immorality, to be defeated".

How deeply this loathing affects his judgment still. By last Sunday, Lane's apology had morphed into this bizarre defiance: "The Macbeth fraud is plausible because it fits the facts." Really? Which facts could possibly fit this tale of SS-style US death squads with orders to shoot civilians? Said Lane: "In the place of Macbeth's lies about shooting survivors in basement bomb shelters, I should have quoted from the BBC report in March: Recent figures from the campaign group, Iraq Body Count, put the minimum number of civilians killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion three years ago at between 33,710 and 37,832."

Oops. You did it again, Terry. In fact, Iraq Body Count in no way says what you imply -- that mass-murdering US troops, just like Jesse Macbeth, have killed 37,000 Iraqi civilians. Look at the IBC's website to see its own description of how those people (and not only civilians) died. You'll find pages of accounts like these: "street sweepers (killed by) roadside bomb", building laborers killed by "suicide minibus bomb", a Baghdad University security chief shot dead, worshippers at the Al-Qubaisi mosque killed by a bomb and even a "sheep seller killed by booby-trapped head of girl".

Terry, are you so hate-blinded that you can't even see that the overwhelming majority of these deaths are caused not by US troops, but the terrorists they fight? US soldiers have orders not to kill civilians, but save them. We couldn't get a better example of how bias messes with a journalist's grasp of the facts -- one that helps us understand so much of the coverage of this war. Yet Media Watch ignored Lane and -- typically -- tried instead to defend the bias of the ABC's children's program Behind the News.

BTN had tried to "explain" the fighting in Lebanon to children like this: "When Israel was created in 1948 many Palestinians were forced from their land and some went to southern Lebanon. This led to the formation of groups like Hezbollah . . . Hezbollah has been fighting with Israel to reclaim lost land and to remove foreign troops from Lebanon."

Attard on Media Watch at least conceded this report contained "mistakes" which were "profound". For a start, Hezbollah is Lebanese, not Palestinian, and was formed in the 1980s, not the 1940s. But she then smacked the ABC for saying these "mistakes" meant BTN "failed to meet the requirements of balance and impartiality". What was bias anyway, Attard seemed to ask. And she got several commentators to give conflicting views on the bias of BTN, as if all their views were equally valid. She concluded: "Complaints of bias often say more about the views of the complainer than the media". So no bias at BTN then. Just "mistakes". Like Lane's?

But not so fast, sister. First, not all opinions are equally valid. And certainly not the views you sought. You see, to prove the BTN report could also be seen as biased against Hezbollah, Attard put on Keysar Trad -- but didn't tell viewers things about him that might make them doubt his judgment. Attard didn't say Trad was the former spokesman of the pro-Hezbollah Mufti of Australia, the extremist Sheik Taj Al-Din Al-Hilaly. She also failed to say he had been a translator for the pro-Osama bin Laden and pro-jihadist Nida'ul Islam magazine, where he wrote: "The criminal dregs of white society colonised this country . . . and the descendants of these criminal dregs tell us that they are better than us." If viewers knew that, would they think Trad's view of "balance" was . . . balanced?

But is Attard's view any better? If she criticises any reporting on Islamist extremism it is to attack those who at least ask hard questions -- and to defend those trying to dodge them. It's bad enough that Media Watch long ago stopped being -- or never was -- an impartial judge of media sins. But far worse is that it now serves as an apologist not just for bad journalism, but for the toxic ideologies such journalism defends with its shameless "mistakes".

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The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has paid tens of thousands of dollars to a building firm to avoid being sued for urging its members to take unlawful industrial action. The union has paid the money to John Holland Construction but is refusing to reveal details of the out-of-court settlement.

John Holland launched Supreme Court action last year claiming the union was responsible for workers calling in sick en masse, a practice that is commonly known as 'blue flu'. The company's human resources manager, Stephen Sasse, says the industrial landscape has changed and he doubts the company will have to take similar action in future. "It's unlikely given that we now have a comprehensive legislative regime in place that affectively prevents this sort of unlawful action," he said. "If it occurs it's now policed by the ABCC [Australian Building and Construction Commissioner], so I can't see any need for us, in our capacity as an employer to take that sort of action again."

