Archive for the 'Australia in the News' Category

Australians Ignore Warnings As Tsunami Nears

Published on February 27, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Apparently Australians are not taking the recent tsunami warnings to seriously:

BEACHGOERS have ignored official warnings of a tsunami hitting Australia’s east coast after a devastating underwater earthquake struck Chile.

The 8.8 magnitude quake struck near Chile’s central coast at about 5.43pm (AEDT), toppling buildings and killing at least 147 people.

The ocean quake has triggered tsunami warnings as far off as Australia, with the possibility of dangerous waves, strong ocean currents and foreshore flooding hitting coastal areas.

In French Polynesia, huge waves have struck the Gambier archipelago, the high commissioner’s office in Papeete said, as the tsunami races across the Pacific.

The Marquesas islands, northeast of Polynesia, were hit by a series of two-metre waves that damaged some boats but no one was hurt, officials said.

A four-metre wave hit Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, officials said.

Back in Australia, swimmers and surfers at Bondi Beach have treated this morning like any other even though effects of the tsunami are due to hit the NSW coast from 8.45am (AEDT) today.

Live cameras at Bondi show lifesavers have since ushered people out of the water.

The State Emergency Service (SES) has issued official warnings for people to stay away from the state’s coastal areas.

“Do not go to the coast to watch the tsunami, as there is the possibility of dangerous, localised flooding of the immediate foreshore,” the SES warning states.  [News.com.au]

Rescue of Cliff Climbing Drunk Man Costs Taypayers $10,000

Published on February 26, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Here is another example of wasted taxpayer money:

A NIGHT of drunken skylarking has left a Ukrainian tourist with a hangover he will always remember – and taxpayers with a huge bill.

After a night on the drink, the 19-year-old man scaled down a cliff at Sydney’s northern beaches suburb of Manly but got stuck half way and passed out, The Daily Telegraph reports.

After being alerted by a fisherman, rescue workers found him asleep on his back on a ledge 30m above sea level at North Head early yesterday morning.

The rescue operation will cost taxpayers at least $10,000.

But the man will only be charged the cost of the road trip to hospital – likely to be as little as $700.  [The Daily Telegraph]

Drug Abusing Mom Gets Second Taxpayer Funded Liver Transplant

Published on February 25, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

This is jacked up especially when the tax payers have to foot the bill for such irresponsibility:

TAXPAYERS may have to foot the bill for a dying drug user’s flight to New Zealand for life-saving surgery.

Claire Murray, a 24-year-old mother-of-two, has been told by doctors that she only has months to live if she does not receive a liver transplant.

It would be her second transplant after years of drug abuse, including heroin and amphetamines, PerthNow reports.

She has admitted to taking drugs after her first liver transplant last year – but has pledged to make the most of her second chance at life after being told she could not be considered for a second transplant in WA.

Health Minister Kim Hames said there were seven other people in WA who were waiting for their first liver transplant.

He said it would be “patently unfair” for Ms Murray to jump the queue for a second liver.

But Dr Hames said the State Government was prepared to pay for her and her father to travel to New Zealand so she could be considered for a “live” liver transplant.  [PerthNow]

I don’t understand why the state is allowing her to jump in line ahead of other people waiting for a transplant?  The state at least should make her or her parents pay for this transplant.  She can afford to buy enough drugs to destroy two livers, but can’t afford enough money to at least pay for a plane ticket to New Zealand?  I wonder if such cases like this goes on with MEDICAID in the US?

Islamic Terrorists Sentenced for Australian Terror Plot

Published on February 15, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

For those wondering, Australia has there own Islamic terrorist problem as well:

Five Sydney men convicted of terrorism-related offences have been sentenced to maximum sentences ranging from 23 to 28 years in prison.

In October last year, at the end of Australia’s longest terrorism trial, a jury found them guilty of conspiring to commit a terrorist act or acts.

During the sentencing hearing at the Supreme Court in Parramatta today, Justice Anthony Whealy said the men regarded their imprisonment as a badge of honour.

The judge referred to the chemicals, weapons and ammunition they stockpiled.

He said one of the men told a shop assistant he was buying hydrogen peroxide for his grandmother.

The judge said the men had material that glorified Osama Bin Laden and graphic images of violence involving hostages.

