Thursday 29 March 2007

Driver still in hospital after bus-stop crash, The Australian, 29 March, 2007.

Driver still in hospital after bus-stop crash: [1 All-round Country Edition]

John Stapleton, James MaddenThe Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 29 Mar 2007: 5.
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The 42-year-old, who screamed hysterically after the fatal crash at Kogarah, in Sydney's south, is in a satisfactory condition in St George Hospital, receiving treatment for shock.
Ms [Emma Hansen]'s former high school principal in the NSW regional city of Orange, Rodney Hancock, said her "beautiful smile and gentle manner made her much loved".
Kogarah mayor Michael Kitmiridis said that while the safety of the intersection would be reviewed, it was the first accident involving a pedestrian at or near the crash scene in 10 years.

Monday 26 March 2007

Indonesian flight alert, The Australian, 26 March, 2007.

Indonesian flight alert: [2 All-round First Edition]

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 Mar 2007: 3.
Among airlines to be given three months to improve their standards are Metro Batavia, Kartika Airlines, Trans Wisata Air and AdamSky Connection Airlines.

Full Text

Unemployment amongst the vision impaired The Australian 26 March 2007

26 MARCH 07.
John Stapleton
THE unemployment level among blind or vision impaired people is more than five times the national average.
New research to be released on Monday by Vision Australia shows a staggering 69 per cent of working age vision impaired are unemployed. The survey is the largest ever done on employment levels amongst blind.
``Even well educated people who are blind or have low vision have difficulty securing employment,'' Chief Executive of Vision Australia, Gerard Menses, said.
``Sadly, many end up de-motivated and give up searching.
``To be unemployed is an issue for anyone, but when you are a community that is to a degree different from the majority of Australia, unemployment further exacerbates that difference.''
One of the key findings of the report was that 34 per cent of blind post graduate degree holders are unemployed. As well 50 per cent of those looking for work had been searching for more than a year. Four out of ten said they wanted a job but had given up looking.
Mr Menses said there had been a decline in recent years in the levels of employment of people with disabilities. ``This is puzzling at a time of high employment. It is important to reverse this trend.''
Jason Merkley, 32, has been teaching English at Mercy College at Chatswood in Sydney for the past two years. He lost his sight unexpectedly when he was 25 in the space of a single day due to a genetic condition. He uses computers to read text to him and and his students, and says technology has made all the difference.
``It has provided me with independence,'' he said. ``I was working before I lost my sight, and I just could not accept that I would stay at home and not work, that was not an option.''
Mr Merkley said he was basically treated like any other teacher at the all-girls school, ``I actually have advantages,'' he said. ``I don't see the students; I never judge a student on how they look, it is impossible. I immediately hear their personality, I hear when they are nervous; when they are shy, when they are expressive and enthusiastic.''
He said the students seemed to feel it was a privilege to help him write something up on the classroom whiteboard or read out material for him. Any student who had not done their homework found it hard to come up with a good enough excuse when they were talking to a blind teacher.
Mr Merkley has worked as a teacher in Canada and France. ``When I first came to Australia I was struck by the level of prejudice towards jobseekers who are blind or have low vision,'' he said.
Mercy College Principal Ray Paxton said said they had not deliberately set out to employ a vision impaired teacher. Mr Merkley applied for the position and was the best applicant. His employment has provided no difficulties for the school. Minor adjustments included extra support with technology and raising the awareness of students to Mr Merkley's working guide dog, Whiskey.
``It has been a positive for Mercy,'' he said. ``Jason is an excellent teacher and our students are broadening their experience of the people they interact with and of people with disabilities.''

Industrial heartland's not the sure thing it used to be - NSW DECIDES, The Australian, 26 March, 2007.

Industrial heartland's not the sure thing it used to be - NSW DECIDES: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Imre Salusinszky, John StapletonThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 Mar 2007: 7.
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The seat where Labor haemorrhaged least dramatically was Swansea. Robert Coombs, a Sydney union official who grew up in the area, will retain the seat with a majority of about 10 per cent, down from the 17 per cent bequeathed him by Mr [Milton Orkopoulos]. "The message that I got ... is that they were not prepared to punish the party," Mr Coombs said.
Ms [Jodi McKay] was picked by Morris Iemma to replace Bryce Gaudry, who had held the seat since 1991. He quit the party earlier this year and ran as an independent. The decision to impose Ms McKay as the candidate in a push for generational change was the biggest issue in the campaign. There were resignations in local branches over the refusal to consult the rank and file.