IR laws 'working'

The Federal Government says the case is proof its new workplace laws are working. Senator Ian Campbell says it is rare for the union movement to make such a payment. "It shows they feared a worse consequence if it went further in court," Senator Campbell said. "It's not unusual for settlements but it's very unusual for the CFMEU to settle. "I think it demonstrates the Howard Government's workplace relations legislation is working, these major projects are not delayed by the sort of blue flu and other outrageous rorts that this rogue union has practised over the years."

But the union's West Australian secretary, Kevin Reynolds, denies the compensation payout is a victory for John Holland or the Federal Government. "I concede we won it," he said. "We saved a lot of members' money from arguing in court. "The people who paid an absolute, hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs was John Hollands."

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Former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld is the subject of a NSW police inquiry that could lead to perjury charges and end his legal career. The inquiry will consider if Mr Einfeld, an eminent Queen's Counsel who has practised as a barrister since retiring from the bench in 2001, should face legal action over evidence he gave to a Sydney court that enabled him to avoid a $77 speeding fine.

Mr Einfeld, 66, gave sworn testimony that he had not been driving his silver Lexus on Sunday, January 8, when a police speed camera detected the car travelling at 60km/h in a 50km/h zone at Mosman, on Sydney's north shore. He told the magistrate at the Downing Centre Local court on Monday that he had loaned the car to a friend, Teresa Brennan, a visiting academic from Florida. It has since emerged that Professor Brennan had in fact died three years earlier.

"It was either being driven by her or by a friend or family member of hers," Mr Einfeld said in a letter to the court. "She did not tell me where or with whom she had been driving or that she had been photographed speeding before returning to the US where she was unfortunately involved in a motor vehicle accident and died, so I cannot get any more details."

Police said yesterday that prosecutors would prepare a brief on the case for the director of police legal services, Assistant Commissioner Lee Shearer. "The prosecution has been asked to provide a briefing to the director of legal services confirming the evidence given before the court prior to making a determination on whether the matter should be further investigated," a NSW police spokeswoman said.

One of the nation's leading authorities on the ethics of lawyers, Ysaiah Ross, said that if the inquiry led to perjury charges, it could end Mr Einfeld's career. Mr Ross, who is the author of Ethics in Law, said former US president Bill Clinton had been struck off the roll of legal practitioners in Arkansas for perjury over the Whitewater affair. "The same thing could happen here," Mr Ross said.

Mr Einfeld had named Professor Brennan as the person driving his car when he gave evidence in court on Monday. But when later confronted by Sydney's The Daily Telegraph with the fact Professor Brennan had died in 2003, Mr Einfeld said he had been referring in court to another Professor Brennan. He said this Professor Brennan had also died since returning to the US. The first name of the second Professor Brennan was Therese or Terese and he was unsure of where she lived in the US. He did not know her occupation "except that she was in academia".

During Monday's hearing, Mr Einfeld gave evidence that he had completed a statutory declaration saying his car had been on loan to Professor Teresa Brennan of Florida at the time of the offence....

Outside the courts, Mr Einfeld enjoyed a reputation as one of Australia's leading human rights activists and was foundation president of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He is the senior member of the legal team seeking at least $10 million in compensation for wrongly deported Australian woman Vivian Alvarez, who was sent to The Philippines by the Immigration Department in 2001 after suffering amnesia in a car accident....

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What's the point of restricting the diet of the great majority of the kids who are NOT overweight by any criterion? And ideas about what is "healthy" change all the time. Carbohydrates were really bad for a long time. Now they are really good. It is food fads that are being enforced, nothing else. And don't forget that salt is good for you

Fast food has been banned from a school to stop up to 20 parents delivering it to their children each lunchtime. The school's ban covers McDonald's, pizzas and other calorie-laden meals, including those from outlets such as KFC and Red Rooster. The school has also brought in a fitness instructor to help teachers keep healthy, and is reviewing the canteen menu.

