Thursday 28 September 2006

Methamphetamine The Australian 28 September 2006

28 SEPTEMBER
ex John Stapleton
THE use of methamphetamine, including the potent form of Ice, has become the major drug problem facing Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, according to two new reports released yesterday at the first major Australasian conference focussing on amphetamines.
The Australian National Council on Drugs analysis of illicit drugs in the Asia-Pacific region reports that almost all the countries surveyed now rank methamphetamine and ecstasy as the major drugs of concern. China has shown a 15-fold increase in the number of registered drug users since 1990. The report records a flood of methamphetamine use since the mid 1990s, particularly in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and increasingly in China.
Abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) is now estimated to affect some 25 million people worldwide, with more than 60 per cent of abusers in East Asia and Southeast Asia.
A separate United Nations confrirmed the findings, recording that between 19999/2000 and 2004/2005 there had been a 56 per cent rise in the number of hospital admissions in Australia for abuse of stimulants. The growth in abuse of amphetamines was due to its ready accessability on the streets of Asia and a large vulnerable population. ``It is being marketed on the streets in Asia almost like candy,'' said Jeremy Douglas, Regional Project Coordination with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. ``It is very accessible. We are recording a very big increase in abuse in Asia. The impacts on the health system, the police and the judiciary are overwhelming.''
He said much of the supply in SE Asia was not destined for local markets, as evidenced by the enormous of size of recent seizures, including a half tonne seizure in Malaysia, and the trends were having a serious impact on Australia.
He said Australia, as one of the engine rooms of the region, with a relatively affluent population, was a major drawcard for exporters a flood of amphetamines would cause major social problems in Australia, including severe impacts on the health system and a distortion of the economy because of the size of the illegitimate trade.
Mr Alan Eade from the Metropolitan Ambulance Service in Melbourne told the conference yesterday that methamphetamine use had overtaken herooin in all jurisdictions in Australia. He said ambulance services had been set up for and educated on the management of heroin overdoses, and the emergence of amphetamine and ecstassy since the late 1990s had forced a review of the education of para-medics across Victoria.
Professor Ernie Drucker from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, an advocate for harm minimisation, told the conference a focus on law and order to combat the increased use of amphetamines was the wrong way to go. He said there was only a limited amount of money to go around in dealing with drugs and that money would be better spent on treatment facilities. ``Harm reduction is the alternative to tough on drugs policies,'' he said. ``Resources are better used providing treatment, education and prevention. We have to learn to live in a world where drugs are a reality. We can't make believe that we are going to have a world free of drugs. The Australian government approach of giving the most money to law enforcement is never going to work. You can't enforce your way out of drug problems.''
Organiser of the conference, John Ryan, from the Association for Prevention and Harm Reduction Programs in Australia, said they had tried to bring all sides of the debate together, from harm minimisation advocates to law enforcement officials. ``There is no single perspective that has all the answers,'' he said. ``We need to work together, the needle and syringe people, the police, health workers, we need to be celebrating and supporting each other, otherwise we are destined to respond inadequately.''

Action urged on alcohol violence, The Australian, 28 September, 2006.

Action urged on alcohol violence: [7 NSW First Edition]

Dan Box, John StapletonThe Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 28 Sep 2006: 6.
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Tony Grabs, director of trauma services at Sydney's StVincent's Hospital, joined a chorus of calls for action on alcohol-related crime after an attack on an Irish backpacker outside a hotel at Bondi, in the city's east, last Friday.
Anthony Shakeshaft, a senior research fellow with the Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, said limiting the amount of alcohol that could be served in one session would help stop naive youngsters turning into problem drinkers.

Wednesday 27 September 2006

Charges await for terror fugitive, The Australian, 27 September, 2006.

Charges await for terror fugitive: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 27 Sep 2006: 4.
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At the time he left Australia, [Jamal] faced a number of charges including firearms-related offences. Two of these related to the shooting at Lakemba police station and another two charges, including one of malicious wounding, related to a separate shooting in Greenacre. Jamal was also charged with discharging a firearm in inner-city Redfern.
Speaking from Beirut jail recently, Jamal said he admired Osama bin Laden and that Australia was an illegitimate state that should be ruled by Muslims. He warned that Australia would "suffer the consequences" if he were extradited.

Monday 25 September 2006

Homes lost as fire season comes early, The Australian, 25 September, 2006. Page One.

