Mandrake the magician

It will be interesting to hear how Australia's chief Leftist is going to stop the major health problem among blacks -- endemic substance abuse from childhood on and pervasive adult alcoholism. He's just talking malarkey

KEVIN Rudd has promised to close the 17-year gap in life expectancy between black and white Australians within a generation. In a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the historic 1967 referendum, the Opposition Leader will tomorrow attempt to trump John Howard by committing Labor to a broad agenda to give indigenous and non-indigenous children the same life expectancy levels.

Labor's plan will cost $261.4million over four years, with $186.4 million coming from the commonwealth Government and $75 million from the states and territories. Labor would spend $112 million over four years to provide national coverage of child and maternal health services to indigenous Australians. It says its first step towards closing the life expectancy gap is halving the rate at which indigenous children die before the age of five within a decade. Labor also wants literacy and numeracy gaps halved within 10 years, saying children should be tested at Years 3, 5 and 7 to ensure progress is being made.

Mr Rudd's policy will meet the demands of a coalition of indigenous and non-indigenous medical, health and human rights organisations, which has been campaigning for a national commitment to a plan to address indigenous health standards. Mr Rudd will also reveal specific targets to improve the opportunities for Aboriginal children in health and education.

And a Rudd government would continue the Howard Government's mutual obligation principles, in a move away from previous Labor principles based on welfare. News of tomorrow's speech came as a Howard government plan to make it compulsory for indigenous children to learn English received a mixed response, including claims that teachers on indigenous communities had inadequate skills because they could not speak indigenous languages.

The plan was flagged by Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough, who says Aboriginal children in isolated communities have no hope of advancement in life if they cannot speak English. It came as some indigenous leaders rejected criticism by former ATSIC chair Lowitja O'Donoghue of the Prime Minister's refusal to apologise over the stolen generations.

In tomorrow's speech, Mr Rudd will stress his plans will be carefully administered to deliver change rather than just handing over money. He will declare the new policy -- New Directions in Indigenous Affairs -- will deliver a new deal and "reciprocal partnership between government and indigenous Australians". The Labor leader will say both sides of politics should commit to halving the mortality gap between indigenous and non-indigenous children aged under five within 10 years.

Mr Rudd will ask the Prime Minister, in a spirit of bipartisanship, for nation reconciliation goals to be set for indigenous children. Under the plan, indigenous mothers and their babies will have access to a comprehensive "mothers and babies" service to cost $92.2million over four years. It will provide new mothers, babies and children with healthcare and early learning support during the antenatal phase, through childbirth and until their child reaches age eight. Indigenous women will have access to antenatal care, including a visit to a midwife, general practitioner or obstetrician. Indigenous children will have their weight gain, immunisation status, infections and early development monitored by a primary healthcare service.

Labor will expand a Howard Government program to provide comprehensive nurse-led home visiting services of up to 20 visits in the first year, and up to 12 visits in the second year. The party will provide a $10million capital fund to establish new hostels and expand accommodation facilities in major cities and regional centres to take in indigenous women who need to leave their communities temporarily to have babies. And all indigenous four-year-olds will be eligible to receive 15 hours of government-funded early learning programs a week, for a minimum of 40 weeks a year. At least $21 million a year will help provide these services to four-year-olds. According to a study by Oxfam, New Zealand, Canada and the US have narrowed the life expectancy gap between their indigenous and non-indigenous people to about seven years.

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Rogue unions to be let off the leash -- just wait for the rorts

MOST mornings, militant unionist Kevin Reynolds meanders on to the balcony of his stunning riverside apartment, built by his loyal disciples, to take breakfast and the morning papers. He can look across the Swan River to the cranes that pepper Perth's exploding CBD, knowing that should Labor win the next federal election, his nemesis -- the only authority in 20 years to rein in his hardline and volatile union -- will be destroyed. And Reynolds, as West Australian secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, along with his colourful deputy, Joe McDonald, will again have total control over almost every major construction site in the booming West Australian capital.