Principal Leonie Fitzgerald said the ban was proving successful, drawing a positive response from parents and children. Ms Fitzgerald said the school had decided to ban fast food after it became a serious problem. "We had an issue with parents dropping off fast food, like McDonald's, KFC and Red Rooster, for treats for their kids," she said. Ms Fitzgerald said at one point up to 20 parents were coming to the school a day.

She said time-strapped parents often got fast food for their children because it was more convenient. "Sometimes they've been too busy in the morning . . . so they get something quick and easy," Ms Fitzgerald said. She said she also approached parents when they came into the school foyer with fast-food lunches. "That was the most effective way to explain it."

Ms Fitzgerald said parents had responded very well to the ban, taking the school's advice to prepare healthier lunches. "We have turned it around," Ms Fitzgerald said of the problem. "It only happens very rarely now, which is great." The school has other initiatives, including a fitness program for staff before and after school. A nutritionist will also talk to students, staff and parents next week.

Australian Medical Association president Mukesh Haikerwal praised Dandenong South PS. "It has been brave and changed people's eating habits and attitudes to food," Dr Haikerwal said. He called on the Government to ban fast food from all primary schools. "In the current climate of obesity in the community, all steps must be taken to make people aware of wrong food choices," Dr Haikerwal said. "There a lot of reasons to ban junk food at primary school, because children at that age are often unable to make informed food choices."

The State Government has already announced it will outlaw soft drink from schools and is looking at restricting the sale of lollies and chips. But a spokesman for Education Minister Lynne Kosky said there were no immediate plans to ban all high-calorie fast food from schools.

Nutrition Australia spokeswoman Kelly Neville said over a third of a child's food intake is consumed in school hours. "A healthy lunch, snacks and drinks are therefore very important," Ms Neville said. Victorian Principals Association president Fred Ackerman said the Government should help by funding programs and nutritious canteens. Parents Victoria's Gail McHardy said it was great to see school and community working together. Statistics show about 10,000 Victorian children become obese or overweight every year. The Department of Human Services said that up to 25 per cent of Victorian children are overweight or obese.

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The ACTU [The Australian equivalent of the AFL/CIO or Britain's TUC] is seeking legal advice after it was accused by a government department of misrepresenting the background of workers featured in a campaign against new workplace laws. The independent Office of Workplace Services (OWS) found that claims made by five of eight sacked workers who appear in ACTU television commercials attacking the laws do not add up. The OWS report also found the ads had depicted the sacking of workers in circumstances that would have been legal under the old workplace laws, despite ACTU suggestions to the contrary.

ACTU secretary Greg Combet said he had written to the OWS asking it to explain why the workers were investigated and a summary of the report released to the media. He said he was completely confident the stories of the workers featured in the advertisements were true. "They have not lied, the ACTU stands by the ads and stands by the claims that have been made," he said. "The whole thing stinks of dirty-tricks political attacks on the integrity of ordinary working people."

Mr Combet said the publication of the information might have damaged the sacked workers' reputation and breached privacy laws. "It's clear the (investigation was) used for political processes and in the process people's personal information has been put into the public realm and we are very angry about it," he told ABC radio. "We are taking advice about a number of things and we will consider that when the advice comes in. "People have had the courage to come forth and tell their story of how they've been treated under the new laws." He said the workers did not deserve to be subjected to "unfair and flawed investigations", and the leaking of personal information to the media.

But Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews said the findings showed the ACTU could not be trusted. He said the OWS report was not leaked to the media, but had been provided following claims by the ACTU and the media that the new workplace laws were failing workers. The independent OWS had investigated the claims and provided its findings to the media and others who had been inquiring about them, he said. "What Mr Combet is doing is now attacking the umpire because he doesn't like the outcome of the investigation into these matters," Mr Andrews said.

He said the OWS had the responsibility to decide whether the full report into the investigation should be released. "The main point here is it's exposed a phoney political campaign on the part of the ACTU and it shows that one can't trust anything the ACTU says about these things," he said. He said the ACTU had returned to using actors in their latest round of TV commercials because the so-called real cases didn't stack up

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Rogue police in Victoria

A driver wrongly identified as the first in the world to return a positive roadside drug test has won a major legal victory. A judge has ruled John De Jong, 41, can pursue a defamation lawsuit against Victoria Police. He is claiming substantial damages.