“One particular feature of this trial was the fact that a considerable volume of extremist material was held by each offender in common with the other conspirators,” he said.

He gave the men non-parole periods ranging from 17 to 21 years.

The men smiled at each other after the judge left the court.

Two of their supporters at the back of the public gallery shouted in Arabic, “Be patient, Allah is with you”.  [ABC Online]

I was living in Australia when these terrorism arrests happened and it was big news back then.  It is good to see these guys put away for good.

South Australian Government Censors Internet With New Election Law

Published on February 3, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Could this law eventually make its way to America by the 2012 election?:

  • Anonymous comments banned for SA election
  • Michael Atkinson says speech still free
  • Media says censorship is ‘draconian’

SOUTH Australia has become one of the few states in the world to censor the internet.

The new law, which came into force on January 6, requires anyone making an online comment about next month’s state election to publish their real name and postcode.

The law will affect anyone posting a comment on an election story on The Advertiser’s AdelaideNow website, as well as other Australian news sites.

It could also apply to election comment made on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The law, which was pushed through last year as part of a raft of amendments to the Electoral Act and supported by the Liberal Party, also requires media organisations to keep a person’s real name and full address on file for six months, and they face fines of $5000 if they do not hand over this information to the Electoral Commissioner.  [AdelaideNow]

I want to see how the government plans on censoring Facebook and Twitter?  Apparently the South Australian premier is losing in the polls and is getting bashed on the Internet and in response created this law.  For those that don’t know, think of Adelaide which is the capitol of South Australia as the San Francisco of Australia.  It is a very nice town, but filled with liberals.

Smart Meters Raise Electricity Bills By $300 On Low Income Households

Published on February 2, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Here is what you can expect to happen in the US if these so called smart meters are ever implemented in the US:

ENERGY bills for low-income households could rise 30 per cent a year through the introduction of smart meters, a system that charges consumers higher prices during peak consumption times.

Backed by the nation’s governments, smart meters are being rolled-out across Victoria and NSW, with other states set to follow.

The system, which allows power companies to set their prices based on peak or off-peak times, aims to help consumers better manage electricity use.

The Victorian roll-out already has been criticised by the state’s auditor-general, who found consumers paid an average of $150 more a year more for power.

A new study by the University of Melbourne shows it will come at an even higher cost to the the nation’s most vulnerable consumers, including pensioners and single parents.

The study, prepared for the Ministerial Council on Energy, found that the time-of-use pricing system increased power bills by up to $300 a year for low-income families.  [AAP]

Remember politicians love gimmicks like this because they can say they never raised your taxes, but are still increasingly fleecing you through your utility bill with these smart meters.  Expect this gimmick to come to the US at some point with the justification of fighting global warming.

Australian Passengers Face Full Body Scans for US Flights

Published on January 31, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

For those of you in Australia thinking about flying to the US; get ready for full body scans:

AUSTRALIAN airline passengers face tougher security screening – including possible full-body scans on US flights – in a $400 million-plus strategy to tackle terrorism.

Religious rehabilitation programs to halt the spread of radical Islam in prisons will be unveiled and security at international gateways to Australia, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, will be strengthened.

According to the Herald Sun,domestic travellers can also expect more routine security screening, including swabs to detect explosives.

After lengthy delays and the rewriting of eight earlier drafts, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his senior ministers will today finalise a White Paper on Counter-Terrorism.

The document aims to ensure Australia is better able to cope with threats from home-grown terrorism and follows the arrest of Muslim terrorism suspects in Melbourne last August.  [Herald-Sun]

I think people should have a choice of the full body scan or getting a pat down.  I have no problem taking a full body scan if it gets me through airport security faster.

Ghan Train Service Suspended Due to Heavy Rain

Published on January 9, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Well fortunately they were able to stop the train before it hit the flooded section of track:

Passengers almost halfway through a train journey across Australia have had to turn back because of flooding in the desert.

The Ghan, travelling from Darwin to Adelaide, was 230 kilometres north of Alice Springs when it came across a flooded section of track.

Great Southern Rail’s commercial director Russell Westmoreland says the decision to turn back the train was unavoidable.

“We can’t control the weather, so our role is to do the best we can to get people back on track after that,” he said.

