Federal Leftists to phase out electric hot water

This is crazy. Offpeak heating uses operating reserve at the power stations. Nothing will be saved

LABOR plans to rid Australian homes of off-peak electric hot water systems, in a move it claims will cut Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 7.5million tonnes each year. Half of all systems currently sold are the off-peak electric variety and Labor believes their removal from the market would be equivalent to taking almost two million cars off Australian roads.

The federal Opposition announced yesterday that in government it would work with the states to implement tough new greenhouse and energy minimum standards for hot water heaters. Labor's climate change spokesman, Peter Garrett, said greenhouse-intensive electric hot water systems accounted for 28 per cent of the average home's greenhouse gas emissions and produced three times the pollution of solar, heat-pump or gas systems.

At a housing project in Adelaide, Mr Garrett said Labor's aim was to phase out installation of the off-peak "greenhouse intensive" electric systems from 2010 in new homes or those with access to reticulated gas. By 2012, it would not allow them to be installed in new or existing homes. Off-peak systems already in use will not be affected until they need to be replaced. Mr Garrett pledged to work with industry to make the policy work. "It will be a phase-out over time, which will allow industry to plan for that phase-out," he said.

Mr Garrett said the current federal rebate of $1000 a unit announced last month by the Howard Government would be continued to be offset by the higher cost of solar hot water systems. The Energy Supply Association of Australia yesterday reported increased energy demand last year equal to a new power station, with the biggest growth in demand tracking population and resource booms in Western Australia and Queensland at 4.8 and 4.5 per cent respectively. South Australia also reported a 4 per cent increase in residential demand fuelled by increased installation of air conditioners.

Australia's largest hot water system manufacturer, Rheem Australia, said there would be substantial impact from the move. Rheem national marketing manager Gareth Jennings said the company was digesting the plan, but "understands these sorts of measures need to be taken". Labor will keep existing rebates to encourage take-up of alternatives and believes its plan can save households $300 a year.

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Another twisted Muslim doctor

An Indian-trained doctor allegedly plied an intellectually disabled patient with alcohol and told her he had always aspired to a porn star career before having sex her, a tribunal has heard. The attack came only hours after Shamshulhaque Shaikh had treated the 27-year-old, who suffers from epilepsy, a bipolar disorder and intellectual difficulties, at the Toowoomba Hospital emergency department on September 28, 2005.

The Queensland Health Practitioners Tribunal has struck Dr Shaikh, who moved overseas last year, off the registry for five years for conduct "seen as being discreditable to his profession". A scathing judgment of the doctor's conduct was delivered yesterday by judge Kerry O'Brien. "In the tribunal's view, (his) conduct has fallen far below the standards reasonably expected of him by the public or by his peers," Judge O'Brien said.

In an interview before he left Australia, the doctor said he met the woman in a restaurant by coincidence, and they did not have sex. However, Judge O'Brien said Dr Shaikh's account of events was unsworn and he agreed with the board, finding the submissions "are not accepted as a full and truthful account of events".

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Researchers start trial of 'world's best' flu jab

RESEARCHERS in Adelaide have developed a vaccine they believe could be the world's best defence against an influenza or bird flu epidemic. The Flinders Medical Centre's influenza vaccine which is in its early trial stage has been boosted by a natural sugar adjuvant. Adjuvants amplify the immune system's response to the virus to increase the effectiveness of vaccines.

Leader of the research team Director of Diabetes and Endocrinology Professor Nikolai Petrovsky says the sugar-based adjuvant is safe. "Our data already shows our adjuvant enhances the immune response against the common flu virus and we expect it to work equally well for an avian (bird) flu vaccine," he said.

Head of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Professor David Gordon said the addition of an adjuvant is critical for providing protection and conserving vaccine supplies in the event of a pandemic. "Traditional vaccines can cause pain for a few days, but another major advantage of our vaccine is that many people have experienced no pain from the injection," he said.

The team is looking to test the vaccine on healthy people aged between 18-70 years who have not received a flu vaccine this year.

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Watchdog pulps super-juice claims

PRICEY "superfruit" juices touted as possible cures for cancer, diabetes and other diseases may not be so super after all. Consumer watchdog Choice tested the exotic juices -- which cost up to $85 a litre -- and found people can get the same health benefits from eating an apple. It has asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and state food authorities to take action against juice sellers who make the outrageous claims.

The so-called super juices are made from tropical fruits and berries including acai, goji, noni and mangosteen. They are usually only available in health food stores, gyms or via internet and mail order.

Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said the juices may offer false hope to sick Australians. He said the juices could also be dangerous if ill people believed the hype and used them as substitutes for conventional medicine. "You get a novelty fruit, call it a super-fruit, throw in a secret Himalayan mountain or Chinese valley with mist on it, or a Pacific island with traditional healers that live to 150, and it's a very potent brew. Then if it costs a lot, people assume it must be rare and very good for you," Mr Zinn said.

Some brochures for juices sold in Australia claim mangosteen juice is better than chemotherapy for cancer and also outperforms drugs routinely prescribed for anxiety, arthritis and heroin addiction. One noni juice seller claims its product can cure cancer and diabetes while improving your golf game. "It's the claims they make that are concerning. They're making therapeutic claims, which are not backed up by science," Mr Zinn said.

He said Choice tests found people could get the same antioxidants from red apples and other cheap fruits available at any supermarket or greengrocer. "If you want to spend $85 on these juices and you like them, that's not bad for anything but your wallet. But it's the misleading claims of curative and preventative powers around the juice of these berries that's a concern and a breach of the Food Standards Code."

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