Gammy's dad shouldn't have kids: victim

A victim of child sex offender David Farnell, says he should be banned from having children. Source: AAP

A CHILD sex abuse victim of an Australian man at the centre of a surrogacy storm says pedophiles shouldn't have children and she's disgusted he has a baby daughter.

DAVID Farnell was placed in the international spotlight after a Thailand surrogate mother alleged he abandoned his Down Syndrome son Gammy and returned to Australia with the healthier twin sister, now seven-month-old Pipah.

Questions have been raised over Mr Farnell's suitability for surrogacy after it emerged he was jailed in 1997 for indecently dealing with three girls.One of Mr Farnell's victims, using the pseudonym Sarah, has spoken about the impact of the offences."The damage is done and it can take years to repair," she told The West Australian newspaper."It's my belief he should not have any children - not just him, all pedophiles."The 39-year-old said she feared for Pipah's safety."We need to stop putting these perpetrators first ... because there are so many innocent babies and children that are abused day in, day out."It's disgusting."Mr Farnell and his wife Wendy have denied abandoning Gammy in Thailand, saying they wanted to take him back to their home in Western Australia.

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Tas P-plater caught driving 165 km/h

Police have arrested and clamped the car of a Tasmanian P-plater caught driving 165 km/h. Source: AAP

POLICE have arrested and clamped the car of a Tasmanian P-plater caught driving 165 km/h.

THE 19-year-old was speeding on the Bass Highway in the early morning hours when stopped by officers on Saturday.

He was charged with a number of traffic offences.His car has been clamped for 28 days.

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Budget back in emergency, Cormann says

Tony Abbott says the budget must be passed and the government will negotiate it through parliament. Source: AAP

AFTER declaring a budget emergency last year, the government this week declared the budget situation normal but now Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says it's back to an emergency.

LABOR deputy leader Tanya Plibersek retorted that the government couldn't keep their story straight for a day.

With parliament sitting again this week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the budget must be passed and the government will "carefully, courteously, patiently" negotiate outstanding measures through the senate.On Tuesday, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann appeared to distance himself from the government's previous insistence the budget was in crisis."Situation normal really," he said.Come Saturday, the message changed. He denied urgency had gone from the budget, which remained in the bad shape Labor left it."We are facing a budget emergency as a country, we are facing a very challenging fiscal situation but the government is dealing with it ... through the normal processes of the parliament," he told Sky News.Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said Senator Cormann had returned to the old script."This was the same minister who earlier in the week was claiming that it was mission accomplished and that the government had plenty of time to get its key budget measures through the Senate," he said in a statement.Mr Abbott acknowledged the government had achieved much of what it wanted.He said not all news from federal parliament was "difficult and vexed" and about half the budget measures had passed.The largest saving of some $7 billion from reducing growth of the foreign aid budget had passed as part of the appropriation bills.What the government doesn't have is a series of more controversial revenue raising and cost-cutting measures, including the GP co-payment, return to fuel indexation and reduced pension indexation.The government needs to win support from cross-bench senators for these to pass against the opposition of Labor and Greens senators."Like other governments before us, we will carefully, courteously, patiently negotiate the rest of our budget through the parliament," Mr Abbott said.He said this had to be done and would be done, as failure to act now meant tougher decisions would be needed later.Even those measures won't cover the cost of the new initiatives including the paid parental leave scheme ($7 billion a year by 2024-25) and National Disability Insurance Scheme ($26 billion a year), a new report from the Parliamentary Budget Office says.This report says a sustained period of growth in government spending over the past 10 years has probably lifted community expectations of what the government could provide."It is difficult to see how governments could continue to meet these expectations while containing spending growth to the level currently projected," the report states.

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NSW fisherman's death prompts safety plea

RESCUERS are pleading for rock fishers to wear lifejackets and heed weather warnings, after a man died at a notorious spot on Sydney's northern beaches.

THREE fishermen - none of whom knew each other - were swept into a wave pool at the base of a North Curl Curl cliff about 10.30am on Saturday.

A NSW Police spokeswoman has told AAP that two of the men began CPR on the third man, 42, and assisted him until paramedics and a Westpac Lifesaver rescue helicopter arrived, but the man could not be saved.It is believed the man was not wearing a lifejacket when he went into the water, though it's not known if this contributed to his death.Paramedics say he suffered a cardiac arrest.The tragedy is the latest in a string of recent accidents involving rock fishers along the NSW coast, and has prompted pleas from Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopters chief executive Stephen Leahy for anglers to stay safe."Right along that area is notorious for rock fishing accidents," he told AAP of the northern beaches stretch where the 42-year-old died."It's a fantastic sport, a very enjoyable, relaxing sport, but there are risks ..."Lifejackets, without any shadow of a doubt, will continue to save lives if only rock fishermen wore them."He has also reminded anglers to pay attention to weather warnings published by the Bureau of Meteorology and local surf lifesaving clubs.There were no dangerous surf warnings on Saturday as the wave height and energy were below thresholds, the Bureau's Jake Phillips has told Fairfax Media."But there are local rips and currents, which can be dangerous at any time," he said."If you are planning to rock fish, check the forecasts."Just last week, a 60-year-old fisherman was killed when he was swept off rocks while fishing at Kiama's Blow Hole Point.