It is a daunting scenario for a construction industry enjoying a relatively strike-free environment since the Australian Building and Construction Commission, which Labor has vowed to abolish, came to town in late 2005.

The booming West Australian economy has certainly been good to Reynolds, who is unapologetic about the wealth he has amassed as one of the country's most militant unionists. The 58-year-old and his wife, state Labor MP Shelley Archer, paid $1.05 million for their Raffles tower apartment last May after striking a deal with Multiplex, which built the luxurious complex. The apartment is now conservatively valued at $1.7 million. Reynolds and Multiplex, "The Well-Built Australian", have worked well together. Last July, Reynolds sold his share of Perth's Coolbelup Hotel, which he owned with former Multiplex director Derek Robson and his brother Peter Robson, for $3.6million. Reynolds and Archer, who described disgraced former premier Brian Burke as her mentor during a Corruption and Crime Commission grilling as to why she leaked government documents to the lobbyist, also own a $1.1 million, four-bedroom, two-bathroom home in the Kimberley's top holiday destination of Broome. Even General Strike -- the horse Reynolds owns with Burke and others -- has picked up more than $54,000 in prizemoney.

"There are dozens and dozens of my members who live in homes equivalent to what I've purchased and there are dozens of my members who have got investment properties etcetera and I have no qualms and don't feel any problems at all -- I've invested wisely, I didn't piss my money up against the wall," Reynolds said.

Reynolds and McDonald have already started boasting about what will happen when Kevin Rudd becomes prime minister and carries out his promise to dismantle the ABCC headed by John Lloyd. "I live for the day when (the ABCC staff) are all working at Hungry Jack's or Fast Eddy's or Kentucky Fried Chicken," McDonald told The Australian recently. "That is what's waiting for them. They're all ex-policemen and they can go and do whatever ex-coppers do. I'd suggest that John Lloyd and his mates will be unemployed before I will be".

It is no surprise the CFMEU is licking its lips in anticipation of a Rudd victory. Figures obtained by The Weekend Australian show an extraordinary halt to the union's rogue strikes -- including "blue flu" where hundreds of workers called in sick at once -- after the ABCC used its powers to hit unionists with individual writs that could result in fines of up to $28,600 each. In Western Australia, days lost to industrial action in the construction industry fell from 71 per 1000 workers in the December quarter of 2004 to just nine in the same quarter of last year. For the 12 months ending in December last year, there had been 45.2 days lost per 1000 workers, compared with 725 days in 2005.

Reynolds blames the ABCC and its investigators with their "Gestapo" powers for striking fear into workers with legitimate concerns, but concedes he regrets some of his union's past industrial campaigns. "I would admit that some of our disputes, like the 'no-ticket no-start' disputes and walking off concrete pours and things of that nature wouldn't be tolerated these days, by any government," he says.

The Cole Royal Commission found lawlessness widespread in the construction industry in 2003. The commission heard that 10 West Australian construction companies had handed over a combined total of $397,935.48 to the CFMEU in Western Australia for "casual" union tickets for non-union workers. The commission also found widespread disregard for right-of-entry rules on building sites. Just last month, McDonald -- who has been convicted of assault on a city building site and stripped of his right-of-entry -- was charged with trespass on a city apartment project. Reynolds is nonetheless proud of the union's hard-fought gains such as superannuation benefits, "portable" long-service leave and wage increases.

Lloyd, the ABCC commissioner who is fighting the union in 18 separate court battles across the nation, claims credit for the relative peace in Perth's construction industry in the past year. "The productivity of industry has improved, more jobs are being completed on budget, within budget, and on time and the productivity benefits all of Australia," he says. Lloyd, whose investigators have unprecedented powers to intervene, question and prosecute unionists, said the Cole Royal Commission had done much to effect change. "The union is very apprehensive now," Lloyd says. "It would be damaging if the industry in the future returned to the conduct and standards of conduct that it had in the past."