Saturday 24 March 2007

Little more for Iemma to do against Mr Impossible - ELECTION DAY, Weekend Australian, 24 March, 2007.

Little more for Iemma to do against Mr Impossible - ELECTION DAY: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, JohnWeekend Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 24 Mar 2007: 7.
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THE party leaders spent the final day of the election campaign doing what they have been doing for the past five weeks -- Peter Debnam working to achieve the seemingly impossible and Morris Iemma repeating his mantra of "there's more to do".
The Liberal leader spent the day in a seat he cannot hope to win, Rockdale, held by Planning Minister Frank Sartor with a margin of 15.9 per cent. It was a last stab at highlighting the failings of a Government that includes controversial ministers such as Mr Sartor, Treasurer Michael Costa and Energy and Ports Minister Joe Tripodi.

Thursday 22 March 2007

Rail report gives Coalition free ride, The Australian, 22 March, 2007.




Rail report gives Coalition free ride: [6 NSW Country Edition]

Imre Salusinszky, John StapletonThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 22 Mar 2007: 6.
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Premier Morris Iemma and his deputy, John Watkins, were forced on to the back foot yesterday by revelations CityRail had buried an expert report that gave Sydney's rail system failing grades on reliability, economy and efficiency.
The report, revealed in The Daily Telegraph, found CityRail trains travelled an average of 32km before falling behind timetable, compared with 396km in Hong Kong.
He said the Sydney network had about 2000km of track while Moscow, for example, had 200km, and that Sydney had 300 stations while Hong Kong had only 56.

Wednesday 21 March 2007

Robert Black Farmer The Australian 21 March 2007

21 MARCH 2007
John Stapleton
A man accused of bashing Sydney teenager Lauren Huxley, binding her with electrical chord, dousing her in petrol and leaving her for dead in a burning garage has been committed to stand trial.
The five charges against Robert Black Farmer which arose the attack included  causing grievous bodily harm with intent to murder.
The Parramatta Local Court heard evidence that DNA material taken from a red petrol can found at the crime scene had only a one in 76 million chance of not being that of Mr Farmer. Swabs taken from the doorknob of Ms Huxley's home and from inside the house was also likely to be Mr Farmer's.
A report from Analytical laboratories at Lidcombe recorded that while no semen had been detected in swabs taken from a bedrail, there was fewer than a one in 10 billion chance that the DNA profile from material taken from the rail matched another person besides Mr Farmer.
The case attracted massive media attention late 2005.  Ms Huxley spent 198 days in hospital recovering from the attack.
Magistrate Paula Russell said she was satisfied there was sufficient evidence that a well-briefed jury would find Mr Farmer guilty of attempted murder of Ms Huxley.
Mr Farmer did not seek to make any submissions or call any witnesses. He sat quietly taking notes throughout yesterday's proceedings.
Her Honour said she was satisfied there was evidence Mr Farmer had intended to cause grievous bodily harm and had attempted to murder Lauren Huxley  and had committed the offence of maliciously damaging property with the intent of endangering the life of Lauren Huxley and detaining her with intent of gaining sexual gratification.
Mr Farmer was committed for trial at the Parramatta District Court on the 13th April.
In evidence before the court his girlfriend Catharine(correct) Beverley said she had received a number of phone calls from Mr Farmer on the day and that he had consumed a significant amount of alcohol. She said Mr Farmer had sounded ``happy and jovial.''
Mr Farmer came back to see his girlfriend after she had finished work in the afternoon. ``He seemed fine, perhaps overnice. I put that down to the beers.''
That night he told his mother Gail Farmer that he just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up. The family subsequently listed Mr Farmer as missing.
An interview with Detective David Shaw recorded that after his arrest Mr Farmer said: ``I know you think it is me because of the suicide note I left at mum's and me burns, but I don't know anything about it.''
At Campbelltown Police Station Mr Farmer had initially refused the services of a solicitor and refused to answer questions.
``I am not signing anything, I am not doing nothing,'' he said.
Constable Alison Beechey recorded that on arriving at the crime scene: ``I heard the female moaning and I could hear a gurgling sound each time she breathed. Her face was extremely swollen and covered in blood, her hair was also completely covered in blood.''