The Ballarat courier-driver was tested and identified during a police-organised media stunt on the first day a drug bus took to the road, in December 2004. Justice Bernard Bongiorno said his claims, if proved, would show police invited the media to attend and then said Mr De Jong had twice tested positive for illegal drugs.

An independent laboratory later cleared Mr De Jong -- a result confirmed by the police lab. Mr De Jong says police refused to apologise. Mr De Jong's lawyer Katalin Blond, of Slater & Gordon, said yesterday he was relieved. "John is very stressed by this still," she said. "By calling the media . . . by parading John before them, what else did they think would happen?"

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Aussie booze popular

Australia is exporting more wine, but prices have dropped. Australian wine exports grew 9 per cent in the year to the end of July, but average prices fell 8 per cent. The 743 million litres exported in the 12 months to July was valued at $2.79 billion, the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation says.

Sweden has developed taste buds for Australian cask wines and was the largest contributor to value growth -- up 33 per cent to $50 million. Exports to China also grew, but were offset by a 65 per cent drop in the average price a litre, to $1.64.

"The key driver of the price decline was an increased share of bulk wine in the mix," the corporation's July 2006 wine export approval report says. The report says 80 per cent of Australian wine shipped to China is bulk wine valued at $0.66 a litre.

The United Kingdom remains the number one destination for Australian wine. Despite a one per cent drop in volume and three per cent price slump, the market was valued at $958 million for the year to the end of July. The US ranks second with $899m, followed by Canada ($244m), New Zealand ($91m), Germany ($76m), Ireland ($55m) and Sweden ($50m).

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Logging on private land heavily restricted in NSW

Local timber industry workers and landowners have called on the NSW Government to get rid of its draft code of practice for private native forests. Around 500 people attended a protest rally in Grafton yesterday. Many have complained that there has been little public discussion on the code, and they want an extension to the submission period.

Sue Doust, of Timber Community Australia, says the code, if adopted in its current form, will cause big financial losses to landowners and the timber industry. "It is another harsh hit on the industry that I frankly don't believe the industry is going to be able to recover from anytime soon," she said. "Landowners will take full financial and legal responsibility for the logging arrangement on their property. "Now, if you're a mature landowner or an absentee landowner you're going to take one look at that and you're going to shut the door."

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Leftist nut silenced

Radio station ABC 774 has censored criticism of controversial ABC board member Keith Windschuttle. On the Sunday Arts program, host Helen Razer was interviewing film director Bob Weis about his documentary Women of the Sun - 25 Years Later, charting the stories of Aboriginal women. Razer noted the film compared his family's history as Holocaust survivors to the contemporary situation of Aborigines in Australia. Weis said he would like to make one more "conceptual leap", to which Razer replied "be my guest".

Indigenous actress Justine Saunders sat beside Weis and encouraged him as he said: "That while David Irving - the Holocaust denier - sits in prison . ", before he was cut off. Mr Weis said yesterday he uttered the words "the Australian Government", but that did not go to air. Razer hit the dump button, saying on air: "I can't possibly let you say that", before switching to pre-recorded audio.....

Weis yesterday revealed he was going to say: "That while David Irving - the Holocaust denier - sits in prison, the Australian Government put our chief Holocaust denier on the board of the ABC." Weis was alluding to Mr Windschuttle, the author of The Fabrication of Aboriginal History that claimed massacres of Tasmanian Aborigines had been exaggerated....

Local radio manager at ABC Victoria Steve Kyte yesterday said... "The program team felt the guest had said something potentially defamatory... We reserve the right to dump guests and callers for legal reasons."

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Report from Melbourne

Almost a quarter of women from wealthy Brighton, Hawthorn and Malvern are overweight - but people in poorer suburbs and country towns suffer most. Living the high life in the upper-class belt clearly puts pressure on the waist line. But when it comes to obesity, Victorians living in poorer suburbs and country towns suffer most.