Reynolds says the commission is an arm of the Liberal Party and was designed to destroy the trade union movement. It was part of a system of unfair federal laws that, in one case, forced Perth workers to ask permission from their boss before going to the toilet. "We're going to put our shoulder to the wheel to assist in the campaign to unseat the Howard Government and then we're going to have the biggest celebration that we can have on the night he is defeated and then life will go on as normal, the sun will rise the next day and it will set and life will go on just as normal," he says.

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Disgraceful legal attack on whistleblower

WHISTLEBLOWER Allan Kessing is likely to receive a prison sentence for his role in leaking a "protected" report on crime at Sydney airport, which sparked a major overhaul of security across the country.

After hearing sentencing submissions in the case yesterday, NSW District Court judge James Bennett SC said he was inclined to impose prison time, and was considering whether to make it a suspended sentence, as a deterrent to other whistleblowers. "I'm sympathetic to the view that I should impose a sentence of imprisonment," he said.

Mr Kessing, 59, is facing a maximum two-year term in prison after a jury found him guilty in April of unlawfully communicating information as a former commonwealth officer. The court heard that the leaked information, which was subsequently published in The Australian, had resulted in a major national inquiry into aviation security and federal Government expenditure of $200 million. Mr Kessing's lawyer, Peter Lowe, told the NSW District Court that the leak had had a "beneficial effect at the end of the day". He said the leak had exposed a situation that had "outraged" the public.

Crown prosecutor Lincoln Crowley acknowledged that a suspended sentence could be imposed and asked Judge Bennett to consider putting Mr Kessing behind bars. "The only appropriate sentence would be a full-time custodial sentence," Mr Crowley said. He told the court that the leak could have jeopardised undercover operations. "The breach of trust here is more serious because of the potential to disrupt these operations," Mr Crowley.

Judge Bennett indicated he was also concerned about the possibility that the leak might have potentially disrupted police operations. Gail Batman, a senior Customs executive who was the national director of border intelligence at the time of the leak, told the court the disclosure of the report had embarrassed Customs with other agencies and the Government and had led to media scrutiny. She said several security agencies were "very unhappy" the information had been made public and had blamed Customs.

Mr Lowe later told the court that there was nothing prejudicial or damaging in the report's publication. He said he could see nothing wrong with exposing a government agency to criticism. "If you can't criticise, analyse or critique a commonwealth agency that is charged with protecting us, what can you do?"

The Australian, in May and June 2005, revealed flaws in airport security and the operation of organised crime at airports, which prompted the Government to commission British security expert John Wheeler to inquire into the issue. Sir John's report in September that year recommended widespread action, including the introduction of new police squads for airports. The Government accepted most of his recommendations and committed $200 million to establish airport police commands and increase Customs surveillance. Judge Bennett will deliver his verdict on June 14.

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Another government railway failure



The bottleneck at one of Australia's biggest coal ports is costing mining companies more than $1 billion a year, threatening hundreds of jobs in the industry and risking the future of exports to key Asian customers. As more than 50 ships wait off Queensland's Dalrymple Bay port to load coal, furious coal producers are blaming "sheer incompetence" by the state-owned railway for the backlog.

Confidential correspondence and briefing papers obtained by The Weekend Australian reveal that the failure of Queensland Rail to come close to meeting its pledges on the transport of coal to Dalrymple Bay, south of Mackay, is shrinking benefits from the mining boom. The Australian revealed last month that more than 150 ships were anchored off the east coast -- most of them at Newcastle, north of Sydney, and Dalrymple Bay -- waiting to load coal.

But documents, including a crisis paper from Australia's leading coalmining companies, reveal that QRNational, rather than helping clear the Queensland bottleneck, is going backwards in the amount of coal being delivered to key ports. This is leading to soaring costs, missed revenue for mine companies and looming lay-offs.

The paper -- prepared by Xstrata Coal executive Stephen Bridger on behalf of about eight top coal producers and sent to QR's acting chief executive, Stephen Cantwell -- sets out Queensland's falling performance. It warns that the coal chain in central Queensland "is currently in a crisis which has the potential to cost the Queensland coal economy over $1 billion in revenue and additional costs in 2007 alone".