The company says 280 guests are affected.

Freightlink owns the line and spokesman Tony Aldridge says it is too wet to start repairs.

“There’s still significant surface water residing in the area at this point in time and it’s going to take a couple of days for the area to dry out sufficiently,” he said.

The Ghan and its passengers are due to arrive back in Darwin tomorrow afternoon.

Meanwhile heavy rain around Alice Springs has also caused the partial closure of the Stuart Highway.

The Department of Infrastructure says flooding 50 kilometres north of Alice Springs has made the road impassable to all but high-clearance four-wheel drives.  [ABC News]

As many of you reading this know, my wife and I have traveled on the Ghan train twice and even though the train travels through mostly desolate Outback there are still many bridge crossing over dry river beds and when the ground in the Outback gets wet it gets extremely muddy which would only further make train travel dangerous.

Aussie Explorers Find Remains of First Airplane On Antarctica

Published on January 2, 2010 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: , .

It is pretty bold when you think about that someone tried to bring an airplane to Antarctica all the way back in 1911:

Heritage carpenter Mark Farrell points to the spot where the pieces of plane were found. (Reuters: Pauline Askin)

An Antarctic expedition has found what it believes to be remains of the first aeroplane brought to the frozen continent, on an icy shore near where it was abandoned almost a century ago.

Australia has searched for many years for the old single-propeller Vickers plane at Cape Denison, where the nation’s most famous polar explorer, Douglas Mawson, abandoned it after it proved to be a failure during his 1911-14 expedition.

“Luck has been on our side and it’s been a great episode in the history of Antarctic aviation,” said Dr Tony Stewart, leader of the current expedition, after the chance discovery on New Year’s day.

Another member of the expedition, which is dedicated to restoring Mawson’s original wooden huts at Cape Denison, stumbled on pieces of rusted metal tubing among ice-encrusted rocks on the shore of Commonwealth Bay at an especially low tide. They match structural iron tubing from the single-winged plane’s fuselage.

Mawson’s dream of staging the first human flight over the Antarctic ice cap, less than a decade after the Wright brothers made the first powered flight, was shattered even before his expedition sailed for the Antarctic from Australia in late 1911.

The plane crashed in a demonstration flight in October that year, weeks before Mawson was due to set sail. No one was hurt, but the wings were damaged. With no time for repairs, Mawson removed the wings and took the rest of the plane, aiming to use it as a flightless “air tractor” to haul equipment across the ice.

Even as a tractor, with its wheels replaced by sled-runners, the Vickers was a failure. Its engine seized up in the cold.  [Reuters]

Australian Woman Give Birth Without Knowing She Was Pregnant

Published on December 24, 2009 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: .

Having just gone through the whole pregnancy period with my wife I find it even more amazing now than I did before that some women give birth to children without ever knowing  they were pregnant:

A MELBOURNE woman who had given up hope of ever having children described the unexpected birth of her son as her “Christmas miracle”.

Jody Palmer, 38, had been trying to have a baby for 20 years and didn’t know she was pregnant when she woke up with excruciating stomach pains about 3am on Saturday.

Less than three hours later, she gave birth to a boy, Jesse, with the help of her partner, Tim Martin.

“I woke Tim up at about 5am and said: ‘You have to call an ambulance because I’m really sick’,” Ms Palmer said. “Then I felt something and I thought I was having a miscarriage or an alien.”

A triple zero operator guided Mr Martin through the surprise labour in the bathroom of their Reservoir home.

“I heard the paramedic say, ‘if she wants to push, she can push,’ so I gave an almighty push and the next minute the baby came flying out with the cord wrapped around his neck,” Ms Palmer said.

Mr Martin said yesterday he was still in shock.

“I didn’t have much time to think, but the girl, Andrea, on the phone who helped me out was great,” Mr Martin said.

Jesse weighed a tiny 1.114kg on arrival and was quickly transferred to the Royal Women’s Hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit where he will stay for the next few months.

Ms Palmer said being a mother was the only thing she had ever wanted from life.

“I’d given up hope I would ever hold my own child, so this was a Christmas miracle,” she said. “I had been told I was not able to conceive and was even seeing a psychiatrist to deal with being childless.”  [Herald-Sun]