Broadmeadows, Sunshine and Dandenong have the state's highest percentage of obese men. Morwell tops the list for obese women, followed by the outer-northern suburbs of Bundoora, Thomastown and Lalor. Surprisingly, men outnumber women almost two to one when it comes to being overweight. More than 40 per cent of Victorian men and 20 per cent of women are fighting the battle of the bulge. Men in affluent eastern suburbs were more likely to be overweight. But the worst examples of overeating were in the outer suburbs.

Statistics analysed by the Herald Sun reveal where the obesity epidemic has struck hardest in Victoria. The data from the University of Adelaide's Public Health Information Development Unit is based on self-reported height and weight statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey. The statistics, which have been adjusted to account for variations in age groups living in different areas, show your address could explain a lot about your weight....

VicHealth chief executive Dr Rob Moodie said the number of overweight women in the wealth belt was something of an anomaly. He said research typically supported the theory that people living in poorer areas were more likely to be overweight or obese than those in well-to-do areas. "Generally, people in the outer suburbs, where the land is cheaper and the housing is cheaper, are poorer," he said. "They have to get around in a car, are less likely to use public transport -- and we know that people who use public transport are twice as likely to get the recommended level of exercise." He said people living in less affluent areas were also more likely to be living close to fast-food restaurants.

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William Spady's approach to learning - outcomes-based education - is full of flaws and contradictions, writes Kevin Donnelly

After listening to US academic William Spady - the father of outcomes-based education - at last month's Australian Primary Principal Association 2006 conference in Alice Springs, I can see no doubt about Spady's views on education. The more traditional approach to education is labelled as educentric by Spady and he condemns it for being competitive, academic, having right and wrong answers, being rational and logical and, as a result, instilling fear and an either-or mentality. In Spady's words: "The curriculum box, time box, grade-level box, opportunity box, testing box, marking box, achievement box, school box and classroom box all severely constrain how teachers and learners function and think about outcomes."

In opposition to the more conservative approach, Spady argues in favour of what he terms transformational outcomes-based education, described as a paradigm that embraces empowerment, divergent, lateral thinking, holistic and spiritual unity and a win-win approach imbued with love and synergy. While acknowledging it is difficult to properly implement OBE, Spady argues that teachers and educational leaders should strive to embrace an "inner realisation" paradigm of educational reform, involving "expanded consciousness of one's spiritual nature-potential", "one's intuitive connection to universal wisdom", "meditative exploration by quietening the conscious mind" and "learner-controlled timing group-enhanced experience".

In arguing the case for "a total learning community", Spady further suggests: "In a total learning community, no one has to prove anything to anyone else to be accepted for who they are and what they cancontribute."

While it might be tempting to dismiss Spady's views about education - blending, as they do, new-age managerial speak and age-of-Aquarius psychobabble - the reality is thatSpady has had and continues to have asignificant impact on Australian education. Not only were the original national curriculum statements and profiles developed during the 1990s under the Keating government, based on an outcomes model, but all states and territories, to various degrees, are also implementing curriculums founded on atransformational, outcomes-based approach.

The result? Competition and failing is considered bad for self-esteem, the focus of learning shifts from teaching subjects such as history and literature to instilling new-age and politically correct values, dispositions and attitudes, teachers facilitate instead of teach and students are described as knowledge navigators or adaptive, lifelong learners.

The flaws in Spady's views about education are many. First, Spady's description of the more conservative model of education, labelled as educentric, is misleading and simplified. Since the time of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle, learning has always been about outcomes. Those familiar with Matthew Arnold's Culture and Anarchy and the educational writings of T.S. Eliot will also know that a liberal humanist approach places at its centre the need to educate young people to be critically aware, to read with sensitivity and discrimination and to value the best that has been thought and said.

While such outcomes might not be the ones Spady prefers, the reality is that the type of learning associated with Western civilisation has a noble history and a proven record in benefiting mankind. The way advocates of OBE repeat the mantra of change, or what Spady terms the prevalence of "constant change and continuous discovery", is also wrong. As suggested by Eliot, education must acknowledge continuity as well as change and holding on to what is lasting is equally as important as embracing the new.