It describes the "poor performance" as being of extreme concern, and blames most of the shortcomings on "QR causes" arising from locomotive faults and cancellation of trains due to a lack of crews. "The multiplier effect of this situation on the overall Queensland economy is difficult to estimate, but it is undoubtedly substantial," it says. The documents and investigations by The Weekend Australian show the inability of QRNational, QR's freight arm, to consistently provide manpower, locomotives and wagons is largely responsible for the backlog.

The crisis paper calls for service providers and customers to evolve "from no accountability to setting and delivering stretch targets", and from "indecisive committees to real leadership at all levels". Despite the most lucrative mining boom in Australia's history, the volume of coal being taken to the ports in central Queensland has fallen. The volume of coal likely to be moved this year is about 15 per cent less than the figure coal producers were given in November, when they began negotiating with overseas buyers. Coal producers revealed yesterday that Asian buyers of coal were angry that their orders were not being met, and some were threatening to source the commodity elsewhere.

Royalties from coal are also projected to pour $1.5 billion a year into Queensland's coffers, meaning that inefficiencies have a direct impact on funds for public services. Deputy Premier Anna Bligh said last night she was setting up an urgent process [Yet another committee!] with the Queensland Resources Council and an independent umpire to investigate the capacity problems and find a solution. "I'm not denying there is a problem and it has to be fixed by the parties sitting around the table and knocking heads together," she said. "The long-term interest of the state and the nation is more important than this squabble over who caused what. There are entrenched difficulties that need to be resolved."

Coal is the biggest export earner in Australia, and Queensland is the world's largest exporter. Its deposits generated overseas sales revenue of about $18billion last financial year. QR is a government-owned corporation with a coal division boasting more than 470 services a week to more than 32 coalmines in Queensland, and "an uninterrupted coal supply chain that enables the Australian coal industry to compete successfully with international competitors".

But more than 50 ships currently queued off Mackay, on the Queensland central coast, are racking up huge demurrage costs while waiting to be loaded with coal from the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. The terminal, which is supplied with coal by QRNational, had only 220,000 tonnes of coal available for loading -- enough to load just two of the 50-plus ships. Demurrage charges for each ship run to tens of thousands of dollars a day.

The costs to coal producers and the economy will rise because QRNational is forecast to transport less coal to Dalrymple Bay this year than it moved in 2005, according to coal producers. Several coal producers are warning there will be layoffs of hundreds of jobs in Queensland's Bowen Basin because of the inability of QRNational to move their coal.

Coal producers fear that speaking out will lead to retribution, such as the withholding of mining leases, but one producer said the problems demanded top-level attention. "We are constantly hearing this garbage about the boom in commodities exports, but in fact there is not a single kilogram more of coal going out -- in fact, it's less than two years ago," he said. "Our business and others are being systematically damaged by the lack of performance of the monopoly service provider. The people who are supposed to take our product and put it on ships are bungling incompetents, and they are going to be responsible for lost jobs."

QR's Mr Cantwell said last night he was well aware that coal producers were frustrated and concerned about the hold-ups, "and we are doing everything we can to ensure that our assets are delivering as much as they can". "We are the first to acknowledge issues with the ability of the rail system to cope and we are absolutely conscious of the challenges that we face," he said.

Newcastle faces similar issues, with mining giant Rio Tinto announcing earlier this month that it would cut 250 jobs at its Hunter Valley subsidiary Coal & Allied because of rail and port blockages at the port.

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What a bonzer sheila: "Terri Irwin is on a mission to save Aussie slang. The US-born environmentalist pleaded with Australians not to replace our "beautiful" vernacular with American phrases. Under her vision, phrases such as crikey, g'day, strewth and bonzer would dominate conversations. The widow of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin spoke of her dismay that US expressions were used so much. "America has so infiltrated Australia that Australianisms are starting to fade," she said. Mrs Irwin said she made sure her children Bindi and Bob were brought up with Aussie slang. "Australian slang is part of the beautiful cultural value of this nation," she said. "Crikey - hold your head up, don't feel embarrassed about ockerism."