The "drought" hits Sydney again

There is nothing inadequate about the rainfall but there IS a shortage of will among politicians who have been so cowed by Green fanatics that they have built no new dams for many years -- hence water usage restrictions amidst floods thoughout Australia



Commuters told of roads turning into rivers and water lapping at front doors after a storm hit Sydney's eastern suburbs this morning. About 80 millimetres of rain fell on Rose Bay in about an hour and small hail hit Bondi. The State Emergency Service said they had 12 requests for help during the storm, including flash flooding problems.

IT consultant Anthony Fajwul, 34, found himself surrounded by water while driving through Kiaora Road in Double Bay. "It was surreal," he told smh.com.au. "[The water] was lapping at the doorsteps of the houses. One resident stepped out of their front door into knee-deep water. "I thought [my car] was going to break down - the water was above my wheel line. I put the window down and I could touch the water. "I thought surely that must be a one-off, but when I turned into New South Head Road, it was just as bad. "It was just this massive river as far as the eye could see. People were drenched on the sidewalk. People were holding their shoes up. "It was just such a sudden storm. I've never seen anything like it."

Bob Moore, senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, said a storm built up near Kurnell about 8am and moved through the eastern suburbs over the following hour. "It was moving along fairly steadily but slowed down a bit over Rose Bay, and they copped [it]. They've had about 80 millimetres," he said. "It was enough to cause a bit of flash flooding there apparently. "[Eighty millimetres] is something we would get once every one or two years around the eastern suburbs in that space of time."

He said a Bureau of Meteorology staff member had also reported small-sized hail falling in Bondi. "[The hail] didn't seem to be a worry to anyone but the rain certainly was pretty heavy." Mr Moore said the downpour had since eased off but warned that there was still a chance of a thunderstorm later in the day. A spokesman for the NSW Fire Brigades said crews had been sent to locations in Bellevue Hill, Edgecliff, Randwick and Coogee to deal with flooding-related issues. In Edgecliff, crews were pumping out 60 centimetres of water, which had flooded three buildings and caused a retaining wall to collapse, he said.

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Australian immigration detainees launch hunger strike

It's publicity such as we read below (this particular report from a far-Left site) that now prevents most illegals from even thinking about coming to Australia. Illegal immigration into Australia has now become so rare that the mainstream Australian press mostly treat it as a non-issue. The Left are however doing us all a good turn by continuing to do their best to frighten illegals off

I personally would favour more sympathetic treatment of Falun Gong refugees as there is no doubt that they do suffer badly in China -- but Falun Gong is widely followed in China (which is why it is persecuted) so there is no doubt that the floodgates would be opened wide if a more sympathetic policy were adopted

About 60 prisoners at one of Australia's notorious immigration detention centres launched a hunger strike on March 28 to protest against a new wave of refugee deportations, including the removal to China of a 35-year-old female member of the Falun Gong sect. As of yesterday, 25 detainees were continuing the fast into its second week. Despite receiving almost no coverage in the mainstream media, the protest at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre-the scene of scores of previous hunger strikes-once again serves to highlight the inhumanity of the Howard government's mandatory detention of all asylum seekers.

Refugee activists said the Chinese woman was wanted by police in her home country for defending Falun Gong practitioners and attempting to expose their persecution. She screamed, awaking the other inmates, as at least six guards dragged her from the detention centre in her pyjamas at 4 a.m. on March 28. The guards, employed by Global Solutions Ltd, the private company that runs the centre, were acting under the instructions of the immigration department, following the failure of two previous efforts to deport the woman. The government flouted an agreement it had made with detainees to give 48 hours' notice of any removal. That same night, on March 28, a Tanzanian asylum seeker was taken to hospital after slashing himself with broken glass. His condition and whereabouts remain unknown.

The hunger strikers have raised three demands: an end to forcible removals, the abolition of mandatory detention, and reports from the government on the fate of previously deported refugees, numbers of whom are known to have been killed or imprisoned on their return. A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews has contemptuously denied any knowledge of the action. She confirmed that the woman had been placed on a flight to China, and claimed that the detention centre was calm after a "bit of noise". Two weeks before the Chinese woman's removal, two other detainees were deported: a Nepalese man, locked in Villawood for three years, and a Filipino woman. Earlier in February, six people were deported from Villawood, including three Chinese asylum seekers.

On March 27, the day before the hunger strike began, up to 40 detainees protested about another Chinese national, An Xiang Tao, being confined in an isolation cell. An was isolated after being taken to hospital with head wounds that he apparently inflicted on himself when detainees were told that he was being removed to China. An, also a Falun Gong practitioner, arrived in Australia in 2000 and had been in detention for four years before his deportation was ordered by the Federal Court earlier this year. About 100 Villawood detainees of many different nationalities formed a human blockade to prevent that taking place in late February.

The government's forced removals are blatant violations of basic democratic rights, as well as international refugee law. It is well known that Chinese deportees face religious and political persecution in China. The Chinese government banned the Falun Gong spiritual group in 1999 and has subjected its supporters to imprisonment and various forms of repression.