In belittling academic subjects and the need for memorisation and rote learning, Spady also makes the mistake of favouring one form of learning over another. Creativity and the ability to master higher order skills requires structured, formal learning and, on occasion, students need to learn by rote and be told they have failed. While OBE rightly promotes values such as tolerance, openness and respect for diversity and difference, such beliefs are often used as code for imposing the cultural Left's agenda on schools. Especially in areas such as multiculturalism, feminism, the class war and gender issues, the curriculum is often one-sided.

Thankfully, there is evidence that OBE's impact on Australian education is open to scrutiny and there is a willingness to admit mistakes. In Western Australia, after the debacle caused by Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich's attempts to force OBE into years 11 and 12, Premier Alan Carpenter was forced to intervene in an attempt to ameliorate some of its worst excesses. In Tasmania, after Paula Wriedt nearly lost her seat at the most recent election and was subsequently replaced as education minister, the new minister, David Bartlett, has agreed to review Tasmania's OBE-inspired essential learnings.

At the federal level, Prime Minister John Howard has spoken out against OBE gobbledygook and its impact on history and literature teaching, and the NSW Education Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, has publicly condemned OBE and argued that teachers need a clear road map of what is taught, associated with a more traditional syllabus approach to curriculum.

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Students are ignoring healthy canteen initiatives by turning to nearby milkbars for their junk food fix. Some senior students are also offered money to buy junk food for younger students not allowed to leave the school grounds. Secondary school students across inner Melbourne told the Sunday Herald Sun how they turn their back on healthy canteens.

Northcote High School year 12 student Nicole, 18, said a nearby milkbar was more than happy to sell fatty fried foods such as spring rolls and hot chips. Nicole thinks these foods are popular because they are cheap. A spring roll at the milkbar costs $1.70, while the school canteen charges about $4 for a salad roll.

Princes Hill Secondary College student Natina, 13, said the milkbar near her school was cheap and had a wider range of junk food and good healthy options.

Northcote High School has one of the state's healthiest canteens, yet VCE students choose to buy junk food from a milkbar. Principal Gail Davidson said it was disappointing, but added that VCE students were young adults and able to make their own choices.

State Secondary Principals Association president Andrew Blair said many schools were concerned about milkbars. Mr Blair said some principals had even resorted to asking milkbar owners not to serve students. Nutrition Australia dietician Kelly Neville said milkbar owners often weren't aware of healthy eating guidelines.

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For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Page. If this blog or any other of my blogs cease to be updatable, or are difficult to access, go here to locate a mirror site for it. Email me (John Ray) here. RSS site feed: http://www.blognow.com.au/rss.php?u=libertas

The traditional Aussie cup of tea has won a reprieve. Over-zealous bureaucrats demanded that an amateur dramatics group had to pay a $210 fee and submit a food safety plan before they could serve cups of tea and biscuits during a show's interval. But council workers have now backed down.

Last month the Sunday Herald Sun reported the story of the Southern Peninsula Players Theatre Group and its run-in with the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. The council insisted the group and another local amateur dramatics society had to comply with regulations. "Possibly as a result of pressure brought to bear by your story they have waived the fee and given us the go-ahead to serve hot drinks and biscuits -- provided the biscuits are in a packet," Geoff Brown, a member of the Players, said. "Let's face it, how can you poison someone with tea or coffee? "We will be taking full advantage of this at our next performance in November," Mr Brown said. "Appropriately enough we are planning a production of Fawlty Towers."

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For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Page. If this blog or any other of my blogs cease to be updatable, or are difficult to access, go here to locate a mirror site for it. Email me (John Ray) here. RSS site feed: http://www.blognow.com.au/rss.php?u=libertas

Three stories below:

Effort-averse Queensland police finally forced to investigate double murder

A woman shoots "herself" three times according to police -- making it a "suicide". Sure saved them the time and cost of a murder investigation! It took a nationwide TV program to move them off their behinds

Police have re-opened investigations into one of Queensland's most controversial and long-running murder cases. Mother-of-four Julie-Anne Leahy, 26, and her best friend Vicki Arnold, 27, were found dead in Leahy's 4WD on a remote track near Atherton in north Queensland in July 1991. They had been missing 15 days. Leahy was bashed with a rock, had her throat slashed and was shot twice. Arnold, whose hand was resting on a sawn-off .22 rifle, was shot three times. Police wrote it off as a murder-suicide - a view supported later by two inquests in 1992 and 1999.

