Forgotten history: The disasters of the previous Labor government

IF 38 per cent of people polled this week by The Daily Telegraph thought the Kyoto Protocol was the treaty which ended WWII, who do they think Bob Hawke [former Labor Party Prime Minister] is when they see the Silver Bodgie sashaying through the local RSL in his white slip-ons? An Antipodean Colonel Sanders? Mick Dundee's older brother? Or a Gold Coast real estate baron?

The gravel-voiced Hawke and his vaudevillian successor, former treasurer and prime minister Paul Keating, have emerged as a sideshow act in Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's travelling dog-and-pony show. But it's doubtful whether those in the adoring throng can remember or ever knew what actually took place during their reign.

While Prime Minister John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello have been careful to pay due attention to the reforms of the Hawke-Keating era, the ALP's ageing but resilient duo have been more reticent to pay tribute to the groundwork laid by Howard in his days as treasurer. They've also been less than flattering about the Howard-Costello team.

Last year, however, former Reserve Bank governor Ian Macfarlane noted that the introduction of the tender system for the sale of Treasury notes and Treasury bonds "was second only in importance to the float of the Australian dollar in 1983". As columnist Gerard Henderson reminded readers recently, "these changes were introduced in 1979 and 1982 respectively, when Howard was treasurer". Readers young and old might also be unaware that Howard also called for the Campbell Commission report which recommended many of the reforms for which the ALP now claims credit, or that the Coalition supported the Hawke-Keating reforms when they were introduced into Parliament. The Howard Government proceeded with the reform process and Australia today has an economy which is the envy of the developed world. But its reforms were opposed every inch of the way by Labor's successors to Hawke-Keating.

Until recently, Rudd described himself as a Christian socialist. The socialist label has disappeared during Rudd's remake. His deputy Julia Gillard has told outright porkies [lies] about her socialist connections, claiming variously that she dabbled in left-wing politics as a student and that she later only helped with the typing.

Our old stagers however have left a paper trail which should be put before the Generation Y voters before they are permitted within 100m of a polling booth and distributed around the nursing homes targeted by the ALP's answers to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Flicking through the files, it is impossible not to be assaulted by the headlines which Hawke and Keating created, such as "Home rates may hit 18 per cent", above the byline of doughty Fairfax veteran Michelle Grattan, in The Age of May 29, 1989. What a cold winter that was.

Or "Apology on recession" from The Herald Sun, above a photograph featuring a smiling Hawke on March 6, 1998, when he admitted his government had misread the economic situation surrounding the 1987 which delivered Keating's recession "we had to have". The corrective action, said Hawke, was too late to avoid soaring interest rates, unemployment and inflation.

Speaking of unemployment, which under the Coalition is at record lows, what about this headline from The Financial Review of July 10, 1992: "Unemployment rate at highest level since 1930s". That was when youth unemployment reached 35.8 per cent. And how about this one, from The Sydney Morning Herald of November 11, 1992: "Worst job figures for 60 years". Unemployment had by then reached 11.3 per cent with a record 979,000 out of work. It got worse, of course, and a year later when the number of unemployed had climbed all the way to 1,017,600 the left-leaning Geoffrey Barker wrote in The Age: "Paul Keating will wear yesterday's unemployment figures like a crown of thorns."

Barker reminded his small audience that Keating had vowed seven years earlier that he would make Howard wear his Liberal leadership like a crown of thorns and do everything he could to obliterate him from leadership. Keating might need to be reminded of those numbers as he stumps around the backblocks now, occasionally emerging from relative obscurity to attend musicals about himself or rewrite history.

And if you thought shadow treasurer Wayne Swan's helpful hints to shoppers were a joke, how about Hawkie's advice to punters on November 9, 1985, in which he advised that the community would have to learn to live with higher interest rates. The overnight cash interest rate at the time was 16.5 per cent, with pressure on the banks to lift their prime rates to 19 or 19.5 per cent. Home mortgages were still capped at 13.5 per cent - but that was soon to change. By June 4, 1989, The Sun-Herald was able to run with "Home-loan rates highest in the world", a barbecue stopper if there ever was one.

The government responsible for this debacle blamed the problem on "the expectation that we who live in the Lucky Country should be able to own our homes". Silly people, silly people, wanting their own homes. But it got worse as The Daily Telegraph headline "18 per cent home loans soar again" announced on July 1, 1999. So, if you happen to see this Down Under version of the Glimmer Twins on one of their outings, remind them again how bad the good old days actually were and ask them how exactly their protege plans to do things differently.

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Homeschooling growing in Australia

As government schools deteriorate both behaviourally and educationally



THOUSANDS of students are being pulled out of Queensland state and private schools to be educated at home by their parents. The home schooling revolution is being driven by parents looking to shield their children from bullying and undesirable teenage peers. Home education is a "lawful alternative" for students of a compulsory school age, but Education Queensland sets out strict guidelines. Those wishing to go to university have to sit a special tertiary admissions test.