Homes lost as fire season comes early: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Elizabeth Gosch, John Stapleton, Additional reporting: D.D. McNicollThe Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 25 Sep 2006: 1.
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The worst fires yesterday were around the small towns of Picton and Thirlmere, southwest of Sydney, where four houses were destroyed. In Cattai and Maroota South, near the Hawkesbury River on Sydney's northwestern outskirts, another three houses were lost.
In the Nangarin Vineyard Estate, near Picton, southwest of Sydney, an elderly couple lost their house on The Grange Road. Neighbour Pete Collins said the couple had built the house themselves about three years ago.
Most of the fire near Picton was behind containment lines last night as the strong wind moderated and conditions eased. But Rural Fire Service spokeswoman Rebel Talbot warned that southerly winds would have the initial effect of "two weather systems colliding", creating "extremely erratic fire behaviour".

Mad dash for flights as footy worlds collide, The Australian, 25 September, 2006. Additional reporting.

Mad dash for flights as footy worlds collide: [6 NSW Country Edition]

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Qantas has also put on an extra 10 flights between Sydney and Melbourne to cater for Swans fans flying south for a tilt at back- to-back AFL premierships. Brisbane and Melbourne Storm supporters are expected to funnel into Sydney, but not in sufficient numbers to require extra flights, a Qantas spokesman said.
By last Saturday night, the prospect of Melbourne playing Brisbane in an NRL grand final in Sydney and Sydney playing a Perth team in an AFL grand final in Melbourne had been realised as a historic quirk.

Thursday 21 September 2006

Counterterrorism The Australian 21 September 2006

21 SEPTEMBER 2006.
John Stapleton
THE NSW and Federal governments have launched a major counter-terrorism exercise at Sydney airport ahead of an APEC meeting of world leaders next year.
A public holiday has been declared in NSW for the 2007 APEC leaders forum next September, the largest international meeting ever held in Australia. World leaders are expected to include US President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Attorney General Philip Ruddock said 30 Australian and NSW government agencies, as well as Qantas and the Sydney Airport Corporation, were involved in testing the response to a terrorist situation. He said it was impossible to exactly replicate a attack, but planes had been a traditional terrorist target.
``Securing the personal safety of people on board aircrafts is a common scenario for overseas security agencies,'' he said. ``These are events that have occurred elsewhere in the world.''
The Exercise ``Blue Luminary'' began on Tuesday night and will continue for three weeks with a series of terrorism ``crises'' designed to be as realistic as possible. The first exercise involved the hijacking of a jet containing dignitaries as it prepared to take off from Sydney Airport.
Ruddock said about $70 million had been allocated to ensure the safety and security of leaders at next year's APEC forum. Experience from the London bombings in July 2005 demonstrated that continuous testing of anti-terrorist strategies was crucial. ``Virtually every APEC leader will be arriving via Sydney Airport,'' he said.
NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Terry Collins said it was impossible to set up every scenario known to man, but to be able to act out situations at Sydney Airport was vital. ``We have some insidious writers who put out some very strange scenarios,'' he said. ``The exercise will give us the unique opportunity to test our preparedness for an incident at Sydney Airport using a plane, a terminal and other aviation elements.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma said that as the gateway to country's only truly global city Sydney Airport was a natural target. ``While there is no specific threat to the airport, we must remain ever vigilant against attack,'' he said. ``Our team will include more than 250 NSW police officers who will work in conjunction with our Emergency Services and the Australian Defence Force.
``NSW Police Tactical Operations Unit officers and ADF personnel stormed the aircraft to end the mock threat and ensure the hostages were released safe and well.''
He said excellent coordination had developed with state and federal agencies and overseas intelligence units as a result of the counter-terrorism exercises of the past couple of years.

Wednesday 20 September 2006

Rare chameleons eye a brighter future at zoo, The Australian, 20 September, 2006.

Rare chameleons eye a brighter future at zoo: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 20 Sep 2006: 5.
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Sydney's Taronga Zoo has unveiled the latest additions to its spring baby boom: bright-green veiled chameleons.
Taronga took charge of a breeding pair of veiled chameleons, which are native to the oases across the deserts of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, in 2004.
The father of the chameleons, bearing the breed's large crest, lives alone in branches in a display cabinet. "He's particularly shy," said his carer Mark Grant.