Thursday 30 April 2009

A minute's silence for Pratt bit production must go on, The Australian, 30 April, 2009. Additional Reporting. Page One.

A minute's silence for Pratt but production must go on

Stewart, CameronThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 30 Apr 2009: 1.
The billionaire's son then drove to the company's city headquarters and sat in his dad's chair.
Today at 11am, [Visy]'s 5600 employees around the country will observe a minute's silence to mark the passing of their founder, although their machines will stay on because, as Mr Pratt would have said, the business must go on.
"I think it's an appropriate thing to do for someone whose public profile, whose contribution, has been as significant as [Richard Pratt]'s," he said.

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Monday 27 April 2009

Young buyers wary as panic sets in, The Australian, 27 April, 2009.

Young buyers wary as panic sets in

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 27 Apr 2009: 1.
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"A lot of young people are panic buying, that is what we have found, particularly in the last couple of months," said Mr Brown, 26, an environmental consultant. "We feel a lot of pressure to buy now or lose out on the $21,000."
SQM research managing director Louis Christopher said there was a panicked rush of first-home buyers due to speculation the boost was unlikely to be extended. He said couples such as [Jessica Tompkins] and Lee should wait. "Now is not the time for first-home buyers to rush in. If they wait, demand will dry up and prices will fall," he said. "The first-home buyers grant doesn't help housing affordability at all."
Property analyst Michael Matusik said there were no more first-home buyers in the market than a decade ago and the boost had simply exaggerated prices. "It should be called the vendor's grant," he said. "In the outer suburbs of major capital cities the prices went up between $7000 and $14,000 in a 24-hour period immediately after the announcement. There's anecdotal evidence that it has boosted housing construction, but over the longer term all it has done is bring forward construction."

Friday 24 April 2009

000 workers 'need medical training', The Australian, 24 April, 2009.




000 workers `need medical training'

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 24 Apr 2009: 3.
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David Iredale's family, including his mother, Mary Anne, excused themselves from the courtroom as a doctor gave horrific details of the 17-year-old's final minutes of life in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
Paul Luckin, one of Australia's leading experts in search and rescue and survivability in extreme conditions, told the inquest if the emergency operators had had medical training, they would have recognised the symptoms of severe dehydration David displayed. He said the lack of medical training among call takers was a regrettable fact, "driven I'm sure by the cost".
Dr Luckin said he estimated David had a deficit of 7.5 litres of water when he died. He said that as David's blood pressure dropped to critical levels, oxygen to thebrain had dropped and he had a cardiac arrest.

Thursday 23 April 2009

Operators' minds blank on lost calls, The Australian, 23 April, 2009.


 

Operators' minds blank on lost calls

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 23 Apr 2009: 3.
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Ms [Stacey Dickens] asked him for his address several times, despite his insistence that he was "lost in the bush".
The only one to remember taking a call from [David Iredale], and the only one to become tearful in the witness box yesterday, was Renee Waters. She said she did not log the call herself or alert a supervisor because she assumed the call had already been logged. "I am sorry for any part I played in the situation," she said.
The first operator to be cross-examined, Laura Meade, took two calls from David. She denied her comments to him about "wandering off into the middle of nowhere" were meant to be sarcastic.

Tuesday 21 April 2009

Family Heartbreak System Down, Dads On The Air, 21 April, 2009.

Family Heartbreak System Down

A Family's Heartbreak
With special guests:
  • Michael Jeffries
  • Angelo Lobo and
  • Chris Amos.
Before getting down to the serious business, this week Dads on the Air starts off with an interview with Chris Amos, the figure behind taking DOTA into the 21st century by setting up a special Facebook group. For those older parents unfamiliar with the technology of social networking sites, so popular amongst many of our listeners’ teenage children, he explains how it all works and how to get involved.
This week we are honoured to have two American activists on our show. First up we have Michael Jeffries, author of the new book A Family’s Heartbreak: a Parent’s Introduction to Parental Alienation. The book arose from the author’s personal experience and details all the tricks and sick behaviour that separating parents use against each other, poisoning the minds of their children against the other parent. That such behaviour is enormously damaging to the children involved and ultimately destructive to both the perpetrator and the targeted parent should be obvious to anyone. Yet there are no public messages out there discouraging parents from this sick and abusive behaviour. While women most often attempt to poison their kids minds against their fathers during custody disputes, men can be equally guilty.
We close the show talking with Angelo Lobo, Director and Producer of a new documentary on the shocking US Family Law and Child Support System called SUPPORT? System Down. The documentary is nearing completion after four years of work. SUPPORT? System Down explores the fundamental flaws in America’s Family Courts regarding the Divorce and Child Support System. The film explores the problems through over 38 interviews with both custodial and non-custodial parents and the attorneys, judges and county employees on both sides of the paradigm. SUPPORT? System Down was made to be educational and provocative in order to spark a call to action to bring about much-needed reform in the family courts. Children should not have to suffer due to an ineffectual and corrupt legal system!
Click Here (MP3)

Monday 20 April 2009

Veils 'limit vitamin D', The Australian, 20 April, 2009.

Veils `limit vitamin D'

Stapleton, JohnThe Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 20 Apr 2009: 5.
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Researchers found that 147 out of 149 adult and child North African refugees living in southwestern Sydney who took part in a health-screening program were vitamin D deficient.