Homeschooling Association of Queensland president Robert Osmak estimates more than 22,000 children are now being home schooled in the state. This is double the figures obtained through a government working reference group in 2002. "I'd say the majority of parents are moving to home schooling out of despair," Mr Osmak said. "Their children have been terribly brutalised. They've been beaten up in the school yard on a regular basis."

Mr Osmak said the mother of a teenage Brisbane student had contacted him this week after her son was hit from behind, pushed to the ground and had his head smashed against the concrete at a state school. "The thug was only suspended for three days. Nothing is being done to protect the children who are being hurt," he said. Mr Osmak said he had written to Education Minister Rod Welford seeking a meeting to discuss some of the complaints by parents to him and streamline access to home schooling.

Mr Welford declined to meet with Mr Osmak, but indicated Education Queensland was providing information to the families and recognised home schooling was a "legitimate option" which parents could apply for on behalf of their children. In a lengthy letter to Mr Osmak, Mr Welford wrote: "Please be assured that my department takes issues of bullying, harassment, violence and discrimination seriously. Schools have codes of student behaviour and behaviour management programs for developing respect and safety towards others."

Mr Osmak, a former teacher with 23 years' experience in the state and private system in Queensland and overseas, has home schooled his nine children. "Two of them are in business, one of boys is employed and three of the girls are at TAFE. The two youngest are still being schooled," he said.

Valma Cronau, who heads a Gold Coast support group, said hundreds of home schooling families met regularly for social functions. She said one of the reasons for home schooling her children was to teach them Christian values. Other factors included removing them from peer pressure, and contact with drugs and "political correctness". To ensure students are being taught properly, EQ requires parents to apply for home schooling on behalf of their children and be granted registration. For continued registration, a parent is required to provide an annual report.

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Another "overconfident" surgeon still operating

How many more people will he hurt before they get around to de-registering him?

One of Australia's leading cosmetic surgeons is under investigation for allegedly performing unlicensed operations following the emergency admission to hospital and surgery on a woman who had undergone an extensive makeover in his inner-city clinic. Millionaire doctor, television personality and former president of the Cosmetic Physicians Society of Australia Simon Rosenbaum has been slapped with restrictions on his practice in Queensland and Victoria after medical authorities alleged he posed a "serious potential risk" to "vulnerable persons".

The Brisbane surgery of Dr Rosenbaum, who is under investigation by two state health watchdogs, as well as Medicare, was raided earlier this year as part of the investigation that may soon widen to other cosmetic physicians. Dr Rosenbaum - a 20-year veteran of the cosmetic surgery explosion in Australia - has performed thousands of operations in his clinics in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, and South Yarra, Melbourne. The procedures are touted as being cheaper than those performed in hospitals because of the lower fixed costs in the clinics.

But for almost a year, authorities have been investigating his practice following post-surgical complications to the woman in Brisbane which required emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding and to drain half a litre of blood. The woman, who worked as a nurse in Queensland, underwent a breast augmentation, mini-abdominoplasty and liposuction in a three-hour operation conducted by Dr Rosenbaum last October in his Australian Clinic for Cosmetic Surgery in Brisbane. The operation cost $20,000.

It is alleged Dr Rosenbaum - a regular guest of the Good Medicine television program - has been "performing complex procedures" in a clinic not licensed to do so and on patients under general anaesthetic, also without an appropriate licence for his clinic. According to documents obtained by The Australian, the woman returned to a hotel room after her operation and soon felt "very unwell and clammy", had a rapid pulse and was unable to remain standing. She called Dr Rosenbaum, who examined her that night, before telling her to visit his clinic the next day where she was put under observation. The Medical Board of Queensland also alleged Dr Rosenbaum put her under observation at his clinic the next day for eight hours - despite "clinical indications that immediate referral to hospital was appropriate" - before taking her to a Brisbane hospital.

In letters to medical authorities, Dr Rosenbaum said he was "not aware of the regulations affecting the administration of anesthesia". [Spare us!] Yesterday, he denied any patient had been put under general anesthesia in his clinics and that his rate of complications was "10 times" better than the average. "The reason I have been singled out is because of professional jealousy by the plastic surgeons," he said. "They ... are very successful in getting government bodies to do their dirty work."

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THE QUEENSLAND SEX-OFFENDER SCANDAL

Three articles below:

Your government will protect you -- NOT!



Corrective Services officials wanted to house serial sex fiend Robert John Fardon in a street with more than 23 children and near to a man convicted of a sex offence. The revelation came as controversy raged yesterday about what to do with convicted child rapist Fardon, who was released from jail on Tuesday after serving time for a parole breach. Police and Corrective Services Minister Judy Spence admitted it had been a mistake to attempt housing Fardon in the North Ipswich street. She said that, in future, Corrective Services would consult residents about placing serious sex offenders.