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Mum speaks after Sydney party brawl

Adam Garcia smartens up his act

WITH his good looks, Adam Garcia never goes unnoticed but his strong performance in next month's ABC political thriller The Code will put him on the "serious actor" map.

Nat Bass ramps up cringe factor

WHEN did Natalie Bassingthwaighte morph from sex bomb into screaming teenager? Something goes very wrong when she takes her seat on The X Factor set.

Put these celebs to the TV torture test

CHANNEL 10 is in talks with British television production giant ITV Studios to produce an Australian version of hit reality show franchise I'm A Celebrity Get Me Outta Here.

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Thailand seeks surrogacy transitional plan

INTERPOL says it has launched a multinational investigation into what Thailand has dubbed the "Baby Factory" case: a 24-year-old Japanese businessman who has 16 surrogate babies and an alleged desire to father hundreds more.

POLICE raided a Bangkok apartment earlier this month and found nine babies and nine nannies living in a few unfurnished rooms filled with baby bottles, bouncy chairs, play pens and nappies. They have since identified Mitsutoki Shigeta as the father of those babies - and seven others.

"What I can tell you so far is that I've never seen a case like this," said Thailand's Interpol director, police Major General Apichart Suribunya."We are trying to understand what kind of person makes this many babies."Apichart said on Friday that regional Interpol offices in Japan, Cambodia, Hong Kong and India have been asked to probe Shigeta's background, beginning last week. Police say he appears to have registered businesses or apartments in those countries and has frequently travelled there."We are looking into two motives. One is human trafficking and the other is exploitation of children," said Thai police Lieutenant General Kokiat Wongvorachart, Thailand's lead investigator in the case.He said Shigeta made 41 trips to Thailand since 2010. On many occasions he travelled to nearby Cambodia, where he brought four of his babies.Shigeta has not been charged with any crime. He is trying to get his children back - the 12 in Thailand are being cared for by social services - and he has proven through DNA samples sent from Japan that he is their biological father. He quickly left Thailand after the August 5 raid and has said through a lawyer that he simply wanted a large family and has the means to support it.Kokiat said Shigeta hired 11 Thai surrogate mothers to carry his children, including four sets of twins. Police have not determined the biological mothers, Kokiat said.The founder of a multinational fertility clinic that provided Shigeta with two surrogate mothers said she warned Interpol about him even before the first baby was born in June 2013."As soon as they got pregnant he requested more. He said he wanted 10 to 15 babies a year, and that he wanted to continue the baby-making process until he's dead," said Mariam Kukunashvili, founder of the New Life clinic, which is based in Thailand and six other countries.He also inquired about equipment to freeze his sperm to have sufficient supply when he's older, she said in a telephone interview from Mexico.As for Shigeta's motives, Kukunashvili said he told the clinic's manager that "he wanted to win elections and could use his big family for voting," and that "the best thing I can do for the world is to leave many children."Shigeta's activities drew no attention until early this month, when an Australian couple was accused of abandoning a baby with his Thai surrogate mother - but taking his twin sister - after learning the boy had Down syndrome.Though the couple disputes the allegation, the case prompted a crackdown by Thai authorities on what had been a largely unregulated industry.

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Iggy Azalea falls off stage during US show

Wran's drug past laid bare

A DRUG dealer who claims to be an ex-boyfriend and former housemate of Harriet Wran has told of her tragic descent into drugs.

Hostage to fame or risk to society?

IS Jodhi Meares a victim of unwanted celebrity or a poor little rich girl with a $10 million divorce settlement and very little regard for the $1100 fine and one-year ban for an offence that could have been so much worse?

Spooky house on market for $2.5m

VERULAM, a 141-year-old Moore Park property known locally as the 'Addams Family' house is on the market for the first time since 1924.

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Iceland raises aviation volcano alert

Adam Garcia smartens up his act

WITH his good looks, Adam Garcia never goes unnoticed but his strong performance in next month's ABC political thriller The Code will put him on the "serious actor" map.

Nat Bass ramps up cringe factor

WHEN did Natalie Bassingthwaighte morph from sex bomb into screaming teenager? Something goes very wrong when she takes her seat on The X Factor set.

Put these celebs to the TV torture test

CHANNEL 10 is in talks with British television production giant ITV Studios to produce an Australian version of hit reality show franchise I'm A Celebrity Get Me Outta Here.

23.56 | 0 komentar | Read More