An Australian news roundup

Goldmine for lawyers ends in Victoria

Reforms outlawing many personal injury claims in Victoria have led to a huge drop in the number of court cases. Figures from the County Court show public liability lawsuits dropped from 1734 in the year before the reforms to 84 last year. The drop in all causes of action for personal injuries was from 5418 to 801.

Now the Law Institute of Victoria has called for the laws to be wound back because they had stopped injured Victorians from gaining proper compensation. LIV vice-president Geoff Provis said many injured people could not meet the State Government's test for compensation of 5 per cent physical impairment or 10 per cent psychiatric impairment. "Whether intended or unintended these reforms have simply gone too far and Victorians with genuine injuries are being denied access to fair compensation," Mr Provis said. He said the tort law reforms were introduced in 2003 in response to a perceived insurance crisis.

The Bracks Government rushed through changes to medical and public liability laws to curb the soaring cost of medical indemnity and public liability insurance.

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Illegal fishing fine too lenient: court



The Federal Government has welcomed a court ruling that substantial fines should be handed to foreigners found illegally fishing in Australian waters. The ruling by the South Australian Supreme Court sets a precedent for fines issued to future illegal fishers and comes after an Adelaide magistrate last month caused outrage by fining three Indonesian fishermen just $5 each. Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz said the ruling vindicated his decision to ask the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal the $5 fines. "The $5 fine now sets no precedent," Senator Abetz said. "(Supreme Court) Chief Justice (John Doyle) has clearly indicated that this was wrong, and has indicated to magistrates in South Australia that the appropriate fine for offences of this kind was one of at least $4,000."

Adelaide Magistrate Andrew Cannon last month fined the captains of three Indonesian fishing boats $5 each, reasoning they deserved a more lenient penalty because their boats had either been seized or destroyed and they did not have the financial capacity to pay a large fine. The maximum fine for illegally fishing in Australian waters is $27,500.

Chief Justice Doyle said Dr Cannon should have imposed a more substantial fine, adding that almost 200 illegal fishers had appeared in court during the past year and a consistent approach to sentencing was needed. "The magistrate thought that a substantial fine was an exercise in tokenism, because it was unlikely that it would be paid," he said. "But to take that approach is to accept that capacity to pay is the decisive consideration, which in my opinion it cannot be. "I consider that a substantial fine was called for, even after making allowance for the loss of the vessel and the period of (time spent by the fishermen in immigration) detention. "I would have imposed a fine of not less than $4,000 on each count, amounting to a total of not less than $8,000 to be paid by each defendant."

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One of Australia's disgusting public broadcasters finally bends to reality

The B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) welcomes the decision by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to recognise Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah as terrorist organisations. The ADC's Executive Officer, Mr Manny Waks, says "While it is difficult to understand what has taken so long for the ABC to arrive at this obvious conclusion, we must nonetheless congratulate the ABC on this decision."

Four years ago the ABC's international chief, Mr John Tulloh, prohibited ABC journalists from referring to these groups as terrorist organisations.

The ADC acknowledged the work of Senator Santoro and more recently by Senators Ronaldson and Fierravanti-Wells in pursuing this matter. For three years the ABC executives have been intensely questioned by the Senators. "They have shown great persistence and determination," Mr Waks said. Mr Waks also said that "the ADC supports Senator Ronaldson's hope that SBS would come to similar conclusion to the ABC and concede that Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah are indeed terrorist organisations."

Source






Sydney: 'Gay-friendly' child care slammed

Little kids being harassed over sexuality -- out of the public purse

A council-run childcare centre is teaching toddlers that gay, lesbian and "transgender" parents are normal in a bid to "challenge the perception" of young children about sexuality. The Tillman Park Children's Centre in Tempe - which receives council and government funding - has devised the gay-friendly curriculum for children aged six weeks to six years. Marrickville Mayor Sam Byrne said the centre had "successfully adopted several strategies to encompass lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and inter-sex issues". These included ensuring images were reflective of "diverse families" and "actively affirming the identity of lesbian and gay families". He said the centre challenged "children's perception of what is 'normal' gender and sexual identity".

The centre uses controversial Learn to Include books, which feature Jed and his Dads and The Rainbow Cubby House. Mr Byrne applauded staff and families at the centre for "broadening the minds of our future generation". "At Marrickville we believe in offering children and families an inclusive program based on social justice," he told The Saturday Daily Telegraph. "These are reflected through an open environment where alternative perspectives, values, beliefs, lifestyles and people's identities are respected and accepted." ....

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Nowhere for her to give birth

What happens when you rely on the great god "Gubmint" and their wonderful "planning": An interstate trip to give birth!

A critical bed shortage has led to a pregnant mother expecting twins having to travel to Canberra Hospital yesterday because of a gridlock in infant intensive care wards. A rush of multiple births - including triplets at Nepean Hospital - put pressure on an over-burdened system. The woman was flown by air ambulance to Canberra early yesterday morning. High occupancy rates in maternity and neo-natal wards across Sydney caused a serious shortage across the state.

A spokesman for ACT Health confirmed they received a NSW patient early yesterday, and said interstate transfers were "routine". "A pregnant woman was transported to the Canberra Hospital from Sydney because there were no neo-natal beds available elsewhere in Sydney," he said.

A lack of specialist nurses is aggravating the situation, prompting one Sydney hospital on Thursday night to call in off-duty nurses. "This is a recurrent problem, it happens all the time," one specialist told The Saturday Daily Telegraph. ....

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