But relatives of the women refuse to accept Arnold killed her mate before turning the gun on herself, and inquiries by journalists and government-appointed investigators have raised doubts over the rulings. Queensland police yesterday confirmed detectives were again reviewing the case after revelations from key witnesses. Arnold's mother Vida said yesterday: "It's about time they did something. I've been waiting 15 years." Late last year, Tablelands MP Rosa Lee Long presented a 1364-signature to State Parliament, calling on Attorney-General Linda Lavarch to appoint independent, interstate investigators to report to a coroner.

But Queensland Coroner Michael Barnes has asked Ms Lavarch to hold off while police continue their work. Mr Barnes declined to release any further information. But a police spokeswoman said yesterday: "Police are reviewing information received as a result of the 60 Minutes program."

In the Nine show, which was screened in September, Leahy's sister Vanessa Stewart - aged 15 at the time of the women's disappearance - said Leahy's husband Alan had coached her in what to tell police. Ms Stewart said Mr Leahy had begun a relationship with her just before the women vanished but there was no sex until after she turned 16. "I was coached, so to speak, in what to say about what happened that night," she said. "I wasn't allowed to say what was actually happening that night between him and I, and a story was concocted."

Mr Leahy - who stood to benefit from a $121,000 insurance policy and later successfully sued to get $45,000 from Arnold's estate - has always denied being involved in the deaths. He is now believed to be in Alice Springs and could not be contacted yesterday. One of the first two police officers at the scene, former senior constable Bill Hendrikse, last year told investigative journalist Robert Reid he was convinced the women were murdered by a third party. But he said the investigation was killed at the time because of concerns over the cost of a full murder inquiry.

Lawyer Philip Bovey, who represented the Leahy family at the second inquest, said: "It's long overdue. I said after last inquest that in 20 years of being involved in criminal law, it's probably the most disappointing decision I have experienced."

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"No go" zones in Queensland

Queensland police bosses just let it slide

They are the no-go zones: areas of Queensland even some police fear to tread. A Sunday Mail investigation has uncovered the most dangerous streets, parks and beaches in the state, where the threat of violence is a nightly reality. By day, places such as Brisbane's Queen St Mall and Surfers Paradise beach are filled with families, office workers and tourists. By night these areas are ruled by drug dealers and addicts, pimps, muggers and murderers. Backpackers who have travelled through some of the world's most dangerous cities say Brisbane rates as the worst.

"I wouldn't take my family into Queen St Mall after nine o'clock at night," a police officer told The Sunday Mail. Taxi drivers said the State Government-enforced 3am nightclub lock-out was to blame. "The top of the Mall near the casino is the worst," a taxi driver said. "It is just full of people fighting because they have nowhere to go after 3am and they all end up outside the casino. There is no public transport for them so they just end up in fights."

Another officer said he feared entering Alden St in Fortitude Valley's nightclub district. Officers on patrol at night often refused to get out of the police car. "You can't pay me enough to go into that area," he said. "It's a pretty scary place. You never know what is lurking around the corner."

The pedestrian underpass at Kemp Place between All Hallows School and Marshall St in Fortitude Valley is also off-limits. Young travellers to Brisbane have told of being terrified as they negotiate the tunnel, which locals rarely venture down at night. The 22-year-olds, who have backpacked through Delhi, Calcutta, Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok, were chased by a gang of men as they used the tunnel. "Brisbane is the most dangerous city we have travelled in," one of the backpackers said. "Everyone at the backpackers was talking about how scary it is."

Rapes, muggings and stabbings have turned the City Botanic Gardens and Goodwill Bridge into danger zones. A man, 20, was recently attacked by a knife-wielding gang while attempting to cross the dimly-lit bridge at 11.30pm. He was cut and bruised and robbed by the thugs.