Fardon was driven to a house at Lowry St - where more than 23 children live, including a 17-year-old girl next door. It is opposite the home of David Sant, who had been in the same block as Fardon at the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre. Mr Sant admitted he had been convicted of indecently dealing with a minor in 1988. Corrective Services has strict rules on who can live in housing for sex offenders released into the community under supervision orders. However, the rules do not mention children living in nearby homes and the department does not check the criminal records of neighbours.

The Fardon saga has the Government frantically attempting to find legislative solutions to prevent up to 100 serious sex offenders from being released over coming years. There are also plans to fast-track restoration of houses on prison property and identify other possible sites on Corrective Services land where accommodation could be built.

Parents in Lowry St said they had fears for their children living next door to Fardon. Mother-of-four Justine Jarvis said Ipswich was targeted as an area for sex offenders to live. "I think it's a bit wrong, they always bring molesters into Ipswich," she said. "I'm worried. I used to let my kids play on the path, but I won't now and there's a lot of kids in the street who play out there."

Neighbour Mr Sant said his conviction for indecent dealing was not what it seemed. "It was when I was into witchcraft. I was in a satanic cult and I was having sex with my fiancee in a caravan," he said. "There was meant to be a girl in the cupboard. She used to come around and talk to my fiancee."

Attorney-General Kerry Shine has ruled out introducing minimum sentences. His spokesman said such a move would prevent judges from crafting penalties based on individual situations. Under existing legislation, people face conviction if they warn others or tip off media to an offender's whereabouts

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Would you trust him near your own children, Minister?

Comment by Melbourne writer Andrew Bolt:

Ipswich parents have stopped pedophile Robert John Fardon from moving into their suburb:

The outraged North Ipswich locals discovered the serial rapist and pedophile was headed for their neighbourhood when a television camera crew met him at his new address. The street is five blocks from a school and close to parks. Fardon has been in custody since late July after breaching his supervision order by violating his curfew and being in the company of fellow multiple sex offender Trevor Toms. He had previously served 27 years for violent sexual crimes, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl and the sexual assault of her 15-year-old sister.

That's too bland a description of what he did, so read this court finding to better understand the parents' fear.

The circumstances of the offences, to which reference will be made below, made the rape and the sodomy, for which sentences of 14 years were imposed, serious sexual offences within the meaning of the Act. It may be noted that on 8 October 1980 the respondent pleaded guilty to raping a 12 year old girl, indecently dealing with her and unlawfully wounding her 15 year old sister. He was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for the rape and lesser concurrent terms of imprisonment for the other offences. The respondent was released on parole after serving 8 years of that sentence and within 20 days had committed the offences for which he was sentenced on 30 June 1989. The respondent, who was born on 6 October 1948, has an extensive criminal history, principally for stealing, disorderly behaviour and weapons offences. Of some relevance to this application is his plea of guilty in 1967 in NSW to attempted carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 10 years.

Yet the parents get the usual tut-tutting:

Corrective Services Minister Judy Spence earlier yesterday called for people to show restraint in exposing Fardon's new address. "I am sure people will want to expose Mr Fardon's whereabouts, but I want people to bear in mind that the man has to live somewhere," Ms Spence told Parliament.

Here's three "somewheres" that occur to me:

1. In jail.

2. In Ms Spence's street.

3. In the street of the judge who stopped attempts to keep Fardon locked up.

The last two options might concentrate minds wonderfully.

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Irresponsible government has a rethink

Government at long last realizes that secrecy just encourages abuses

QUEENSLAND Police Minister Judy Spence has warned that anyone who passes on information about the location of sex offenders released into the community risks jail. The Government yesterday decided to inform people when a sex offender was going to be moved to their neighbourhood.

It came after the bungled placement of notorious sex offender Robert John Fardon in Ipswich, west of Brisbane. A camera crew from the Seven Network greeted Fardon at the location, alerting residents to his presence. They reacted angrily, forcing corrective services to move him to a house on the Wacol prison precinct, where the 59-year-old will now live.

In state parliament today, Ms Spence said police would prosecute residents who relayed information about the relocation of an offender. The maximum penalty is two years' imprisonment, or a $7500 fine, she said. Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney yesterday told reporters he would tip off others if he were in that situation. Ms Spence said a campaign organised by a UK tabloid showed what could happen when information about sex offenders was spread throughout the community. "Five families were incorrectly identified as harbouring sex offenders," she said. "Police also had to protect a 55-year-old south London man after 500 leaflets were wrongly distributed, accusing him of being a child abuser." In the past 12 months, a north Queensland woman was bashed by a group of men while out walking, because she was the mother of a man accused of sex offences, Ms Spence said.

She urged people to cooperate with police in relation to offenders, and leave it to them if they stepped out of line. "It is totally irresponsible for the media and the opposition leader to encourage community members to out sex offenders," Ms Spence said. "If vigilante activity is encouraged, there will be law-abiding people harmed and criminalised."

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