A man is in a critical condition after his car hit a street pole in Cairns. Source: AAP
A MAN is in a critical condition after the car he was driving hit a street pole in Cairns.
THE man, who is in his early 20s, was taken to hospital with life threatening injuries after the accident in the suburb of Brinsmead early Saturday.
A Cairns Base Hospital spokesman said the man, who was the only person in the car, was in a critical condition on Saturday afternoon.A British military worker has been evacuated to the UK from Sierra Leone for Ebola monitoring. Source: AAP
A BRITISH military healthcare worker has been brought back to England for Ebola monitoring after suffering a needle-stick injury while treating a person in Sierra Leone.
PUBLIC Health England (PHE) said the individual has been admitted to the Royal Free Hospital in London for assessment and next of kin have been informed.
The individual is likely to have been exposed to the virus but has not been diagnosed with Ebola and does not have symptoms."Our thoughts are with this person, who has been courageous in helping those affected in West Africa, and in preventing the wider spread of Ebola," PHE's director for health protection and medical director Professor Paul Cosford said."We have strict, well-tested protocols in place for this eventuality and we are confident that all appropriate actions have been taken to support the healthcare worker concerned and to protect the health of other people."The ALP has promised to review teaching classifications and their pay rates in Queensland. Source: AAP
QUEENSLAND Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk is pledging $6 million to pave the way for the state's best teachers to get a pay rise.
THE opposition leader says if elected the ALP will fund a review to establish two new classifications that identify "highly accomplished" and "lead" teachers.
But she concedes the process could take up to four years to complete.That means those eligible could have to wait until after the next state election to benefit."What we've seen over the last few years is teachers leaving our profession to get higher paid jobs," she said on Saturday."This is going to be encouragement to teachers to come back into the classroom."Initial estimates suggested the most experienced teachers could earn up to $120,000, Ms Palaszczuk said.But she was tight-lipped when asked how the party would fund the initiative, simply insisting it wouldn't rely on asset sales.The details would be available when the party's costing were released in the coming week, she said.Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the plan falls far short of the LNP's master teachers program, which recruits teachers capable of lifting academic results.He said hundreds of master and mentor teachers would be deployed from Tuesday as part of the scheme - which even his Labor counterpart, Andrew Lynham, admitted had its merits."We want to make sure our students don't have to wait years for better improved results and better quality teaching," Mr Langbroek said.The LNP has pledged $1 billion for 22 new schools and existing school upgrades, as well as a $90 million innovation fund and 500 scholarships for education degrees so far this election.Meanwhile, Labor has promised to hire hundreds of new teachers in state schools over three years, employ more guidance counsellors and cut class sizes in state primary schools.Hundreds of women will be interviewed by police after a baby was found dead on a Sydney beach. Source: AAP
HUNDREDS of women who gave birth towards the end of last year in eastern Sydney will be interviewed by police as they search for the mother of a baby found buried at Maroubra Beach.
POLICE will begin doorknocking on Monday after obtaining medical records of women who were pregnant a couple of months either side of the baby's discovery.
The girl's body was found by two boys on November 30 as they dug in the sand at the beach in Sydney's south.Forensic teams have struggled to gather more information from the victim's body, which was heavily decomposed."(That) has certainly hampered the investigation," Superintendent Gavin Dengate told reporters on Saturday.The Eastern Beaches Local Area Commander hoped further DNA testing would reveal more about the baby's age and potentially her ethnicity.Meanwhile, police will canvass the community for information."Sensitivity is very important," Supt Dengate said."You're not going to go in heavy-handed and say, 'Is that really your baby?'"Supt Dengate urged anyone who had information about the baby's mother to come forward.Labor senator Doug Cameron says his party will fight hard to protect penalty rates. Source: AAP
FEDERAL Labor says it's in for a tough fight to ensure millions of Australian workers keep weekend and public holiday penalty rates as business launches a push for industrial relations reform across the country.
"WORKCHOICES is not dead," Labor senator Doug Cameron said on Saturday, following Fairfax Media reports that industry groups were campaigning to wind back and cut weekend and public holiday penalty rates, particularly in the hospitality sector.
"The Abbott government ... is behind this push by business to try to cut the penalty rates of ordinary Australian workers," Senator Cameron added.He said around 4.5 million workers across the country depended on penalty rates to "actually put food on the table, take the family out to get a meal and go for a holiday once a year"."Penalty rates are extremely important," he said.The reported campaign by industry comes as the Fair Work Commission reviews more than 200 awards that provide minimum wage, hours and other conditions.The commission is also said to be separately examining penalty rates that will impact a number of awards.Senator Cameron said Labor was in for a tough fight to protect current penalty rates."The backbench of the Liberal party, cabinet ministers in the Liberal party, big business, they are all lining up to take advantage of the downturn in the economy and attack penalty rates," he said."This is a campaign that's going to be a tough campaign, but it's a campaign that is right."Senator Cameron was especially critical of moves by Australia's biggest brickmaker, ASX-listed Brickworks, to cut penalty rates."This is a multi-billion dollar business; it's simply about cost cutting," he said."This is a business that puts hundreds of thousands of dollars into Liberal party funds, and now they want to take those funds out of the pockets of their workers."NSW police have caught two L-platers driving unsupervised, including a woman with two children in the back without seatbelts and a drunk man.
THE 22-year-old woman was pulled over in Cowra, in NSW's central west as part of a state-wide traffic crackdown.
She had her permit suspended for three months and was fined for being an unaccompanied learner, not displaying her L-plates and driving with two unrestrained passengers.In Wagga Wagga, an intoxicated man on his Ls was also caught driving without supervision.He was charged with mid-range drink-driving after returning an alleged blood alcohol reading of 0.135.More than 2600 infringement notices were issued on Friday, 650 of those for speeding.Almost 77,000 breath tests were also carried out, with 26 drivers charged.The three-day operation ends at midnight on Saturday.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.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.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.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.