The streets of Surfers Paradise have long been renowned for assaults in the early hours of the morning, but now the beach has also become a hot spot for trouble. Lifesavers on patrol early in the morning warn the worst time is between 4am and 5am. "That's when all the people spill out of the clubs. It's extremely dangerous," a senior lifesaver said. "People have been assaulted on the beach. There is little lighting in the area. It's the worst place."

Drunks have driven some retailers to despair at Southport's Scarborough St. "We've had people who have urinated in the shop," said a retailer, who sold out recently. Area councillor Dawn Crichlow has led a campaign to rid the area of public phones being used for drug deals. Kirra's Marine Parade has gone through a building boom which has forced the homeless from parks to the beach. Nippers at training sessions are regularly confronted by vagrants. Bikie gangs also use the area as a meeting spot.

The area is improving, but not fast enough for locals who believe more policing will be needed. In Cairns, parts of Westcourt and Parramatta Park have become flashpoints for random violence. Sources say the latest area of increasing concern is Lake St, which bisects the CBD and extends along the tourist city's fringe. As recently as February, two police officers were hurt when up to 40 drunken louts turned on them during a street fight.

In Townsville, police say trouble continues to erupt at Flinders St East nightclub strip, where drunkenness and brawls have plagued police for years.

On the Sunshine Coast, many women refuse to walk in Noosa National Park because of the area's violent history. They say residents often warned female tourists to complete the 15km walk before dusk. Aleaha Jade Schipper, then 18, and lesbian lover Sarah Fotini Bird, 17, attacked New Zealand grandmother Dulcie Brook in the national park on June 30, 1998. Ms Brook was stabbed 26 times. A Japanese tourist was raped after being kidnapped as she walked through the park on Christmas Day 2001. Gympie residents said the band rotunda in Memorial Park was dangerous after dark. A local said people gathered in the park to drink alcohol and often became verbally and physically abusive

Source

The rot goes to the top in the Queensland police (As ever)

(Queensland is the only State that has ever had to jail a Police Commissioner for corruption)

A police officer has slammed his bosses for not supporting frontline staff but doing deals to benefit defendants. Ipswich Senior Constable Ian Leavers said it was no surprise police on the beat felt they were "on their own" because of their bosses' silence. The Queensland Police Union southern region representative was commenting on a controversial case in which an Ipswich mother of five was fined for abusing police. Yvette Veronica Green, 38, of Riverview, was arrested and handcuffed for double-parking outside a school in January. She allegedly called one officer a "pedophile" and "fat" during a tirade of four-letter words. She pleaded guilty to being a public nuisance and was fined $300. Two more serious charges were dropped.

Writing in the QPU Journal, Sen-Constable Leavers said Green enjoyed more support than the officers involved in the case, Sen-Constables Anthony Brett and Kathrine Stafford. "What was disgusting was that while the defendant was obviously enjoying her new-found stardom and notoriety, the police involved had to endure great personal stress as a result of simply doing their job," he said. "The police union came out and defended the police involved, however the Queensland Police Service hierarchy were conspicuous in their absence." Sen-Constable Leavers also criticised police prosecutors for withdrawing charges against Green. "It is apparent the service is not prepared to fight anything any more."

Sen-Constable Leavers told The Sunday Mail this week that frontline staff felt as if they had been let down by the bosses in many cases, from Commissioner Bob Atkinson down. "This is happening all the time. If there is any incident, they are ready to kick us . . . " he said. "It is a minefield out there. Senior police have got no idea how things have changed out there. "The disappointing part of all this is that even after police had been found to have acted correctly, the hierarchy remain silent. "Is it any wonder many police out there feel that they are on their own . . . They (the bosses) are too frightened to support them," he said

A police service spokeswoman said Mr Atkinson issued a media release in January soon after the controversial incident and backed his officers. The statement said the media had publicised only one side of the story.

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For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Page. If this blog or any other of my blogs cease to be updatable, or are difficult to access, go here to locate a mirror site for it. Email me (John Ray) here. RSS site feed: http://www.blognow.com.au/rss.php?u=libertas