An and eight other asylum seekers have taken a case to the Australian government's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) for human rights transgressions and racial discrimination in Villawood. The action was brought after a number of Chinese officials visited the country in 2005, and were permitted to question 24 Villawood detainees. The interrogations gave An and other Chinese detainees even further reason to fear retribution from Beijing. An's lawyer, Michaela Byers, told the media: "He fears that they will detain him on arrival, and that he may match someone on a data base who needs an organ transplant." A report published last year, based on investigations undertaken by a former Canadian cabinet minister, accused Chinese authorities of killing Falun Gong practitioners and selling body parts to foreigners.

The conditions faced by the detainees in Villawood are nothing short of barbaric. In October 2005, six Chinese asylum seekers held a hunger strike at Villawood for up to 55 days to protest against mandatory detention and their conditions. The protest exposed the fact that nothing had improved inside the detention centres despite cynical efforts by the Howard government to placate growing public disgust at the systematic mistreatment of asylum seekers and other so-called "illegal immigrants". Last November, over a hundred Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese detainees staged a 48-hour hunger strike in protest against the poor and punitive conditions, and the length of their detention. Some had been locked up for more than four years and separated from their families.

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Arrogant government drug warriors

Abuse of children based on an incorrect "tipoff"

SCHOOLBOY athletes have been forced to strip naked and provide samples to drug-testing officials in a doping blitz on Sydney's most exclusive high schools. Officials from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority forced members of the Sydney Church of England Grammar School rowing team to strip and give samples during an interschool regatta three weeks ago.

ASADA attended the annual Head of the River Regatta last Saturday, but was refused permission to test the mainly Year 11 and 12 students. "My concern is that our boys were told to strip naked by a complete stranger and provide a urine sample," Shore headmaster Tim Wright told The Daily Telegraph yesterday. "In my view only a parent could possibly give permission for such a procedure to occur involving a minor."

ASADA confirmed it had targeted the rowing events but insisted its officials had every right to be there. "One of the best ways to deter young athletes from doping is to ensure that ASADA has a presence at events like this one," a spokesman said.

King's School headmaster Tim Hawkes said the system was flawed because many students were on medication that could affect test results. "The drug authorities need to understand there are students using treatments for ADHD, even asthma, and these may well affect results," he said. "What if they had an aspirin for a headache and failed a test? I would be extremely concerned about that." Dr Hawkes said the officials could not provide any evidence that they had undergone necessary background checks to work with children. "We needed to have evidence that these people had been cleared by the appropriate agencies to work in an unsupervised manner with children. "As this has never happened before, myself and the parents were a bit confused by it."

Rowing NSW's CEO David Evans, said ASADA was "cloak and dagger" about their reasons for testing. "It's never happened before at a schools-only event," he said. "It just came as a bit of a shock to the school community because their boys are suddenly being tested," he said. King's first eight coach Andrew Randell said one boy from a rival school was forced to stand naked for 20 minutes at the Sydney International Rowing Centre following tests on March 17. "It comes down to a duty of care situation, so I understand the concern of the parents," he said. GPS schools may now face disciplinary action for refusing to take part in testing last weekend.

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Labor party embraces private health care

LABOR will dump its opposition to higher health insurance rebates paid to the over-65s as the party prepares to drop its traditional antagonism to private health care. It comes as the ALP national conference later this month will move to excise from its platform a provision opposing growth in private care at the expense of the public system. The Opposition's health spokeswoman, Nicola Roxon, is today expected to tell private health funds that Labor accepts the role of a strong private health sector and supports higher rebates for older health fund members.

The move is an acknowledgement of the growth in health insurance in recent years and is in line with the strategy of the Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, of removing targets vulnerable to Government attack, including the private schools hit list and the pledge to reinstate workers sacked under the Government's looser unfair dismissal laws.

Labor has opposed the higher rebates - 35 per cent for the over 65s and 40 per cent for those over 70 - since they were introduced two years ago, giving the Government ammunition to raise doubts about Labor's commitment to the existing 30 per cent rebate which benefits about 10 million people. Since the introduction of the perks for older members, health fund membership for the over-60s has climbed sharply to more than 1.5 million in that age group. Labor has previously argued that the higher rebates would not be necessary because of its now aborted Medicare Gold plan to give free treatment to the elderly.

Ms Roxon said that clearly there were many people, particularly the elderly, who relied on the rebate to afford health insurance. "We don't believe we should add to their pressures by taking these away. I think this is a sign about Labor being able to move with the times. It is definitely an acceptance that private services are playing a more important role in health." She said it was important for the party "to concentrate on the issues we think the community wants us to deal with" and not on "outmoded debates that do not accept the community is changing".

Federal Labor has already signalled it is prepared for an even greater role for the private sectors in public health care, including investigating the training of doctors in private hospitals. Ms Roxon said she did not expect problems in getting the more private-friendly platform through the national conference. That was so long as the conference appreciated that Labor intended to invest in public health care to ensure the best quality service "and not some sort of safety net that the Government wants to turn it into".

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